" The address was half written, half printed, and the quaintly
phonetic spelling of the concluding word betrayed a rugged independence
of thought which was certainly borne out by Captain John Stump's
appearance. The written label might be wrong; not so that stamped by
Neptune on a weather-beaten face and a figure like a capstan. Little
more than five feet in height, he seemed to be quite five feet wide. If
it be true that a poet is born, not made, Captain Stump was a master
mariner from his cradle. Royson had never before seen such a man. Drawn
out to Royson's stature he would yet have remained the broader of the
two. The lady with him, evidently Mrs. Stump, was mated for him by
happy chance. Short mean usually marry tall women, and your sons of
Anak will select wives of fairy-like proportions. But Mrs. Stump was
even shorter than her husband, and so plump withal, that a tape measure
round her shoulders might have given her the prize for girth.
Captain Stump was examining the interior of each carriage suspiciously
when he set eyes on the P.
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