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little, so he ran through it again and pronounced himself satisfied. Then he turned in at 1.00 am.

    The meeting was in session when Wallace arrived at the Convention Centre, this was the morning session and there would then be lunch followed by his own presentation. There was a separate room allocated for visiting performers, there had been a Chinese comedian at dinner the previous evening. Wallace was somewhat intrigued to know what direction the humour of a Chinese comedian would take, and resolved to ask Laurie later.
    Wallace was placed between the President and the Past-President, and had to agree with Laurie that the latter would definitely have been associated with the original edition of the offending cartoon and was thankful he had altered it.
    â€˜I gather that there are some problems within the insurance profession,’ Wallace said to the President as a conversation starter.
    â€˜Yes, we are presently having difficulties, in Victoria in particular, with the collapse of a large insurer,’ said the President. ‘They had been undercutting for years which affected all of us as we had to cut rates to obtain new business or save some business connections, now they have gone we have a period of adjustment. We’ve also had severe bush fires that encroached upon some suburban areas last year. There are other factors of course.’
    â€˜I heard about an insurer that collapsed when somebody embezzled most of its funds.’
    The President nodded.
    â€˜There was also the case of another UK company where someone bought the Australian branch but it collapsed shortly afterwards. Both of these discrepancies occurred some years ago now. Regrettably there have been other cases, they have not helped the industry at all.’
    The conversation moved onto Wallace’s presentation, he was feeling nervous, as he usually did prior to a presentation, and began to perspire. The screen was not in view but was behind the curtain on the stage. The overhead projector was in sight and – as at 8.00 am – worked all right. He checked in his pockets for the spare light globes, they were still there.
    There were many faces in the audience that were clearly from the local scene, and some that were from Indonesia and the Philippines. Wallace was not sure whether these countries had private insurance industries or whether the business was run by the state so he asked the question.
    When the meal was finished and the coffee cups were in evidence, the President rose to his feet.
    â€˜Could we ask you to vacate the room, gentlemen and re-convene at 2.30? This will give time for the furniture to be shuffled around and the room prepared for the presentation to be delivered by Mr Wallace.’

    As Wallace entered the bar of the hotel later that night he felt as if he were walking on air. After the presentation people had come up to shake him by the hand and congratulate him upon a job well done. As he stood at the bar, and later when seated at a table quaffing drinks with Laurie Frazer, Dick Prowse and others, people sought him out and made kind remarks about the delivery and presentation.
    Everything had gone well and in the main the jokes had gone down well – apart from one which he had hastily slurred over when it was clear that laughter was not forthcoming. This happened in most presentations, that joke or aside that had brought the house down the last time could fall like a lead balloon the next. As the French would say, spreading their hands out in Gallic resignation: – c’est la vie!
    Wallace was royally entertained until late that night, when he finally turned in he slept the sleep of satisfaction that is only born of a task well done.

    It was hot and sultry when Wallace disembarked at Jakarta, even hotter than it had been in Singapore. He decided to take a taxi to the hotel. If ASIO or ASIS was going to hire his services then they could pay for the privilege. He was beginning to entertain