Valentine Williams

“ As we turned to run alongside, I found myself wondering what manner of man this Sir Alexander Garth was. Was he a wealthy industrialist of pre-war England, or merely one of the new rich? If the latter, he would be less easy to handle than the former, I reflected:—besides, I reckoned, a war profiteer would not wear well on a long cruise to the South Seas! The next moment I stood on the deck of the Naomi in the modulated light which penetrated through the green-and-white awning. ”

“ It was a morning on which one was glad to be alive. The champagne-like quality of the air sent a zest for action thrilling through my veins. The world seemed very fair, and, as I crossed the market-place, I pau-sed an instant to gaze with utter satisfaction on that brilliant mass of colour, the scarlet umbrellas of the stalls, the countrywomen with their heads enveloped in kerchiefs of flaming hues, the bold reds and greens and yellows of the masses of fruit and vegetables set forth in magnificent profusion for sale. ”

“ With the empressement of the exiled Briton, to whom the vision of a fresh young English girl is as the first violets of spring or the fragrance of the forest after summer rain, I took the slim cool hand she offered me.
“The steward,” I said, “has gone to tell him!”
“I'm afraid,” she went on, scrutinizing me dispassionately after the manner of the modern young girl, “that you're in for a very slow time. There's nobody but just Daddy and me. ”

“ At the sound of my entrance, Sir Alexander Garth looked up from his egg. As he stood up to greet me, I saw he was a tall, heavily built man in the fifties with a heavy iron-grey moustache. He had about him an air I have noticed in other prosperous business people—a sort of “moneyed manner” which reveals itself in a great deal of self-confidence with just a touch of parade. The hard grey eyes and the firm chin denoted the man of action ”

“ I noticed one unusually striking figure, a stunted negro with a pock-marked face who wore a gaudy yellow handkerchief bound about his head and heavy gold rings in his ears. I observed this sportsman looking hard at me and was a little nonplussed to see him apparently draw the attention of the man at his side to me. The negro's companion was a swarthy, lissom young fellow with handsome features and a pair of bold black eyes. The negro nudged him and broke into a torrent of words. ”

“ I said “Oh, rather!” or something equally idiotic and followed the steward out. As I passed the girl, she leant forward and whispered:
“Mind you stand up to him!”
As we crossed the blinding sunshine of the deck and went down a companionway, Parsons confided to me that the owner was at breakfast. My heart sank rather. It is poor tactics to ask a man for favours before noon. ”

“ The big man smiled and crinkled his face into a thousand fresh creases.
“Aye,” he replied. “That I can! She's lying about a hundred yards off the Customs House jetty—a white craft flying the Thames Yacht Club burgee. You can't mistake her! Do you know anybody aboard?”
“Not exactly,” said I. “But I wanted to call on Sir Alexander Garth, the owner.”
“Then you come right along with me,” placidly observed the big man. “I'm the captain of the Naomi—I sail her for Sir Alexander. I've got our mail here and I'm going straight back on board. I left the launch at the steps! ”