For there was something in the captain's deportment dimly suggestive of stone, and the dignity of stillness.

His face meant security, his large limbs a slow, sure action.
Colville and Monsieur de Gemosac were on the quay in the afternoon at high tide when "The Last Hope" was warped on to the slip-way.

All Farlingford was there too, and Captain Clubbe carried out the difficult task with hardly any words at all from a corner of the jetty, with Loo Barebone on board as second in command.
Captain Clubbe could not fail to perceive the strangers, for they stood a few yards from him, Monsieur de Gemosac peering with his yellow eyes toward the deck of "The Last Hope," where Barebone stood on the forecastle giving the orders transmitted to him by a sign from his taciturn captain.

Colville seemed to take a greater interest in the proceedings, and noted the skill and precision of the crew with the air of a seaman.
Presently, Septimus Marvin wandered down the dyke and stood irresolutely at the far corner of the jetty.

He always approached his flock with diffidence, although they treated him kindly enough, much as they treated such of their own children as were handicapped in the race of life by some malformation or mental incapacity.
Colville approached him and they stood side by side until "The Last Hope" was safely moored and chocked.