Warden stopped talking for a moment, overcome by this last thought, then went on in a softer tone of voice.
"I thought hard, sir. I thought as hard as I possibly could, while the group of soldiers swarmed round Joyce and Shears. Shears was certainly still alive, and so perhaps was Joyce, in spite of what that dirty dog had done to him.
"I could see only one possible way of taking action, sir. My two partisans were still in position with the mortar. They could fire just as easily on the group of Japs as on the bridge, and the group was just as easy to hit. I gave them that as their target. I waited a little longer. I saw the soldiers pick up the prisoners and start carrying them off. They were both still alive. It was the worst that could have happened. Colonel Nicholson brought up the rear, hanging his head as though he was deep in thought. I wonder what he was thinking, sir. I suddenly made up my mind, while there was still time.
"I gave the order to fire. The Siamese understood at once. We had trained them pretty thoroughly, sir. It was a splendid fireworks display. Another fine sight for those in the observation post. Close cross fire. I handled the mortar myself, and I'm not such a bad shot."
"Good results?" Colonel Green broke in.
"Good results, sir. The first shells burst right among the group. A stroke of luck! Both our chaps were blown to pieces. I confirmed that by looking through my glasses. Believe me, sir, please believe me, I didn't want to leave the job half done, either. All three of them, I should have said. The colonel as well. There was nothing left of him. Three birds with one stone. Not bad!
"After that? After that, sir, I fired all the shells I had. There were quite a lot. Our hand grenades as well. The position had been well selected. We sprayed the ground pretty thoroughly. I was a bit overwrought, I admit. The stuff was falling a bit indiscriminately, on the rest of the company rushing out of the camp, on the derailed train, in which everyone was shrieking, and also on the bridge. The two Siamese were as worked up as I was. The Japs fired back. Soon the smoke spread and crept up as far as us, more or less blotting out the valley and the River Kwai. We were cut off in a stinking gray fog. There was no more ammo, nothing else to fire. So we retired.
"Since then I've often thought about that decision of mine, sir. I'm now convinced I couldn't have done anything else. I took the only line of conduct possible. It was really the only proper action I could have taken."
"The only proper action," Colonel Green agreed.