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He
beheld
then
,
waddling
towards
him
autocratically
,
a
man
of
an
old-fashioned
and
gouty
aspect
,
with
hair
as
white
as
his
own
,
but
with
shaved
,
florid
cheeks
,
wearing
a
necktie
--
almost
a
neckcloth
--
whose
stiff
ends
projected
far
beyond
his
chin
;
with
round
legs
,
round
arms
,
a
round
body
,
a
round
face
--
generally
producing
the
effect
of
his
short
figure
having
been
distended
by
means
of
an
air-pump
as
much
as
the
seams
of
his
clothing
would
stand
.
This
was
the
Master-Attendant
of
the
port
A
master-attendant
is
a
superior
sort
of
harbor-master
;
a
person
,
out
in
the
East
,
of
some
consequence
in
his
sphere
;
a
Government
official
,
a
magistrate
for
the
waters
of
the
port
,
and
possessed
of
vast
but
ill-defined
disciplinary
authority
over
seamen
of
all
classes
.
This
particular
Master-Attendant
was
reported
to
consider
it
miserably
inadequate
,
on
the
ground
that
it
did
not
include
the
power
of
life
and
death
.
This
was
a
jocular
exaggeration
.
Captain
Eliott
was
fairly
satisfied
with
his
position
,
and
nursed
no
inconsiderable
sense
of
such
power
as
he
had
.
His
conceited
and
tyrannical
disposition
did
not
allow
him
to
let
it
dwindle
in
his
hands
for
want
of
use
.
The
uproarious
,
choleric
frankness
of
his
comments
on
people
's
character
and
conduct
caused
him
to
be
feared
at
bottom
;
though
in
conversation
many
pretended
not
to
mind
him
in
the
least
,
others
would
only
smile
sourly
at
the
mention
of
his
name
,
and
there
were
even
some
who
dared
to
pronounce
him
"
a
meddlesome
old
ruffian
.
"
But
for
almost
all
of
them
one
of
Captain
Eliott
's
outbreaks
was
nearly
as
distasteful
to
face
as
a
chance
of
annihilation
.
As
soon
as
he
had
come
up
quite
close
he
said
,
mouthing
in
a
growl
--
"
What
's
this
I
hear
,
Whalley
?
Is
it
true
you
're
selling
the
Fair
Maid
?
"
Captain
Whalley
,
looking
away
,
said
the
thing
was
done
--
money
had
been
paid
that
morning
;
and
the
other
expressed
at
once
his
approbation
of
such
an
extremely
sensible
proceeding
.
He
had
got
out
of
his
trap
to
stretch
his
legs
,
he
explained
,
on
his
way
home
to
dinner
.
Sir
Frederick
looked
well
at
the
end
of
his
time
.
Did
n't
he
?
Captain
Whalley
could
not
say
;
had
only
noticed
the
carriage
going
past
.
The
Master-Attendant
,
plunging
his
hands
into
the
pockets
of
an
alpaca
jacket
inappropriately
short
and
tight
for
a
man
of
his
age
and
appearance
,
strutted
with
a
slight
limp
,
and
with
his
head
reaching
only
to
the
shoulder
of
Captain
Whalley
,
who
walked
easily
,
staring
straight
before
him
.
They
had
been
good
comrades
years
ago
,
almost
intimates
.
At
the
time
when
Whalley
commanded
the
renowned
Condor
,
Eliott
had
charge
of
the
nearly
as
famous
Ringdove
for
the
same
owners
;
and
when
the
appointment
of
Master-Attendant
was
created
,
Whalley
would
have
been
the
only
other
serious
candidate
.
But
Captain
Whalley
,
then
in
the
prime
of
life
,
was
resolved
to
serve
no
one
but
his
own
auspicious
Fortune
.
Far
away
,
tending
his
hot
irons
,
he
was
glad
to
hear
the
other
had
been
successful
.
There
was
a
worldly
suppleness
in
bluff
Ned
Eliott
that
would
serve
him
well
in
that
sort
of
official
appointment
.
And
they
were
so
dissimilar
at
bottom
that
as
they
came
slowly
to
the
end
of
the
avenue
before
the
Cathedral
,
it
had
never
come
into
Whalley
's
head
that
he
might
have
been
in
that
man
's
place
--
provided
for
to
the
end
of
his
days
.
The
sacred
edifice
,
standing
in
solemn
isolation
amongst
the
converging
avenues
of
enormous
trees
,
as
if
to
put
grave
thoughts
of
heaven
into
the
hours
of
ease
,
presented
a
closed
Gothic
portal
to
the
light
and
glory
of
the
west
.
The
glass
of
the
rosace
above
the
ogive
glowed
like
fiery
coal
in
the
deep
carvings
of
a
wheel
of
stone
.
The
two
men
faced
about
.
"
I
'll
tell
you
what
they
ought
to
do
next
,
Whalley
,
"
growled
Captain
Eliott
suddenly
.
