However, that
self-consciousness soon passed off, and he wore his fame as easily as he
wore his collar.
The lifeboat trips to the _Hjalmar_ became a feature of daily life
in Llandudno. The pronunciation of the ship's name went through a
troublous period. Some said the "j" ought to be pronounced to the
exclusion of the "h," and others maintained the contrary. In the end the
first two letters were both abandoned utterly, also the last--but nobody
had ever paid any attention to the last. The facetious had a trick of
calling the wreck _Inkerman_. This definite settlement of the
pronunciation of the name was a sign that the pleasure-seekers of
Llandudno had definitely fallen in love with the lifeboat-trip habit.
Denry's timid fear that the phenomenon which put money into his pocket
could not continue, was quite falsified. It continued violently. And
Denry wished that the _Hjalmar_ had been wrecked a month earlier.
He calculated that the tardiness of the _Hjalmar_ in wrecking
itself had involved him in a loss of some four hundred pounds. If only
the catastrophe had happened early in July, instead of early in August,
and he had been there.
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