Franklin was over forty; his mother was still alive. She stood in the
forefront of all women for him, just as Captain Anthony stood in the
forefront of all men. We may suppose that these groups were not very
large. He had gone to sea at a very early age. The feeling which caused
these two people to partly eclipse the rest of mankind were of course not
similar; though in time he had acquired the conviction that he was
"taking care" of them both. The "old lady" of course had to be looked
after as long as she lived. In regard to Captain Anthony, he used to say
that: why should he leave him? It wasn't likely that he would come
across a better sailor or a better man or a more comfortable ship. As to
trying to better himself in the way of promotion, commands were not the
sort of thing one picked up in the streets, and when it came to that,
Captain Anthony was as likely to give him a lift on occasion as anyone in
the world.
From Mr. Powell's description Franklin was a short, thick black-haired
man, bald on the top. His head sunk between the shoulders, his staring
prominent eyes and a florid colour, gave him a rather apoplectic
appearance.
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