difficulty up the ladder. The captain had heard that the Governor was
an eccentric, but he was hardly prepared for the curious figure who came
limping feebly down his quarter-deck, his steps supported by a thick
bamboo cane. He wore a Ramillies wig, all twisted into little tails
like a poodle's coat, and cut so low across the brow that the large
green glasses which covered his eyes looked as if they were hung from
it. A fierce beak of a nose, very long and very thin, cut the air in
front of him. His ague had caused him to swathe his throat and chin
with a broad linen cravat, and he wore a loose damask powdering-gown
secured by a cord round the waist. As he advanced he carried his
masterful nose high in the air, but his head turned slowly from side to
side in the helpless manner of the purblind, and he called in a high,
querulous voice for the captain.

"You have my things?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir Charles."

"Have you wine aboard?"

"I have ordered five cases, sir."

"And tobacco?"

"There is a keg of Trinidad."

"You play a hand at picquet?"

"Passably well, sir."