Saint Goes West Read Free Page A

House for dinner. They had two more normal-sized cocktails before the meal, and champagne with it. After that they had brandy. Then they proceeded to visit all the other bars up and down the main street, working from north to south and back again. They had Zombies at the Luau, Plantнer’s Punches at the Cubana, highballs at the Chi Chi, and more highballs at Bil-Al’s. Working back, they freshened up with some beer at Happy’s, clamped it down with a Collins at the Del Tahquitz, topped it with Daiquiris at the Royal Palms, and discovered tequila at Claridge’s. This brought them back to the Doll House for another bottle of champagne. They were all walking on their own feet and talking intelliнgibly, if not profoundly. People have received medals for less notable feats. It must be admitted nevertheless that there had been a certain amount of cheating. The girls, undoubtedly educated by past experiences, had contrived to leave a reнspectable number of drinks unfinished; and Simon Templar, who had also been around, had sundry legerdemains of his own for keeping control of the situation.
    Freddie Pellman probably had an advantage over all of them in the insulating effect of past picklings, but Simon had to admit that the man was remarkable. He had been alcoholic when Simon met him, but he seemed to progress very little beyond that stage. Possibly he navigated with a little more difficulty, but he could still stand upright; possibly his speech became a little more slurred, but he could still be underнstood; certainly he became rather more glassy-eyed, but he could still see what was going on. It was as if there was a definite point beyond which his calloused tissues had no further power to assimilate liquid stimulus: being sodden already, the overflow washed over them without depositing any added exhilaration.
    He sat and looked at his glass and said: “There must be some other joints we haven’t been to yet.”
    Then he rolled gently over sideways and lay flat on the floor, snoring.
    Ginny gazed down at him estimatingly and said: “That’s only the third time I’ve seen him pass out. It must be catchнing up with him.”
    “Well, now we can relax,” said Esther, and moved her chair closer to the Saint.
    “I think we’d better get him home,” Lissa said.
    It seemed like a moderately sound idea, since the head waiter and the proprietor were advancing towards the scene with professional restraint.
    Simon helped to hoist Freddie up, and they got him out to the car without waking him. The Saint drove them back to the house, and the lights went up as they stopped at the door. The Filipino boy came out and helped phlegmatically with the disembarcation. He didn’t show either surprise or disapнproval. Apparently such homecomings were perfectly normal events in his experience.
    Between them they carried the sleeper to his room and laid him on the bed.
    “Okay,” said the boy. “I take care of him now.”
    He began to work Freddie expertly out of his coat.
    “You seem to have the touch,” said the Saint. “How long have you been in this job?”
    ” ‘Bout six months. He’s all right. You leave him to me, sir. I put him to bed.”
    “What’s your name?”
    “Angelo, sir. I take care of him. You want anything, you tell me.”
    “Thanks,” said the Saint, and drifted back to the living-room.
    He arrived in the course of a desultory argument which sugнgested that the threat which had been virtually ignored all evening had begun to seem a little less ludicrous with the arнrival of bedtime.
    “You can move in with me, Ginny,” Lissa was saying.
    “Nuts,” said Ginny. “You’ll sit up half the night reading, and I want some sleep.”
    “For a change,” said Esther. “I’ll move in with you, Lissa.”
    “You snore,” said Lissa candidly.
    “I don’t!”
    “And where does that leave me?” Ginny protested.
    “I expect you’ll find company,” Esther said sulkily. “You’ve been working for it