◆ SpookStack

© Duncan Webb is scen on board the fishing boat he chartered to con- tinue the search from Italy. He tried to get to Juga- slavia bur the’ skipper turned back when he saw a gune boat approaching. sotamienautlintanenmneret ifs genuine. Then come back morrow with £10,000 in Italian lira and we'll take you to meet Burgess. How's that?“ I said I was perfectly satis- fied and—rather to my surprise —the blond man agreed, too, * when Pictro explained it to him. He went back to the other ship. ‘ Then we cast off and made our way back to Venice, where I was told to wait for Rocco to contact me no that we could make the return journey. Our parting was quite friendly and I duly waited for their next move—not without @ worry on my_mind. I had no means of checking on the message and no hope t all of raising £10,000, even { Guy Burgess were delivered in person. 1 decided ta go on vith the bluff. But my anxiety was unneces- Tuck, next did I elther see or hear rom Rocco, and, on the after- oon of the third day, when here was stitl silence, I decided fo do something about it. In the course of the boat ‘journey Pietgo had mentioned a small place on the Jugoslav coast a few miles north of Pola where Burgess was supposed to come, I decided to try to get a boat and go over there. I left Venice and went to Chioggia, a near-by fishing port. There I hired a boat for the journey. . Dangerous ‘The owner was not very happy about making the trip. He said it was dangerous to go into Jugostay waters without, proper papers, but he agreed to try But when we had been out for some hours and the coast was just visible, he suddenly pointed to the horizon where & puff of smoke showed the approach of a ship. He insisted it was @ Jugoslay gunboat and refused to go any further. Back we went to Chioggia hen I returned to Veni ind no message for me f ‘occo or his associates. After wo more days of useless waitibg I returned to London- AU I had was the so-called ” message,” and I at once set about trying to see if there was such @ person as J.P. H. There was. It was one of Guy Bur- gess's closest friends. I went to sce him with # full transtation of the message, which now ea “Teli J. P. H, that the plain muat remain incomplete and one of her creators fears that he will soon be sent to join tife plain where she rests per- petually.” + This friend told me: “I under- stand the message. It refers to a book Burgess was golng to write—a biography of the late Lord Salisbury," he sald. ~ “Tt. was intended to be the fAfth volume of the life of the former Prime Minister written by his daughter, Lady Gwendolin Cecil. She died before the work waa completed. ' ‘Soon be dead’ “Somewhere,, I recall, Lady Gwendolin was referred to as ‘The Plain'—because of her Salisbury connection and cause the word fitted her 1 if Burgess wrote message he was saying to 2 won't be able to finish ook on Lord Salisbury becaute, ig daughter, Pil soon be ito “Tt ls astonishing. .Of course & shrewd man with Iiterary knowledge and a personal con- tact with Burgess could have faked it, but it seems fantastic to suppose that a fake could have been delivered to you in such a dramatic fashion,” T have promised not to reveal wv. this-‘man'a name—he has been questioned too often already about his ‘knowledge of Burgess and his movements—but he is a man of some distinction In the Utarary world and must accept his judgment, ‘Then is Burgess dead? 1 believe that at least he Is in peril of his life and I believe he has made some efforts to escape his Russian masters, But beyond that I have no “theorles except this: I cannot believe that a gang of interna- tional confidence _tricksters would go to such lengths in the jope of such a small reward, And that reward remainsfit wigi Rocco and Pietro care fo enew their offer and next time o give me final proof of ther RARAARAM laims. ~ Bary, Dgither that day. ror ibe &