He refused even to attempt 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.