52 Fred the Apprentice.

be another source of sorrow to me, as I am ac-
customed to look upon you as a third son,’

‘I will not leave you, sir, said Fred, in a sad
tone, ‘until I shall have convinced myself that
my services will be useless, and I hope that the
day may be far distant when this will ever occur.
Let us think over the state of your affairs, sir ;
perhaps the losses which you fear may be more
imaginary than real. If I might presume to
offer you my advice, I would counsel you not
to be too hasty in coming to a decision. By
waiting and watching, a remedy may often be
found for these fluctuations in trade. You may
be able to get machinery similar to that of Mr.
Zinberger.’

‘His cotton- mill is a new one, with every
recent improvement, answered Mr. Kartmann.
‘It would cost me more capital than I could
invest at the present moment to reconstruct my
mill, considering the bad debts I have just now
on my books, owing to the recent failures of
several large firms. Some other manufacturers
in this place are doing so, but they were always
men with greater capital than I ever possessed.
Even I might have purchased the requisite
machinery for producing in perfection this new
class of goods, if the heavy failures on the part