148 CAPTAIN ZACHARY G. LAMSON 



ambition, and giving up the sea he built for 

 himself a big white house in his native vil- 

 lage, much like the one he had admired 

 in his boyhood, and became a ship-owner 

 and merchant. He was now one of the 

 great men of the town, and expected and 

 received a certain deference, for, while 

 democratic in his manners, at heart the 

 merchant was somewhat of an aristocrat. 

 Every morning at precisely half-past eight 

 he might be seen leaving his house for the 

 counting room, his three-cornered hat set 

 upon a head held high, not so much from 

 pride as necessity, for the voluminous stock 

 and extremely high collar of his long-tailed 

 blue coat allowed no other position. His 

 hair neatly plaited in a cue, his nankeen 

 waistcoat embellished with shell buttons 

 and absurdly long, his tight-fitting knee 

 breeches and silk stockings, showing to 

 advantage his shapely limbs, his neatly 

 blacked shoes with bright steel buckles, 

 together with the silver-topped malacca 

 cane which he carried in his hand, all com- 



