A Hero for Leanda

least didn’t do any harm to others. You rather prided yourself on that. But if you help Kastella now, if you use your skill for that, you will be doing harm. Terrible harm.”
    “I’ll be doing what I contracted to do,” Conway said. “What you helped to persuade me to do.... Look, Leanda, you know perfectly well that I only undertook this trip because of the money. I made that plain right at the beginning. It was a paid job. Kastella meant nothing to me, nothing at all. He was your hero, not mine. You were starry-eyed about him, I wasn’t. I don’t like him any more than you do—but then I never did, right from the first moment I set eyes on him. But that didn’t stop me carrying on. Why should I stop now?”
    “Surely it makes some difference—the way he’s behaved? You said yourself he was a murderer. You were as angry yesterday as any man I’ve ever seen. You looked as though you’d throw him to the sharks if you could. I don’t understand you. Have you forgotten so soon? Does it really mean so little to you?”
    “As far as the ketch is concerned,” Conway said, “I could have been wrong about him being a murderer. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The wind’s been heading us all afternoon. If it’s blowing the same where the ketch is, the boat must be moving steadily in toward the shore. The east-going current’s carrying it along, too. If the wind holds for a bit longer, they’ll be taken over the banks and some other fishing boat should see them before their water gives out. I’d say they’ve a fair chance of surviving after all.”
    “Oh, Mike... ” Leanda’s face was suddenly bright with relief. Then it clouded again. “You’re not just saying this ?“
    “To justify myself for going on... ?” He pointed to the close-hauled sail. “You can see for yourself.”
    “Oh, I do hope you’re right.... I haven’t been able to get them out of my mind for a moment.” She looked again at the sail, as though reassuring herself. Then she said, “All the same, it doesn’t change a thing about Kastella, does it? He didn’t know there’d be a wind from the west. He’s still a murderer at heart.”
    “That’s quite true. But it does make it a little easier for me to finish my job and take my money.”
    “And what about Spyros?”
    “Spyros means nothing to me. It never has. It’s not my business to try and set the world to rights.”
    Leanda looked at him, and shook her head. “You’ve changed so much, Mike—do you know that? On the way out, you’d have said that with a sort of smile, not quite meaning what you were saying, knowing you weren’t really as indifferent as you were pretending to be and that anyway your conscience was clear.... Now you say it savagely, and I know perfectly well why. So do you .“
    “Maybe,” Conway said.
    “Mike, you say Spyros means nothing to you.... I suppose I don’t mean anything to you, either?”
    He gave a little shrug, scowling down at the floor. “I like you, Leanda—you know that. We got on pretty well together on the way out—and on Heureuse. You’re—well, you’re a nice kid. I’d have liked tilings to turn out the way you wanted them, for your sake. But I’m certainly not prepared to make tremendous sacrifices for you. Why should I? If I did what you’re asking, and tried to get that gun away from Kastella, I’d probably finish up with half my face blown off and I’d certainly finish up without a bean —or a boat. If I do what’s good for me, I’ll have twenty thousand pounds and a boat.” He hauled in the sheet a little. “We’re going to Malindi.”
    Leanda said, in a low voice, “Is that your last word ?“
    “It is.”
    “Well, I can tell you this— I shan’t help you to get to Malindi. You can count me right out. In fact, I’ll do everything I can to prevent you.”
    “That’s up to you,” Conway said. “I dare say Kastella and I can manage.”
    “You’ll actually work with him!”
    “Why not? We’re on the same side. Both out for ourselves!”
    “I think you’re utterly contemptible!”
    “Perhaps. At least I’m frank.”
    Leanda jumped up, her eyes blazing. She looked around the cockpit. Suddenly, without any warning, she snatched up the seven-pound lead from its place under the coaming and brought it crashing down with all her strength on the compass at Conway ’s feet. Before he could make any move, the damage was done. The glass top was crushed in