A Favourite Scene In Chimes of Big Ben

    “I say……… I say…… what is it?”

    “It’s not finished yet, it doesn’t make sense without the whole group, and there’ll be three pieces.”

    “Entries must be in two weeks tomorrow you know.”

    “I’ll be ready.”

    “Axe, stone chisels, even these are outside the pale of the law you know, technically speaking.”

    “Yes, I’m sure you can wink a blind surveillance eye can’t you.”

    “My dear Number Six I wouldn’t dream of interfering can’t tell you how delighted I am. Can I give you a lift back to the village?”

    “Ah no thanks, I think I’ll carry on while there’s enough light and do a bit more.”

    “Be seeing you.”

    “And you.”

    “Ha, ha, ha.”

    “But not for long!”

    The whole scene lasts less than a minute, but there is plenty in it to amuse. Number 6 thinks he’s being so clever in outwitting Number 2, but although Number 2 asks Number 6 what it is, he knows exactly what 6 is up to! And the hull Number 6 has carved out of the tree trunk, it’s wider than the tree Number 6 felled in the first place! And again the hull, the inner part doesn’t look like wood, it gives the impression of being made of concrete!

Be seeing you