in
a command.

But perhaps a second letter which he had received, giving him a more
intimate list of the duties required, had something to do with this
hostile feeling. It was from the same hand which had written the firm's
formal letter, but it was couched in quite a different vein. Isaac Bird
was evidently scared for his very commercial existence, and he thrust
out his arms to Kettle on paper as his only savior. It seemed that
Alexander Bird, the younger brother, had been running a little wild
of late.

The wreck of the _Grecian_ had been put up for auction; Alexander
strolled into the room by accident, and bought at an exorbitant figure.
He came and announced his purchase to Isaac, declaring it as an instance
of his fine business instincts. Isaac set it down to whisky, and
recriminations followed. Alexander in a huff said he would go out and
overlook the salvage operations in person. Isaac opined that the firm
might scrape to windward of bankruptcy by that means, and advised
Alexander to take remarkable pains about keeping sober. But forthwith
Alexander, still in his cups, "and at a music hall, too, a place he
knows 'Isaac's' religious connection holds in profound horror," gets to
brawling, and is next discovered in hospital with a broken thigh.

"_I have found Alexander's department of the business very tangled_,"
wrote Isaac, "_when I began to go into his books the first day he was
laid up, and the thought of this new complication drove me near crazy.
Salvage is out of our line; Alexander should never have touched it. But
there it is; money paid, and I've had to borrow; and engaging that
Italian firm for the job was the best thing I could manage. What English
firms wanted was out of all reason. I don't wonder at Lloyds selling
wrecks for anything they will fetch. A pittance in cash is better than
getting into the hands of these sharks_" (sharks was heavily
underscored). "_And what guarantee have I that the firm will pocket even
that pittance? How do I know that I shall see even the money outpaid
again, let alone reasonable interest? None_."

There were several words erased here, and the writer went on with what
was evidently considered a dramatic finish. "'_But stay,' I say to
myself, 'you have Kettle. He is down in the Red Sea now, doing well. You
had all along intended to promote him. Do it now, and set him to
overlook this Italian salvage firm whilst the new boat is building. He
is the one to see that Isaa