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The 39 Steps - Adaptation

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59 views50 pages

The 39 Steps - Adaptation

Uploaded by

oscarpastorcalabuig
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BACHILLERATO READER about:blank Chapter one The Man Who Died ‘My name is Richard Hannay and | am thirty-seven years ol, | was bom in Scotland, but in 1889 my family moved to Rhodesia | grew up in Africa ‘and worked hard for 20 years. Then, in March 1914, | returned to Britain, That was five ‘months before the First World War began. | brought a lot of money with me and | wanted to hhave @ good time. Britain was the centre ofall my dreams and plans. and | hoped to stay there for the rest of my life. In May | was living in @ fiat in London. One evening | was alone there, reading the newspaper. | was interested in a story about Kardlides, the Greek Prime Minister. "He's a good man,’ | thought to myself, 'and he's honest too. He's probably the strongest Prime Minister in Europe, and the Germans hate him.’ ‘The sound of the doorbell interrupted my reading. | put down the newspaper and ‘opened the door. A man was standing outside. He was a thin man with @ brown beard and ‘small blue eyes. | did not know his name, but he had a fit on the top floor of the building, ‘Can | speak to you?’ he asked, ‘May I come in for a minute?” | invited him in and shut the door. He seemed very nervous. ‘Tm very somry,he said, ‘But min trouble, Wil you help me?” ‘Well ilisten to you’ I said, ‘But | cant promise more than that. | mixed @ strong crink for him and he drank it quickly. When he put down the lass, he broke it ‘Sony, he said. ''m rather nervous tonight and there's a good reason for that. Now you seem honest, sir. You look like a man who is not easily frightened. Well, 'm in great trouble and I need a good friend.” “Tell me about it | said, ‘and then Il give you my answer” ''m an American,’ he said. ‘A few years ago | came to Europe to work for an ‘American newspaper. | learned several languages and discovered quite a lot about European polities. | also found out about the German plans for war and | know a group of German spies. Well, these spies are looking for me now, and that's my problem. If you know ‘anything about politics, sir, youll know this. Europe is very near to war, and there's only one ‘man who can stop i! "Who is he?" | asked. 1de 47 1/12/20 14:01 about:blank "Karolides, the Greek Prime Minister “Oh, Ive just read something about him,’ I said. "There's a story in the evening paper.’ "Yes. Well, the Germans want fo kill him,’ he sald. "They wil kill me too if they can. Kerolides is going to come to London next month and he is going to visit the Foreign Office on 15 June. They've chosen that date to kill him. m the only man who can save him." "And how can |help you, Mr?" ‘Scudder’ he said, Franklin P. Scudder. ve just told you, sir, that these spies want to kill me. | thought that | was quite safe from my enemies in London. But yesterday evening | found a card in my letlerbox, and there was a man's name on it It was the name of one of the spies, my worst enemy.’ “You should tell the Foreign Office | said Theyil help you and perhaps they can seve Kardlides too’ “There's no time for that. My enemies know that I'm inthis building. They're probably waiting outside. Do you think that | can hide in your fat, sir?” ‘Well, | want to check your story fis | said. go outside and look around. if! see anything unusual, I agree to help you. Is that allright?" | eft the flat and went out into the street. A man was standing outside the building He lifted his hand when he saw me. I looked around quickly and saw a face at a window ‘across the street. The man's sign was answered, and the face moved eway from the ‘window. | ought another newspaper at the corner of the street and then went back to the fat "Allright, Mr Scudder, I said. ‘You ean stay here tonight. I've checked your story, ‘There's a man outside who is acting rather strangely. | think that your enemies are staying in the house across the street Scudder stayed quietly in my lat for several days. When I went out, he was very nervous. There was always someone standing outside the building. | saw the face at the window opposite mine a few times, but nobody came to the flat. Scudder read and smoked. He filed a litle black book with notes, and counted the days to 15 June, ‘One day he said, ‘Time is passing quickly, Hannay. While they're watching the house, | won't be able to get away. If they catch me, will you continue the fight?" | iked Scudder’s adventures, end his story was exciting. But | hed no interest in poliics. He continued to talk, and listened to some of i. He told me about a wornan by the name of Julia Czechenyi, who was one of the spies. ‘She's a terible enemy, Hannay,’ he ‘said, but the old man is worse.” 2de47 1/12/20 14:01 about:blank This old man was Scudders chief enemy, and he described him very clearly. its Strange,’ he said, ‘but he has the voice of a young man. And his eyes, Hannay! When you ‘see his eyes, you never forget them. They're small and often naif shut, like the eyes of a bird" He talked for a long time that day. | cannot remember everything that he said. But I knew that he was more nervous than usual In the evening | went out to dinner witha friend. twas half past ten when | returned, | ‘opened the door of the flat and went in. The lights were not It and this seemed rather strange | put them on and looked around, There was nobody there, ¢0 | thought that ‘Scudder was already in bed. | walked into the next room and saw something in the corner. For a moment | could not see what it was. Then I suddenly felt very cold and weak. | wanted to open my mouth and ery out. But | could not move or say anything. Scudder was lying on his back with a knife through his heart Chapter two The Mikman | sat down and felt very sick. | sat there for perheps five minutes and then fear brought me to my feet again. Scudder’s white face was too much for me. | covered the body with @ tablecloth. ound a drink and sat down again to think, Scudder was dead and his body proved his story. His enemies kiled him because he knew their plans. "They!l kil me next. | thought. "They know that he lived on the top floor. They know that he was staying in my flat. And they'l ques that he told me their plans’ What could | do? Well, | could go to the police and tell them the story. But there was the problem of Scudder's death ‘The police wil think that | kiled him, | thought | thought about it fora long time and then I formed a plan. | did not know Scudder Very well, but liked him | enjoyed an acventure too, and I wanted to continue his work ‘Teould write to the Prime Minister,'I thought, orto the Foreign Office. But perhaps that wont be necessary. I'l go away for a few weeks. Then I'l come back to London and go to the police.” | went over to Scudder’s body and took of the cloth. I searched his pockets for his book of notes, but the book was not there. He had no other papers. | opened my desk and took out a map of Britain, | thought that Scotland was the best place for my plan. I was bom there and | spoke like a Scotsman. | spoke German very well too, and | thought about going to Germany. But perhaps Scotland was a better idea. 3de 47 1/12/20 14:01 about:blank | chose Galloway, which was an empty part of the country, There were few big towns there, and it was not too far. | knew that there was a train to Scotland in the morning. It left London at ten minutes past seven. But how could | get out ofthe flat? Scudder's enemies were probably outside the building, 60 1 had to leave secretly. “Then suddenly | had a great idea. Every moming at haf past six the milkman brought ry milk. He was a young man and we were the same size, He wore a white hat and coat My idea was to borrow his clothes and the can of milk. Then | could get away from the building dressed as the mikman. | went to bed and slept fora few hours. In the morning | counted my money and put fity pounds in my pocket. While | was getting ready, | remembered my tobacco. | put my fingers into the large tobacco bex and felt something hard under the tobacco. It was ‘Scudder ste black book, and | put it in my pocket. It was @ good sign, | thought. Scudder hid it there, and his enemies did not find it. twas twenty minutes to seven now, and the milkman was late, But suddenly | heard the noise of the milk can on the stairs, and | opened the door "Gome in, please,’ | said | want to speck to you" He came into the fat, and I shut the door ‘Listen; | said, you're a good man, and I want you to help me.I took a pound out of my pocket and added, ‘if you agree, Nl give you this.” \Winen he saw the pound, his eyes opened wide. “What do you want me to do? he asked. ‘want to borrow your clothes end your mik can for afew minutes aid He laughed. ‘What do you want them for he asked. “Iean't explain now. Let me borrow the things, and I be beck in ten minutes.'| put ‘the pound into his hand. “Allright, he said." like a bit of fun too {put on his clothes and we went out ofthe fat. | shut the door behind me “Dor follow me’ I said, Ml soon be back" | went down the stars and into the street.| made a noise withthe milk can and began to sing. A man who was standing outside looked at me. He did not say anything, | looked at the house across the street and saw the face at the window again. | tured into another 4de 47 1/12/20 14:01 about:blank street and began to run. Then | took off the mikman's clothes and threw them, and the milk can, over a wall When | artved at the railway station, it was ten minutes past seven. The train was ‘moving slowly out of the station, and | had no time to buy a ticket. | ran towards it and caught the handle of @ door. | opened it with difficulty and climbed into the train. ‘The ticket-callector soon came along, He was angry with me, and | had to give him ‘some excuse, But he accepted it and wrote a ticket to Newton-Stewert in Galloway. Chapter three The Innkeeper Allthat day | travelled. The train stopped at Leeds station, where I bought some food and the moming newspapers. Another ticket-collector told me that | had to change trains at Dumtries. | read the papers, but of course there was nothing in them about Scudder's death. It was too early for that. Then | took out Scudder litle book. I was full of numbers, but there: were also a few strange names. The words "Hofgaard”, “Lunevill”, "Avocado" and "Pavia" wore written there, "Pavia" was there several times Itwas clearly some kind of code, and | am very interested in codes. | thought ebout this one. I could see that there were numbers in place of leters. But what did the names ‘mean? | knew that some of them were towns. But what code was used for people's names? There is usually a key word in codes like this, and I tried to guess i. “Hofgaard” wes clearly not the key word, because it did not fil the rest ofthe code. I tried the other words too but none of them fitted. | slopt for an hour or two, and then the ticket-collector's voice woke me up. ‘Be quick, sir. You have to change here. | ooked out of the window. We were at Dumfries station. | got aut and walked across to the Galloway train. The train was quite ful, and | had an interestng conversation with @ farmer. He thought that Iwas a farmer too! We talked about animals and the price of milk and fiour. People got out at diferent stations, but | continued. At five o'clock the tran stopped at a ‘small place and | liked the look of it 1 cannot remember its name, but itwas quiet And it was long way from London. eft the train and the railway man's child took my ticket. It was a fine evening and | {elt quite happy, | followed the road for about a kiometre and then took a path by a river. It 5 de 47 1/12/20 14:01 about:blank was not long before | reached a small house. There was a woman at the door of the house and | spoke to her. "May | stay here tonight? | asked. "You're welcome,’ she replied. 'Please come in Very soon she placed a fine meal in font of me, and | drank several glasses of thick, sweet milk When it grew dark, her husband came home. He was a big man with thick black hair. We talked for an hour or more, and smoked some of my tobacco. They did not ask me any Questions. Perhaps they also thought that | was a farmer. In the moming | enjoyed a large breakfast. But when | offered @ pound to the woman, she refused to take it It was a warm day, so she gave me a small can of mik to take with ime. Itwas nine o'dock when | fl the house. | walked a few kiometres to the south because | wanted to return to el the railway. But of course I could not go back to the same litle station. The railway men and the child knew my face. | did not want ther to remember me. So | went towards the next station and (on my way there I formed a plan, The safest way was to retutn to Dumfries. If the police ‘were searching for me, | was safer in a big town, When I reached the station, | bought a ticket fo Dumfries. | did not have long to wait Until train came in. | got in with an old man and his dog, and the man soon went to sleep. | borrowed his morning paper, which lay on the seat next to him. The story of the murder was Cn the first page in bg letters: MURDER IN A LONDON FLAT. ‘The milkman, the paper said, waited for me for half an hour. Then he called the police. They arrived at my flat and found Scudder’s body. The mikman was arrested and taken to prison. | felt very sory for the poor man. ‘The story continued on the back page. And the latest news was that the mikman was ‘out of prison. The police were now looking for a man named Richard | Hannay! They believed that he was on his way by train to Scotland. | was happy that the milkman was free. He knew nothing about the murder, and he only got a pound for his trouble. ‘The train stopped at a station which | already knew. It was the place where I got out the night before. Three men were talking to the railway men and the child. | watched them. ‘The child was showing them the road that | took. The train started again. While it was moving out of the station, | covered my face with the newspaper. It travelled about kilometre and it suddenly stopped again. We were not at 2 station. The train was near a bridge over a river. This wes my chance, and | changed my plan, | opened the door and jumped out. But the old man's dog tried to follow me. The old ‘man woke up and ran to the door. 6 de 47 1/12/20 14:01 about:blank "Help! Help! he cried, | ran down to the river bank and hid in some long grass there. The ticket-collector ‘and a number of other people were standing at the open door. lucky chance saved me. | could now see that the dog was tied to the man. ‘Suddenly the dog jumped out of the train and pulled the old man out oo, They fell down the bank, and everybody forgot me for @ moment. They picked up the old man, and in the excitement the dog bit somebody. | took my chance and ran away through the long grass. When | looked back, the excitement was over. People were climbing into the train again, and soon it began to move, | walked along the river bank and thought about my problem. | was safe but | was also frightened. | do not mean that | was afraid of the police. ! was thinking about Scudder’s enemies and their plans. | felt sure that they wanted to kill me. Perhaps they wanted to see me in prison, They were a real danger to me, and I felt very tightened, My troubles were not over yet | climbed up from the river and I reached the top of a ill. There were other hills ‘around me, and | could see clearly for several miles. There was the railway station and one Or two houses. A road ran from the station towards the east. Then | looked up into the blue sky, and my heart almost stopped beating, A small plane was fying towards me, And | knew that Seudder's enemies were in that plane. The British police never used planes to look for people. | hid behind a rock and watched. The plane flew up and down the river bank. Itwas. ‘so low that I could see a man inside. But | was sure that he did not see me. Then it climbed €and tumed. It few over the river again and went back to the south. | daciced to leave those hills. There was no place for me to hide. And | had no chance against a plane. [At six o'clock I reached the road. | followed it for a few kilometres. It wes beginning to {get dark when | came to a house standing alone next to e bridge. ‘A young man was on the bridge reading. “Good evening, he said. tsa fine evening, isn't t?” “Yes, itis, replied ls this house an inn?” "Yes, sr, and 'm the innkeeper. Would you ke to stay here tonight” “You're a very young innkeeper, aren't your” “Well, my father did last year and left me ths inn, tr lving here with my mother but | don't like the work at all | prefer to write stories, but what can | write about? | don't meet ‘many interesting people.” 7de47 1/12/20 14:01 about:blank | suddenly had the idea that this young man could help me. Il tell you a story," I said, ‘and t's rue too. | need a friend, And I'l ell you this story if you help me. It give you permission to write it down, but dont do anything before 15 June. That's a very important date.’ ‘Then | sat on the bridge and told him a story. He listened, and his eyes shone with ‘excitement “tm a farmer from Rhodesia,’ | said, ‘and | came to Britain a few weeks ago. | travelled by ship from German West Arica, The Germans there thought that | was a spy. ‘They followed me all the way to Britain, They've already kiled my bestfriend, and now they/te trying to Kil me. Have you read the newspaper today?” "Yes! “Well then, you know about the murder of Franklin Scudder.’ The young man's eyes opened wide. "He was my bestfriend, and he was kiled in my own fi | old him that Scudder was working for the Foreign Ofice before his death. And | ‘explained that he told me some of the Germans’ secrets. It was quite a long story, and | made it very excting, At the end | said, “You're looking for adventure, aren't you? Well, you've found it now. These German spies may come here, and | want to hide from them He took my arm and pulled me towards the inn. ‘Youll be safe here, sir’ he said. ‘Tell ‘me your adventures again, and I'l write them down’ “Allright. But | have some work to do first. Scudder gave me a long message in code. ‘And | have to find out what it means.’ While we were going into the inn, | heard the plane ‘again. It was flying low towards the bridge. | had a quiet room at the back of the house. The innkeeper's mother brought me my meals, This piace sulted me very wel The next moming | took out Scudder’s notebook and began to work. The code was @

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