The old man
looked away from the map as if it had vaguely troubled him, and
regarded me appealingly.
"We were just speaking of"--and he stopped. I saw that he had
suddenly forgotten his subject.
"There were a great many persons at the funeral," I hastened
to say.
"Oh yes," the captain answered, with satisfaction. "All
showed respect who could. The sad circumstances had for a moment
slipped my mind. Yes, Mrs. Begg will be very much missed. She was
a capital manager for her husband when he was at sea. Oh yes,
shipping is a very great loss." And he sighed heavily. "There was
hardly a man of any standing who didn't interest himself in some
way in navigation. It always gave credit to a town. I call it
low-water mark now here in Dunnet."
He rose with dignity to take leave, and asked me to stop at
his house some day, when he would show me some outlandish things
that he had brought home from sea. I was familiar with the subject
of the decadence of shipping interests in all its affecting
branches, having been already some time in Dunnet, and I felt sure
that Captain Littlepage's mind had now returned to a safe level.
Pages:
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62