Dennis Wheatley - The White Witch of the South Seas

Back in their cells they were given for breakfast bowls of maize porridge and tea. At eight o'clock they were let out for an hour's exercise, being made to walk and run alternately in single file round the compound. The midday meal consisted of a hot stew containing both meat and vegetables, a pancake for pudding and two bananas. At five o'clock they were again let out, this time for a game of volley ball, then, after taking a shower, they were brought their evening meal cold pork, yam, and a sort of fruit salad consisting largely of diced coconut.

In the intervals between exercising and meals Gregory had plenty of time to contemplate the possibility of escape. An attempt to suppress and overcome the guard who brought the meals was out of the question. Even if that could be done there were plenty of others about, all of them armed, and he had no doubt at all that they would not hesitate to use their weapons. An attempt at bribery appeared equally hopeless, as none of those to whom he had spoken understood English, French or German, and his Russian was so limited that he could not have put up a proposition to one of them. Even when he had tried to get them to fetch the French Captain, so that he could ask him for the loan of a few books, as a lead in possibly establishing regular communication with him, they had only shaken their heads, not in refusal but clearly because he had failed to make them understand his request.

Short, therefore, of some unforeseen development, there remained only the possibility of finding some way to break out of his cell during the night. As the prison was a modern one, the lock on the cell door was prisoner proof, a steel plate covering the whole inner side, so that no keyhole offered any opportunity to pick the lock from within. The floor was solid cement, making it impossible to dig a tunnel; so were the walls. The ceilings were corrugated asbestos, so could not be broken through without some heavy tool. But the grilles…?

Gregory's keenly searching eye had lit on the sector in which the prison architect had slipped up, and he smiled to himself. The wire mesh covered grilles on all four sides of the cell were each kept in place by from eight to twelve fair sized screws. They had only to be removed and the grilles could be lifted out. Fortunately, too, the cell on his other side from James was unoccupied; so if he could get to work on the screws there was no one there who might give away what he was doing and, as the guards never made a round of the cells after midnight, no fear of interruption.

But had the architect really slipped up, or had he simply settled for the cheapest way of securing the grilles? The prison would have been originally designed only for defaulting soldiers. Should a Russian private or N.C.O. show the initiative to break prison, which in itself was unlikely, what chance would he stand of escaping from a tropical island? That, and the harsh punishment he might expect if caught, were the real deterrents; and Gregory had no illusions about the difficulty of getting away from Yuloga. But, regarding himself as considerably more resourceful than the average Russian peasant in uniform, he comforted himself by recalling Napoleon's saying, `It will be time to talk of the Vistula when we are over the Rhine.'

As James was in the next cell there was nothing to stop their talking and if they stood on their beds they could even see each other through the grille above the dividing wall. That night, adopting this means of coming face to face so that they could keep their voices low, Gregory told James of his plan and that the first thing needed was something with which to loosen the screws. Neither of them had anything in his possession that would serve, but they agreed to keep their eyes open.

On the third evening James was lucky. While they were playing volley ball he saw on the ground a small half moon of shining metal. It was the worn down part heel with which Russian soldiers' boots are reinforced, and this one had come off. Pretending to slip and fall, he palmed it; then, a few minutes later, bumped into Gregory and passed it to him.

The cells were longer than they were broad, so the grille in the outer wall had only eight screws in it; but, having only a small implement which was awkward to handle and, even standing on his bed, only being just able to reach the top three screws near the ceiling, it took him several hours' work during two nights before he had all the screws loosened.

The following day he passed the worn metal heel to James so that he could start work on his grille, but he had no intention of waiting until his friend could accompany him on a first reconnaissance. Gregory had always maintained that, in inverse ratio to the old saying `one boy working in a garden is a boy and two boys only half a boy', two operatives working together doubled the danger to each of them, so, whenever possible, he had played the role of a lone wolf.

That night, having waited until well after midnight, he removed the grille. Standing on his bed, he peered cautiously out. Having made certain that no sentry was patrolling outside the prison, he had no difficulty in straddling the exposed top of the wall and dropping down on the other side.

After listening intently for a few minutes, he made his way slowly round the perimeter of the military establishment, watching every step and, instead of walking toe and heel, putting his feet down flat. A few lights were on here and there, but no one was about, so he edged his way between some buildings until he could get a view of the office block in which he and James had been interrogated. In front of it a sentry was patrolling. Satisfied now that provided they kept outside the area of buildings there was nothing to stop their getting away into the jungle, he returned to the prison, climbed back into his cell and, while replacing the grating, told James, who had been anxiously awaiting his return, what he had so far discovered.

Next night he went out again. On his first reconnaissance he had seen that, while several tracks led out from the settlement, all except one were dirt roads. The exception was metalled. It led uphill out of the valley and he followed it until he reached the crest of the ridge. From there he could see down into another valley. A rising moon now lit it quite clearly and, as he had expected, he was able to verify a supposition he had formed on finding that the island was garrisoned by Russians. The moonlight revealed blocks of hutments, tall gantries and a number of great launching pads from several of which there rose giant rockets. Clearly the French had allowed the Russians to take over Yuloga as a base for launching inter continental missiles. It was no wonder that the Russians were taking such extreme precautions to ensure that no one landed on the island without their knowledge and to protect the secret of their presence there by arbitrarily detaining anyone who came ashore.

Cautiously advancing further to get a closer look, Gregory disturbed a parrot roosting on the branch of a nearby tree. The bird flew off with a squawk. A moment later a challenge rang out from only twenty yards ahead. Instantly Gregory froze and held his breath, his heart hammering wildly. The challenge came again, then heavy footsteps advanced towards him. He felt a terrible urge to turn and run, but fought it down. The footsteps stopped. There fell an utter silence. For. ten minutes that seemed an age he remained absolutely motionless. The sound of footsteps came again, but this time they were moving away. For another ten minutes he stayed completely still, breathing gently but evenly. Then he turned and, placing each foot with the greatest care, slowly stole away, blessing the bird that had saved him from running slap into the sentry. Three quarters of an hour later he was safely back in his cell.

By this time, James' greater height having enabled, him to loosen more easily the top screws securing the grille in his cell, he had freed it. Now they could both leave the prison any night they liked; but, as they were quite reasonably treated there, to leave it for the jungle would have been pointless, and they were still faced with the much more difficult problem of how to get away from the island.