Precision was, in fact, a word which seemed made for the young Consul; both his appearance and his career reflected it to the uttermost fibre.
With his extensive business and large fortune, Consul Garman had also inherited a boundless admiration and respect for his father, Morten W.
Garman, the old Consul, who had come into the property of Sandsgaard at a time when it was of little value, and considerably encumbered by debts, and when the business itself was in rather a confused condition.
In order to keep the business afloat during the disastrous years of the war, Morten W.Garman took into partnership a rich old skipper, by name Jacob Worse, from whence sprang the name of the firm.

Thanks to old Worse's money, life came again into the tottering business, and Garman's great ability made the firm, in a few years, one of the most important on the west coast.

But when old Worse died, and his son took his place in the firm, it was soon evident that Morten Garman and young Worse would not be able to work together.

Under a friendly arrangement, therefore, Worse retired with a considerable fortune, while Garman retained the business and the old family property of Sandsgaard.
It was from that time that the great wealth of the Garmans really dated, while Worse in a few years squandered his money and died insolvent.
It was whispered that Worse had left the business rather hastily, just as the good times were beginning, but that was the usual luck of the Garmans.
At first it looked as if Worse's widow and son, who carried on a small business in the town, would work themselves up again, and this was especially the case in recent years.

Whatever might be the opinion as to the arrangement between Garman and Worse, no one could ever accuse Morten Garman of any want of straightforwardness in his business arrangements; and his son Christian Frederick followed closely in his steps, observing always the maxim, "What would father have done under the circumstances ?" All went on thus prosperously and uniformly, until the young Consul began to get old, and his elder son Morten came home from abroad and became a partner in the firm.