Free The Man who Missed the War by Dennis Wheatley Page A

call from a Mr. Eric Eiderman, which resulted in his making an appointment to call at Mr. Eiderman’s down-town office the following morning.
    When he arrived he was shown in straight away, and a tall, thin, fair-haired man, who was seated behind a handsome desk, stood up to greet him.
    ‘Glad to know you, Mr. Vaudell. Sit right down and tell me all about this new idea of yours.’
    Philip gave him a friendly smile. ‘When we spoke on the telephone I gathered that you’d read O’Dowd’s article, so there doesn’t seem much more to tell. My first convoy will consist of ten rafts, each of which will carry approximately three hundred tons of cargo and I propose to sail early in August. For my second trip I hope to have rafts four times that size and many more of them; and I should be happy to give anyone who takes space in the first convoy refusal of similar space in the second at the same rates, although to other people they will be considerably higher.’
    ‘If there ever is a second convoy,’ Mr. Eiderman remarked with a flash of even teeth. ‘If you don’t mind my saying so, Mr. Vaudell, you’re a much younger man than I expected. Well, I’ve got nothing against youth, but you won’t mind my asking about the folks who sent you over here. Would any of your principals be directors of other shipping companies?’
    It was a nasty one but Philip faced it squarely. ‘No, this is anentirely independent venture. My only partner died a few months ago, and I formed a small company, which I’ve called Raft Convoys Limited, out of the bulk of the money he left me.’
    ‘Indeed. Then you are quite alone. How interesting! But, as no one has ever done what you propose to do before, how about insurance? No firm would be prepared to take such a risk unless the goods were fully covered.’
    ‘I quite appreciate that and I got a quotation from Lloyd’s before I left London. Naturally, it is prohibitive, but once a Raft Convoy has crossed the Atlantic successfully it will come down to quite a reasonable price. In the meantime, for this first trip I do not intend to accept any but the least valuable types of cargo, as I should then be able to pay the premium on them myself and thus cover the owners against loss.’
    ‘I get you, Mr. Vaudell. You’re prepared to make a loss on your first trip and count that as part of your initial expenses. I’ll say that’s a sound decision, although insurance money doesn’t compensate for annoyance to customers through loss of goods, you know. However, maybe we could do business on the lines you mention. As you may have gathered, we’re General Merchants. Most of our trade is with Norway, and the firm owns three lines that run under the Norwegian flag. Still, that’s neither here nor there. My job is to ship goods to Europe the cheapest way, and your scheme certainly opens up mighty big possibilities. If I help you to get going, what would you say to giving me an option on a percentage of your cargo space in all your future convoys at a rate to be fixed now?’
    ‘I’d have to consider that,’ Philip hedged. He felt that Mr. Eiderman’s inquiry was only the first of many which might result from Jeff O’Dowd’s article, and he did not want to sell too much space in advance at a cut rate.
    ‘Well, what about lunching with me tomorrow? You could think it over in the meantime and let me know then.’
    ‘That’s very kind of you but I’m booked up tomorrow,’ Philip lied, wishing to gain more time for other inquiries that might come in.
    Eiderman consulted a little book. ‘How about next Thursday?’
    ‘That would be fine,’ Philip agreed.
    ‘O.K. then. Call for me here round one o’clock and we’ll feedat the Norwegian Club. Meantime, I’ll go into the question of what bulk cargoes we’ll be having for delivery in Europe this fall. I’m certainly glad to have met you, Mr. Vaudell. Yours is a very interesting proposition.’ The tall, lean, Nordic-looking American stood