What struck the ship-keeper most was the absent, unseeing expression of
the captain, striding after the girl. He passed him, the ship-keeper,
without notice, without an order, without so much as a look. The captain
had never done so before. Always had a nod and a pleasant word for a
man. From this slight the ship-keeper drew a conclusion unfavourable to
the strange girl. He gave them time to get down on the wharf before
crossing the deck to steal one more look at the pair over the rail. The
captain took hold of the girl's arm just before a couple of railway
trucks drawn by a horse came rolling along and hid them from the ship-
keeper's sight for good.
Next day, when the chief mate joined the ship, he told him the tale of
the visit, and expressed himself about the girl "who had got hold of the
captain" disparagingly. She didn't look healthy, he explained. "Shabby
clothes, too," he added spitefully.
The mate was very much interested. He had been with Anthony for several
years, and had won for himself in the course of many long voyages, a
footing of familiarity, which was to be expected with a man of Anthony's
character. But in that slowly-grown intimacy of the sea, which in its
duration and solitude had its unguarded moments, no words had passed,
even of the most casual, to prepare him for the vision of his captain
associated with any kind of girl. His impression had been that women did
not exist for Captain Anthony. Exhibiting himself with a girl! A girl!
What did he want with a girl? Bringing her on board and showing her
round the cabin! That was really a little bit too much. Captain Anthony
ought to have known better.
Franklin (the chief mate's name was Franklin) felt disappointed; almost
disillusioned. Silly thing to do! Here was a confounded old ship-keeper
set talking. He snubbed the ship-keeper, and tried to think of that
insignificant bit of foolishness no more; for it diminished Captain
Anthony in his eyes of a jealously devoted subordinate.
Franklin was over forty; his mother was still alive. She stood in the
forefront of all women for him, just as Captain Anthony stood in the
forefront of all men. We may suppose that these groups were not very
large. He had gone to sea at a very early age. The feeling which caused
these two people to partly eclipse the rest of mankind were of course not
similar; though in time he had acquired the conviction that he was
"taking care" of them both. The "old lady" of course had to be looked
after as long as she lived. In regard to Captain Anthony, he used to say
that: why should he leave him? It wasn't likely that he would come
across a better sailor or a better man or a more comfortable ship. As to
trying to better himself in the way of promotion, commands were not the
sort of thing one picked up in the streets, and when it came to that,
Captain Anthony was as likely to give him a lift on occasion as anyone in
the world.