“Nonsense, Captain. Don’t tell me you couldn’t run a line of steamers. The idea! I suppose the truth of it is you’re unwilling to give up your ship.”
“That’s true. I’ve captained ‘Bjørnen’ now for five-and-twenty years.”
“But the business is more important than a single vessel. Let’s stick to the matter in hand—the business itself. I can no longer manage it myself. And you are the only man I can trust to take over. You must take it over. As for ‘Bjørnen’—we can easily find another man. But if the business itself were now to pass into the hands of strangers, all our work will have been in vain; we should, in fact, have done more harm than good.—I suppose you will say that it is my duty to carry on. That’s reasonable enough—as long as the course you propose is possible. But it is not possible any longer. It is simply this: I can control myself only to a limited degree; that you may take for a simple fact. And the limit is reached. What I am to do now I do not know. First of all, I shall go home—it is long since I was there. Anything in the shape of rest, or interruption, is dangerous to me, and that is why I have not been home to see my father for thirteen years. But something tells me that he needs me now, though I have no idea in what way I can be of use. Never mind. I am subject to my instincts; to defy them would be a crime against myself—perhaps against a higher power. We are both of us somewhat superstitious, you and I. Anyhow, to come to the point. You, Captain Jantzen, will now acquire this business by purchase.”
“Purchase? Now you are joking. I might perhaps manage the business, if there’s no other way....”
“That won’t do. You must buy it outright. As to terms, I shall be your only creditor, and you won’t find me a hard one to deal with.”
“But—by that arrangement, the management—the business itself—will be in Danish hands.”
“Where did you learn your trade, Captain? On the coasts of Iceland—working for a people not your own. And you will admit that you have more than a little sympathy with that little island and its people, obstinate though they may be at times. Also, it would be a good thing for my countrymen to realize that they need not always look upon the Danes as enemies.”
Ormarr took up his glass. “Well, here’s to the venture!”
Captain Jantzen’s hand trembled slightly, and he spilt a few red drops on the costly carpet as he drank.
“Since you will have it so, why, let it be. But I’m sorry about ‘Bjørnen.’”