Deprived by this blow of what he no doubt had come to consider his
natural means of support, and his sister, fortunately for herself,
being well out of his reach, he next fixed upon his brother Michael
as his stay-by. Michael, weak, timid, and not perhaps without some
remains of boyish affection for a strong, handsome, elder brother,
foolishly yielded. The demands, of course, increased, until, in the
end, it came almost as a relief when the man's vicious life led to
his getting mixed up with a crime of a particularly odious nature.
He was anxious now for his own sake to get away, and Michael, with
little enough to spare for himself, provided him with the means, on
the solemn understanding that he would never return.
But the worry and misery of it all had left young Michael a broken
man. Unable to concentrate his mind any longer upon his profession,
his craving was to get away from all his old associations--to make a
fresh start in life. It was Ellenby who suggested London and the
ship furnishing business, where Michael's small remaining capital
would be of service. The name of Hepworth would be valuable in
shipping circles, and Ellenby, arguing this consideration, but
chiefly with the hope of giving young Michael more interest in the
business, had insisted that the firm should be Hepworth and Co.
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