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HARRY MORGAN-SPRING
pump-gun and the Winchester 30-30 that I always
had below in the cabin and hung them up in their
cases from the top of the house where we hung the
rods usually, right over the wheel where I could
reach them. I keep them in those full-length,
clipped sheep's wool cases with the wool inside
soaked in oil. That's the only way you can keep
them from rusting on a boat.
I loosened up the pump and worked her a few
times, and then filled her up and pumped one
into the barrel. I put a shell in the chamber of the
Winchester and filled up the magazine. I got out
the Smith and Wesson thirty-eight special I had
when I was on the police force up in Miami from
under the mattress and cleaned and oiled it and
filled it up and put it on my belt.
'What's the matter?' Eddy said, 'What the hell's
the matter?'
'Nothing/ I told him.
'What's all the damn guns for?9
'I always carry them on board,' I said. 'To shoot
birds that bother the baits or to shoot sharks, or for
cruising along the Keys.'
'What's the matter, damn it?' said Eddy. 'What's
the matter?5
'Nothing,' I told him. I sat there with the old
thirty-eight flopping against my leg when she rolled,
and I looked at him. I thought, there's no sense to
do it now. I'm going to need him now.
'We're going to do a little job,' I said. 'In at
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