A few years and the furore would die down, he hoped; he need not worry too much.
"I have a problem, at the yard, Major Hewitt - six gunboats almost completed, all off the slip within the week."
"That is in hand, Major Burke. The Navy is to pay a visit within days, they having an interest in small ships that might be employed on large rivers such as the Nile or the Niger, or along colonial or Chinese coasts or even in the defence of harbours. They will in all probabilities wish to take them off your hands, but, if they find them useless, then you will have permission to sell them to Holland for use on the inland waters there. They are interested in steam craft and have made approaches in England, I am told."
"Excellent, sir! I presume the Navy will have no desire to actually purchase the gunboats."
"One understands the yard to have been paid quite well already, Major Burke! A pair of gentlemen from the Admiralty will, however, wish to discuss the construction of small steamships to their specification and will have instructions to be not ungenerous in their proposals. There will be work for some years, I understand."
"Thank you, Major Hewitt. We shall occupy the men for a while on dismantling these damned silly spar-torpedo boats - their cost has been more than covered."
Dick left Hewitt and walked into Lime Street, at peace with the world, smugly self-satisfied, in fact. He was looking about him for a cab when three men came running towards him, carrying pick-axe handles.
"That's the bastard! Give it to him hard, boys!"
He had time to notice the Irish accent and to hear a police whistle shrilling nearby.
# # #
Thank you for reading Dire Shenanigans. The next book series is expected to be released in late 2015 or early, 2016. In the meantime, please take look at my other novels listed on the following pages.
By the Same Author
A Poor Man at the Gate Series: Book One: The Privateersman is FREE on Kindle -Escaping the hangman’s noose in England, commoner Tom Andrews finds himself aboard a privateering ship before fleeing to New York at the time of the Revolutionary War. It is a place where opportunities abound for the unscrupulous. Hastily forced to return to England, he ruthlessly chases riches in the early industrial boom. But will wealth buy him love and social respectability?
Kindle links to the whole series:
US/worldwide
http://tinyurl.com/A-Poor-Man
UK only
http://tinyurl.com/A-Poor-Man-UK
The Duty and Destiny Series: These superbly-crafted novel length sea/land stories are set in the period of the French Revolutionary War (1793 – 1802). The series follows the naval career and love-life of Frederick Harris, the second son of a middling Hampshire landowner, a brave but somewhat reluctant mariner. (Book One was first published in 2014.)
Please note: This series is currently available to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Kindle links to the whole series:
US/worldwide:
http://tinyurl.com/Duty-and-Destiny-Series
UK only:
http://tinyurl.com/Duty-and-Destiny-Series-UK
The Soldier Brat: Youngest son of a wealthy English merchant, Septimus Pearce is an utterly spoiled brat whose disgraceful conduct threatens his family’s good name. His father forces him to join the army in an attempt to reform him, but even the disciplines of army life where he sees bloody action in three countries fail to exorcise his nastier character traits.
Universal Kindle Link http://getBook.at/Conflict-1
A Victorian Gent: Naïve Dick Burke is hoodwinked into marrying a man-hungry aristocrat’s daughter who just seven months later produces a son! It’s the start of a long humiliation that sees Dick flee to America as the Civil War looms. Siding with the Union, the bloody conflict could be the making or the breaking of him, as could his alliance with Elizabeth, an attractive and feisty American businesswoman.
Kindle Link: http://getbook.at/Victorian
Book One: Long Way Place
In the early 1900s gutter rat, Ned Hawkins aims to rise from the grinding poverty of an English slum, but is forced to flee the country and ends up in Papua. It is a dangerous place where cannibalism and cannibals are never far away. Despite this menacing backdrop, he prospers and almost by accident, finds love. However, there are ominous stirrings in the land that bode ill for the future
Universal Kindle Link: http://getbook.at/Cannibal-One
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Dire Shenanigans (The Making of a Man Series, Book 2) Page 26
