tempt it. He sought
forgetfulness in a species of mental intoxication, and countenanced his
daughter's love idyll with such apparent approval that Lord Ventnor
wondered whether Sir Arthur were not suffering from senile decay.

The explanation of the shipowner's position was painfully simple. Being
a daring yet shrewd financier, he perceived in the troubled condition
of the Far East a magnificent opportunity to consolidate the trading
influence of his company. He negotiated two big loans, one, of a
semi-private nature, to equip docks and railways in the chief maritime
province of China, the other of a more public character, with the
Government of Japan. All his own resources, together with those of his
principal directors and shareholders, were devoted to these objects.
Contemporaneously, he determined to stop paying heavy insurance
premiums on his fleet and make it self-supporting, on the well-known
mutual principle.

His vessels were well equipped, well manned, replete with every modern
improvement, and managed with great commercial skill. In three or four
years, given ordinary trading luck, he must have doubled his own
fortune and earned a world-wide reputation for far-seeing sagacity.

No sooner were all his arrangements completed than three of his best
ships went down, saddling his company with an absolute loss of nearly
L600,000, and seriously undermining his financial credit. A
fellow-director, wealthy and influential, resigned his seat on the
board, and headed a clique of disappointed stockholders. At once the
fair sky became overcast. A sound and magnificent speculation
threatened to dissolve in the Bankruptcy Court.

Sir Arthur Deane's energy and financial skill might have enabled him to
weather this unexpected gale were it not for the apparent loss of his
beloved daughter with the crack ship of his line. Half-frenzied with
grief, he bade his enemies do their worst, and allowed his affairs to
get into hopeless confusion whilst he devoted himself wholly to the
search for Iris and her companions. At this critical juncture Lord
Ventnor again reached his side. His lordship possessed a large private
fortune and extensive estates. He was prudent withal, and knew how
admirably the shipowner's plans would develop if given the necessary
time. He offered the use of his name and money. He more than filled the
gap created by the hostile ex-director. People argued that such a
clever man, just returning from the Far East