A Chinese Command | Page 6

the subject of supplying the rebel army with modern rifles.
"`To make a rather long story short, the upshot of the interview was
that I was commissioned to supply the rebels with one hundred
thousand rifles, with the necessary ammunition, at a price which, if the
venture is successful, will make it possible for me to give up the sea
altogether and live ashore at my ease.'
"`Yes, yes,' I interrupted, rather impatiently; `this is interesting enough
in its way, Captain, but I fail to see where it concerns me.'
"`I was just coming to that,' returned Drake, `when you interrupted me.
I was unfortunate enough to lose my chief officer overboard in a
hurricane in the Indian Ocean on the way home--a circumstance which
upset me and my plans very considerably, for he was a fine seaman,
had been with me many years, and knew all my little ways. In order to
bring off this venture successfully, I must replace him, for there will be
difficult and dangerous work ahead; and I need a man as much like my
old chief as possible, a man who is willing to go anywhere and do
anything; a man who has the brains to organise, and the muscle and
courage to keep his own end up in a fight.
"`I have often heard of you, Mr Frobisher, as being just that kind of
man; and I followed the whole account of your misfortune and the
proceedings of the court martial in the newspapers. When I learned that
they had dismissed you from the Service, I considered it a most
shocking error of judgment, and told myself that, had you been in my
employ, you would not have been so harshly treated. I would have
liked at the time to make a try to secure your services, but I had my
own chief officer with me then, and consequently had nothing to offer

you. But now things are different. You need employment; I need your
services, and am prepared to pay you well for them and give you a
share of the profits. One of the conditions attaching to my contract is
that I deliver the rifles and ammunition into the hands of the rebel
officers at--at a small town a considerable distance inland from the
coast; and as I cannot leave my ship, the duty of conveying the cargo
inland would devolve upon you. This is where the dangerous part of the
business comes in, and I shall make allowance therefore in the rate of
pay I propose to offer you.
"`If you will join me--to get down to hard facts--I will give you forty
pounds a month, from the day you sign on with me until you leave the
ship on her return to England, or until you leave her out in the East, if
you care to do that. There are plenty of chances for such a man as
yourself out there. And, in addition, I agree to give you a share of
one-twentieth of my profits, which I estimate should amount to about
twenty thousand pounds sterling. Therefore, one thousand pounds, over
and above your pay, will be your share of the enterprise. Now, I've said
all I have to say; I've put the proposition before you; I've told you that
it's likely to be both profitable and dangerous: what do you say to
joining me as my chief officer?'
"I tell you, Dick, I was too amazed to reply for a few moments, and my
brain was in such a whirl that all I could presently say was that I would
think the thing over, and meet him again at the same place to-morrow
to give him a reply. The money part of the business naturally appeals
very strongly to one, but the amount seems almost too good to be true.
There would be at least six months' pay at forty pounds a month, and a
thousand on top of that, if the expedition should prove successful; so
that, all being well, I should have a little capital in my hands to work
with at the end of that time, and might be able so to invest it as to make
myself independent, for the remainder of my life, of anything like the
experiences of this past year.
"On the other hand, I am inclined to look a little doubtfully upon this
gun-running, or smuggling, business. It is all utterly at variance with
Navy traditions; and I would rather starve than set my hand to anything

that has even the appearance of being in the least degree dishonest. Still,
I am bound to say that, from all I can learn, it looks as though the
Korean rebels have a genuine grievance, and that the country might be
all the better