alkis_
when she get to Piraeus--plenty trouble now in Piraeus--and you gotta come
back here. So I pay you six months now. You give me a receipt for six
months' pay."

"What for?" demanded Mr. Spokesly, astonished.

"You understand, easy to cover risks with underwriter, yes. But s'pose I
buy another ship and I got no captain. See?"

Something told Mr. Spokesly, though he did not understand at all, that
money was money. The man was straight anyhow, he thought, taking the
pen. He'd watch that old Rannie didn't try any monkey tricks. Very
decent of him. He signed. He took the money in large, blue and purple
denominations, crisp, crackling, delicious.

"And you don't forget," said Mr. Dainopoulos, turning towards the safe
again. "By and by I'll have some more business, big business, and you'll
get a big piece o' money if you work in with me. When you come back, eh?
Out here, plenty business but nobody honest, to manage." He paused,
looking down at the floor, hampered by his deficient English to explain
what he meant. He was rather moved, too, because he saw, right there in
his own continuing city, opportunities for business undreamed of by the
tall blond officers in their shining brown harness down at headquarters.
He saw buildings going up which would be sold for a song, a floating
dock which might be acquired for a purely nominal sum when the war was
over. He saw jetties and rolling-stock and launches which would be sold
at hurried auctions for knock-down prices, a score at a time. But one
must have somebody one can trust, a partner or a manager. Mr.
Dainopoulos wanted no partners. His temperament was to feel his way
along alone, making sudden rushes at his objective or sitting down to
wait. A partner was of no use to him. But he figured that someone like
Mr. Spokesly would be of great assistance in his business as he planned
it later.

He put his cash-box away, slammed his safe shut, and began to open his
shop for his ostensible business of money-changing.

"Now you get out to the ship as soon as you got your gear," he said,
"and that young feller'll go with you in the boat."

Mr. Spokesly was startled to see how close the _Kalkis_ was in shore,
opposite the house. Without a glass he could see the balcony and the
window within which Mrs. Dainopoulos lay watching the sunlight on the
sea. As he came nearer to the ship, however, sitting in the row boat
with the trembling young Hebrew beside him, he became preoccupied