"Cassall isn't putting
obstacles in your way," interposed Sir James. "I know what he's driving
at, but strangers are apt to mistake him. He means to draw out of you by
cross-examination the fact that quick transport is absolutely necessary
for your hospital scheme. Take an instance. Miss Dearsley tells me the
men stay out eight weeks, and then run home. Now suppose your cruiser
meets one of the home-going vessels, and the captain of this vessel
says, 'There's a dying man fifty miles N.W. (or S.W., or whatever it is)
from here. You must go soon, or he won't be saved. What are you going to
do if you have a foul wind or a calm?"
"But that dying man would probably be in a _fleet_, and what I wish to
see is not a single cruising hospital, but that _all_ our mission
vessels in future should be of that type, _i.e.,_ one with every fleet."
Cassall broke in, "Yes, yes, by all means; but, I say, could you not try
steam as well? Why not go in at once for a steamer as an experiment, and
then you can whisk round like a flash, and time your visits from week
to week."
Blair rose in his seat wearing a comic expression of despair and terror.
"Why, we're driven silly now by people who offer us ships, without
saying anything about ways and means for keeping the ships up. My dear
Cassall, you do not know what a devourer of money a vessel is. Every
hour at sea means wear and tear somewhere, and if we are to make our
ships quite safe we must be constantly renewing.
Pages:
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158