The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More Read Online Free Page B

although sunburnt , he was almost certainly white-skinned, not a
native. At that point, the watchers on the yacht also spotted what looked like
a giant turtle on the sand near the boy. What happened next happened very
quickly. The boy, who had probably caught sight of the approaching yacht,
jumped on the turtle's back and the huge creature entered the water and swam at
great speed around the island and out of sight. The yacht searched for two
hours, but nothing more was seen either of the boy or the turtle.

    There is no reason to disbelieve this report. There were five people on the
yacht. Four of them were Americans and the captain was a Bahamian from Nassau.
All of them in turn saw the boy and the turtle through the binoculars.

    To reach Eleuthera Island from Jamaica by sea, one
must first travel north-east for two hundred and fifty miles and pass through
the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti. Then one must go north-north-west
for a further three hundred miles at least. This is a total distance of five
hundred and fifty miles, which is a very long journey for a small boy to make
on the shell of a giant turtle.

    Who knows what to think of all this?

    One day, perhaps, he will come back, though I personally doubt it. I have a
feeling he's quite happy where he is.

The Hitch-hiker

I had a new car. It was an exciting toy, a big B.M.W. 3.3 Li, which means 3.3 litre , long wheelbase, fuel injection. It had a top speed of 129 m.p.h . and
terrific acceleration. The body was pale blue. The seats inside were darker
blue and they were made of leather, genuine soft leather of the finest quality.
The windows were electrically operated and so was the sun-roof. The radio
aerial popped up when I switched on the radio, and disappeared when I switched
it off. The powerful engine growled and grunted impatiently at slow speeds, but
at sixty miles an hour the growling stopped and the motor began to purr with
pleasure.

    I was driving up to London by myself. It was a lovely June day. They were
haymaking in the fields and there were buttercups along both sides of the road.
I was whispering along at seventy miles an hour, leaning back comfortably in my
seat, with no more than a couple of fingers resting lightly on the wheel to
keep her steady. Ahead of me I saw a man thumbing a lift. I touched the
footbrake and brought the car to a stop beside him. I always stopped for
hitch-hikers. I knew just how it used to feel to be standing on the side of a
country road watching the cars go by. I hated the drivers for pretending they
didn't see me, especially the ones in big cars with three empty seats. The
large expensive cars seldom stopped. It was always the smaller ones that
offered you a lift, or the old rusty ones, or the ones that were already
crammed full of children and the driver would say, "I think we can squeeze
in one more."

    The hitch-hiker poked his head through the open window and said, "Going to
London, guv'nor ?"

    "Yes," I said, "Jump in."

    He got in and I drove on.

    He was a small ratty-faced man with grey teeth. His eyes were dark and quick
and clever, like a rat's eyes, and his ears were slightly pointed at the top.
He had a cloth cap on his head and he was wearing a greyish-coloured jacket wih enormous pockets. The grey jacket,
together with the quick eyes and the pointed ears, made him look more than
anything like some sort of a huge human rat.

    "What part of London are you headed for?" I asked him.

    "I'm goin ' right through London and out the
other side," he said. "I'm goin ' to Epsom,
for the races. It's Derby Day today."

    "So it is," I said. "I wish I were going with you. I love
betting on horses."

    "I never bet on horses," he said. "I don't even watch ' em run. That's a stupid silly business."

    "Then why do you go?" I asked.

    He didn't seem to like that question. His little ratty face went absolutely
blank and he sat there staring straight ahead at the road, saying nothing.

    "I expect you help to work the