"My name is Brightwell," he announced. "I don't suppose that will interest you. What is more to the point is that I am a solicitor acting on behalf of Mr. Horatio Snodburry."
The skipper grinned cheerfully.
"Carry on, please," he said encouragingly.
"To be brief my client wants you to shift your berth lower down the river."
"Does he own the river?"
"Oh, no. But, you see, you are rather obstructing his view."
"Precisely," agreed Mr. Clifton dryly. "This, being a tidal river, is, I take it, under Admiralty jurisdiction. 'As far as the tide shall flow' is the proper phraseology. And I think you, as a legal man, will admit that no individual can possess or claim the sole right to a view."
"That is so," admitted Mr. Brightwell. "The law does not admit of such a thing, as a 'prescriptive right of view'. But my client insisted that I should press his claim, although I told him he hadn't a leg to stand on. Without people of that type," he added in a burst of confidence, "the legal profession would be very, very slack."
"We are not shifting our berth," declared Mr. Clifton. "For one thing, I object to attempted coercion to the extent of trying to smoke us out. For another, this is the only spot where my yacht can lie afloat at low water, and a berth that for several years I have occupied on every previous occasion."
The lawyer nodded approvingly.