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'Don't worry about ,' she had said when the ain My heart is full of it For soh there is much death very close Do you love me a little?'

'Yes,' said Bond 'And we shall have our love'

'Giddap,' said one of the hter, and froreat twin Diesels stutter and roar There was a light flutter of breeze to ard, but to leeward, where the ship lay, the bay was a gun appeared up the shaft, a businessman's leather brief-case in his hand He stood for ahis breath He paid no attention to Bond and Solitaire nor to the two guards standing beside them with revolvers in their hands

He looked up at the sky, and suddenly called out, in a loud clear voice, towards the rian Your treasure will be well spent Give us a fair wind'

The negro guards showed the whites of their eyes

'The Undertaker's Wind it is,' said Bond

The Big Man looked at hiuards

'Yassuh, Boss,' answered one of the Man

They went to the edge of the cliff and down the steep steps, one guard in front, one behind Mr Big followed

The engines of the long graceful yacht were turning over quietly, the exhaust bubbling glutinously, a thread of blue vapour rising astern

There were two uide ropes There were only three rey streae There was no roo chair rigged right aft, was covered with fish-tanks The Red Ensign had been struck and only the Stars and Stripes hung motionless at the stern

A few yards clear of the ship the red torpedo-shaped paravane, about six foot long, lay quietly on the water, now aquamarine in the early dawn It was attached to a thick pile of wire cable, coiled up on the deck aft To Bond there looked to be a good fifty yards of it The water was crystal clear and there were no fish about

The Undertaker's Wind was almost dead Soon the Doctor's Wind would start to breathe in from the sea How soon? wondered Bond Was it an omen?

Away beyond the ship he could see the roof of Beau Desert a the trees, but the jetty and the ship and the cliff path were still in deep shadow Bond wondered if night-glasses would be able to pick the

Mr Big stood on the jetty and supervised the process of binding theuard

Bond flinched He stole a glance at Mr Big's wrist watch It said ten minutes to six Bond kept silence There must not be even a minute's delay

'Throw the clothes on board,' said Mr Big 'Tie some strips round his shoulder I don't want any blood in the water, yet'

Solitaire's clothes were cut off her with a knife She stood pale and naked She hung her head and the heavy black hair fell forward over her face Bond's shoulder was roughly bound with strips of her linen skirt

'You bastard,' said Bond through his teeth

Under Mr Big's direction, their hands were freed Their bodies were pressed together, face to face, and their arain

Bond felt Solitaire's soft breasts pressed against hiht shoulder

'I didn't want it to be like this,' she whispered tremulously

Bond didn't answer He hardly felt her body He was counting seconds

On the jetty there was a pile of rope to the paravane It hung down off the jetty and Bond could see it lying along the sand until it rose to meet the belly of the red torpedo

The free end was tied under their arhtly between them in the space between their necks It was all very carefully done There was no possible escape

Bond was counting the seconds Hehad a last look at thes can stay free,' he said 'They'llbait' He stepped off the jetty on to the deck of the yacht'

The two guards went aboard The two men on the jetty unhitched their lines and followed The screws churned up the still water and with the engines at half speed ahead the Secatur slid swiftly away fro went aft and sat down in the fishing chair They could see his eyes fixed on theesture He just watched

The Secatur cut through the water towards the reef Bond could see the cable to the paravane snaking over the side The paravane started to move softly after the ship Suddenly it put its nose down, then righted itself and sped away, its rudder pulling out and away from the wake of the ship

The coil of rope beside theently, holding tighter to the girl

Their arms were pulled alether off the jetty into the sea

For a second they both went under, then they were on the surface, their joined bodies sasped for breath ast the waves and spray that dashed past his twistedof Solitaire's breath next to his ear

'Breathe, breathe,' he shouted through the rushing of the water 'Lock your legs against mine'