The colour came and went in his face as he thought out the meaning of
what his employer had just said. At length he answered: "I owe you many
thanks, sir. What do you want me to do?"

"Understand this: £300 a year is your starting salary. If I find you
after trial to be the man I think you are, you can look forward to
bigger money.... Now my point lies here; Mr Matheson was engaged with me
in a large-scale enterprise. Alive, he would have been useful to me. I
intend to keep him alive!"




CHAPTER V

THE FIRST MOVE IN THE GAME


At the great Leadenhall Street office of the shipowner, an office which
bore outside the simple sign--ostentatious in its simplicity--of "Lars
Larssen--Shipping," Arthur Dean had looked upon his employer from afar
as some demi-god raised above other business men by mysterious gifts
from heaven. A modern Midas with the power of turning what he touched to
gold.

Now he was granted an intimate glimpse into the workings of his
employer's mind that came to him as a positive revelation. Larssen's
were no mysterious powers, but the powers that every man possessed
worked at white heat and with an extraordinary swiftness and exactitude.
The revelation did not sweep away the glamour; on the contrary, it