"And six months leave in England on full pay every two years, with free passage out and back," added the Head Commissioner, as an extra inducement—a bait that had often beforetimes turned the scale.
"Thanks awfully, sir," said Peter, "but I'd like to have some time to think things over."
"Certainly," agreed the official, but at the same time he felt rather disappointed. He had been fully prepared to find that Mostyn would jump at the tempting offer. According to what he had heard, Mostyn was a man of action. It rather puzzled him that the Wireless Officer should hesitate to close with the offer of a rattling good post. "Take a day to think things over and then let me know."
As soon as the interview was at an end Peter hurried round to consult his older and, perhaps, more experienced chum Preston.
He found the Acting Chief sitting in a deck-chair under the veranda of the club-house. Preston, like Mahmed, was making a rapid recovery, and already he was able to walk for a few yards with the aid of a stick.
"You silly young blighter!" he exclaimed, when Peter told him of his interview with the Head Commissioner. "Why on earth didn't you jump at it? The pay they're offering you is equal to a cool £800 a year at home, to say nothing of extras chucked in. By Jove! If it had been me—— I suppose there aren't any more plums knocking around for a has-been shellback of forty like me?"
"I didn't jump at it, old man," replied Peter slowly. "I couldn't."
"Why not?"
"On Miss Baird's account," explained Mostyn. "You know I promised to see her safely back to England, and I simply couldn't go back on my word."
Preston grunted.