Chapter II

_The Laurels,
Putney Heath, S. W.
November 9._

DEAR SIR,

No; I will not entertain your proposal to use the Imperial British
Suction Apparatus upon my ships. It may be a very good apparatus,
and it might possibly increase my profits by £2000 in the year, but
the fact is that I am so well to do it is hardly worth my while to
bother about these little things. The bother of arranging the new
installation, and the risk that, after all, my men might not know
how to use it, has decided me. I note what you say, that the
French, the German, the Italian, the Russian, and the United States
Governments have all bought your patent for use in their Navies;
but it does not influence me one jot. What are they, after all, but
foreigners? Besides which, it is my experience that somehow or
other I muddle through, and I hate having to think.

We are,
Your obedient Servants,
JOHN ROE & COMPANY.