“Dreadful things like what?”
She seemed reluctant to explain, but he pressed her.
“Well, he told me that he used to take expeditions in the bush and raid the villages, carrying off girls. There is one tribe that have very beautiful women. Perhaps he was lying about that too, but I have an idea that he spoke the truth. He told me that only a year ago, when he was in Borneo, he ‘lifted’ a girl from a wild village where it was death for a European to go. He always said ‘lifted.’ ”
“And didn’t you mind these confessions?” asked Michael, his steely eye upon her.
She shrugged her shoulders.
“He was that kind of man,” was all she said, and it spoke volumes for her understanding of her “very good friend.”
Michael walked back to Jack Knebworth’s house.
“The story Penne tells seems to fit tog
