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naet on the teleprinter to Station Z

M would have preferred to live by the sea, near Plymouth perhaps or Bristol - anywhere where he could see the stuff whenever he wanted to and could listen to it at night As it was, and since he had to be within easy call of London, he had chosen the next best thing to water, trees, and had found a se of Windsor Forest This was on Crown Lands, and Bond had always suspected that an ounce of'Grace and Favour' had found its way into M's lease The head of the Secret Service earned £5,000 a year, with the use of an ancient Rolls Royce and driver thrown in M's naval pay (as a Vice-Admiral on the retired list) would add perhaps another £1,500 After taxes, he would have about £4,000 to spend His London life would probably take at least half of that Only if his rent and rates came to no more than £500, would he be able to keep a house in the country, and a beautiful sh Bond'sthe clapper of the brass ship's-bell of some former HMS Repulse, the last of whose line, a battle-cruiser, had been M's final sea-going appointment Hammond, M's Chief Petty Officer in that ship, who had followed M into retirereeted Bond as an old friend, and he was shown into M's study

M had one of the stock bachelor's hobbies He painted in water-colour He painted only the wild orchids of England, in the meticulous but uninspired fashion of the naturalists of the nineteenth century He was now at his painting-table up against the , his broad back hunched over his drawing-board, with, in front of hilass full of water When Bond caly inquisitive glance He got to his feet with obvious reluctance But he gave Bond one of his rare smiles and said, 'Afternoon,

James' (He had the sailor's meticulous observance of the exact midday) 'Happy Christmas and all that Take a chair' M himself went behind his desk and sat down He was about to come on duty Bond automatically took his traditional place across the desk froan to fill a pipe 'What the devil's the na about with orchids, those obscene hybrids fro out of his orchid house, eats a gigantic n muck and solves the murder What's he called?'

'Nero Wolfe, sir They're written by a chap called Rex Stout I like the of the orchid stuff in the flowers? Why, they're damned near animals, and their colours, all those pinks and ues, are positively hideous! Now that' - M waved at theThat's an Autumn Lady's Tresses - spiranthes spiralis, not that I care particularly Flowers in England as late as October and should be under the ground by now But I got this forced-late specimen from a man I know - assistant to a chap called Su at Kew My friend's experih is a parasite on a lot of orchids, but, at the saets eaten by the orchid and acts as its staple diet Mycorhiza it's called' M gave another of his rare smiles 'But you needn't write it down Just wanted to take a leaf out of this fellow Nero Wolfe's book However' - M brushed the topic aside - 'can't expect you to get excited about these things Now then' He settled back 'What the devil have you been up to?' The grey eyes regarded Bond keenly 'Looks as if you haven't been getting y these winter sport places, they tell me'

Bond smiled He reached into his inside pocket and took out the pinned sheets of paper 'This one provided plenty of miscellaneous entertainment, sir Perhaps you'd like to have a look at my report first 'Fraid it's only a draft There wasn'tthat isn't clear'

M reached across for the papers, adjusted his spectacles, and began reading

Soft rain scratched at the s A big log fell in the grate The silence was soft and comfortable Bond looked round the walls at M's treasured collection of naval prints Everywhere there weresails, tattered battle pennants - the fury of ancient engagements, the memories of ancient enemies, the French, the Dutch, the Spaniards, even the Aone, all friends noith one another Not a sign of the ene Blofeld, for instance, in the inscrutable conspiracy in which he was now certainly engaged? The Russians? The Chinese? Or was it an independent job, as Thunderball had been? And as the conspiracy? What was the job for the protection of which six or seven of Blofeld'sinto the evidence? Would the experts ere co that afternoon? Bond lifted his left wrist Reer had a watch That he would certainly be allowed on expenses He would get another one as soon as the shops opened after Boxing Day Another Rolex? Probably They were on the heavy side, but they worked And at least you could see the ti phosphorus numerals Somewhere in the hall, a clock struck the half-hour 130 Twelve hours before, he must have just set up the trap that killed the three men in the Mercedes Self-defence, but the hell of a way to celebrate Christone out and he noly lit it again He tossed the spent match accurately over his shoulder into the fire He put his hands fiat on the desk and said - and there was an unusual kindness in his voice - 'Well, you were pretty lucky to get out of that one, Jaed to stay upright, sir Wouldn't like to try it again'

'No And I see you say you can't come to any conclusions about what Blofeld is up to?'

'That's right, sir Haven't got a clue'

'Well, nor have I I just don't understand any part of it Perhaps the professors'll help us out this afternoon But you're obviously right that it's SPECTRE all over again By the way, your tip about Pontresina was a good one He was a Bulgar Can't remember his name, but Interpol turned him up for us Plastic explosives expert Worked for KBG in Turkey If it's true that the U2 that felloas piloting was brought down by delayed charges and not by rockets, it may be this man was implicated He was on the list of suspects Then he turned free-lance Went into business on his own That's probably when SPECTRE picked him up We were doubtful about your identification of Blofeld The Pontresina lead helped a lot You're absolutely sure of hiood job on his face and stoet back this evening We'll have a look at hientry'

'I think itthe authentic smell of hi tiirl Who is she? Some old flame of yours?' M's mouth turned down at the corners

'More or less, sir She caot that Blofeld was in Switzerland Daughter of this lish governess'