"Pardon ?" said Inspector Wagstaffe.

402

"I was observing,3' said Hercule Poirot,

"that a world tour seems indicated."

Ill

It was the habit of Hercule Poirot to discuss

his cases with his capable valet, George. That is to say, Hercule Poirot would let drop certain observations to

which George would reply with the worldly

wisdom which he had acquired in the

course of his career as a gentleman's

gentleman.

"If you were faced, Georges," said

Poirot, "with the necessity of conducting

investigations in five different parts of

the globe, how would you set about it ?"

"Well, sir, air travel is very quick, though some say as it upsets the stomach. I couldn't say myself."

"One asks oneself," said Hercule Poirot, "what would Hercules have done ?"

"You mean the bicycle chap, sir ?"

"Or," pursued Hercule Poirot, "one

simply asks, what did he do? And the

answer, Georges, is that he travelled energetically.

But he was forced in the end to

obtain information--as some say --from

Prometheus --others from Nereus."

403

"Indeed, sir?53 said George. cc! never

heard of either of those gentlemen. Are

they travel agencies, sir ?"

Hercule Poirot, enjoying the sound of

his own voice, went on:

"My client, Emery Power, understands

only one thing--action\ But it is useless

to dispense energy by unnecessary action.

There is a golden rule in life, Georges,

never do anything yourself that others can

do for you.

"Especially,3a added Hercule Poirot, rising and going to the bookshelf, "when expense is no object \"

He took from the shelf a file labelled

with the letter D and opened it at the

words "Detective Agencies --Reliable".

"The modem Prometheus,3a he murmured. "Be so obliging, Georges, as to copy out for me certain names and addresses.

Messrs. Hankerton, New York.

Messrs. Laden and Bosher, Sydney. Signor

Giovanni Mezzi, Rome. M. Nahum, Stamboul.

Messrs. Roget et Franconard, Paris."

He paused while George finished this.

Then he said:

"And now be so kind as to look up the

trains for Liverpool.w

404

CO

'Yes, sir, you are going to Liverpool, sir ?"

"I am afraid so. It is possible, Georges, that I may have to go even further. But not just yet.w

IV

It was three months later that Hercule

Poirot stood on a rocky point and surveyed

the Atlantic Ocean. Gulls rose and swooped

down again with long melancholy cries.

The air was soft and damp.

Hercule Poirot had the feeling, not uncommon

in those who come to Inishgowlan

for the first time, that he had reached the

end of the world. He had never in his life

imagined anything so remote, so desolate,

so abandoned. It had beauty, a melancholy, haunted beauty, the beauty of a remote and incredible past. Here, in the

west of Ireland, the Romans had never

marched, tramp, tramp, tramp: had never

fortified a camp: had never built a wellordered,

sensible, useful road. It was a

land where common sense and an orderly

way of life were unknown.

Hercule Poirot looked down at the tips