The Damsel - Chapter 2 The Fynes and the Girl-Friend

"The master of the Ferndale? Anthony. Captain Anthony."

"Just so. Quite right," approved Marlow thoughtfully. Our new
acquaintance looked over his shoulder.

"What do you mean? Why is it more right than if it had been Brown?"

"He has known him probably," I explained. "Marlow here appears to know
something of every soul that ever went afloat in a sailor's body."

Mr. Powell seemed wonderfully amenable to verbal suggestions for looking
again out of the window, he muttered: "He was a good soul."

This clearly referred to Captain Anthony of the Ferndale. Marlow
addressed his protest to me.

"I did not know him. I really didn't. He was a good soul. That's
nothing very much out of the way--is it? And I didn't even know that
much of him. All I knew of him was an accident called Fyne.

At this Mr. Powell who evidently could be rebellious too turned his back
squarely on the window.

"What on earth do you mean?" he asked. "An--accident--called Fyne," he
repeated separating the words with emphasis.

Marlow was not disconcerted.

"I don't mean accident in the sense of a mishap. Not in the least. Fyne
was a good little man in the Civil Service. By accident I mean that
which happens blindly and without intelligent design. That's generally
the way a brother-in-law happens into a man's life."