"The war!" he said tragically, "you can imagine what it has been like. All those girls waiting for music-hall engagements and impossible to ship them owing to the fleets. I must have lost thousands of pounds." "The demand hasn't slackened off, eh?" asked the colonel, and the Greek smiled. "South America is full of money. They have millions--billions. Almost every other man is a millionaire. The music-halls have patrons but no talent." The colonel smiled grimly. "There's a girl in London of exceptional ability," he said. "She has appeared in a music-hall here, and she's as beautiful as a dream." "English?" asked the Greek eagerly. "Irish, which is better," said the other; "as pretty as a picture, I tell you. The men will rave about her." The Greek looked puzzled. "Does she want to go?" he asked. The colonel snarled round at him: "Do you think I should come and ask you to book her passage if she wanted to go?" he demanded. "Of course she doesn't want to go, and she doesn't know she's going. But I want her out of the way, you understand?" Mr. Phillopolis pulled a long face. "To take her from England?" "From London," said the colonel. The Greek shook his head. "It is impossible," he said; "passports are required and unless she was willing to go it would be impossible to take her. You can't kidnap a girl and rush her out of the country except in storybooks, colonel." Boundary interrupted him impatiently. "Don't you think I know that?" he asked; "your job is, when she's in a fit state of mind, to take her across and put her somewhere where she's not coming back for a long time. Do you understand?" "I understand that part of it very well," said the Greek. "I'm not to be mixed up in it," said Boundary. "The only thing I can promise you is that she'll go quietly. I'll have her passports fixed. She'll be travelling for her health--you understand? When you get to South America I want you to take her into the interior of the country. You're not to leave her in the music-halls in one of the coast towns where English and American tourists are likely to see her." "But how are you going to----" "That's my business," said the colonel. "You understand what you have to do. I'll send you the date you leave and I'll pay her passage and yours. For any out-of-pocket expenses you can send the bill to me, you understand?" Obviously it was not a job to the liking of Phillopolis, but he had good reason to fear the colonel and acquiesced with a nod. Boundary went back to where he had left Pinto and found the Portuguese biting his finger-nails--a favourite spare-time occupation of his. "Did you fix it?" he asked in a low voice. "Of course, I fixed it," said the colonel sharply. "I'm not going to have anything to do with it," said the other, and the colonel smiled. "Maybe you'll change your mind," he said significantly. There was a knock at the door and the colonel himself answered it. He took the card from the servant's hand and read: