“There is something very special about the first time in doing anything.”

“That’s so. I wonder what the other ship will be like?”

“Not as big as this one and less comfortable, I imagine. The Golden Dawn which will take us to Cato Cato may be similar, though much smaller. And I have had some experience of ferries. They are not so good.”

“You must have done a great deal of travelling in your business.”

“To outlandish places, yes. Your father, too.”

I hesitated. Then I decided I should tell him, for he would know in due course as he was bound for Casker’s Island.

I said: “I have never seen my father. He left home when I was too young to remember. He and my mother were divorced. She died some time ago and I live with my aunt. Now I am going to see him.”

He nodded gravely and we were silent for a while.

Then he said: “I dare say you are wondering what my business is. I am a missionary.”

I was astonished, and he laughed.

“You feel a little shocked?”

-Shocked? Why should I be? “

“People sometimes are. I think I look like an ordinary man going about an ordinary business. They don’t expect me to be what I am.”

“I suppose it is very laudable.”

“I see it as my destiny-as it were.”

“So you go to these far-off places.”

“To bring people to the Christian faith. We have a mission in Casker’s Island. There are only two people there a brother and sister, John and Muriel Havers. They have recently set it up and are having difficulties. I am going out there to help get things in order if I can. I did this in another place … and now I am going out to this one to try to do the same.”

“It must be very gratifying if you are successful.”

“Everything is gratifying if one is successful.”

“But this particularly so.”

“We try to help the people in every way. We teach them hygiene, how to grow crops suitable to the land-well, to lead good and useful lives in general. We are hoping to set up a school.”

“And the natives are friendly?”

“Usually, although they can be a little suspicious at times. That’s very understandable. We want to show them the Christian way of life -how to forgive their enemies and love one another.”

He began to talk of his plans and his ideals. I liked his zeal.

“I am very fortunate,” he said.

“I am able to do the work I want to do. My father left me a small income, so I am more or less free. This is the way of life I have chosen.”

“You are fortunate to know what you want to do with your life,” I said.

“And you and Mrs. Marchmont?”

“Well… there was trouble at home and we thought this would help.”

“I knew there was sadness there-even for Mrs. Marchmont.”

He waited, but I did not tell him more, and shortly after that I left him.

I found Tamarisk in the cabin waiting to go out.

I said: “I’ve just had a talk with Luke Armour. He told me he is a missionary.”

“What?”

“A missionary who is going to work on Casker’s Island.”

“You mean convert the natives?”

“Something like that.”

She grimaced.

“Do you know, after the way he retrieved my hat, I thought we were going to have some fun with him.”

“Perhaps we shall.”

“I had no idea,” she said.

“I thought he was just an ordinary man. I think I shall call him St. Luke.”

“That seems, shall we say, a little blasphemous.”

“But a missionary!” she murmured under her breath.

She was disappointed.

The days were passing. We had slipped into a routine and one day was very like another until we came into port; and then there would be times of activity during which we would be absorbed by new impressions in a world that seemed very far away from Harper’s Green.

My friendship with Luke Armour was growing. He was charming and a diverting companion. He told amusing stories of the places he had visited and rarely spoke, unless pressed, of his dedicated calling. He told me once that when people discovered it they were inclined to change towards him, sometimes avoiding him, at others expecting him to preach to them. He had noticed that Mrs. Marchmont’s attitude seemed different since she had known.

Tamarisk had certainly been a little taken aback. She had been so delighted by the manner in which he had rescued her hat from the ape. She had said to me that it was an interesting way to begin a friendship and she had thought there might be fun in developing the acquaintance, particularly as he was going to Casker’s Island. I was amazed that, after her recent experiences, she could contemplate a somewhat flirtatious relationship, for I was sure she was wondering how there could be such with a missionary.

I thought then: All that has happened to her has not changed her.

The Dunstans left us at Bombay. We said goodbye to them with some regrets on both sides, I think. They had been good friends to us and helped us considerably by initiating us into the ways of shipboard life.

After they left Tamarisk and I went ashore with a party of acquaintances. We were struck by the beauty of many of the buildings and appalled by the poverty we witnessed. There were beggars everywhere. We wanted to give but it was beyond our means to help all those who crowded around us; and I felt I should be haunted for a long time by those pleading dark eyes. The women in their beautifully coloured saris and the well-dressed men seemed indifferent to the plight of the beggars; and the contrast between wealth and poverty was both distressing and depressing.

We had an adventure in Bombay which might have been disastrous. The Dunstans had impressed on us that it was always unwise to go ashore without ship companions and we should never go alone. We were passing with our party through narrow streets in which stalls had been set up.

Such places always caught the attention of Tamarisk. I must say the goods looked intriguing. There were displays of silver articles and said lengths beautifully embroidered, trinkets and all kinds of leather items.

Tamarisk was interested in some silver bangles.

She picked some up and tried them on and after that decided she must have them. There was some difficulty about the money and by the time the transaction was completed we found that the rest of the party were out of sight.

I seized Tamarisk’s arm and cried: “The others have gone. We must find them at once.”

“Why?” said Tamarisk.

“We can get some conveyance to take us back to the ship just as easily as they can.”

We started along the streets. We had been with a Mrs. Jennings who had once lived in Bombay and knew the place well. She had taken charge of us all; and now that we had lost sight of the party, I could not help feeling apprehensive.

There were crowds everywhere and it was not easy to make our way through the press of people. When we reached the end of the street I could not see any of our party. I looked round in dismay, for nor was there any sign of a vehicle which might take us back to the ship.

A small boy ran into me. I was startled. Another dashed by. When they had disappeared, I saw that the small bag in which I was carrying our money was no longer on my arm.

I cried: “They have stolen our money. Look at the time! The ship will leave in just over an hour and we were asked to be on board half an hour before she sailed.”

We were both panic-stricken now. We were in an unknown country with no money; we were some way from the ship and had no idea how to get back to it.

I asked one or two people the way to the dock. They looked at me blankly. They had no idea what I was talking about. Desperately I searched for a European face.

Possibilities flashed into my mind. What should we do? We were in a desperate situation and all because we had been absorbed in Tamarisk’s purchase.

We went up another street. There was a wider road ahead of us.

I said: “We have to try this.”

“We didn’t come this way,” replied Tamarisk.

“There must be someone who can tell us the way to the docks.”

And just at that moment I saw him.

I cried out: “Mr. Armour!”

He came hurrying towards us.

“I met Mrs. Jennings,” he said.

“She told me you’d strayed in the market there. I said I’d come and look for you.”

“We lost our money,” said Tamarisk in great relief.

“Some horrid boys stole it.”

“It’s unwise to be on your own.”

“Oh, how glad I am to see you!” cried Tamarisk.

“Aren’t you, Fred?”

“I can’t tell you how glad! I was getting more and more terrified every moment.”

“Afraid we’d sail without you? Which would have happened, of course.”

“You are our saviour, Mr. Armour,” said Tamarisk. She took his arm and smiled up at him.

“Now you will get us back to the ship, I know.”

He said: “We shall have to walk a little and then we can get a ride.

There’s nothing just here. But we are not so very far from the docks.”

My relief was immense. The prospect of being left alone in this place had daunted us both; and now here was our rescuer suddenly coming upon us with the news that he had come to look for us.

“How did you find us so soon?” asked Tamarisk.

“Mrs. Jennings said they had lost you in the market. I knew the place and guessed you’d come out where you did from Mrs. Jennings’s description. I thought it best to hang about there for a few minutes.

And you see, it worked. “

“It is the second time you have come to my aid,” Tamarisk reminded him.