Uncertain Glory Page #3

than to try that with me.

Get up.

Next station, Clairvaux.

Everyone changes for Paris.

Change? They told me

this was a through train.

But not today.

The bridge over the Gartempe

was blown up last night.

- Sabotage?

- Yes.

Very soon the French railway

will have to be run like a steeplechase.

- Was anyone killed?

- Fortunately, it was terrible.

The saboteur waited until a long

German troop train was crossing.

That must've been a beautiful sight.

Oh. Which one of you gentlemen

is the prisoner?

Ah. Of course. A bad type.

- What did he do?

- I killed a conductor.

For asking too many questions.

A hundred hostages.

"A hundred hostages to die

unless saboteur found within five days."

Horrible.

And all innocent.

Absolutely innocent of anything,

and now they have to die in five days.

- Those Germans will catch the saboteur.

- No, they won't.

Don't forget the saboteurs

are not ordinary criminals like you.

They are intelligent people

and have great brains directing them.

They do things for France.

Hmm. What do the Germans do

if a saboteur gives himself up?

Firing squad.

Oh, how many guns? Six?

Eight.

Tie his hands behind his back?

That's the custom.

Blindfolded, huh?

If a man wants to be. That's optional.

Well, that's not so bad.

At least it has more dignity

than the guillotine.

What time do we get to the prison?

Tonight.

Bonet?

Bonet?

I've got an idea.

What would happen...?

What would happen

if I were to walk into the Gestapo...

...and say that I was the fella

that blew up this bridge?

Oh, no, wait a minute.

You can't shrug that off.

That's an important thought.

A hundred lives.

A hundred innocent lives

for one guilty one.

That's an idea that's gonna take root

in your mind and it'll grow there.

And you'll never be able to get rid of it.

I can see how it grew

in your mind well enough.

You can? Well, tell me.

I'm not so sure myself.

You are only playing for time.

These hostages mean nothing to you.

That's true, they don't.

Not a thing.

But they do to you.

Don't they?

And what...

What a magnificent gesture.

And no one would ever know about it,

would they?

Come on.

It'd be a good joke on the Germans too.

I've had enough of your jokes. Be quiet.

That's the policeman in you.

You're afraid.

Afraid to break the law

even in a good cause.

Listen, Bonet.

You said I've never done anything

for anybody except myself.

All right, here's my chance.

You will have your chance.

The new executioner

is a poor devil with a large family.

And your job will bring him 500 francs.

The workings

of the typical bourgeois mind.

It's enough

to take the heart out of a man.

What heart?

That cold lump you feel in your chest?

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