'I get it.'
'Why don't you stop fighting us, Herr Cornelius? You know in your heart that we're right.'
'When does the next jolly boat leave?'
'The Teddy Bear has no jolly boats.'
'I am in a pickle, aren't I?'
'How do you feel?'
'Sleepy.'
'The long voyage will do you good.'
'I wish I could have stopped off in New York.'
'New York's rather hectic.'
'I have quite a lot of urgent business, you know.'
'It won't seem so urgent by the time we get to San Francisco.'
Jerry shook his head. 'I could do with a change of scenery.'
'You won't get it. You'll grow to like this scenery.'
'Christ!'
'Really, Mr Cornelius!' Bishop Beesley came waddling down the deck.
'What the fuck do you know about it?'
That's a nice thing to say!'
Jerry looked at the algae again.
'It's a long way, Mr Cornelius.'
'Yeah.'
'I don't think you'd make it.'
'No.'
Mitzi folded her arms. 'You're not much of a catch.'
'I'm not the catch I'm worrying about. My patients...'
'I've almost lost mine, Mr Cornelius.' Bishop Beesley smacked his lips over a Walnut Whip.
'I wish that was true. I'm going back to bed.'
'You'll have to wake up sooner or later.'
'Says who?' Jerry went down the companionway, opened the door of his neat, white cabin and fell on his bunk.
He was in a spot.
He'd have to try and bide his time. St Paul was his only hope.
3
My sleep-talking shocked my husband
Abbott; Abbey; Abell; Abercrombie; Abernethy; Ablett; Abraham; Abram; Absalom; Acheson; Acker; Acklam; Acres; Acton; Adair; Adam; Adcock; Adkins; Adlam; Ad-lard; Adlum; Adney; Adrain; Aga; Agate; Aiken; Alan; Alban; Albert; Aldeh; Alexander; Alfred; Alison; Allard; Allibon; Alsop; Ambler; Ambrose; Amos; Ampleford; Ander-son; Angel; Anstey; Applegarth; Arkle; Armistead; Armstrong; Arrowsmith; Ashe; Aspinal; Attwood; Auger; Austin; Aylmer; Aysh; Babbitt; Bailey; Bairnsfeather; Baker; Bancroft; Bank; Barbary; Barclay; Bardell; Barker; Barlowe; Barnes; Barnett; Bartholomew; Barton; Barwick; Bateman; Batt; Baxter; Beach; Beauchamp; Beavis; Beckett; Bedwell; Belcher; Bell; Bellhanger; Bennett; Berrington; Beverley; Beynon; Biddulph; Bigg; Bingley; Birtwhistle; Bishop; Blackadder; Blackmore; Blackshaw; Blackwell; Blackwood; Blagrave; Blake; Blanchard; Blanchflower; Blandamore; Blen-kinsop; Blennerhassett; Blight; Blood; Bloomer; Blunt; Blythe; Boatswain; Bolinbroke; Bond; Booth; Bouverie; Bowen; Bowie; Brabazon; Bradbourne; Bradbury; Brand; Brannan; Breakspear; Brereton; Brewer; Bridger; Brigham; Bristowe; Broadbent; Brockless; Brown; Bruce; Buchan; Buckmaster; Budd; Burgess; Burnes; Burstall; Burton; Bury; Butler; Buxton; Byford; Byron; Bywood; Caborne; Caesar; Caffin; Caldecott; Calder; Caldwell; Calver; Cambridge; Campbell; Cannan; Capstack; Carter; Gary; Caswell; Catch-pole; Catmur; Catton; Chamberlain; Chandler; Charlton; Charteris; Chatterley; Cheetham; Chenevix; Childe; Chivers; Cholmondeley; Christey; Christian; Christin; Christmas; Christopher; Chrystal; Church; Churchill; Clachar; Clapham; Clarewood: Clarke; Clayton; Cleave; Clement; Clifford; Cock; Coffin; Cole; Coleman; Coleridge; Combe; Constan-tine; Cooke; Copperthwaite; Cordiner; Corfe; Corley; Cornelius...
Aaron; Abel; Abigail; Abraham; Absalom; Ada; Adalbert; Adam; Adela; Adelaide; Adeline; Adolphus; Adrian; Aeneas; Afra; Agatha; Agnes; Alexis; Alice; Almeric; Aloys; Al-phonsus; Amyas; Andrew; Angus; Ann; Anthony; Archibald; Arthur; Audrey; Augustus; Aylmer; Baldwin; Basil; Belle; Benedict; Bernard; Brian; Camilla; Candida; Caspar; Catherine; Chloe; Christabel; Christopher; Clara; Clovis; Constance; Cosmo; Cyriac; Cyrus; Daisy; Daphne; David; Deirdre; Denis; Dinah; Dolores; Dominic; Doreen; Dorothy; Douglas; Duncan; Ebenezer; Edgar; Edwin; Eileen; Elias; Elizabeth; Elric; Emily; Emmanuel; Ena; Enoch; Eric; Ermentrude; Eustace; Ezra; Fabian; Faith; Fanny; Felix; Fergus; Freda; Fulke; Gabriel; Gareth; Gavin; George; Gertrude; Gervase; Gladys; Grizel; Gustavus; Gwyneth; Hadrian; Hamish; Harriet; Heloise; Henry; Herbert; Hercules; Hester; Hezekiah; Hilary; Hope; Hubert; Humphrey; Hyacinth; lan; Ida; Igor; Ingeborg; Ingram; Isabella; Isaiah; Israel; Ivan; Ivy; Jabez; Jack; Jacob; James; Jane; Jasper; Jean; Jedidiah; Jenny; Jeremiah...
JEREMIAH (Yah is high, or heals, or founds) CORNELIUS (probably related to L. cornu, horn. — Dims. Corney, Corny. — Fern. Cornelia)
JEREMIAH CORNELIUS.
His mouth was dry and his eyes were dim.
Environment trouble.
Identity trouble.
Registration number: 1.
Parents: Dead or whereabouts unknown.
Relatives: Dead or whereabouts unknown.
Residence: No fixed address.
Physical characteristics: Mutable.
Associates: Variable.
Psychological situation: Weak. Position: Threatened. Emotional situation: Desperate. Recommendations: Hang on. JEREMIAH CORNELIUS. The ship rolled.
JEREMIAH CORNELIUS.
He was sick. JEREMIAH CORNELIUS.
Inside and out. JEREMIAH CORNELIUS.
Hang on. JEREMIAH CORNELIUS.
Get out.
4
The rape-goon who took a nap with a corpse!
Jerry opened up his eyes. He had lost all track of time, but there was daylight coming through the porthole. Lying alongside him was Mitzi's soft, warm body. She was pressing his hand to her privates.
'Do you mind?' said Jerry.
'Not if you don't.' He pulled himself together. He still had some strength left, but it couldn't last much longer.
He saw her clothes were strewn across the cabin floor and there was her little handbag.
'Where are we?' he murmured, stroking her parted lips with his dark finger.
'Minneapolis is in sight.'
'In a pig's eye!'
'Oh! I saw it!'
'Okay. What's the time?'
'Eight p. m.'
He twisted in the bunk and wound first his right watch and then his left. 'Did Beesley send you?'
'I came because I have fallen in love with you — or, at any rate, with what you might become...' .
'Does that hurt?'
'Yes.'
'And that?'
'Yes.'
'Well, let's get at it, then.'
It was dark when Jerry peeled back the encrusted sheets. Moonlight now came through the porthole. She murmured sleepily and held out her arms to him.
Jerry gave it to her on the point of the chin and fell forward to lie on top of her, breathing hard. He rested for a moment and then slid over her and fell to the floor, rolled and reached out for a rail, pulled himself up and staggered towards the middle of the cabin and kneeled down to pick up her heavy handbag. He opened it with an effort and closed his fingers over the butt of the vibragun. It was his only link with the cellar in Ladbroke Grove.
As his strength returned he sighed. With pleasure, he stood up and looked down at Mitzi. She was stirring.
He glanced at his gun, then at his right watch.
Somewhere a piano began to play.
He slipped into his silks, buckled on his shoulder holster, put the gun into it, and then began to tear up her clothes until he had several long strips of cloth. As he tightened the gag her eyes opened so he turned her over and trussed her up, patting her bottom affectionately.
'So long, Mitzi.' Was it a set-up? he wondered.
He opened the cabin door and went up on deck. The lights of St Paul were on the larboard as the ship moved slowly past the city. On the starboard Minneapolis was in darkness.