There you are; you may make your calls like the postman.
Bill Buncle breaks his leg on Sunday; his mates say, 'All right,
William, the doctor's coming to-morrow.' You take me? Tell me, how will
you manage if you have a vessel short of hands to work her?"
"We propose to have several spare hands on board our hospital vessels.
Hundreds will be only too glad to go, and we shall always have a sound
man to take the place of the patient."
"Exactly. Well, with steam you can deposit your men and take them off
with all the regularity of an ordinary railway staff on shore."
"But the money. It is too colossal to think of."
The falcon-faced old merchant waved his hand. "Blair and I, and you too,
Mr. Fullerton, not to mention Roche, are all business men, and we don't
brag about money. But you know that if I fitted out and endowed _ten_
steamers, I should still be a fairly comfortable man. If you can't keep
a steamer going with L4,000 a year, you don't deserve to have one, and
if I choose to put down one hundred thousand, and you satisfy me as to
the management, why should I not gratify my whimsy?"
"And I don't mean to be behindhand if I satisfy myself as to the quality
of the work to be done," added Sir James. "Cassall and I will arrange as
to how many beds--Roche beds, you understand--I shall be permitted to
endow."
Fullerton sat dumb; a flush came and went over his clear face, and his
lips moved.
Cassall proceeded: "My idea is to have a sailing vessel _and_ a steamer.
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