"Ah, a good book!" He inclined against the rail and stared down at the
muddy water. "Adventure?" He frowned a little. "I'm afraid mine
wouldn't read like adventures. There's no glory in being a stevedore
on the docks at Hongkong, a stoker on a tramp steamer between Singapore
and the Andaman Islands. What haven't I been in these ten years?" with
a shrug. "Can you fancy me a deck-steward on a P. & O. boat, tucking
old ladies in their chairs, staggering about with a tray of
broth-bowls, helping the unsteady to their staterooms, and touching my
cap at the end of the voyage for a few shillings in tips?"

"You are bitter."

"Bitter? I ought not to be, with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket."

"Tell me more."

He looked into her beautiful face, animated by genuine interest, and
wondered if all men were willing so readily to obey her.

"It always interests me to hear from the man's own lips how he overcame
obstacles."

"Sometimes I didn't overcome them. I ran away. After all, the strike
in oil was a fluke."

"I don't think so. But go on," she prompted.

"Well, I've been manager of a cocoanut plantation in Penang; I've
helped lay tracks in Upper India; had a hand in some bridges; sold