He had entered at the bar,
not that he felt any particular vocation in that direction, but
because he thought it incumbent upon him to do something. Then,
at the death of an uncle, he had come into a considerable fortune,
and was able to indulge his taste for yachting, which was the sole
amusement for which he really cared, to the fullest.
He sold the little five tonner he had formerly possessed, and
purchased the Seabird. He could well have afforded a much larger
craft, but he knew that there was far more real enjoyment in sailing
to be obtained from a small craft than a large one, for in the
latter he would be obliged to have a regular skipper, and would be
little more than a passenger, whereas on board the Seabird, although
his first hand was dignified by the name of skipper, he was himself
the absolute master. The boat carried the aforesaid skipper,
three hands, and a steward, and with them he had twice been up the
Mediterranean, across to Norway, and had several times made the
circuit of the British Isles.
He had unlimited confidence in his boat, and cared not what weather
he was out in her. This was the first time since his ownership
of her that the Seabird had carried lady passengers. His friend
Grantham, an old school and college chum, was a hard working barrister,
and Virtue had proposed to him to take a month's holiday on board
the Seabird.
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