The Quest of Julian Day Read Online Free Page B

decided to accompany Sir Walter on the trip.
    This I gathered from half-confidences and hints, mainly dropped by Harry after we had had a few drinks together on numerous occasions in the bar. Although the business seemed a very harmless type of illegality, they would have got into considerable trouble if the Egyptian Government had found out their intentions, hence their secrecy, and I was still completely ignorant of the details of their plans when we reached Marseilles.
    I spent the afternoon in my cabin while the swarm of passengers came on board, but O’Kieff duly joined the ship there and I saw him that night at dinner. He had not changed much in the last eighteen months except that he was a trifle greyer and his sharp features looked more than ever as if they had been chiselled out of granite.
    Owing to the influx of new passengers, Sir Walter had very kindly asked me to join his table, as otherwise I should have had a lot of strangers put at the one where I had previously been sitting; and the new arrangement quite naturally resulted in my becoming more intimate than ever with him and the Belvilles.
    O’Kieff was travelling alone, except for his valet, but he soon gathered a little crowd of acquaintances about him; which was hardly to be wondered at owing to his wealth and the brilliance of his conversation. I kept out of his way as far as possible and, although we passed quite close to each other on several occasions, he never showed the least sign of recognition.
    I realised, though, that by sitting still I should never be able to find out what nefarious business was taking him to Egypt, so on the second night out from Marseilles I waited until he was safely ensconced in the bar, after dinner, with his new acquaintances, and then proceeded to pay a clandestine visit to his cabin.
    Altogether I was there for about half an hour and managed to run through most of his baggage, I did not find anything of the least importance. The reason for that was a simple one. Under his bed he had a flat, leather-covered, steel despatch box; it was obvious that he kept all his private papers in that and, of course, I had no means of opening it.
    On the following night Sir Walter began to sound me about my plans in Egypt. Apparently his principal male assistant had had the misfortune to meet with an accident about ten days before the ‘Hampshire’ had sailed and, although his daughter Sylvia could give him all the help he required on the technical side, Harry could not speak a word of Arabic so the old man was badly in need of someone capable of helping him to deal with his Arab labour.
    The Belvilles, who were present, gave it away that the three of them had been discussing the matter for some days and feltthat I was just the man for the job. Sir Walter was, in fact, so keen that I should take it on, once the cat was out of the bag, that, rather ingenuously I thought, he produced a photograph of his daughter. He said it had occurred to him that I might like to see the only other member of his party, but obviously it was really shown me because he was extremely proud of her good looks and felt certain they would act as bait to any presumably unattached young man. The fair-haired, oval head which looked up at me from the photograph showed beyond question that Sylvia Shane was a remarkably beautiful girl.
    â€˜Her hair is ash-blonde, her eyes are blue and she’s about eighteen months younger than I am,’ said Clarissa with a mischievous little smile; and if I had needed any inducement to join their party, the company of Sylvia Shane certainly provided it.
    Had the offer come a few weeks earlier I should positively have jumped at it, but my decision to try to find out what O’Kieff was up to complicated matters considerably; so for the moment I hedged:
    â€˜It’s very flattering of you to want me, and in the ordinary way nothing would please me better than to join you. But I’ve got some business to