In addition, he had reported in person, as he was required to do every few weeks, to the Organization’s regional office at Tangier. Apart from these trips to the coast, he had lived a solitary life. At El Attara, where the Organization had provided him with a comfortable house, he dealt with the local farmers and landowners, who were cheerful and polite, and with the local officials—who, though less cheerful, treated him well. He kept two servants and a gardener for the overgrown terraces that surrounded his little house. In the evenings he strolled in the medina and drank mint tea in the café, or he stayed at home studying Arabic by an oil lamp. He wore the djellabah—in summer a white one, in winter one of rough brown wool. He learned to walk as the Arabs do, with a long stride designed to cover many miles, and to ride sideways on a donkey when necessary. He drove his jeep to his work in the hills, and sometimes camped at the planting sites for days at a time. At the beginning he was appallingly lonely, and for the first two months crossed off the single days on a Pan American calendar he had tacked up on his bedroom wall. But he was accustomed to an independent, outdoor existence and gradually became absorbed in his work and in the simple life of the town. The silence in the hills, the peace and variety of the countryside pleased him immensely. During his obligatory trips to Tangier, he swam in the ocean, ate French food, bought books and toothpaste, and took out an enigmatic girl named Ivy Vance who worked at the Australian Consulate. When Ivy Vance’s tour of duty presently came to an end and she was posted to Manila, Flinders began to postpone even these short trips away from his work.

By the time his mission was over, he had completed not only his own assignment but also that of two other experts, once promised him as assistants, who had never materialized. No mention of this appeared in the communications he received from Mr. Addison; nor did Flinders expect or wish for any. Flinders had no complaint. His salary checks, having been afflicted by some early confusion, were arriving regularly by the second year of his stay: there was nothing to spend money on at El Attara and he saved a useful sum. Also toward the end of his mission he received full instructions for his return journey, and a large envelope containing a Briefing Kit that outlined the work for which he had been engaged and that had been omitted at the outset. Otherwise, all had gone smoothly. Mr. Addison had replied to his letters with reasonable punctuality—five weeks having been the maximum delay—and had run up a creditable score of answers to questions asked. Flinders had no complaint.