Chapter 73 Chapter 72

Dear Pug: Bill.Standley spoke highly of you when he returned home.I would like to express my deep gratitude for everything you have done there. Now, I ask Harry to write you a letter, which I enclose.At least, this will get you out of Moscow!You have an intuition about the facts, so take on the task and do your best.We would appreciate it if you could send a quick cable about the situation in Tehran. By the way, we have launched several excellent new battleships these days.Once we can get you out, one of them will be under your command. f.Germany.Luo Yubaiguan October 1, 1943 This letter was scribbled on a familiar pale green post-it note.Hopkins' typewritten letter was much longer.

Dear Pug: You have indeed done some excellent work with the Russians.Thank you for your scouting of the shuttle bombing site, the strategists at the Joint Chiefs of Staff are already working on the Poltava plan.General Fitzgerald wrote me a letter of praise; I have sent a copy to the Office of Personnel.In addition, the completion of the Murmansk military hospital and rest center was a victory for their bureaucracy.I hear this incident has boosted the morale of the convoy. Now, I come to the upcoming summit of states: Stalin refused to go further than Tehran, just south of their Caucasus border.He claimed to be kept informed of his military status.We don't know if that's the truth, if he's just putting on a show, or if he's worried about losing his reputation, which he won't budge from.

To win the damn war, the president is happy to go almost anywhere, but going to Tehran would lead to an unexpected constitutional problem.If Congress passes a bill and the president decides to veto it, he must write it down within ten days, or the bill automatically becomes law.Vetoes by telephone or telegram are invalid.It does not take ten days to travel from Washington to Tehran, as long as the weather is good and there are no other troubles.But we have heard that the weather in Tehran is unpredictable and dangerous.Others say it's not that bad.Anyway, no one here seems to know much about the situation in Persia.To the people of Washington, it is like the moon.

I suggest you fly up there, look around, get some information, and cable us quickly about the weather there at the end of November, and about the security situation, because we've heard the place is full of Axis spies.Moreover, the President was filling himself with facts and figures in preparation for his talks with Stalin, and the question of Lend-Lease supplies would certainly arise.We have a stack of reports, but we want a discerning eyewitness account detailing what actually happened along the Persian Supply Corridor.You are not like most people who write reports because you have no personal agenda!

General Connolly is in charge of our Amirabad base outside Tehran.He was a nice guy, an old engineer in the Army.I knew him well a few years ago when I ran the WPA.He has undertaken several large construction projects.I've telegraphed him about your going.Connolly will set up an itinerary for you to take a quick tour of our leasehold port facilities, rail and roads, factories and warehouses.You can ask any question, go anywhere, and talk to anyone.The President wants to meet you first before meeting Stalin.It would be of great benefit to him if you could put your observations down on a piece of paper.

Incidentally, as I expected, the landing craft problem has reached a critical stage.It is a major hurdle in all our strategic plans.Production was growing, but things should have been better.At any rate, you will soon be able to return to sea to engage in your old business.The President knows you feel like a beached whale right now. You%, Harry.The arrival of these two letters from Hopkins was a welcome relief.General Standley did not stay long after his outburst; Harriman succeeded him and brought with him a large military delegation headed by a three-star general.It means Victor.The end of Henry's mission.But he hadn't received the order before, so he thought that the Personnel Bureau probably didn't know his whereabouts.Moscow is snowy again.He hadn't heard from Rhoda or the children for months.Now, at last, he could escape the dreary meetings of the Spasso Tower, the dejected, disgruntled, vodka-drunken American journalists, and the faltering, obstinate, unfriendly Russian bureaucrats. up.On the afternoon of the day he received the letter, he boarded a Russian military plane to Kuibyshev.This is all thanks to General Ye Shilianke for his last help.General Connolly met Pug at the airfield the next day, settled him in his own barracks on the sprawling new base in the desert, treated him to venison for a meal, and then over coffee and brandy, Handed him a visit itinerary, which surprised him.

"It takes you about a week or so," Connolly said.He was a straight-faced West Point alumnus in his sixties, with a quick, hard-talking voice. "But after the tour, you'll have something to tell Harry. Hopkins dude. What we're doing here is just crazy. One country, the United States, is sending supplies to another country, the Soviet Union, but Under the administration, or rather the intervention, of a third country, England, through a fourth, the territory of Persia, which at present has nothing to do with either of us. And—” "You've confused me. Why should England interfere?"

"I'm not familiar with the Middle East." Connolly exhaled angrily. "Let me explain to you. The British are here on aggression and occupation, you understand? The Russians too. Back in 1941 they divided up the country by force to stop the Germans It's going on here. Anyway, that's at least their reason. Now, listen to me. We have no right to be here because we didn't invade Persia, you understand? It's still a mess , isn't it? Theoretically. We're just helping the British to help Russia. The emphatic dolls are still babbling about that. At the same time, we're just sending supplies through any of the old roads Send it over, as long as the Brits let us pass and the Persians don't steal from it, and the Russians can come and take over, that's it. In the Soviet depots, things are often piled as high as the sky."

"Really? But in Moscow they're always clamoring for more." "Naturally. It had nothing to do with their own transport chaos. It was a mess. In August I had to order the railroad to shut down for eight days until they cleared the mountain Until the supplies are moved. As soon as their pilots and drivers and railroad workers are out of that working-class paradise, they want to stay outside. You just came from Moscow, maybe you can’t understand that.” "You surprised me." They grinned at each other acerbically, in the American way."I've got to find out about the weather here," said Pug.

"What do you want to know about the weather?" General Connolly frowned angrily as Pug related the President's legal difficulties. "Are you kidding me? Why didn't anyone ask me? The weather here does change, and dust storms are a nuisance, of course. But we have about two regular military airlines that operate year-round. He and Stalin must be playing something .Stalin wanted him to come all the way to his backyard while the 'Great White Father' wanted to keep his dignity. I hope he sticks around. Old John should come wagging his tail. Russians don't appreciate being able to The one who leads them by the nose."

"General, Washington knows too little about what's going on in Persia," "Christ, you speak well. Well, you see, even if there is a winter storm on both ends"--Connolly scratched his head with his hand on a large smoking cigar--"he might The bill that's going to be vetoed can get to Tunisia in five days, and we can fly him there on a B-24. He'll be there and back, maybe only a day late. That's not a big deal ," "Okay, I'll wire all this to Hopkins. I've got to look into the security situation here." "Take your time. I'll take care of everything for you. How's your backgammon going?" asked Connolly, pouring them both more brandy. Pug has spent a lot of time playing Shuanglu games in recent years.He won two games in a row, and was about to win the third game. Connolly looked up from the chessboard, looked at him with half-closed eyes, and said, "Oh, Henry, there's someone you and I both know, yes. ?" "Who is it?" "Huck Peters." Seeing Pug bewildered, he elaborated, "Harrison of the Engineers. Colonel Peters. 1913 class. Tall and big. bachelor." "Oh, yes. I met him at the Army and Navy Club." Connolly nodded. "He wrote me about this Captain H, Harry Hopkins in Moscow. Now we're meeting in this wretched place. It's a small world." Pug didn't say anything, just continued to play chess, but he lost the game.The general happily put away the finely inlaid chessboard and ivory pieces. "Huck is working on something that will end this war overnight. He's tight-lipped about it, but it's the greatest job ever done by a U.S. Army engineer." "I don't know anything about that." Lying on a simple camp bed under three coarse blankets that chilly night in the desert, Pug wondered what Colonel Peters had written about him.They had met by chance at a table in a club, drinking champagne and putting on paper hats, and playing rowdy for an hour.Rhoda mentioned Peters several times, saying that they met in church.It occurred to Pug that, through the uranium bomb, he might talk to Bamu.Kirby was involved too, which made him sick.After all, why on earth did Rhoda not write?Correspondence with Moscow was difficult, but doable.There was no news for three months... His tiredness and the brandy he drank finally made him forget these thoughts and fell asleep. General Connolly's itinerary for Pug called for him to travel north and south across Iran along the railroad and with the convoy of trucks.The one at the British Legation was named Granville.The people of Sidon, who would walk with him part of the way on that railroad journey.The truck transport team was created by the United States to make up for the shortage of railways.According to Connolly, railroads were regularly subject to sabotage, flooding, theft, breakdowns, crashes and interceptions.The Germans had already made the railroads inefficient here, and the problem was compounded by the mismanagement of the Persians and British. "Glanville Seaton really knows everything about Persia," said Connolly. "He's a historian, and an oddball, but what he says is worth listening to. He likes bourbon. I'll get you a couple of Old Crows to take with you." On the way to Abadan, there was too much noise in the small plane to talk.Later, in a staggeringly large American aircraft assembly plant in that deserted beach area, Granville.Seton had been plodding beside Pug and the director, smoking a cigarette and not saying a word during the long, sweating heat.The temperature there must be well over a hundred degrees.Then they took a car to Banda Shahpur, the railway terminal on the Persian Gulf.While they were eating in a British officers' mess, Sidon began to chat, but his voice sounded like a flute, muffled and inarticulate, almost like Persian.Pug had never seen such a heavy smoker.Seton himself looked smoky-yellow: shriveled, lanky, dark-skinned, with a large gap between his large yellow upper teeth.Pug fancied that if the man had been wounded, the blood must have been as yellow as smoke. At breakfast the next day Pug produced a bottle of Old Crow.Seeing this, Sidon smiled like a child. "Most enjoyable," he said, passing the glass. The monorail winds its way across the dead salt flats into the dead mountains.The country looked barren and barren enough from an airplane, but from a train window it was even worse.Mile after mile, nothing grows, and all you see is yellow sand, yellow sand.When the train stopped to change to another diesel locomotive, they got out to walk their legs.There is not even a hare in the desert, only swarms of flies. "This place may be the former Garden of Eden," Sidon said suddenly. "As long as there is water, energy, and someone to clean up the land, it may be restored. But Iran is as lifeless as a jellyfish trapped on a rock in this environment. You Americans can help, and you better help Do me a favor." They were back on the train again.The train clangs and whines along a U-turn embankment up a rocky canyon.Seaton opened the bag and took out a ham sandwich, and Pug took out the Old Crow. "What should we do for Iran?" Pug asked, pouring whiskey into a paper cup. "Get it out of the Russians," Sidon replied. "This is either because you are indeed altruistic and anti-imperialist, as you claim to be, or because you don't want to see the Soviet Union rule the world after this war." "Global domination?" asked Pug in disbelief. "Why? How come?" "It's about geography." Seton drank his whiskey and gave Pug a piercing look. "Here is the point. The Iranian plateau blocked Russia from getting an ice-free port. So it was a landlocked country for half a year. The plateau also blocked its way to India. Lenin greedily called India It is said that this is the main goal of his Asia policy. But Persia, as if God intends to use it as a big plug to block the Caucasus Mountains, is blocking the way out of the big bear. It's as big as all of Western Europe and, as you can see now, is mostly mountains, salt flats and deserts. The people here are rough hill tribes, nomads, feudal farmers and scheming lowlanders ; they were all very independent and unruly." His paper cup was empty again.Pug hastily poured him another whiskey. "Ah, thank you. The basic fact of modern Persian history, Colonel, is this statement, you may remember: Russia's enemy is Iran's friend. The British have played that role since 1800. Although, On the whole, we messed up badly and ended up being perfidious Albion." The train whined into a long, dark tunnel, and when it rumbled out into the blinding sunlight, Sidon was fiddling with his empty paper cup.Pug filled him again. "Ah. Excellent." "What you said just now, Albion the perfidious." "Exactly. You see, we often need Russia to help us in Europe—against Napoleon, against the Kaiser, and now against Hitler—and each time we have to leave Persia alone, and each time the bear We seized the opportunity to grab a large piece of fat. When we formed an alliance against Napoleon, the Tsar seized the entire Caucasus. The Persians fought to regain their lost ground, but we could not support them at that time. They had to retreat. The Russians That's how Baku and the Maykop oil fields were captured." "All of this," said Pug, "is news to me." "Well, the bad is yet to come. In 1907, when the Kaiser Bill was getting more and more ugly, we needed Russia to help us in Europe. The Kaiser wanted to pass his The Berlin-Baghdad railway cuts into the Middle East, and we have divided Persia with the Russians: their sphere of influence to the north, ours to the south, and a neutral desert in between. No prior consultation with the Persians at all. Now , we divided the country again by armed aggression. It's not pretty, but the Shah of Iran is die-hard pro-German. We had to do this to strengthen our position in the Middle East. But then again, it's not Iran's fault The king, isn't he? From his point of view, Hitler is striking at the two great powers that have engulfed Persia from the north and the south for a century and a half." "You're so frank." "Ah, yes, one of our own. Now, please try to look at it from Stalin's point of view. He divided Poland with Hitler. We consider him guilty of doing so. He divided Persia with us. We consider him so Reasonable. So appealing to his better nature may confuse him a bit. You Americans should really get a grip on that fact." "Why should we get involved in this dispute?" asked Pag. "Colonel, the Red Army is now occupying northern Iran. We are in the south. The Atlantic Charter guarantees us withdrawal after the war. Of course you want us to follow the charter. But what about the Russians? Who will tell them to withdraw?" Get out? Whether it's a tsar or a communist, the Russians always do things the same way, I can assure you." He stared at Pug gravely for a long moment.Pug stared at him too, without answering. "Do you understand now? We withdrew. The Red Army stayed. How long would it take them to control the political situation in Iran and then 'invited' to push into the Persian Gulf and the Khyber Pass? They didn't fire a shot. can irrevocably alter the balance of power in the world." After an embarrassing silence, Pug asked, "What should we do about this?" "That concludes the first lesson," Seaton said.He pulled down his yellow straw hat over his eyes and fell asleep.Pug dozed off too. When the shaking of the train woke them up, they had pulled into a large rail yard full of locomotives, freight cars, flatbeds, tank cars, cranes, and delivery trucks, and there was a din of noise all around: loading, Unloading, trains changing cars on the siding, and unshaven American soldiers in overalls yelling, and groups of local workers yelling and yelling.The sheds and garages are new, and most of the tracks seem to be new as well.Seaton led Pug around the yard in two jeeps.Although the afternoon sun was very strong, there was still a cool breeze in the parking lot.This parking lot occupies hundreds of acres of desert land, with a small town of adobe brick houses on one side and a large piece of steep, barren, yellow-brown rocks on the other. "I'm always amazed by the energy of the Americans. You've conjured this up in a matter of months. Does archeology annoy you?" Seton pointed to a hillside. "It has the Sassanid rock tombs on it. The bas-reliefs there are well worth a look." They got out of the jeep and climbed up against the gusts of wind.Sidon walked, smoking, looking for the way up the hill like a goat.His stamina surpassed all biological laws.He wasn't out of breath like Pug when they reached the dark openings in the mountainside.To Pug's untrained eye, the weathered carvings there seemed to be in the style of the Assyrians: bulls, lions, bearded warriors standing stiff.It's quiet here.Far down the hill, the railroad yard was still humming and clanging, a busy speck in the old, silent desert. "Once the war is won, we can no longer stay in Iran," Pug said, raising his throat over the wind. "Our people don't think so. Everything down there will rust and rot." "That's right. But there's a lot to do before you leave." From the mausoleum behind them a loud, hollow moan sounded.Sidon said like an owl: "The wind blows over the mouth of the tomb. It sounds strange, doesn't it? Kind of like blowing on the mouth of an empty bottle." "I almost jumped off this mountain," said Pug. "The locals say that this is the ghost of the ancients lamenting the fate of Persia. The comparison is quite appropriate. Now listen to me again. In 1941, after the invasion and partition, the three governments-Iran, the Soviet Union A treaty was signed with us, England. Iran promised to expel the German spies and make no more trouble; we and Russia agreed to withdraw the garrison after the war. But Stalin would not pay any attention to this paper. If you join The treaty—that is, if Stalin assured Roosevelt that he would withdraw—that was a different story. He might actually go. He would grunt and push and yell, but that was the only Opportunity." "Is this already going on?" "absolutely not." "Why not?" Seton spread his skinny, swarthy hands skyward. In the evening, the train passed a bombed-out freight car that had overturned next to a roadbed. "It was a bad accident," Seaton said. "Dynamite buried by German spies, natives ransacked carriages. They got accurate information. They were loaded with food. That's worth as much as an equal amount of gold in this country. The tycoons are hoarding all the grain and most other Food. Westerners are stunned by the corruption of this place, but in the Middle East, that's how things are done. A legacy of Byzantium and Ottomans." He went on talking late into the night about how the Persians had contrived plunder and raids, which were a bottomless pit for Lend-Lease supplies.To them, he said, this torrent of supplies suddenly rushing across their country from south to north was just another manifestation of imperialist madness.They know it won't last, so they risk their lives trying to get some.Copper telephone wire, for example, was stolen as soon as it was installed, and hundreds of miles of wire have disappeared.The Persians love copper gadgets, copper plates and copper bowls.Now, Persian markets are full of these things.Sidon added that these people had been exploited for centuries by the conquerors and their own princes and nobles, and that they were robbed or robbed, as they knew the truth. "If only you could get Stalin out," he said, yawning. "For God's sake, don't bring your free business system here and party campaigns and stuff like that. Free business to the Persians means they're dealing with your copper wires. method. In a backward, unstable country, democracy will only be smashed to pieces by a well-organized faction. Here, it will be a communist bloc, opening the gates of Asia to Stalin. So forget about your opposition The principle of the monarchy, it is better to strengthen the monarchy." "I'll do my best," said Pug, who could not help smiling at the man's acerbic candor. Sidon smiled at him sleepily. "I've heard the big men listen to your advice." Until the last minute, the Tehran meeting was sometimes said to be held, and sometimes said not to be held.Suddenly, it was held.The President descended on General Connolly with a delegation of seventy men: secret agents, generals, diplomats, ambassadors, White House staff, and various entourages at the Amirabad base. Rampage in a mess.Connolly told his secretary that he was too busy to see anyone, but when he heard that Colonel Henry was coming again, he jumped up and went into the drawing room. "Good God. Look at you." Pug was unshaven, haggard, and dusty. "The truck convoy got caught in a dust storm. Then there was a snowstorm in the mountains. I haven't taken off my clothes since Friday. When did the president come?" "Yesterday. General Marshall stayed in your rooms, Henry. We moved your bedding to the officers' quarters." "Yes. I received your letter in Tabriz. But the Russians seem to have altered the meaning." "Oh, Hopkins asked where you were, that's all. I think you'd better get back here as soon as possible. So the Russians really let you go all the way to Tabriz?" "It took a lot of talking. Where is Hopkins now?" "In the city at the Soviet embassy. He's staying there with the president." "In the Soviet embassy? Not here? Not in our legation either?" "No. There's a reason for it. Pretty much everyone else lives here." "Where is the Soviet embassy?" "My driver will take you there. I reckon you have to hurry." Pug reached out and touched his dirty, stubbled face.Connolly gestured toward the bathroom door. "Use my razor." Apart from a few new boulevards paved by the deposed shah, much of Tehran is a labyrinth of narrow, winding streets lined with windowless mud walls.Sidon had told Pug that the Persians built their cities in such a way as to impede and delay the advance of an invading army.Now, the Army driver had no choice but to slow down until he turned onto a boulevard before heading to the city with a beep.The walls of the Soviet embassy gave it the appearance of a high security prison.At the gate, and in that street and around the corners, there were frowning soldiers with bayonets on their rifles.Outside the big iron gate, a soldier stopped the car.Victor.Henry lowered the window and said bluntly in clear Russian, "I am President Roosevelt's naval adjutant." The soldier drew back, stood at attention and saluted, then jumped on the running boards to escort the driver across the courtyard.It is a large, walled garden with several villas scattered among old autumn trees, splashing fountains and large lawns dotted with small ponds. Russian guards and U.S. secret service personnel guarded the front corridor of the largest villa.Pug announced his identity all the way into the hall, where civil and military officials from Britain, Russia, and the United States were busy, and all kinds of different languages ​​mixed into a big noise.Pug caught a glimpse of Harry.Hopkins, dressed in gray, slouched by alone, hands in pockets, looking thinner and sicker than usual.Hopkins also saw him, his face brightened, and he shook hands with him. "Stalin just came to meet the boss." He pointed to a closed wooden door. "They're inside. It's a historic moment, isn't it? Come with me, I haven't unpacked yet. How's Persian Gulf Command doing?" Inside that door, Franklin.Roosevelt and Joseph.Stalin sat facing each other.There was no one else in the room except the two interpreters. In that line.Across the narrow street that separates the British embassy quarters, Winston.Churchill is resting morosely in a bedroom in his legation.He had a sore throat and was even more unhappy mentally.He and Roosevelt had not spoken since arriving here on separate planes from Cairo.He once invited Roosevelt to stay at the British Legation.The president declined.He also pressed them to meet before any talks with Stalin.The president also refused.Now, the two families actually met behind his back.What about the old friendship between Agendia and Casablanca! To Ambassador Harriman, who came across the street to comfort him, Churchill grumbled that he would be happy to "obey," adding that he only wanted a dinner party in two days' time on his sixty-ninth birthday, drinking Do it, get drunk, and leave early the next morning. Franklin.Why did Roosevelt live in the Russian embassy district? Historians casually record that when he first arrived, he declined the invitations of both Stalin and Churchill, so that neither party could be offended.In the middle of the night, Molotov urgently summoned the British and American ambassadors and warned them that someone in Tehran was engaged in an assassination plot.According to the schedule, both Stalin and Churchill would go to the American Legation in the morning to hold their first meeting.It was more than a mile from the neighboring British and Russian embassy quarters.Molotov urged Roosevelt to move into one of the two embassy districts.Otherwise, he hinted, things could not go on safely. So, when Roosevelt woke up early in the morning, he had to choose between: move in with Churchill, his reliable old ally, who also spoke English and offered him gracious hospitality and reliable office conditions; or Living with Stalin, the murderous Bolshevik and former criminal associate of Hitler, he gave Roosevelt an undisguised quarters, an army of foreign entourages, and perhaps hidden bugs.An American agent had inspected the Russian villa provided to Roosevelt to stay in, but could such a sloppy inspection reveal the bugs installed by the experienced Russians? Roosevelt chose the Russians.Churchill said in his history that this choice made him happy, because Russian houses are more spacious.A great man often refuses to admit his rage. Was there an assassination plot like that? Actually no one knows.An elderly ex-Nazi spy claimed in a book that he was part of such a plot.But there are many people who write such books.The streets of Tehran, at least, were dangerous, there were German spies there, and dignitaries who drove through the streets were indeed assassinated, as World War I was fought.The tired, crippled Roosevelt was undoubtedly better off in the city. And yet—why live with the Russians when the British are just across the street? Franklin.Roosevelt had come all the way to Stalin's backyard.In this way, he acknowledged the hard truth that the Russians were suffering and bleeding the most in their resistance to Hitler.To take this last step, to accept Stalin's hospitality, to be honest with a tyrant who knew nothing but secrecy and suspicion, was perhaps a subtle gamble by a wily statesman, a final decision across the political divide between East and West. A friendly gesture. Does this gesture show Stalin, Franklin.Roosevelt as a naive, gullible optimist, someone who could be easily beaten and led by the nose? Stalin rarely revealed his inner thoughts.But during the war, he once said to the Communist writer De Geras: "Churchill just wants to touch your pocket. Roosevelt can steal big things." From this statement, it seems that this grim extreme realist is not unaware that in a war that is about to give the United States the upper hand in the world, the Russians are dying by the millions, while the Americans are only Thousands died. Here we record the first words of their meeting. Roosevelt: For a long time, I have been trying to arrange such a meeting. Stalin.Sorry, it's all my fault.I am busy with military affairs and have been unable to get away. In other words, to put it more clearly: When Roosevelt shook hands with the second most powerful man in the world for the first time, what he said was: "Hey, why have you been so difficult for so long? Believe in people? Look, I'm coming to your house now." And Stalin, who even Lenin said he was too rough, hit the nail on the head when he responded: "If you want to ask why, it is because we fought the most and died the most." And so the two men, over sixty, met and chatted in Stalin's backyard in Persia: a heavy, crippled American in a blue-gray civilian suit, a short potbellied Georgian in a military uniform, top-to-bottom trousers There is a broad red stripe; one is a thrice-elected, peace-loving social reformer who has never had a criminal record of using political violence, and the other is a revolutionary tyrant whose hands are covered with unimaginable millions of his own countrymen of blood.It was a strange meeting. 托基维尔曾经预测过，美国和俄国将会分治全球，一边是自由国土，另一边是极权统治。如今，他的想象化为事实了。把这两种相反的力量结合到一起的，只是一种共同的需要：他们要从东西两面夹击，粉碎对全人类的一个致命威胁——阿道夫。希特勒的“寒霜一杜鹃国”。 一个特工人员朝霍普金斯的房间里张望了一下。“斯大林先生刚离开，先生。总统请您去。” 霍普金斯正在换衬衫。他匆匆忙忙把衬衫下摆塞进宽松的裤子里，又把一件一边肘部破了个洞的红色毛线衫从头上套下。“来吧，帕格。总统今儿早上还问起你来着。” 这所别墅里件件东西都嫌太大。霍普金斯的那间卧室已经很大了。那个拥挤的门厅也是如此。可是罗斯福坐在里面的这间房，简直可以用来举行化妆舞会。透过参天大树的干枯树叶，金色的阳光直泻进高大的窗户来。家具很沉重，很普通，杂乱无章地放着，而且没有一件十分干净。罗斯福坐在阳光下一把扶手椅里，嘴里叼着烟嘴抽烟，就跟漫画上所画的一模一样。 “哟，你好啊，帕格。瞧见你真高兴。”他伸出胳膊来热情地握手。总统显得干瘪、瘦削，人老了许多，可是仍然是一位身材魁梧的人，浑身焕发着力量，而且——眼下这会儿——兴致还很高：那张下颚宽阔的脸上气色很好。“哈里，情况很不错。他是个给人印象很深的家伙。可是天哪，翻译可真花时间！非常叫人厌烦。我们四点钟碰头，开全体会议。温尼知道了没有？” “艾夫里尔已经过去告诉他了。”霍普金斯看了看手表。“就是再过二十分钟，总统先生。” “我知道。喂，帕格！”他朝一张坐得下七个人的沙发摆了摆手。“关于通过这条波斯走廊送进俄国去的全部租借物资，我们有些挺好看的统计数字。你在各处看到点儿什么迹象了吗？还是象我十分怀疑的那样，这一切只是空谈呢？” 罗斯福说完这句玩笑话以后，开朗地笑了笑。很显然，他还在从自己和斯大林会面的兴奋中逐步松弛下来。 “各处都看到这种物资，总统先生。这是个叫人难以相信的、成绩辉煌的努力。今儿等一下我就给您送一份一张纸的汇报来。我还刚从各处看了回来。” “一张纸吗？”总统瞥着霍普金斯哈哈笑了。“妙极啦。我是向来只读第一张纸的。” “他从海湾边上到北部考察波斯各地，”霍普金斯说。 “火车汽车”都坐了。 " “要是谈到租借物资的事，帕格，我该跟约大叔说些什么呢？”罗斯福稍微严肃一点儿说。他又转过脸去对霍普金斯说：“今儿大概不会谈到这个，哈里。他眼下还没心思谈。” “他是很会变的，”霍普金斯说。 Pug.亨利立即叙述了一下他在北部仓库里，特别是卡车的终点站那儿看到的堆积着的物资。他说，俄国人拒绝让卡车运输队驶进伊朗他们防区的任何地段，只指定一个离俄国边界很远的卸货站。那个地方就成了一个大瓶口。要是卡车队能够直接开到里海的港口和高加索边境上的市镇的话，俄国人就能够得到更多的物资，而且要快得多。罗斯福全神贯注地听着。 “这很有意思。把它写到你那一张纸上去。” “这您可别担心，”帕格不假思索地说。罗斯福听了又笑起来。 帅B 格对伊朗可下了一番功夫，总统先生，“霍普金斯说。”他赞成帕特。赫尔利的主张，认为我们应当作为一方，参加保证战后撤走外国军队的那项条约。 " “是呀，帕特翻来复去老在讲这件事。”罗斯福那张表情丰富的脸上掠过一丝烦躁的神色。“俄国人不是在莫斯科会议上拒绝了这个意见吗？” “他们敷衍拖延。”坐在帕格身旁的霍普金斯伸出一只皮包骨的瘦手，做了一个争论的手势。“我同意，总统，我们不大可能首先提出。那样一来，我们就把自己推进帝国主义那一套老把戏里去了。不过——” “说得正对。我不会这么做。” “可是伊朗人那方面又怎么样呢，总统先生？假定他们要求我们作出撤军的保证？那么就会起草一个新的宣言，我们也会给包括在内。” “我们可不能要求伊朗人来要求我们，”罗斯福用一种随随便便的坦率口气回答，好象他还坐在椭圆形办公室里，而不是在一幢他的每句话几乎肯定都有人窃听的苏联房子里。“那样就谁也骗不了。我们在这儿只有三天工夫。还是抓住重点好。” 他微笑着和维克多。亨利握了握手，让他退出。帕格正从那熙熙攘攘的门厅挤出去时，忽然听到一个地道的英国腔调说：“哦，那边是亨利上校嘛。”这声音有点儿象西顿的。他朝四下一望，首先看到了金海军上将，象一根电线杆那么笔直地站着，望着那些攒动的穿军服的俄国人，显然缺乏好感。在他身边，一个穿一身英国皇家空军蓝军服、佩带着几条勋章标志、晒得微黑的人正在含笑和他打招呼。帕格已经有好几年没有见到过勃纳—沃克了。他记得他从前似乎更高大、更威严一些。这位空军少将站在金的身旁显得很矮小，看上去还有点儿饱经忧患的神气。“你好啊。”帕格走近前的时候，他说。“你们代表团的名单上没有你，对吗？帕米拉说她找过啦，没你的名字。” “亨利，我当你还在莫斯科哩，”金海军上将用冷淡、严厉的音调说。他和上将难得相遇，可是每次见面时金总使帕格觉得不很自在。他已经很久没想到“诺思安普敦号”的事了，可是现在他在一刹那间又想象到他那条起火燃烧的巡洋舰沉下水去，连鼻孔里也幻觉着好象闻到了一股汽油味似的。 “我是奉了特殊使命上伊朗来的，将军。” “这么说你在代表团里罗！” “不在，将军。” 金睁大眼睛望着他，不喜欢他这种含含糊糊的回答。 勃纳说：“帕格，要是办得到的话，趁咱们在这儿的时候聚一聚。” 帕格尽可能冷静地回答说：“你是说帕米拉和你在一块儿吗？” “是在一块儿。我是临时奉召从新德里赶来的。有关缅甸作战计划的问题。她还在整理我们混成一堆的地图和报告。现在，她是我的副官了，干得挺出色。可以想象得到，她给可怜的老韬基办过多少事。” 尽管金脸上的神色显示出他很不喜欢闲聊，帕格还是钉着问道：“她在哪儿？” “我离开我们使馆时，她正在那儿忙着。”勃纳一沃克指了指敞开的门道。“你干嘛不过去瞧瞧，问个好呢？”