Under The Net - Iris Murdoch [62]
is Mars!' I cried. 'Aren't you Mister Mars?' I said to the dog. It pranced and wagged its tail faster than before. 'There you are!' I said to Finn. 'A fat lot that tells you!' said Finn. 'Aren't you Rin Tin Tin?' he said to the dog, who wagged its tail faster still. 'Well, what about this?' I said. Inscribed unobtrusively along the top of the cage were the words: Marvellous Mister Mars--and on the other side The property of Plantasifilms Ltd. 'That bit's out of date,' I said. 'I'll not dispute it then,' said Finn. 'I'm off,' he added and made for the door. 'Oh wait!' I said, in such a tone of anguish that he stopped. I was beginning to have a wonderful idea. While it came slowly up I held both hands pressed to my temples and kept my eyes fixed on Mister Mars, who gave one or two soft encouraging barks as if he knew what was coming into my mind. 'Finn,' I said slowly, 'I have an absolutely wonderful idea.' 'What?' said Finn suspiciously. 'We'll kidnap the dog,' I said. Finn stared at me. 'What in the world for?' he said. 'Don't you see?' I cried, and as the glorious daring and simplicity of the scheme became even plainer to me I capered about the room. We'll hold him as a hostage, we'll exchange him for the typescript!' Finn's look of puzzlement softened into a look of patience. He leaned against the edge of the door. 'They wouldn't play,' he said, speaking slowly as to a child or a lunatic, 'and why should they indeed? We'll only get ourselves in trouble. And anyway, there wouldn't be time.' 'I won't go away from here empty handed!' I told him. The time element was certainly serious. But I felt a feverish desire to become an actor in this drama. It was worth taking a risk with Mars. Sammy's position over the typescript was just dubious enough to restrain him from getting tough. If I could embarrass him by detaining Mars, or even persuade him that Mars's safety was at stake, he might at least be made to parley about the typescript. In fact, I had no really clear plan in my mind at all. I am a swift intuitive type of thinker. All I knew was that I had a bargaining-point under my hand and that I would be a fool not to take advantage of it. Even if the whole manoeuvre did no more than annoy and inconvenience Sammy, it would have been worth it. I explained all this to Finn as I started to examine the cage to see how it opened. Finn, who now saw that my mind was made up, shrugged his shoulders and started examining the cage too, while Mars followed us round inside, watching our movements with obvious approval. The thing was mysterious. There was no door in it, and no locks or bolts or screws, so far as we could see. The bars fitted closely into the roof and the floor. 'Perhaps one side comes away,' I said. But there was no sign of any special fastening. The whole thing was a smooth as a pebble. 'It's soldered in,' said Finn. 'It can't be,' I said. 'Surely no one carried the thing upstairs like this.' 'Well, it's some trick modern fitting,' said Finn. This didn't help. 'If we had a good hammer and knew where to tap it...' he said. But we hadn't. I battered it for some time with my shoe, but nothing gave. 'Can't we break the bars?' I suggested. 'They're as hard as the Divil's forehead,' said Finn. I went to the kitchen to look for a tool, but I couldn't find a screw-driver, let alone a crowbar. We tried a poker on the bars, but bent it without their yielding a millimetre. I was frantic. I would have sent Finn out for a file, only it was getting late. He was looking at his watch. It was ten past four. I knew he was straining to be away, though I knew too that now we were embarked on a particular enterprise he would stand by me as long as I wanted him. He was squatting there by the cage, and both he and Mars were looking up at me, Finn with the gentle look which he reserves for moments of difficulty. 'Every time I hear a noise on the stairs I have heart disease,' said Finn. I was having it too. But I wasn't going to go away without Mars. I took off my gloves; I felt that things were moving into a new phase. 'Then we'll take the cage