Drawing a flask from an inner pocket, he stepped forward and placed it
upon the table.

"Have a noggin, Major. The _Polly_ arrived last night, straight from
the West Indies, and Leavitt brought me some special Old Jamaica. I
thought maybe you'd like to test it."

In a twinkling two mugs were produced, and filled to the brim.

"To the King, God bless him," Simonds toasted.

"To the King," the Major responded, as he raised his mug and clinked it
against the visitor's.

When this toast had been drunk, the Major again filled the mugs.

"Now, another," he cried. "To the Loyalists, especially to Colonel
Sterling's daughter, the fairest of them all."

"To the Loyalists and the Colonel's daughter," Simonds repeated.

Again the mugs clinked, and two honest men drank their second toast.
This done, they took their seats at the table, and settled down to
business of a most important nature.

James Simonds was really the business pioneer of Portland Point. He
was a man of outstanding ability and remarkable energy. For years he
had been the moving spirit and leader in numerous enterprises. Of him
and his partner, James White, it was said that "At one time the fishery