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There was the foetid srove swah seventies Soon Bond began to sweat slightly and to long for the clean night air

He had e-way before he found the poison fish which were one of his objectives When he had read about them in the files of the Police Headquarters in New York , he had made a mental note that he would like to know more about this sideline of the peculiar business of Ourobouros Inc

Here the tanks were senerally only one speciishly at Bond were cold and hooded and an occasional fang was bared at the torch or a spined backbone sloelled

Each tank bore an oe labels that said VERY DANGEROUS and KEEP OFF

There must have been at least a hundred tanks of various sizes, froe ones to hold Torpedo Skates and the sinister Guitar Fish, to smaller ones for the Horse-killer Eel, Mud Fish from the Pacific, and the monstrous West Indian Scorpion Fish, each of whose spines has a poison sac as powerful as a rattlesnake's

Bond's eyes narrowed as he noticed that in all the dangerous tanks the mud or sand on the bottom occupied nearly half the tank

He chose a tank containing a six-inch Scorpion Fish He knew so of the habits of this deadly species and in particular that they do not strike, but poison only on contact

The top of the tank was on a level with his waist He took out a strong pocket-knife he had purchased and opened the longest blade Then he leant over the tank and with '

sleeve rolled up he deliberately aiy head between the overhung grottoes of the eye-sockets As his hand broke the surface of the water the white dinosaur spines stood threateningly erect and the mottled stripes of the fish turned to a uniforhtly, poised for flight

Bond lunged swiftly, correcting his aim for the refraction fro head down as the tail threshed wildly and slowly drew the fish towards hilass side of the tank He stood aside and whipped it out on to the floor, where it continued flapping and ju despite its shattered skull

He leant over the tank and plunged his hand deep into the centre of the mud and sand

Yes, they were there His hunch about the poison fish had been right His fingers felt the close rows of coin deep under the mud, like counters in a box They were in a flat tray He could feel the wooden partitions He pulled out a coin, rinsing it and his hand in the cleaner surface water as he did so He shone his torch on it It was as big as a old It bore the arms of Spain and the head of Philip II

He looked at the tank,it There must be a thousand coins in this one tank that no custo Ten to twenty thousand dollars' worth, guarded by one poison-fanged Cerberus These ht in by the Secatur on her last trip a week ago A hundred tanks Say one hundred and fifty thousand dollars' worth of gold per trip Soon the trucks would be co for the tanks and sos would extract the deadly fish and throw them back in the sea or burn theold coin washed and poured into bags Then the bags would go to agents and the coins would trickle out on the 's 's philosophy, effective, technically brilliant, almost foolproof

Bond was full of admiration as he bent to the floor and speared the Scorpion Fish in the side He dropped it back in the tank There was no point in divulging his knowledge to the enemy

It was as he turned away frohts in the warehouse suddenly blazed on and a voice of sharp authority said, 'Don't move an inch Stick 'e dive under the tank he caught a glihts of his rifle about twenty yards away, up against the main entrance As he dived he prayed that The Robber would miss, but also he prayed that the floor tank which was to take his dive would be one of the covered ones It was It was covered with chicken wire So snapped up at hie-way As he dived, the rifle cracked and the Scorpion Fish tank above his head splintered sharply and water gushed down

Bond sprinted fast between the tanks back towards his only means of retreat Just as he turned the corner there was a shot and a tank of angel fish exploded like a bomb just beside his ear

He was now at his end of the warehouse with The Robber at the other, fifty yards away There was no possible chance of jue-way He stood for aHe realized that the lines of tanks would only protect him to the knees and that between the tanks he would be in full vien the narrow passages Either way, he could not stand still He was res into a pile of conchs, sending splinters of their hard china buzzing round hiht and another shot cae carboy of clams that split in half and emptied a hundred shell-fish over the floor Bond raced back, taking long quick strides He had his Beretta out and loosed off two shots as he crossed the central passage-way He saw The Robber jump for shelter as a tank shattered above his head