'We're getting out of here,' he said.
'When?' I asked.
'Tonight,' he replied. 'As soon as everybody has settled down.' I noticed then that he had got his ski boots on and his windbreaker and gloves were on the chair beside the bed. 'Lock the door,' he said, 'and come and sit down.'
When I had done this, he began to give me instructions. He was concise and clear, just as he had always been when briefing us before an action. His manner was calm and he chose his words carefully, though he was speaking fast. How he managed to think so clearly after all the liquor he had drunk, I don't know. But then, as I have said, he took drink like most people take food. It seemed to feed his brain and stimulate his mind. For myself, I felt distinctly light-headed and I had to concentrate hard to follow and remember what he was saying.
'Have you looked outside?' he asked me.
I told him, 'No.'
'Pull back that curtain, then, and have a look.'
I did this and was surprised to see that it had stopped snowing and the sky had cleared. The great banks of fresh snow that were piled up round the hut shone white in bright moonlight. But the wind still howled dismally and, wherever I looked, the powdery top layer of snow was moving in the way that fine sand shifts low across the desert before a sandstorm.
There's a good, deep drift of snow just below the window here,' he went on. 'As soon as everybody has settled down for the night, I'm going to drop out of your window on to the belvedere. You probably didn't notice, but when we came up to the hut with those tools this evening, I dropped one of the picks into a drift. Mayne didn't notice either. I'm going to take that pick, go through under the supports of the hut and smash open the door to the cable machine-room. Unfortunately Keramikos' room is just above it. He'll hear me breaking the door and he'll come after me then. I don't think I'll have time to smash the other skis. Keramikos has a gun. He told me that in the machine-room this afternoon and I don't want to get shot before I'm clear of this place.'
'I know he's got a gun,' I said. 'But he's too drunk to use it.'