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the house with his son before he left, he had explained in detail and at length, all the procedures and details and keys that a new head of the house would need to know in order to safeguard the family.

Out at sea, whipped into peaks by the freshening wind in the gloomy light, the waves' froth was cream-colored, brown in places. A sudden gust sent a fleck of it onto his shoulder, breaking his reverie. He lifted the other foot now onto the bottom rail, distributing his weight in a different way with both feet now on the narrow rail, he wobbled more precariously.

He glanced briefly at the only other passengers out on the deck two men sheltering from the prevailing wind in the lee of the funnel. Could it really be only his imagination he wondered or did they seem to turn up wherever he went? In hushed tones of German they seemed to whisper to each other, huddling together and taking notes. They seemed to be taking a particular interest in him. If so, it was not his visit to the new Carels factory in Ipswich,England that occupied their thoughts he was sure. It was more likely to be his possible discussions with the English about his inventive work and its possible relevance to the war.

Scenes from his life began to swim before his eyes as his migraine grew worse. How sad that his resolve while working under Carl von Linde, to design a less wasteful engine that had a thermodynamic cycle might now be used against his pacifist better judgement. At the time, back in 1890, he had noticed the possibilities of using air (under compression in a cylinder) as a working fluid. He had hoped that fuel injected into the gas would be the first ever that could be ignited without needing a spark and as he worked towards a combustion that would happen at constant temperature and pressure, he had grown so excited. He could see that it was going to work.

Proudly, he saw that as the gases expanded, so the pistons of an engine for a new century could be driven. He knew he had cracked it, he had revolutionised previous engine technology by optimising the heat/work ratio a fitting accomplishment for the son of an impecunious scrimper and saver, and for a man who had grown up to avoid waste at all costs, (in the case of previous engines ,an unforgivable 90%.) In 1898 (a year after he published his paper) he had patented it, the engine now bearing his name. The highlight of his career perhaps, he reflected, but wondered where it had all gone wrong.

The vessel gave a sudden lurch to star-board

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