'That's not the way to get good work out of a man,' I told him. He didn't reply for a moment. He just sat there staring at me. Those eyes of his — they worried me. Most people, when you look them in the eye — you feel in touch with them, you can see their mood even if you can't see what they're thinking. But not with Manack. His eyes told me nothing. I've seen it in animals, particularly dogs. Often as not when you can't trust a dog his eyes have a wild look, they shut you out — you can't see what he's feeling. That's the way Manack's eyes looked.
'Listen,' he said suddenly. 'You come here without a friend in the world. You're broke and the world's against you. Do this job and you get your hundred and forty-five quid back plus a further fifty. Not only that, but I'll fix you a passage anywhere you want to go.'
'And if I say No?'
He nodded to the phone on the desk. 'Then I'll ring the police.'
'Isn't that a bit risky for you?' I asked.
But it's no use trying to scare a man like Manack. 'I don't think so,' he said. 'I'm pretty well known around this end of Cornwall. I've made it my business to be. At worst I'd have to lay off a shipment or two. But you stand a chance of hanging with the evidence that would pile up against you.'
'You mean I'd be accused of having a hand in the revenue cutter business?' I felt a surge of anger at the injustice of it. But it was swamped by my sense of helplessness. What could I do about it? What the hell could I do?
He nodded his head slowly like a doctor agreeing with his patient's worst fears. 'Well, O'Donnel, what do you say?' I thought I detected a derisive emphasis on the name of O'Donnel.
I shrugged my shoulders. Damn it, why wasn't I dressed? Perhaps if I'd been dressed I'd have had the guts to call his bluff and walk out of the place. But one glance at his face told me it wasn't bluff. It wasn't that his features looked fierce or cruel, it was just that it was a tense, reckless face. The man would do what he said. 'How long will the job take?' I asked.
'Not being a miner I wouldn't know,' he replied. 'It might take a week, maybe two. My offer is twenty pounds a week and a fifty-pound bonus on completion of the job. And all free of income tax.' He smiled. It would have been a friendly, pleasant smile but for those eyes.