"Sumatra is a Dutch colony, as you doubtless know. The Dutch officials lack the energy of their fellow-countrymen at home and the consequence is that the whole of the Dutch East Indies stagnates. For years past the Germans have had an eye on those islands, but my belief is that Japan will be the future master of them. Possibly that accounts for numbers of Germans who settle in Sumatra and Java. "Personally I rather like the German, when free from the excessive officialdom that pervades in the German Empire. They are good colonists, hard-working and law-abiding, in every foreign possession save their own, for in the latter the blighting effect of the be-uniformed official is fatal to individual success. We got on very well with our neighbours on the adjoining concessions, with one exception. That exception was a German named Karl von Harburg." Captain Restronguet paused as if he feared that the growing excitability would overmaster him. He was evidently labouring under a strong recollection of bygone insults. Hythe had the sense to keep silence, he realized that the listener is the one who hears most. "But before I say anything more about Karl von Harburg," continued the Captain, "I must mention another incident. The concession I had acquired paid beyond all expectations, for not only were copper and tin found in abundance but also gold. We were all rich men. Some of my workmen went back to Redruth; others, having no home ties, and liking the free open life, stayed on. Since I was naturally fond of electrical engineering and the allied sciences, I spent a great deal of my time experimenting. One day, almost by accident, I discovered an alloy--as light as aluminium, absolutely showing no traces of corrosion when exposed to the action of salt water, as proof against acids as pure gold, and possessing the strength and resilience of steel. It was also as non-porous as a metal can possibly be. Under pressure that would cause water to ’weep’ through a steel vessel, a cylinder made of this metal showed no sign of moisture. I realized that I had made a discovery that would prove of inestimable value in the construction of air-ships, and as at that time the Admiralty were ’tied up in knots’ over the utter failure of the naval airship ’Mayfly,’ I sent a sheet of the metal to a trusted agent in London with instructions to submit it to My Lords. "Believe me from that day to this, beyond a curt acknowledgment and a bald statement that the subject was under consideration, I have heard nothing further of the matter. I was angry--disgusted because the powers that be had bluntly shut their eyes to an actual discovery that would give Great Britain the command of the air.