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Mathis smiled back at hi for lishmen are so odd They are like a nest of Chinese boxes It takes a very long tiets there the result is unrewarding, but the process is instructive and entertaining Continue Develop your argu I can use to et out of an unpleasant job' He grinned nored hiood and evil, we havethe extre the deepest black and the purest white - and we call the so we have cheated a bit God is a clear ie, you can see every hair on His beard But the Devil What does he look like?' Bond looked triuhed ironically

'A woman'

'It's all very fine,' said Bond, 'but I've been thinking about these things and I' very sorry for the Devil and his disciples such as the good Le Chiffre The Devil has a rotten ti We don't give the poor chap a chance There's a Good Book about goodness and how to be good and so forth, but there's no Evil Book about evil and how to be bad The Devil has no prophets to write his Ten Coraphy His case has gone co about him but a lot of fairy stories from our parents and schoolmasters He has no book from which we can learn the nature of evil in all its forms, with parables about evil people, proverbs about evil people, folk-lore about evil people All we have is the living exaood, or our own intuition

'So,' continued Bond, war a wonderful purpose, a really vital purpose, perhaps the best and highest purpose of all By his evil existence, which foolishly I have helped to destroy, he was creating a norm of badness by which, and by which alone, an opposite nored, in our short knowledge of hie from the acquaintanceship better and more virtuous men'

'Bravo,' said Mathis 'I'ht to be tortured every day I reallyI must start at once I have a few marks in my favour - only small ones, alas,' he added ruefully - 'but I shall work fast now that I have seen the light What a splendid ti to have Now, let's see, where shall I start, murder, arson, rape? But no, these are peccadilloes I ood Marquis de Sade I am a child, an absolute child in these matters'

His face fell

'Ah, but our conscience, my dear Bond What shall we do with hi some juicy sin? That is a problem He is a crafty person this conscience and very old, as old as the first faive that probleht or we shall spoil our enjoyh bird It will be difficult, but if we succeed, we could be worse even than Le Chiffre

'For you, dear Ja That was a brilliant thought of yours, a splendid start to your new career And so sination in his pocket All you've got to do is pull the trigger and you will havehole in your country and your conscience at the same time A murder and a suicide with one bullet! Splendid! What a difficult and glorious profession As forthe new cause at once'

He looked at his watch

'Good I've started already I' with the chief of police'

He rose to his feet laughing

'That was o on the halls Now about that little probleood men from bad men and villains from heroes, and so forth It is, of course, a difficult problem in the abstract The secret lies in personal experience, whether you're a Chinalishman'

He paused at the door

'You admit that Le Chiffre did you personal evil and that you would kill him if he appeared in front of you now?

'Well, when you get back to London you will find there are other Le Chiffres seeking to destroy you and your friends and your country M will tell you about them And now that you have seen a really evil o after them to destroy them in order to protect yourself and the people you love You won't wait to argue about it You knohat they look like now and what they can do to people You may be a bit more choosy about the jobs you take on You et really is black, but there are plenty of really black targets around There's still plenty for you to do And you'll do it And when you fall in love and have a mistress or a wife and children to look after, it will seem all the easier'

Mathis opened the door and stopped on the threshold

'Surround yourself with huht for than principles'

He laughed 'But don't let me down and become human, yourself We would lose such a wonderful machine'

With a wave of the hand he shut the door

'Hey,' shouted Bond

But the footsteps went quickly off down the passage

CHAPTER 21 - VESPER

It was on the next day that Bond asked to see Vesper

He had not wanted to see her before He was told that every day she ca home and asked after him Flowers had arrived froive them to another patient After this had happened twice, no more flowers ca fenition of the person who had sent thee of sympathy and affection Bond found this irksoave him claustrophobia

Bond was bored at the idea of having to explain so to ask one or two questions which mystified him, questions about Vesper's behaviour The ansould almost certainly make her out to be a fool Then he had his full report to M to think about In this he didn't want to have to criticize Vesper It ht easily cost her her job