Read Online The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré - Free Book Online
Authors: John le Carré
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Alec—I don’t even know where to get hold of you!”
“You can’t,” Leamas replied listlessly.
“I don’t get you, old chap. Where are you staying?”
“Around the place. Roughing it a bit. I haven’t got a job. Bastards wouldn’t
give me a proper pension.”
Ashe looked horrified.
“But Alec, that’s awful, why didn’t you tell me? Look, why not come and stay at my place? It’s only tiny but there’s room
for one more if you don’t mind a camp bed. You can’t just live in the trees, my
dear chap!”
“I’m all right for a bit,” Leamas
replied, tapping at the pocket which containedthe envelope. “I’m going to get a job.” He nodded
with determination. “Get one in a week or so. Then I’ll be all
right.”
“What sort of job?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Anything.”
“But you can’t just throw yourself away,
Alec! You speak German like anative,
I remember you do. There must be all sorts of things you can do!”
“I’ve done all sorts of things. Selling encyclopedias for some bloody American firm, sorting books
in a psychic library, punching work tickets in a stinking glue factory. What the hell can I do?” He wasn’t looking at Ashe but at the table
before him, his agitated lips moving quickly. Ashe responded to his animation,
leaning forward across the table, speaking with emphasis, almost triumph.
“But Alec, you need contacts ,
don’t you see? I know what it’s like, I’vebeen on the breadline myself. That’s
when you need to know people. I don’t know what you were doing in Berlin , I don’t want to
know, but it wasn’t the sort of jobwhere
you could meet people who matter, was it? If I hadn’t met Sam at Poznan fiveyears ago I’d still be on the breadline. Look, Alec, come and stay with me for a week or so. We’ll
ask Sam around and perhaps one or two of the old press boys from Berlin if any of them are in town.”
“But I can’t write,” said Leamas.
“I couldn’t write a bloody thing.”
Ashe had his hand on Leamas’ arm. “Now don’t
fuss,” he said soothingly. “Let’s just take things one at a time.
Where are your bits and pieces?”
“My what?”
“Your things: clothes, baggage and what
not?”
“I haven’t got any. I’ve sold what I had—except
the parcel.”
“What parcel?”
“The brown paper parcel you picked up in the
park. The one I was trying to throw away.”
Ashe had a flat in Dolphin Square . It was just what Leamas
had expected—small and anonymous with a few hastily assembled curios from Germany : beer
mugs, a peasant’s pipe and a few pieces of second-rate Nymphenburg.
“I spend the weekends with my mother in Cheltenham ,” he said. “I just use this place
midweek. It’s pretty handy,” he added deprecatingly. They fixed the camp
bed up in the tiny drawing room. It was about four-thirty.
“How long have you been here?” asked Leamas.
“Oh—about a year or more.”
“Find it easily?”
“They come and go, you know, these flats. You
put your name down and one day they ring you up and tell you you’ve made
it.”
Ashe made tea and they drank it, Leamas sullen,
like a man not used to comfort. Even Ashe seemed a little subdued. After tea
Ashe said, “I’ll go out and do aspot
of shopping before the shops close, then we’ll decide
what to do about everything. I might give Sam a tinkle later this evening—I
think the sooner you two get together the better. Why don’t you get some sleep—
you look all in. ”
Leamas nodded. “It’s bloody good of you”—he
made an awkward gesture withhis
hand—”all this.” Ashe gave him a pat on the shoulder, picked up his
army mackintosh and left.
As soon as Leamas reckoned Ashe was safely out of
the building he left the front door of the flat slightly ajar and made his way
downstairs to the center hail, where there were two telephone booths. He dialed
a Maida Vale number and asked forMr.
Thomas’ secretary. Immediately a girl’s voice said, “Mr. Thomas’
“You can’t,” Leamas replied listlessly.
“I don’t get you, old chap. Where are you staying?”
“Around the place. Roughing it a bit. I haven’t got a job. Bastards wouldn’t
give me a proper pension.”
Ashe looked horrified.
“But Alec, that’s awful, why didn’t you tell me? Look, why not come and stay at my place? It’s only tiny but there’s room
for one more if you don’t mind a camp bed. You can’t just live in the trees, my
dear chap!”
“I’m all right for a bit,” Leamas
replied, tapping at the pocket which containedthe envelope. “I’m going to get a job.” He nodded
with determination. “Get one in a week or so. Then I’ll be all
right.”
“What sort of job?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Anything.”
“But you can’t just throw yourself away,
Alec! You speak German like anative,
I remember you do. There must be all sorts of things you can do!”
“I’ve done all sorts of things. Selling encyclopedias for some bloody American firm, sorting books
in a psychic library, punching work tickets in a stinking glue factory. What the hell can I do?” He wasn’t looking at Ashe but at the table
before him, his agitated lips moving quickly. Ashe responded to his animation,
leaning forward across the table, speaking with emphasis, almost triumph.
“But Alec, you need contacts ,
don’t you see? I know what it’s like, I’vebeen on the breadline myself. That’s
when you need to know people. I don’t know what you were doing in Berlin , I don’t want to
know, but it wasn’t the sort of jobwhere
you could meet people who matter, was it? If I hadn’t met Sam at Poznan fiveyears ago I’d still be on the breadline. Look, Alec, come and stay with me for a week or so. We’ll
ask Sam around and perhaps one or two of the old press boys from Berlin if any of them are in town.”
“But I can’t write,” said Leamas.
“I couldn’t write a bloody thing.”
Ashe had his hand on Leamas’ arm. “Now don’t
fuss,” he said soothingly. “Let’s just take things one at a time.
Where are your bits and pieces?”
“My what?”
“Your things: clothes, baggage and what
not?”
“I haven’t got any. I’ve sold what I had—except
the parcel.”
“What parcel?”
“The brown paper parcel you picked up in the
park. The one I was trying to throw away.”
Ashe had a flat in Dolphin Square . It was just what Leamas
had expected—small and anonymous with a few hastily assembled curios from Germany : beer
mugs, a peasant’s pipe and a few pieces of second-rate Nymphenburg.
“I spend the weekends with my mother in Cheltenham ,” he said. “I just use this place
midweek. It’s pretty handy,” he added deprecatingly. They fixed the camp
bed up in the tiny drawing room. It was about four-thirty.
“How long have you been here?” asked Leamas.
“Oh—about a year or more.”
“Find it easily?”
“They come and go, you know, these flats. You
put your name down and one day they ring you up and tell you you’ve made
it.”
Ashe made tea and they drank it, Leamas sullen,
like a man not used to comfort. Even Ashe seemed a little subdued. After tea
Ashe said, “I’ll go out and do aspot
of shopping before the shops close, then we’ll decide
what to do about everything. I might give Sam a tinkle later this evening—I
think the sooner you two get together the better. Why don’t you get some sleep—
you look all in. ”
Leamas nodded. “It’s bloody good of you”—he
made an awkward gesture withhis
hand—”all this.” Ashe gave him a pat on the shoulder, picked up his
army mackintosh and left.
As soon as Leamas reckoned Ashe was safely out of
the building he left the front door of the flat slightly ajar and made his way
downstairs to the center hail, where there were two telephone booths. He dialed
a Maida Vale number and asked forMr.
Thomas’ secretary. Immediately a girl’s voice said, “Mr. Thomas’