The Three Sirens Read Free Page A

me about many of the islands and my travels and buying trips among them. Eventually, his stay extended to several hours—I served him tea—and although he departed with purchases amounting to no more than i,800 Pacific francs, I regretted his leaving. It is rare one finds literate listeners in this lonely place.
    I thought that was the last of Mr. Trevor, of Canberra, Australia, so you can imagine my surprise when, shortly after I had opened my shop the following morning, he reappeared. He had not come for artifacts, he said, or to listen to my stories, but rather to receive my answer to a business proposition he was about to offer me. He had been impressed, he said, by my acquaintance with the many islands and natives of Polynesia. He had been hunting for such a one as myself, he said, and in his entire tour he had found no one reliable as well as knowledgeable, until he had chanced upon me. Because he thought me too good to be true, he had made inquiries among prominent officials the night before, and they had supported and recommended me.
    Without further prologue, Mr. Trevor revealed his mission. He represented a syndicate of Canberra businessmen who believed in the future of Polynesia and desired to invest hard pounds in it. The projects were many, and diversified, but among the first was to be a fleet of small passenger airplanes to carry tourists between the lesser but most picturesque islands and the larger ones. The company, Intra-Oceania Flights, would undercut, in fares and freight charges, Qantas, the French TAI, South Pacific Air Lines, New Zealand’s TEAL, and several others. Essentially, it expected to offer a shuttle or ferry service, giving it greater mobility and latitude than the larger companies. Because light aircraft would be employed, small and cheap landing fields and inexpensive facilities could be used, and rates could be kept low. Mr. Trevor explained that arrangements had been made throughout Polynesia, in cooperation with foreign home governments, but the site for one more airfield was still missing.
    Mr. Trevor could remain no longer to locate this last elusive airfield. He needed someone to act in his stead. That was why he had come to me. His proposition was the following: he wanted me to take several aerial surveys, by private plane, in two directions. First, he wished me to study the corridor between Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands. If that provided no adequate site, he suggested I range southward from Tahiti, covering the broad triangle formed by the Tubuai Islands, Pitcairn Island, and Rapa Island, and if necessary to go even further south and away from the traffic lanes.
    What was wanted by Intra-Oceania Flights was an uninhabited small island, with a plateau or level area that could be bulldozed, on which to erect an airfield no more than a mile and a half long. An uninhabited isle was preferred, because then the land could be leased cheaply from the neglecting government that had possession.
    On the other hand, if the appropriate island showed itself to me, but happened to be inhabited by a single tribe or a mere handful of natives, exclusive of whites, that would do, too. The natives could be removed or, indeed, bought off and segregated, and the land would still be cheap.
    It would be my task, said Mr. Trevor, to locate three or four such islands from the air, and then land and visit them, and then submit a fully detailed report to Canberra. Mr. Trevor’s experts would sift my report, narrow focus on one or two islands, and send their specialists to make the final decision. For my scouting expenses, I could have $500. For my completed report, if successful, I could have $3,000 additional.
    Despite my joy of travel among these islands, this was not an undertaking to my liking. For one thing, I have an aversion toward flying. For another, I have little energy left for trampling over barren or nearly barren and remote tracts of land. Still, Dr. Hayden, I keep no pride from you that