Chapter 5Civilisation
Will
Alec was annoyed. Will could tell, even over thousands of miles of telegraph wire. The words jumped off the page as he was handed the flimsy piece of paper.
FUNDS ATTACHED STOP WILL BOOK YOU ROOMS AT NATIONAL STOP GET ON P&O CHINA TWO DAYS TIME TICKETS AT HOTEL STOP WHAT HAPPENED QUERY WRITE VIA CONSULATE HAVE ADVISED THEM OF SITUATION IF YOU NEED FURTHER HELP STOP
Will thought for a moment and then begged a stub of pencil from the operator for a second missive. NO PRESSING PECULIAR PROBLEMS STOP DO NOT PANIC STOP ALL WELL STOP WILL WRITE STOP. He handed it back and said “Send that, please. The recipient will pay, like the first one.”
The operator nodded. “That’s fine, sir. Do you want to wait for a reply?”
They had been sitting in the telegraph office for
