Beat the Devil

American but of the world, married couple Billy and Maria Dannreuther were once wealthy, but have fallen on difficult times. That's why Billy has partnered with a disparate group of four seemingly disreputable men--Peterson, Julius O'Hara, "Major" Jack Ross, and Ravello--in a scheme to acquire land in British East Africa for its uranium. Currently they are all in Porto Venere, Italy, waiting to sail to Africa on the tramp steamer SS Nyanga. In that disrepute, the Dannreuthers that believe Peterson, with the Major as his heavy, was behind the murder of Paul Vanmeer, a high ranking official in the British Colonial Office in London to whom they had all recently spoken; he was murdered for discovering the real reason for their inquiry about Africa. In Porto Venere, they meet British couple Harry and Gwendolen Chelm, who have also secured passage on the SS Nyanga. Harry is a proper, staid, stereotypical upper-crust Brit whose best friend is the hot-water bottle used to warm his oft-chilled liver, while flighty Gwendolen is prone to exaggeration. While Harry can see Gwendolen's true nature, Peterson cannot in believing her overheard off-the-cuff statement that the coffee plantation Harry is thinking about purchasing in Africa is really for its uranium. It is her quest for excitement that first attracts Gwendolen to Billy and his associates and why she starts to fall for him, while Maria starts to fall for the wealth and stability that Harry represents. As this collective goes on a quest for their immediate goals, they get into a series of misadventures which might keep one, some, or all from being able to achieve their goals.