o pay him a degree of
respect equal to the size of his ship. They looked upon him with
such deference, indeed, that not one of them would think of heaving
anchor until he led the way.

In the mornings, when they turned out, they never looked at the sky
or the direction of the wind; they instinctively turned to The
Duncans, and if the Blue Peter was not at her fore peak they made
arrangements for spending still another day among the Orkneys.

What in Wemyss tended to call forth a good deal of respect was that
he seldom mixed with the other captains, but condescended to take
only a single glass with a select few. I noticed that he preferred
the company of Bailie Duke, or of Lloyd's agent, and other magnates
of the town.

Flett received me with a friendly welcome when I went into the inn,
ordering a cup of coffee for me, and bidding me sit beside him
until Captain Gordon should join us. He spoke of me to Captain
Wemyss, and at that the whole company present fell to talking of
the accident in the Sound. They were in the midst of a discussion
as to the cause of the disaster when Captain Gordon entered,
accompanied by Bailie Duke.

Gordon was somewhat of a stranger to them all, so Captain Wemyss
gave the names of the others, including Lloyd's agent, Captain
Miller of the Albatross, and Captain Abernethy of the brig
Enterprise, the last of whom, I may tell you, was the officer my
father had described to Gordon as knowing so little of navigation
that he had, after cruising out of sight of land for some months,
mistaken the Mainland of Orkney for one of the West Indian Islands.

Bailie Duke, whose happy face wore a constant smile, and whose
bright eyes seemed ever to be asking questions, took his seat in
the armchair, and passing his snuffbox round the company, very soon
took the lead in the conversation. He was the chief magistrate of
the town, but he did not assume any undue dignity on that account.
Indeed, his long life among the simple fisher folk of Stromness,
and his business connection with ships--for the bailie was a
shipping agent--had given him a sympathy with all persons connected
with the sea which quite overrode his dignity as a magistrate. He
could talk of ships as learnedly as any of the captains, and of
every vessel that had been in the harbour for the last twenty years
he could tell the name and history whenever he saw her again. As
for his knowledge of freights, duty, stability, and the ordinary
affairs