of Posh's character been
less exalted.

It is to the credit of the great heart of the man that he never lost his
love of Posh (Posh is certain about this), though he undoubtedly did lose
his confidence in and respect for him.

And Posh did not give way to his "guv'nor" as he might have done. That
fine old East Anglian spirit of independence (which is so generally
admirable) was in this particular instance sheer brutal ingratitude when
shown by Posh to FitzGerald. No one has a greater admiration than I for
this magnificent claim of a MAN to be MAN'S equal. It kept the race of
Norfolk and Suffolk longshoremen worthy of their traditions until the
cockney visitors, with their tips and their hunger for longshore lies,
ruined the nature of many of our beach folk. But with FitzGerald, that
kind, solicitous gentleman who never asserted the claims of his station
in life before an inferior, the obtrusive display of this spirit of
independence was as unnecessary as it was cruel. And I think Posh
understands this now. He certainly never meant to hurt the feelings of
his old governor. But he chafed at the care which his friend took of
him. He said to me the other day that he wished his old master were
alive now to take such care. "Ah!" he said, "he'd take hold o' me like
this here" (and here, as I have described on a previous page, Posh
pinched up his blue knitted jersey), "and say, 'Oh, my dear Poshy! Oh
dear! Oh dear! To think you should be like this! Oh dear! Oh dear!'"

And Posh's old eyes will water. Indeed, I have noticed a likeness
between the thoughts of Posh in reference to FitzGerald and the remorse
of the son of a loving father who had tried his sire hard in lifetime and
understood that he had done so after his father's death. Even now, this
old man of sixty-nine leans, metaphorically, on the recollection of the
man who loved him so. Even now he says, "Ah! that would ha' upset him if
he'd known I should ha' come to this!"

But in 1869 Posh thought that he was a very fine fellow indeed, and was
not going to be "put upon" by any "guv'nor," no matter how kind the
"guv'nor" had been to him. He was half owner of a fine drifter and
skipper as well, to say nothing of having designed the boat. He would
assert himself.

He did.

CHAPTER XI
POSH SHOWS TEMPER

Posh says that there "were lots o' breezes" between him and his
"guv'nor," and when the reader of this study (who should have got to know