Chapter 4: Tomorrow

Answer: The barber sitting inside the New Inn’s tap room near the harbour laughed at Captain Hagberd when he went out of the tap-room. As soon as the door shut, the barber said: “The old one and the young one will be strolling arm in arm to get shaved in my place presently.” The barber, who noticed a stranger listening to him with a silly smile, explained that this queer old Hagberd, a retired coasting skipper, was waiting for his son to return home. The Captain believed Colebrook was the only place in the United Kingdom for his long-lost son, whispered the barber in a low voice. So, he sold up his old home in Colchester. This brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook.

Answer: People of Colebrook did not have a favourable opinion of Captain Hagberd because people thought he was mad and in a state of shock as he lost his son somewhere at sea, and he hoped his son was alive and would return someday. Later he lost his wife too.