The Florida agriculturist., 1906-04-25
THE PERRIN CONTRACT

or LOVE and CRAFT

The firm of John Perrin & Company,
has built ships for generations, and
is practically the Oldest established
firm in W.
The present head of the firm, John
Perrin, is a widOwer with one daugh-
ter 1t has been said that Mr.. Perrin
is the lOngest-headed man in w, and
that what he does not know about
shipbuilding is not worth knowing.
Dorothy Perrin, at the time this
story opens, was 10 years of age. She
was a wonderfully pretty girl, with
sweet sympathetic nature. Most of
the eligible bachelors of w had
fallen in love with her at different
times, but, so far, DOrOthy's heart was
in her own keeping.
Mr.. Perrin's offices were of an eX-
tensive nature, and he employed a
large number of clerks. 1t is with
two of the latter that we are princi-
pally concerned. One of them, Wal
ter Jerrard. a nephew of Mr.. Perrin
was in the private office, and it was a
common rumOr that one day he would
be taken into the firm. The other
employee. Arthur Evison, was a con-
fidential clerk to Mr.. Perrin, and had
been in his employ since his bOyhOOd
days.
Both of the young men (fOr they
were each of them but % years of
age lived in W, but, whereas Jer
rard was an orphan and lived with his
uncle, Arthur EvisOn resided with his
mother, who was a widow, and his
earnings constituted their sole income.
In common with the many other
bachelors of w, both EvisOn and
Jerrard had succumbed to the charms
of Dorothy Perrin, but So far the OBJ
ject of the affection was unaware Of
it,
Each of the two men, however,
knew the others secret, and this quick
ened a dislike that they had long
mutually fOstered EvisOn diStrusted
Jerrard; he saw behind that handsome
face and careless expression a mean
and Shifty character. In his turn Jer-
rard had the natural dislike of Evi-
son, which his kind invariably bear
toward men of an upright dispo-
SitiOn.
Arthur EvisOn could scarcely be
called handsome but there was some
thing attractive i'm his strong, clear
cut features; people could distinguish
at once his manly, truthful nature.
and in consequence he was liked and
respected by nearly all who knew him.
Some years ago the shipbuilders of
Britain began to grow alarmed at the
competition of foreign countries Am
erica and Germany in particular. So
much was this felt in w that many
houses were forced to close on account
of the bad times.
Several of the old houses. though,
such as John Perrin & Co, were able
to face the difficulties, but even with
them matters were serious. For Mr.
Perrin personally it did not matter.
he being possessed of large private
means
However. when the North Atlantic
Steamship Company asked for tenders
for two new liners from several of the
ShipbuilderS of W. matters began to
show signs of improving.
The two new liners were to be larger
than any of the North Atlantic Com
pany's present feet, and would he the
largest vessels ever built in w
Shipyard.
Perrin & Co. was one of the firms
asked to tender. and they naturally
made every effort to obtain the order
Mr. Perrin knew that his only serious
rival was Josiah Grey. whose yard
adjOined his own.
Arthur EvisOn had a great deal to
do with the preparation of the esti-
matp nc had also WaItpr Jerrard