“HeavenknowswhereIhaven’tbeen。Andhere’souronlychance——andyougiveittothatadventurouslunatictoplayinhisownway——inabrig！”
“Well，youhadavoice——“
“IwishI’dbeeninthisbefore。WeoughttohaverunoutasteamertoLagosoroneofthoseWestCoastplacesanddoneitfromthere。Fancyabriginthechannelatthistimeofyear，ifitblowssouthwest！”
“Idessayyou’dhaveshovedit，George。Stillyouknow，George。Ibelieveinhim。”
“Yes。”Isaid。“Yes，Ibelieveinhim，too。Inaway。Still——“
Wetookupatelegramthatwaslyingonhisdeskandopenedit。
Hisfacebecamealividyellow。Heputtheflimsypaperdownwithaslow，reluctantmovementandtookoffhisglasses。
“George。”hesaid，“theluck’sagainstus。”
“What？”
Hegrimacedwithhismouth——inthequeerestwayatthetelegram。
“That。”
Itookitupandread：
“Motorsmashcompoundfractureoftheleggordonnasmythwhatpricemordetnow“
Foramomentneitherofusspoke。
“That’sallright。”Isaidatlast。
“Eh？”saidmyuncle。
“I’Mgoing。I’llgetthatquaporbust。”
IhadaridiculouspersuasionthatIwas“savingthesituation。”
“I’mgoing。”Isaidquiteconsciouslyanddramatically。Isawthewholeaffair——howshallIputit？——inAmericancolours。
Isatdownbesidehim。“Givemeallthedatayou’vegot。”I
said，“andI’llpullthisthingoff。”
“Butnobodyknowsexactlywhere——“
“Nasmythdoes，andhe’lltellme。”
“He’sbeenveryclose。”saidmyuncle，andregardedme。
“He’lltellmeallright，nowhe’ssmashed。”
Hethought。“Ibelievehewill。”
“George。”hesaid，“ifyoupullthisthingoff——Onceortwicebeforeyou’vesteppedin——withthatsortofWooshofyours——“
Heleftthesentenceunfinished。
“Givemethatnote-book。”Isaid，“andtellmeallyouknow。
Where’stheship？Where’sPollack？Andwhere’sthattelegramfrom？Ifthatquap’stobegot，I’llgetitorbust。Ifyou’llholdonhereuntilIgetbackwithit。”。
AndsoitwasIjumpedintothewildestadventureofmylife。
Irequisitionedmyuncle’sbestcarforthwith。IwentdownthatnighttotheplaceofdespatchnamedonNasmyth’stelegram，BamptonS。O。Oxon，routedhimoutwithalittletroublefromthatcentre，madethingsrightwithhimandgothisexplicitdirections；andIwasinspectingtheMaudMarywithyoungPollack，hiscousinandaide，thefollowingafternoon。Shewasratherashocktomeandnotatallinmystyle，abeastofabriginuredtothepotatotrade，andshereekedfromendtoendwiththefaint，subtlesmellofrawpotatoessothatitprevailedevenoverthetemporarysmellofnewpaint。Shewasabeastofabrig，allholdanddirtyframework，andtheyhadballastedherwitholdironandoldrailsandironsleepers，andgotamiscellaneouslotofspadesandironwheelbarrowsagainsttheloadingofthequap。IthoughtheroverwithPollack，oneofthosetallblondyoungmenwhosmokepipesanddon’thelpmuch，andthenbymyself，andasaresultIdidmybesttosweepGravesendcleanofwheelingplanks，andgotinasmuchcordandsmallropeasIcouldforlashing。Ihadanideawemightneedtorunupajetty。Inadditiontomuchballastsheheld，remotelyhiddeninasortofinadvertentwayacertainnumberofambiguouscaseswhichIdidn’texamine，butwhichIgatheredwereaprovisionagainsttheneedofatrade。
Thecaptainwasamostextraordinarycreature，undertheimpressionwewereaftercopperore；hewasaRoumanianJew，withtwitching，excitablefeatures，whohadmadehiswaytoacertificateaftersomepreliminarynavalexperiencesintheBlackSea。ThematewasanEssexmanofimpenetrablereserve。Thecrewwereastoundinglyill-cladanddestituteanddirty；mostofthemyouths，unwashed，outofcolliers。One，thecookwasamulatto；andone，thebest-builtfellowofthemall，wasaBreton。Therewassomesubterfugeaboutourpositiononboard——I
forgettheparticularsnow——IwascalledthesupercargoandPollackwasthesteward。ThisaddedtothepiraticalflavourthatinsufficientfundsandGordon-Nasmyth’soriginalgeniushadalreadygiventheenterprise。
ThosetwodaysofbustleatGravesend，underdingyskies，innarrow，dirtystreets，wereanewexperienceforme。Itislikenothingelseinmylife。IrealisedthatIwasamodernandacivilisedman。Ifoundthefoodfilthyandthecoffeehorrible；
thewholetownstankinmynostrils，thelandlordoftheGoodIntentonthequayhadastand-upquarrelwithusbeforeIcouldgetevenahotbath，andthebedroomIsleptinwasinfestedbyaquantityofexoticbutvoraciousflatparasitescalledlocally“bugs。”inthewalls，inthewoodwork，everywhere。Ifoughtthemwithinsectpowder，andfoundthemcomatoseinthemorning。
Iwasdippingdownintothedingyunderworldofthecontemporarystate，andIlikeditnobetterthanIdidmyfirstdipintoitwhenIstayedwithmyUncleNicodemusFrappatthebakeryatChatham——where，by-the-by，wehadtodealwithcockroachesofasmaller，darkervariety，andalsowithbugsofsorts。
LetmeconfessthatthroughallthistimebeforewestartedIwasimmenselyself-conscious，andthatBeatriceplayedthepartofaudienceinmyimaginationthroughout。Iwas，asIsay，“savingthesituation。”andIwasacutelyawareofthat。Theeveningbeforewesailed，insteadofrevisingourmedicine-chestasI
hadintended，ItookthecarandranacrosscountrytoLadyGrovetotellmyauntofthejourneyIwasmaking，dress，andastonishLadyOspreybyanafterdinnercall。
Thetwoladieswereathomeandalonebesideabigfirethatseemedwonderfullycheerfulafterthewinternight。Iremembertheeffectofthelittleparlourinwhichtheysatasverybrightanddomestic。LadyOsprey，inacostumeofmauveandlace，satonachintzsofaandplayedanelaboratelyspread-outpatiencebythelightofatallshadedlamp；Beatrice，inawhitenessthatshowedherthroat，smokedacigaretteinanarmchairandreadwithalampatherelbow。Theroomwaswhite-panelledandchintz-curtained。Aboutthosetwobrightcentresoflightwerewarmdarkshadow，inwhichacircularmirrorshonelikeapoolofbrownwater。Icarriedoffmyraidbybehavinglikeaslaveofetiquette。ThereweremomentswhenIthinkIreallymadeLadyOspreybelievethatmycallwasanunavoidablenecessity，thatitwouldhavebeennegligentofmenottocalljusthowandwhenIdid。Butatthebestthoseweretransitorymoments。
Theyreceivedmewithdisciplinedamazement。LadyOspreywasinterestedinmyfaceandscrutinisedthescar。Beatricestoodbehindhersolicitude。Oureyesmet，andinhersIcouldseestartledinterrogations。
“I’mgoing。”Isaid，“tothewestcoastofAfrica。”
Theyaskedquestions，butitsuitedmymoodtobevague。
“We’veintereststhere。ItisurgentIshouldgo。Idon’tknowwhenImayreturn。”
AfterthatIperceivedBeatricesurveyedmesteadily。
Theconversationwasratherdifficult。Iembarkeduponlengthythanksfortheirkindnesstomeaftermyaccident。ItriedtounderstandLadyOsprey’sgameofpatience，butitdidn’tappearthatLadyOspreywasanxiousformetounderstandherpatience。
Icametothevergeoftakingmyleave“Youneedn’tgoyet。”saidBeatrice，abruptly。
Shewalkedacrosstothepiano，tookapileofmusicfromthecabinetnear，surveyedLadyOsprey’sback，andwithagesturetomedroppeditalldeliberatelyontothefloor。
“Musttalk。”shesaid，kneelingclosetomeasIhelpedhertopickitup。“Turnmypages。Atthepiano。”
“Ican’treadmusic。”
“Turnmypages。”
Presentlywewereatthepiano，andBeatricewasplayingwithnoisyinaccuracy。SheglancedoverhershoulderandLadyOspreyhadresumedherpatience。Theoldladywasverypink，andappearedtobeabsorbedinsomeattempttocheatherselfwithoutourobservingit。
“Isn’tWestAfricaavileclimate？”“Areyougoingtolivethere？”“Whyareyougoing？”
