Embarking in the Tropics, the ship's Captain makes the instant acquaintance of the seemingly genial Mr Jacobus and his irritable brother. One a respectable businessman with a considerable reputation, the other a confessed chancer and entrepreneur with no reputation left to lose, the Captain is at a loss to determine which he should befriend. Yet as events unfold, he becomes increasingly in thrall to the less scrupulous of the two and finds himself the unwilling partner in a deeply unorthodox transaction.
