I said, "We wouldn't worry so much if that was all, but just consider. You can be immunised

from the effects of penicillin. At the best you can say that the use of this stuff makes a penicillin

treatment for the particular patient ineffective in the future. That isn't so funny, of course, if you

are suffering from V.D. Then the use of sand on a wound that requires penicillin—well, it's not

healthy. Men have lost their legs and arms that way—and their lives. But perhaps what horrified

me most was visiting the children's hospital here. They had bought some of this penicillin for use

against meningitis. A number of children simply died, and a number went off their heads. You

can see them now in the mental ward."

He sat on the other side of the desk scowling into his hands. I said, "It doesn't bear thinking

about very closely, does it?"

"You haven't showed me any evidence yet that Harry ..."

"We are coming to that now," I said. "Just sit still and listen." I opened Lime's file and began to

read. At the beginning the evidence was purely circumstantial, and Martins fidgeted. So much

consisted of coincidence—reports of agents that Lime had been at a certain place at a certain

time: the accumulation of opportunities: his acquaintance with certain people. He protested once,

"But the same evidence would apply against me—now."

"Just wait (просто подождите)," I said (я сказал). For some reason (по какой-то причине)

Harry Lime had grown careless (Гарри Лайм стал беспечным, неосторожным; to grow –

расти; становиться): he may have realised (он мог понять) that we suspected him and got

rattled (что мы подозревали его и сделался напуган; to rattle – греметь, поднимать зверя

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на охоте). He held a quite distinguished position (он занимал весьма видное положение) and

a man like that (а человек как этот = такой) is the more easily rattled (бывает тем более легко

напуган). We put one of our agents as an orderly in the British Military Hospital (мы поставили

одного из наших агентов как санитара в Британский Военный Госпиталь): we knew by this

time the name of our go-between (мы знали к этому времени имя нашего посредника), but

we had never succeeded (но мы так и не преуспели: «мы никогда преуспели») in getting the

line right back to the source (в (том чтобы) провести нить: «линию» назад к источнику).

Anyway (в любом случае) I am not going to bother the reader now (я не собираюсь докучать

читателю сейчас), as I bothered Martins then (как я докучал Мартинсу тогда), with all the

stages (всеми этапами)—the long tussle to win the confidence of the go-between (долгая

борьба чтобы завоевать доверие посредника; to win – победить, выиграть, завоевать) —a

man called Harbin (человека по имени Харбин). At last we had the screws on Harbin (наконец

мы прижали Харбина: «имели тиски на Харбине»), and we twisted them until he squealed (и

мы закрутили их пока он (не) донес; squeal – пищать; доносить). This kind of police work

(эта разновидность полицейской работы) is very similar to secret service work (очень

похожа на работу секретной службы): you look for a double agent whom you can really

control (ты ищешь двойного агента которого ты можешь действительно контролировать; to

look for – искать), and Harbin was the man for us (и Харбин был такой человек для нас). But

even he only led us as far as Kurtz (но даже он только привел нас так далеко как к Куртцу =

привел нас всего лишь к Куртцу).

"Kurtz (Куртц)," Martins exclaimed (Мартинс воскликнул). "But why haven't you pulled him