Above the fire-place was a large water-colour painting of the barque _Belinda_ as she appeared when on a reef to the north of Cape Palmas.

An inscription beneath this work of art announced that it had been painted by the second officer and presented by him to the head of the firm.

It was generally rumoured that the merchants had lost heavily over this disaster, and there were some who quoted it as an instance of Girdlestone's habitual strength of mind that he should decorate his wall with so melancholy a souvenir.

This view of the matter did not appear to commend itself to a flippant member of Lloyd's agency, who contrived to intimate, by a dexterous use of his left eyelid and right forefinger, that the vessel may not have been so much under-insured, nor the loss to the firm so enormous as was commonly reported.
John Girdlestone, as he sat at his square office-table waiting for his son, was undeniably a remarkable-looking man.

For good or for evil no weak character lay beneath that hard angular face, with the strongly marked features and deep-set eyes.