A Hero for Leanda

be taking this knock with great fortitude, Mr. Conway. May I say that I admire you? I have read, with the greatest interest, all that has been written about you in the newspapers here. I do not pretend to understand what takes a young man alone across the seas, for such long periods, but to travel like that, and to arrive, is a great achievement. You obviously have both skill and courage.... And what, if I may ask, do you intend to do now?”
    “Get a job here as soon as I can,” Conway said.
    “Have you anything particular in mind?”
    “I was trained as an engineer before I took to the sea. I imagine I’ll find something in my own line before long.” Venizelos nodded slowly. “There are openings here, I am sure—but only the top jobs are paid well, the contract jobs, and they are rarely allotted to applicants on the spot.... Then again, I wonder how you would like it, settling down here? The Coast is not everyone’s choice for a home .“
    “It wouldn’t be mine in a million years,” Conway said, “but beggars can’t be choosers. Anyway, I don’t intend to settle down. I shall work till I’ve saved enough money to buy another boat, and then I’ll be off again.”
    “And how long do you think that will take?”
    Conway gave a wry smile. “Quite a while, I should think —but what else can I do?”
    “Ah!” Venizelos leaned forward a little. “Now that is what I would like to talk to you about.... I have a confession to make, Mr. Conway. It was not by accident that we met here this evening. I have been—keeping an eye on you. To be precise, I followed you here.”
    Conway looked at him in astonishment. “What on earth for?”
    “Because I have a proposition to put before you .“
    “Really... ? Well, I’ll be happy to listen—though if it’s anything to do with your trading company I doubt if it’ll be up my street.”
    “It has nothing to do with my trading company .“
    “What’s on your mind, then?”
    “Unfortunately,” Venizelos said, “I cannot give you any details. I am only an agent in this matter—you would have to see my principal. And as there is some urgency, you would have to see him without delay. He is at Biarritz , in France . You would have to go there.”
    Conway stared at him. “Are you serious?”
    “I have never been more serious.”
    “It’s a long way to go for an interview, isn’t it?”
    “Not if you fly. Naturally all your expenses would be paid.”
    “But—who is your principal? What does he do?”
    “I am afraid I cannot tell you that, either,” Venizelos said. “But if you agree to go and see him, you will be given all necessary instructions. Your travel and hotel expenses will be taken care of. In addition, you will receive a cash payment of five hundred pounds, irrespective of the outcome of the interview. If, when you have heard what my principal has to say, you feel you must decline his proposition, you will be flown back here at his expense—or, if you prefer it, to some other place. If you agree to his proposition, you will receive more money—a very great deal more.... Well, Mr. Conway, are you interested?”
    “I’m fascinated,” Conway said. The crow’s-feet that fanned from the corners of his eyes deepened as his weather-beaten face creased in a slow grin. “You know, Mr. Venizelos, when I was in Cape Town a few months ago I saw a movie that I’m now reminded of. An American, I think it was, was approached by a stranger in a tropical port, very much like this one, with a proposition. In the movie, though, the stranger said, ‘I must warn you that the work might be dangerous.’”
    Venizelos nodded. “Your work might have its dangers, too.”
    “I thought perhaps it might! Now in this movie I’m telling you about, the American said, T guess I can take care of myself,’ or words to that effect. That was all right for him, he was a movie star. I’m not. I’d want to know a great deal about the dangers, and they’d probably put me off right away.... This American also said, ‘But I draw the line at murder and dope-running’—and I’m with him there. I draw quite a lot of lines myself.”
    “You need have no anxiety on that score,” Venizelos said. “What my principal would have to suggest would be quite —ethical.”
    “One man’s ethics could be another man’s crime,” Conway said.
    Venizelos gave a delicate little shrug. “You can always turn the proposition down, Mr. Conway. There will be absolutely no