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diff --git a/42091-0.txt b/42091-0.txt index a485a59..9c79b8d 100644 --- a/42091-0.txt +++ b/42091-0.txt @@ -1,39 +1,4 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A Floating Home, by Cyril Ionides and J. B. Atkins - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A Floating Home - -Author: Cyril Ionides - J. B. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A Floating Home - -Author: Cyril Ionides - J. B. Atkins - -Illustrator: Arnold Bennett - -Release Date: February 13, 2013 [EBook #42091] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FLOATING HOME *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - A FLOATING HOME - - - [Illustration: A BARGE PASSING THE MAPLIN LIGHT] - - - - - A FLOATING HOME - - BY - - CYRIL IONIDES AND J. B. ATKINS - - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY - - ARNOLD BENNETT - - PHOTOGRAPHS, APPENDIX, GLOSSARY, ETC. - - LONDON - - CHATTO & WINDUS - - 1918 - - - _All rights reserved_ - - - To - THE MATE - - - - -PREFACE - - -The authors owe to their readers an explanation of the manner of their -collaboration. The owner of the Thames sailing barge, of which the -history as a habitation is written in this book, is Mr. Cyril Ionides. -'I' throughout the narrative is Mr. Cyril Ionides; the 'Mate' is Mrs. -Cyril Ionides; the children are their children. Yet the other author, -Mr. J. B. Atkins, was so closely associated with the events -recorded--sharing with Mr. Ionides the counsels and discussions that -ended in the purchase of the barge, prosecuting in his company -friendships with barge skippers, and studying with him the Essex -dialect, which nowhere has more character than in the mouths of Essex -seafaring men--that it was not practicable for the book to be written -except in collaboration. The authors share, moreover, an intense -admiration for the Thames sailing barges, to which, so far as they -know, justice has never been done in writing. Mr. Atkins, however, -felt that it would be unnecessary, if not impertinent, for him to -assume any personal shape in the narrative when there was little -enough space for the more relevant and informing characters of Sam -Prawle, Elijah Wadely, and their like. - -The book aims at three things: (1) It tells how the problem of -poverty--poverty judged by the standard of one who wished to give his -sons a Public School education on an insufficient income--was solved -by living afloat and avoiding the payment of rent and rates. (2) It -offers a tribute of praise to the incomparable barge skippers who -navigate the busiest of waterways, with the smallest crews (unless the -cutter barges of Holland provide an exception) that anywhere in the -world manage so great a spread of canvas. Londoners are aware that the -most characteristic vessels of their river are 'picturesque.' Beyond -that their knowledge or their applause does not seem to go. It is -hoped that this book will tell them something new about a life at -their feet, of the details of which they have too long been ignorant. -(3) It is a study in dialect. It was impossible to grow in intimacy -with the Essex skippers of barges without examining with careful -attention the dialect that persists with a surprising flavour within a -short radius of London, where one would expect everything of the -sort--particularly in the _va-et-vient_ of river life--to be -assimilated or absorbed. - -As to (1) and (3) something more may be said. - -One of the authors (J. B. A.) published in the _Spectator_ before the -war a brief account of Mr. Cyril Ionides' floating home, and was -immediately beset by so many inquiries for more precise information -that he perceived that a book on the subject--a practical and complete -answer to the questions--was required. Neither of the authors is under -any illusion as to the determination of those who have made such -inquiries. Most of the inquirers no doubt are people who will not go -further with the idea than to play with it. But that need not matter. -The idea is a very pleasant one to play with. The few who care to -proceed will find enough information in this book for their guidance. -The items of expenditure, the method of transforming the barge from a -dirty trading vessel into an agreeable home, a diagram of the interior -arrangements, are all given. The castle in Spain has actually been -built, and people are living in it. - -Here is a scheme of life for which romantic is perhaps neither too -strong a word nor one incapable of some freshness of meaning. The idea -is available for anyone with enough resolution. Of course, not every -amateur seaman would care to undertake the mastership of so large a -vessel as a Thames sailing barge, but that natural hesitation need be -no hindrance. The owner would want no crew when safely berthed for the -winter; and in the summer a professional skipper and his mate (only -two hands are required) would sail him about with at least as much -satisfaction to him as is obtained by the owners of large yachts -carrying bloated crews. - -If he is a 'bad sailor' he could get more pleasure from a barge than -from an ordinary yacht of greater draught. The barge can choose her -water; she can run into the smooth places that lie between the banks -of the complicated Thames estuary. She can thread the Essex and -Suffolk tidal rivers; the Crouch, the Roach, the Blackwater, the -Colne, the Stour, the Orwell, the Deben, the Aide, are all open to -her, and are delightfully wild and unspoiled; she can sit upright upon -a sandbank till a blow is over. Many people who could afford yachting -and are drawn to it persistently think that it is not for them, -because they are 'bad sailors.' If they tried barging on the most -broken coast in England--say between Lowestoft and Whitstable--they -would be very pleasantly undeceived, unless indeed their case is -hopeless. This book, however, is not written to recruit the world of -yachtsmen, but to show how a home--a floating home on the sea for -winter as well as summer, not a tame houseboat--and a yacht may be -combined at a saving of cost to the householder. - -And by those whose heart is equal to the adventure this cure for the -modern 'cost of living' will not by any means be found an -uncomfortable makeshift, a disagreeable sacrifice by a conscientious -father of a family. A barge is not a poky hole. The barge described -in this book, though one is not conscious of being cramped inside her, -is only a ninety tonner. It would be easy to acquire a barge of a -hundred and twenty tons, and such a vessel could still be sailed by -two hands. The saloon in Mr. Ionides' barge is as large as many -drawing-rooms in London flats which are rented at £150 a year. In a -small London flat which was not designed for inhabitants 'cooped in a -wingèd sea-girt citadel' (though it might have been better if it had -been) there is little thought of saving space. In a vessel, one of the -primary objects of the designer is to save space. Sailors in their -habits act on the same principle. The success that has been achieved -by both architects and seamen is almost incredible. No one who has -lived for any length of time in a vessel has ever been able to rid -himself of the grateful sense that he has more room than he could have -expected, and certainly more than ever appeared from the outside. - -Nor do the points in favour of a vessel as a house end there. A ship -is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. In the summer you have -the sea breezes, which can be directed or diverted by awnings and -windows as you like. In the winter a ship is easily warmed and there -are no draughts. Although a vessel is farther removed from the world -than a flat, your contact with the world is paradoxically closer. If -you go downstairs from your flat you must dress yourself for the -street. The very man who works the lift, and mediates between you and -the external world, expects it of you. But from your comfortable cabin -on board ship to the deck, which gives you a platform in touch with -all that is outside, there are but half a dozen steps up the -companion. And yet, in touch with the world, you are still in your own -territory. You have not, as a matter of habit, changed your clothes. - -A sea-going vessel is a real home, a property with privileges -attached, and a solution of a difficulty. We hear much praise of -caravanning--a most agreeable pastime for those who prefer the rumble -of wheels to the wash of the tide or the humming of wind in the -rigging. But is it a solution of anything? It has not been stated that -it is. Let any receiver of an exiguous salary, who trudges across -London Bridge daily between his train and his office, not assume -finally that a more romantic way of life than his is impossible. Let -him lean for a few moments over the bridge, watch the business of the -Pool, and ask himself whether he sees in one of the sailing barges his -ideal home and the remedy for him of that tormenting family budget of -which the balance is always just on the wrong side. - -Life in a barge brings you acquainted with bargees. They are your -natural neighbours. The dialect of those who belong to Essex has been -reproduced in this book as faithfully as possible. If certain words -such as 'wonderful' (very) and 'old' occur very frequently, it is -because the authors have written down yarns and phrases as they heard -them, and not with an eye to introducing what might seem a more -credible variety of language. It is said that dialects are everywhere -yielding to a universal system of education. In the opinion of the -authors the surrender is much less extensive than is supposed. Some -people have no ear for dialect, and are capable of hearing it without -knowing that it is being talked. The users of local phrases, for their -part, are often shy, and if asked to repeat an unusual word will -pretend to be strangers to it, or, more unobtrusively, substitute -another word and continue apace into a region of greater safety. The -authors, however, have had the good fortune to be on such terms with -some men of Essex that they have been able to discuss dialect words -with them without embarrassment. It is hoped that the glossary at the -end of the book will be found a useful collection by those who are -interested in the subject. Some of the words, which have become -familiar to the authors, are not mentioned in any dialect dictionary. -Although the Essex dialect has persisted, it has not persisted in an -immutable form. So far as the authors may trust their ears, they are -certain that the pronunciation of the word 'old' (which is used in -nearly every sentence by some persons) is always either 'ould' or -'owd.' But if one looks at the well-known Essex dialect poem 'John -Noakes and Mary Styles: An Essex Calf's Visit to Tiptree Races,' by -Charles Clark, of Great Totham Hall (1839), one sees that 'old' used -to be pronounced 'oad.' In the same poem 'something' is written -'suffin',' though the authors of this book, on the strength of their -experience, have felt bound to write it 'suthen.' In Essex to-day 'it' -at the end of a sentence, and sometimes elsewhere, is pronounced -'ut'--in the Irish manner. Some words are pronounced in such a way as -to encourage an easy verdict that the Essex accent is Cockney, but no -sensitive ear could possibly confuse the sounds. In the Essex scenes -in 'Great Expectations' Dickens made use of the typical Essex word -'fare,' but he did not attempt to reproduce the dialect in essential -respects. Mr. W. W. Jacobs's delightful barge skippers are -abstractions. They may be Essex men, but they are not recognizable as -such. Enough that they amuse the bargee as much as they amuse -everybody else; one of the authors of this book speaks from -experience, having 'tried' some of Mr. Jacobs's stories on an Essex -barge skipper. No more about dialect must be written in the preface. -Readers who are interested will find the rest of the authors' -information sequestered in a glossary. - -Mr. Arnold Bennett, who has settled in Essex near the coast, and is, -moreover, a yachtsman, shares the enthusiasm of the authors for the -peculiar character of the Essex estuaries. He makes his first -appearance here as an illustrator. He has given his impressions of the -scenery in which the barges ply their trade, and which is the setting -of the following narrative. - -It remains to say that in the narrative several names of places in -Essex, as well as the real name of the barge, have been changed; and -that the authors wish to thank the proprietors of the _Evening News_, -who have allowed them to republish Sam Prawle's salvage yarn, which -was originally printed as a detached episode. - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - I. COLOUR PLATES FROM WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS BY ARNOLD BENNETT - - A Barge passing the Maplin Light _Frontispiece_ - The Swale River _to face page_ 24 - Bradwell Creek 60 - Maldon 84 - Beaumont Quay 124 - Walton Creek 136 - Landermere 150 - The River Orwell 164 - - - II. MONOCHROME PLATES FROM PHOTOGRAPHS - - A Barge at Sunset in the Lower Thames 8 - In Sea Reach 30 - Barges at an Essex Mill 40 - Hauling a Barge to her Berth 50 - The Dining Cabin 72 - The Saloon 92 - The _Ark Royal_ 102 - Bathing in the Sluice at the _Ark Royal's_ Headquarters 178 - Plan of the _Ark Royal_ 192 - - - - -A FLOATING HOME - - - - -CHAPTER I - - 'I will go back to the great sweet mother, - Mother and lover of men, the sea.' - - -One winter I made up my mind that it was necessary to live in some -sort of vessel afloat instead of in a house on the land. This decision -was the result, at last pressed on me by circumstances, of vague -dreams which had held my imagination for many years. - -These dreams were not, I believe, peculiar to myself. The child, young -or old, whose fancy is captive to water, builds for castles in Spain -houseboats wherein he may spend his life floating in his element. His -fancy at some time or other has played with the thought of possessing -almost every type of craft for his home--a three-decker with a -glorious gallery, a Thames houseboat all ready to step into, a disused -schooner, a bluff-bowed old brig. He will moor her in some delectable -water, and when his restlessness falls upon him he will have her -removed to another place. Civilization shall never rule him. As -though to prove it he will live free of rates, and weigh his anchor -and move on if the matter should ever happen to come under dispute. -Nor will he pay rent resentfully to a grasping landlord. For a mere -song he will pick up the old vessel that shall contain his happiness. -Her walls will be stout enough to shelter him for a lifetime, though -Lloyd's agent may have condemned her, according to the exacting tests -that take count of sailors' lives, as unfit to sail the deep seas. - -Certainly those who have the water-sense, yet are required by -circumstances to earn their living as landsmen, have all dreamed these -dreams. In many people the sight of water responds to some fundamental -need of the mind. To the vision of these disciples of Thales -everything that is agreeable somehow proceeds from water, and into -water everything may somehow be resolved. When they are away from -water they are vaguely uncomfortable, perhaps feeling that the road of -freedom and escape is cut off. Inland they will walk, like Shelley, -across a field to look at trickling water in a ditch, or will search -out a dirty canal in the middle of an industrial town. The sea, which -to some eyes seems to lead nowhere, seems to them to lead everywhere. -Iceland and the Azores open their ports equally to the owner of any -kind of vessel, and the wind is ready to blow him there, house and -all. The water-sense is the contradiction in many people of the -hill-sense. They of the water-sense cannot tolerate that too large a -slice of the sky, in which they love to read the weather-signs, should -be eclipsed; the wonderful lighting of the mountains is less -significant to them than the marshalling of vapours and tell-tale -clouds upon their spacious horizon. - -But this water-sense which lays a spell on you often exacts severe -tolls of labour. The yachtsman who employs no paid hands, for -instance, must sweat for his enjoyment; the simple acts of keeping a -yacht in sea-going order, of getting the anchor and making sail, and -of stowing sail and tidying up the ship when he has returned to -moorings, mean exacting and continuous work. If he goes for a short -sail the labour might reasonably be said to be disproportionate to the -pleasure; and if he goes for a long sail the pleasure itself may -easily turn into labour before the end. These disadvantages and -uncertainties the yachtsman knows, and yet they are for him no -deterrent. He may spend a miserable night giddily tossed about in an -open and unsafe anchorage, and call himself a fool for being there; -but the next week he will expose himself to the same discomfort. Why? -Because it is in his blood; because he has this water-sense which -compels him, bullies him, and enthrals him. - -The houseboats of the Thames are famous centres of a dallying summer -existence in which life tunes itself to the pace of the drifting punts -and skiffs, and seems to be expressed by the metallic melody of a -gramophone or the tinkling of a mandolin. At night there is enough -shelter for paper lanterns to burn steadily; and as the wind is -tempered, so is everything else. All is arranged to add the practical -touch of ease and comfort to the ideal of living roughly and simply, -and the result is a mixture of paradox and paradise. One wonders what -proportion of the population of the houseboats, if any, lives in the -houseboats in the winter. The boats always seem to be empty then, and -of course they were not designed for regular habitation. A wall or -roof which, like - - 'The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed, - Lets in new light through chinks that time has made,' - -is not a meet covering for the winter. Nor would even a thoroughly -weather-proof boat be so if it have no fireplace. But thought runs on -from the spectacle of the mere Thames houseboat to the further -possibilities of this mode of life. Why keep to the tame scenes of the -upper Thames? Why not live on the Broads, under that clean vault of -sky, scoured by the winds, among the wilder sights and sounds of -nature? Thought runs on again. Why on the Broads, after all? They are -a long way from London, and it may happen that one has to be often in -London. And in the summer you might imagine that the upper Thames had -been transported to Norfolk, so full are the Broads and rivers of -picnicking parties. Why, then, not live in a houseboat on sea water? -Sea water is a great purifier. No fear that it will become stagnant or -rank. Its transmuting process turns everything to purity. Take an odd -proof. Even rubbish or paper in sea water is not an offence as it is -in fresh water. Hurried along on the tide, it bears a relation to the -great business of ships; but in fresh water it reminds one of -disagreeable people, careless of all the amenities. - -The houseboat, then, must be a ship lying with her sisters of the sea -in a harbour. Attracted by the Government advertisements that appear -from time to time in shipping newspapers, one thinks, perhaps, or -buying an old man-of-war. But old men-of-war, though very roomy, are -more expensive than you might suppose. Besides, in the conditions of -sale there may be a stipulation that the buyer must break up the ship. -A barque, such as is often bought by a Norwegian trader in timber, and -spends her remaining days being pumped out by a windmill on deck, -might serve for a houseboat. So would a steam yacht when the engines -had been taken out. But then the draught of either is not light, and -the occupier of a houseboat might want to lie far up a snug creek, and -there even the highest spring tide would not give him the necessary -depth. A sea houseboat might be built specially, but that is not the -way of wisdom; the cost would be very great. The houseboat must be a -vessel of very easy draught, and also one that can be bought cheap and -be easily adapted for the purpose. - -Often had my thoughts carried me to this point by some such stages as -have been described. But the floating home had remained a phantom -because my desire for the sea was partly satisfied by the possession -of a small yacht, the _Playmate_, of which I was the Skipper and my -wife was the Mate, and in which we had spent all our holidays. Our -home was a country cottage, which I had bought at Fleetwick, not far -from a tidal river that strikes far into the heart of Essex. But at -length circumstances, as I have said, caused the dream to become for -me a very practical matter. - -It happened in this way. The shadow of the change from governess to -school had fallen on our two boys. We regretted it the more because -there was no school within reach of home, and they were, in our -opinion, too young to go to a boarding school. And so there seemed -nothing to be done but to sell or let our cottage--if we could--where -we had lived for nine years, and move to some place where there was a -good school for the boys. Whatever place we chose had to be on or near -salt water, for neither my wife nor I could seriously think of life -without water and boats. - -We found a satisfactory school near a tidal river in Suffolk, but we -could not find a house--at least, not one we both liked and could -afford. One day, having returned dejectedly from a search as futile -as usual, we were discussing the situation, which indeed looked -hopeless, for our means were obviously unequal to what we wanted to -do, when the idea of a floating home suddenly repossessed me with a -fresh significance. - -'Let's buy an old vessel,' I said, 'and fit her up as our house. We -have often talked of doing it some day. That may have been a joke, -perhaps. But why not do it _seriously_--_now_?' - -The Mate evaded the startling proposal for the moment. - -'I wish the children wouldn't grow up,' she commented sadly. - -'If we don't have the vessel,' I persisted, 'we shall fall between two -stools, because with all the expenses--school, rent, and so on, which -we've never had before--we shall have to give up the _Playmate_.' - -'That would be worse than anything.' - -The mere idea of giving up our boat was more than we could -contemplate--our boat in which we two had cruised alone together, -summer and winter, on the East Coast, and from whose masthead more -than once we had proudly flown the Red Ensign on our return from a -cruise 'foreign.' - -'I would rather live in a workman's cottage and keep the boat, than -live in a better house and have no boat,' said the Mate emphatically. - -'Well, we've got to leave here, and it's something to have found a -decent school. I suppose, if we take a house really big enough to hold -us, it will cost us forty pounds to move into it.' - -'_Much_ more than that if you count all the new carpets, curtains, and -dozens of other things we shall want.' - -I thought an occasion for reiteration had arrived. - -'Just think. If we had a ship, we should do away with the expense of -moving for one thing, the rent for another, and the rates and taxes -for another. We may be absolutely sure our expenses will increase, and -our income almost certainly won't.' - -The Mate was silent, so I continued: 'Suppose we are reduced to doing -our washing at home. Washing hung up to dry in the garden of a villa -is one thing, but slung between the masts of a ship it is another. Not -many people can scrub their own doorsteps without feeling embarrassed, -but one can wash down one's own decks proudly in front of the Squadron -Castle.' - -'There is something in that.' She was gazing out over the marshes, -where the gulls and plover were circling. She sighed, and I knew she -was thinking of the 'move.' - -I sat beside her and looked out of the window too, and the familiar -sight of a barge's topsail moving above the sea-wall caught my eye. -'That's what we should be doing,' I said, pointing to the -barge--'sailing along with our children and our household goods on -board instead of waiting for pan-technicons to arrive with our -furniture, and spending days in misery and discomfort moving it into a -house we don't like, and then paying a large rent every year for the -privilege of staying in it. If we had a barge we could anchor clear of -the town, and when the holidays came we could up anchor and clear off -to a place more after our own hearts. Of course a barge is the very -thing--the most easily handled ship for her size in the world. I see -the way out quite clearly now.' - -[Illustration: A BARGE AT SUNSET IN THE LOWER THAMES] - -'Yes, that sounds very jolly, but there would be a lot of drawbacks -too.' The Mate began to retreat towards the drawing-room. - -'Oh, but you haven't heard half the advantages yet,' I called after -her. - -The Mate wanted time. So did I. I lit a cigarette and thought for a -few minutes over our position; and the more I thought the more sure I -became that a barge would solve the problem for us. And when I joined -her I felt that I had a pretty strong case. - -'Now listen to me,' I said. 'Not only should we save a great deal over -the move, and over the rates and taxes, and have no landlord to -interfere with us, but we should actually be freer than we are here. -We should be sure of our sailing, which is one great advantage; and -later, when the boys go to their public school, we can move wherever -we like and not be tied to a house for seven, fourteen, or twenty-one -years. A move without a move--think of that. I am sure salt-water -baths will be good for the children, and hot salt-water baths will be -excellent for rheumatism--or anything of that sort. The barge will be -warmer in the winter than a house, and cooler in the summer. She will -be cheaper to keep up. You will save in servants and also in coals. -You know you hate tramps, and hawkers, and barrel-organs. Well, you -will be free from all these things. Of course, we don't have -earthquakes in England, but if we did have one we shouldn't feel it. -If we had a flood, it wouldn't hurt us. You remember we paid about -four pounds to have our burst water-pipes mended last winter, but we -shouldn't have that sort of thing in a barge. We shouldn't be swindled -over a gas-meter, and servants wouldn't leave because of the stairs. -It will be a delightful place for the children to bring their friends -to, and no one will know whether we're eccentric millionaires or -paupers only just to windward of the workhouse. We'll have the saloon -panelled in oak, and white enamel under the decks, and our books and -blue china all round. We'll....' - -I had just begun to warm to my work when an expression on the Mate's -face showed me that I had said enough and said it reasonably well. I -had made an impression on her adventurous heart. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - 'Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon, - Down with me from Lebanon to sail upon the sea. - The ship is wrought of ivory, the decks of gold, and thereupon - Are sailors singing bridal songs, and waiting to cast free. - - 'Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon, - The rowers there are ready and will welcome thee with shouts. - The sails are silken sails and scarlet, cut and sewn in Babylon, - The scarlet of the painted lips of women thereabouts.' - - -Two or three days after the conversation related in the last chapter -the Mate and I fell into a vein of reminiscence and reconstructed a -vision we had once shared of the ship that was some day to be our -home. It had the proper condition of a vision that the thing longed -for was unattainable; the vessel of our dreams had always been as far -down on the horizon as the balance at the bank that would pay for her. - -She was, above all things, to be beautiful, even for a ship, which is -saying much--for who ever saw a sailing ship otherwise? Of course, she -was to be square-rigged, for how else should we be able to splice the -mainbrace with rum and milk when the sun crossed the yard-arm? We -fancied gorgeous pictures on her sails, so that the winds should be -lovesick with them as with the sails of Cleopatra's barge; an ensign -aft, and streaming pennants of bright colours on her masts. Her poop, -towering above the water, fretted and carved and blazoned with all the -skill of bygone guilds, should have a gallery aft on which the captain -and his wife would take their ease On either quarter, lit up at -sundown, there would be tall poop lanterns covered with cunning -tracery and magic, such as Merlin might have wrought, so that on windy -nights the passing craft might see - - 'Far, far up above them her great poop lanterns shine, - Unvexed by wind and weather, like the candles round a Shrine.' - -Guns she would have on deck, and a fighting-top on the main, and a -forecastle where the crew should man the capstan and weigh anchor to a -chanty. Beneath her jibboom pointing heavenward she would set a -spritsail heralding her on her way. We could see her with sails all -bellied out in bold curves before a brave wind, and hear 'the -long-drawn thunder neath her leaping figure-head.' - -Thus she would sail on her happy course, leaving behind 'a scent of -old-world roses.' She would have to return, though, amid the smell of -burnt crude oil or coal, for of course she could never go to -windward. And I am afraid we were going to have electric light too. -After all, we are practical people. - -I remember the evening of this reminiscence very well, because I -suddenly became conscious that we were talking of the vision as a -thing that had been supplanted by something else. There was no doubt -about it. Our remarks had implied our consent to the scuttling of that -glorious galleon. We took an artistic interest in the image, but it -was no longer even good make-believe. - -The more I had thought over it the more the idea of the barge had -taken hold of me as a feasible scheme, for I was almost sure that the -sale of the cottage and the _Playmate_ would realize enough to buy the -barge and pay for making her habitable. - -I was familiar with the dimensions of a barge, and sketched out -roughly to scale various plans by which we could have five sleeping -cabins, a saloon, a dining cabin, kitchen, scullery, forecastle, and -steerage. This occupation became so fascinating that I could hardly -tear myself away from it at nights to go to bed. - -As I am inclined to be the fool who rushes in while the Mate is the -angel who fears to tread, it was natural for her to maintain certain -objections for some time, even though thus early I could see that she -was nearly as much bitten by the thought of the barge as I was. Here -is the kind of discussion that would occur: - -_Skipper_: You see, we've only got to be tidy and there'll be heaps of -room. - -_Mate_: You don't understand. Men never do. There are hundreds of -things one doesn't want in a yacht, even on a long cruise, which one -must have in a house-boat. - -_Skipper_: Well, there'll be our cabin and a cabin for the boys, and -another for Margaret, a spare cabin, the saloon, the dining-room, the -bathroom, the kitchen, the forecastle, the steerage, and lots of -lockers and cupboards everywhere. - -_Mate_: Oh, you don't understand. - -_Skipper_: I could be bounded in a nutshell and feel myself the king -of infinite space. - -_Mate_: Hamlet won't help us! - -_Skipper_: But look at the alternative. If we go in for a house and -can't afford the rent we shall have to give up the _Playmate_ and take -to walks along a Marine Parade instead. Oh, Lord! - -_Mate_: The children might fall overboard. - -_Skipper_: We can have stanchions all round the ship and double lines. - -_Mate_: What about slipping overboard between the ropes? - -_Skipper_: Well, I don't want to be laughed at, but if you really wish -it we'll have wire netting as well. - -_Mate_: What about a water-supply? We can't get on without plenty of -fresh water. - -_Skipper_: You shall have plenty. - -_Mate_: How? - -_Skipper_: In huge tanks. - -_Mate_: What shall I do without my garden? - -_Skipper_: That is the worst point and the only bad point. I've got no -answer except that we must give up something, and the question is -whether you would rather have the garden than everything else. Oh, -happy thought!--some day we will tie up alongside a little patch and -cultivate it. - -_Mate_: Are you perfectly sure we shan't have to pay rates? - -At this point the Skipper could always cite in evidence the case of -the 'floating' boathouse near by, which had been rated because it -would not float. That proved to demonstration that anything capable of -floating would not have been rated. Our friend Sam Prawle, an ex barge -skipper, who lived in an old smack moored on the saltings, held -himself an authority on rating in virtue of having taken part in this -case. He had helped to build the floating boathouse, and therefore -felt that his credit was involved in her ability to float. - -Some years ago our saltings--the strip of marsh intersected by rills, -which is covered by water only at spring tides--were not considered to -have any rateable value. Later a good many yachts were laid up on -them, and as the berths were paid for the saltings were rated. Then -followed two or three small wooden boathouses on piles, in which gear -was kept, and on these a ferret-eyed busybody cast his eye. He -reported them as being of rateable value. It was argued that the boats -in which gear was stored, as distinguished from the yachts, might as -well be rated too; but this would not hold water, for the simple -reason that boats could be floated off and anchored in the river or -taken away altogether, whereas the boathouses, though often surrounded -by water, were buildings on the land. - -To avoid paying rates, therefore, and at the same time to have a -comfortable place in which to camp out and store things, the -yacht-owner who employed Sam Prawle decided to build a floating -boathouse. Sam and he, having fixed several casks in a frame, built a -house on this platform. - -Now it came to pass that the local ferret informed the overseers that -this 'building on the saltings' did not float, and was therefore -rateable. From that time onwards until the matter was decided our -waterside world argued about little else but whether it was a -house-boathouse or a boat-houseboat. The owner was invited to meet the -overseers at the next spring tide to satisfy them on the point. - -Sam worked hard all the morning of the trial, covering the casks with -a thick mixture of hot pitch and tar. A small crowd gathered on the -sea-wall to watch events. It was a good tide, and I, who was present -as chairman of the overseers, was glad, because it gave the owner a -fair run for his money. My sympathy was all with him, although as an -official I had not been able to give him the benefit of the doubt. As -the tide rose near its highest point Sam and the owner, wading up to -their thighs in sea-boots, did their utmost to lift the boathouse or -move her sideways, but without success. - -At the top of the tide, both of them, red in the face and sweating -hard, managed to raise one end a couple of inches, and called on -Heaven and the overseers to witness that the boathouse floated. As -chairman of the overseers, I took the responsibility of saying that if -they could shift her a foot sideways she should be deemed to have -floated. They went at it like men, but the tide had fallen an inch -before their first effort under these terms was ended, and two or -three minutes later Sam was heard to say to the owner, 'That ain't a -mite o' use a shovin' naow, sir. She's soo'd a bit.' - -And so the boat-houseboat turned out to be a house-boathouse after -all, and was assessed at £1 a year. Sam used to pay the rate every -half-year on behalf of his employer, not without giving the collector -his views on the subject. - -When the Mate had been convinced that we should really escape rates -the thought of giving up her garden remained the last outwork of her -very proper defences. But this position also fell in good time. My -foot-rule, my rough scale plans and piled-up figures of cubic capacity -and surficial area carried all before them. I trembled for my -arithmetic once or twice, however, when I proved that we should have -very nearly as much room as in the cottage. - -A barge, then, it was to be. Not a superannuated, narrow, low-sided -canal barge; nor a swim-headed dumb barge or lighter, such as one can -see any day of the week bumping and drifting her way up and down -through London--the jellyfish of river traffic; nor yet, above all, an -upper Thames houseboat of any sort, but a real sailing Thames topsail -barge which could work from port to port under her own canvas, and -meet her trading sisters in the open on their business. - - * * * * * - -The news that we were going to live in a barge spread like wildfire, -and raised a storm of protest which took all our seamanship to -weather. Many a time I had to clear off the land, so to speak, against -an onshore gale with my barge and family. We thought our relations -were unreasonable, for all barge skippers to whom we unfolded our plan -became enthusiastic and said--tactful men!--that their wives were of -the same mind. I claimed their views as expert at the time, though to -be sure I knew well enough that there is a law of loyalty among -sailormen whenever the old question of wives sailing with their -husbands is discussed. - -Our relations, who did not know a Thames topsail barge from a Fiji -dug-out, regarded our scheme alternately as a sign of lunacy and as an -injury to themselves. They were bent on shaking us; third parties were -suborned to try tactfully to dissuade us, leading up to the subject -through rheumatic uncles on both sides of the family. The emissaries -lacked versatility, for they all approached the subject by way of uric -acid, and the moment we heard the word rheumatism we took the weather -berth by saying in great surprise, 'You've come to talk about the -barge, then?' - -Having outsailed the emissaries, we were still bombarded with letters -mentioning every possible objection. One said the barge would be dark, -and we replied that we intended to have twenty-six windows. Another -that it would be damp; against this we set our stoves. Another that it -would be stuffy; and the windows were indicated once more. A fourth -that it would be cold; and we brought forward the stoves again. A -fifth declared that it would be draughty. To this last we intended to -reply at some length that a ship with her outer and inner skin, and -air-lock or space between the two, is the least draughty place -possible. On second thoughts, however, we felt it would be waste of -time, so, acting the part of a clearing-house, we switched the -'draughty' aunt on to the 'stuffy' uncle and left them to settle which -it was to be. - -Really we were too full of hope and plans to care what anyone said. -Life was not long enough to get on with our work and answer objections -too, so after a time we settled down in the face of the world to a -policy of masterly silence. - -In the meantime, as a first step, we took the measurements of a barge -lying at Fleetwick Quay, so that we knew more accurately than before -what room we should have, and could plan our home accordingly. - -How those winter evenings flew! Armed with rulers, pencils, and -drawing-boards, we sat in front of the drawing-room fire working like -mad. We used reams of paper and blunted innumerable pencils making -designs of the various cabins and placing the cupboards, the bunks, -the bath, the kitchen range, the water-tanks, the china, the silver, -the furniture, and the thousand and one things which make a house. -After we had spent a week in deciding where the various pieces of -furniture were to go, we discovered that they could not possibly be -got in through the hatchways we had planned, and we accordingly -designed a special furniture hatch. It was glorious fun, and we were -always springing surprises on each other, and mislaying our pencils -and snatching up the wrong one in the frenzy of a new idea. Indeed, we -became so much absorbed that progress was hindered, for we could not -be induced to look at each other's plans until we agreed to have two -truces every night for purposes of comparison. - -At any moment the house might be sold, and then we should want our -barge, and buying a barge is not to be done in a moment or -unadvisedly. The transaction is critical. We should not be able to go -back upon it. Yacht copers, we knew, were as bad as horse copers, but -both apparently were new-born babes compared with barge copers, if our -information were correct. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - 'Dulcedo loci nos attinet.' - - -The primitive explorers who came up the Thames in their rough craft -examined the site of what was afterwards to be London, and saw that it -was good. London is where it is because of the river. It is strange -that Londoners should know so little, below bridges, of the river that -made them. The reason, of course, is that the means of seeing it are -very poor. How many Londoners could say how to come upon even a peep -of the lower river within a distance of five miles of London Bridge? -The common impression is that the river is impenetrably walled up by -warehouses, wharfs, docks, and other forbidden ground. A simple way is -to go by steamer when steamers are plying, but the best way is to be -taken on board a sailing barge. - -Taine said that the only proper approach to London was by the Thames, -as in no other way could a stranger conceive the meaning of London. -And from the water only is it possible to see properly one of the most -beautiful architectural visions in the world--the magnificent front -of Greenwich Hospital, rising out of the water, as noble a palace as -ever Venice imagined. - -If this is the most splendid spectacle of the lower Thames, the most -characteristic sight is that of the sailing barges, of which you may -pass hundreds between London Bridge and the Nore. These are vessels of -which Londoners ought to be very proud indeed; they ought to boast of -them, and take foreigners to see them. But, alas! the very word -'barge' is a symbol of ungainliness and sordidness. What beauty of -line these barges really have, from the head of the towering topsail -to the tiny mizzen that lightens the work of steering! There is no -detail that is weak or mean; a barge thriddling (as they say in Essex) -among the shipping of the winding river in a stiff breeze is boldness -perfectly embodied in a human design. The Thames sailing barges are -one of the best schools of seamanship that remain to a world conquered -by steam. - -The Thames barge is worthy to be studied for three reasons: her -history, her beauty, and her handiness. She is the largest sailing -craft in the world handled by two men--often by a man and his wife, or -a boy--and that in the busiest water in the world. - -One hundred to one hundred and twenty tons is the size of an average -barge nowadays. Seventy-five to eighty feet long by eighteen feet beam -are her measurements. With leeboards up she draws about three feet -when light and six when loaded; when she is loaded, with her -leeboards down, she draws fourteen feet. - -For going through the bridges in London or at Rochester, or when -navigating very narrow creeks, she will pick up a third hand known as -a 'huffler' (which is no doubt the same word as 'hoveller')[1] to lend -a hand. - - [1] A hoveller is an unlicensed pilot or boatman, particularly - on the Kentish coast. The word is said to be derived from the - shelters or hovels in which the men lived, but such an easy - derivation is to be mistrusted. - -Some explanation must be given of how it is possible for two men to -handle such a craft. In the first place, the largest sail of all, the -mainsail, is set on a sprit, and is never hoisted or lowered, but -remains permanently up. When the barge is not under way this sail is -brailed or gathered up to the mast by ropes, much as the double -curtain at a theatre is drawn and bunched up to each side. The topsail -also remains aloft, and is attached to the topmast by masthoops, and -has an inhaul and a downhaul, as well as sheet and halyard. Thus it -can be controlled from the deck without becoming unmanageable in heavy -weather. It is an especially large sail, and so far from being the -mere auxiliary which a topsail is in yachts, it is one of the most -important parts of the sail plan, and is the best-drawing sail in the -vessel. It requires none of the coaxing and trimming which the -yachtsman practises before he is satisfied with the set of the -little sail which stands in so different a proportion and relation to -his other sails. Often in a strong wind you may see a barge scudding -under topsail and headsails only. The truth is that when a barge -cannot carry her topsail it is not possible to handle her properly. -The foresail, like the mainsail, works on a horse. These and several -other things too technical to be mentioned here enable the barge to be -worked short-handed. - -[Illustration: THE SWALE RIVER] - -From Land's End to Ymuiden the Thames barge strays, but her home is -from the Foreland to Orfordness. Between these points, up every tidal -creek of the Medway, Thames, Roach, Crouch, Blackwater, Colne, Hamford -Water, Stour, Orwell, Deben, and Alde, wherever 'there is water enough -to wet your boots,' as the barge skipper puts it, one will find a -barge. - -She is the genius of that maze of sands and mudbanks and curious tides -which is the Thames Estuary. Among the shoals, swatchways, and -channels, she can get about her business as no other craft can. The -sandbanks, the dread of other vessels, have no terror for her; rather, -she turns them to her use. In heavy weather, when loaded deep, she -finds good shelter behind them; when light, she anchors on their backs -for safety, and there, when the tide has left her, she sits as upright -as a church. Then, too, she is consummate in cheating the tides and -making short cuts, or 'a short spit of it,' as bargees say. In this -the sands help her, for the tide is far slacker over the banks than in -the fairway, where her deep-draught sisters remain. While these are -waiting for water she scoots along out of the tide and makes a good -passage in a shoal sea. - -What do all the barges carry? What do they not carry? were easier to -answer. They generally start life--a life of at least fifty years if -faithfully built and kept up--with freights of cement and grain, and -such cargoes as would be spoilt in a leaky vessel. From grain and -cement they descend by stages, carrying every conceivable cargo, until -they reach the ultimate indignity of being entrusted only with what is -not seriously damaged by bilge water. - -Barges even carry big unwieldy engineering gear, and when the hatches -are not large enough, the long pieces, such as fifty-foot turnable -girders, are placed on deck. The sluices and lock-gates for the great -Nile dam at Assuan were sent gradually by barge from Ipswich to London -for transhipment. - -Hay and straw--for carrying which more barges are used than for any -other cargo except cement--must be mentioned separately. After the -holds are full the trusses of hay or straw are piled up on deck lo a -height of twelve to fifteen feet. At a distance the vessel looks like -a haystack adrift on the sea. The deck cargo, secured by special gear, -often weighs as much as forty tons, and stretches almost from one end -of the ship to the other. There is no way from bow to stern except -over the stack by ladders; the mainsail and foresail have to be reefed -up, and a jib is set on a bowsprit; and the mate at the wheel, unable -to see ahead, has to steer from the orders of the skipper, who -'courses' the vessel from the top of the stack. To see a 'stackie' -blindly but accurately turning up a crowded reach of London River -makes one respect the race of bargees for ever. How a 'stackie' works -to windward as she does, with the enormous windage presented by the -stack, and with only the reduced canvas above it, is a mystery, and is -admitted to be a mystery by the bargemen themselves. One of them, when -asked for an explanation, made the mystery more profound by these -ingenuous words: 'Well, sir, I reckon the eddy draught off the -mainsail gits under the lee of the stack and shoves she up to -wind'ard.' - -The Thames barge is a direct descendant of the flat-bottomed Dutch -craft, and her prototype is seen in the pictures of the Dutch marine -school of the seventeenth century. Both her sprit and her leeboards -are Dutch; the vangs controlling the sprit are the vangs of the -sixteenth-century Dutch ships; and until 1830 she had still the Dutch -overhanging bow, as may be seen in the drawings of E. W. Cooke. The -development of her--the practical nautical knowledge applied to her -rigging and gear--is British, like the invincible nautical aplomb of -her crew. - -Those who have watched the annual race of the Thames barges in a -strong breeze have seen the perfection of motion and colour in the -smaller vessels of commerce. The writer, when first he saw this race -and beheld a brand-new barge heeling over in a wind which was as much -as she could stand, glistening blackly from stem to stern except where -the line of vivid green ran round her bulwark (a touch of genius, that -green), with her red-brown sails as smooth and taut as a new dogskin -glove, and her crew in red woollen caps in honour of the occasion, -exclaimed that this was not a barge, but a yacht. - -A barge never is, or could be, anything but graceful. The sheer of her -hull, her spars and rigging, the many shades of red in her great -tanned sails, the splendid curves of them when, full of wind, they -belly out as she bowls along, entrance the eye. Whatever changes come, -we shall have a record of the Thames barge of to-day in the accurate -pictures of Mr. W. L. Wyllie. He has caught her drifting in a calm, -the reflection of her ruddy sails rippling from her; snugged down to a -gale, her sails taut and full, and wet and shining with spray; running -before the wind; thrashing to windward with topsail rucked to meet a -squall; at anchor; berthed. Loaded deep or sailing light; with -towering stacks of hay; creeping up a gut; sailing on blue seas -beneath blue skies; or shaving the countless craft as she tacks -through the haze and smoke of a London reach, she is always beautiful. - -Of course the bargees pay their toll of lives like other sailors. They -are not always in the quiet waters of liquid reflections that seem to -make their vessels meet subjects for a Vandevelde picture. Many -stories of wreck, suffering, and endurance might be told, but one will -suffice--a true narrative of events. The barge _The Sisters_, laden -with barley screenings, left Felixstowe dock for the Medway one Friday -morning. She called at Burnham-on-Crouch, and on the following Friday -afternoon was between the Maplin Sands and the Mouse Lightship, when a -south-west gale arose with extraordinary suddenness. Before sail could -be shortened the topsail and jib were blown away. The foresail sheet -broke, and the sail slatted itself into several pieces before a -remnant could be secured. Under the mainsail and the remaining portion -of the foresail the skipper and his mate steered for Whitstable. Then -the steering-chain broke, and nothing could be done but let go the -anchor. They were then in the four-fathom channel, about -three-quarters of a mile inside the West Oaze Buoy. - -The seas swept the barge from end to end. Darkness fell, and for an -hour the skipper burnt flares, while his mate stood by the boat ready -to cast it off from the cleat in an emergency. The emergency came -before there was a sign of approaching rescue. The barge suddenly -plunged head first and disappeared. The mate, with the instinct of -experience, cast off the painter of the boat as the deck went down -beneath his feet. Both men went under water, but the boat was jerked -forwards from her position astern as the painter released itself, and -the men came up to find the dinghy between them. It was a miracle, but -so it happened. They grabbed hold of her before she could be swept -away, climbed in, and began to bail out the water. With one oar over -the leeside and the other in the sculling-hole they made for the Mouse -Lightship. 'If we miss that,' said the skipper, 'God knows where we -shall go!' For four hours they struggled towards the Mouse light, -although they could not always see it, and eventually came within -hailing distance. They shouted again and again, but the crew of the -lightship, though they heard them, could not at first see them. At -last the boat came near enough for a line to be thrown across it. The -boat was hauled alongside and the men were drawn up into safety, -'eaten up with cramp,' as the skipper said, and numb with exhaustion -and exposure. At the same moment the boat, which was half-full of -water, broke away and disappeared. - -Perhaps the best time to see a barge is while deep laden, she beats -to windward up Sea Reach, on a day when large clouds career across the -sky, sweeping the water with shadows, as the squalls boom down the -reach, and the wind, fighting the tide, kicks up a fierce short sea. -Then, as the fishermen say, the tideway is 'all of a paffle.' As the -barge comes towards you, heeling slightly (for barges never heel far), -you can see her bluff bows crashing through the seas and flinging the -spray far up the streaming foresail. It bursts with the rattle of shot -on the canvas. You can see the anchor on the dripping bows dip and -appear as sea after sea thuds over it, and the lee rigging dragging -through the smother of foam that races along the decks and cascades -off aft to join the frothy tumult astern. You can see the weather -rigging as taut as fiddle-strings against the sky. Now she is coming -about! The wheel spins round as the skipper puts the helm down, and -the vessel shoots into the wind. She straightens up as a sprinter -relaxes after an effort. The sails slat furiously; the air is filled -with a sound as of the cracking of great whips; the sprit, swayed by -the flacking sails, swings giddily from side to side; the mainsheet -blocks rage on the horse. Then the foresail fills, the head of the -barge pays off, and as the mate lets go the bowline the stay-sail -slams to leeward with the report of a gun. The mainsail and topsail -give a last shake, then fill with wind and fall asleep as the vessel -steadies on her course and points for the Kentish shore. As she heels -to port she lifts her gleaming side and trails her free leeboard as a -bird might stretch a tired wing. She means to fetch the Chapman light -next tack. - -[Illustration: IN SEA REACH] - -A fleet of barges shaking out their sails at the turn of the tide and -moving off in unison like a flock of sea-birds is a picture that never -leaves the mind. And darkness does not stop the bargeman even in the -most crowded reaches so long as the tide serves. Every yachtsman -accustomed to sail in the mouth of the Thames has in memory the -spectral passing of a barge at night. She grows gradually out of the -blackness. There is the gleam of her side light, the trickling sound -of the wave under her forefoot, the towering mass of sombre canvas -against the sky, the faint gleam of the binnacle lamp on the dark -figure by the wheel, the little mizzen sail right aft blotting out for -a moment the lights on the far shore, and the splash-splash of the -dinghy towing astern. There she goes, and if the fair wind holds she -will be in London by daybreak. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - 'And sometimes I think a soul was gi'ed them with the blows.' - - -When the barge _Osprey_ berthed at Fleetwick Quay to unload stones for -our roads we went on board, and took our old friend Elijah Wadely, the -skipper, into our confidence. - -'Ef yaou're a goin' to buy a little ould barge, sir,' said Elijah, -'what yaou wants to know is 'er constitootion. My meanin' is, ef yaou -knaow who built she, yaou'll know ef she was well built; and ef yaou -knaow what trade she's bin' in you can learn from that. Naow ef she's -a carryin' wheat, or any o' them grains, what must be kept dry, -yaou'll knaow she can't be makin' any water, or _do_, she 'ouldn't be -a carryin' 'em. Then agin, water don't improve cement, and that's a -cargo what's wonnerful heavy on a barge is cement, and ef bags is -spoilt that's a loss to the skipper, that is. So you can take it that -barges what carry same as grain and oilcake and cement and bricks and -such-like is mostly good too. - -'And when yaou knaows what she's bin a carryin' yaou wants to know -where she's bin a carryin' it to; for some berths is good and some is -wonnerful bad, specially draw-docks,[2] and what sort of condition -she's in is all accordin' to where she's bin a settin' abaout. I've -knaowed many a barge strain herself settin' in a bad berth, whereas a -barge of good constitootion settin' in the same berth will maybe wring -a bit and make water for a trip or two, but she'll take up agin. Yes, -sir, ef yaou're a goin' to buy a little ould barge--and there ain't a -craft afloat as 'ud make a better 'ome, as my missis 'as said scores -o' times--yaou must study 'er constitootion.' - - [2] Berths on the river bed, where carts come alongside at low - water to unload the barges. - -'How's trade, Lijah?' - -'Well, sir, I've bin bargin' forty years, and I don't fare to remember -when times was so bad in bargin' afore.' - -'What do you think we could get a decent 120-ton barge for, Lijah, -supposing we wanted a big one?' - -'I doubt yaou 'ont get 'un under five or six hundred paounds. Yaou -see, sir, what bit o' trade there is them bigger barges same as 120 -tons and up'ards gits, for they on'y carries two 'ands same as we, -what can on'y carry 95 ton, though by rights they ought to carry a -third 'and.' - -'Do you think we could get a sound 90 tonner for two hundred pounds, -because that's the size we've practically decided on?' - -'I don't want to think nawthen about that, I _knaow_ yaou can. Why, -on'y last week the _Ada_ was sould for one 'undred and sixty pound, as -good a little ould thing as any man ever wanted under 'im. But yaou -wants to be wonnerful careful-like in buyin' a barge. Yaou know that, -sir, as well as I do, and my meanin' is there's barges and barges. As -I was a tellin' yer, yaou wants to know her constitootion first, and -then yaou wants to knaow her character. Yaou don't want to take up -with a craft what yaou can't press a bit, or what'll bury 'er jowl or -keep all on a gnawin' to wind'ard or 'ont lay at anchor easy or is -unlucky in gettin' run into.' - -'Why, you're not superstitious, are you, Lijah?' - -'No, no, sir. I'm on'y tellin' yer there's barges and barges. Look at -this little ould _Osprey_, sir. Yaou can see she's got a new bowsprit. -Well an' that's the third time she's bin in trouble since yaou've -knaowed she, ain't it? We'd just come off the loadin' pier at Southend -to make room for another barge, and we layed on that ould moorin' -under the pier right agin the foot of the beach ready for the mornin's -high water. Well, she took the graound all right, for she d'ent on'y -float there about faour hours out of the twelve, and I went belaow to -turn in for a bit. She 'adn't barely flet when I felt her snub, and -there was a barge atop 'o she and aour bowsprit gone. I knaow wessels -has laid on that ould moorin' for the last twenty year, and never -ain't heard tell of one bein' in trouble afore. - -'Soon as we'd got t'other barge clear, I went up and tould the guvnor. -"Lijah," 'e says, "ef I was to put that little ould _Osprey_ in my -back-yard she'd get run into." Yes, that's the truth, that is; you -can't leave that ould barge anywhere, no matter where that is, but the -ould thing'll have suthen atop o' she. And what's more, the guvnor's -lost every case he's took up on 'er so far, though he was allus in the -right. - -'Naow the _Alma_, what my wife's cousin Bill Stebbins is skipper of, -is all the other way raound. That ould thing's bin run into twice -since Bill's had 'er, once on her transom and once on her port side -just abaft the leeboards, and there warn't no law case nor nawthen, -but each time the party what done it agreed on a sum and paid it, and -the ould thing made money over it for 'er guvnor. - -'I once see'd the _Alma_ do a thing what I wouldn't 'ave believed not -if forty thaousand people told me. She was a layin' in Limehouse -reach, stackloaded and risin' to abaout twenty fathom o' chain. There -was a strong wind daown, and she was a sheered in towards the shore. -Bill's mate was a goin' ashore for beer, and I 'eard Bill tellin' 'im -to 'urry up. I knaowed why he tould the mate to be quick, because that -blessed ould ebb was running wonnerful 'ard, and sometimes that'll -frickle abaout and make a barge take a sheer aout, and p'raps break -her chain, which barges do sometimes in the London River. Well, -suddenly I seed that little ould _Alma_ sheer right off into the river -and snub up with a master great jerk what pulled her ould head raound -agin. Then I see'd 'er with her chain up and daown a drivin' straight -for the laower pier, where I reckoned she'd be stove in or suthen, and -there was Bill alone on board as 'elpless as a new-born babe, as the -sayin' is, for a' course 'e couldn't lay aout no kedge nor nawthen by -'isself. - -'Well, as true as I'm a settin' 'ere that lucky ould thing come a -drivin' athwart till she fetches into the eddy tide below the upper -pier, and then she goes away to wind'ard, although there was a strong -wind daown, mind yer, till she fetches up alongside another barge, the -_Mabel_, what was a layin' there, and all Bill 'ad to do was to pass -the _Alma's_ stay fall raound the _Mabel's_ baow cleat and back agin. -Yes, sir, that was the head masterpiece that ever I did see.' - -A few days afterwards we happened to see the _Norah Emily_ down in the -mouth of our river. This was the barge commanded by Bill Stebbins, the -former skipper of the _Alma_. We took a rather mischievous pleasure in -going on board to find out whether Bill Stebbins would confirm all -Elijah had told us. We fancied that Elijah would have spoken more -circumspectly about the unfailing luck of the _Alma_, if he had -guessed that Bill was likely to come round our way. But our doubts -soon became remorse. Elijah was vindicated. - -'Yes, yes,' said Bill, 'that ould _Alma_ was the luckiest ould basket -ever built; that d'ent matter where yaou left she, she d'ent never git -into trouble. There was faour on us once't a layin' in the middle -crick below the Haven, the _Lucy_, the _Susan_, the _Fanny_, and my -little ould _Alma_. We had to wait our turn at the quay for loadin' -straw, so the mate and me went off home for a day or two. Well, that -come on to blaow suthen hard, that did, and all they there barges was -in some kind of trouble, but the _Alma_ she just stayed where she were -and d'ent come to no manner o' harm. - -'Then agin, same as in the London docks, yaou ast any barge skipper -yaou like haow long a barge can lay there without a lighter or a tug -or suthen wantin' she to shift. None the more for that, I've bin, -there plenties o' times with that little ould _Alma_, and she warn't -niver in no one's way. I remember off Pickford's wharf, Charing Cross, -we 'ad to shift to make room for another barge. I 'ad to goo off to -fix up another freight, but reckoned to be back by six o'clock, so I -tould the mate to git a hand to help shift she and make fast in case I -warn't back tide-time. Well, arter I got my freight I meets one or two -friends, and what with one thing and another, I den't git back till -eleven o'clock o' night. I couldn't find that mate, or, _do_, I'd a -given he suthen, for there was that blessed ould thing made fast with -a doddy bit o' line no bigger'n yaour finger, whereas by rights she -ought to have had three or faour of aour biggest ropes to hold she -from slippin' daown the wind. Anyway, there she lay end on just right -for slippin' off, and niver even offered to move. As yaou knaow, sir, -scores and scores o' barges 'av bruk the biggest rope they carry that -way and gone slidin' daown the wind. The _Mary Jane_ did, just above -Bricklesey[3] on the way to Toozy,[4] and buried her ould jowl that -deep in the mud on t'other side of the gut that I was skeered she -wasn't goin' to fleet. - - [3] Brightlingsea. - - [4] St. Osyth. - -'But there y'are, that _Mary Jane_ 'ouldn't never set anywhere where -any other barge would; and ef her rope was strong enough she'd have -tore the main cross chock or anything else aout o' she. That's the -masterousest thing, that is, but I s'pose that's all accordin' to the -way her bottom is. But that ould _Alma_--well, I've heard plenties o' -times afore I took she what a lucky bit o' wood she were. Look at -here, sir. We was up Oil Mill Crick by Thames Haven there and the wind -straight in, and us had a bit o' bad luck comin' aout, for us stuck on -that slopin' shelf o' mud right agin the salts there. I felt wonnerful -anxious, for there warn't three foot to spare, and ef she'd a slipped -off she'd a bruk 'erself to pieces. I don't reckon any other barge -'ud have hild on there, but that ould _Alma_ did. She just set up -there same as a cat might on a table. - -'In Shelly Bay, too, just above the Chapman Light, she done a thing -what no other barge 'ould have done. Us couldn't let goo our anchor -where us wanted to, as there was another barge, the _Louisa_, agin the -quay. I had to goo off to see the guvnor, so I ast the skipper o' the -_Louisa_ to give my mate a hand when the _Louisa_ come off, for a -course the _Alma_ hadn't got near enough chain aout. Well, that bein' -a calm then my mate tould the skipper o' the _Louisa_ not to trouble, -as he warn't goin' to shift till the mornin'. That bein' a calm then -warn't to say that 'ud be a calm in the mornin'; and it warn't, for -that come on to blaow a strorng hard wind straight on shore. - -'That ould thing begun to drag her anchor, but as soon as ever her -ould starn tailed on to that beach her anchor hild, and she lay head -on to the sea as comfortable as yaou could want to be. There ain't a -mite o' doubt but what ninety-nine barges out 'er a hundred 'ud have -paid off one way or t'other, and come ashore broadside on and done -some damage, for there's a nasty swell comes in there.' - - * * * * * - -Barges came and went in our river. We inspected some at the quay, and -sailed down in the _Playmate_ to talk to the skippers of others. We -soon learned enough about barges to fill a book. We heard how the day -the _Invicta_ was launched she ran into another vessel and her -skipper's hand was badly cut; how his wife tried (in the Essex phrase) -to 'stench' the bleeding; how the skipper swore that the ship would be -unlucky, as blood had fallen on her on the day she was launched; and -how the wife herself died on board on the third trip. We heard of good -barges and bad, of lucky barges and unlucky; of barges that would -always foul their anchors, and others that never did; of barges that -would carry away spars or lose men overboard, or break away from their -berths, and of others that were as gentle as doves. - -[Illustration: BARGES AT AN ESSEX MILL] - -It seemed that barges are much like human beings; when young, they can -stand strains and do heavy work which they have to give up when -middle-aged. If they have a weakness of constitution it reveals itself -when they are young; but having passed the critical age, they settle -down to a long useful life, and it is not uncommon for them to be -still at work after fifty or sixty years. But the most important -result of our researches was the universal opinion that a sound 90 -tonner was to be got at our price. - -At least, that was the most important fact from my point of view; but -I ought in truthfulness to say that while I had been making notes -likely to help me to buy a good barge with a sound constitution, the -Mate had looked upon our accumulated information from a different -angle, and had been giving her attention to barges' characters. - -I might have foreseen this, for she always looked on the _Playmate_ as -a living thing. She has the feeling of the bargemen, who say of an old -vessel, 'Is she still alive?' I was not prepared, however, for her to -tell me that, however sound a barge might be, I was not to buy her -unless her character was good. I argued in vain. - -'Do you think I would be left with the children on board a barge like -the _Osprey_, always being run into? Or like the _Mildred_, always -dragging her anchor? Or the _Charlotte_, who has thrown two men -overboard? Not I!' - -I pointed out that she had so successfully acquired the spirit of -barging that she was evidently made for the life. The suggestion was -received with favour. We were indeed now so deep in the business that -we were beyond recall. Nothing remained but to choose our particular -90 tonner with a good character. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - 'Ships are but boards, sailors but men; there be land-rats and - water-rats, land-thieves and water-thieves.' - - -The next thing that happened was that we received an offer of £375 for -our cottage. After an attempt to 'raise the buyer one'--an attempt -that would have been more persistent had our desire to become -barge-owners been less ardent--we accepted the offer. We ought to have -got more, but as the barge market was flat we salved our consciences -on the principle that what you lose on the swings you gain on the -roundabouts. - -We entered the barge market as buyers. It is impossible to 'recapture -the first fine careless rapture' of those days. In every 90-ton barge -we looked on we saw the possible outer walls of our future home. The -arrival of the post had a new significance, for we had made known far -and wide the fact that we were serious buyers. We turned over our -letters on the breakfast-table every morning like merchants who should -say, 'What news from the Rialto?' - -The first barges we heard of were, according to the advertisement, the -'three sound and well-found sailing barges, the _Susan_, the _Ethel_, -and the _Providence_, of 44 tons net register.' Each of these was -about 90 tons gross register, and at that moment of optimism the -chances seemed at least three to one that one of them would suit us. - -Let it be said here that the net registered tonnage of barges is a -conventional symbol. Whether a barge carries 100 or 120 tons, the net -tonnage is always 44 and so many hundredths--often over ninety -hundredths. If by any miscalculation in building she works out at 45 -tons or more, a sail-locker or some other locker is enlarged to reduce -her tonnage, for vessels of 45 tons net register and upwards have to -pay port dues in London. - -It is, of course, the ambition of every owner, whether of a 5-ton -yacht or the _Leviathan_, to get his net registered tonnage as low as -possible, so as to minimize his port and light dues. One well-known -yachtsman who was having his yacht registered kindly assisted the -surveyor by holding one end of the measuring tape. In dark corners the -yachtsman could hold the tape as he pleased, but in more open places -the surveyor's eye was upon him. The result was curious; the yacht -turned out to have more beam right aft than amidships. 'She's a varra -funny shaped boat,' said the surveyor doubtfully. Luckily his dinner -was waiting for him, and he did not care to remeasure a yacht about -the precise tonnage of which no one would ever trouble himself. - -We hurried off to consult Elijah Wadely about the _Susan_, the -_Ethel_, and the _Providence_. - -'Not a one o' they 'on't suit yaou, sir,' said Lijah. 'That little -ould _Susan_ was most tore out years ago--donkeys years ago. And that -ould _Ethel_--- well, she's only got one fault.' - -'What's that?' - -'She were built too soon,' chuckled Lijah. 'And that ould _Providence_ -is abaout the slowest bit o' wood ever put on the water. No, no, sir; -none o' they 'on't do.' - -We were disappointed, of course, but not long afterwards we heard of -another barge laid up near a neighbouring town, and went to see her. -She had been tarred recently and looked fairly well, but we did not -trust the owner. Not long before he had tried to sell us an old punt -(also freshly done up) for twenty-five shillings--a punt which we -discovered had been given to him for a pint of beer. We looked over -the barge accompanied by the owner, who rather elaborately pointed out -defects, which he knew, and we knew, were unimportant, in a breezy and -open manner, as one trying to impress us with his candour. - -When the Mate was out of hearing he used endearing and obscene -language about the barge, as one who should say, 'Now you know the -worst of her and of me.' However, the memory of the punt, and what -Falstaff describes in Prince Hal's eyes as 'a certain hang-dog look,' -convinced us that the barge would never stand a survey, and we learned -afterwards that she was as rotten as a pear below the water-line. - -We had hardly returned from this inspection when we heard of three -more barges to be sold. They were engaged in carrying cement to London -and bringing back anything they could get, and at that moment were -lying off Southwark. - -We went at once to London. The next day we visited the _Elizabeth_, -one of the barges, and were invited into the cabin by the skipper and -his wife--not any of our Essex folk, worse luck. I began to make use -of some of the knowledge I had acquired. In this I was checked by the -lady of the barge, who said, 'It seems to me, mister, yer wants to -know something, and if yer wants us to speak yer ought to pay yer -footing.' - -I sent for a bottle of gin, already painfully recognizing that looking -at barges in our country was one thing, and in London another. The -skipper and his wife appeared to be thirsty souls, for soundings in -the bottle fell rapidly. We discussed the weather and things generally -while I took stock of these people, who were to me a new and -disagreeable type. I wondered whether they would be more likely to -speak the truth before they finished the gin--which they seemed likely -to do--or afterwards. Meanwhile I looked round me. - -The _Elizabeth_ had a small cabin and no ventilation worth mentioning, -and as the atmosphere grew thicker, in self-defence I lit my pipe. -Then I tried again. - -'Well, yer see, mister, it's this 'ere way. You wants to buy the -barge, and if I says she's all right you buys 'er, and I lose my job; -and if I says she ain't all right I gits into trouble with my guvnor.' - -'Quite so,' I said, 'but the survey will show whether she is sound or -not, and I want to save the expense of having a survey at all if she -isn't sound. If I do have her surveyed and she is sound your owner -will sell her anyhow. So you may just as well tell me.' - -'D'yer mind saying all that over again?' remarked the skipper. - -I did so, and the pair helped themselves to gin once more. 'What I -says is this,' said the lady, 'this is very fine gin and a very fine -barge.' - -'Yus, the gin's all right, and so's the barge,' said the skipper, -adopting the brilliant formula. 'I can't say fairer'n that, can I?' - -The situation was becoming hopeless and my anger was rising, so I said -curtly, dropping diplomacy, 'What I want to know is, does she leak, is -she sound, what has she been carrying, where has she been trading -to?' - -"Can't say, mister. This's our first trip in 'er," said the skipper. - -"Fine gin and fine barge," repeated the woman. - -We fled. - -The second barge we visited was a good-looking craft, built for some -special work, but she lacked the depth in her hold which we required -for our furniture. - -The third barge, the _Will Arding_, lay off deep-loaded in the fairway -waiting for the tide to berth. The skipper was not on board, but a -longshoreman in search of a drink gave me a list of public-houses -where he might be found. - -At the first three public-houses knots of grimy mariners had either -just seen George or were expecting him every minute, and if I would -wait one of them would find him. At the fourth public-house the same -offer was made, and in despair I accepted it. - -It required more moral courage than I possessed to wait with thirsty -sailors, their mugs ostentatiously empty, without ordering drinks all -round; yet, as I expected, the huntsman returned in a few minutes -puffing and blowing--which physical distress was instantaneously cured -by sixpence--to say that George was nowhere to be found. - -With a gambler's throw, I tried one public-house not on my list, and -George was not there; but as usual there were those who knew where to -find him if the gentleman would wait. - -I never met George, and, judging by his friends, I did not want to; -though, to be just, he might have been blamelessly at home all this -time with his family. And there, as a matter of fact, he very likely -was, for I learned later, what everyone else knew and I might have -suspected, that he had been paid off, as this was the _Will Arding's_ -last trip before being sold. - -We wandered back to the waterside and stood gazing at the slimy -foreshore, the barges and lighters driving up on the muddy tide, the -tugs fussing up and down, their bow-waves making the only specks of -white in the gloomy scene, the bleak sooty warehouses, and the wharfs -with their cranes like long black arms waving against the sky. We were -declining rapidly into depression, when I saw emerging from the shadow -of the bridge a stackie in charge of a tug. - -How clean and dainty she looked, like a fresh country maid marketing -in a slum! Her fragrant stack of hay brought to us a whiff of the -country whence she had come, and a vision of great stretches of -marshland dotted with cattle, and hayricks sheltered behind sea-walls -waiting for red-sailed barges to take them away. - -The tug slackened speed; the stack-barge was being dropped. She seemed -familiar, and as she came nearer I saw her name, the _Annie_. Joe -Applegate, the skipper, a trusted friend of ours, was at the wheel. -How pleased I was now that I had spent those fruitless half-hours -looking for George! - -"Ain't that a fair masterpiece a seein' yaou here, sir!" shouted Joe -in good Essex that raised our spirits like a bar of cheerful music. -"And haow's them little ould booeys?" - -He had come with 70 tons of hay for the London County Council horses. -We were doubly glad to look on his honest face when he came on shore -and told us that he knew the _Will Arding_ well and had traded to this -wharf for years. - -"Yes, yes, sir; knaowed her these twenty years. She belongs to a -friend of my guvnor's, and were built by 'is father at Sittingbourne, -and 'as allus been well kep' up by 'is son. She'd be gettin' on for -forty, I reckon, and a course she ain't same as a new barge, but -she'll last your lifetime if you're on'y goin' to live in she and goo -a pugglin' abaout on her same as summer-time and that. She'll 'ave a -cargo of cement aboard naow--90 to 95 tons she mostly carry, and I -ain't never heard of 'er spoiling a bag yet. She's got a good -constitution, she 'as, but none the more for that yaou can watch she -unloaded to-morrer if yaou've a mind to, and ef she suits yaour -purpose ave 'er surveyed arterwards." - -The Mate asked about her character. - -"She ain't never bin in trouble but once, that I knaows on, and -then she were run into by a ketch and got three timbers bruk on 'er -port bow. No, no, sir; there ain't nawthen agin that little ould -thing." - -[Illustration: HAULING A BARGE TO HER BERTH] - -We seemed to be on the right tack at last. Having learned what more we -could, we prepared to come to grips with the owner. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - "Sail on! nor fear to breast the sea, - Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee!" - - -The owner of the _Will Arding_, whom we met the next day, was a kindly -simple man who told us all we needed to know about the vessel. We had -prepared ourselves to cope with a coper of the worst kind; but we were -soon disarmed, and that not to our detriment. He told us that the -barge had just finished her contract, and as, in his opinion, the days -of small barges were over, except in good times, he was going to sell -her, as she was barely paying her way. He showed us the record of her -trips, the cargoes she had carried, the places she had traded to, and -the repairs done to her from time to time. - -He was so agreeable that the Mate hesitated to ask about her -character, but her sense of duty prevailed. One collision, in which -she was not to blame, and two fingers off the hand of one of her -mates, appeared to be the only blots on an otherwise stainless career. -Joe Applegate had already told us of the collision, though not of the -fingers, and I hoped that the Mate would be satisfied. And she was, -when she had learned that the fingers had been lost in the least -ominous manner in which fingers conceivably could be lost. - -Two days later we received a message that the _Will Arding_ had -unloaded, and was lying at Greenwich ready for us to examine her. - -A more gloomy February day for our visit could hardly have been; the -wind was light and easterly, and a cold drizzle fell through the fog. -The damp, however, did not touch our spirits. Even our bodies were -warmed by excitement. The owner met us in his yard, and we tried to -assume an indifference which probably did not deceive him. - -The tide had ebbed some way, leaving the gravelly foreshore covered -with black slime, and there, half afloat, half resting on the ground, -and gently rocking to the wash of a passing tug, lay the _Will -Arding_, with a slight cant outwards. Her annual overhaul was due in a -month, the owner told us, thus explaining the condition of her paint -and tar. She had been sailed to Greenwich by odd hands who had not -even troubled to wash her down. Certainly she was looking her worst, -but the eye of faith already saw the splendours of her resurrection. - -As we went on board, the owner told us he had given instructions for -one of the plugs to be lifted and water let in. The water was mixed -with creosote to sweeten the bilge. It was as well that he told us -this, for what we saw when we descended into the hold might have -daunted Cæsar. Some of the hatches were left on, and under these we -took cover from the rain in the long dirty hold. She was still rocking -slightly, and on the lee side black bilge water was slopping -disconsolately backwards and forwards across the floor. A strong smell -of creosote and smells of cement and other cargoes scarcely to be -determined competed for recognition in our nostrils. The _Will Arding_ -seemed to have come down in the world; and this was the fact, for -lately she had been sailed by men who can always be hired in the open -market, but who do not look after their barges as the better class of -skippers do. The best skippers had all taken up with the more modern -class of large barges. The barges we had known in the country had -always been scrupulously clean and tidy below. It was perhaps -fortunate that our experience in the gin-drinker's cabin had revealed -to us another world, and thus in some sense deadened the shock of what -we saw now. - -We passed to the cabin aft, and one glance told us that the grimy -mariners of the public-houses had truly been the friends of the late -skipper George. To say that the cabin was dirty and stuffy is to say -nothing. Even the paint was greasy, and a stale smell, indescribable -but unforgettable, hung in the air. George and his mate had left their -bedding, presumably as not worth taking away. No doubt they were -right. - -Some old clothes, a half-empty tin of condensed milk, stale mustard in -an egg-cup, some kind of grease in a frying-pan, two mugs with the -dregs of beer in them, lay about; and on the floor there were broken -boots and old socks. - -Returning to the hold, we took all the measurements necessary for our -present purpose. We found that though the _Will Arding_ had not as -much headroom under her decks as we should have liked, she had enough -for our piano, which was the tallest piece of furniture we intended to -have on board. Moreover, we knew that barges of that size seldom have -more headroom. - -Still undepressed, if sobered by the prospect of the work to be done -before we could possibly live on board, we went on shore to discuss -the price with the owner. It was a most unpolemical discussion, and -ended in my undertaking to buy the _Will Arding_ for £140 subject to -the surveyor's report. We agreed upon a surveyor, and the owner gave -orders for the vessel to be put on the blocks at the next tide. - -From this time forward the owner was unreservedly our friend, and we -dreaded lest our prize should be snatched from us at the last moment -by the untoward judgment of the surveyor. The owner fortified our -courage by assuring us he had done all the annual overhauls and -repairs for many years, and therefore it was hardly possible that the -survey would reveal anything that could not easily be put right. -Whatever the surveyor suggested he would do, whether we bought the -barge or not. - -We could only await the surveyor's report as patiently as might be, -and having bade the owner good-bye, we took one more look at the _Will -Arding_ with I hardly know what thoughts in our minds. She had canted -over still further, and looked more dingy than ever in the growing -dusk as she sat in a foreground of slime. Behind her on the wonderful -old river, now hurrying its fastest seawards in muddy eddies, two of -her sisters, their sails just drawing, glided noiselessly past and -were received into the enveloping gloom, where the drizzle shut in the -horizon and sky and water met indistinguishably. - -Then we returned to London. - - * * * * * - -At last--as it seemed, though it was only three days later--the -surveyor's report arrived. All was well with the _Will Arding_, and -she was, in the surveyor's private opinion, worth all the money we -were giving for her. The only defects worth speaking of were a sprung -topmast and three damaged ribs forward, but these had been -strengthened by 'floating' ribs alongside. - -We hurried to Greenwich and paid a deposit on the price. - -This time the _Will Arding_ was on the blocks, and a gang of men had -burned off the old tar and were busy tarring and blackleading her -hull; her gear had been lowered, and our friend the owner was having a -new topmast fitted to make all good. He had also turned his men on to -replace a length of damaged rail. That was not the only thing which he -did for us outside our agreement. Soon, indeed, he became almost as -much interested in our scheme as we were ourselves, and we consulted -him at almost every turn. - -While the repairs were going on we completed the purchase; and we were -profoundly conscious of the importance of the formalities which -constituted us the recognized owners of 'sixty-four sixty-fourths' of -the sailing barge _Will Arding_, with a registered number of our own. - -Well, we were shipowners at any rate, and possessed the outer walls of -our new home. And now the Mate and I found ourselves faced with a -thousand unforeseen difficulties and problems, which crowded on us so -thick that we scarcely knew where to begin to tackle them. This state -of affairs compelled the drafting of rules of procedure, the chairman -(myself) refusing motions on any point not mentioned in the agenda. -Members of the Committee (the Mate) were allowed to make notes during -the authorized debates on subjects to be referred to in the time set -apart for general discussion. In this way our sanity was saved. - -The first and most important thing was to disinfect the ship. And -here the luck was with us, for next door to the yard where the _Will -Arding_ lay were some gas-works, the manager of which was a friend of -the _Will Arding's_ late owner. Our requirements were disclosed to the -manager, who not only told us what disinfectant to use, but most -kindly offered to have it mixed in the right proportions in one of his -boilers at a nominal cost. From the boiler it could be discharged -direct under pressure into the _Will Arding_. After consultation we -decided to have holes drilled through the lining of the hold at -regular intervals. When this had been done the _Will Arding_ was -berthed as near as possible to the boiler. - -Eighty gallons of neat disinfectant were mixed with 800 gallons of -boiling water, a hose was laid on board, and the fluid was squirted -into each of the holes. By the time the last gallon was on board the -disinfectant was just above the floor, but the bubbles of foam reached -to the decks. This process caused intense curiosity in the yard, and -there were many croakers who told us that we should never get her -sweet. - -The barge returned to the yard, where the various repairs went on for -several days. In the meantime, being in the best market of the world, -we bought the timber, panelling, bath, kitchen range, a hundredweight -of nails, paint, varnish, hot-water apparatus, and the hundred and one -other things we required to turn the barge into a tenantable house. -Now we enjoyed the advantage of all our work in the winter, for we had -drawn up precise lists of the things to be bought. - -We look back on those purchases with delight. It gives one a sense of -real contact with the business of life to ask for the price of -something f.o.b. London, on board one's own ship, and to order the -goods to be sent to such and such a wharf to the sailing barge _Will -Arding_. The summit of dignity was reached when I was able to tell a -dealer, who was late in delivering his goods, that my ship with her -general cargo on board was waiting to sail, and that if his goods were -not on board that afternoon they would have to be sent by rail at his -expense. - -At last the repairs were finished, the general cargo was complete, and -the hatches were on. As nothing would induce me to sleep in the cabin -until it had been wholly cleaned, I decided not to sail the _Will -Arding_ to the Essex coast myself, but to have her delivered at the -shipwright's at Bridgend--a place a few miles below Fleetwick on our -river. - -We saw the _Will Arding_ get under way. She had improved vastly in -appearance. The tide was on the turn, and the wind westerly; great -clouds sailed across the sky. It was a brave wind with a touch of -spring in it, and it made the _Will Arding's_ topsail slat furiously -as the mate hoisted it to the music of the patent blocks. The brails -were let go, the mainsail was sheeted home; both men went forward, -and then the clank, clank, clank of the windlass fell on our ears -with the sound we knew so well both by day and night. The chain was -soon 'up and down,' and the foresail was hoisted and made fast to the -rigging with a bowline. The _Will Arding_ sheered slowly towards us -with her sails full until the anchor checked her. Then swinging slowly -round she came head to wind, her mainsail and foresail flapping -loudly, and the mainsheet blocks crashing backwards and forwards on -the main horse. When the foresail was aback the anchor was quickly -broken out, and the barge filled on the other tack and gathered way. - -We watched her standing over towards the opposite shore, until the -mate got the anchor catted. Then bearing away with her great sprit -right off and a white wave under her fore-foot, our home fled down the -river. - -[Illustration: BRADWELL CREEK] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - _Chantyman._ Leave her, Johnny, and we'll work no more. - _Chorus._ Leave her, Johnny, leave her! - _Chantyman._ Of pump or drown we've had full store. - _Chorus._ It's time for us to leave her. - - -The wind hung mostly west and south, and was southerly enough at the -end to make the _Will Arding's_ passage a fast one, and bring her -early on the tide to Bridgend. There by noon next day we were looking -seaward with our glasses. Shortly after that time two specks appeared -beyond the river's mouth, and long before they reached the point took -shape and became two barges. End on they came, heeling like one to the -spanking breeze; another half an hour would bring them to us. - -The _Will Arding_ was one of them, and we rowed off to her, and with a -thrill watched her shoot up into the wind, while the mate let go her -anchor. Three hours later she was berthed on the blocks. - -The shipwrights nominally started work the next day, and I actually -did so. I came by train in the mornings from Fleetwick and returned -home in the evenings. The first job was to raise the limber boards -and clean the barge out as far as we could reach, for hundreds of -cargoes had driven their contributions of dust through the cracks in -the flooring, and the dust, mixed with the bilge water, had formed a -black ooze. It was one of the dirtiest jobs imaginable, and while it -lasted my appearance as I went home in the evenings was so -disreputable that often I was not recognized by acquaintances. An -ardent Salvation Army man whom I met every day began to cast longing -eyes on me. - -After the cleaning, the _Will Arding_ was tarred throughout inside, -and then my thoughts turned to the cabin aft, for I sorely wanted a -place where I could have my meals and keep my tools. Accordingly I cut -a doorway in the bulkhead between the hold and the cabin. - -In removing the late crew's bedding I came across an insect I had -never seen before. Yet I knew what it was by the instinct that is said -to guide men unerringly in those peculiar crises--like death--in which -experience is wanting. _Nomen infandum!_ To think that the creature -dared to be in my ship! And then the dread assailed me that it was not -likely to be the only one. Should we ever get rid of them? What would -the Mate say? Had we spent all this money and trouble only to provide -a breeding-ground for this horrible hemipterous tribe? I believe that -I trembled. I was sick with disgust. - -What I should have done, had I been a strict Buddhist, I know not, -but what I did was to burn sulphur candles, gut the cabin of every -vestige of wood, and subject each piece removed to the flame of a -blow-lamp, while repeating to myself a kind of fierce incantation: -'Let none of them escape me.' After that I squirted the whole place -with a powerful disinfectant, then put on black varnish, then -lime-wash over the black varnish, and as a final precaution I had the -cabin sprayed with formaldehyde. As a matter of fact, the gutting must -have destroyed everything, but I did not mean to take any risks. - -When my peace of mind was restored, I proceeded to match-line the hold -throughout. - -All this time the shipwright, in spite of promises of the most binding -order, was not getting on with his work. At the end of each week he -would promise to put a hand on 'in the forepart of the week'; and at -the beginning of each week he would promise again for 'the latter part -of the week.' I kept chasing him and worrying him, and this -distressing occupation seriously interfered with my own work. -Moreover, it became increasingly difficult to find him, for he -instructed a small boy on the quay to report my appearance on deck. I -bought the boy off with sweets, and told the shipwright what I thought -about him and his promises, while he scratched his head like an -Oriental tranquilly contemplating the decrees of destiny. - -The next move on the old man's part was to lend me an apprentice--this -with the twofold object of keeping me quiet by rendering me help, and -providing a messenger and intermediary who could be trusted never to -find him. The old man's idea of business was never to refuse work, and -to do enough of each job to make it impossible for a vessel to be -taken away. For the rest he trusted to his excuses and his customers' -short memories to set things right. - -It ought to be said that his excuses were not ordinary excuses. He was -always the victim, and never the master, of his own actions. He seemed -to think that this inversion of the normal course of things had only -to be stated to be perfectly satisfactory to his customers. On one -occasion he doubled the decks of a yacht belonging to a neighbour of -ours. When the work was done, the owner found a thicket of nails -sticking out under the decks in his cabin. He indignantly asked for an -explanation. The old man scratched his head and turned to his son. - -'They was ordin'ry deck nails, warn't they, Tom?' - -'Yes, yes,' said Tom dutifully. - -'But damn it all, look at my cabin!' - -'They was ordin'ry deck nails,' the old man said again, and added, -'Well, to tell yaou the truth, sir, them blessed ould decks was too -thin.' - -At last I presented the shipwright with an ultimatum, to which he -replied by putting a wheelwright on to my work, and a worse workman in -a ship I never came across. It was already six weeks after the date on -which the _Will Arding_ was to have been finished, and I now went on -strike. The rest of the work, I decided, should be done at home eight -miles farther up the river. - -As ill luck would have it, it was blowing the better part of a gale -the next day, the wind being on shore and a trifle down the river. In -the yard it was said that the barge could not be moved. However, at -that time I knew more about shipwrights' excuses and less about barges -than I do now, and I insisted that she should go, whatever the -weather. - -'That ain't fit for she to goo,' the old man kept saying. He was -right, but I was firm. And he, for his part, having spent his life in -measuring human patience, knew when it was impossible to hold out any -longer. So he gave orders for his men to get the _Will Arding_ off the -blocks. I cleared out of the way half a dozen dinghies, which she -might foul as she came off. - -It certainly was a wild day; the wind shrieked in the rigging, the -waves curled and broke against the quay, the little boats close in -shore pitched and jarred, throwing the spray from them, and the masts -of the smacks and yachts in the anchorage waved jerkily against the -racing sky. There was no time to be lost, for the barge had to be got -off while the tide was still flowing, or not at all. An ex-bargeman -was in charge, and four hands helped on board. At the last moment it -was found that a new mainsheet was wanted, and this delayed us, but we -still had just enough time. The topsail slatted so fiercely as it was -hoisted that it had to be half dropped again until the squall passed. -The mainsail, half set, banged noisily and the mainsheet blocks lashed -terrifically to and fro. As the foresail filled and the head paid off -the anchor was broken out, and happily the barge quickly gathered way, -for under her lee was a mass of small boats that I had not been able -to move. Had she sagged appreciably to leeward she would have swept -them all. - -The start was a truly exhilarating affair, more like that of a young -horse driven for the first time, and bolting down a crowded street, -than of an experienced barge getting under way. The sails were only -half set and slatting angrily; the running gear, from long disuse, was -all over the place; one gaunt figure like a Viking, with blue eyes and -long fair hair streaming in the wind, stood in the bows bawling which -way to steer; another man amidships shouted the orders on to the -helmsman; and thus, with two men at the wheel, the _Will Arding_ with -a foaming wake tore headlong through the small craft. She sailed right -over one dinghy, but luckily did not hurt it. Several times my heart -was in my mouth, for in that packed anchorage we might have done -enormous damage. - -My tongue became less dry as the risks decreased, and never did the -shout, 'Shove her raound!' fall with a more welcome sound on my ears -than when, clear to windward of the anchored fleet, the _Will Arding_ -swung round on the other tack and stood up the empty river. I would -not undertake that dash again to-day. One of the helmsmen remarked, 'I -reckon that skeert some o' they little bo'ts to see us thriddlin' -among 'em. That wind's suthen tetchy to-day t'ain't 'ardly safe, same -as goin' as us did.' - -At the end of the reach I dropped all my helpers, except one hand, who -remained on board as watchman. As the tide had turned I anchored, was -put on shore, and went home by train. - -The next day the Mate and the hand and I brought the _Will Arding_ up -the rest of the way to Fleetwick and berthed her. She now lay within a -short walk of our cottage. Labour, though not skilled carpenter's -labour, was to be got easily enough. It would, at all events, be -prompt and willing work. I had left professional assistance behind, -but I felt nearly sure that we should make better progress at -Fleetwick; and I even ventured to think that the quality of our -carpentering might not shame us after all. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - 'Ah! what a wondrous thing it is - To note how many wheels of toil - One thought, one word, can set in motion! - There's not a ship that sails the ocean, - But every climate, every soil, - Must bring its tribute, great or small, - And help to build the wooden wall!' - - -It was a curious thing that the greatest of the advantages of living -in a barge disclosed itself unexpectedly. When we made up our minds to -buy a barge I was free to live where I pleased, but shortly after we -had bought her I received an offer of an appointment which would -require me to be in London every day. I could not afford to refuse -this appointment, and we reflected what a pretty mess we should have -been in if we had taken a house in the town where we had intended to -send the boys to school. We should have had to get rid of the lease of -the house, and probably have lost a good deal of money in the -transaction. As it was, we had only to withdraw the boys' names from -the school, choose another school within striking distance of London, -and anchor our barge fairly near a railway station from which I could -travel daily to London. The change of plan cost us nothing. - -My work in London was to begin in September, but when I found it -impossible to finish the barge in time, I applied for a month's -postponement, and the partners in the firm, who were yachtsmen, -admitted the propriety of my request and granted it like sportsmen. - -The barge had now to be completed at breakneck speed. The haste robbed -the entertaining labour of part of its joy; still, we experienced a -good deal of that satisfaction which is presumably enjoyed in -primitive societies where every man builds his own house and goes -hunting for his dinner. - -We could bicycle from our cottage to the quay at Fleetwick in five -minutes. I engaged to help me two handy men: Tom, a sailor, and Harry, -a landsman, both, like myself, rough carpenters. Of course, everyone -in the place came to see the _Will Arding_; never before had there -been so many loiterers on the quay. People came on board so freely to -watch the floating house daily grow into shape under our hands that I -grew expert at mechanically repeating my explanations with nails in my -mouth while I kept to my work. - -The most keenly interested, as well as the most regular and most -welcome of our visitors, was Sam Prawle, the ex-barge skipper already -mentioned, who lived in a smack moored in the saltings. He made his -living by looking after a few small yachts. He came most days during -the dinner-hour, studied what we were doing, and gave us his views. -'If more people knaowed what could be done with a little ould barge, -less housen would be built,' he would say, with a shake of his head. -He was always ready to discuss the advantages of living in a vessel. -As a matter of fact, since the death of his wife, who used to take in -lodgers, he had been unable to afford a house, but to hear him talk -one would have thought that he had been taxed off the face of the -land. And after his prolonged visit to the inn on Saturday, where he -learned all his news--for he could not read--and had discussed the -political situation and the infamy of the local rates, and had got -everything in his head well mixed up, he would be decidedly 'agin the -Government.' 'What I says is this,' he remarked once, in summarizing -the appalling situation. 'We shall 'ave to 'ave suthen different to -what we 'ave got, or else we shall 'ave to 'ave suthen else'--as -illuminating a judgment as one commonly meets with in political -discussions. - -We worked up forward to begin with, because the main hold had in it -about four thousand square feet of match-lining, two thousand square -feet of three-ply wood, one thousand square feet of flooring, and half -a mile of headings of different sorts, besides the bath, kitchen -range, and a hundred other things which took up room. We gradually got -rid of stuff from the hold as we worked our way aft. Within a few -days the appearance of the _Will Arding_ wonderfully changed. While we -were still at Bridgend, the hold, the sides, coamings and bulkheads, -had shown nothing but one great expanse of tarred surface, whereas now -we had clean match-lining round the sides and on the forward bulkhead. - -The total length of the barge is about seventy-four feet, and her beam -is seventeen feet at the level of the deck and fifteen on the floor. -At each end there is a bulkhead shutting off what used to be the -forecastle forward and what used to be the skipper's cabin aft. The -length between the bulkheads is fifty feet. The headroom under the -decks varies from four feet three to five feet eight, and under the -cabin tops, which measure respectively thirty feet by ten and ten by -ten, the headroom is between seven feet three and nine feet. We made -the cabin tops out of the hatches by nailing match-lining on them -lengthwise and covering them with tarpaulin dressed with red ochre and -oil. Thus we had two fine roofs, and these were raised on strong -frames supported by stanchions bolted on to the coamings. Between the -stanchions we fitted the windows. As the windows are high up and there -are plenty of them, the interior of the vessel is very light and airy. -The saloon is sixteen feet long by fourteen feet nine inches wide, and -is, of course, the most important room. - -As has been said, we began our work forward, and the first job was to -divide the forecastle into a triangular sleeping cabin and a scullery -of the same shape. Then we divided the space under the fore-cabin top -and put up a partition, forming on one side a large cabin (the owner's -cabin), and on the other a kitchen, a narrow passage, and a bathroom. -The bath had to be put in position first, and the bathroom built round -it, as there would have been no room to turn a bath in the narrow -passage. - -We have often wondered since what we should do if anything happened to -the bath, for a considerable part of the ship would have to be pulled -to pieces to get it out. Perhaps we could have a rubber lining made -for it; but still it is a good solid porcelain enamel bath, and ought -to last as long as the ship. - -The one space without light and with little headroom was abreast of -the mast, and this naturally offered itself as the best place for the -water-tanks. We could not afford to buy new water-tanks, so we went to -a shipbreaker's, and were lucky enough to find two four-hundred gallon -tanks measuring four feet by four feet each, which just fitted in -under the decks. At the same place we bought six mahogany ship's doors -for £4, and these we scraped and varnished, so that they looked very -handsome. The tanks had to be put in their places at a very early -stage, as they were to be built in like the bath. Empty they -weighed about five hundredweight each, and were bulky things to -handle. However, with tackles and guys and Sam Prawle's help, we got -them through our furniture hatch and safely down into the hold, where -we levered them into position, and wedged them in safely. The great -size of our water-tanks was the only fault Sam ever found with the -barge's internal arrangements, and his eye brightened sympathetically -when I pointed out that if we found that they held more water than we -wanted, one of them could always be filled with beer. - -[Illustration: THE DINING CABIN] - -At the after end of the narrow passage already mentioned we made the -dining-room, which opened aft into the saloon. Forward of the saloon -on the starboard side came the spare cabin. Aft of the saloon on the -same side was our daughter's cabin. On the port after side was a lobby -with steps descending from the deck; and aft of the lobby was the -boys' cabin, which had been the skipper's cabin in the barge's trading -days. - -The rapid progress we seemed to make during the first few days at -Fleetwick was in a way deceptive. It does not take long to put up -partitions and hang doors. The result looks like cabins. Yet only the -fringe of the work has then been touched. The finishing is the true -labour. The underneath part of the rough tarred decks, for instance, -had to be covered with three-ply wood, well sand-papered, before it -could be painted and enamelled. The deck beams, worn and knocked -about, had to be cased in; nail holes had to be stopped with putty, -and the joins all covered with headings. Then there was the making of -the cupboards and shelves and bunks. There was never a right angle; we -were always working to odd shapes. Indeed, there was so much to do -that at times I was bewildered where to begin, and only by tackling -the first job I saw, whether it strictly should have been the next or -not, and putting Tom and Harry on to it too, could I regain a sense of -performing effectual labour. - -The wood bought in London was not much more than half what we -ultimately used. Before we had finished we used over a mile of -beading. Oppressed with the continual sense of working against time, -my brain became so active that I slept badly. My life seemed to -consist of sawing up miles of wood, and driving in millions of nails. -I was pursued by dreams, after the manner of illustrated statistics in -magazines, in which I saw black columns denoting the various amounts -of material used, or tables showing how the material would reach from -London to Birmingham, or pictures demonstrating that the nails in one -scale would balance a motor omnibus in the other. - -When the dining-cabin was nearly finished we gave a tea-party to -celebrate the occasion, and while we were sitting round the table we -saw through the windows the legs of a party of strangers. The fame of -the WILL ARDING had spread so far that people came on board who had -not the most indirect of excuses for taking up my time. Being proud of -the ship, however, and sympathetic towards all inquiring minds, -particularly in nautical matters, I was glad to explain things to -everybody. At least, I did so to all whose manners were passable. I -developed a high power of curtness to the quite considerable class of -people who seemed to think that it was my duty to provide a sort of -free exhibition for which it was not even necessary to say 'Thank -you.' Tom, for some not very good reason, regarded the arrival of -strangers during our tea-party as a particular offence, and we heard -him begin to parley with them on deck with: 'The guvnor says this is a -'alf-guinea day, and yaou can get the tickets at the Ship Inn.' - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - 'I reckon there's nawthen like sailormen's wit - To straighten a rop' what 'as got turns in it; - Ould Live Ashore Johnny 'ud pucker all day, - An' yit niver light on the sailorman's way!' - - -Memories of those laborious days at Fleetwick Quay are not only of -carpentering, painting, and plumbing. Sam Prawle provided an -intermittent accompaniment of anecdote and observation which it is -impossible to separate from the record of work done. During the -dinner-hour he would sometimes begin and finish a considerable -narrative. On the day when we lowered our tanks into position he -illustrated his theme that people may put themselves to a great deal -of unnecessary trouble by telling us an episode in the life of 'Ould -Gladstone,' the white mare at Wick House. Here is the yarn: - -'I dare say yaou don't fare to remember ould Gladstone at the Ferry -Boat Inn down at Wick House twenty year ago. Wonnerful little mare, -she were and lived to be thirty year ould, she did. When ould Amos -Staines sould the inn a young feller from Lunnon bought it--a reg'lar -cockney, he were, and den't knaow nawthen about b'ots nor farmin' nor -nawthen, and a course 'e 'ad to keep a man to work the ferry. What 'e -come for I can't rightly say, 'cept he said 'e allus fancied keepin' a -pub. - -'The lies that young feller used to tell us chaps, same as fishermen, -bargemen, and drudgermen what used the inn, abaout Lunnon was a fair -masterpiece. Mighty clever he thought he were, and wonnerful fond o' -thraowin' 'is weight abaout, which 'e den't knaow 'is own weight. - -'Well, twenty year ago come next March, in the forepart o' the month, -me and Jim and Lishe Appleby, the two brothers what 'ad the little -ould _Viper_, 'ad a stroke of luck over a little salvage job with a -yacht, and a course we spent a bit extry at the Ferry. Cockney -Smith--leastways, that was what we allus called 'im--'eard all abaout -our salvage job, and nearly got 'imself put in the river by the things -what 'e said abaout it. Jim and Lishe 'ould 'ave done it, for they was -wonnerful fond of a glass and a joke, as the sayin' is, but I 'ouldn't -let 'em, cos I reckoned Cockney Smith might 'ave the law of 'em. A -wonnerful disagreeable chap was Cockney Smith; 'e used to read bits -aout of newspapers abaout robberies and that, and then 'e'd say 'e -supposed they was salvage jobs. - -'Well, not long arterwards 'e 'ad a salvage job 'imself. Jim and Lishe -hired ould Gladstone and Cockney Smith's tumbril to go to a niece's -weddin' at Northend. They come back abaout seven o'clock o' the -evening, wonnerful and lively, and just where the road bends afore you -come to the Ferry that was bangy and dark they some'ow got ould -Gladstone and the tumbril in the crick. Yaou knaow the place I mean, -sir--jist where the road runs alongside the crick on the top of the -sea-wall. A course the place is as bare as my 'and, as the sayin' is, -for there ain't no tree, nor hedge, nor fence, nor nawthen; but none -the more for that, ould Gladstone 'ad bin that road for twenty year, -and there ain't a mite a doubt but what she'd a brought they chaps -back safe enough if they'd left she alone. - -'But there yaou are, yaou knaow what them weddin's are, don't yer, -sir? Well, there was ould Gladstone nearly up to her belly in mud, and -she den't struggle, for the artful ould thing knaowed that, _do_, -she'd sink deeper. The tumbril was nearly a top o' she, and Jim and -Lishe was mud from head to foot--in their shore-goin' togs, too. They -come along to the Ferry, and afore Cockney Smith opened 'is mouth ould -Lishe says, "Look at here, landlord, what your damned ould mare's done -to we. Spoilt our best clothes, she 'as!" - -"Where's my mare and cart?" says Cockney Smith. - -"Ould Gladstone's stuck in the crick and the tumbril's atop o' she," -says Jim. - -'"Do yaou mean to say you've left that pore animal there?" says -Cockney Smith. - -'"Ould Gladstone's all right," says Lishe. "Nawthen can't hurt she -where she is; it's only just after low water." - -'Cockney Smith he were wonnerful angry. "What I want to know is ow did -it 'appen, and whose fault is it?" 'e says. - -'"Well, it was this a-way," says Lishe. "Yaou see, we laowed we was at -the corner, and Jim pulled 'is line, and ould Gladstone was a bit -quick on the hellum, and afore we knaowed where we was we an' all was -in the crick." - -'"I've druv' ould Gladstone many a time this last eighteen year, and -she ain't never answered 'er hellum that way afore," says Jim. - -'"P'raps you 'adn't been to a niece's weddin'," says Cockney Smith, -kind o' nasty like. - -'"Ould Gladstone den't never git slewed in them days when she 'ad a -proper owner, niece's weddin' or no niece's weddin'," says Lishe. - -'"I suppose yaou keep pore ould Gladstone so short of wittles and -drink that when she do git a chance she goes too far on the other -tack," says Jim. - -"I've a good mind to 'ave the law of ye for spoiling my best togs," -says Lishe. - -'Cockney Smith seed it warn't no use a arguin', so 'e says, "Well, -who's goin' to get Gladstone and the cart out?" - -'"We are," says Jim and Lishe--"that is, with some other chaps to -'elp, but this 'ere's a salvage job, this is," and with that they -winks at Jacob Trent and Bill Morgan, two chaps off another smack, -just to let them knaow they was in the job. - -'"Salvage job be damned--robbery yaou mean," says Cockney Smith, and -with that 'e goes off to look at pore ould Gladstone. - -'We an' all went with 'im, but it was that dark us couldn't see ould -Gladstone, but on'y the tumbril, but us heard she a breathin', so us -knaowed she were alive. - -"'Pore ould Gladstone! that's a strain on 'er," sez ould Jacob Trent. -'E were wonnerful fond of ould Gladstone, was ould Jacob. - -'When Cockney Smith got back, he were that angry 'e fared to be a -goin' to bust, but Jim 'e says, - -"Naow look at here, ef ould Gladstone ain't got out o' that crick by -half-past eleven she'll draown, for that's high water at midnight." - -'"Yes, yes," says Lishe; "and ef she don't draown she'll most likely -get run daown, as the _Juliet Ann's_ a comin' in this tide or next to -load straw, and she's baound to stand in where ould Gladstone be with -the wind this way." - -'"Pore ould Gladstone! that's a strain on 'er, that is, and she be -wonnerful an' ould," says Jacob. - -'Well, landlord he seed he'd lose ould Gladstone ef he den't do -suthen, so 'e says: "What do you chaps want for gettin' of she aout?" - -"I reckon ould Gladstone and the tumbril's worth the best part of ten -paounds, and one-third of that is four paounds or thereabaouts," says -Lishe. - -"Well, I ain't a goin' to pay it," says Cockney Smith. - -"Then yaou can git she aout yerself," says Jim. - -'"Yaou put she in, yaou ought to get she aout," says Cockney Smith. - -"She put herself in and spoilt our shore-goin togs," says Jim. - -'"Look at here, landlord," says Lishe. "Me and Jim 'on't say nawthen -abaout our togs, and we an' all will spend half the four paounds here -in drinks. We can't say fairer'n that, can we?" - -'That was getting late, so Cockney Smith agreed. So Jim an' all 'ad -drinks, and then they pulled off and got warps and tackles and come -and borried my ridin' light. As yaou knaow, sir, there ain't nawthen -yaou can bend a warp to on that blessed ould wall, so a course they -'ad to pull off agin for a couple of anchors, and while the anchors -was bein' got the others 'ad more drinks and waited for the chaps what -was fetching the anchors to have theirs, too. Arter that they laid out -them anchors on the weather side of the wall, and shoved some planks -daown under the tumbril and 'auled that out pretty smart with a tackle -on each side. - -'When they come to start on ould Gladstone they was fair took aback to -knaow rightly how to shift she, so they put the lanterns daown and 'ad -a bit of an argyment. Bill reckoned she'd come off best the way she -went on, but Jacob wanted to slew her 'ead raound so as she'd force -her way off, cos she drawed most water aft. Jim said he den't want to -think nawthen abaout that; he knaowed they'd have to lift she with -sheerlegs same as unsteppin' a mast. Lishe said they mustn't do -nawthen in a hurry and must 'ave more drinks to talk it over, so back -they went to the inn. - -'Cockney Smith kep' all on a tellin' of 'em to hurry, and the more 'e -worrited 'em the more drinks they 'ad, and the slaower they was. First -they tried Bill's way, and they wropped some sacks raound ould -Gladstone's starn quarters to take the chafe. They only hove once, for -poor ould Gladstone give a master great squeal, and when they slacked -up she looked raound like as to say, "You fare to be enjoyin' -yaourselves together, but I ain't." - -'Arter that they bent a warp raound 'er ould neck and hove on that -till they reckoned they'd most break suthen. Ould Gladstone struggled -a bit, but that warn't no use, and then she seemed to kinder go faint -and we an' all reckoned she was a dyin'. - -'Bill said ould Gladstone ought to have some brandy, but Lishe said -brandy were paltry stuff alongside o' rum, an' he reckoned rum 'ud -pull she raound best. So it were rum, and of course they den't never -think to bring no bucket for ould Gladstone to drink aout of, so they -had to use Lishe's sou'wester. Poor ould Gladstone den't seem to -relish rum--leastways, she den't drink much of it. P'raps it was -because Lishe had jist given his sou'wester a coat o' linseed oil. -Anyway, what little she 'ad seemed to bring she raound a bit, and she -opened her eyes, which showed she warn't dead yet. Jacob give she the -rum because he served on a farm once, and knaowed abaout horses and -that, and he was jist a goin' to pour the rum away when Bill stops him -in the nick o' time. "Here, mates, we ain't a goin' to waste good rum -what landlord has to pay for for poor ould Gladstone," he says, and -with that he finishes it. - -'Then Bill and Jim started to rig the sheerlegs, and Jacob and Lishe -laid the planks to keep the legs from sinking in the mud, and while -they were a doin' that Lishe fell off his plank stern first in the -mud, and Jacob laughed till he nigh fell off his, too. - -'Then Lishe went off to the Ferry to 'ave a clent up, and a course -t'others followed, all a lingerin' for more drinks. - -'I never seed a merrier crew than they an' all was when they mustered -raound ould Gladstone again. Well, they got them sheerlegs rigged at -last, but 'adn't got enough sacks to put under ould Gladstone's belly -to keep the ropes off 'er, so they went back to the Ferry 'an 'ad -more drinks while two on 'em got an ould jib, cos they couldn't find -no more sacks. That was gettin' late then--abaout ten o'clock, I -reckon--and the tide was a comin' well up in the crick and landlord -fared to be a goin' off 'is 'ead. - -'Soon as they got back, they rigged the slings and hove ould Gladstone -up, and put some boards under she for she to stand on, and then they -laowered away. I reckon them boards was greasy or ould Gladstone was -too weak to stand. Leastways, she fell off 'em, and Lishe and Bill -laughed till they most cried. - -'But the drink fared to take ould Jacob different, for he were -wonnerful unhappy, he were, and kep' all on a sayin': "Pore ould -Gladstone! that's a strain on 'er, that is. She 'on't go there no -more." And when they come to try again ould Jacob made 'em wait while -'e mucked 'imself from 'ead to foot tryin' to put the sackin' more -better so as to keep the chafe off ould Gladstone's sides. - -'Then they hove ould Gladstone up agin, and thraowed a few 'andfuls o' -sand on the greasy planks; but it warn't no use, and when they -laowered she daown agin she just slipped off and fell on t'er side in -the mud. Them chaps laughed till they shook like dawgs, all 'cept ould -Jacob, and 'e jist kep' all on a sayin', "Pore ould Gladstone, pore -ould Gladstone!" - -[Illustration: MALDON] - -'Then Cockney Smith come along a spufflin' and a swearing abaout the -time they chaps was takin'; and then they seed the tide come a -sizzling 'igher up the crick, and that sobered 'em a bit, and Jim -says, "We're on the wrong tack, mates; we must have them barrels what -we used for floating _Hornet_ t'other day and lash they daown taut -under ould Gladstone's bilges." - -'"She's a layin' on her side naow, so we can't get at she to do it," -says Lishe. - -'"Look at here, naow," says Bill; "if we lash them barrels together, -we can heave ould Gladstone up and laower she daown on 'em." - -'"I reckon that's the way," says Jim, "but them barrels must be made -fast atop as well as underneath, else they might shift aft and float -ould Gladstone's stern quarters up, and 'er ould head 'ud be under -water." - -'So they got them barrels and lashed them together, and laowered ould -Gladstone on top of them and made all fast, so as they couldn't shift. -They was jist a goin' back to the Ferry when Lishe says: "I reckon -ould Gladstone ought to have a ridin' light up, so as if she got run -daown the law 'ud be on our side, and we'd git paid all right." - -'Bill said it warn't wanted, as they'd get the money as long as they -got ould Gladstone out alive or dead. Cockney Smith said what 'e meant -was 'e'd have to pay on'y if Gladstone come out alive, but 'e seed 'e -might be alongside ould Gladstone if 'e said it agin, an' it warn't no -use his arguin', as there was four agin him, and all three sheets in -the wind, as the sayin' is. Anyhow, Lishe would 'ave the ridin' light -up, so he took and made that fast raound ould Gladstone's neck, and he -an' all went back to the Ferry. - -'They all reckoned the money was as good as in their pockets, and jist -carried on anyhow. Bill told some wonnerful yarns abaout poor ould -Gladstone when she were young, till they most fared to be goin' to -cry. And pore ould Jacob 'e did cry, and sat there drinkin' 'is rum -and wipin' 'is eyes and sayin', "Pore ould Gladstone! that's a strain -on 'er, that is. She 'on't go there no more." - -'Cockney Smith he kep all on a dancing raound, tellin' 'em to go and -look arter Gladstone, but Lishe, 'e jist says: "Look at here, young -feller, ould Gladstone's all right; she's got 'er light up, and if any -craft run into she yaou can 'ave the law of 'er." - -'We an' all was that merry--for a course they chaps stood we a tidy -few drinks--that us den't take no notice o' nawthen. That must 'ave -bin just abaout high water, and ould Lishe was a singin' a song which -'e stopped arter every verse to tell ould Jacob to kep quiet, when I -'eard a kind of a clatterin'. That bro't me up with a raound turn, for -a course I knaowed at once ould Gladstone 'ad flet, and 'ad got aout -o' the crick by 'erself, and afore I could say a word there was 'er -ould head a peakin' over the fence. We an' all run aout an' seed she a -standin' there all lit up. That were the head masterpiece that ever I -did see. There she was, wrop up raound her neck and belly with -sackin', Lishe's ridin' light 'angin' under 'er ould neck, and them -casks under 'er ould belly, and the sheerlegs acrost 'er back, and -fathoms and fathoms of tackle and warps towin' astern, and the ould -thing mud from 'ead to foot. - -'Ould Jacob and they an' all was makin' a wonnerful fuss over ould -Gladstone when I come away aboard and turned in. Next mornin' I seed -ould Gladstone lookin' a bit pingly, but not much the worse, standin' -on the hard in the river and Cockney Smith a moppin' the mud off 'er. - -'Not long arter that Cockney Smith sould the Ferry to Shad Offord, -what's bin a sailorman and knaows haow to run a pub.' - - - - -CHAPTER X - - 'And around the bows and along the side - The heavy hammers and mallets plied, - Till after many a week, at length, - Wonderful for form and strength, - Sublime in its enormous bulk, - Loomed aloft the shadowy hulk!' - - -When the match-lining was finished we covered most of it with -three-ply wood in panels. We panelled the owner's cabin and the spare -cabin with birch. We made the spare cabin to serve also as a -drying-room, letting the back of the saloon fireplace into this cabin -through the bulkhead. The fireplace, a handsome brass yacht stove, was -bought second-hand from a yacht-breaker. Round the walls of the -dining-cabin we placed a dado of varnished wood, and enamelled the -cabin white everywhere else except on the ceiling (our furniture -hatch), which we panelled. We panelled the saloon walls and ceiling -with oak, and enamelled the window-frames and the uprights between -them white. Throughout the ship where there was no panelling we put -white enamel, making the whole interior very light. In every -available place we built cupboards and shelves; not an inch of space -was wasted. - -We arranged the bath like the baths in a liner. It is supplied with -hot salt water, and the fresh water is used in a huge basin. The sea -water is heated in a closed-in copper by a six-headed Primus oilstove, -and a hot bath can be had in half an hour. From the copper, which is -opposite the bathroom across the passage, the water is siphoned into -the bath, and if the siphon be 'broken' it can be started again by the -pump which empties the bath. Cold sea water from a tank on deck (when -we are high and dry we must have this) is supplied to the bathroom by -a hose which can be diverted to the copper when that has to be filled. - -It may seem complicated, but it is not really, for the children -understand the system perfectly, and thoroughly enjoy playing with the -waterworks. Sam Prawle never grasped it, and bestowed on it his -customary formula about any device he could not understand: 'That fare -to me to be a kind of a patent.' It may be added here, in anticipation -of events, that an appeal for help has sometimes reached us from a -guest in the bathroom. On the first appeal the Skipper or the Mate -goes to the rescue; but if a second appeal comes from the same person -one of the children is sent as a protest on behalf of the simplicity -of the waterworks. - -The keelson is the backbone of the ship. Ours is about sixty-five feet -long, roughly a foot square, and studded with boltheads. Right aft in -the boys' cabin it is under the floor, but it is above the floor -everywhere else. In the lobby it forms the bottom of the shelves; in -the saloon it is covered with narrow polished maple planks; in the -dining-cabin it becomes a seat; farther forward it is a platform for -the copper; in the doorway into the owner's cabin it is a nuisance; in -the kitchen it forms the bottom shelf for crockery; right forward it -is useful as a seat under the forehatch or as a first step up to the -hatch. In the saloon it is most useful to stand on for looking out of -the windows. - -We lost almost a day's work over a wedding. Harry's brother married -the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. Pegrom. Mr. Pegrom, a platelayer on -the line, asked me to give him a cheque in exchange for twenty-five -shillings. And in the list of presents published in the local paper -the twenty-five shillings duly appeared in the form of 'Mr. and Mrs. -E. Pegrom: cheque.' In our part of the world a banking account is -regarded as a sign of wealth and also as something mysterious -requiring a high degree of financial intelligence for its management. - -I tried hard one day to persuade Sam Prawle to open an account. I met -him on his way to the post-office to buy a money order for six pounds -to pay for varnish and paint. I pointed out that a cheque would cost -a penny instead of sixpence, and was also a safer medium. I explained -that keeping a banking account was perfectly simple, as all he had to -do was to keep paying in cheques as he received them and paying out -cheques to the people from whom he bought his goods, always keeping -something in the bank. After describing the process several times, I -asked him if he understood. - -'Well, sir, that fare to me as haow that's like a water-breaker. Yaou -keep a paourin' of the water in and a drawin' of it off agin.' - -I thought I had gained my point, as he understood so well, and -referred to the subject again a few days later. - -'Well, yaou see, sir, I 'ave to work 'ard for my money, and I reckon a -drawin' of cheques makes that too easy to git riddy of it agin.' - -When the decks had been cleared and the lines rigged on the stanchions -round the bulwarks and the outside of the window-frames painted, there -was some outward and visible sign of the transformation that had taken -place below. The Mate was satisfied that the lines would prevent all -but exceptionally unnautical children from falling overboard; and as -she was quick to assent to the proposition that our children were not -unnautical, there were no further doubts about the matter. - -During the discussion of this subject a friend told us of the engaging -argument about lifelines which had been addressed to him by a smack -builder at Leigh. He was having a small bawley yacht built there, and -when the finishing touches were being put on her the builder asked -whether the owner would have lifelines on the bulwarks right forward. - -'Yaou'd better 'ave 'em, sir.' - -'No, I don't want them.' - -'Now look at here, sir. Yaou 'ave 'em. All the bawleys 'as 'em.' - -'I know. It's all right for knocking about trawling, but this is a -yacht.' - -'Yes, yes, sir. I knaow she's a yacht. But what I says is this: them -lines 'as saved 'undreds of lives. And if they was only a goin' to -save _one_ I'd 'ave em.' - -We had now reached the stage of bringing the furniture on board. I -hired a tumbril, and with Harry's help began the 'move.' The Mate and -the children went away for a few days to stay with friends. I had to -drive down seventeen tumbril loads from the cottage, although we did -not want all our furniture for the barge. As there was generally no -room for me even to perch on the tumbril when it was loaded, I walked -a good many miles in the course of moving. - -A tumbril is a poor cart for such a job. The jolting was excessive, -and trotting meant ruin to the cargo. When the back was up the cart -held little, and when it was down things were shed along the road. -If I walked at the pony's head I could not keep an eye on things at -the back, and if I walked behind the pony would slow down to a crawl. -I partly solved the last difficulty by walking behind and throwing -pebbles off the road at the pony. - -[Illustration: THE SALOON] - -At the end of the first day of this ignoble process of transportation -I had enough things on board to be able to sleep there in comparative -comfort. And at the end of the few days during which the Mate stayed -away with the children I was able to tell myself that the barge at -last looked like a home. The cabins were all furnished and habitable; -the pictures were hung; even the china and books were arranged -provisionally. - -When for the first time I lit the fifty-candle-power lamp which hung -from the ceiling of the saloon and looked down the long radiant room I -said that I never wanted to live in a better place. - -I cannot forget the pride of those first few evenings on board. Here -was a dream come true. Wherever I cared to go my home would go with me -and carry everything I owned; and the barge was not only my home, but -my yacht and my motorcar. Every evening I held a kind of _levée_ in -the saloon. Tom had more sailor friends, and Harry more landsmen -relations, than I had suspected. As for Sam Prawle, as critic-in-chief -and privy councillor, he was licensed to bring on board as many people -as he pleased. I learned that the race of bargees had all along known -the best use to which a barge could be put, and I myself figured as a -tardy practitioner in ideas which had been immemorially in their -possession. Yet it gratified me to notice that they gaped a good deal -at the transformed _Will Arding_, particularly at night, when candles -as well as the lamp showered a thousand points of light on silver and -glass and china. - -Sam Prawle at one of my _levées_ explained to the assembled guests -that the simplest way of going to London was by barge. It was evident -to him that I had done well to make myself independent of trains, -which in his view were the confusion of all confusions. One of the -most baffling experiences of his life, apparently, had been a journey -by train from Fleetwick to Whitstable. - -'That may be right enough for same as them what fare to understand -these things,' he said, 'but I don't hould with them. Well, naow look -at here, sir. When yaou get to Wickford ye've got to shift aout o' one -train into t'other, ain't ye, sir? And there's two docks where them -trains baound up to Lunnon berth. Five years ago we was in one dock, -and year afore last it was t'other. Well, ye daon't knaow where ye -are, sir, do ye? I niver knaow one of they blessed trains from -another; that's the truth, that is; they all fare to me the spit o' -one another. Then there's everyone a bustlin' abaout, and them -railway chaps a shaoutin' aout afore the train come, and when she do -come most everyone's in such a hurry to git aboard that there ain't no -time to ask, and ye don't knaow where ye are, sir. - -'Then, happen yaou'll have to shift again halfway up to Lunnon, and -happen not; that fare to be all accordin'. And same as when ye git to -Lunnon, yaou've got to git acrost it, ain't ye, and when ye asks haow -to do it, some on 'em says, "Yaou go under-ground," and some on 'em -sez, "Yaou take a green bus with Wictoria writ on it." I ain't over -and above quick at readin', and I daon't never fare to git as far as -where she's a goin' to afore she gits under way. Last time I got -someone from here to put me aboard and speak the conductor for me. But -then agin, when ye git to t'other station and git your ticket, ye -ain't found the blessed ould train, for that's a masterous great -station full o' trains. No, sir, ye don't knaow where ye are, and -that's the truth, that is. Then mebbe yaou've got to shift agin on the -Whitstable line, same as I did time I went arter them oysters. - -'But same as goin' in a little ould barge or a smack with the wind the -way it is naow. If ye muster an hour afore low water ye can take the -last o' the ebb daown raound the Whitaker spit. Then ye just hauls yer -wind and takes the flood up Swin till ye come to the West Burrows Gas -Buoy. Accordin' to haow the tide is ye may have to make a short hitch -to wind'ard to make sure o' clearin' that ould wreck on the upper part -o' the sand. Arter that ye can keep she a good full till ye find the -tail o' the Mouse Sand with yer lead; then, soon as ye git more water -agin, bear away abaout south an' by west and keep her head straight on -Whitstable. Ye knaow where ye are, sir, the whole time, don't ye? A -course, if ye're a bit early on the tide ye may have to keep away a -bit to clear the east end o' the Red Sand, but yaou must have come -wonnerful quick if there ain't water over the Oaze, and Spaniard, and -Gilman, and Columbine. That's easy same as night-time, too, for when -ye're clear o' the Mouse Sand ye can go from the Gas Buoy on the lower -end of the Oaze across the Shiverin' Sand to the Girdler Lightship -that is, if yaou can't go overland. Yes, yes; that's much better; ye -knaow where ye are the whole time, don't ye? - -'I ain't on'y took a barge above Lunnon once't, and I remember that -well, as I larned suthen I den't know afore and that 'ad to do with -trains, too. We 'ad just berthed at Twickenham with coals, and as I -'ad to goo to Lunnon to see the guvnor I goos off to the railway -station and buys a ticket, and says to the fust porter I sees, "Whin's -the next daown train, mate?" - -'"In abaout twenty minutes," 'e says. - -'So I slips acrost the road and was just in the middle of my 'alf-pint -when I 'ears a train comin', so I peaks out o' the window and sees it -come in from the westward. "That fare to be my train," I says to -myself, and drinks my beer as quick as I can and goos acrost to the -station again. But they shet the door just as I come in. - -'"Where's that train a goin', mate?" I says to the porter what I seed -afore. - -'"Lunnon," says 'e. - -'"Yaou tould me there warn't no daown train for twenty minutes," I -says. - -'"No more there ain't," 'e says; "that's an up train." - -'Well, that warn't no use a argyin' with he, and from what I could -make of it that don't fare to matter whether folks lives above Lunnon -or below ut. No one don't take no notice o' that, but allus says they -is a goin' up to Lunnon. - -'They Lunnoners allus reckon to knaow more'n we country folk, but us -knaow better an that. Yes, yes; up on the flood, daown on the ebb; and -that ain't a mite o' use tryin' to tell me different.' - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - 'O, to sail to sea in a ship! - To leave this steady, unendurable land! - To leave the tiresome sameness of the streets, the sidewalks and - the houses; - To leave you, O you solid, motionless land, and, entering a ship, - To sail, and sail, and sail!' - - -One day only was left to me, before the return of the Mate, to examine -the gear and make sure that everything was ready for sea, as we -proposed to cruise for a few days before going to our new quarters. -The place we had chosen to live at was Newcliff on the Thames, where -there was a school at which the boys' names had already been entered. - -All the standing and running rigging and the canvas were in good -order; nevertheless the waterside pundits had plenty of sagacious -criticisms to offer. Public attention was now diverted from the -interior to life above decks. In particular there was not a new piece -of rope or a new spar on board that was not discussed till all its -merits or defects had been discovered or insinuated. - -To a keen amateur seaman this reiteration is never wearisome. He -knows how to learn, because he knows that the most casual comment from -a bargee or a smacksman is charged with experience. Many of these men -have astonishing powers of memory and observation, powers as wonderful -in their way as the sight and hearing of American Indians. Recognition -of a vessel by the cut of her jib is easy enough, and has supplied our -language with an idiom; but bargees and smacksmen will recognize one -another's vessels at great distances, though even at close range the -vessels may seem to other people to be indistinguishable. A few men -can recognize any craft they have ever seen if they catch sight of -only the peak of her sail. Barge skippers who have been in the trade a -lifetime will recall the details of almost every voyage they have -made--the time of starting, the shifts of wind, the margin of time by -which they saved their tide, what they saw on the way, and a dozen -other things--never confusing one passage with another. - -When you sail by bargees or smacksmen at anchor you behold them -apparently staring aimlessly on to the sea or into the sky; but they -are watching. Perhaps they seem to be looking the other way, but they -have marked you pass and noticed, it may be, that your topping lift is -too taut. This or any other detail is duly entered in the unwritten -log of their memories. On shore they take their leisure on the quay, -walking up and down, never more than a few steps each way, with eyes -always on the anchorage. The arrival of a stranger, the way he -anchors, the coming and going of dinghies, the manner in which they -are brought alongside--everything is noted. - -Now, the chief object of interest in the gear of the _Will Arding_ was -a new kedge anchor. To men accustomed to anchor near the shore and in -very narrow swatchways nothing is more important than their ground -tackle. They spend more anxious thought on that than on anything else. -My new anchor was lying on the quay, and I could hear the comments of -every passer by. I was flattered by an accumulation of approval. -Sometimes I was below, and did not know who was speaking; nor did it -much matter, since the language of all was interchangeable. I would -simply hear a voice; and soon another voice would be saying the same -thing over again. Imagine a succession of observations like this: - -_First Voice_: 'Yes, yes; that's a good anchor, that is. As I was a -sayin' to Jim this mornin', "That's got good flues, that has, and a -good stock. I lay she 'on't never drag that," I says, "if that git -aholt in good houldin' graound. No more she 'on't faoul that. That'll -hould she in worse weather than what they'll ever want to be aout in," -I says. "Then agin, that's a good anchor for layin' aout, for that -ain't a heavy anchor to handle in a bo't," I says. "None the more for -that, she 'on't never drag that. The chap what made that anchor -knaowd what he was abaout."' - -_Second Voice_: 'That's a wonnerful good anchor, that is. That 'on't -never drag that if they let that goo in good houldin' graound. I allus -did like an anchor long in the stock, same as that. Yes, yes; that'll -hould she. That ain't a heavy anchor for same as layin' off in a bo't, -whereas them heavy anchors is wonnerful ill convenient. Yes, yes; -they've got a good anchor there; that was made at Leigh, that was, and -wonnerful good anchors that smith allus did make.' - -_Third Voice_: 'What do I think in it? I don't want to think nawthen -abaout that. I _knaow_ that's a good anchor. She 'on't never drag -that, _do_, that'll hev to be wonnerful poor houldin' graound. That -anchor's got good flues, that has, and she 'on't never drag that nit -faoul it. They'll want to be in harbour time that anchor 'on't hould -she. That's long in the stock, that is, but none the more for that -that ain't a heavy anchor, and yaou can lay that aout in a bit of a -sea when maybe a heavier un 'ould be too much for yer.' - -The next day the Mate and the elder boy returned, and the barge was -christened with a new name. _Will Arding_, no doubt, had had some -sufficient meaning for the late owner, but for us it meant nothing, -and we had decided to call the barge _Ark Royal_. - -Before the christening we moved from the quay into midstream. The -warps ashore were cast off, and the clank, clank, clank, of the -windlass sounded like the music of other worlds calling. We slowly -hove off the barge until her stern swung round and she rode free to -the flood-tide and the east wind. Sam Prawle was on board, as I had -engaged him to come for our first cruise in order that I might learn -the handling of a barge under a good instructor. We could not start -till high water, because the wind was up river. - -Meanwhile, the christening was performed. Several smacksmen came off -in their boats for the ceremony. A bottle of champagne, made fast to -the jib topsail halyards, was flung well outboard, and came back on to -the barge's bluff bows with a crash and an explosion of foam as the -Mate said: 'In the name of all good luck I christen you _Ark Royal_!' - -Everyone cheered; other champagne (not the christening brand) was -handed round, and we all drank success and long life and happiness to -one another and the ship. The Royal Cruising Club burgee was hoisted -to the truck and the Blue Ensign at the mizzen peak. - -Sam stowed the wine-glasses in their racks below; the good-byes were -said; the smackies clambered over the side, sorted themselves into the -cluster of dinghies astern, and lay on their oars to watch the start. -The tide was on the turn, the great topsail flacked in the wind, -the brails were let go, and Sam and I sweated the mainsheet home and -set the mizzen. - -[Illustration: THE _ARK ROYAL_] - -She was feeling the ebb now, and she sheered first one way and then -the other, gently tugging at her anchor as we hoisted the foresail and -made the bowline fast to port. Once more the clank, clank, of the -windlass; the short scope of the bower anchor came home sweetly, and -the _Ark Royal_ was free. I left Sam to get the anchor right up and -flew aft to the wheel as she slowly gathered way. - -We were off! Good-bye to the land and houses and rates and by-laws! We -believed that we were entering on a better way of life. We have since -made sure of it. - -I think of that first sail still. The newness to us of the _Ark -Royal's_ great size; her height above the water; the grand sweep she -took as she came about; the march from the wheel to the leeside to -peer forward in bargee's style to see whether there was anything in -our way to leeward; the size of the wheel itself, and the many turns -wanted to put the helm down or up, filled us with importance and pride -as we tacked down the river. If you would know what my feelings were -then you must think of your first boundary to square leg, your first -salmon, your first gun, your first stone wall with hounds running -fast. - -That night we anchored at the mouth of the river, and when the sails -were stowed and the riding light had been hoisted, we ate our first -dinner on board and tucked our elder boy into his bunk for the first -time. Then beneath the stars, rocking gently on a scarcely perceptible -easterly swell, we walked our decks in the flood-tide of happiness. - -'None of our relations know where we are or where we are going to,' -said the Mate. 'Here we are now, and to-morrow, perhaps, we shall get -to Mersea Island and pick up Margaret and Inky, and then we shall be -complete. Is it real? Is it true?' - -We sat on deck very late, too much occupied with the pleasure of -existing to yield to sleep. The sky was continually changing as snowy -clouds drifted across it. In the distance the Swin Middle light flared -up like a bonfire every fifteen seconds. Here and there the lights of -barges drooped tremulous threads of gold on the water. - -Sam Prawle was invited aft; and regarding us now as freemen of the -barge profession, he enlarged upon the advantages of barging -(comparing it with the sport of yachting, which he seemed to think we -had abandoned) with a confidential note in his voice that we had not -precisely detected before. But his opinions on these weighty matters -deserve a chapter to themselves. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - 'Vous êtes tous les deux ténébreux et discrets: - Homme, nul n'a sondé le fond de tes abîmes, - O mer, nul ne connaît tes richesses intimes, - Tant vous êtes jaloux de garder vos secrets!' - - -Seated on the after cabin-top near the wheel, Sam Prawle made known to -us the _arcana_ of barging. The comparison with yachting was to the -disadvantage of yachting, and we felt that he would not have ventured -to take this line had we still owned the _Playmate_. On the other -hand, we were gratified at being treated with frankness as members of -his profession. - -'I don't reckon,' said Sam Prawle, 'there ain't nawthen as good as -bargin', same as on the water, my meanin' is. Ye see, yaou gets home -fairly frequent, yaou ain't got no long sea-passages to make, yaou can -see a bit o' life in the taowns, and ef yaou've got a good little ould -barge and freights is anyways good ye can make a tidy bit o' money. - -'Then agin, in respect o' livin', most all barges carries a gun, and -there's some I could name as carries oyster drudges; then there's a -bit o' fishin' to be done, and accordin' to where yaou're brought up -there may be winkles, or mussels, or cockles, and, as I says, chance -time a few oysters; so my meanin' is the livin' is good. - -'A course that don't do for it to be knaown ye carries a drudge no -more than that do to be seen pickin' up oysters nit winkles in some -places, same as on the Corporation's graounds in the Maldon River. But -outside them graounds that does no detriment. I dessay yaou remember -some time back abaout they chaps what was caught pickin' up winkles in -the Maldon River. Well, the judge give it agin them, for a course the -Corporation has all the fishin' rights above them beacons. But the -most amusingest part was, they chaps' lawyer tried to make aout a -winkle warn't a fish, but a wild animal. Yes, yes; they lost right -enough. - -'Us allus used to live wonnerful well on the ould _Kate_, for I had a -mate, Bill Summers, who was a masterpiece at shoot'n'. He were suthen -strorng, he were, and had masterous great limbs on 'im, but none the -more for that he were a wonnerful easy-spoken chap. I've knaowed he -caught a many times by same as keepers and that, but he allus had some -excuse or spoke 'em fair. Leastways, he den't never git into trouble. - -'I remember one November day there'd bin a heavy dag in the fore part -o' the day which cleared off towards the afternoon, and Bill went -ashore after a hare or whatever he could git daown on they ould -mashes away to the eastward there. A wonnerful lonely place that -is--no housen nor nawthen but they great ould mashes. A course Bill -den't reckon there'd be anyone a lookin' after the shootin' daown -there, but there were. But as I was a tellin' yer, Bill most allus -knaowed what to say to such as they. Well, just afore that come dark, -about flight time, I raowed the boat ashore to the edge o' the mud on -the lookaout for Bill. I waited some time, and that grew darker and -darker, and them watery birds and curlew kep' all on a callin', and -one o' they ould frank-herons come a flappin' overhead, and that fared -wonnerful an' lonesome. - -'Well, I was jist a wonderin' whether I hadn't better goo and look for -Bill in case he'd got stuck in one o' they fleets what run acrost -mashes, or had come to some hurt, for a man might lay aout there days -and weeks afore anyone might hap to find 'im. Then I heard suthen and -sees Bill a comin' suthen fast along the top o' the sea-wall with -another chap a comin' arter 'im. "Ullo," I thinks, "Bill's in -trouble," so I gives a whistle, and Bill answers and comes straight on -daown the mud towards the bo't with his gun in one hand and an ould -hare or suthen in the other. When he gits half-way daown the mud Bill -turns raound to the chap a follerin' and says, "Do yaou ever read the -noospapers, mate?" - -'The chap, he den't say nawthen, so Bill stops and 'as a look at 'is -gun, and then he says agin werry slow, "Funny things you reads of -'appenin' in the noospapers." - -'Well, that chap den't fare to come no further, and Bill finishes 'is -walk daown the mud alone. Wonnerful easy-spoken chap, 'e was. Yes, -yes; us allus had good livin' on the _Kate_. - -'Then agin, same as summer-time, maybe yaou've got a fair freight, or -yaou're doin' a bit o' cotcheling, and yaou're a layin' up some snug -creek, and the tides ain't just right for gittin' away, and yaou has -to wait three or faour days. Well, that's wonnerful comfortable, that -is, specially ef there's a bit of a village handy. Or same as layin' -wind-baound winter-time, maybe twenty barges all together--and I -remember sixty-two layin' wind-baound at the mouth o' the Burnham -River once't--well, that'll be a rum 'un if there ain't a bit o' -jollification goin' on aboard some o' they. Yes, yes; I allus says -bargin' is what ye likes to make it. - -'What other craft can a man take his missus in--leastways, ef he has a -mind to? They what ain't got little 'uns often takes their wives with -'em, and summer-time they can often manage without a mate in same as -ninety-ton barges. A course, that's a bit awk'ard ef ye gits into -trouble, for a woman can't do what a man can, and a man can't allus -say what he wants to ef he has the missus with him. - -'But that's true, women's wonnerful artful, and I've knaowed a woman -say suthen more better than what a man could. When ould Ted -Wetherby--a wonnerful hard-swearin' man--took his missus with him, -they was nearly run daown by a torpedo bo't in the Medway. That young -lootenant in charge pitched into Ted suthen cruel, but Ted he den't -say nawthen till that young chap was abaout in the middle of what 'e -'ad to say, and then 'e jist up and says, "Ush! Ladies at the hellum!" -And then the lootenant turns on Ted's missus, and tells she jist what -he thought about Ted and the barge. Ted's missus den't say nawthen -neither till they was jist sheerin' off, and then she says, "I don't -take no more notus o' what yaou say than ef ye ain't never spoke." -Bill tould me he reckoned that lootenant were more wild than ef Bill -'ad spoke hisself. - -'Then agin, a skipper of a barge is most all the time his own master -in a manner o' speakin'. A course, some says yachtin' is easier, and -maybe it is, but I don't hould with it. I've met scores o' yacht -skippers and had many a yarn along o' they, but I'd rather be skipper -of a little ould barge than any yacht afloat. My cousin, Seth Smith, -is skipper of a yacht, and he's tould me some o' the wrinkles o' -yachtin'. - -'From what I can 'ear of it, there's owners and owners. Accordin' to -some, they what don't knaow nawthen fare to be the best kind to be -with. Leastways, that's a wonnerful thing haow long a yacht will lay -off a place the skipper and crew likes. I remember one beautiful -little wessel a layin' off the same blessed ould place week after -week, so I ast a chap I knaowed if she den't never git under way. -"Well," 'e says, "yaou see, the owner, he don't knaow nawthen, and the -skipper and crew belongs 'ere. Chance time they do get under way, but -we most allus says o' she 'ef there ain't enough wind to blaow a match -aout there ain't enough wind for she to muster, and ef there's enough -wind to blaow a match aout that's too much for she, as the sayin' is." - -'But there's owners what sails their own wessels, and Seth says as -haow they is good enough to be along with, for ef they gits into -trouble they gits into trouble, and that ain't nawthen to do with the -crew. - -'But they owners what knaows a little is the worst, because they -thinks they knaows everything, in a manner o' speakin', and the -skipper has to be wonnerful careful. Yaou see, the trouble lays along -o' the steerin'. A course, most anyone can steer, though they don't -git the best aout of a wessel, but same as owners an' they allus fare -to reckon that steerin' is everything, which a course it ain't. Seth -has tould me a score o' times, he has, "Sam," he says, "that's a -strain on a man, that is, for he's got to keep all on a watchin' his -owner to see he keeps the wessel full or don't gybe she, or one thing -an' another. Naow same as tackin' up this 'ere little ould river," he -says, "or standin' into shaoal water, ye just says to me comfortable -like, 'Shove the ould gal round,' whereas my meanin' is that 'on't do -for a yacht skipper to say that to his owner. No, no; that 'on't do; -he's got to goo careful like. Maybe he'll say, 'What do you think -abaout comin' abaout sir?' Then maybe--if there ain't no visitors -aboard--the owner'll say, 'Let 'er come.' Then agin, maybe there's -visitors aboard, and the owner 'e takes a look raound and says, 'In -another length,' or suthen o' that." - -'But ef the skipper's bearin' a hand with suthen, or for one thing or -another he leaves that a bit late, so as he ain't got time to ask the -owner what e' thinks and let him have his look raound so that fare as -haow he's in charge, but jist says, "Shove her round," quick like, -then the owner ain't over and above pleased--especially if there's -visitors aboard, as I was a sayin'. That's ill convenient, that is, -for ef she don't come raound quick enough she'll take the graound, and -then the skipper's got to say a hill has graowed up or a landmark's -bin cut daown or suthen, and kaidge she off too; and a course, same as -on the ebb, that's a hundred to one she 'on't shift till she fleet -next tide. Yes, yes; a skipper's got to be wonnerful forehanded as -well as careful what 'e says. - -'I remember a friend o' mine, Jem Selby, goin' along of a gent who was -wonnerful praoud o' his cruises, what 'e did without a skipper. He -on'y took Jem, he said, cos Jem were a deep-water man and hadn't -never been in a yacht afore, but on'y in same as barques and ships and -wessels similar-same to that, and 'e wanted a man just to cook and put -him ashore. Well, this gent and Jem brought the little yacht--I can't -remember her name--from Lowestoft daown to Falmouth, and the gent was -wonnerful praoud o' hisself, as they'd been aout in some tidy breezes. -He was a tellin' of his friends at Falmouth all abaout his adventures, -and the gales o' wind they had come through, when he turns to Jem, who -was standin' by, and says, "What do yaou say to goin' raound Land's -End to-morrer, Jem?" "Well, I don't knaow, sir," says Jem; "yaou see, -we're a gettin' near the sea now." Maybe it were that, maybe it -warn't, but 'e den't ast Jem to sail along o' he next season. - -'Well, there yaou are now. Ye can't do nawthen and ye can't say -nawthen. No, no; from what I can 'ear of it and from what I can see of -it, yachtin' ain't in the same street as bargin', as the sayin' is. -Let alone, some o' they chaps never does a hand's turn o' work from -one week to another 'cept maybe polish a bit o' brass work. - -'Seth says as haow that ain't a bad job to be in charge of a little -yacht with a party o' young chaps, same as on their holiday. Young -chaps, same as they, never drinks without the skipper, and a course -they most allus lives well, so the skipper do too. Then agin, yaou see -they likes to do all the work, and the skipper just puggles abaout -like and tells they what to do, though a course they wants lookin' -arter none the more for that. Maybe on dewy nights the skipper 'as to -goo raound quiet like and ease up the halyards, for young chaps is all -for havin' everything smart and taut; but that ain't nawthen, and he -can most allus do that while they has their supper. - -'From what I see of it myself, I reckon young chaps same as they is a -bit troublesome goin' into harbour. I remember seein' a party o' faour -come into Lowestoft in a little yacht--a doddy little thing, she -were--with an ould fellow in charge. The _Lord Nelson_ was just -startin' for Yarmouth, so they couldn't berth until she'd gone, and as -I happed to be standin' by I made fast the lines the ould chap -thraowed on the pier. Well, the band was a playin' and the pier -crowded with gals a watchin' the yachts in the harbour, and they young -chaps den't fare to be able to keep quiet like with them gals a -lookin' on, and kep' all on worritin' the ould chap to knaow ef they -hadn't better give a pull on this or a pull on t'other. Then I seed -the artful ould chap give one on 'em the headrope to hould and another -the starn rope--though they might just as well a bin made fast--and -another he give a fender to, and t'other one, what was the most -worritsome o' the lot, 'e took and made fast the jib sheets raound the -bitts and tould he to pull on that. And he did. Lor', that did make -me laugh suthen. - -'Then agin, some o' they young 'uns hears things what they den't ought -to. I remember young Abe Putwain, who used to sail along of a -wonnerful larned ould gent what was always a lookin' at things he got -out o' the water with one o' they microscopes--a master great thing -that were, accord' to Abe. Well, this ould party and his friends was -most allus argyin' abaout suthen, and a course Abe could hear they -through the fo'c'sle door. Abe was the most reg'lar chapel man I ever -knaowed, and used allus to hould the plate by the door every Sunday -till he took up along this larned gent what I'm a talkin' abaout. Just -abaout Christmas my mate left to take a skipper's job, so bein' at -home I says to Abe, who I ain't seen for some bit, "Will you come, -mate, along o' me, as yaour bo't's laid up?" So he come as mate, and -one day, when we was sailing daown past the Naze and had just opened -up Harwich Church, I says, "Well, mate, there's the ould church!" I -says, meanin' the landmark. "Oh," 'e says, scornful like. "You don't -'ould with them idle superstitions, do yer?" he says. Well, that -warn't no use argyin' with he, for he ain't never bin to chapel since, -and that's what come o' yachtin', I reckon.' - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - _'Here are our thoughts--voyagers' thoughts_, - _Here not the land, firm land, alone appears_, may then by them be - said; - The sky o'erarches here--we feel the undulating deck beneath our - feet, - We feel the long pulsation--ebb and flow of endless motion; - The tones of unseen mystery--the vague and vast suggestions of the - briny world--the liquid-flowing syllables.' - - -The riding light was already garish in the early sunshine when we -turned out the next morning. The fragrance of the breeze coming in -faint puffs off the land, the clean taste of the air, the cries of the -sea birds, and the tender haze that overhung the land, set all our -senses tingling. Yet what a creature is man! As we stood by the main -rigging there came wafted aft to us from the forehatch the bubbling -sound and the smell of frying bacon, and we could scarcely endure the -delay of staying to wash down the decks, though that was a duty to be -performed before hunger might be satisfied honourably. - -We got under way soon after breakfast, but the wind was fluky and we -drifted rather than sailed. About low water we anchored in a clock -calm to wait for the easterly breeze which we knew would come later, -for the gossamers hung on the rigging. In the afternoon the wind duly -'shot up at east,' as the fishermen say, and we fetched over the -Dengie flats, opened the Blackwater, and bore away for Mersea Island -to pick up the other children. - -We anchored in the Deeps, for there was no room for such a large -vessel as ours in our old haunts up the creeks, but before the anchor -was down two small figures in white came running down King's Hard. -Inky and Margaret had been watching for us. We soon had the sailing -dinghy going off for them. How pleased they were, how excited about -their cabins, how astonished at finding their toys ready for them! - -At last, then, our scheme was complete. The family was reassembled -under a new roof, and that roof was a deck. - -We met several sailing friends at West Mersea, and found our old -yacht, the _Playmate_, from whose owners we heard an account of their -first trip to Mersea. Off the entrance they hailed the man on board -the watchboat, to ask the way into the quarters. The watchman, who had -known the _Playmate_ for years, and had seen her going in and out -scores of times, answered the question in the spirit in which he -supposed it had been asked. He had not heard that the vessel had -changed hands. - -'Go on. _Yaou_ knaow,' he shouted back. - -'No, we don't,' bawled the new owners. - -'Go on. _Yaou_ knaow,' he repeated, as the _Playmate_ forged on. - -'No, we don't,' yelled the new owners, becoming nervous of running -aground. - -'Yaou let the ould girl goo herself, then. _She_ knaow the way in!' -was the last they heard. - -During our short cruise we found out how best to arrange everything on -board so as to avoid breakages in a sea. Our furniture, of course, had -not been specially made for a ship; some of it had already been -screwed to the walls or bulkheads; the rest of it could be quickly -wedged. The shelves were all fitted with ledges, so that china and -silver had only to be laid flat behind the ledges. On deck we hung -thin boards over the windows, as these might easily be broken. - -At Osea Island in the Blackwater we took in eight hundred gallons of -water. We then visited Heybridge, Brightlingsea, and Wivenhoe, and -still left ourselves ample time to make the passage to Newcliff and -settle down comfortably before the boys were due at their school. - -To revisit the Essex sea-marshes is always to discover something new. -The dim low land may be called dreary compared with the more -vivacious Solent, but when the spell of this Dutch-like scenery has -been laid on you it has touched your heart for ever. - -Not all people who are in love with Essex have always been so. The -charms of the county inland, as well as on the coast, have to be -discovered gradually, because they are widely spread. - -Essex has no cathedral which gathers up the interest to one point. Yet -its houses are an epitome of its history and character; they look as -though they were part of the landscape, as though they had grown up -with the trees. Some houses in Essex--farmhouses and inns--often -welcome you with a clean white face, but the complexion of a whole -village seen far off is nearly always red, and a thin spire generally -tapers above the roofs. Churches and houses alike were built with the -materials which were ready to hand. There is much timber in the -building, because Essex has few quarries. In hundreds of churches, -too, you may see the relics of the Roman occupation. The Roman bricks -are worked into the lower parts of the walls; flint commonly comes -above the brick, and stout timbers are used not only for the roof, but -in the whole construction. Sometimes the spire is made entirely of -wood, and there is surely something beautiful and touching in the -exaltation to this use of the characteristic material of the county. -When a beam was wanted for a house, or a roof for a church, chestnut -was the wood, no doubt because of the belief that no insect takes -kindly to it. The great building age of what is now rural Essex must -have come immediately after the suppression of the monasteries, and -you can hardly go into an Essex village without finding a Tudor house. -If it be a manor-house, it may have a moat or a monkish fishpond; and -perhaps the pigeon tower, which dates from the times when the lord of -the manor had his rights of pigeonry, is still standing. The old inns -have a spaciousness which informs you of the well-being of -agricultural Essex when they were built. Where the land is good there -the inns are good also; where the land is poor the inns are built on -niggard lines. You can come across Essex villages--such as the -Rodings, the Lavers, and the Easters--which for remoteness of air and -unsophistication could not be matched except in counties so distant -from London as Cornwall and Cumberland. - -Certainly Essex has no great hills, even as it has no great buildings. -But the value of hills is relative. From many places in Essex only -about sixty feet above the sea there are wide views, and you may gaze -upon the Kentish coast thirty miles away on the other side of the -Thames. The secret of the Essex coast is the illusion of immensity. -The dome of sky is scarcely interrupted by the small frettings of land -and wood along the edges. In this vast atmospheric theatre a change of -weather may be seen at almost any point of the compass planning its -tactics on a clear hard line of horizon, and thence swinging up the -sky, showing the soft white flags of peace or the threatening front of -a battle formation. One even has an important sense of the monstrous -nearness of natural forces when the 'inverted bowl' is filled with a -dark low-flying scud that seems to be crushing down on you in a kind -of personal assault. - -Men who have become captivated by the marshes have been able to -measure the gradual and unconscious change in their feelings about -hills and flat lands by a visit to some such spot as the Italian -Lakes. The beauty of the lakes has always to be admitted--the purity -of the water, the affluence of the colour, the abrupt fall of the -hills to the water, the sweetness of the glinting villages perched -high up as though resting in a long and difficult climb to the sky. -But at the end of a week the visitor may have found himself insisting -on these beauties; he has felt that the sense of them is slipping -away. He who needs to argue with himself is losing ground. He becomes -unreasonably conscious that the water is imprisoned, and does not lead -to the sea round the distant headland; that the sky is filched away; -and that the winds are false, being misdirected by the hills and -simply blowing up or down a long corridor, so that Nature is -frustrated in these coddled and enchanted haunts. - -In shallow estuaries like those of Essex the tides have necessarily to -be studied more carefully than in deep waters. The ebb tide runs -faster than the flood; for the ebb is hurried seawards, pressed on its -flanks as it goes, by the weight of water that pours off the flats -from either side of the channel. The flood comes in from the sea like -a cautious explorer. It is as though it could afford to be slow -because it has the authority of the sea behind it. Moreover, it has -nothing to do with the joy and madness of escape from confinement, but -daily performs a sober function of renewal. It is a deliberate, -sightless creature, pushing before it sinuous fingers with which it -gropes its way through the crushed jungles of matted weed. - -For the gulls, the redshanks, the stint, the herons, and the curlew, -the important moments of the day are when the water first leaves the -banks and a refreshed feeding-ground is once more laid bare. But to -the yachtsman the vital time is when the sea advances, bringing its -salt breath among the drowsier inland scents, raising the weed from -the dead, and changing into sensitive buoyant things the smacks and -yachts which have been stranded on their sides, heavy and immobile for -hours. - -There are two yachtsmen at least who are almost ashamed to confess how -childish in its reality is their pleasure in watching the return of -the tide over the flats or up some shallow creek. They have not -counted the number of times they have leaned over the side of a yacht, -knowing she could not float for an hour or more, watching the tiny -crabs scuttle into fresh territories as the oily flood bearing yellow -flecks of tide-foam brims silently over one level on to the next; -watching each weed being lifted and supported by the water until its -whole length waves and bends in the tide like a poplar in a breeze; -watching the angle at which the yacht has been lying correct itself -until she sits upright in the mud; watching, perhaps, in the proper -season, the swish and flutter of the water, and the little puffs of -disturbed mud drifting away like smoke, as mullet thresh their way -through the entrancing green submarine avenues. And then there is -always the thrill of the moment when the rising water touches with -life the dead hull of a yacht, and turns her into a creature of -sensitiveness and grace swaying to the run of the tide. One moment she -is as a rock against which you might push unavailingly with all your -might; the next she has sidled off the ground, and will sheer this way -and that in response to a finger laid upon the tiller. - -As the tide rises towards its height you may see smacks--oyster -dredgers, trawlers, shrimpers, and eel boats--filling the shining -mouth of the estuary. The lighting of this part of the coast is like -nothing else in England. A pearly radiance seems to strike upwards -from the sea on to the underpart of the clouds, which borrows an -abnormal glow. In these waters, when the sea is not grey it is -generally shallow green, and sometimes, when there are thunder-clouds -with sunshine, it becomes an astonishing jade. At sunset the vapours -over the marshes burn like a furnace, and the cumulus clouds sometimes -glow underneath with the dusky fire of a Red Underwing moth. When the -water has left the flats the lighting does not change appreciably, -because the gleaming mud, glossy and shining like the skin of the -porpoises which sport along the channels, has the quality of water. -The most characteristic effect is the mirage, which swallows up the -meeting-point of sea and sky in a liquid glare, exalts the humblest -smack with the freeboard and towering rigging of a barque, and -separates the tops of trees from visible connection with the land, so -that they appear to be growing out of air and water. Often one might -fancy that the trees of the Blackwater and the Crouch, thus seen in -the distance, were the palm-trees of some Polynesian island. - -On the marshes, or reclaimed lands, which are inside the sea-walls, -and are intersected by tidal dykes called fleets, sea-fowl and -woodland birds mingle: curlew with wood pigeons, plover with -starlings, rooks and gulls, feeding harmoniously. Here and there the -mast and brailed-up sail of a barge sticking out of grazing-land tell -of a creek winding in from some hidden entrance, and remind you that -in Essex agriculture and seamanship are on more intimate terms than -are perhaps thought proper elsewhere. - -Outside the sea-walls are salt marshes ('salts' or 'saltings') which -are covered only by the higher tides. In the early summer the thrift -colours them with pink and white, and later a purple carpet is spread -by the sea lavender. The juicy glasswort (called 'samphire,' though it -is not the samphire of Dover Cliff in 'Lear') changes from a brilliant -green to scarlet. Herons wade in the rivulets; the whistle of the -redshanks, the mournful cry of the curlew, and the scream of the gulls -which fringe the edge of the water like the white crest of a breaking -wave, sound from end to end of these marshes. In the winter you may -hear the honking of Brent geese. But by far the most beautiful sight -is hundreds of thousands of stint or dunlins on the wing together. -These birds are also called ox-birds, and the fishermen call them -simply 'little birds.' When they wheel, as at the word of command, the -variations in their appearance are almost beyond belief; now they are -wreathed smoke floating across the sky, and scarcely distinguishable -from the long smudge that pours from the funnel of a steamer on the -horizon; now the sun catches their white underparts, and they are a -storm of driven snowflakes; now they present the razor edge of the -wing, and then disappear in the glare as by magic; again they turn -the broadest extent of their wings, and a solid and heavy mass -blackens the sky. - -[Illustration: BEAUMONT QUAY] - -In May, when the sea-birds are hatching their young, the spring-tides -are slack and do not cover the saltings. In a pretty figure of speech -the fishermen call these tides the Bird Tides. - -The lives of the fishermen are ruled by the tides. For them the -working hours of the clock have no significance. On the first of the -ebb, be it night or day, their work begins, and it is on the flood -that they return to their homes. They have no leisure or liking for -the time-devouring practice of sailing over a foul tide. The tide in -the affairs of these men is absolute. - -And although they do not confess in any recognizable phrase of lyrical -sensation that the sea has cast a spell upon them, it is obvious that -that is what has happened. On Sundays, when they are free from their -labour, they will assemble on the hard--a firm strip of shingle laid -upon the mud--and, with hands in pockets, gaze, through most of the -hours of daylight, upon the sweeping tide and the minor movements of -small boats and yachts with an air at once negligent and profound. The -mightiness of the sea, like the mightiness of the mountain, draws -mankind. Men have learned the secrets of these things in a way, and -have turned them to their profit or amusement; but the mastery is -superficial, and it is man who in these great presences is -unconsciously and spiritually enslaved. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - 'He was the mildest-mannered man - That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat.' - - -A great merit of a barge as a house is that when she is 'light,' or -almost 'light,' as the _Ark Royal_ is, she can be sailed out of rough -water on to a sand and left there, provided care be taken that she -does not sit on her anchor. By the time there is only three feet of -water the waves are very small, and thus, however strong the wind may -be and however hard the sand, a barge will take the ground so gently -that one can scarcely say when she touches. The explanation is simple -enough, for, besides being flat-bottomed, a barge, owing to her -length, strides many small waves at once. - -We put the plan into operation on our way to Newcliff. We were running -up Swin, and with the dark the breeze piped up; so instead of sailing -all night or anchoring in the Swin, where there would have been a -disagreeable sea on the flood-tide, we put the _Ark Royal_ on the sand -between the Maplin Lighthouse and the Ridge Buoy, and there she sat as -steady as a town hall. - -This is, of course, an easy way of going to the seaside, so to speak. -You simply sail on to a nice clean sand and stay there till the wind -moderates. Whenever the tide ebbs away, you can descend on to the -sands by a ladder over the side, and pursue the usual seaside -occupations of building docks and canals and forts and catching crabs. - -It was a memorable experience, this passage up the Thames estuary, -house and furniture and family all moving together without any of the -bother of packing up and catching trains, and counting heads and -luggage at junctions. The children enjoyed every moment of it--the -following sea and the dinghy plunging in our wake, the steamers bound -out and in, the smacks lying to their nets with the gulls wheeling -round them waiting for their food, the tugs towing sailing ships, the -topsail schooners, the buoys, the lightships. - -When we arrived at Newcliff we anchored off the town, intending to -look for a good winter berth later in the year. After the quiet of -Fleetwick, Newcliff struck us at once as over-full of noise and -people. At all events, we had the satisfaction of knowing that we were -not going to live on shore. The spot where we lay would have been well -enough for the summer, though with a fresh breeze on shore it was -impossible to take a boat safely alongside the stone wall. The boat, -however, could be rowed up a creek half a mile away. Unfortunately, -this meant the chance of being drenched with spray, and it was also a -too uncertain way of catching trains and trams. Nine times out of ten -we could row to the stone wall, and when the tide ebbed away and the -_Ark Royal_ lay high and dry (which, roughly, was for six out of every -twelve hours) we could always walk ashore. The sand was hard under -about an inch of fine silt. Here and there it was intersected by -shallow gullies, but short sea-boots served our purpose of getting on -shore dry. - -Of course, we always had to think ahead, for if one went ashore in the -boat and took no sea-boots, it might be necessary on returning to walk -to the _Ark Royal_; and if no one were on deck one might shout for -sea-boots for a long time from the land before being heard. The most -awkward time was when the flats were just covered with water, for then -there was too much water round the _Ark Royal_ for sea-boots and not -enough to float a boat to the shore. Then one simply had to wait until -it was possible to walk or row. Once we were caught in this way at one -o'clock in the morning after going to a theatre in London. We waited a -short time for the ebb, but were too sleepy to wait quite long enough. -We put on our sea-boots; and then, slinging my evening shoes and the -Mate's round my neck, and cramming my opera-hat well on to my head, I -gave the Mate my arm. The water itself was not too deep, but in the -dark it was difficult to avoid the gullies, and the Mate nearly -spoiled her new frock and my evening clothes by stumbling into a hole -and clutching at me. This was the only occasion on which I should have -been distressed if those who had disputed the advantages of living in -a barge could have seen us. In anything like a gale of wind there was -a nasty, short, confused, broken sea, and then one had either to row -up to the creek and be drenched or wait till the tide had ebbed. It -was evident that lying off the town for the winter was out of the -question. - -Soon we found a berth up the creek where yachts are laid up, and -agreed to pay a pound for the use of it for a year. It was well -sheltered, but as only a big tide would give us water into it we had -to wait some days after we had found it. - -Meanwhile Sam Prawle, who had remained with us all this time, had to -return home. The children had rallied him a good deal on his yarn -about 'Ould Gladstone' and on the ethics of salvage generally. Salvage -was Sam Prawle's favourite subject; and we could never make up our -minds whether he was more given to boasting of what he had done or to -regretting what he had not done. The evening before he went away he -was evidently concerned lest he should leave us with an impression -that salvage operations were not invariably honourable if not heroic -affairs. He therefore related to us the following episode, and the -reader must judge how far it helps Sam Prawle's case: - -'In them days, afore it was so easy to git leave to launch the -lifeboats as that is now, we allus used to keep a lugger for same as -salvage work. The last wessel as ever I went off to on a salvage job -my share come to thirteen pound and a bit extra for bein' skipper, and -if there hadn't bin a North Sea pilot aboard that ship us chaps 'ud -have had double. But then agin, if us hadn't bin quick a makin' our -bargain us shouldn't have had nawthen. - -'One night, after a dirty thick day blaowin' the best part of a gale -o' wind sou-westerly, the wind flew out nor-west, as that often do, -and that come clear and hard, so as when that come dawn you could see -for miles. Well, away to the south'ard, about six mile, we seed a -wessel on the Sizewell Bank; she was a layin' with her head best in -towards the land. There was a big sea runnin', but there warn't much -trouble in launching the lugger with the wind that way, though we -shipped a tidy sea afore we cast off the haulin'-aout warp. - -'We'd close-reefed the two lugs afore we launched the bo't, and it -warn't long afore the fifteen of us what owned the lugger was a racin' -off as hard as we dare. You see, we den't want no one to git in ahead -of we. Us dursn't put her head straight for the ship, for the sea was -all acrost with the shift o' wind, and us had to keep bearin' away and -luffin' up. You see, them seas was all untrue; they was heapin' up, -and breakin' first one side, then t'other, same as in the race raound -Orfordness. - -'As we drawed near the wessel, that fared to we as haow she were to -th' south'ard of the high part of the sand, and that warn't long afore -we knaowed it, cos we got our landmarks what we fish by, for we most -knaows that sand, same as you do the back o' your hand, as the sayin' -is. We laowered our sails and unshipped the masts and raounded to -under the wessel's quarter--a barquentine, she were, of about nine -hundred ton--and they thraowed us a line. All her sails was stowed -'cept the fore laower torpsail, which were blown to rags, and the sea -was breakin' over her port side pretty heavy. There warn't no spars -carried away, and there den't fare to be no other damage, and if she -was faithfully built she den't ought to have come to a great deal o' -hurt so fur. - -'Then they thraowed us another line for me to come aboard by, and we -hauled our ould bo't up as close as we durst for the backwash. I -jumped as she rose to a sea, but missed the mizzen riggin' and fell -agin the wessel's side; them chaps hung on all right, and the next sea -washed me on top o' the rail afore they could haul in the slack. That -fair knocked the wind aout o' me, and I reckon I was lucky I den't -break nawthen. I scrambled up, and found the cap'n houldin' on to the -rail to steady himself agin the bumping o' the wessel. - -'Well, she was paoundin' fairly heavy, but not so bad as other wessels -I've bin aboard. Still, that's enough to scare the life aout of anyone -what ain't never bin ashore on a sandbank in a blaow, and most owners -don't give a cap'n a chance to do ut twice--nor pilots neither. I -could see the cap'n fared wonnerful fidgety, for the wessel had been -ashore for seven hours and more, so I starts to make a bargain with -him for four hundred pound to get his ship off, when up comes a North -Sea pilot what was aboard. I was most took aback to see him there. - -'"What's all this?" he says. - -'"Four hundred pound to get she off," I says. - -'"Four hundred devils," he says. - -'"No cure, no pay," I says. - -'"No pay, you longshore shark!" he says. - -'Of course, he was a tryin' to make out there warn't no danger to the -wessel and nawthen to make a fuss about. You see, he was afeared there -might be questions asked about it, and he might get into trouble. -Anyway, it don't do a pilot no good to get a wessel ashore, even if -that ain't his fault which it warn't this time, for the wessel was -took aback by the shift o' wind and got agraound afore they could do -anything with her. - -'One thing I knaowed as soon as my foot touched them decks, and that -was that she warn't going to be long afore she come off. Sizewell -Bank's like many another raound here; that's as hard as a road on the -ebb and all alive on the flood, and them as knaows, same as we, can -tell from the way a wessel bumps what she's up to. I could feel she -warn't workin' in the sand no more, but was beginning to fleet, and -'ud soon be paoundin' heavier than ever, but 'ud be on the move each -time a sea lifted she. Howsomdever, I kep' my eyes on the cap'n, and I -could see he was skeered about his wessel, and 'ud be suthen pleased -to have she in deep water agin. - -'"Cap'n," I says, "three hundred and fifty pounds. No cure, no pay." - -"Too much," says the cap'n, but I see he'd like to pay it. - -'"Too much?" says the pilot. "I should think it is! The tide's a -flowin', and she'll come off herself soon; besides, if she don't we'll -have a dozen tugs and steamers by in two or three hours, and any of -'em glad to earn a fifty-pun' note for a pluck off." - -'"That'll be high water in two and a half hours, and you'll be here -another ebb if you ain't careful," I says to the cap'n, "and this -sand's as hard as a rock on the ebb. The pilot'll tell you that if you -don't knaow that already for yourself." - -'"There ain't no call to pay all that money," says the pilot. "She'll -come off right enough." - -'"Well," I says to the cap'n, "if I go off this ship I ain't a comin' -aboard agin 'cept for much bigger money, and when she's started her -garboards and 's making water you'll be sorry you refused a fair -offer!" - -'"I'll give yer two hundred," says the cap'n. - -'That fared to me best to take it, for she was bumpin' heavier, and I -laowed she'd begin to shift a bit soon. Then agin, the paounding was -in our favour, for I see that skeered the cap'n wonnerful, so I starts -a bluff on him. - -'"That 'on't do, cap'n," I says. "I'm off." - -'I went to the lee side of the poop, where our ould bo't was made -fast, to have a look at my mates. The ould thing was tumblin' abaout -suthen, for there was a heavy backwash off the ship's quarter. As she -came up on a sea they caught sight o' me and started pullin' faces and -shakin' their heads, and next time I see them they was doin' the same. -I tumbled to it quick enough that they wanted to say suthen to me, and -a course they couldn't shaout it out, so I threw 'em the fall o' the -mizzen sheet, and me and one o' the crew pulled ould Somers aboard. - -'"For 'eaven's sake," he says, close in my ear, "make a bargin quick! -She's a comin' off by herself! We've got a lead on the graound, and -she's moved twenty foot already." - -'I went back to the cap'n, and he was all on fidgetin' worse'n ever, -so I says, "Cap'n, my mates'll be satisfied with three hundred -paound." - -'"Don't you do no such thing," says the pilot; "she'll come off all -right." - -'"I'll stick to my two hundred," says the cap'n. - -'I dursn't wait, so I closed on it, and the mate writ aout two -agreements, one for the cap'n and t'other for me. Our chaps soon got -the kedge anchor and a hundred fathoms o' warp into the lugger and -laid that right aout astern, and I give the order for the lower main -torpsail and upper fore torpsail to be set. - -'Then our chaps come aboard, and what with heavin' her astern a bit -every time she lifted to a sea and them two torpsails aback, she come -off in half an hour. - -'Yes, yes; we got thirteen pound apiece, and if it hadn't been for -that pilot we'd a got double.' - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - 'Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, la vie est là, - Simple et tranquille; - Cette paisible rumeur-là - Vient de la ville.' - - -We engaged two men to help us up the creek, which is narrow and was -full of small boats difficult for a large craft to avoid. Unluckily, -there was no wind, and we had to punt. This made our difficulties -greater, as the _Ark Royal_, unlike her trading sisters, could not -cannon her way cheerfully up the creek lest her stanchions should be -carried away or her cabin tops be damaged. - -The two men used the poles forward while I steered. A proud helmsman I -was, knowing myself the owner and skipper of the largest yacht on the -station, as we passed a quay thronged with longshoremen looking on. At -that moment I had to put the wheel hard over, and as the barge's stern -swung towards the land her rudder touched the hawser of a smack moored -at the shipyard. The pull of a ninety-ton vessel moving however slowly -is enormous. The hawser tautened like a bar of iron; the _Ark -Royal's_ rudder was banged amidships, wrenching the wheel from my -hands; one of the spokes caught my belt, hoisted me off my feet, swung -me right over the top of the wheel, and dropped me on the other side -of the deck. The Mate and the children did not seem to understand that -this accident to the Skipper reflected some ridicule on the whole -ship's company. They cackled with delight, and wanted me to do it -again. - -[Illustration: WALTON CREEK] - -When we came abreast of our berth there was not enough water for us to -go in, so we lay on a spit of sand and mud for that day. On the next -tide, which was higher, we moved in stern first, leaving our anchor -well out in the creek ready to haul us off in the spring. - -The ebbing tide left us in a shallow dock about three feet deep into -which the _Ark Royal_ just fitted, so that with a ladder on to the -saltings we could easily get on and off the ship. From the road, -seventy or eighty yards away, there was a path across the saltings -right up to us, but as it was very muddy we bought forty or fifty -bushels of cockleshells and spread them on it. We also made a bridge -with planks over a small rill which cut across the path. - -To the west of us was a sea-wall, and behind it marshes stretching -away into dimness; to the north was the railway line; to the south, -first saltings and then the open Thames. At high water we could see -all the ships beyond the saltings; at low water they were hidden from -us. To the east there were gasworks, which we tried to forget, and the -ancient end of the town with houses of many shapes and attitudes. One -of the houses leaned over a quay against which smacks lay so close -that you could have reeved their peak halyards from the top windows. -There was only one house near by us, and in that lived a barge-owner, -who welcomed us and lent us a broad teak ship's ladder. Such was the -place in which we settled down for the winter. - -As soon as we had driven in posts and laid out spare anchors, with -long warps to hold us in position, we began to establish our -communications with the shore. We found tradesmen anxious to call -every day for orders. The postmaster promised three deliveries of our -letters. I took a season ticket to London, as the time had arrived for -me to begin my new work. The station was about eight minutes' walk -from the _Ark Royal_. The boy's school could be reached in about -twenty minutes by tram-car. We instructed the tradesmen's boys when -they came on board to go forward and conduct their business through -the forehatch. For visitors we hung the ship's bell in the mizzen -rigging. I engaged a sailor-boy as handyman and crew. - -The only thing that interrupted our traffic with the shore was the -spring tides, which covered the saltings, for if Jack, the handyman, -were not ready with a boat, a tradesman's boy would have to shout -until he was heard. Soon, however, the boys came to understand -signals, and when a boat could not be sent at once they would leave -the provisions on the grassy bank by the path, and someone from the -barge fetched them as soon as possible. There were only about six days -each fortnight on which the tides were high enough to make the use of -a boat necessary. - -Later we dismissed the boy, as a trusted family servant, Louisa, whom -we had known for many years, came to live with us. As Louisa could not -manage the boat, we set up a box on a post by the road in which -tradesmen could leave our provisions. - -If we had thought of the box sooner it would have saved us the robbery -of a red sausage by a passing dog. The Mate and I were on deck, and -saw the robbery committed. The time in which we launched the boat from -the davits would have done credit to a lifeboat's crew. It was rather -a long, stern chase after we had landed, and would have gone on much -longer but for the dog's greed in stopping two or three times to begin -his meal. As soon as we came near, off he went again, tearing over the -grass between the saltings and the road with our flaming sausage in -his mouth. It was a race between our endurance and his greed, and his -greed won, for at last he lay down with the sausage between his paws -and we fell on him from behind and captured our own. The sausage had -several dents in it, but it was not punctured. The dog had a good -mouth. - -As for mishaps to the food, more occurred on board when it was being -actually delivered than when it was waiting on shore. Twice the -milk-boy stumbled over the foreshore and spilt our milk on deck. A -more serious matter was the butcher-boy's fall. He came up the ladder -with his wooden tray on his shoulder one blustering day, was caught by -a gust as he reached the top, and was blown backwards into the mud. -Our joint lodged in the mud, and the wooden tray travelled a long way -like a sledge on the slippery mud before it stopped. - -Our coal was brought along the road in a cart, and man-handled from -there to the fore end of the ship. We took only four hundredweight at -a time, as we did not use much coal--the inside of a barge is very -easily heated--and we did not care to have the decks hampered. - -That winter, when an old barge was being broken up near by, we bought -a large quantity of small blocks of wood to use instead of coal in the -saloon. The coloured flames this wood gave off were delightful. As -there was no room for the wood on deck, we built a platform on the -ground alongside the _Ark Royal_. The platform sank a little, or -perhaps it was never high enough; at all events, when we had used only -half our stock an enormous tide came, and the remainder of the wood -floated away. As soon as we saw that the tide was going to be -abnormal we manned our boat and tried to salve as much of the wood as -possible, but the tide rose too fast for us. First the blocks floated -off in twos and threes, then in fives and tens, and at last in -squadrons. We pursued them and half filled the boat, but a fresh -westerly breeze scattered the Armada. We saw it spreading out and -trailing down the creek as the tide turned. Nor was that all. Long -before the blocks had reached the quay in their seaward flight they -had been marked by eyes trained from childhood in the search for -flotsam, jetsam, or salvage. Boats were launched, and our wood was -picked up and carried off almost under our noses. - -The annoyance of losing the wood was aggravated by the sootiness of -the coal upon which we now had to fall back. Not only did soot lie -about on deck in still weather, but the chimneys had to be swept once -a week. Certainly this was a very easy job; one had only to remove the -upper parts of the chimneys on deck, hold them over the side, and run -a mop through them; then get someone inside the ship to hold some -sacking below, and shove the mop down the lower parts of the chimneys. - -Our supply of eight hundred gallons of water generally lasted about -six weeks, for, as has been said already, we used chiefly salt water -for the bath. To refill the tanks we could either move out of our -berth on a spring tide and take the water on board through a hose from -a neighbouring shed where water was laid on, or we could have it -carried on board by hand. On the whole, we decided to have the water -carried on board, and our barge-owner friend kindly allowed us to take -the water from his house. - -As it did not much matter when the water was brought, or whether the -carrier worked one hour or eight hours a day, we gave the appointment -of water-carrier to a hairless, red-faced boy of twenty who lived in -an old boat. As a matter of fact, he was a man of about thirty-five, -of whom it was said by some that he was half-witted, by others that he -was lazy, and by others that he was artful. Anyhow, he suited us very -well, for in the circumstances he could not easily have suited us -badly. He came when he felt inclined, and with a yoke and two -three-gallon pails patiently, and at his own pace, fetched the water, -emptied it into our tanks, and went for more. He generally made five -round trips in an hour, thus bringing thirty gallons. He never worked -more than six hours a day, at which rate he could fill our tanks in -about five days; but he generally preferred to spread the work over -ten days. - -Even where we lay beyond the town the _Ark Royal_ was an object of -intense curiosity. Had we made a charge for showing people over her, -we should have collected enough money to buy a new mainsail. Among the -strangers who became acquainted with her internal beauties the most -enterprising and the most bewildered was a school-attendance officer. -He called one Saturday afternoon, and was told we should not be back -till the evening. We were waiting for dinner when Louisa announced -that he had returned. We invited him to the saloon and inquired his -business. He had heard that we had three children, and he had come to -assure himself that they were being educated. Oh, the boys were at Mr. -Jones's, and were going on to Haileybury? Quite so. He was sorry to -have troubled us. Then he, too, was shown round the ship, so that we -trust he did not consider his visit wholly wasted. - -Although our berth was more than a hundred yards from the railway, the -trains--particularly the expresses--shook the ground on which the _Ark -Royal_ sat. At first the noise disturbed us, but soon we became -unconscious of it. For other reasons I was grateful to the railway for -being where it was. On dark winter nights, when I was returning from -London, it never failed to please me to look out of the train and see -the warm radiance from the _Ark Royal_ striking up into the blackness. -Then the walk from the station along the narrow old street paved with -cobbles was delightful, and I could not hurry because I must stop to -watch an anchor or a trawlhead being forged in the blacksmith's, or to -look at the mops, buckets, oilskins, sou'-westers, compasses, -foghorns, lamps, and tins of paint, in the marine stores. And -particularly at high water--if the wind were on shore--as I came -abreast of the openings between the houses I was drawn by the -splashing of the waves against the quay. There I would peer at the -dark forms of dinghies scuffling in the small 'sissing' waves (as they -say in Essex), or watch a cockle-boat with ghostly sails come racing -home, and listen for the click of her patent blocks as she lowered her -long gaff in readiness to berth by the sheds farther up the creek near -the _Ark Royal_. I knew that unless I hurried she would be there -before me, but then on the wide piece of quay facing the Flag Inn -knots of fishermen would be pacing backwards and forwards, and -civility or interest required that the time of night should be passed -with them. Just then, perhaps, a green light close in would attract -me, and forthwith the dark canvas of a barge towering above it would -loom in sight. The short stiff walk of the fishermen would cease; all -eyes would strain into the darkness, and a discussion as to which -barge she was and for what quay she was bound would begin. At last the -barge would settle the matter by becoming recognizable beyond dispute. -We would watch the great mainsail grow smaller and smaller as it was -brailed up, and wait for the mainsail and topsail to come down with a -run. Then when the vessel seemed to be advancing right on to us there -would be a splash and the sound of cable rattling out, and her stern -would swing round towards the quay and she was anchored. A dark figure -in a boat, glimpses of a line, a shout, 'All fast!' the sound of more -cable being paid out, and the barge's bows would swing slowly in -towards the quay and she was berthed. Then the fishermen in their -sea-boots, and guernseys, and billycock hats, or jumpers and peaked -caps, would resume their stiff short walk, and I was free to go on my -homeward way. - -With sailormen it seems as though they felt that the safety of a ship -while being berthed depended on their not taking their eyes off her. -But perhaps they have no thought of rendering telepathic aid; it may -be that they are only hypnotized, like me. - -A little farther along the road one came into the open and could see -the shafts of light from the _Ark Royal_. On dark nights the sailing -directions to find our private path were very simple: go along the -road until all light is obscured on the port side and begins to show -on the starboard side; then you are abreast of the path. The richest -moments of pleasure came when it was high water at night, and one -could look over the saltings on to the business of the great river. -Especially on Fridays and Saturdays large liners were bound out or in; -there were always the clustered illuminations of the shore to the east -and south-east, the avenue of lights on the pier, and the Nore flaring -up and dying down; to the south the searchlights of Sheerness; and to -the south of west the River Middle gas-buoys blinking industriously in -the dark and guiding the sailor safely up to London. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - 'Mon coeur, comme un oiseau, voltigeait tout joyeux - Et planait librement à l'entour des cordages; - Le navire roulait sous un ciel sans nuages - Comme un ange enivré du soleil radieux.' - - -On Saturdays, when I was always at home, there was plenty to be done. -The mainsail, which we had not unbent, had to be aired and the blocks -had to be overhauled; and there were arrears of carpentering which -never seemed to be overtaken. At spring tides we used to sail about -the creek in the dinghy. In their holidays the boys made and sailed -model boats and invented ingenious and daring swinging games on board -with the falls of the halyards. And of course they invited all their -friends to see our floating home. - -We spent Christmas on board in great jollity. That time was marked by -one mishap, though it presented itself to the children as an -entertainment appropriate to the season. The _Ark Royal_ during spring -tides and a westerly gale blew partly out of her dock. As I was -walking back from the station one evening something about her struck -me as queer, though I was some way off and looking at her broadside -on. When I came nearer I could see that she was listing over at a very -steep angle. - -The children were frankly delighted, and told me incoherently and all -at once how their tea-things had slid off the table until books had -been put under the legs, and how the saloon door would not shut and -the kitchen door would not open. - -After unhanging the doors and planing pieces off them, we were able to -make shift all right till midnight, when the barge floated and I hove -her back into her berth. - -The wringing of the barge on this occasion led me to try definitely to -solve the problem of keeping her decks, and particularly the joins -between the decks and the coamings, perfectly watertight. It has been -already mentioned that all barges, owing to their length and build, -alter their shapes or 'wring' slightly according to the ground on -which they lie. On this account, if I were to convert another barge, I -should hang the doors at once with a certain margin. All our doors -have been unhung and planed two or three times. The wringing throws an -enormous strain on the coamings, tending to pull them apart from the -decks. You may caulk the joins thoroughly with oakum and serve them -with marine glue, but a fresh strain will pull them open again. At -last I invented a successful method. A quarter-round beading was -fastened along the decks about a quarter of an inch from the coaming, -and a hot mixture of marine glue and Stockholm tar was poured in -between the beading and the coaming. The Stockholm tar gives the -marine glue a permanent softness. We then covered the mixture with -another mixture of putty and varnish, which protected it from heat, -cold, and wet. The secret, in fine, is to caulk the joins with -something that will expand and contract like the surrounding material -without becoming detached from it. This something must remain soft and -sticky. But if the mixture be not buried under something else it will -melt and trickle across the decks like heavy treacle. - -The decks themselves were less difficult to keep tight; nevertheless, -we had some trouble at first. We began by painting or dressing them, -but later we covered them with a buff linoleum, which will be cheaper -in the long run. The puzzle was how to lay the linoleum on worn decks. -There were edges and knots which would soon have worked through. -However, we solved this problem, too. We spread half a hundredweight -of hot pitch, mixed with some tar, on the decks, and laid tarred felt -upon it. Above the felt we laid the linoleum, with more pitch and tar -to stick it. When in the mournful order of things the _Ark Royal_ -comes to her end, and is sawed up, burned, or ground to pieces by the -sea, that linoleum will perish as an integral part of the decks, for -nothing will ever separate them. - -The winter passed, and with the swelling of the buds and the gift of -song to the birds our corner of the world woke, too, and the yachts in -the saltings began to renew their plumage. On all sides were heard the -sounds of scraping; masts and spars and blocks sloughed their dull -winter skins and glistened with new varnish in the sun. - -The _Ark Royal_ also was fitted out. The whole ship smelt of varnish -and new rope; the headsails, topsail, and mizzen were bent, and she -was ready to move out of winter quarters. - -On Maundy Thursday we cast off the warps on shore, took our spare -anchors on board, and waited for the tide. I had engaged a sailor-boy -as crew, and also had a friend to help me. After five months' silence -we heard once more the exciting clank of the windlass as we hove in -the muddy chain. The chain came easily at first, and then checked at -the strain of breaking out the great bower anchor from the bed which -it had made for itself in the sand. A little humouring, and away it -came and up went our spreading red topsail. A fresh wind off the land -carried us slowly out of the creek through the small fry. Clear of the -creek we let the brails go, and the wind crashed out the mainsail. Up -went the bellying foresail and then the white jib topsail, and the -_Ark Royal_ was snoring through the water alive from truck to keel. -The great sprit scrooping against the mast spoke of freedom after -prison; the wind harped in the rigging; the rudder wriggled and -kicked in the following seas, sending a thrill of pleasure through the -helmsman. Even the dinghy seemed like a high-spirited animal that had -been kept too long in the stable. She would drop astern with her head -slightly sideways, and then leap and charge forwards at the tug of the -painter. It was a translucent morning. The fleet of bawleys was -getting under way, a topsail schooner was anchoring off the pier, a -cruiser was coming out of Sheerness, a barque in tow was going up Sea -Reach, there were red-sailed barges everywhere, and we were embracing -'our golden uncontrolled enfranchisement.' - -'Where are we going to?' was asked several times before we reached the -Nore. The point was that I did not know. So long as might be I did not -want to know, for there is a peculiarly satisfying pleasure in playing -with the sense of uncontrolled enfranchisement. - -At length it became necessary to decide. Meynell suggested Harwich; -Margaret, West Mersea; and Inky, Fambridge. But as we had no time to -go so far as any of these, I asked them to choose a place in Kent. - -Kent was a new land to them, and when I mentioned the probability of -seeing aeroplanes on Sheppey Island they were all for Kent. So we -headed for Warden Point, and the fair wind and tide soon took us -there; then hauling our wind we reached along the beautiful shelly -shore to Shellness and let go our anchor well inside the Swale about -six o'clock. On Good Friday morning, taking the young flood, we beat -up to Harty Ferry, anchored, and went to church. Most of Saturday -morning we lay on a hill watching the aeroplanes tear along the -ground, rise, fly round, and settle again; and in the afternoon we -sailed in the dinghy up to Sittingbourne and bought provisions. All -Sunday the glass fell, and towards evening the rain set in with the -wind south-east, and on Monday it blew such a gale that a return to -Newcliff was out of the question. - -[Illustration: LANDERMERE] - -On Tuesday I was obliged to go to London, and as it was blowing too -hard for the dinghy to take me to the Sittingbourne side I had to hire -the ferry-boat. The two men who pulled me across were nearly played -out before they landed me. Luckily my friend was able to remain on -board the _Ark Royal_ and look after things with the paid hand while I -was away. - -I rejoined the ship on Friday evening, and the next day in a fresh -wind we sailed to Queenborough. We anchored near the swing bridge, and -my friend went off in the boat to tell the men to swing the bridge for -us. The bridgeman flatly refused, because, he said, the _Ark Royal_ -was a barge and could lower her mast. I then went to see the man -myself, and asked him to look at our cabin-top and explain how the -mast could be lowered. He admitted that it could not be done. As a -matter of fact, it could have been done by taking off the furniture -hatch and removing the upper part of the coamings, and spending the -best part of a day over the job. But it was not my business to tell -him that. Even then he seemed doubtful, so I suggested telephoning to -Sheerness for instructions. He kept on repeating that the _Ark Royal_ -was a barge, and that he was not allowed to swing the bridge for -barges. - -Now I played my best card. I had brought my ship's papers with me, and -producing my Admiralty warrant to fly the Blue Ensign and one or two -other imposing documents, I hinted that further delay would compel me -to report the matter. I noticed that he wavered. Then, placing a -shilling in his hand and begging him not to ruin a promising career, I -left him standing by the levers ready to open the bridge. - -For the passage through we took on one of the hufflers,[5] and we -anchored on the other side, as wind and tide were against us for the -next reach. While we were at anchor many barges shot the bridge, which -had been closed directly we had passed through. It is one of the -prettiest sights in the world to see them do it. As the barges' -topsails became visible over the sea-walls far off the hufflers -recognized their clients and rowed off to meet them. The hufflers, the -most curious brotherhood of all irregular pilots, live here in old -hulks or built-up boats on the foreshore. The wind was straight across -the river and fresh, and a barge would come tearing along towards the -bridge with everything set. When she was quite close to the -bridge--sometimes not a length away--down went everything, all -standing, till the great sprit rested on deck; and then, with her -mainsail trailing in the water and a perfect tangle of ropes and gear -everywhere, the barge would shoot under the bridge. On the other side -she would anchor to hoist her gear again; but if the conditions had -been right she would have hoisted her gear under way and gone straight -on. To witness the consummate skill of this feat is to respect the -race of bargees for ever. Think of it! The gear aloft--mast, topmast, -and sails--weigh about three and a half tons, and there are just three -men--one nearly always at the wheel--to lower and hoist everything. -There have been many accidents and still more narrow escapes, for, -besides skill and nerve, foresight is required to see that everything -on board is clear. At Rochester there are three bridges close -together, and every day dozens of barges shoot them. It is well worth -the return fare from London to watch the performance. - - [5] See footnote on page 24. - -The next day we returned to Newcliff, moored off the town a little way -outside the creek in which we had spent the winter, and resumed our -familiar life. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - 'Get up, get up; for shame! the blooming morn - Upon her wings presents the god unshorn. - See how Aurora throws her fair - Fresh-quilted colours through the air; - Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see - The dew bespangling herb and tree.' - - -The coming of warm weather and long days proved to us that public -interest in our floating home had not dwindled. We were a good deal -disturbed by parties rowing round us the whole time we were afloat; -and even when the tide had left us, sightseers in pathetically -unsuitable boots would walk across the film of slime from the shore to -look at us. In Newcliff we had evidently become a legend. Boatmen in -charge of pleasure-boats would generally head for us; and as we sat on -deck we often formed part of the audience as the boatmen delivered -their peculiar versions of the details of our lives. But night would -come and sweep away every annoyance; then boats were in the occupation -only of professionals and yachtsmen, who would glide past us without -stopping; landward noises were hushed, and the land itself was seen -but dimly against the faint northern light thrown up from the hidden -midsummer sun. - -Sometimes we came on deck to see the dawn; then we always felt ashamed -that we had not more often watched that pageant. Men, indeed, know -little of the dawn; there must be many persons of eighty who have not -looked upon it more than a dozen times. And dawn at the mouth of a -great river, or, indeed, anywhere on salt water, differs from dawn on -the land, for the sailor, having to work the tides, will be off with -the first streak of light, if the tide serves then. - -One morning one of our anchors had to be shifted at daylight lest the -ship should sit on it, and the Mate and I were present at the birth of -a wonderful day. There was silence, save for the slight crepitation of -the water being drawn between the leeboards and the hull of the _Ark -Royal_. The east was the grey of doves; the land was sunk in mist; -then the mist began sliding away, and hills and houses grew by an -imperceptible process out of the opaqueness like a photograph -developing on a film. Seawards, the ruby lantern on the pierhead and -the flaring Nore paled, pink wisps of cloud flooded across the sky, -and the riding lights and buoy lights shrank to pin-points. - -The Nore ceased to revolve, the shore lights guttered out, and -indubitable daylight--how it had come one even then did not -understand--fell upon a fleet of long-gaffed bawleys mustering in the -Ray, and on a string of barges from the Medway, spreading like a skein -of geese along the Blyth sand. Half-way between the retreating mists -of the two shores there lay a long black plume of smoke from a -steamer, and the drumming of her propeller seemed to rise out of the -water at our feet. - -The day that followed was worthy of that dawn. The sky was without a -cloud, and the mirage shivered on the water from shore to shore. Faint -breezes off the land yielded before noon to a clock calm; then flaws -of air from the eastward smeared the glassy surface; the cat's-paws -became dimples, and the dimples tiny waves, and at last the crests of -the waves began to break prettily and playfully without malice. This -sea breeze blew true and warm all the afternoon, and when it met the -ebb the tideway was all sparkling till the evening. Later the land -breeze came again, and blew fainter and fainter until it ceased, and - - 'The sun, - Closing his benediction, - Sinks, and the darkening air - Thrills with a sense of the triumphing night-- - Night with her train of stars - And her great gift of sleep.' - -A particular pleasure of ours was to see the fishermen return. First -the fleet of bawleys would anchor in the Ray a mile away, and as soon -as the sails were stowed the men would put their catch in the boats -to sail home to the creek. Two or three boats, perhaps, would detach -themselves before the others like early ice-floes breaking away from -the pack. Then groups would shove away from the fleet and tail out -into a long procession as they raced for home. In the distance one -could see the tide creeping over the flats, but long before it reached -us there was water in the creek, so that only the sails of the boats -showed moving between the banks of sand. The next fleet to look out -for after the bawleys was the fleet of cockle-boats, and they would -work the creek or come over the flats according to the tide. Lastly, -close on high water, came the loaded barges. - -From the time the young flood came up the creek to the time the tide -ebbed off the flats there was always something happening. One never -woke at night and peered out but one saw the unceasing life of the -sea, from the mustering of the humble bawleys in the dark to go -shrimping to the passing of the liner, shining from stem to stern, -perhaps carrying a Viceroy to the East. Often I said to myself: 'Here -I am on deck in the night, and I ought to be asleep. But it is worth -it. Just think; I might be sleepless in a house in a town, and have to -look out upon a gas-lamp in a street.' - -And then the entrancing variations of the tides! What is the secret of -this curiosity that compels me to come frequently on deck even in the -night to see whether the tide is higher or lower than it ought to be? -It is the uncertainty of what will happen, and one's partial ignorance -of the causes of whatever does happen. Nautical almanacs give you -their explanations of abnormalities, but they add instances of -peculiar tides which are in contradiction of all their explanations. -Any encyclopædia tells you that the sun and moon govern the tides; -that the moon's influence is two and a quarter times that of the sun; -that spring tides occur just after full moon and the change of the -moon, and rise higher and fall lower than neap tides, which occur at -the moon's quarters. But when you know that, how little you know! The -very next step takes you into one of the least accurate of sciences. - -In his famous 'Wrinkle' Captain Lecky says that we must wait for a -genius to elucidate some of the mysteries. In the accounts of tides -and tidal streams in nautical almanacs or the Admiralty Tide Tables -one comes across phenomena about which the best authorities can say -only: 'These peculiarities are probably due to....' Of the double low -water at Weymouth Captain Lecky writes that it is not to be explained, -but adds characteristically that someone has 'had a shot at it' in the -Admiralty Tide Tables. The double high water at Southampton, the -twelve-foot rise to the westward of the Bristol Channel, which -increases to twenty-seven feet at Lundy Island and forty feet at -Bristol, and the Severn bore, are easy to understand from the shape -of the land. But that there should be only a six to seven foot rise on -the English coast by the Isle of Wight, while there is a sixteen to -seventeen foot rise on the French coast opposite, is not so simple. - -Apart from peculiarities of their own in normal weather, tides are -affected by strong winds and a low barometer, and then the tide -tables, with their rise and fall to an inch and their time of high -water to a minute, become hopelessly inaccurate. A strong -north-north-west gale in the North Sea will raise the surface two or -three feet and make the tides run longer on the flood; a strong -south-east or south-west wind has the opposite effect. A low glass and -a strong south-west wind will make big tides at the entrance of the -Channel by Plymouth. On October 14, 1881, a large mail-steamer was -unable to dock at the East India Docks, London, because a severe -westerly gale had kept the tide back, so that at high water it was -five or six feet below its proper level, and the next flood came up -three hours before its time. In January of the same year a tide was -registered at London four feet ten inches above high-water mark. At -Liverpool there is a record of a tide six feet above 'H.W.O.S.,' which -is the abbreviation for 'high water ordinary springs.' At Milford -Haven in January, 1884, during a heavy westerly gale, the tide stopped -falling two hours before the proper time for low water, and at -low-water time had risen fifteen feet. So great is the contrariness of -the tides that even strong winds cannot be relied upon for their -effects. - -For those whose reclaimed marshes lie behind low sea-walls in Essex -the irregularities of the tides are too exciting at times. After the -fierce gale in November, 1897, had veered from south-west to -north-west, innumerable breaches were made in the sea-walls of the -East Coast estuaries and many marshes 'went to sea.' Watchers on -Latchingdon Hill, which overlooks the archipelago between the Crouch -and the Thames, saw a memorable sight that day. With the shift of wind -the atmosphere had cleared, and the shores of Kent were visible. At -the time of high water there was a big tide, and the flood was still -running strong, and continued for nearly two hours beyond its proper -time. Suddenly great streaks of white appeared along the east side of -Foulness Island. It was the tide pouring over the sea-walls. Havengore -Island, New England Island, Rushley, and Potton Islands disappeared -save for the solitary farmhouses standing in the water, and an -occasional knoll crowded with frightened beasts. Then the tide flowed -over the sea-walls of the Roach River and across Wallasea Island to -the River Crouch. Finally, little Bridgemarsh Island and the North -Fambridge marshes for two miles to the west of it disappeared, the -tide rolled up to the edge of the high ground, and the sea seemed to -stretch from Kent to the foot of Latchingdon Hill. - -With all practical observers the turn of the tide is the critical and -significant moment; it is then that the auspices are good or bad. -Smacksmen tell you that if it begins to rain at high water it will -continue for the whole of the ebb. They will say to one another, 'I -doubt that'll rain the ebb daown,' or 'We're a goin' to have an ebb's -rain.' If it begins to rain at low water they say that they will have -a 'coarse flood.' Again, on a calm summer morning, if it is high water -at seven or eight, and the wind then springs up easterly, there will -be an easterly wind all day. But if the tide is a midday one there -will be no wind till high water. Sometimes it will blow freshly at -high water when there has been no wind before, and though there may be -none afterwards. - -Fishermen who have got ashore on a sandbank in a bit of a sea declare -that they can tell at once whether the tide is ebbing or flowing by -the way the vessel bumps. On the flood-tide the sand is alive, but on -the ebb it is dead and as hard as flint. Ask them for an explanation, -and they will retort with further facts, such as that in a calm on the -flood-tide the sand can be seen boiling up in the water, but never on -the ebb. Again, they believe that frost checks the tides. They say it -'nips' them--a play upon the word 'neap,' which they use as a verb, -and pronounce 'nip.' Dredgermen on the River Crouch will tell you -that in winter, after a flood-tide with the wind easterly, the bottom -of the river is 'shet daown hard as a road,' and the dredges slide -over the bottom and will not lift the oysters. They cannot explain it. -Undoubtedly an onshore wind and a flood-tide bring sand into the lower -reaches, for the men find it in the dredges. On the other hand, some -declare that the bed of the river is often hardened, where no sand is, -as much as twelve miles from the sea. - -No wonder that the tides are for the fishermen the standard of -reference in all their conversation. They will say that such-and-such -a thing happened about an hour before high water, or that the skipper -of the _Ladybird_ went ashore just as the vessels were swinging to the -flood. If a skipper is asked when he is going to get under way, he -will say, 'As soon as the tide serves'; or if asked why he did not -arrive before, he will answer, 'I could not save my tide.' - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - 'From Bermuda's reefs; from edges - Of sunken ledges, - In some far-off, bright Azore; - From Bahama and the dashing, - Silver flashing - Surges of San Salvador.' - - -In August of our first summer afloat, we went for a month's cruise on -the Essex coast. We had various mishaps of the kind which arrive out -of the blue and remind the yachtsman that, however long his -experience, he is still a learner. - -One day, beating down the Colne in a fresh wind and a buffeting short -sea, I made an error of judgment by sailing between two anchored -barges where there was not enough room to handle the _Ark Royal_. -Finding myself in difficulties, I let go the anchor, but we dragged on -to one of the barges and bumped against her as gently as our best -fendoffs would let us. Our anchor had fouled the other barge's cable, -and it took some time to clear it, even with the help of the friendly -skipper of the barge we had bumped. - -[Illustration: THE RIVER ORWELL] - -'Aren't that the little ould _Will Arding_, sir?' he said, when we -were ready to drop astern and let go. - -'Yes.' - -'I reckoned that was she as soon as I seed 'er, and ain't she smart -with her enamel and all? But I'd a knaowed she anywhere. Scores and -scores o' times she's laid alongside o' we, that she hev!' - -No damage was done except to my feelings. But the barge skipper had -the delicacy to say that the _Ark Royal_ had meant to rub noses with -an old friend, and had dragged alongside on purpose. - -At Pin Mill Louisa had the panic of her life. We were all on shore -except Louisa, and a shift of wind blew the stern of the anchored _Ark -Royal_ on to the mud. As the tide fell the barge's bows sank lower and -lower until, to Louisa's horror, water began to rise over the kitchen -floor. Seeing the water rise continually, she naturally thought the -vessel had sprung a leak and was going to sink. Her first idea was to -lift the plug to let the water out--a thing she had seen me do when -the ship was high and dry. But luckily she could not get at it. With -some presence of mind she then went on deck and hailed a neighbouring -barge, whose skipper and mate came off and helped her to bail out her -kitchen, and explained to her that as a barge is flat-bottomed the -pumps can never empty her completely, and a very thin layer of water -spread over such a large surface will seem considerable when it runs -to one end. - -Life moves slowly in Pin Mill. If going by steamer to Ipswich or -Harwich one is expected to be seated in the ferry-boat, which goes out -to meet the steamer, at least ten minutes before she starts. When we -went to Ipswich one day the ferry-man, having stowed us and the other -passengers in the boat, left us and returned fifty yards up the hard -to resume varnishing a boat. When we did start it was certainly five -minutes earlier than necessary, and we had not got more than half-way -out when I saw a look of annoyance come into the ferry-man's face. - -'There yaou are,' he said angrily, jerking his hand towards some -figures on the shore; 'them people tould me they wanted to go to -Ipswich, and they came daown half an hour agoo, and they 'adn't got -nawthen to do, only wait, and they goo off for a walk or suthen!' - -Another day the children's gramophone nearly caused a fire on board to -be more serious than it need have been, for it prevented us from -hearing the cries for help which Louisa uttered while she struggled -with an outbreak in the forecastle. We had bought a new cooking-stove -with a patent automatic oil feed. We ought to have understood when -buying it that it would be unsuitable because it had to be kept -upright. The first time it was used while we were under way was one -day in Harwich Harbour. We had been running, and had just hauled our -wind to stand up the Orwell. Luncheon was almost ready. The _Ark -Royal_ was heeling a little to a fine topsail breeze, and was spanking -along to a selection from the 'Mikado,' when suddenly I saw some smoke -issuing from the forehatch. I sent one of the boys forward to see what -was happening, and he bellowed back that the forecastle was on fire. -The Mate took the wheel, and I rushed forward in time to see Louisa, -like a pantomime demon, pop up through the forehatch in a cloud of -smoke. We attacked the fire from aft, and a few buckets of water and -some damp sacking put it out. - -In September we returned to Newcliff, went into our old berth in the -creek, and once more spent Christmas on board. - -Soon afterwards the Mate was taken mysteriously ill. The doctor asked -for another opinion, and a specialist came from London. But for the -fact of our isolation on board ship the diagnosis would instantly have -been typhoid. But the next two days, we were told, would settle the -question. - -It was typhoid. - -The ship now became a hospital, with a special bed sent down from -London and two nurses. The saloon was emptied of everything save what -the nurses wanted, and the long struggle began. - -It was like all other serious illnesses in any other home--the -children sent away, the pitiful lies that affection devises, the -assumed bravery, the broken nights, the anxious talks with the nurses -or doctor, and (the background of it all) the fever chart. I wonder -whether any skipper of a ship ever watched his positions on a chart -with such feelings as I had then. - -The crisis came and passed, but 'When will she be out of danger?' was -asked secretly for many days before a confident answer came. How far -these good nurses perjured themselves I do not know. Often they made -me go to London, but the journey home was torture. Once, returning in -the dark, I saw from the train that there was no light in the saloon. -The Mate, as it turned out, was only sleeping. But afterwards a light -was always placed on deck to show me that all was well. - -At last the children were allowed to come and look fearfully through -the windows, and later to speak a few words through them. And then -step by step the Mate grew stronger until at last she walked on deck, -and we dressed the ship in her honour, and she went away on a long -convalescence. - -When she came back well and strong I had a surprise for her. She had -always been rather afraid of the great fifty-foot sprit which used to -sway in a heavy threatening way over our heads when the barge rolled -in a cross sea. I had therefore sold the mainsail, sprit, topsail, and -mizzen, bought a large yacht's mainsail second-hand, and had it made -into a new mainsail and topsail. I had also bought an eight tonner's -mainsail, which I rigged as a larger mizzen. The whole transaction -from first to last cost about eight pounds. - -What we really needed most was a motor-launch to give the barge -steerage way in calms, to help her up creeks, or for going on shore. -With a slow large craft it generally happens that one has to anchor a -long way off the landing-place, because the smaller craft are always -near the hard; and in bad weather this means heavy work. We bought a -book on internal combustion engines, but it did not prevent us from -buying an engine that did not generally achieve internal combustion. - -When the next August holidays came we were delayed in starting for our -usual cruise because the motor-boat had not been delivered. We stood -over her till she was ready, and then went for a trial trip, during -which she emitted the most distressing noises we had ever heard. -However, we could wait no longer, and took her in tow behind the _Ark -Royal_. - -The first night of the cruise we lay off Southend. The weather, which -had been bad, became worse; the wind backed with vicious determination -at low water; and by ten o'clock it was blowing a gale. Southend is an -exposed anchorage, and we foresaw that we should have some anxious -hours as the tide rose. We were close to the pier, where there were -five other barges, whose anchors lay round about us sticking up out -of the hard sand, and promising us destruction if we should sit on one -of them. - -We laid out another anchor, forcing it well into the sand, and by -eleven o'clock the _Ark Royal_ was afloat. It was a wild night indeed; -the barge wallowed, and the motor-boat jerked about on the rollers, -snatched and snubbed at her painter, while the spray was cut off from -the tops of the waves as though by a knife and flung into her. - -I was on deck all night. The gale was blowing its worst about two -o'clock in the morning at high water. I could have sworn that the -other barges had driven nearer to the _Ark Royal_, so close did their -flickering lights seem to us, till I checked our position by the marks -I had taken and by the anchor buoys of the barges, and made sure that -none of us was dragging. On board each of the barges I could discern a -dim watching figure. What an incredible waste of riven water as I -looked over the plunging bows of the _Ark Royal_! The sea was like a -snow-drift, and across this bleak waste the wind roared unresisted and -tossed the spray even on to the deck of the _Ark Royal_. I was much -occupied with the thought of a humiliating wreck on a lee shore, as I -had little hope of being able to claw off the land if we did begin to -drive. And yet I do not think there was a moment when I would have -admitted that I had chosen a wrong way of living to be here with my -family instead of in a house on the land. Every moment was enriched -by an exhilaration that conquered other feelings, a kind of zest in -defiance. - -The wind is a grand enemy. He gives you his warnings fairly, and those -who are not careless have generally time to cut and run if they are -only coasting. In this storm, for instance, no one could have mistaken -the signs. The glass had fallen rapidly, and a 'mizzle' of rain had -been followed by a downpour; and all the time the wind had been flying -round against the sun. The glass fell still more during the first four -hours of the gale, then it suddenly leaped upwards, and the wind -moderated or 'sobbed,' as the fishermen say, only to be followed by a -harder blow than ever--a blow in which the squalls moved at over sixty -miles an hour and followed one another in rapid succession, showing -that the gale was still young. - -There is nothing that relates the dweller at home so intimately to the -business of the wider waters as to lie at the mouth of a great -estuary. Here were steamers from the ends of the world slogging across -the snowdrift, their masthead lights moving steadily like major -planets across the sky. Some, perhaps, had passed through the very -region in which this storm had been born. No yachtsman who studies the -weather can think of a gale as an accident of the British Isles; he -sees in imagination a tiny cyclone created as a whirlwind somewhere, -it may be, in six to eight degrees north latitude. In the desert of -the Atlantic, in calm and heat, with the sun nearly overhead, a tiny -column of air ascends and cooler air rushes in to replace it. The -cyclone is born. Perhaps it is not a hundred yards across, but as it -goes revolving on its journey of thousands of miles it draws in the -air all round it as a snowball gathers snow. Westward and -north-westward it travels to the West Indies, turning on its axis -against the hands of a watch, unlike the cyclone born south of the -equator, which revolves the other way. The wind does not blow -accurately around the centre, but curves inwards spirally, so that in -the northern hemisphere, when you stand face to wind, the centre of -the storm is always from eight to twelve points to the right. - -When once you understand this rotatory and spiral movement of the wind -you cannot listen to the roar of a gale without thinking of -ocean-going sailing ships fleeing from the deadly centre. You think of -the cyclone touching the West Indies: one rim on the islands, the -palm-trees staggering at the assault; the other rim on the open ocean, -a ship laid over by the blast, the crew, clinging to the yards, -fighting to get the maddened canvas under control before it is too -late. The master of that ship had had the warning of the swell which -is the gentle forerunner of the storm, but perhaps he carried on too -long. Now, under heavily reefed canvas, or perhaps under bare poles, -he races from the deadly centre of the storm. - -From the West Indies the storm curves to the northward and -north-eastward, still growing in size, till it may have a diameter of -even a thousand miles. Along the Gulf Stream it comes, conveying -within its frame that mysterious core which no one in a sailing ship -ever wishes to see--a central patch, it is said, of unnatural calm -surrounded by squalls from every point of the compass, a patch where -the sea is piled up into a pyramid, untrue, treacherous, and -overwhelming. The cyclone bursts later into that tract of dripping fog -where the Gulf Stream meets her frigid sister from the north; and when -it reaches us in England it is sometimes huge and harmless, but -sometimes it has stored its strength and blares across a comparatively -narrow belt with the power of a hurricane. And it comes in various -guises, in pale bright skies, or wreathed in films of scud, or in -rolling hard-edged clouds of inky darkness, or behind a tormented veil -of rain. - -About three o'clock in the morning I went below to drink some tea and -to smoke. When I returned the motor-boat was gone. The frayed painter, -hanging from the stern of the _Ark Royal_, told me what had happened. -Our brand-new uninsured motor-boat, which we never ought to have -bought! I knew that if she had reached the stone-faced seawall or one -of the breakwaters there was little hope for her. - -As the tide fell I went off in the dinghy in search of her. -Fortunately, I found her in the hands of two men from the gasworks, -who had seen her coming ashore and had waded out to meet her. They had -pushed her clear of a breakwater, and were standing in the rollers -holding her head to sea at the foot of the sea-wall. - -As the tide fell farther we walked her out gradually to the _Ark -Royal_, and I settled the question of salvage by paying a couple of -pounds. Even Cockney Smith could not have accused the gas-workers of a -'salvage job' in the circumstances, though no doubt he would have -pointed out that they were gas-workers and not sailormen. - -Our cruise of that summer was ordered by the necessity of sailing -continually from one port where there was a motor engineer to another -port where there was another engineer. The children used to take the -metal seals off the petrol cans and hang them on the engine as medals, -in numbers according to the merit of its performance. If the engine -began to knock, for instance, a medal would be forfeited--to be -restored if the knocking stopped. They enjoyed the vagaries of the -engine; and loved it in secret even when it stopped work altogether -and had lost all its decorations. They christened the motor-boat -_Perhaps_. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - - 'The stormy evening closes now in vain, - Loud wails the wind and beats the driving rain, - While here in sheltered house, - With fire-y painted walls, - I hear the wind abroad, - I hear the calling squalls-- - "Blow, blow!" I cry; "you burst your cheeks in vain! - Blow, blow!" I cry; "my love is home again!"' - - -After the Mate's illness an unreasoning dread of the place where she -had lain ill conquered me, and I put away all idea of returning there -for the winter. Fortunately, a move was easy enough. If we had been -living in a house it would have been otherwise, but a 'house removal' -for us meant no more than weighing anchor and going to a new spot of -our choice. Our choice was conditioned, first, by the necessity of my -going to London daily; and, secondly, by the need of providing for our -girl's education, who was now of school-going age. - -One anchorage--now known to us as the Happy Haven--attracted us beyond -all others. We had found it under stress of weather during one of our -Essex cruises, and had ever since thought of it with affection for -the quiet peace of the tidal creek between its grassy banks and for -the welcome we had received from the family which lives at the head of -that creek and presides over its amenities. - -As the autumn deepened it became urgently necessary to decide upon our -winter quarters, but the Mate had received no answer to a letter in -which she had asked the Lady at the Happy Haven whether means of -education for Margaret could be found thereabouts. One day, when we -had almost despaired of an answer, I met the father of the family at -the Happy Haven unexpectedly in London. His wife, he said, had been -travelling; we must write again. And soon an answer came that solved -our difficulties. There was no school to give such an education as we -wanted, but Margaret could be taught with the family in the house at -the head of the Happy Haven. Within a few days we sailed to the Happy -Haven, and there we have since lived and hope long to live. - -To reach our port there are but two ways, one by water and one by -land. Are you coming by water? Then you must come in from the sea and -take the young flood up the river past the low-lying islands; if the -wind be foul you will have to wait for water according to your -draught. With a fair wind come straight on past the village and the -wood off which the smacks lie, and past the church tower to the south. -When abreast the creek leading to the red-tiled farmhouse on the -starboard hand you will find the best water in the middle. - -Keep close to the point on the north side, and from there steer -straight for the three great poplars you will see ahead until you -reach another church among the trees on the north side. Then keep the -hut on the point just open of the old water-mill. - -It is quite easy. But long before you come to the Happy Haven our -mahogany-faced old pilot, with a walk like a penguin, a parson's hat -tied under his chin with a piece of tarred string, a red jumper, and -yellow fearnought trousers, will 'board you,' if you want him, and -berth you. Two shillings is his charge. - -But suppose you come by land. For two shillings you can be driven from -the railway station out through the old market town until you come to -an avenue of trees and a rookery. There you must turn off the public -road into a private road, and drive under the great trees which meet -above, and down a lane of thorns until, suddenly turning a corner, you -will drive alongside the river to the grassy quay where the _Ark -Royal_ is lying. - -You can go no farther, for the road ends there. - -After all, you may say, there is not much to see. Only an old -water-mill and three barges alongside it; the mill-house, and above it -the mill-head spreading wide; our friend's house among the poplars; on -the opposite shore a farmhouse where a barge is loading hay; under -the sea-walls on both sides fields dotted with cattle and white gulls; -an unbroken vault of sky; and the shining creek stretching away into -the ultimate green of flat pasture lands. Perhaps a red-sailed barge -is coming up the river; the 'tuke,' or redshanks, are giving warning -of her approach; and a thousand dunlin keep settling on the brown mud, -rising to show off all together in a flash that they are snow white -underneath. - -A cable's length from the _Ark Royal_ is a small head of water held up -by a sea-wall and a sluice-gate, and from it, meandering down past the -ship into the gut, is a narrow course worn by the water. If you happen -to come at the right moment, two families of children in bathing -costumes--ours and the children from the house among the poplars--will -be taking turns at packing themselves into a large bath. Someone lifts -the gate, and the bath in a torrent of foamy water 'chutes' down the -channel into the gut or is capsized on the way. - -Such is a brief description of how to arrive at the Happy Haven, and -what there is to see there. But wild tugs with steel hawsers will not -drag the name from me. Those who want to live in floating homes will -search far to find a better berth. - -We have only one very near neighbour, an ex-barge skipper. Like the -bargee of whom Stevenson wrote, there seems to be no reason why he -should not live for ever. He has seen the best part of eighty -years, and is still hearty and quite as active as he need be. He has -achieved an appearance barely suitable to old age, and has stopped -there. He spends many hours each day in thought. Like us, he pays no -rent, rates, or taxes, for he lives in a small and old yacht. And -though his means of living are a mystery he lives well. - -[Illustration: BATHING IN THE SLUICE AT THE _ARK ROYAL'S_ -HEADQUARTERS] - -Twice to our knowledge he has taken a party for a short cruise in the -yacht, but beyond this we have never known him earn a penny. And yet -if a new mast be wanted, or new iron work, or paint, or varnish, or a -rope for fitting out, or a new sail, he buys it. Rumour says he has -been a notable smuggler, and there are some that say he has friends -who are still free traders. Others believe that he has a share in a -barge. But no one knows. - -Always healthy, he observes none of the laws of health. It is true he -sleeps nine hours every night, but that is in a cabin without -ventilation. On a fine summer's morning most people, when they get up, -begin to do something, even though it be unimportant. Not so our -friend. He starts the day--breaking, as usual, some rule of health--by -lighting his pipe. Then, seating himself comfortably in the open, he -airs himself for a long time. While the airing is going on he surveys -the sky many times, rotating slowly till he has examined all points of -the compass. If anyone be present, he will give his considered -verdict on the prospects of the weather for the day. - -When that problem has been solved he will chop a few sticks and remark -that he must 'see about his kittle.' Soon afterwards smoke will issue -from the chimney of his boat, and for the next hour he will not be -visible. After that some cleaning operations--not personal--will go on -in the cockpit for possibly another hour. Then he may scrape a spar or -varnish one, or do a bit of painting. If it be hot he will probably -rig an awning, and sit beneath it stitching at an old sail; if it be -cold he will rig up a windscreen, and sit behind that. - -A couple of hours before high water the pilot, also an ex-barge -skipper, arrives to see what barges are coming up, and then he and our -friend will be seen side by side discussing things connected with the -sea. The approaching barges have to be watched until recognized, and -again watched until they are safely berthed. From this important but -unpaid labour they know no remission during the proper hours. - -Thus, with intervals for meals, our curious neighbour passes his days -from one end of the year to the other. - -Sometimes I have had the privilege of being present at the sessions of -our neighbour and the pilot. One day the pilot described the sorrows -of fishermen when the stinging jelly-fish are about, for he spends an -odd day at sea in a smack. - -'The water's full o' they blessed ould stingin' squalders, and every -time us hauls aour net that's full on 'em, and they do make me swear -suthen. That ain't a mite o' use tryin' to be religious, same as if -you wants to be, with them stingin' squalders abaout. They're puffect -devils.' - -I remember the pilot's comment on our neighbour's account of a -hailstorm. 'That was a wonnerful heavy hailstorm, that was,' said our -neighbour, 'and the stones was most as big as acorns. And one come and -hit me on the laower part of the thumb. Lor', that did hurt suthen!' - -'Well, that come a long way, yer see,' said the pilot. - -Another day the pilot, who is appreciably more mobile than our -neighbour, described to me an errand of mercy he had undertaken. - -'I've just been daown to see pore ould George what bruk his arm last -week. Yaou know him, sir, don't ye? Him what's skipper of the _Nancy_. -I wonder who'll sail she while 'is arm's a mendin'. Wonnerful -venturesome fellow is George, and that's haow 'e come to do ut. He -took and bought one o' they bicycles. From what I can hear of it, 'e -larnt to ride that well enough same as on the flat. They what taught -he to ride tould he to shorten sail same as goin' daown hills and -that, and maybe 'e did. But accordin' to what I can hear of it, that -bicycle took charge daown the hill just past the railway, and George -den't fare to knaow what to do, so 'e reckoned that were best to -thraow she up in the wind. And they picked the ould fellow out o' the -ditch with his arm bruk. 'E's gettin' on well, and is all right in 'is -'ealth. The doctor's a givin' of him some of that medicine aout o' one -o' they raound bottles.' - -Besides his boat our neighbour owns a shed. When he applied originally -to the landowner for leave to put up the shed he was refused, because -the landowner feared that it would be unsightly. The negotiations that -followed are a model for diplomacy. - -The old man next asked that he might be allowed to haul up an ancient -sieve-like boat on to the bank. To this the landowner assented--if it -could be done, which he doubted. - -It was done. - -But at very high tides the ground underneath the overturned boat was -flooded, so that gear stored there could not be kept dry. The boat was -then raised bodily a foot or so from the ground by planking. After a -few weeks, to make more storage room still, the old man raised the -sides of his boat some three feet more and put a roof over her. - -This structure escaped objection from the landowner for a year, and so -the following summer the roof was removed, the sides were raised -another two feet, and the roof was put on again. - -This also escaped criticism. Accordingly, the following year an -annexe was built on at the bows, and eventually a cement floor was -laid. Now there is a water-butt at the junction of the annexe and the -main building. - -We await further developments. - -We made the mistake once--if, indeed, it was not an offence--of -offering our neighbour some work. He explained that he had too much to -do already, and referred to a particular job which he did not begin -till six months later. 'No sooner do I git one job done than I sees -another starin' me in the face,' he often says. - -Last summer he painted the inside of his yacht, and for ten days he -slept in his boat-hut on shore. Sundown every evening was his time for -'bunkin' up,' as he called it, and we used to make a point of asking -him what time he would be up in the morning. To this he would answer: -'Abaout five or six, I reckon. Last summer I used to get up at faour -sometimes. Goo to bed with the ould hens and git up along of -'em--that's the way.' - -Then we would watch him retire. There is no door on hinges to his hut, -but a flap which fits in the opening. He had to disappear stern first, -fit the flap in the bottom of the opening, and pull the top into -position with a string. He withdrew from our gaze each evening in the -following order: legs, body clad in a blue jersey, white beard, red -face, and straw hat. - -The next morning we would always be up first, and while we were busy -on deck we kept an eye open for the first trembling of the flap. Then -out would come the hat, the red face, the white beard, blue body, and -legs, and another day had begun for our neighbour. We thought he would -have made excuses for not getting up earlier, but we soon discovered -that on most days he had no idea what the time was. - -At the Happy Haven our water is brought to us by cart in a canvas -water-carrier, which holds two hundred gallons. One day we had a panic -about one of the tanks. The water-cart had brought four loads, and -still the tanks were not full. We heard a sound of running water, -which we took to be the water siphoning from one tank to the other. -When I returned from London the next evening, the sound of running -water continued, but there was something worse--an audible splashing. -And the water in the port tank had fallen. Friends were dining with us -that night, but luckily they did not expect conventional amusements; -they preferred tackling leaking water-tanks to bridge. - -The first thing to be done was to break the siphon between the two -tanks by letting air into the pipe. After trying in vain to unscrew a -joint I decided to drill a small hole in the pipe; but, using more -force than skill, I broke my only drill. This meant that all the water -still in the tanks--six hundred gallons--might find its way into the -bilge. We pulled up a floor-board aft, and discovered that the missing -water was even then nearly level with the floor. I lifted the plug -aft, but the water would not run out, as the barge was sitting on soft -mud, which choked the hole. Pumping is back-breaking work, and I did -not intend to do that if it could be avoided. I put on sea-boots and -went over the side with a boat-hook and a kind of hoe to puggle about -until there was a clear way for the water to run. The difficulty was -to find the hole, but the ladies held lights and called out directions -while the men shoved a stick through the plug-hole. The water began to -run at last, and the _Ark Royal_ was soon dry. - -The next day we emptied the port tank into the bilge, and the plumber -got inside through the manhole and found the hole, which by a great -piece of luck was in such a position that he could mend it by removing -enough of the bathroom bulkhead to allow his hand to get through. What -we should have done if the hole had been out of reach we hardly dared -to think. - -Many of our friends have said that they would like to live in the _Ark -Royal_ in the summer, but most of them boggle at the thought of the -winter. To me, somehow, the contrast between the comfortable interior -of our home and the rigours of the winter scene pressing close in upon -us is particularly satisfying. It is very agreeable at the end of a -winter's day in London to come back to the barge; to leave an office -with its telephone bells, and the hubbub of the streets; to come in -little more than an hour to where the lane of thorns ends at the -sea-wall. The faint glow ahead comes from the _Ark Royal_. Those -piping cries are the redshanks calling in the dark. As I come nearer -the separate columns of light from the windows and skylights beam like -searchlights. And above the blaze stands up the mast and rigging, free -from all burden and strain, resting the winter through. The cheerful -chimneys pour out their smoke, which, blowing darkly to leeward, turns -into clouds of misty gold as it crosses the belt of yellow light. - -Even in our retired creek it is a joy to know that we are on the magic -road, which is all roads in the world because it leads everywhere. Of -course, we shall never sail out to the back of beyond; but when on -summer nights we sit on deck under the pole star, and the -phosphorescent water streams past our side like molten metal, we feel -that the same sea that bears us laps equatorial islands and -continents. - -When the _Ark Royal_ lifts to the rising tide her timbers creak as -though she were asking to be free; and her voice is high or low -according to the wind. At night she speaks most clearly. In measure to -the wind she reminds us of peaceful driftings under still skies, or of -torn sails and dragging anchors. When a gale with all the weight of -winter behind it bursts in squalls through the rigging, the tiny -waves of our haven rip along our sides and the lamp in the saloon -swings gently. Then we know, at a safe remove, what weather there must -be 'outside' if we have such tumult in here. Heaven help us if we were -out in the Swin with those clean-bowed fish-carriers that are racing -in from the North Sea! Let us hope that the barges that have been -'caught' have reached such anchorages as Abraham's Bosom, or the -Blacktail Swatch, sheltered from clumsy steamers by the lighthouse and -from the weather by the sand. - -Even my insurance policy recognizes that our life is not as life on -shore. I am 'Master under God of and in the good ship or vessel called -the _Ark Royal_.' And the policy deals with life in a large way. For -example: 'Touching the perils whereof they, the assurers, are content -to bear, they are of the Seas, Men of War, Fire, Pirates, Rovers, -Thieves, Jettisons, Letters of Mart and Countermart, Surprisals, -Takings at Sea, Arrests, Restraints and Detainments of all Kings, -Princes and People of what Nation, Condition, or Quality soever, -Barratry of the Master and Mariners and of all other Perils and -Losses.' - - * * * * * - -Several years have we spent in the _Ark Royal_, and let it be admitted -that we feel the need for more room. Once more perceive the advantage -of living afloat. We can add to our establishment in units. No -builders will tear down our creepers, or excavate our garden, or mix -mortar on the lawn. Nor shall we suffer the horrid noise of -carpenters. When our additional rooms are ready they will be floated -alongside. No District Council will have a word to say about the -material of the new building or the nature of the roof. - -The _Overdraft_, as our first addition under the unitary system is -called--a name which is nautical in sound, and suggests both the -overflowing of the ship's company and a certain financial operation at -the bank--is an old lighter thirty-five feet long with a beam of -twelve feet. We are raising her sides to a height of seven feet six -inches and dividing her into three compartments. There will be a -sleeping-cabin at each end, and the middle room will be a workshop and -playroom, fitted with a carpenter's bench and a range for both cooking -and heating. If our friends in the house among the poplars give a -dance we shall be able to float the _Overdraft_ along to the foot of -their garden to provide extra rooms for their guests. When she lies -alongside the _Ark Royal_ there will be a covered-in gangway to her -entrance-door. - -Some day, by the unitary system, we may add other rooms, but the only -plan in the offing which seems reasonably likely to reach port soon is -a scheme for electric lighting by using our head of water to drive the -dynamo. - -The reader may permit, however, a vision of our ultimate development. -We have often desired to own a tug--having long been strong admirers -of the indescribable fussiness and importance of tugs. We should keep -steam up in our tug, and use her at moorings as a central heating -plant. We should offer to tow the trading barges in and out of the -creek, which would be one of the best pastimes imaginable, besides -bringing us many devoted friends. And then when we wanted to shift our -anchorage! You should just be there to see us start: first the tug, -then the _Ark Royal_, then the _Overdraft_, then the other extra -rooms, then the _Perhaps_, then the sailing dinghy, and lastly the -duck punt. When the moment came to anchor again there would be no -orders in the manner of 'Let go the 'ook, Bill,' but a dignified -signal from the tug in the way described by the best of English sea -songs: - - 'Then the signal was made for the grand fleet to anchor.' - - - - -APPENDIX - - -DETAILS OF THE COST OF BUYING, ALTERING, AND FITTING OUT THE _ARK -ROYAL_ - - £ _s. d._ - - Purchase 140 0 0 - - Wood, match-lining, and flooring 37 17 7 - - Three-ply veneers 15 3 11 - - Insurance during alterations, £2; Registration, £1 1s.; - Changing name, £3 18s. 6 19 0 - - Galvanizing chain, stanchions, blacksmith's work 8 15 9 - - Two tanks of 400 gallons each 8 0 0 - - Six mahogany doors and other fittings from shipbreaker's - yard 5 4 6 - - Pumps, bath, w.c., heating stove for bath 13 16 7 - - Brass fittings, tools, and sundries 4 15 11 - - Paint and varnish 6 5 8 - - Rope 5 8 8 - - Disinfecting at gasworks: formaldehyde, etc. 4 2 6 - - Kitchen range, copper, etc. 6 0 0 - - Linoleum, wash-hand-stand, brass fittings 6 5 0 - - Plumbing 7 16 0 - - Raising main cabin-top 38 10 0 - - Wages: two men for four months 39 15 0 - - Lamps, £2 10s.; Nails, £2 3s.; Saloon stove, £2 10s. 7 3 0 - - Caulking deck and buying and fixing second-hand - skylight for boys' cabin 5 12 0 - - Brass screws, hinges, and wire rope 3 19 0 - - Petty cash 4 8 11 - ------------ - £375 19 0 - ============ - -A few words must be added in explanation of these bare figures. - -As the cost of labour after the _Ark Royal_ reached Fleetwick, with -the cabin-top raised, was only £39 15s., the reader can understand how -much was done by the owner's hands. Help, however, was given by -friends--in particular by a retired Civil Servant who displayed -extraordinary skill as a carpenter. It was a mistake not to raise the -main cabin-top ourselves. We probably could have done the job better, -and certainly we could have done it cheaper. - -Now as regards the annual expenses of upkeep, apart from the interest -on the capital sunk. These expenses, of course, do not appear in the -table of initial cost. The largest item is insurance. Our policy -allows us to cruise sixty-two days in the year, with a rebate for the -number of days' cruising short of the allowance. The policy works out -at about £10 a year. So far we have done all the annual fitting-out -ourselves, the cost of which, with varnish, paint, and renewals, has -averaged about £5. - -Our running gear lasts a long time, as our cruises are short. We have -not renewed our sails since the barge was rerigged. The sails of a -trading barge, if carefully tended, last ten or twelve years. Ours, -therefore, should last at least twenty. The upkeep of barges has been -reduced to a science. All gear and fittings are standardized, and -there is, besides, a free market in second-hand things taken out of -condemned barges. - -A barge's sides are tarred and blackleaded. This costs shillings where -paint and anti-fouling composition would cost pounds. Although we tar -and blacklead the _Ark Royal's_ sides, we have a false whale which we -enamel white. Another economy we practise is to paint the cabin-tops -with Stockholm tar, thinned out with paraffin and with a little teak -paint to colour it. As the superficial area of the two cabin-tops is -four hundred square feet, much paint would be required. The -stanchions, the wheel, iron uprights which hold the sidelight screens, -metal blocks, and most ironwork, we cover with galvanizing paint, -which costs little, is easily renewed, and looks smart. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF THE "ARK ROYAL."] - - - - -A GLOSSARY OF ESSEX WORDS AND PHRASES - - -In this Glossary obvious mispronunciations and corruptions are not -included. By including them a glossary might be extended indefinitely, -and to no profit. Numerous Essex dialect words are, of course, current -in other counties; Essex shares a particularly large number with the -rest of East Anglia. The aim here is simply to give the dialect words -which the authors of this book have themselves heard in Essex, and -which they believe to be most characteristic. No one interested in -dialect is ignorant where to turn for the greatest store of -information on the subject yet collected--Dr. Joseph Wright's masterly -work, _The English Dialect Dictionary_. The following list, however, -contains several words which do not appear in that Dictionary. The -dictionary is referred to as _E. D. D._: - -=Bangy= (pronounced 'banjy'), drizzling, misty. 'Bange' is a very light -rain. - -=Between lights=, twilight. - -=Bever=, light refreshments between the larger meals, eaten either at 11 -a.m. or 4 p.m. (_Cf._ 'levenses' and 'levener,' which are the same -words as 'elevens' and 'elevener,' meaning a slight meal eaten at -eleven in the morning. _Cf._ also 'fours' or 'fourses,' which is a -similar meal eaten about four o'clock in the afternoon.) - -=Bibble=, to tipple; to drink noisily like a duck. - -=Bird=, pupil of the eye. - -=Blare=, to cry, blubber. - -=Botty=, conceited. - -=Breeder=, abscess, boil. - -=Bulk=, to throb (the 'u' pronounced as in 'bull'). Also =Bullock=. - -=Buller=, _vide_ =Duller= (the 'u' pronounced as in 'dull'). - -=Bullock=, another form of 'bulk.' - -=Buskins=, gaiters. - -=Buzz=, blow on the head. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Cankerhooks=, tenterhooks. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Chance time=, sometimes. - -=Chissick=, pinch (of salt, pepper, sugar, or suchlike). (Not in _E. D. -D._) - -=Choice=, pinch (of salt, pepper, sugar, or suchlike). (Not in _E. D. -D._) - -=Coarse=, rough. Used of the weather. A fisherman will say, in a curious -phrase, 'Coarse weather, don't it?' - -=Coase=, to pet, stroke--_e.g._, 'he was coasing his dog.' The 's' is -pronounced as in 'roast.' (Not in _E. D. D._) The word no doubt comes -from the same root as the well-known word _cosset_. - -=Cob=, long basket, manure-hod. - -=Cotchel=. A barge is said to go cotchelling when she discharges or -takes up her cargo piecemeal at various ports, instead of taking a -single cargo from one port to another. _E. D. D._ gives the -substantive 'cotchel,' meaning an odd measure or a partially filled -sack, but does not mention the verb which has been formed from this -word. - -=Court=, stye--_e.g._, 'hogs' court,' 'pigs' court.' - -=Crock=, smudge of soot, smut. - -=Cuff=, tall story. (_E. D. D._ gives _cuffer_.) - -=Cuff=, to tell tall stories--_e.g._, 'He's cuffin' a rare yarn.' - -=Culch=, rubbish. Particularly, in fishermen's language, the broken -shells of an oyster-bed. - -=Curren=, cunning, sly. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -_Dag_ (frequently pronounced 'daig'), dew, mist. - -=Deleet=, cross-roads--_e.g._, a 'three deleet' or a 'four deleet,' -according as three or four roads meet. =Releet= is another form. (_E. D. -D._ gives =Releet= and =Eleet=.) - -=Ding=, to work at--_e.g._, 'I'm dinging all the coal out o' that ould -locker.' When fishermen throw their catch down into the hold, they are -said to ding it. The word of command for all hands to begin their -work is 'Ding!' In the Essex use of the word the sense of furious -effort mentioned in _E. D. D._ seems to be absent. - -=Discern=, to see. Constantly used when there is no suggestion whatever -of seeing something with an appreciable effort. - -=Do=, used elliptically for 'if it does,' 'if he does'--_e.g._, 'That'll -rain, _do_, that'll rain hard.' - -=Doddy=, little. Often used intensively with 'little'--_e.g._, 'Doddy -little boat.' - -=Doke=, dent, impression. - -=Dooberous=, doubtful, dubious, suspicious. The nearest word to this in -_E. D. D._ is the Norfolk 'dooblus,' which would perhaps be better -spelt 'dooblous.' An Essex fisherman will say, 'I doubt that's -dooberous to go to leeward of that buoy.' - -=Doubt=, to think, consider--_e.g._, 'I doubt that's goin' to rain'; 'I -doubt he won't catch the train.' - -=Draining=, _vide_ =Dreening=. - -=Dreening=, wringing wet. Also =Draining=. - -=Dringle=, to dawdle along. When the tide is barely moving it is said to -be 'just dringling.' - -=Drizzle=, to cry a little--_e,g._, 'She kep' all on a drizzlin'.' - -=Duller=, to moan or blubber noisily (the 'u' pronounced as in 'dull'). -Also =Buller=. - -=Dunted=, melancholy, depressed. - -=Dunty=, stupid. Used of sheep that are difficult to drive. - -=Duzzy=, stupid, dazed. - -=Fall=, to drift--_e.g._, a smack falls through a reach with her trawl -down. - -=Fare=, to do, seem. This word is the Essex maid-of-all-work. It serves -as many purposes as the French _faire_, with which, however, it -probably has no etymological connection. - -=Fleet=, tidal dyke in a marsh. Any shallow dyke or ditch. - -=Fleet=, to float. Past participle is 'flet.' - -=Fleet=, shallow--_e.g._, a man will 'plough fleet.' Again, a waterway -is said to be fleet enough when it has fall enough for the water to -flow. - -=Frickle=, to fidget. Used of the tide swerving about in eddies. - -=Gag=, to retch. - -=Good tightly=, properly, well. - -=Grizzle=, to whine, cry, complain. - -=Gull=, scour out, especially by means or running water. - -=Gushy=, gusty. - -=Haggy daggy=, mist. - -=Happen=, perhaps. - -=Head=. This word is used to express the superlative--_e.g._, 'a head -masterpiece.' - -=Hoggle=, to sail with easy canvas before a fair wind, or to roll in a -calm with the boom swinging. The word is no doubt related to such a -phrase as 'hoggling boggling,' meaning unsteady. - -=Hoo roo=, row, fight. - -=Housen=, houses. - -=Hull=, to hurl, to throw. - -=In=, often used for 'of'--_e.g._, 'What do I think in it?' - -=Jack at a pinch=, man employed in an emergency--_e.g._, man brought -into a crew at the last moment. - -=Jown=, joined, spliced. - -=Juble=, jolly, merry. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Kelter=, condition, order. 'Out of kelter' means 'out of order.' - -=Kilter=, _vide_ =Kelter=. - -=Largess=, extra pay, especially at harvest. - -=Lessest=, least. - -=Levener=, light meal between breakfast and dinner. _Vide_ =Bever=. - -=Low=, to allow, estimate, reckon. - -=Masterous=, wonderful, astonishing. A superlative of this word is -sometimes used. A man will say, 'That was the masterousest thing I -ever did see.' (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Masterpiece=, wonderful or astonishing thing. - -=Mawther=, a girl. - -=Mizzle=, light rain. - -=Nit=, nor yet. - -=Nuzzle=. A fisherman will say that he 'nuzzled the mud' (_i.e._, ran -the bows of his smack on the mud on the flood tide) while having his -dinner. - -=Offer to=, try to--_e.g._, 'I was that bad winter-time I lay abed six -weeks and never offered to move.' - -=Old.= It is impossible to ascribe any particular meaning to this word. -In Essex dialect it is the universal adjective. - -=Paffle=, breaking water caused by wind and tide--_e.g._, 'The reach was -all of a paffle.' (This meaning is not mentioned in _E. D. D._) - -=Paltry=, poor in health. - -=Peak=, to peep or pry--_e.g._, 'A rabbit peaked out of its hole.' - -=Pingle=, to be fanciful about one's food. - -=Pingly=, off colour, having a bad appetite. - -=Pucker=, to worry. - -=Pucker=, agitated state of mind--_e.g._, 'She was in a regular pucker.' - -=Puggle=, to mess about, particularly with a stick in opening a hole -stopped with rubbish. Thus, figuratively, to muddle about. - -=Push=, boil, abscess. - -=Releet=, _vide_ =Deleet=. - -=Riddy=, rid. - -=Rowels=, thick stockings worn inside sea-boots. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Same.= It is impossible to give precise meanings for this word in its -frequent and various uses. They may be deduced from the dialogue of -this book. It may be said that in Essex dialect the word 'same' -commonly introduces a hypothetical statement which might equally well -be expressed by 'supposing.' If you ask an Essex man to explain -something, he will begin: 'Same as if you was doing so-and-so--'. If -he imagines something happening in the winter, he will say, 'Same as -winter-time.' - -=Scrouge=, to crowd. - -=Scud.= When fish, lying in the net alongside a smack, are shaken along -to the most convenient point for lifting them on board, they are said -to be scudded. Fish are also scudded into the hold. - -=Seizen=, to bind, or seize, things together. - -=Shiftening=, change of clothes. - -=Shiver=, slice. - -=Similar-same=, like. - -=Snarled=, tangled, knotted. - -=Sneer=, to twitch, wince. - -=Sob.= When the wind dies away temporarily, it is said to 'sob' or 'sob -down.' - -=Soo=, to settle down, like a vessel on the mud that is gradually being -left by the tide. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Spuffle=, to fume. - -=Squalder=, jelly-fish. In Norfolk 'squadling' and 'swalder' mean a -small jelly-fish, but among Essex fishermen 'squalder,' which seems to -be a form of 'squadling,' is used of the large stinging jelly-fish. -(Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Stam=, to astonish. - -=Stench=, to stanch. Used of soaking a boat or barrel to make the wood -swell or 'take up.' - -=Stetchy=, _vide_ =Tetchy=. - -=Suthen=, something. Widely used as an adverb of emphasis--_e.g._, 'That -blowed suthen hard last night.' - -=Tempest=, thunderstorm. (Not used of wind.) - -=Ter=, it. Used in such phrases as 'as ter was' for 'as it was.' A -fisherman examining a dead bird on the shore was heard to say, 'That's -a watery bird be ter whether ter may'--_i.e._, 'That's a sea-bird -whatever it may be.' - -=Tetchy=, treacherous. Used of the wind when it flies about from one -point of the compass to another. Also =Stetchy=. - -=That=. Universally used throughout Essex, as in all East Anglia, for -'it.' People say, 'That's a goin' to rain,' 'I doubt that'll turn to -wind,' 'That'll be a rum 'un [_i.e._, a strange thing] if he comes,' -and so on. This is probably a relic of the old Anglo-Saxon neuter. - -=Thrashel=, _vide_ =Threscal=. - -=Threddle=, _vide_ =Thriddle=. - -=Threscal=, threshold, door-sill. Also =Thrashel=. - -=Thriddle=, to thread one's way as through a crowded harbour. (Not in -_E. D. D._) Also =Threddle=. - -=Tissick=, a tickling cough. - -=Tore out=, worn out. - -=To-she-from-she gate=, kissing gate. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Wanten=, wanted. - -=Went=, gone--_e.g._, 'He ought never to have went.' - -=Wonderful=, very--_e.g._, 'He's a wonderful long time a comin'.' Some -Essex people use the word (like 'old,' _q.v._) in almost every -sentence. - -=Wring=, to strain. A barge is said to wring when she changes her shape -slightly through lying on uneven ground. When a vessel begins to move -perceptibly, without actually floating, on the in-coming tide the -fisherman says, 'She's wringing.' This is only a special sense, of -course, of the old intransitive verb 'to wring,' meaning to writhe or -twist. - - -BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, ENGLAND - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Floating Home, by Cyril Ionides and J. B. 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Atkins - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A Floating Home - -Author: Cyril Ionides - J. B. Atkins - -Illustrator: Arnold Bennett - -Release Date: February 13, 2013 [EBook #42091] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FLOATING HOME *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42091 ***</div> <div class="figcenter"> <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="550" alt="" /> @@ -5875,383 +5834,6 @@ fisherman says, ‘She’s wringing.’ This is only a special sense course, of the old intransitive verb ‘to wring,’ meaning to writhe or twist.</p><p class="book-trailer">BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, ENGLAND</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Floating Home, by Cyril Ionides and J. B. 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Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A Floating Home - -Author: Cyril Ionides - J. B. Atkins - -Illustrator: Arnold Bennett - -Release Date: February 13, 2013 [EBook #42091] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FLOATING HOME *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - A FLOATING HOME - - - [Illustration: A BARGE PASSING THE MAPLIN LIGHT] - - - - - A FLOATING HOME - - BY - - CYRIL IONIDES AND J. B. ATKINS - - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY - - ARNOLD BENNETT - - PHOTOGRAPHS, APPENDIX, GLOSSARY, ETC. - - LONDON - - CHATTO & WINDUS - - 1918 - - - _All rights reserved_ - - - To - THE MATE - - - - -PREFACE - - -The authors owe to their readers an explanation of the manner of their -collaboration. The owner of the Thames sailing barge, of which the -history as a habitation is written in this book, is Mr. Cyril Ionides. -'I' throughout the narrative is Mr. Cyril Ionides; the 'Mate' is Mrs. -Cyril Ionides; the children are their children. Yet the other author, -Mr. J. B. Atkins, was so closely associated with the events -recorded--sharing with Mr. Ionides the counsels and discussions that -ended in the purchase of the barge, prosecuting in his company -friendships with barge skippers, and studying with him the Essex -dialect, which nowhere has more character than in the mouths of Essex -seafaring men--that it was not practicable for the book to be written -except in collaboration. The authors share, moreover, an intense -admiration for the Thames sailing barges, to which, so far as they -know, justice has never been done in writing. Mr. Atkins, however, -felt that it would be unnecessary, if not impertinent, for him to -assume any personal shape in the narrative when there was little -enough space for the more relevant and informing characters of Sam -Prawle, Elijah Wadely, and their like. - -The book aims at three things: (1) It tells how the problem of -poverty--poverty judged by the standard of one who wished to give his -sons a Public School education on an insufficient income--was solved -by living afloat and avoiding the payment of rent and rates. (2) It -offers a tribute of praise to the incomparable barge skippers who -navigate the busiest of waterways, with the smallest crews (unless the -cutter barges of Holland provide an exception) that anywhere in the -world manage so great a spread of canvas. Londoners are aware that the -most characteristic vessels of their river are 'picturesque.' Beyond -that their knowledge or their applause does not seem to go. It is -hoped that this book will tell them something new about a life at -their feet, of the details of which they have too long been ignorant. -(3) It is a study in dialect. It was impossible to grow in intimacy -with the Essex skippers of barges without examining with careful -attention the dialect that persists with a surprising flavour within a -short radius of London, where one would expect everything of the -sort--particularly in the _va-et-vient_ of river life--to be -assimilated or absorbed. - -As to (1) and (3) something more may be said. - -One of the authors (J. B. A.) published in the _Spectator_ before the -war a brief account of Mr. Cyril Ionides' floating home, and was -immediately beset by so many inquiries for more precise information -that he perceived that a book on the subject--a practical and complete -answer to the questions--was required. Neither of the authors is under -any illusion as to the determination of those who have made such -inquiries. Most of the inquirers no doubt are people who will not go -further with the idea than to play with it. But that need not matter. -The idea is a very pleasant one to play with. The few who care to -proceed will find enough information in this book for their guidance. -The items of expenditure, the method of transforming the barge from a -dirty trading vessel into an agreeable home, a diagram of the interior -arrangements, are all given. The castle in Spain has actually been -built, and people are living in it. - -Here is a scheme of life for which romantic is perhaps neither too -strong a word nor one incapable of some freshness of meaning. The idea -is available for anyone with enough resolution. Of course, not every -amateur seaman would care to undertake the mastership of so large a -vessel as a Thames sailing barge, but that natural hesitation need be -no hindrance. The owner would want no crew when safely berthed for the -winter; and in the summer a professional skipper and his mate (only -two hands are required) would sail him about with at least as much -satisfaction to him as is obtained by the owners of large yachts -carrying bloated crews. - -If he is a 'bad sailor' he could get more pleasure from a barge than -from an ordinary yacht of greater draught. The barge can choose her -water; she can run into the smooth places that lie between the banks -of the complicated Thames estuary. She can thread the Essex and -Suffolk tidal rivers; the Crouch, the Roach, the Blackwater, the -Colne, the Stour, the Orwell, the Deben, the Aide, are all open to -her, and are delightfully wild and unspoiled; she can sit upright upon -a sandbank till a blow is over. Many people who could afford yachting -and are drawn to it persistently think that it is not for them, -because they are 'bad sailors.' If they tried barging on the most -broken coast in England--say between Lowestoft and Whitstable--they -would be very pleasantly undeceived, unless indeed their case is -hopeless. This book, however, is not written to recruit the world of -yachtsmen, but to show how a home--a floating home on the sea for -winter as well as summer, not a tame houseboat--and a yacht may be -combined at a saving of cost to the householder. - -And by those whose heart is equal to the adventure this cure for the -modern 'cost of living' will not by any means be found an -uncomfortable makeshift, a disagreeable sacrifice by a conscientious -father of a family. A barge is not a poky hole. The barge described -in this book, though one is not conscious of being cramped inside her, -is only a ninety tonner. It would be easy to acquire a barge of a -hundred and twenty tons, and such a vessel could still be sailed by -two hands. The saloon in Mr. Ionides' barge is as large as many -drawing-rooms in London flats which are rented at L150 a year. In a -small London flat which was not designed for inhabitants 'cooped in a -winged sea-girt citadel' (though it might have been better if it had -been) there is little thought of saving space. In a vessel, one of the -primary objects of the designer is to save space. Sailors in their -habits act on the same principle. The success that has been achieved -by both architects and seamen is almost incredible. No one who has -lived for any length of time in a vessel has ever been able to rid -himself of the grateful sense that he has more room than he could have -expected, and certainly more than ever appeared from the outside. - -Nor do the points in favour of a vessel as a house end there. A ship -is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. In the summer you have -the sea breezes, which can be directed or diverted by awnings and -windows as you like. In the winter a ship is easily warmed and there -are no draughts. Although a vessel is farther removed from the world -than a flat, your contact with the world is paradoxically closer. If -you go downstairs from your flat you must dress yourself for the -street. The very man who works the lift, and mediates between you and -the external world, expects it of you. But from your comfortable cabin -on board ship to the deck, which gives you a platform in touch with -all that is outside, there are but half a dozen steps up the -companion. And yet, in touch with the world, you are still in your own -territory. You have not, as a matter of habit, changed your clothes. - -A sea-going vessel is a real home, a property with privileges -attached, and a solution of a difficulty. We hear much praise of -caravanning--a most agreeable pastime for those who prefer the rumble -of wheels to the wash of the tide or the humming of wind in the -rigging. But is it a solution of anything? It has not been stated that -it is. Let any receiver of an exiguous salary, who trudges across -London Bridge daily between his train and his office, not assume -finally that a more romantic way of life than his is impossible. Let -him lean for a few moments over the bridge, watch the business of the -Pool, and ask himself whether he sees in one of the sailing barges his -ideal home and the remedy for him of that tormenting family budget of -which the balance is always just on the wrong side. - -Life in a barge brings you acquainted with bargees. They are your -natural neighbours. The dialect of those who belong to Essex has been -reproduced in this book as faithfully as possible. If certain words -such as 'wonderful' (very) and 'old' occur very frequently, it is -because the authors have written down yarns and phrases as they heard -them, and not with an eye to introducing what might seem a more -credible variety of language. It is said that dialects are everywhere -yielding to a universal system of education. In the opinion of the -authors the surrender is much less extensive than is supposed. Some -people have no ear for dialect, and are capable of hearing it without -knowing that it is being talked. The users of local phrases, for their -part, are often shy, and if asked to repeat an unusual word will -pretend to be strangers to it, or, more unobtrusively, substitute -another word and continue apace into a region of greater safety. The -authors, however, have had the good fortune to be on such terms with -some men of Essex that they have been able to discuss dialect words -with them without embarrassment. It is hoped that the glossary at the -end of the book will be found a useful collection by those who are -interested in the subject. Some of the words, which have become -familiar to the authors, are not mentioned in any dialect dictionary. -Although the Essex dialect has persisted, it has not persisted in an -immutable form. So far as the authors may trust their ears, they are -certain that the pronunciation of the word 'old' (which is used in -nearly every sentence by some persons) is always either 'ould' or -'owd.' But if one looks at the well-known Essex dialect poem 'John -Noakes and Mary Styles: An Essex Calf's Visit to Tiptree Races,' by -Charles Clark, of Great Totham Hall (1839), one sees that 'old' used -to be pronounced 'oad.' In the same poem 'something' is written -'suffin',' though the authors of this book, on the strength of their -experience, have felt bound to write it 'suthen.' In Essex to-day 'it' -at the end of a sentence, and sometimes elsewhere, is pronounced -'ut'--in the Irish manner. Some words are pronounced in such a way as -to encourage an easy verdict that the Essex accent is Cockney, but no -sensitive ear could possibly confuse the sounds. In the Essex scenes -in 'Great Expectations' Dickens made use of the typical Essex word -'fare,' but he did not attempt to reproduce the dialect in essential -respects. Mr. W. W. Jacobs's delightful barge skippers are -abstractions. They may be Essex men, but they are not recognizable as -such. Enough that they amuse the bargee as much as they amuse -everybody else; one of the authors of this book speaks from -experience, having 'tried' some of Mr. Jacobs's stories on an Essex -barge skipper. No more about dialect must be written in the preface. -Readers who are interested will find the rest of the authors' -information sequestered in a glossary. - -Mr. Arnold Bennett, who has settled in Essex near the coast, and is, -moreover, a yachtsman, shares the enthusiasm of the authors for the -peculiar character of the Essex estuaries. He makes his first -appearance here as an illustrator. He has given his impressions of the -scenery in which the barges ply their trade, and which is the setting -of the following narrative. - -It remains to say that in the narrative several names of places in -Essex, as well as the real name of the barge, have been changed; and -that the authors wish to thank the proprietors of the _Evening News_, -who have allowed them to republish Sam Prawle's salvage yarn, which -was originally printed as a detached episode. - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - I. COLOUR PLATES FROM WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS BY ARNOLD BENNETT - - A Barge passing the Maplin Light _Frontispiece_ - The Swale River _to face page_ 24 - Bradwell Creek 60 - Maldon 84 - Beaumont Quay 124 - Walton Creek 136 - Landermere 150 - The River Orwell 164 - - - II. MONOCHROME PLATES FROM PHOTOGRAPHS - - A Barge at Sunset in the Lower Thames 8 - In Sea Reach 30 - Barges at an Essex Mill 40 - Hauling a Barge to her Berth 50 - The Dining Cabin 72 - The Saloon 92 - The _Ark Royal_ 102 - Bathing in the Sluice at the _Ark Royal's_ Headquarters 178 - Plan of the _Ark Royal_ 192 - - - - -A FLOATING HOME - - - - -CHAPTER I - - 'I will go back to the great sweet mother, - Mother and lover of men, the sea.' - - -One winter I made up my mind that it was necessary to live in some -sort of vessel afloat instead of in a house on the land. This decision -was the result, at last pressed on me by circumstances, of vague -dreams which had held my imagination for many years. - -These dreams were not, I believe, peculiar to myself. The child, young -or old, whose fancy is captive to water, builds for castles in Spain -houseboats wherein he may spend his life floating in his element. His -fancy at some time or other has played with the thought of possessing -almost every type of craft for his home--a three-decker with a -glorious gallery, a Thames houseboat all ready to step into, a disused -schooner, a bluff-bowed old brig. He will moor her in some delectable -water, and when his restlessness falls upon him he will have her -removed to another place. Civilization shall never rule him. As -though to prove it he will live free of rates, and weigh his anchor -and move on if the matter should ever happen to come under dispute. -Nor will he pay rent resentfully to a grasping landlord. For a mere -song he will pick up the old vessel that shall contain his happiness. -Her walls will be stout enough to shelter him for a lifetime, though -Lloyd's agent may have condemned her, according to the exacting tests -that take count of sailors' lives, as unfit to sail the deep seas. - -Certainly those who have the water-sense, yet are required by -circumstances to earn their living as landsmen, have all dreamed these -dreams. In many people the sight of water responds to some fundamental -need of the mind. To the vision of these disciples of Thales -everything that is agreeable somehow proceeds from water, and into -water everything may somehow be resolved. When they are away from -water they are vaguely uncomfortable, perhaps feeling that the road of -freedom and escape is cut off. Inland they will walk, like Shelley, -across a field to look at trickling water in a ditch, or will search -out a dirty canal in the middle of an industrial town. The sea, which -to some eyes seems to lead nowhere, seems to them to lead everywhere. -Iceland and the Azores open their ports equally to the owner of any -kind of vessel, and the wind is ready to blow him there, house and -all. The water-sense is the contradiction in many people of the -hill-sense. They of the water-sense cannot tolerate that too large a -slice of the sky, in which they love to read the weather-signs, should -be eclipsed; the wonderful lighting of the mountains is less -significant to them than the marshalling of vapours and tell-tale -clouds upon their spacious horizon. - -But this water-sense which lays a spell on you often exacts severe -tolls of labour. The yachtsman who employs no paid hands, for -instance, must sweat for his enjoyment; the simple acts of keeping a -yacht in sea-going order, of getting the anchor and making sail, and -of stowing sail and tidying up the ship when he has returned to -moorings, mean exacting and continuous work. If he goes for a short -sail the labour might reasonably be said to be disproportionate to the -pleasure; and if he goes for a long sail the pleasure itself may -easily turn into labour before the end. These disadvantages and -uncertainties the yachtsman knows, and yet they are for him no -deterrent. He may spend a miserable night giddily tossed about in an -open and unsafe anchorage, and call himself a fool for being there; -but the next week he will expose himself to the same discomfort. Why? -Because it is in his blood; because he has this water-sense which -compels him, bullies him, and enthrals him. - -The houseboats of the Thames are famous centres of a dallying summer -existence in which life tunes itself to the pace of the drifting punts -and skiffs, and seems to be expressed by the metallic melody of a -gramophone or the tinkling of a mandolin. At night there is enough -shelter for paper lanterns to burn steadily; and as the wind is -tempered, so is everything else. All is arranged to add the practical -touch of ease and comfort to the ideal of living roughly and simply, -and the result is a mixture of paradox and paradise. One wonders what -proportion of the population of the houseboats, if any, lives in the -houseboats in the winter. The boats always seem to be empty then, and -of course they were not designed for regular habitation. A wall or -roof which, like - - 'The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed, - Lets in new light through chinks that time has made,' - -is not a meet covering for the winter. Nor would even a thoroughly -weather-proof boat be so if it have no fireplace. But thought runs on -from the spectacle of the mere Thames houseboat to the further -possibilities of this mode of life. Why keep to the tame scenes of the -upper Thames? Why not live on the Broads, under that clean vault of -sky, scoured by the winds, among the wilder sights and sounds of -nature? Thought runs on again. Why on the Broads, after all? They are -a long way from London, and it may happen that one has to be often in -London. And in the summer you might imagine that the upper Thames had -been transported to Norfolk, so full are the Broads and rivers of -picnicking parties. Why, then, not live in a houseboat on sea water? -Sea water is a great purifier. No fear that it will become stagnant or -rank. Its transmuting process turns everything to purity. Take an odd -proof. Even rubbish or paper in sea water is not an offence as it is -in fresh water. Hurried along on the tide, it bears a relation to the -great business of ships; but in fresh water it reminds one of -disagreeable people, careless of all the amenities. - -The houseboat, then, must be a ship lying with her sisters of the sea -in a harbour. Attracted by the Government advertisements that appear -from time to time in shipping newspapers, one thinks, perhaps, or -buying an old man-of-war. But old men-of-war, though very roomy, are -more expensive than you might suppose. Besides, in the conditions of -sale there may be a stipulation that the buyer must break up the ship. -A barque, such as is often bought by a Norwegian trader in timber, and -spends her remaining days being pumped out by a windmill on deck, -might serve for a houseboat. So would a steam yacht when the engines -had been taken out. But then the draught of either is not light, and -the occupier of a houseboat might want to lie far up a snug creek, and -there even the highest spring tide would not give him the necessary -depth. A sea houseboat might be built specially, but that is not the -way of wisdom; the cost would be very great. The houseboat must be a -vessel of very easy draught, and also one that can be bought cheap and -be easily adapted for the purpose. - -Often had my thoughts carried me to this point by some such stages as -have been described. But the floating home had remained a phantom -because my desire for the sea was partly satisfied by the possession -of a small yacht, the _Playmate_, of which I was the Skipper and my -wife was the Mate, and in which we had spent all our holidays. Our -home was a country cottage, which I had bought at Fleetwick, not far -from a tidal river that strikes far into the heart of Essex. But at -length circumstances, as I have said, caused the dream to become for -me a very practical matter. - -It happened in this way. The shadow of the change from governess to -school had fallen on our two boys. We regretted it the more because -there was no school within reach of home, and they were, in our -opinion, too young to go to a boarding school. And so there seemed -nothing to be done but to sell or let our cottage--if we could--where -we had lived for nine years, and move to some place where there was a -good school for the boys. Whatever place we chose had to be on or near -salt water, for neither my wife nor I could seriously think of life -without water and boats. - -We found a satisfactory school near a tidal river in Suffolk, but we -could not find a house--at least, not one we both liked and could -afford. One day, having returned dejectedly from a search as futile -as usual, we were discussing the situation, which indeed looked -hopeless, for our means were obviously unequal to what we wanted to -do, when the idea of a floating home suddenly repossessed me with a -fresh significance. - -'Let's buy an old vessel,' I said, 'and fit her up as our house. We -have often talked of doing it some day. That may have been a joke, -perhaps. But why not do it _seriously_--_now_?' - -The Mate evaded the startling proposal for the moment. - -'I wish the children wouldn't grow up,' she commented sadly. - -'If we don't have the vessel,' I persisted, 'we shall fall between two -stools, because with all the expenses--school, rent, and so on, which -we've never had before--we shall have to give up the _Playmate_.' - -'That would be worse than anything.' - -The mere idea of giving up our boat was more than we could -contemplate--our boat in which we two had cruised alone together, -summer and winter, on the East Coast, and from whose masthead more -than once we had proudly flown the Red Ensign on our return from a -cruise 'foreign.' - -'I would rather live in a workman's cottage and keep the boat, than -live in a better house and have no boat,' said the Mate emphatically. - -'Well, we've got to leave here, and it's something to have found a -decent school. I suppose, if we take a house really big enough to hold -us, it will cost us forty pounds to move into it.' - -'_Much_ more than that if you count all the new carpets, curtains, and -dozens of other things we shall want.' - -I thought an occasion for reiteration had arrived. - -'Just think. If we had a ship, we should do away with the expense of -moving for one thing, the rent for another, and the rates and taxes -for another. We may be absolutely sure our expenses will increase, and -our income almost certainly won't.' - -The Mate was silent, so I continued: 'Suppose we are reduced to doing -our washing at home. Washing hung up to dry in the garden of a villa -is one thing, but slung between the masts of a ship it is another. Not -many people can scrub their own doorsteps without feeling embarrassed, -but one can wash down one's own decks proudly in front of the Squadron -Castle.' - -'There is something in that.' She was gazing out over the marshes, -where the gulls and plover were circling. She sighed, and I knew she -was thinking of the 'move.' - -I sat beside her and looked out of the window too, and the familiar -sight of a barge's topsail moving above the sea-wall caught my eye. -'That's what we should be doing,' I said, pointing to the -barge--'sailing along with our children and our household goods on -board instead of waiting for pan-technicons to arrive with our -furniture, and spending days in misery and discomfort moving it into a -house we don't like, and then paying a large rent every year for the -privilege of staying in it. If we had a barge we could anchor clear of -the town, and when the holidays came we could up anchor and clear off -to a place more after our own hearts. Of course a barge is the very -thing--the most easily handled ship for her size in the world. I see -the way out quite clearly now.' - -[Illustration: A BARGE AT SUNSET IN THE LOWER THAMES] - -'Yes, that sounds very jolly, but there would be a lot of drawbacks -too.' The Mate began to retreat towards the drawing-room. - -'Oh, but you haven't heard half the advantages yet,' I called after -her. - -The Mate wanted time. So did I. I lit a cigarette and thought for a -few minutes over our position; and the more I thought the more sure I -became that a barge would solve the problem for us. And when I joined -her I felt that I had a pretty strong case. - -'Now listen to me,' I said. 'Not only should we save a great deal over -the move, and over the rates and taxes, and have no landlord to -interfere with us, but we should actually be freer than we are here. -We should be sure of our sailing, which is one great advantage; and -later, when the boys go to their public school, we can move wherever -we like and not be tied to a house for seven, fourteen, or twenty-one -years. A move without a move--think of that. I am sure salt-water -baths will be good for the children, and hot salt-water baths will be -excellent for rheumatism--or anything of that sort. The barge will be -warmer in the winter than a house, and cooler in the summer. She will -be cheaper to keep up. You will save in servants and also in coals. -You know you hate tramps, and hawkers, and barrel-organs. Well, you -will be free from all these things. Of course, we don't have -earthquakes in England, but if we did have one we shouldn't feel it. -If we had a flood, it wouldn't hurt us. You remember we paid about -four pounds to have our burst water-pipes mended last winter, but we -shouldn't have that sort of thing in a barge. We shouldn't be swindled -over a gas-meter, and servants wouldn't leave because of the stairs. -It will be a delightful place for the children to bring their friends -to, and no one will know whether we're eccentric millionaires or -paupers only just to windward of the workhouse. We'll have the saloon -panelled in oak, and white enamel under the decks, and our books and -blue china all round. We'll....' - -I had just begun to warm to my work when an expression on the Mate's -face showed me that I had said enough and said it reasonably well. I -had made an impression on her adventurous heart. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - 'Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon, - Down with me from Lebanon to sail upon the sea. - The ship is wrought of ivory, the decks of gold, and thereupon - Are sailors singing bridal songs, and waiting to cast free. - - 'Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon, - The rowers there are ready and will welcome thee with shouts. - The sails are silken sails and scarlet, cut and sewn in Babylon, - The scarlet of the painted lips of women thereabouts.' - - -Two or three days after the conversation related in the last chapter -the Mate and I fell into a vein of reminiscence and reconstructed a -vision we had once shared of the ship that was some day to be our -home. It had the proper condition of a vision that the thing longed -for was unattainable; the vessel of our dreams had always been as far -down on the horizon as the balance at the bank that would pay for her. - -She was, above all things, to be beautiful, even for a ship, which is -saying much--for who ever saw a sailing ship otherwise? Of course, she -was to be square-rigged, for how else should we be able to splice the -mainbrace with rum and milk when the sun crossed the yard-arm? We -fancied gorgeous pictures on her sails, so that the winds should be -lovesick with them as with the sails of Cleopatra's barge; an ensign -aft, and streaming pennants of bright colours on her masts. Her poop, -towering above the water, fretted and carved and blazoned with all the -skill of bygone guilds, should have a gallery aft on which the captain -and his wife would take their ease On either quarter, lit up at -sundown, there would be tall poop lanterns covered with cunning -tracery and magic, such as Merlin might have wrought, so that on windy -nights the passing craft might see - - 'Far, far up above them her great poop lanterns shine, - Unvexed by wind and weather, like the candles round a Shrine.' - -Guns she would have on deck, and a fighting-top on the main, and a -forecastle where the crew should man the capstan and weigh anchor to a -chanty. Beneath her jibboom pointing heavenward she would set a -spritsail heralding her on her way. We could see her with sails all -bellied out in bold curves before a brave wind, and hear 'the -long-drawn thunder neath her leaping figure-head.' - -Thus she would sail on her happy course, leaving behind 'a scent of -old-world roses.' She would have to return, though, amid the smell of -burnt crude oil or coal, for of course she could never go to -windward. And I am afraid we were going to have electric light too. -After all, we are practical people. - -I remember the evening of this reminiscence very well, because I -suddenly became conscious that we were talking of the vision as a -thing that had been supplanted by something else. There was no doubt -about it. Our remarks had implied our consent to the scuttling of that -glorious galleon. We took an artistic interest in the image, but it -was no longer even good make-believe. - -The more I had thought over it the more the idea of the barge had -taken hold of me as a feasible scheme, for I was almost sure that the -sale of the cottage and the _Playmate_ would realize enough to buy the -barge and pay for making her habitable. - -I was familiar with the dimensions of a barge, and sketched out -roughly to scale various plans by which we could have five sleeping -cabins, a saloon, a dining cabin, kitchen, scullery, forecastle, and -steerage. This occupation became so fascinating that I could hardly -tear myself away from it at nights to go to bed. - -As I am inclined to be the fool who rushes in while the Mate is the -angel who fears to tread, it was natural for her to maintain certain -objections for some time, even though thus early I could see that she -was nearly as much bitten by the thought of the barge as I was. Here -is the kind of discussion that would occur: - -_Skipper_: You see, we've only got to be tidy and there'll be heaps of -room. - -_Mate_: You don't understand. Men never do. There are hundreds of -things one doesn't want in a yacht, even on a long cruise, which one -must have in a house-boat. - -_Skipper_: Well, there'll be our cabin and a cabin for the boys, and -another for Margaret, a spare cabin, the saloon, the dining-room, the -bathroom, the kitchen, the forecastle, the steerage, and lots of -lockers and cupboards everywhere. - -_Mate_: Oh, you don't understand. - -_Skipper_: I could be bounded in a nutshell and feel myself the king -of infinite space. - -_Mate_: Hamlet won't help us! - -_Skipper_: But look at the alternative. If we go in for a house and -can't afford the rent we shall have to give up the _Playmate_ and take -to walks along a Marine Parade instead. Oh, Lord! - -_Mate_: The children might fall overboard. - -_Skipper_: We can have stanchions all round the ship and double lines. - -_Mate_: What about slipping overboard between the ropes? - -_Skipper_: Well, I don't want to be laughed at, but if you really wish -it we'll have wire netting as well. - -_Mate_: What about a water-supply? We can't get on without plenty of -fresh water. - -_Skipper_: You shall have plenty. - -_Mate_: How? - -_Skipper_: In huge tanks. - -_Mate_: What shall I do without my garden? - -_Skipper_: That is the worst point and the only bad point. I've got no -answer except that we must give up something, and the question is -whether you would rather have the garden than everything else. Oh, -happy thought!--some day we will tie up alongside a little patch and -cultivate it. - -_Mate_: Are you perfectly sure we shan't have to pay rates? - -At this point the Skipper could always cite in evidence the case of -the 'floating' boathouse near by, which had been rated because it -would not float. That proved to demonstration that anything capable of -floating would not have been rated. Our friend Sam Prawle, an ex barge -skipper, who lived in an old smack moored on the saltings, held -himself an authority on rating in virtue of having taken part in this -case. He had helped to build the floating boathouse, and therefore -felt that his credit was involved in her ability to float. - -Some years ago our saltings--the strip of marsh intersected by rills, -which is covered by water only at spring tides--were not considered to -have any rateable value. Later a good many yachts were laid up on -them, and as the berths were paid for the saltings were rated. Then -followed two or three small wooden boathouses on piles, in which gear -was kept, and on these a ferret-eyed busybody cast his eye. He -reported them as being of rateable value. It was argued that the boats -in which gear was stored, as distinguished from the yachts, might as -well be rated too; but this would not hold water, for the simple -reason that boats could be floated off and anchored in the river or -taken away altogether, whereas the boathouses, though often surrounded -by water, were buildings on the land. - -To avoid paying rates, therefore, and at the same time to have a -comfortable place in which to camp out and store things, the -yacht-owner who employed Sam Prawle decided to build a floating -boathouse. Sam and he, having fixed several casks in a frame, built a -house on this platform. - -Now it came to pass that the local ferret informed the overseers that -this 'building on the saltings' did not float, and was therefore -rateable. From that time onwards until the matter was decided our -waterside world argued about little else but whether it was a -house-boathouse or a boat-houseboat. The owner was invited to meet the -overseers at the next spring tide to satisfy them on the point. - -Sam worked hard all the morning of the trial, covering the casks with -a thick mixture of hot pitch and tar. A small crowd gathered on the -sea-wall to watch events. It was a good tide, and I, who was present -as chairman of the overseers, was glad, because it gave the owner a -fair run for his money. My sympathy was all with him, although as an -official I had not been able to give him the benefit of the doubt. As -the tide rose near its highest point Sam and the owner, wading up to -their thighs in sea-boots, did their utmost to lift the boathouse or -move her sideways, but without success. - -At the top of the tide, both of them, red in the face and sweating -hard, managed to raise one end a couple of inches, and called on -Heaven and the overseers to witness that the boathouse floated. As -chairman of the overseers, I took the responsibility of saying that if -they could shift her a foot sideways she should be deemed to have -floated. They went at it like men, but the tide had fallen an inch -before their first effort under these terms was ended, and two or -three minutes later Sam was heard to say to the owner, 'That ain't a -mite o' use a shovin' naow, sir. She's soo'd a bit.' - -And so the boat-houseboat turned out to be a house-boathouse after -all, and was assessed at L1 a year. Sam used to pay the rate every -half-year on behalf of his employer, not without giving the collector -his views on the subject. - -When the Mate had been convinced that we should really escape rates -the thought of giving up her garden remained the last outwork of her -very proper defences. But this position also fell in good time. My -foot-rule, my rough scale plans and piled-up figures of cubic capacity -and surficial area carried all before them. I trembled for my -arithmetic once or twice, however, when I proved that we should have -very nearly as much room as in the cottage. - -A barge, then, it was to be. Not a superannuated, narrow, low-sided -canal barge; nor a swim-headed dumb barge or lighter, such as one can -see any day of the week bumping and drifting her way up and down -through London--the jellyfish of river traffic; nor yet, above all, an -upper Thames houseboat of any sort, but a real sailing Thames topsail -barge which could work from port to port under her own canvas, and -meet her trading sisters in the open on their business. - - * * * * * - -The news that we were going to live in a barge spread like wildfire, -and raised a storm of protest which took all our seamanship to -weather. Many a time I had to clear off the land, so to speak, against -an onshore gale with my barge and family. We thought our relations -were unreasonable, for all barge skippers to whom we unfolded our plan -became enthusiastic and said--tactful men!--that their wives were of -the same mind. I claimed their views as expert at the time, though to -be sure I knew well enough that there is a law of loyalty among -sailormen whenever the old question of wives sailing with their -husbands is discussed. - -Our relations, who did not know a Thames topsail barge from a Fiji -dug-out, regarded our scheme alternately as a sign of lunacy and as an -injury to themselves. They were bent on shaking us; third parties were -suborned to try tactfully to dissuade us, leading up to the subject -through rheumatic uncles on both sides of the family. The emissaries -lacked versatility, for they all approached the subject by way of uric -acid, and the moment we heard the word rheumatism we took the weather -berth by saying in great surprise, 'You've come to talk about the -barge, then?' - -Having outsailed the emissaries, we were still bombarded with letters -mentioning every possible objection. One said the barge would be dark, -and we replied that we intended to have twenty-six windows. Another -that it would be damp; against this we set our stoves. Another that it -would be stuffy; and the windows were indicated once more. A fourth -that it would be cold; and we brought forward the stoves again. A -fifth declared that it would be draughty. To this last we intended to -reply at some length that a ship with her outer and inner skin, and -air-lock or space between the two, is the least draughty place -possible. On second thoughts, however, we felt it would be waste of -time, so, acting the part of a clearing-house, we switched the -'draughty' aunt on to the 'stuffy' uncle and left them to settle which -it was to be. - -Really we were too full of hope and plans to care what anyone said. -Life was not long enough to get on with our work and answer objections -too, so after a time we settled down in the face of the world to a -policy of masterly silence. - -In the meantime, as a first step, we took the measurements of a barge -lying at Fleetwick Quay, so that we knew more accurately than before -what room we should have, and could plan our home accordingly. - -How those winter evenings flew! Armed with rulers, pencils, and -drawing-boards, we sat in front of the drawing-room fire working like -mad. We used reams of paper and blunted innumerable pencils making -designs of the various cabins and placing the cupboards, the bunks, -the bath, the kitchen range, the water-tanks, the china, the silver, -the furniture, and the thousand and one things which make a house. -After we had spent a week in deciding where the various pieces of -furniture were to go, we discovered that they could not possibly be -got in through the hatchways we had planned, and we accordingly -designed a special furniture hatch. It was glorious fun, and we were -always springing surprises on each other, and mislaying our pencils -and snatching up the wrong one in the frenzy of a new idea. Indeed, we -became so much absorbed that progress was hindered, for we could not -be induced to look at each other's plans until we agreed to have two -truces every night for purposes of comparison. - -At any moment the house might be sold, and then we should want our -barge, and buying a barge is not to be done in a moment or -unadvisedly. The transaction is critical. We should not be able to go -back upon it. Yacht copers, we knew, were as bad as horse copers, but -both apparently were new-born babes compared with barge copers, if our -information were correct. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - 'Dulcedo loci nos attinet.' - - -The primitive explorers who came up the Thames in their rough craft -examined the site of what was afterwards to be London, and saw that it -was good. London is where it is because of the river. It is strange -that Londoners should know so little, below bridges, of the river that -made them. The reason, of course, is that the means of seeing it are -very poor. How many Londoners could say how to come upon even a peep -of the lower river within a distance of five miles of London Bridge? -The common impression is that the river is impenetrably walled up by -warehouses, wharfs, docks, and other forbidden ground. A simple way is -to go by steamer when steamers are plying, but the best way is to be -taken on board a sailing barge. - -Taine said that the only proper approach to London was by the Thames, -as in no other way could a stranger conceive the meaning of London. -And from the water only is it possible to see properly one of the most -beautiful architectural visions in the world--the magnificent front -of Greenwich Hospital, rising out of the water, as noble a palace as -ever Venice imagined. - -If this is the most splendid spectacle of the lower Thames, the most -characteristic sight is that of the sailing barges, of which you may -pass hundreds between London Bridge and the Nore. These are vessels of -which Londoners ought to be very proud indeed; they ought to boast of -them, and take foreigners to see them. But, alas! the very word -'barge' is a symbol of ungainliness and sordidness. What beauty of -line these barges really have, from the head of the towering topsail -to the tiny mizzen that lightens the work of steering! There is no -detail that is weak or mean; a barge thriddling (as they say in Essex) -among the shipping of the winding river in a stiff breeze is boldness -perfectly embodied in a human design. The Thames sailing barges are -one of the best schools of seamanship that remain to a world conquered -by steam. - -The Thames barge is worthy to be studied for three reasons: her -history, her beauty, and her handiness. She is the largest sailing -craft in the world handled by two men--often by a man and his wife, or -a boy--and that in the busiest water in the world. - -One hundred to one hundred and twenty tons is the size of an average -barge nowadays. Seventy-five to eighty feet long by eighteen feet beam -are her measurements. With leeboards up she draws about three feet -when light and six when loaded; when she is loaded, with her -leeboards down, she draws fourteen feet. - -For going through the bridges in London or at Rochester, or when -navigating very narrow creeks, she will pick up a third hand known as -a 'huffler' (which is no doubt the same word as 'hoveller')[1] to lend -a hand. - - [1] A hoveller is an unlicensed pilot or boatman, particularly - on the Kentish coast. The word is said to be derived from the - shelters or hovels in which the men lived, but such an easy - derivation is to be mistrusted. - -Some explanation must be given of how it is possible for two men to -handle such a craft. In the first place, the largest sail of all, the -mainsail, is set on a sprit, and is never hoisted or lowered, but -remains permanently up. When the barge is not under way this sail is -brailed or gathered up to the mast by ropes, much as the double -curtain at a theatre is drawn and bunched up to each side. The topsail -also remains aloft, and is attached to the topmast by masthoops, and -has an inhaul and a downhaul, as well as sheet and halyard. Thus it -can be controlled from the deck without becoming unmanageable in heavy -weather. It is an especially large sail, and so far from being the -mere auxiliary which a topsail is in yachts, it is one of the most -important parts of the sail plan, and is the best-drawing sail in the -vessel. It requires none of the coaxing and trimming which the -yachtsman practises before he is satisfied with the set of the -little sail which stands in so different a proportion and relation to -his other sails. Often in a strong wind you may see a barge scudding -under topsail and headsails only. The truth is that when a barge -cannot carry her topsail it is not possible to handle her properly. -The foresail, like the mainsail, works on a horse. These and several -other things too technical to be mentioned here enable the barge to be -worked short-handed. - -[Illustration: THE SWALE RIVER] - -From Land's End to Ymuiden the Thames barge strays, but her home is -from the Foreland to Orfordness. Between these points, up every tidal -creek of the Medway, Thames, Roach, Crouch, Blackwater, Colne, Hamford -Water, Stour, Orwell, Deben, and Alde, wherever 'there is water enough -to wet your boots,' as the barge skipper puts it, one will find a -barge. - -She is the genius of that maze of sands and mudbanks and curious tides -which is the Thames Estuary. Among the shoals, swatchways, and -channels, she can get about her business as no other craft can. The -sandbanks, the dread of other vessels, have no terror for her; rather, -she turns them to her use. In heavy weather, when loaded deep, she -finds good shelter behind them; when light, she anchors on their backs -for safety, and there, when the tide has left her, she sits as upright -as a church. Then, too, she is consummate in cheating the tides and -making short cuts, or 'a short spit of it,' as bargees say. In this -the sands help her, for the tide is far slacker over the banks than in -the fairway, where her deep-draught sisters remain. While these are -waiting for water she scoots along out of the tide and makes a good -passage in a shoal sea. - -What do all the barges carry? What do they not carry? were easier to -answer. They generally start life--a life of at least fifty years if -faithfully built and kept up--with freights of cement and grain, and -such cargoes as would be spoilt in a leaky vessel. From grain and -cement they descend by stages, carrying every conceivable cargo, until -they reach the ultimate indignity of being entrusted only with what is -not seriously damaged by bilge water. - -Barges even carry big unwieldy engineering gear, and when the hatches -are not large enough, the long pieces, such as fifty-foot turnable -girders, are placed on deck. The sluices and lock-gates for the great -Nile dam at Assuan were sent gradually by barge from Ipswich to London -for transhipment. - -Hay and straw--for carrying which more barges are used than for any -other cargo except cement--must be mentioned separately. After the -holds are full the trusses of hay or straw are piled up on deck lo a -height of twelve to fifteen feet. At a distance the vessel looks like -a haystack adrift on the sea. The deck cargo, secured by special gear, -often weighs as much as forty tons, and stretches almost from one end -of the ship to the other. There is no way from bow to stern except -over the stack by ladders; the mainsail and foresail have to be reefed -up, and a jib is set on a bowsprit; and the mate at the wheel, unable -to see ahead, has to steer from the orders of the skipper, who -'courses' the vessel from the top of the stack. To see a 'stackie' -blindly but accurately turning up a crowded reach of London River -makes one respect the race of bargees for ever. How a 'stackie' works -to windward as she does, with the enormous windage presented by the -stack, and with only the reduced canvas above it, is a mystery, and is -admitted to be a mystery by the bargemen themselves. One of them, when -asked for an explanation, made the mystery more profound by these -ingenuous words: 'Well, sir, I reckon the eddy draught off the -mainsail gits under the lee of the stack and shoves she up to -wind'ard.' - -The Thames barge is a direct descendant of the flat-bottomed Dutch -craft, and her prototype is seen in the pictures of the Dutch marine -school of the seventeenth century. Both her sprit and her leeboards -are Dutch; the vangs controlling the sprit are the vangs of the -sixteenth-century Dutch ships; and until 1830 she had still the Dutch -overhanging bow, as may be seen in the drawings of E. W. Cooke. The -development of her--the practical nautical knowledge applied to her -rigging and gear--is British, like the invincible nautical aplomb of -her crew. - -Those who have watched the annual race of the Thames barges in a -strong breeze have seen the perfection of motion and colour in the -smaller vessels of commerce. The writer, when first he saw this race -and beheld a brand-new barge heeling over in a wind which was as much -as she could stand, glistening blackly from stem to stern except where -the line of vivid green ran round her bulwark (a touch of genius, that -green), with her red-brown sails as smooth and taut as a new dogskin -glove, and her crew in red woollen caps in honour of the occasion, -exclaimed that this was not a barge, but a yacht. - -A barge never is, or could be, anything but graceful. The sheer of her -hull, her spars and rigging, the many shades of red in her great -tanned sails, the splendid curves of them when, full of wind, they -belly out as she bowls along, entrance the eye. Whatever changes come, -we shall have a record of the Thames barge of to-day in the accurate -pictures of Mr. W. L. Wyllie. He has caught her drifting in a calm, -the reflection of her ruddy sails rippling from her; snugged down to a -gale, her sails taut and full, and wet and shining with spray; running -before the wind; thrashing to windward with topsail rucked to meet a -squall; at anchor; berthed. Loaded deep or sailing light; with -towering stacks of hay; creeping up a gut; sailing on blue seas -beneath blue skies; or shaving the countless craft as she tacks -through the haze and smoke of a London reach, she is always beautiful. - -Of course the bargees pay their toll of lives like other sailors. They -are not always in the quiet waters of liquid reflections that seem to -make their vessels meet subjects for a Vandevelde picture. Many -stories of wreck, suffering, and endurance might be told, but one will -suffice--a true narrative of events. The barge _The Sisters_, laden -with barley screenings, left Felixstowe dock for the Medway one Friday -morning. She called at Burnham-on-Crouch, and on the following Friday -afternoon was between the Maplin Sands and the Mouse Lightship, when a -south-west gale arose with extraordinary suddenness. Before sail could -be shortened the topsail and jib were blown away. The foresail sheet -broke, and the sail slatted itself into several pieces before a -remnant could be secured. Under the mainsail and the remaining portion -of the foresail the skipper and his mate steered for Whitstable. Then -the steering-chain broke, and nothing could be done but let go the -anchor. They were then in the four-fathom channel, about -three-quarters of a mile inside the West Oaze Buoy. - -The seas swept the barge from end to end. Darkness fell, and for an -hour the skipper burnt flares, while his mate stood by the boat ready -to cast it off from the cleat in an emergency. The emergency came -before there was a sign of approaching rescue. The barge suddenly -plunged head first and disappeared. The mate, with the instinct of -experience, cast off the painter of the boat as the deck went down -beneath his feet. Both men went under water, but the boat was jerked -forwards from her position astern as the painter released itself, and -the men came up to find the dinghy between them. It was a miracle, but -so it happened. They grabbed hold of her before she could be swept -away, climbed in, and began to bail out the water. With one oar over -the leeside and the other in the sculling-hole they made for the Mouse -Lightship. 'If we miss that,' said the skipper, 'God knows where we -shall go!' For four hours they struggled towards the Mouse light, -although they could not always see it, and eventually came within -hailing distance. They shouted again and again, but the crew of the -lightship, though they heard them, could not at first see them. At -last the boat came near enough for a line to be thrown across it. The -boat was hauled alongside and the men were drawn up into safety, -'eaten up with cramp,' as the skipper said, and numb with exhaustion -and exposure. At the same moment the boat, which was half-full of -water, broke away and disappeared. - -Perhaps the best time to see a barge is while deep laden, she beats -to windward up Sea Reach, on a day when large clouds career across the -sky, sweeping the water with shadows, as the squalls boom down the -reach, and the wind, fighting the tide, kicks up a fierce short sea. -Then, as the fishermen say, the tideway is 'all of a paffle.' As the -barge comes towards you, heeling slightly (for barges never heel far), -you can see her bluff bows crashing through the seas and flinging the -spray far up the streaming foresail. It bursts with the rattle of shot -on the canvas. You can see the anchor on the dripping bows dip and -appear as sea after sea thuds over it, and the lee rigging dragging -through the smother of foam that races along the decks and cascades -off aft to join the frothy tumult astern. You can see the weather -rigging as taut as fiddle-strings against the sky. Now she is coming -about! The wheel spins round as the skipper puts the helm down, and -the vessel shoots into the wind. She straightens up as a sprinter -relaxes after an effort. The sails slat furiously; the air is filled -with a sound as of the cracking of great whips; the sprit, swayed by -the flacking sails, swings giddily from side to side; the mainsheet -blocks rage on the horse. Then the foresail fills, the head of the -barge pays off, and as the mate lets go the bowline the stay-sail -slams to leeward with the report of a gun. The mainsail and topsail -give a last shake, then fill with wind and fall asleep as the vessel -steadies on her course and points for the Kentish shore. As she heels -to port she lifts her gleaming side and trails her free leeboard as a -bird might stretch a tired wing. She means to fetch the Chapman light -next tack. - -[Illustration: IN SEA REACH] - -A fleet of barges shaking out their sails at the turn of the tide and -moving off in unison like a flock of sea-birds is a picture that never -leaves the mind. And darkness does not stop the bargeman even in the -most crowded reaches so long as the tide serves. Every yachtsman -accustomed to sail in the mouth of the Thames has in memory the -spectral passing of a barge at night. She grows gradually out of the -blackness. There is the gleam of her side light, the trickling sound -of the wave under her forefoot, the towering mass of sombre canvas -against the sky, the faint gleam of the binnacle lamp on the dark -figure by the wheel, the little mizzen sail right aft blotting out for -a moment the lights on the far shore, and the splash-splash of the -dinghy towing astern. There she goes, and if the fair wind holds she -will be in London by daybreak. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - 'And sometimes I think a soul was gi'ed them with the blows.' - - -When the barge _Osprey_ berthed at Fleetwick Quay to unload stones for -our roads we went on board, and took our old friend Elijah Wadely, the -skipper, into our confidence. - -'Ef yaou're a goin' to buy a little ould barge, sir,' said Elijah, -'what yaou wants to know is 'er constitootion. My meanin' is, ef yaou -knaow who built she, yaou'll know ef she was well built; and ef yaou -knaow what trade she's bin' in you can learn from that. Naow ef she's -a carryin' wheat, or any o' them grains, what must be kept dry, -yaou'll knaow she can't be makin' any water, or _do_, she 'ouldn't be -a carryin' 'em. Then agin, water don't improve cement, and that's a -cargo what's wonnerful heavy on a barge is cement, and ef bags is -spoilt that's a loss to the skipper, that is. So you can take it that -barges what carry same as grain and oilcake and cement and bricks and -such-like is mostly good too. - -'And when yaou knaows what she's bin a carryin' yaou wants to know -where she's bin a carryin' it to; for some berths is good and some is -wonnerful bad, specially draw-docks,[2] and what sort of condition -she's in is all accordin' to where she's bin a settin' abaout. I've -knaowed many a barge strain herself settin' in a bad berth, whereas a -barge of good constitootion settin' in the same berth will maybe wring -a bit and make water for a trip or two, but she'll take up agin. Yes, -sir, ef yaou're a goin' to buy a little ould barge--and there ain't a -craft afloat as 'ud make a better 'ome, as my missis 'as said scores -o' times--yaou must study 'er constitootion.' - - [2] Berths on the river bed, where carts come alongside at low - water to unload the barges. - -'How's trade, Lijah?' - -'Well, sir, I've bin bargin' forty years, and I don't fare to remember -when times was so bad in bargin' afore.' - -'What do you think we could get a decent 120-ton barge for, Lijah, -supposing we wanted a big one?' - -'I doubt yaou 'ont get 'un under five or six hundred paounds. Yaou -see, sir, what bit o' trade there is them bigger barges same as 120 -tons and up'ards gits, for they on'y carries two 'ands same as we, -what can on'y carry 95 ton, though by rights they ought to carry a -third 'and.' - -'Do you think we could get a sound 90 tonner for two hundred pounds, -because that's the size we've practically decided on?' - -'I don't want to think nawthen about that, I _knaow_ yaou can. Why, -on'y last week the _Ada_ was sould for one 'undred and sixty pound, as -good a little ould thing as any man ever wanted under 'im. But yaou -wants to be wonnerful careful-like in buyin' a barge. Yaou know that, -sir, as well as I do, and my meanin' is there's barges and barges. As -I was a tellin' yer, yaou wants to know her constitootion first, and -then yaou wants to knaow her character. Yaou don't want to take up -with a craft what yaou can't press a bit, or what'll bury 'er jowl or -keep all on a gnawin' to wind'ard or 'ont lay at anchor easy or is -unlucky in gettin' run into.' - -'Why, you're not superstitious, are you, Lijah?' - -'No, no, sir. I'm on'y tellin' yer there's barges and barges. Look at -this little ould _Osprey_, sir. Yaou can see she's got a new bowsprit. -Well an' that's the third time she's bin in trouble since yaou've -knaowed she, ain't it? We'd just come off the loadin' pier at Southend -to make room for another barge, and we layed on that ould moorin' -under the pier right agin the foot of the beach ready for the mornin's -high water. Well, she took the graound all right, for she d'ent on'y -float there about faour hours out of the twelve, and I went belaow to -turn in for a bit. She 'adn't barely flet when I felt her snub, and -there was a barge atop 'o she and aour bowsprit gone. I knaow wessels -has laid on that ould moorin' for the last twenty year, and never -ain't heard tell of one bein' in trouble afore. - -'Soon as we'd got t'other barge clear, I went up and tould the guvnor. -"Lijah," 'e says, "ef I was to put that little ould _Osprey_ in my -back-yard she'd get run into." Yes, that's the truth, that is; you -can't leave that ould barge anywhere, no matter where that is, but the -ould thing'll have suthen atop o' she. And what's more, the guvnor's -lost every case he's took up on 'er so far, though he was allus in the -right. - -'Naow the _Alma_, what my wife's cousin Bill Stebbins is skipper of, -is all the other way raound. That ould thing's bin run into twice -since Bill's had 'er, once on her transom and once on her port side -just abaft the leeboards, and there warn't no law case nor nawthen, -but each time the party what done it agreed on a sum and paid it, and -the ould thing made money over it for 'er guvnor. - -'I once see'd the _Alma_ do a thing what I wouldn't 'ave believed not -if forty thaousand people told me. She was a layin' in Limehouse -reach, stackloaded and risin' to abaout twenty fathom o' chain. There -was a strong wind daown, and she was a sheered in towards the shore. -Bill's mate was a goin' ashore for beer, and I 'eard Bill tellin' 'im -to 'urry up. I knaowed why he tould the mate to be quick, because that -blessed ould ebb was running wonnerful 'ard, and sometimes that'll -frickle abaout and make a barge take a sheer aout, and p'raps break -her chain, which barges do sometimes in the London River. Well, -suddenly I seed that little ould _Alma_ sheer right off into the river -and snub up with a master great jerk what pulled her ould head raound -agin. Then I see'd 'er with her chain up and daown a drivin' straight -for the laower pier, where I reckoned she'd be stove in or suthen, and -there was Bill alone on board as 'elpless as a new-born babe, as the -sayin' is, for a' course 'e couldn't lay aout no kedge nor nawthen by -'isself. - -'Well, as true as I'm a settin' 'ere that lucky ould thing come a -drivin' athwart till she fetches into the eddy tide below the upper -pier, and then she goes away to wind'ard, although there was a strong -wind daown, mind yer, till she fetches up alongside another barge, the -_Mabel_, what was a layin' there, and all Bill 'ad to do was to pass -the _Alma's_ stay fall raound the _Mabel's_ baow cleat and back agin. -Yes, sir, that was the head masterpiece that ever I did see.' - -A few days afterwards we happened to see the _Norah Emily_ down in the -mouth of our river. This was the barge commanded by Bill Stebbins, the -former skipper of the _Alma_. We took a rather mischievous pleasure in -going on board to find out whether Bill Stebbins would confirm all -Elijah had told us. We fancied that Elijah would have spoken more -circumspectly about the unfailing luck of the _Alma_, if he had -guessed that Bill was likely to come round our way. But our doubts -soon became remorse. Elijah was vindicated. - -'Yes, yes,' said Bill, 'that ould _Alma_ was the luckiest ould basket -ever built; that d'ent matter where yaou left she, she d'ent never git -into trouble. There was faour on us once't a layin' in the middle -crick below the Haven, the _Lucy_, the _Susan_, the _Fanny_, and my -little ould _Alma_. We had to wait our turn at the quay for loadin' -straw, so the mate and me went off home for a day or two. Well, that -come on to blaow suthen hard, that did, and all they there barges was -in some kind of trouble, but the _Alma_ she just stayed where she were -and d'ent come to no manner o' harm. - -'Then agin, same as in the London docks, yaou ast any barge skipper -yaou like haow long a barge can lay there without a lighter or a tug -or suthen wantin' she to shift. None the more for that, I've bin, -there plenties o' times with that little ould _Alma_, and she warn't -niver in no one's way. I remember off Pickford's wharf, Charing Cross, -we 'ad to shift to make room for another barge. I 'ad to goo off to -fix up another freight, but reckoned to be back by six o'clock, so I -tould the mate to git a hand to help shift she and make fast in case I -warn't back tide-time. Well, arter I got my freight I meets one or two -friends, and what with one thing and another, I den't git back till -eleven o'clock o' night. I couldn't find that mate, or, _do_, I'd a -given he suthen, for there was that blessed ould thing made fast with -a doddy bit o' line no bigger'n yaour finger, whereas by rights she -ought to have had three or faour of aour biggest ropes to hold she -from slippin' daown the wind. Anyway, there she lay end on just right -for slippin' off, and niver even offered to move. As yaou knaow, sir, -scores and scores o' barges 'av bruk the biggest rope they carry that -way and gone slidin' daown the wind. The _Mary Jane_ did, just above -Bricklesey[3] on the way to Toozy,[4] and buried her ould jowl that -deep in the mud on t'other side of the gut that I was skeered she -wasn't goin' to fleet. - - [3] Brightlingsea. - - [4] St. Osyth. - -'But there y'are, that _Mary Jane_ 'ouldn't never set anywhere where -any other barge would; and ef her rope was strong enough she'd have -tore the main cross chock or anything else aout o' she. That's the -masterousest thing, that is, but I s'pose that's all accordin' to the -way her bottom is. But that ould _Alma_--well, I've heard plenties o' -times afore I took she what a lucky bit o' wood she were. Look at -here, sir. We was up Oil Mill Crick by Thames Haven there and the wind -straight in, and us had a bit o' bad luck comin' aout, for us stuck on -that slopin' shelf o' mud right agin the salts there. I felt wonnerful -anxious, for there warn't three foot to spare, and ef she'd a slipped -off she'd a bruk 'erself to pieces. I don't reckon any other barge -'ud have hild on there, but that ould _Alma_ did. She just set up -there same as a cat might on a table. - -'In Shelly Bay, too, just above the Chapman Light, she done a thing -what no other barge 'ould have done. Us couldn't let goo our anchor -where us wanted to, as there was another barge, the _Louisa_, agin the -quay. I had to goo off to see the guvnor, so I ast the skipper o' the -_Louisa_ to give my mate a hand when the _Louisa_ come off, for a -course the _Alma_ hadn't got near enough chain aout. Well, that bein' -a calm then my mate tould the skipper o' the _Louisa_ not to trouble, -as he warn't goin' to shift till the mornin'. That bein' a calm then -warn't to say that 'ud be a calm in the mornin'; and it warn't, for -that come on to blaow a strorng hard wind straight on shore. - -'That ould thing begun to drag her anchor, but as soon as ever her -ould starn tailed on to that beach her anchor hild, and she lay head -on to the sea as comfortable as yaou could want to be. There ain't a -mite o' doubt but what ninety-nine barges out 'er a hundred 'ud have -paid off one way or t'other, and come ashore broadside on and done -some damage, for there's a nasty swell comes in there.' - - * * * * * - -Barges came and went in our river. We inspected some at the quay, and -sailed down in the _Playmate_ to talk to the skippers of others. We -soon learned enough about barges to fill a book. We heard how the day -the _Invicta_ was launched she ran into another vessel and her -skipper's hand was badly cut; how his wife tried (in the Essex phrase) -to 'stench' the bleeding; how the skipper swore that the ship would be -unlucky, as blood had fallen on her on the day she was launched; and -how the wife herself died on board on the third trip. We heard of good -barges and bad, of lucky barges and unlucky; of barges that would -always foul their anchors, and others that never did; of barges that -would carry away spars or lose men overboard, or break away from their -berths, and of others that were as gentle as doves. - -[Illustration: BARGES AT AN ESSEX MILL] - -It seemed that barges are much like human beings; when young, they can -stand strains and do heavy work which they have to give up when -middle-aged. If they have a weakness of constitution it reveals itself -when they are young; but having passed the critical age, they settle -down to a long useful life, and it is not uncommon for them to be -still at work after fifty or sixty years. But the most important -result of our researches was the universal opinion that a sound 90 -tonner was to be got at our price. - -At least, that was the most important fact from my point of view; but -I ought in truthfulness to say that while I had been making notes -likely to help me to buy a good barge with a sound constitution, the -Mate had looked upon our accumulated information from a different -angle, and had been giving her attention to barges' characters. - -I might have foreseen this, for she always looked on the _Playmate_ as -a living thing. She has the feeling of the bargemen, who say of an old -vessel, 'Is she still alive?' I was not prepared, however, for her to -tell me that, however sound a barge might be, I was not to buy her -unless her character was good. I argued in vain. - -'Do you think I would be left with the children on board a barge like -the _Osprey_, always being run into? Or like the _Mildred_, always -dragging her anchor? Or the _Charlotte_, who has thrown two men -overboard? Not I!' - -I pointed out that she had so successfully acquired the spirit of -barging that she was evidently made for the life. The suggestion was -received with favour. We were indeed now so deep in the business that -we were beyond recall. Nothing remained but to choose our particular -90 tonner with a good character. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - 'Ships are but boards, sailors but men; there be land-rats and - water-rats, land-thieves and water-thieves.' - - -The next thing that happened was that we received an offer of L375 for -our cottage. After an attempt to 'raise the buyer one'--an attempt -that would have been more persistent had our desire to become -barge-owners been less ardent--we accepted the offer. We ought to have -got more, but as the barge market was flat we salved our consciences -on the principle that what you lose on the swings you gain on the -roundabouts. - -We entered the barge market as buyers. It is impossible to 'recapture -the first fine careless rapture' of those days. In every 90-ton barge -we looked on we saw the possible outer walls of our future home. The -arrival of the post had a new significance, for we had made known far -and wide the fact that we were serious buyers. We turned over our -letters on the breakfast-table every morning like merchants who should -say, 'What news from the Rialto?' - -The first barges we heard of were, according to the advertisement, the -'three sound and well-found sailing barges, the _Susan_, the _Ethel_, -and the _Providence_, of 44 tons net register.' Each of these was -about 90 tons gross register, and at that moment of optimism the -chances seemed at least three to one that one of them would suit us. - -Let it be said here that the net registered tonnage of barges is a -conventional symbol. Whether a barge carries 100 or 120 tons, the net -tonnage is always 44 and so many hundredths--often over ninety -hundredths. If by any miscalculation in building she works out at 45 -tons or more, a sail-locker or some other locker is enlarged to reduce -her tonnage, for vessels of 45 tons net register and upwards have to -pay port dues in London. - -It is, of course, the ambition of every owner, whether of a 5-ton -yacht or the _Leviathan_, to get his net registered tonnage as low as -possible, so as to minimize his port and light dues. One well-known -yachtsman who was having his yacht registered kindly assisted the -surveyor by holding one end of the measuring tape. In dark corners the -yachtsman could hold the tape as he pleased, but in more open places -the surveyor's eye was upon him. The result was curious; the yacht -turned out to have more beam right aft than amidships. 'She's a varra -funny shaped boat,' said the surveyor doubtfully. Luckily his dinner -was waiting for him, and he did not care to remeasure a yacht about -the precise tonnage of which no one would ever trouble himself. - -We hurried off to consult Elijah Wadely about the _Susan_, the -_Ethel_, and the _Providence_. - -'Not a one o' they 'on't suit yaou, sir,' said Lijah. 'That little -ould _Susan_ was most tore out years ago--donkeys years ago. And that -ould _Ethel_--- well, she's only got one fault.' - -'What's that?' - -'She were built too soon,' chuckled Lijah. 'And that ould _Providence_ -is abaout the slowest bit o' wood ever put on the water. No, no, sir; -none o' they 'on't do.' - -We were disappointed, of course, but not long afterwards we heard of -another barge laid up near a neighbouring town, and went to see her. -She had been tarred recently and looked fairly well, but we did not -trust the owner. Not long before he had tried to sell us an old punt -(also freshly done up) for twenty-five shillings--a punt which we -discovered had been given to him for a pint of beer. We looked over -the barge accompanied by the owner, who rather elaborately pointed out -defects, which he knew, and we knew, were unimportant, in a breezy and -open manner, as one trying to impress us with his candour. - -When the Mate was out of hearing he used endearing and obscene -language about the barge, as one who should say, 'Now you know the -worst of her and of me.' However, the memory of the punt, and what -Falstaff describes in Prince Hal's eyes as 'a certain hang-dog look,' -convinced us that the barge would never stand a survey, and we learned -afterwards that she was as rotten as a pear below the water-line. - -We had hardly returned from this inspection when we heard of three -more barges to be sold. They were engaged in carrying cement to London -and bringing back anything they could get, and at that moment were -lying off Southwark. - -We went at once to London. The next day we visited the _Elizabeth_, -one of the barges, and were invited into the cabin by the skipper and -his wife--not any of our Essex folk, worse luck. I began to make use -of some of the knowledge I had acquired. In this I was checked by the -lady of the barge, who said, 'It seems to me, mister, yer wants to -know something, and if yer wants us to speak yer ought to pay yer -footing.' - -I sent for a bottle of gin, already painfully recognizing that looking -at barges in our country was one thing, and in London another. The -skipper and his wife appeared to be thirsty souls, for soundings in -the bottle fell rapidly. We discussed the weather and things generally -while I took stock of these people, who were to me a new and -disagreeable type. I wondered whether they would be more likely to -speak the truth before they finished the gin--which they seemed likely -to do--or afterwards. Meanwhile I looked round me. - -The _Elizabeth_ had a small cabin and no ventilation worth mentioning, -and as the atmosphere grew thicker, in self-defence I lit my pipe. -Then I tried again. - -'Well, yer see, mister, it's this 'ere way. You wants to buy the -barge, and if I says she's all right you buys 'er, and I lose my job; -and if I says she ain't all right I gits into trouble with my guvnor.' - -'Quite so,' I said, 'but the survey will show whether she is sound or -not, and I want to save the expense of having a survey at all if she -isn't sound. If I do have her surveyed and she is sound your owner -will sell her anyhow. So you may just as well tell me.' - -'D'yer mind saying all that over again?' remarked the skipper. - -I did so, and the pair helped themselves to gin once more. 'What I -says is this,' said the lady, 'this is very fine gin and a very fine -barge.' - -'Yus, the gin's all right, and so's the barge,' said the skipper, -adopting the brilliant formula. 'I can't say fairer'n that, can I?' - -The situation was becoming hopeless and my anger was rising, so I said -curtly, dropping diplomacy, 'What I want to know is, does she leak, is -she sound, what has she been carrying, where has she been trading -to?' - -"Can't say, mister. This's our first trip in 'er," said the skipper. - -"Fine gin and fine barge," repeated the woman. - -We fled. - -The second barge we visited was a good-looking craft, built for some -special work, but she lacked the depth in her hold which we required -for our furniture. - -The third barge, the _Will Arding_, lay off deep-loaded in the fairway -waiting for the tide to berth. The skipper was not on board, but a -longshoreman in search of a drink gave me a list of public-houses -where he might be found. - -At the first three public-houses knots of grimy mariners had either -just seen George or were expecting him every minute, and if I would -wait one of them would find him. At the fourth public-house the same -offer was made, and in despair I accepted it. - -It required more moral courage than I possessed to wait with thirsty -sailors, their mugs ostentatiously empty, without ordering drinks all -round; yet, as I expected, the huntsman returned in a few minutes -puffing and blowing--which physical distress was instantaneously cured -by sixpence--to say that George was nowhere to be found. - -With a gambler's throw, I tried one public-house not on my list, and -George was not there; but as usual there were those who knew where to -find him if the gentleman would wait. - -I never met George, and, judging by his friends, I did not want to; -though, to be just, he might have been blamelessly at home all this -time with his family. And there, as a matter of fact, he very likely -was, for I learned later, what everyone else knew and I might have -suspected, that he had been paid off, as this was the _Will Arding's_ -last trip before being sold. - -We wandered back to the waterside and stood gazing at the slimy -foreshore, the barges and lighters driving up on the muddy tide, the -tugs fussing up and down, their bow-waves making the only specks of -white in the gloomy scene, the bleak sooty warehouses, and the wharfs -with their cranes like long black arms waving against the sky. We were -declining rapidly into depression, when I saw emerging from the shadow -of the bridge a stackie in charge of a tug. - -How clean and dainty she looked, like a fresh country maid marketing -in a slum! Her fragrant stack of hay brought to us a whiff of the -country whence she had come, and a vision of great stretches of -marshland dotted with cattle, and hayricks sheltered behind sea-walls -waiting for red-sailed barges to take them away. - -The tug slackened speed; the stack-barge was being dropped. She seemed -familiar, and as she came nearer I saw her name, the _Annie_. Joe -Applegate, the skipper, a trusted friend of ours, was at the wheel. -How pleased I was now that I had spent those fruitless half-hours -looking for George! - -"Ain't that a fair masterpiece a seein' yaou here, sir!" shouted Joe -in good Essex that raised our spirits like a bar of cheerful music. -"And haow's them little ould booeys?" - -He had come with 70 tons of hay for the London County Council horses. -We were doubly glad to look on his honest face when he came on shore -and told us that he knew the _Will Arding_ well and had traded to this -wharf for years. - -"Yes, yes, sir; knaowed her these twenty years. She belongs to a -friend of my guvnor's, and were built by 'is father at Sittingbourne, -and 'as allus been well kep' up by 'is son. She'd be gettin' on for -forty, I reckon, and a course she ain't same as a new barge, but -she'll last your lifetime if you're on'y goin' to live in she and goo -a pugglin' abaout on her same as summer-time and that. She'll 'ave a -cargo of cement aboard naow--90 to 95 tons she mostly carry, and I -ain't never heard of 'er spoiling a bag yet. She's got a good -constitution, she 'as, but none the more for that yaou can watch she -unloaded to-morrer if yaou've a mind to, and ef she suits yaour -purpose ave 'er surveyed arterwards." - -The Mate asked about her character. - -"She ain't never bin in trouble but once, that I knaows on, and -then she were run into by a ketch and got three timbers bruk on 'er -port bow. No, no, sir; there ain't nawthen agin that little ould -thing." - -[Illustration: HAULING A BARGE TO HER BERTH] - -We seemed to be on the right tack at last. Having learned what more we -could, we prepared to come to grips with the owner. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - "Sail on! nor fear to breast the sea, - Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee!" - - -The owner of the _Will Arding_, whom we met the next day, was a kindly -simple man who told us all we needed to know about the vessel. We had -prepared ourselves to cope with a coper of the worst kind; but we were -soon disarmed, and that not to our detriment. He told us that the -barge had just finished her contract, and as, in his opinion, the days -of small barges were over, except in good times, he was going to sell -her, as she was barely paying her way. He showed us the record of her -trips, the cargoes she had carried, the places she had traded to, and -the repairs done to her from time to time. - -He was so agreeable that the Mate hesitated to ask about her -character, but her sense of duty prevailed. One collision, in which -she was not to blame, and two fingers off the hand of one of her -mates, appeared to be the only blots on an otherwise stainless career. -Joe Applegate had already told us of the collision, though not of the -fingers, and I hoped that the Mate would be satisfied. And she was, -when she had learned that the fingers had been lost in the least -ominous manner in which fingers conceivably could be lost. - -Two days later we received a message that the _Will Arding_ had -unloaded, and was lying at Greenwich ready for us to examine her. - -A more gloomy February day for our visit could hardly have been; the -wind was light and easterly, and a cold drizzle fell through the fog. -The damp, however, did not touch our spirits. Even our bodies were -warmed by excitement. The owner met us in his yard, and we tried to -assume an indifference which probably did not deceive him. - -The tide had ebbed some way, leaving the gravelly foreshore covered -with black slime, and there, half afloat, half resting on the ground, -and gently rocking to the wash of a passing tug, lay the _Will -Arding_, with a slight cant outwards. Her annual overhaul was due in a -month, the owner told us, thus explaining the condition of her paint -and tar. She had been sailed to Greenwich by odd hands who had not -even troubled to wash her down. Certainly she was looking her worst, -but the eye of faith already saw the splendours of her resurrection. - -As we went on board, the owner told us he had given instructions for -one of the plugs to be lifted and water let in. The water was mixed -with creosote to sweeten the bilge. It was as well that he told us -this, for what we saw when we descended into the hold might have -daunted Caesar. Some of the hatches were left on, and under these we -took cover from the rain in the long dirty hold. She was still rocking -slightly, and on the lee side black bilge water was slopping -disconsolately backwards and forwards across the floor. A strong smell -of creosote and smells of cement and other cargoes scarcely to be -determined competed for recognition in our nostrils. The _Will Arding_ -seemed to have come down in the world; and this was the fact, for -lately she had been sailed by men who can always be hired in the open -market, but who do not look after their barges as the better class of -skippers do. The best skippers had all taken up with the more modern -class of large barges. The barges we had known in the country had -always been scrupulously clean and tidy below. It was perhaps -fortunate that our experience in the gin-drinker's cabin had revealed -to us another world, and thus in some sense deadened the shock of what -we saw now. - -We passed to the cabin aft, and one glance told us that the grimy -mariners of the public-houses had truly been the friends of the late -skipper George. To say that the cabin was dirty and stuffy is to say -nothing. Even the paint was greasy, and a stale smell, indescribable -but unforgettable, hung in the air. George and his mate had left their -bedding, presumably as not worth taking away. No doubt they were -right. - -Some old clothes, a half-empty tin of condensed milk, stale mustard in -an egg-cup, some kind of grease in a frying-pan, two mugs with the -dregs of beer in them, lay about; and on the floor there were broken -boots and old socks. - -Returning to the hold, we took all the measurements necessary for our -present purpose. We found that though the _Will Arding_ had not as -much headroom under her decks as we should have liked, she had enough -for our piano, which was the tallest piece of furniture we intended to -have on board. Moreover, we knew that barges of that size seldom have -more headroom. - -Still undepressed, if sobered by the prospect of the work to be done -before we could possibly live on board, we went on shore to discuss -the price with the owner. It was a most unpolemical discussion, and -ended in my undertaking to buy the _Will Arding_ for L140 subject to -the surveyor's report. We agreed upon a surveyor, and the owner gave -orders for the vessel to be put on the blocks at the next tide. - -From this time forward the owner was unreservedly our friend, and we -dreaded lest our prize should be snatched from us at the last moment -by the untoward judgment of the surveyor. The owner fortified our -courage by assuring us he had done all the annual overhauls and -repairs for many years, and therefore it was hardly possible that the -survey would reveal anything that could not easily be put right. -Whatever the surveyor suggested he would do, whether we bought the -barge or not. - -We could only await the surveyor's report as patiently as might be, -and having bade the owner good-bye, we took one more look at the _Will -Arding_ with I hardly know what thoughts in our minds. She had canted -over still further, and looked more dingy than ever in the growing -dusk as she sat in a foreground of slime. Behind her on the wonderful -old river, now hurrying its fastest seawards in muddy eddies, two of -her sisters, their sails just drawing, glided noiselessly past and -were received into the enveloping gloom, where the drizzle shut in the -horizon and sky and water met indistinguishably. - -Then we returned to London. - - * * * * * - -At last--as it seemed, though it was only three days later--the -surveyor's report arrived. All was well with the _Will Arding_, and -she was, in the surveyor's private opinion, worth all the money we -were giving for her. The only defects worth speaking of were a sprung -topmast and three damaged ribs forward, but these had been -strengthened by 'floating' ribs alongside. - -We hurried to Greenwich and paid a deposit on the price. - -This time the _Will Arding_ was on the blocks, and a gang of men had -burned off the old tar and were busy tarring and blackleading her -hull; her gear had been lowered, and our friend the owner was having a -new topmast fitted to make all good. He had also turned his men on to -replace a length of damaged rail. That was not the only thing which he -did for us outside our agreement. Soon, indeed, he became almost as -much interested in our scheme as we were ourselves, and we consulted -him at almost every turn. - -While the repairs were going on we completed the purchase; and we were -profoundly conscious of the importance of the formalities which -constituted us the recognized owners of 'sixty-four sixty-fourths' of -the sailing barge _Will Arding_, with a registered number of our own. - -Well, we were shipowners at any rate, and possessed the outer walls of -our new home. And now the Mate and I found ourselves faced with a -thousand unforeseen difficulties and problems, which crowded on us so -thick that we scarcely knew where to begin to tackle them. This state -of affairs compelled the drafting of rules of procedure, the chairman -(myself) refusing motions on any point not mentioned in the agenda. -Members of the Committee (the Mate) were allowed to make notes during -the authorized debates on subjects to be referred to in the time set -apart for general discussion. In this way our sanity was saved. - -The first and most important thing was to disinfect the ship. And -here the luck was with us, for next door to the yard where the _Will -Arding_ lay were some gas-works, the manager of which was a friend of -the _Will Arding's_ late owner. Our requirements were disclosed to the -manager, who not only told us what disinfectant to use, but most -kindly offered to have it mixed in the right proportions in one of his -boilers at a nominal cost. From the boiler it could be discharged -direct under pressure into the _Will Arding_. After consultation we -decided to have holes drilled through the lining of the hold at -regular intervals. When this had been done the _Will Arding_ was -berthed as near as possible to the boiler. - -Eighty gallons of neat disinfectant were mixed with 800 gallons of -boiling water, a hose was laid on board, and the fluid was squirted -into each of the holes. By the time the last gallon was on board the -disinfectant was just above the floor, but the bubbles of foam reached -to the decks. This process caused intense curiosity in the yard, and -there were many croakers who told us that we should never get her -sweet. - -The barge returned to the yard, where the various repairs went on for -several days. In the meantime, being in the best market of the world, -we bought the timber, panelling, bath, kitchen range, a hundredweight -of nails, paint, varnish, hot-water apparatus, and the hundred and one -other things we required to turn the barge into a tenantable house. -Now we enjoyed the advantage of all our work in the winter, for we had -drawn up precise lists of the things to be bought. - -We look back on those purchases with delight. It gives one a sense of -real contact with the business of life to ask for the price of -something f.o.b. London, on board one's own ship, and to order the -goods to be sent to such and such a wharf to the sailing barge _Will -Arding_. The summit of dignity was reached when I was able to tell a -dealer, who was late in delivering his goods, that my ship with her -general cargo on board was waiting to sail, and that if his goods were -not on board that afternoon they would have to be sent by rail at his -expense. - -At last the repairs were finished, the general cargo was complete, and -the hatches were on. As nothing would induce me to sleep in the cabin -until it had been wholly cleaned, I decided not to sail the _Will -Arding_ to the Essex coast myself, but to have her delivered at the -shipwright's at Bridgend--a place a few miles below Fleetwick on our -river. - -We saw the _Will Arding_ get under way. She had improved vastly in -appearance. The tide was on the turn, and the wind westerly; great -clouds sailed across the sky. It was a brave wind with a touch of -spring in it, and it made the _Will Arding's_ topsail slat furiously -as the mate hoisted it to the music of the patent blocks. The brails -were let go, the mainsail was sheeted home; both men went forward, -and then the clank, clank, clank of the windlass fell on our ears -with the sound we knew so well both by day and night. The chain was -soon 'up and down,' and the foresail was hoisted and made fast to the -rigging with a bowline. The _Will Arding_ sheered slowly towards us -with her sails full until the anchor checked her. Then swinging slowly -round she came head to wind, her mainsail and foresail flapping -loudly, and the mainsheet blocks crashing backwards and forwards on -the main horse. When the foresail was aback the anchor was quickly -broken out, and the barge filled on the other tack and gathered way. - -We watched her standing over towards the opposite shore, until the -mate got the anchor catted. Then bearing away with her great sprit -right off and a white wave under her fore-foot, our home fled down the -river. - -[Illustration: BRADWELL CREEK] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - _Chantyman._ Leave her, Johnny, and we'll work no more. - _Chorus._ Leave her, Johnny, leave her! - _Chantyman._ Of pump or drown we've had full store. - _Chorus._ It's time for us to leave her. - - -The wind hung mostly west and south, and was southerly enough at the -end to make the _Will Arding's_ passage a fast one, and bring her -early on the tide to Bridgend. There by noon next day we were looking -seaward with our glasses. Shortly after that time two specks appeared -beyond the river's mouth, and long before they reached the point took -shape and became two barges. End on they came, heeling like one to the -spanking breeze; another half an hour would bring them to us. - -The _Will Arding_ was one of them, and we rowed off to her, and with a -thrill watched her shoot up into the wind, while the mate let go her -anchor. Three hours later she was berthed on the blocks. - -The shipwrights nominally started work the next day, and I actually -did so. I came by train in the mornings from Fleetwick and returned -home in the evenings. The first job was to raise the limber boards -and clean the barge out as far as we could reach, for hundreds of -cargoes had driven their contributions of dust through the cracks in -the flooring, and the dust, mixed with the bilge water, had formed a -black ooze. It was one of the dirtiest jobs imaginable, and while it -lasted my appearance as I went home in the evenings was so -disreputable that often I was not recognized by acquaintances. An -ardent Salvation Army man whom I met every day began to cast longing -eyes on me. - -After the cleaning, the _Will Arding_ was tarred throughout inside, -and then my thoughts turned to the cabin aft, for I sorely wanted a -place where I could have my meals and keep my tools. Accordingly I cut -a doorway in the bulkhead between the hold and the cabin. - -In removing the late crew's bedding I came across an insect I had -never seen before. Yet I knew what it was by the instinct that is said -to guide men unerringly in those peculiar crises--like death--in which -experience is wanting. _Nomen infandum!_ To think that the creature -dared to be in my ship! And then the dread assailed me that it was not -likely to be the only one. Should we ever get rid of them? What would -the Mate say? Had we spent all this money and trouble only to provide -a breeding-ground for this horrible hemipterous tribe? I believe that -I trembled. I was sick with disgust. - -What I should have done, had I been a strict Buddhist, I know not, -but what I did was to burn sulphur candles, gut the cabin of every -vestige of wood, and subject each piece removed to the flame of a -blow-lamp, while repeating to myself a kind of fierce incantation: -'Let none of them escape me.' After that I squirted the whole place -with a powerful disinfectant, then put on black varnish, then -lime-wash over the black varnish, and as a final precaution I had the -cabin sprayed with formaldehyde. As a matter of fact, the gutting must -have destroyed everything, but I did not mean to take any risks. - -When my peace of mind was restored, I proceeded to match-line the hold -throughout. - -All this time the shipwright, in spite of promises of the most binding -order, was not getting on with his work. At the end of each week he -would promise to put a hand on 'in the forepart of the week'; and at -the beginning of each week he would promise again for 'the latter part -of the week.' I kept chasing him and worrying him, and this -distressing occupation seriously interfered with my own work. -Moreover, it became increasingly difficult to find him, for he -instructed a small boy on the quay to report my appearance on deck. I -bought the boy off with sweets, and told the shipwright what I thought -about him and his promises, while he scratched his head like an -Oriental tranquilly contemplating the decrees of destiny. - -The next move on the old man's part was to lend me an apprentice--this -with the twofold object of keeping me quiet by rendering me help, and -providing a messenger and intermediary who could be trusted never to -find him. The old man's idea of business was never to refuse work, and -to do enough of each job to make it impossible for a vessel to be -taken away. For the rest he trusted to his excuses and his customers' -short memories to set things right. - -It ought to be said that his excuses were not ordinary excuses. He was -always the victim, and never the master, of his own actions. He seemed -to think that this inversion of the normal course of things had only -to be stated to be perfectly satisfactory to his customers. On one -occasion he doubled the decks of a yacht belonging to a neighbour of -ours. When the work was done, the owner found a thicket of nails -sticking out under the decks in his cabin. He indignantly asked for an -explanation. The old man scratched his head and turned to his son. - -'They was ordin'ry deck nails, warn't they, Tom?' - -'Yes, yes,' said Tom dutifully. - -'But damn it all, look at my cabin!' - -'They was ordin'ry deck nails,' the old man said again, and added, -'Well, to tell yaou the truth, sir, them blessed ould decks was too -thin.' - -At last I presented the shipwright with an ultimatum, to which he -replied by putting a wheelwright on to my work, and a worse workman in -a ship I never came across. It was already six weeks after the date on -which the _Will Arding_ was to have been finished, and I now went on -strike. The rest of the work, I decided, should be done at home eight -miles farther up the river. - -As ill luck would have it, it was blowing the better part of a gale -the next day, the wind being on shore and a trifle down the river. In -the yard it was said that the barge could not be moved. However, at -that time I knew more about shipwrights' excuses and less about barges -than I do now, and I insisted that she should go, whatever the -weather. - -'That ain't fit for she to goo,' the old man kept saying. He was -right, but I was firm. And he, for his part, having spent his life in -measuring human patience, knew when it was impossible to hold out any -longer. So he gave orders for his men to get the _Will Arding_ off the -blocks. I cleared out of the way half a dozen dinghies, which she -might foul as she came off. - -It certainly was a wild day; the wind shrieked in the rigging, the -waves curled and broke against the quay, the little boats close in -shore pitched and jarred, throwing the spray from them, and the masts -of the smacks and yachts in the anchorage waved jerkily against the -racing sky. There was no time to be lost, for the barge had to be got -off while the tide was still flowing, or not at all. An ex-bargeman -was in charge, and four hands helped on board. At the last moment it -was found that a new mainsheet was wanted, and this delayed us, but we -still had just enough time. The topsail slatted so fiercely as it was -hoisted that it had to be half dropped again until the squall passed. -The mainsail, half set, banged noisily and the mainsheet blocks lashed -terrifically to and fro. As the foresail filled and the head paid off -the anchor was broken out, and happily the barge quickly gathered way, -for under her lee was a mass of small boats that I had not been able -to move. Had she sagged appreciably to leeward she would have swept -them all. - -The start was a truly exhilarating affair, more like that of a young -horse driven for the first time, and bolting down a crowded street, -than of an experienced barge getting under way. The sails were only -half set and slatting angrily; the running gear, from long disuse, was -all over the place; one gaunt figure like a Viking, with blue eyes and -long fair hair streaming in the wind, stood in the bows bawling which -way to steer; another man amidships shouted the orders on to the -helmsman; and thus, with two men at the wheel, the _Will Arding_ with -a foaming wake tore headlong through the small craft. She sailed right -over one dinghy, but luckily did not hurt it. Several times my heart -was in my mouth, for in that packed anchorage we might have done -enormous damage. - -My tongue became less dry as the risks decreased, and never did the -shout, 'Shove her raound!' fall with a more welcome sound on my ears -than when, clear to windward of the anchored fleet, the _Will Arding_ -swung round on the other tack and stood up the empty river. I would -not undertake that dash again to-day. One of the helmsmen remarked, 'I -reckon that skeert some o' they little bo'ts to see us thriddlin' -among 'em. That wind's suthen tetchy to-day t'ain't 'ardly safe, same -as goin' as us did.' - -At the end of the reach I dropped all my helpers, except one hand, who -remained on board as watchman. As the tide had turned I anchored, was -put on shore, and went home by train. - -The next day the Mate and the hand and I brought the _Will Arding_ up -the rest of the way to Fleetwick and berthed her. She now lay within a -short walk of our cottage. Labour, though not skilled carpenter's -labour, was to be got easily enough. It would, at all events, be -prompt and willing work. I had left professional assistance behind, -but I felt nearly sure that we should make better progress at -Fleetwick; and I even ventured to think that the quality of our -carpentering might not shame us after all. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - 'Ah! what a wondrous thing it is - To note how many wheels of toil - One thought, one word, can set in motion! - There's not a ship that sails the ocean, - But every climate, every soil, - Must bring its tribute, great or small, - And help to build the wooden wall!' - - -It was a curious thing that the greatest of the advantages of living -in a barge disclosed itself unexpectedly. When we made up our minds to -buy a barge I was free to live where I pleased, but shortly after we -had bought her I received an offer of an appointment which would -require me to be in London every day. I could not afford to refuse -this appointment, and we reflected what a pretty mess we should have -been in if we had taken a house in the town where we had intended to -send the boys to school. We should have had to get rid of the lease of -the house, and probably have lost a good deal of money in the -transaction. As it was, we had only to withdraw the boys' names from -the school, choose another school within striking distance of London, -and anchor our barge fairly near a railway station from which I could -travel daily to London. The change of plan cost us nothing. - -My work in London was to begin in September, but when I found it -impossible to finish the barge in time, I applied for a month's -postponement, and the partners in the firm, who were yachtsmen, -admitted the propriety of my request and granted it like sportsmen. - -The barge had now to be completed at breakneck speed. The haste robbed -the entertaining labour of part of its joy; still, we experienced a -good deal of that satisfaction which is presumably enjoyed in -primitive societies where every man builds his own house and goes -hunting for his dinner. - -We could bicycle from our cottage to the quay at Fleetwick in five -minutes. I engaged to help me two handy men: Tom, a sailor, and Harry, -a landsman, both, like myself, rough carpenters. Of course, everyone -in the place came to see the _Will Arding_; never before had there -been so many loiterers on the quay. People came on board so freely to -watch the floating house daily grow into shape under our hands that I -grew expert at mechanically repeating my explanations with nails in my -mouth while I kept to my work. - -The most keenly interested, as well as the most regular and most -welcome of our visitors, was Sam Prawle, the ex-barge skipper already -mentioned, who lived in a smack moored in the saltings. He made his -living by looking after a few small yachts. He came most days during -the dinner-hour, studied what we were doing, and gave us his views. -'If more people knaowed what could be done with a little ould barge, -less housen would be built,' he would say, with a shake of his head. -He was always ready to discuss the advantages of living in a vessel. -As a matter of fact, since the death of his wife, who used to take in -lodgers, he had been unable to afford a house, but to hear him talk -one would have thought that he had been taxed off the face of the -land. And after his prolonged visit to the inn on Saturday, where he -learned all his news--for he could not read--and had discussed the -political situation and the infamy of the local rates, and had got -everything in his head well mixed up, he would be decidedly 'agin the -Government.' 'What I says is this,' he remarked once, in summarizing -the appalling situation. 'We shall 'ave to 'ave suthen different to -what we 'ave got, or else we shall 'ave to 'ave suthen else'--as -illuminating a judgment as one commonly meets with in political -discussions. - -We worked up forward to begin with, because the main hold had in it -about four thousand square feet of match-lining, two thousand square -feet of three-ply wood, one thousand square feet of flooring, and half -a mile of headings of different sorts, besides the bath, kitchen -range, and a hundred other things which took up room. We gradually got -rid of stuff from the hold as we worked our way aft. Within a few -days the appearance of the _Will Arding_ wonderfully changed. While we -were still at Bridgend, the hold, the sides, coamings and bulkheads, -had shown nothing but one great expanse of tarred surface, whereas now -we had clean match-lining round the sides and on the forward bulkhead. - -The total length of the barge is about seventy-four feet, and her beam -is seventeen feet at the level of the deck and fifteen on the floor. -At each end there is a bulkhead shutting off what used to be the -forecastle forward and what used to be the skipper's cabin aft. The -length between the bulkheads is fifty feet. The headroom under the -decks varies from four feet three to five feet eight, and under the -cabin tops, which measure respectively thirty feet by ten and ten by -ten, the headroom is between seven feet three and nine feet. We made -the cabin tops out of the hatches by nailing match-lining on them -lengthwise and covering them with tarpaulin dressed with red ochre and -oil. Thus we had two fine roofs, and these were raised on strong -frames supported by stanchions bolted on to the coamings. Between the -stanchions we fitted the windows. As the windows are high up and there -are plenty of them, the interior of the vessel is very light and airy. -The saloon is sixteen feet long by fourteen feet nine inches wide, and -is, of course, the most important room. - -As has been said, we began our work forward, and the first job was to -divide the forecastle into a triangular sleeping cabin and a scullery -of the same shape. Then we divided the space under the fore-cabin top -and put up a partition, forming on one side a large cabin (the owner's -cabin), and on the other a kitchen, a narrow passage, and a bathroom. -The bath had to be put in position first, and the bathroom built round -it, as there would have been no room to turn a bath in the narrow -passage. - -We have often wondered since what we should do if anything happened to -the bath, for a considerable part of the ship would have to be pulled -to pieces to get it out. Perhaps we could have a rubber lining made -for it; but still it is a good solid porcelain enamel bath, and ought -to last as long as the ship. - -The one space without light and with little headroom was abreast of -the mast, and this naturally offered itself as the best place for the -water-tanks. We could not afford to buy new water-tanks, so we went to -a shipbreaker's, and were lucky enough to find two four-hundred gallon -tanks measuring four feet by four feet each, which just fitted in -under the decks. At the same place we bought six mahogany ship's doors -for L4, and these we scraped and varnished, so that they looked very -handsome. The tanks had to be put in their places at a very early -stage, as they were to be built in like the bath. Empty they -weighed about five hundredweight each, and were bulky things to -handle. However, with tackles and guys and Sam Prawle's help, we got -them through our furniture hatch and safely down into the hold, where -we levered them into position, and wedged them in safely. The great -size of our water-tanks was the only fault Sam ever found with the -barge's internal arrangements, and his eye brightened sympathetically -when I pointed out that if we found that they held more water than we -wanted, one of them could always be filled with beer. - -[Illustration: THE DINING CABIN] - -At the after end of the narrow passage already mentioned we made the -dining-room, which opened aft into the saloon. Forward of the saloon -on the starboard side came the spare cabin. Aft of the saloon on the -same side was our daughter's cabin. On the port after side was a lobby -with steps descending from the deck; and aft of the lobby was the -boys' cabin, which had been the skipper's cabin in the barge's trading -days. - -The rapid progress we seemed to make during the first few days at -Fleetwick was in a way deceptive. It does not take long to put up -partitions and hang doors. The result looks like cabins. Yet only the -fringe of the work has then been touched. The finishing is the true -labour. The underneath part of the rough tarred decks, for instance, -had to be covered with three-ply wood, well sand-papered, before it -could be painted and enamelled. The deck beams, worn and knocked -about, had to be cased in; nail holes had to be stopped with putty, -and the joins all covered with headings. Then there was the making of -the cupboards and shelves and bunks. There was never a right angle; we -were always working to odd shapes. Indeed, there was so much to do -that at times I was bewildered where to begin, and only by tackling -the first job I saw, whether it strictly should have been the next or -not, and putting Tom and Harry on to it too, could I regain a sense of -performing effectual labour. - -The wood bought in London was not much more than half what we -ultimately used. Before we had finished we used over a mile of -beading. Oppressed with the continual sense of working against time, -my brain became so active that I slept badly. My life seemed to -consist of sawing up miles of wood, and driving in millions of nails. -I was pursued by dreams, after the manner of illustrated statistics in -magazines, in which I saw black columns denoting the various amounts -of material used, or tables showing how the material would reach from -London to Birmingham, or pictures demonstrating that the nails in one -scale would balance a motor omnibus in the other. - -When the dining-cabin was nearly finished we gave a tea-party to -celebrate the occasion, and while we were sitting round the table we -saw through the windows the legs of a party of strangers. The fame of -the WILL ARDING had spread so far that people came on board who had -not the most indirect of excuses for taking up my time. Being proud of -the ship, however, and sympathetic towards all inquiring minds, -particularly in nautical matters, I was glad to explain things to -everybody. At least, I did so to all whose manners were passable. I -developed a high power of curtness to the quite considerable class of -people who seemed to think that it was my duty to provide a sort of -free exhibition for which it was not even necessary to say 'Thank -you.' Tom, for some not very good reason, regarded the arrival of -strangers during our tea-party as a particular offence, and we heard -him begin to parley with them on deck with: 'The guvnor says this is a -'alf-guinea day, and yaou can get the tickets at the Ship Inn.' - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - 'I reckon there's nawthen like sailormen's wit - To straighten a rop' what 'as got turns in it; - Ould Live Ashore Johnny 'ud pucker all day, - An' yit niver light on the sailorman's way!' - - -Memories of those laborious days at Fleetwick Quay are not only of -carpentering, painting, and plumbing. Sam Prawle provided an -intermittent accompaniment of anecdote and observation which it is -impossible to separate from the record of work done. During the -dinner-hour he would sometimes begin and finish a considerable -narrative. On the day when we lowered our tanks into position he -illustrated his theme that people may put themselves to a great deal -of unnecessary trouble by telling us an episode in the life of 'Ould -Gladstone,' the white mare at Wick House. Here is the yarn: - -'I dare say yaou don't fare to remember ould Gladstone at the Ferry -Boat Inn down at Wick House twenty year ago. Wonnerful little mare, -she were and lived to be thirty year ould, she did. When ould Amos -Staines sould the inn a young feller from Lunnon bought it--a reg'lar -cockney, he were, and den't knaow nawthen about b'ots nor farmin' nor -nawthen, and a course 'e 'ad to keep a man to work the ferry. What 'e -come for I can't rightly say, 'cept he said 'e allus fancied keepin' a -pub. - -'The lies that young feller used to tell us chaps, same as fishermen, -bargemen, and drudgermen what used the inn, abaout Lunnon was a fair -masterpiece. Mighty clever he thought he were, and wonnerful fond o' -thraowin' 'is weight abaout, which 'e den't knaow 'is own weight. - -'Well, twenty year ago come next March, in the forepart o' the month, -me and Jim and Lishe Appleby, the two brothers what 'ad the little -ould _Viper_, 'ad a stroke of luck over a little salvage job with a -yacht, and a course we spent a bit extry at the Ferry. Cockney -Smith--leastways, that was what we allus called 'im--'eard all abaout -our salvage job, and nearly got 'imself put in the river by the things -what 'e said abaout it. Jim and Lishe 'ould 'ave done it, for they was -wonnerful fond of a glass and a joke, as the sayin' is, but I 'ouldn't -let 'em, cos I reckoned Cockney Smith might 'ave the law of 'em. A -wonnerful disagreeable chap was Cockney Smith; 'e used to read bits -aout of newspapers abaout robberies and that, and then 'e'd say 'e -supposed they was salvage jobs. - -'Well, not long arterwards 'e 'ad a salvage job 'imself. Jim and Lishe -hired ould Gladstone and Cockney Smith's tumbril to go to a niece's -weddin' at Northend. They come back abaout seven o'clock o' the -evening, wonnerful and lively, and just where the road bends afore you -come to the Ferry that was bangy and dark they some'ow got ould -Gladstone and the tumbril in the crick. Yaou knaow the place I mean, -sir--jist where the road runs alongside the crick on the top of the -sea-wall. A course the place is as bare as my 'and, as the sayin' is, -for there ain't no tree, nor hedge, nor fence, nor nawthen; but none -the more for that, ould Gladstone 'ad bin that road for twenty year, -and there ain't a mite a doubt but what she'd a brought they chaps -back safe enough if they'd left she alone. - -'But there yaou are, yaou knaow what them weddin's are, don't yer, -sir? Well, there was ould Gladstone nearly up to her belly in mud, and -she den't struggle, for the artful ould thing knaowed that, _do_, -she'd sink deeper. The tumbril was nearly a top o' she, and Jim and -Lishe was mud from head to foot--in their shore-goin' togs, too. They -come along to the Ferry, and afore Cockney Smith opened 'is mouth ould -Lishe says, "Look at here, landlord, what your damned ould mare's done -to we. Spoilt our best clothes, she 'as!" - -"Where's my mare and cart?" says Cockney Smith. - -"Ould Gladstone's stuck in the crick and the tumbril's atop o' she," -says Jim. - -'"Do yaou mean to say you've left that pore animal there?" says -Cockney Smith. - -'"Ould Gladstone's all right," says Lishe. "Nawthen can't hurt she -where she is; it's only just after low water." - -'Cockney Smith he were wonnerful angry. "What I want to know is ow did -it 'appen, and whose fault is it?" 'e says. - -'"Well, it was this a-way," says Lishe. "Yaou see, we laowed we was at -the corner, and Jim pulled 'is line, and ould Gladstone was a bit -quick on the hellum, and afore we knaowed where we was we an' all was -in the crick." - -'"I've druv' ould Gladstone many a time this last eighteen year, and -she ain't never answered 'er hellum that way afore," says Jim. - -'"P'raps you 'adn't been to a niece's weddin'," says Cockney Smith, -kind o' nasty like. - -'"Ould Gladstone den't never git slewed in them days when she 'ad a -proper owner, niece's weddin' or no niece's weddin'," says Lishe. - -'"I suppose yaou keep pore ould Gladstone so short of wittles and -drink that when she do git a chance she goes too far on the other -tack," says Jim. - -"I've a good mind to 'ave the law of ye for spoiling my best togs," -says Lishe. - -'Cockney Smith seed it warn't no use a arguin', so 'e says, "Well, -who's goin' to get Gladstone and the cart out?" - -'"We are," says Jim and Lishe--"that is, with some other chaps to -'elp, but this 'ere's a salvage job, this is," and with that they -winks at Jacob Trent and Bill Morgan, two chaps off another smack, -just to let them knaow they was in the job. - -'"Salvage job be damned--robbery yaou mean," says Cockney Smith, and -with that 'e goes off to look at pore ould Gladstone. - -'We an' all went with 'im, but it was that dark us couldn't see ould -Gladstone, but on'y the tumbril, but us heard she a breathin', so us -knaowed she were alive. - -"'Pore ould Gladstone! that's a strain on 'er," sez ould Jacob Trent. -'E were wonnerful fond of ould Gladstone, was ould Jacob. - -'When Cockney Smith got back, he were that angry 'e fared to be a -goin' to bust, but Jim 'e says, - -"Naow look at here, ef ould Gladstone ain't got out o' that crick by -half-past eleven she'll draown, for that's high water at midnight." - -'"Yes, yes," says Lishe; "and ef she don't draown she'll most likely -get run daown, as the _Juliet Ann's_ a comin' in this tide or next to -load straw, and she's baound to stand in where ould Gladstone be with -the wind this way." - -'"Pore ould Gladstone! that's a strain on 'er, that is, and she be -wonnerful an' ould," says Jacob. - -'Well, landlord he seed he'd lose ould Gladstone ef he den't do -suthen, so 'e says: "What do you chaps want for gettin' of she aout?" - -"I reckon ould Gladstone and the tumbril's worth the best part of ten -paounds, and one-third of that is four paounds or thereabaouts," says -Lishe. - -"Well, I ain't a goin' to pay it," says Cockney Smith. - -"Then yaou can git she aout yerself," says Jim. - -'"Yaou put she in, yaou ought to get she aout," says Cockney Smith. - -"She put herself in and spoilt our shore-goin togs," says Jim. - -'"Look at here, landlord," says Lishe. "Me and Jim 'on't say nawthen -abaout our togs, and we an' all will spend half the four paounds here -in drinks. We can't say fairer'n that, can we?" - -'That was getting late, so Cockney Smith agreed. So Jim an' all 'ad -drinks, and then they pulled off and got warps and tackles and come -and borried my ridin' light. As yaou knaow, sir, there ain't nawthen -yaou can bend a warp to on that blessed ould wall, so a course they -'ad to pull off agin for a couple of anchors, and while the anchors -was bein' got the others 'ad more drinks and waited for the chaps what -was fetching the anchors to have theirs, too. Arter that they laid out -them anchors on the weather side of the wall, and shoved some planks -daown under the tumbril and 'auled that out pretty smart with a tackle -on each side. - -'When they come to start on ould Gladstone they was fair took aback to -knaow rightly how to shift she, so they put the lanterns daown and 'ad -a bit of an argyment. Bill reckoned she'd come off best the way she -went on, but Jacob wanted to slew her 'ead raound so as she'd force -her way off, cos she drawed most water aft. Jim said he den't want to -think nawthen abaout that; he knaowed they'd have to lift she with -sheerlegs same as unsteppin' a mast. Lishe said they mustn't do -nawthen in a hurry and must 'ave more drinks to talk it over, so back -they went to the inn. - -'Cockney Smith kep' all on a tellin' of 'em to hurry, and the more 'e -worrited 'em the more drinks they 'ad, and the slaower they was. First -they tried Bill's way, and they wropped some sacks raound ould -Gladstone's starn quarters to take the chafe. They only hove once, for -poor ould Gladstone give a master great squeal, and when they slacked -up she looked raound like as to say, "You fare to be enjoyin' -yaourselves together, but I ain't." - -'Arter that they bent a warp raound 'er ould neck and hove on that -till they reckoned they'd most break suthen. Ould Gladstone struggled -a bit, but that warn't no use, and then she seemed to kinder go faint -and we an' all reckoned she was a dyin'. - -'Bill said ould Gladstone ought to have some brandy, but Lishe said -brandy were paltry stuff alongside o' rum, an' he reckoned rum 'ud -pull she raound best. So it were rum, and of course they den't never -think to bring no bucket for ould Gladstone to drink aout of, so they -had to use Lishe's sou'wester. Poor ould Gladstone den't seem to -relish rum--leastways, she den't drink much of it. P'raps it was -because Lishe had jist given his sou'wester a coat o' linseed oil. -Anyway, what little she 'ad seemed to bring she raound a bit, and she -opened her eyes, which showed she warn't dead yet. Jacob give she the -rum because he served on a farm once, and knaowed abaout horses and -that, and he was jist a goin' to pour the rum away when Bill stops him -in the nick o' time. "Here, mates, we ain't a goin' to waste good rum -what landlord has to pay for for poor ould Gladstone," he says, and -with that he finishes it. - -'Then Bill and Jim started to rig the sheerlegs, and Jacob and Lishe -laid the planks to keep the legs from sinking in the mud, and while -they were a doin' that Lishe fell off his plank stern first in the -mud, and Jacob laughed till he nigh fell off his, too. - -'Then Lishe went off to the Ferry to 'ave a clent up, and a course -t'others followed, all a lingerin' for more drinks. - -'I never seed a merrier crew than they an' all was when they mustered -raound ould Gladstone again. Well, they got them sheerlegs rigged at -last, but 'adn't got enough sacks to put under ould Gladstone's belly -to keep the ropes off 'er, so they went back to the Ferry 'an 'ad -more drinks while two on 'em got an ould jib, cos they couldn't find -no more sacks. That was gettin' late then--abaout ten o'clock, I -reckon--and the tide was a comin' well up in the crick and landlord -fared to be a goin' off 'is 'ead. - -'Soon as they got back, they rigged the slings and hove ould Gladstone -up, and put some boards under she for she to stand on, and then they -laowered away. I reckon them boards was greasy or ould Gladstone was -too weak to stand. Leastways, she fell off 'em, and Lishe and Bill -laughed till they most cried. - -'But the drink fared to take ould Jacob different, for he were -wonnerful unhappy, he were, and kep' all on a sayin': "Pore ould -Gladstone! that's a strain on 'er, that is. She 'on't go there no -more." And when they come to try again ould Jacob made 'em wait while -'e mucked 'imself from 'ead to foot tryin' to put the sackin' more -better so as to keep the chafe off ould Gladstone's sides. - -'Then they hove ould Gladstone up agin, and thraowed a few 'andfuls o' -sand on the greasy planks; but it warn't no use, and when they -laowered she daown agin she just slipped off and fell on t'er side in -the mud. Them chaps laughed till they shook like dawgs, all 'cept ould -Jacob, and 'e jist kep' all on a sayin', "Pore ould Gladstone, pore -ould Gladstone!" - -[Illustration: MALDON] - -'Then Cockney Smith come along a spufflin' and a swearing abaout the -time they chaps was takin'; and then they seed the tide come a -sizzling 'igher up the crick, and that sobered 'em a bit, and Jim -says, "We're on the wrong tack, mates; we must have them barrels what -we used for floating _Hornet_ t'other day and lash they daown taut -under ould Gladstone's bilges." - -'"She's a layin' on her side naow, so we can't get at she to do it," -says Lishe. - -'"Look at here, naow," says Bill; "if we lash them barrels together, -we can heave ould Gladstone up and laower she daown on 'em." - -'"I reckon that's the way," says Jim, "but them barrels must be made -fast atop as well as underneath, else they might shift aft and float -ould Gladstone's stern quarters up, and 'er ould head 'ud be under -water." - -'So they got them barrels and lashed them together, and laowered ould -Gladstone on top of them and made all fast, so as they couldn't shift. -They was jist a goin' back to the Ferry when Lishe says: "I reckon -ould Gladstone ought to have a ridin' light up, so as if she got run -daown the law 'ud be on our side, and we'd git paid all right." - -'Bill said it warn't wanted, as they'd get the money as long as they -got ould Gladstone out alive or dead. Cockney Smith said what 'e meant -was 'e'd have to pay on'y if Gladstone come out alive, but 'e seed 'e -might be alongside ould Gladstone if 'e said it agin, an' it warn't no -use his arguin', as there was four agin him, and all three sheets in -the wind, as the sayin' is. Anyhow, Lishe would 'ave the ridin' light -up, so he took and made that fast raound ould Gladstone's neck, and he -an' all went back to the Ferry. - -'They all reckoned the money was as good as in their pockets, and jist -carried on anyhow. Bill told some wonnerful yarns abaout poor ould -Gladstone when she were young, till they most fared to be goin' to -cry. And pore ould Jacob 'e did cry, and sat there drinkin' 'is rum -and wipin' 'is eyes and sayin', "Pore ould Gladstone! that's a strain -on 'er, that is. She 'on't go there no more." - -'Cockney Smith he kep all on a dancing raound, tellin' 'em to go and -look arter Gladstone, but Lishe, 'e jist says: "Look at here, young -feller, ould Gladstone's all right; she's got 'er light up, and if any -craft run into she yaou can 'ave the law of 'er." - -'We an' all was that merry--for a course they chaps stood we a tidy -few drinks--that us den't take no notice o' nawthen. That must 'ave -bin just abaout high water, and ould Lishe was a singin' a song which -'e stopped arter every verse to tell ould Jacob to kep quiet, when I -'eard a kind of a clatterin'. That bro't me up with a raound turn, for -a course I knaowed at once ould Gladstone 'ad flet, and 'ad got aout -o' the crick by 'erself, and afore I could say a word there was 'er -ould head a peakin' over the fence. We an' all run aout an' seed she a -standin' there all lit up. That were the head masterpiece that ever I -did see. There she was, wrop up raound her neck and belly with -sackin', Lishe's ridin' light 'angin' under 'er ould neck, and them -casks under 'er ould belly, and the sheerlegs acrost 'er back, and -fathoms and fathoms of tackle and warps towin' astern, and the ould -thing mud from 'ead to foot. - -'Ould Jacob and they an' all was makin' a wonnerful fuss over ould -Gladstone when I come away aboard and turned in. Next mornin' I seed -ould Gladstone lookin' a bit pingly, but not much the worse, standin' -on the hard in the river and Cockney Smith a moppin' the mud off 'er. - -'Not long arter that Cockney Smith sould the Ferry to Shad Offord, -what's bin a sailorman and knaows haow to run a pub.' - - - - -CHAPTER X - - 'And around the bows and along the side - The heavy hammers and mallets plied, - Till after many a week, at length, - Wonderful for form and strength, - Sublime in its enormous bulk, - Loomed aloft the shadowy hulk!' - - -When the match-lining was finished we covered most of it with -three-ply wood in panels. We panelled the owner's cabin and the spare -cabin with birch. We made the spare cabin to serve also as a -drying-room, letting the back of the saloon fireplace into this cabin -through the bulkhead. The fireplace, a handsome brass yacht stove, was -bought second-hand from a yacht-breaker. Round the walls of the -dining-cabin we placed a dado of varnished wood, and enamelled the -cabin white everywhere else except on the ceiling (our furniture -hatch), which we panelled. We panelled the saloon walls and ceiling -with oak, and enamelled the window-frames and the uprights between -them white. Throughout the ship where there was no panelling we put -white enamel, making the whole interior very light. In every -available place we built cupboards and shelves; not an inch of space -was wasted. - -We arranged the bath like the baths in a liner. It is supplied with -hot salt water, and the fresh water is used in a huge basin. The sea -water is heated in a closed-in copper by a six-headed Primus oilstove, -and a hot bath can be had in half an hour. From the copper, which is -opposite the bathroom across the passage, the water is siphoned into -the bath, and if the siphon be 'broken' it can be started again by the -pump which empties the bath. Cold sea water from a tank on deck (when -we are high and dry we must have this) is supplied to the bathroom by -a hose which can be diverted to the copper when that has to be filled. - -It may seem complicated, but it is not really, for the children -understand the system perfectly, and thoroughly enjoy playing with the -waterworks. Sam Prawle never grasped it, and bestowed on it his -customary formula about any device he could not understand: 'That fare -to me to be a kind of a patent.' It may be added here, in anticipation -of events, that an appeal for help has sometimes reached us from a -guest in the bathroom. On the first appeal the Skipper or the Mate -goes to the rescue; but if a second appeal comes from the same person -one of the children is sent as a protest on behalf of the simplicity -of the waterworks. - -The keelson is the backbone of the ship. Ours is about sixty-five feet -long, roughly a foot square, and studded with boltheads. Right aft in -the boys' cabin it is under the floor, but it is above the floor -everywhere else. In the lobby it forms the bottom of the shelves; in -the saloon it is covered with narrow polished maple planks; in the -dining-cabin it becomes a seat; farther forward it is a platform for -the copper; in the doorway into the owner's cabin it is a nuisance; in -the kitchen it forms the bottom shelf for crockery; right forward it -is useful as a seat under the forehatch or as a first step up to the -hatch. In the saloon it is most useful to stand on for looking out of -the windows. - -We lost almost a day's work over a wedding. Harry's brother married -the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. Pegrom. Mr. Pegrom, a platelayer on -the line, asked me to give him a cheque in exchange for twenty-five -shillings. And in the list of presents published in the local paper -the twenty-five shillings duly appeared in the form of 'Mr. and Mrs. -E. Pegrom: cheque.' In our part of the world a banking account is -regarded as a sign of wealth and also as something mysterious -requiring a high degree of financial intelligence for its management. - -I tried hard one day to persuade Sam Prawle to open an account. I met -him on his way to the post-office to buy a money order for six pounds -to pay for varnish and paint. I pointed out that a cheque would cost -a penny instead of sixpence, and was also a safer medium. I explained -that keeping a banking account was perfectly simple, as all he had to -do was to keep paying in cheques as he received them and paying out -cheques to the people from whom he bought his goods, always keeping -something in the bank. After describing the process several times, I -asked him if he understood. - -'Well, sir, that fare to me as haow that's like a water-breaker. Yaou -keep a paourin' of the water in and a drawin' of it off agin.' - -I thought I had gained my point, as he understood so well, and -referred to the subject again a few days later. - -'Well, yaou see, sir, I 'ave to work 'ard for my money, and I reckon a -drawin' of cheques makes that too easy to git riddy of it agin.' - -When the decks had been cleared and the lines rigged on the stanchions -round the bulwarks and the outside of the window-frames painted, there -was some outward and visible sign of the transformation that had taken -place below. The Mate was satisfied that the lines would prevent all -but exceptionally unnautical children from falling overboard; and as -she was quick to assent to the proposition that our children were not -unnautical, there were no further doubts about the matter. - -During the discussion of this subject a friend told us of the engaging -argument about lifelines which had been addressed to him by a smack -builder at Leigh. He was having a small bawley yacht built there, and -when the finishing touches were being put on her the builder asked -whether the owner would have lifelines on the bulwarks right forward. - -'Yaou'd better 'ave 'em, sir.' - -'No, I don't want them.' - -'Now look at here, sir. Yaou 'ave 'em. All the bawleys 'as 'em.' - -'I know. It's all right for knocking about trawling, but this is a -yacht.' - -'Yes, yes, sir. I knaow she's a yacht. But what I says is this: them -lines 'as saved 'undreds of lives. And if they was only a goin' to -save _one_ I'd 'ave em.' - -We had now reached the stage of bringing the furniture on board. I -hired a tumbril, and with Harry's help began the 'move.' The Mate and -the children went away for a few days to stay with friends. I had to -drive down seventeen tumbril loads from the cottage, although we did -not want all our furniture for the barge. As there was generally no -room for me even to perch on the tumbril when it was loaded, I walked -a good many miles in the course of moving. - -A tumbril is a poor cart for such a job. The jolting was excessive, -and trotting meant ruin to the cargo. When the back was up the cart -held little, and when it was down things were shed along the road. -If I walked at the pony's head I could not keep an eye on things at -the back, and if I walked behind the pony would slow down to a crawl. -I partly solved the last difficulty by walking behind and throwing -pebbles off the road at the pony. - -[Illustration: THE SALOON] - -At the end of the first day of this ignoble process of transportation -I had enough things on board to be able to sleep there in comparative -comfort. And at the end of the few days during which the Mate stayed -away with the children I was able to tell myself that the barge at -last looked like a home. The cabins were all furnished and habitable; -the pictures were hung; even the china and books were arranged -provisionally. - -When for the first time I lit the fifty-candle-power lamp which hung -from the ceiling of the saloon and looked down the long radiant room I -said that I never wanted to live in a better place. - -I cannot forget the pride of those first few evenings on board. Here -was a dream come true. Wherever I cared to go my home would go with me -and carry everything I owned; and the barge was not only my home, but -my yacht and my motorcar. Every evening I held a kind of _levee_ in -the saloon. Tom had more sailor friends, and Harry more landsmen -relations, than I had suspected. As for Sam Prawle, as critic-in-chief -and privy councillor, he was licensed to bring on board as many people -as he pleased. I learned that the race of bargees had all along known -the best use to which a barge could be put, and I myself figured as a -tardy practitioner in ideas which had been immemorially in their -possession. Yet it gratified me to notice that they gaped a good deal -at the transformed _Will Arding_, particularly at night, when candles -as well as the lamp showered a thousand points of light on silver and -glass and china. - -Sam Prawle at one of my _levees_ explained to the assembled guests -that the simplest way of going to London was by barge. It was evident -to him that I had done well to make myself independent of trains, -which in his view were the confusion of all confusions. One of the -most baffling experiences of his life, apparently, had been a journey -by train from Fleetwick to Whitstable. - -'That may be right enough for same as them what fare to understand -these things,' he said, 'but I don't hould with them. Well, naow look -at here, sir. When yaou get to Wickford ye've got to shift aout o' one -train into t'other, ain't ye, sir? And there's two docks where them -trains baound up to Lunnon berth. Five years ago we was in one dock, -and year afore last it was t'other. Well, ye daon't knaow where ye -are, sir, do ye? I niver knaow one of they blessed trains from -another; that's the truth, that is; they all fare to me the spit o' -one another. Then there's everyone a bustlin' abaout, and them -railway chaps a shaoutin' aout afore the train come, and when she do -come most everyone's in such a hurry to git aboard that there ain't no -time to ask, and ye don't knaow where ye are, sir. - -'Then, happen yaou'll have to shift again halfway up to Lunnon, and -happen not; that fare to be all accordin'. And same as when ye git to -Lunnon, yaou've got to git acrost it, ain't ye, and when ye asks haow -to do it, some on 'em says, "Yaou go under-ground," and some on 'em -sez, "Yaou take a green bus with Wictoria writ on it." I ain't over -and above quick at readin', and I daon't never fare to git as far as -where she's a goin' to afore she gits under way. Last time I got -someone from here to put me aboard and speak the conductor for me. But -then agin, when ye git to t'other station and git your ticket, ye -ain't found the blessed ould train, for that's a masterous great -station full o' trains. No, sir, ye don't knaow where ye are, and -that's the truth, that is. Then mebbe yaou've got to shift agin on the -Whitstable line, same as I did time I went arter them oysters. - -'But same as goin' in a little ould barge or a smack with the wind the -way it is naow. If ye muster an hour afore low water ye can take the -last o' the ebb daown raound the Whitaker spit. Then ye just hauls yer -wind and takes the flood up Swin till ye come to the West Burrows Gas -Buoy. Accordin' to haow the tide is ye may have to make a short hitch -to wind'ard to make sure o' clearin' that ould wreck on the upper part -o' the sand. Arter that ye can keep she a good full till ye find the -tail o' the Mouse Sand with yer lead; then, soon as ye git more water -agin, bear away abaout south an' by west and keep her head straight on -Whitstable. Ye knaow where ye are, sir, the whole time, don't ye? A -course, if ye're a bit early on the tide ye may have to keep away a -bit to clear the east end o' the Red Sand, but yaou must have come -wonnerful quick if there ain't water over the Oaze, and Spaniard, and -Gilman, and Columbine. That's easy same as night-time, too, for when -ye're clear o' the Mouse Sand ye can go from the Gas Buoy on the lower -end of the Oaze across the Shiverin' Sand to the Girdler Lightship -that is, if yaou can't go overland. Yes, yes; that's much better; ye -knaow where ye are the whole time, don't ye? - -'I ain't on'y took a barge above Lunnon once't, and I remember that -well, as I larned suthen I den't know afore and that 'ad to do with -trains, too. We 'ad just berthed at Twickenham with coals, and as I -'ad to goo to Lunnon to see the guvnor I goos off to the railway -station and buys a ticket, and says to the fust porter I sees, "Whin's -the next daown train, mate?" - -'"In abaout twenty minutes," 'e says. - -'So I slips acrost the road and was just in the middle of my 'alf-pint -when I 'ears a train comin', so I peaks out o' the window and sees it -come in from the westward. "That fare to be my train," I says to -myself, and drinks my beer as quick as I can and goos acrost to the -station again. But they shet the door just as I come in. - -'"Where's that train a goin', mate?" I says to the porter what I seed -afore. - -'"Lunnon," says 'e. - -'"Yaou tould me there warn't no daown train for twenty minutes," I -says. - -'"No more there ain't," 'e says; "that's an up train." - -'Well, that warn't no use a argyin' with he, and from what I could -make of it that don't fare to matter whether folks lives above Lunnon -or below ut. No one don't take no notice o' that, but allus says they -is a goin' up to Lunnon. - -'They Lunnoners allus reckon to knaow more'n we country folk, but us -knaow better an that. Yes, yes; up on the flood, daown on the ebb; and -that ain't a mite o' use tryin' to tell me different.' - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - 'O, to sail to sea in a ship! - To leave this steady, unendurable land! - To leave the tiresome sameness of the streets, the sidewalks and - the houses; - To leave you, O you solid, motionless land, and, entering a ship, - To sail, and sail, and sail!' - - -One day only was left to me, before the return of the Mate, to examine -the gear and make sure that everything was ready for sea, as we -proposed to cruise for a few days before going to our new quarters. -The place we had chosen to live at was Newcliff on the Thames, where -there was a school at which the boys' names had already been entered. - -All the standing and running rigging and the canvas were in good -order; nevertheless the waterside pundits had plenty of sagacious -criticisms to offer. Public attention was now diverted from the -interior to life above decks. In particular there was not a new piece -of rope or a new spar on board that was not discussed till all its -merits or defects had been discovered or insinuated. - -To a keen amateur seaman this reiteration is never wearisome. He -knows how to learn, because he knows that the most casual comment from -a bargee or a smacksman is charged with experience. Many of these men -have astonishing powers of memory and observation, powers as wonderful -in their way as the sight and hearing of American Indians. Recognition -of a vessel by the cut of her jib is easy enough, and has supplied our -language with an idiom; but bargees and smacksmen will recognize one -another's vessels at great distances, though even at close range the -vessels may seem to other people to be indistinguishable. A few men -can recognize any craft they have ever seen if they catch sight of -only the peak of her sail. Barge skippers who have been in the trade a -lifetime will recall the details of almost every voyage they have -made--the time of starting, the shifts of wind, the margin of time by -which they saved their tide, what they saw on the way, and a dozen -other things--never confusing one passage with another. - -When you sail by bargees or smacksmen at anchor you behold them -apparently staring aimlessly on to the sea or into the sky; but they -are watching. Perhaps they seem to be looking the other way, but they -have marked you pass and noticed, it may be, that your topping lift is -too taut. This or any other detail is duly entered in the unwritten -log of their memories. On shore they take their leisure on the quay, -walking up and down, never more than a few steps each way, with eyes -always on the anchorage. The arrival of a stranger, the way he -anchors, the coming and going of dinghies, the manner in which they -are brought alongside--everything is noted. - -Now, the chief object of interest in the gear of the _Will Arding_ was -a new kedge anchor. To men accustomed to anchor near the shore and in -very narrow swatchways nothing is more important than their ground -tackle. They spend more anxious thought on that than on anything else. -My new anchor was lying on the quay, and I could hear the comments of -every passer by. I was flattered by an accumulation of approval. -Sometimes I was below, and did not know who was speaking; nor did it -much matter, since the language of all was interchangeable. I would -simply hear a voice; and soon another voice would be saying the same -thing over again. Imagine a succession of observations like this: - -_First Voice_: 'Yes, yes; that's a good anchor, that is. As I was a -sayin' to Jim this mornin', "That's got good flues, that has, and a -good stock. I lay she 'on't never drag that," I says, "if that git -aholt in good houldin' graound. No more she 'on't faoul that. That'll -hould she in worse weather than what they'll ever want to be aout in," -I says. "Then agin, that's a good anchor for layin' aout, for that -ain't a heavy anchor to handle in a bo't," I says. "None the more for -that, she 'on't never drag that. The chap what made that anchor -knaowd what he was abaout."' - -_Second Voice_: 'That's a wonnerful good anchor, that is. That 'on't -never drag that if they let that goo in good houldin' graound. I allus -did like an anchor long in the stock, same as that. Yes, yes; that'll -hould she. That ain't a heavy anchor for same as layin' off in a bo't, -whereas them heavy anchors is wonnerful ill convenient. Yes, yes; -they've got a good anchor there; that was made at Leigh, that was, and -wonnerful good anchors that smith allus did make.' - -_Third Voice_: 'What do I think in it? I don't want to think nawthen -abaout that. I _knaow_ that's a good anchor. She 'on't never drag -that, _do_, that'll hev to be wonnerful poor houldin' graound. That -anchor's got good flues, that has, and she 'on't never drag that nit -faoul it. They'll want to be in harbour time that anchor 'on't hould -she. That's long in the stock, that is, but none the more for that -that ain't a heavy anchor, and yaou can lay that aout in a bit of a -sea when maybe a heavier un 'ould be too much for yer.' - -The next day the Mate and the elder boy returned, and the barge was -christened with a new name. _Will Arding_, no doubt, had had some -sufficient meaning for the late owner, but for us it meant nothing, -and we had decided to call the barge _Ark Royal_. - -Before the christening we moved from the quay into midstream. The -warps ashore were cast off, and the clank, clank, clank, of the -windlass sounded like the music of other worlds calling. We slowly -hove off the barge until her stern swung round and she rode free to -the flood-tide and the east wind. Sam Prawle was on board, as I had -engaged him to come for our first cruise in order that I might learn -the handling of a barge under a good instructor. We could not start -till high water, because the wind was up river. - -Meanwhile, the christening was performed. Several smacksmen came off -in their boats for the ceremony. A bottle of champagne, made fast to -the jib topsail halyards, was flung well outboard, and came back on to -the barge's bluff bows with a crash and an explosion of foam as the -Mate said: 'In the name of all good luck I christen you _Ark Royal_!' - -Everyone cheered; other champagne (not the christening brand) was -handed round, and we all drank success and long life and happiness to -one another and the ship. The Royal Cruising Club burgee was hoisted -to the truck and the Blue Ensign at the mizzen peak. - -Sam stowed the wine-glasses in their racks below; the good-byes were -said; the smackies clambered over the side, sorted themselves into the -cluster of dinghies astern, and lay on their oars to watch the start. -The tide was on the turn, the great topsail flacked in the wind, -the brails were let go, and Sam and I sweated the mainsheet home and -set the mizzen. - -[Illustration: THE _ARK ROYAL_] - -She was feeling the ebb now, and she sheered first one way and then -the other, gently tugging at her anchor as we hoisted the foresail and -made the bowline fast to port. Once more the clank, clank, of the -windlass; the short scope of the bower anchor came home sweetly, and -the _Ark Royal_ was free. I left Sam to get the anchor right up and -flew aft to the wheel as she slowly gathered way. - -We were off! Good-bye to the land and houses and rates and by-laws! We -believed that we were entering on a better way of life. We have since -made sure of it. - -I think of that first sail still. The newness to us of the _Ark -Royal's_ great size; her height above the water; the grand sweep she -took as she came about; the march from the wheel to the leeside to -peer forward in bargee's style to see whether there was anything in -our way to leeward; the size of the wheel itself, and the many turns -wanted to put the helm down or up, filled us with importance and pride -as we tacked down the river. If you would know what my feelings were -then you must think of your first boundary to square leg, your first -salmon, your first gun, your first stone wall with hounds running -fast. - -That night we anchored at the mouth of the river, and when the sails -were stowed and the riding light had been hoisted, we ate our first -dinner on board and tucked our elder boy into his bunk for the first -time. Then beneath the stars, rocking gently on a scarcely perceptible -easterly swell, we walked our decks in the flood-tide of happiness. - -'None of our relations know where we are or where we are going to,' -said the Mate. 'Here we are now, and to-morrow, perhaps, we shall get -to Mersea Island and pick up Margaret and Inky, and then we shall be -complete. Is it real? Is it true?' - -We sat on deck very late, too much occupied with the pleasure of -existing to yield to sleep. The sky was continually changing as snowy -clouds drifted across it. In the distance the Swin Middle light flared -up like a bonfire every fifteen seconds. Here and there the lights of -barges drooped tremulous threads of gold on the water. - -Sam Prawle was invited aft; and regarding us now as freemen of the -barge profession, he enlarged upon the advantages of barging -(comparing it with the sport of yachting, which he seemed to think we -had abandoned) with a confidential note in his voice that we had not -precisely detected before. But his opinions on these weighty matters -deserve a chapter to themselves. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - 'Vous etes tous les deux tenebreux et discrets: - Homme, nul n'a sonde le fond de tes abimes, - O mer, nul ne connait tes richesses intimes, - Tant vous etes jaloux de garder vos secrets!' - - -Seated on the after cabin-top near the wheel, Sam Prawle made known to -us the _arcana_ of barging. The comparison with yachting was to the -disadvantage of yachting, and we felt that he would not have ventured -to take this line had we still owned the _Playmate_. On the other -hand, we were gratified at being treated with frankness as members of -his profession. - -'I don't reckon,' said Sam Prawle, 'there ain't nawthen as good as -bargin', same as on the water, my meanin' is. Ye see, yaou gets home -fairly frequent, yaou ain't got no long sea-passages to make, yaou can -see a bit o' life in the taowns, and ef yaou've got a good little ould -barge and freights is anyways good ye can make a tidy bit o' money. - -'Then agin, in respect o' livin', most all barges carries a gun, and -there's some I could name as carries oyster drudges; then there's a -bit o' fishin' to be done, and accordin' to where yaou're brought up -there may be winkles, or mussels, or cockles, and, as I says, chance -time a few oysters; so my meanin' is the livin' is good. - -'A course that don't do for it to be knaown ye carries a drudge no -more than that do to be seen pickin' up oysters nit winkles in some -places, same as on the Corporation's graounds in the Maldon River. But -outside them graounds that does no detriment. I dessay yaou remember -some time back abaout they chaps what was caught pickin' up winkles in -the Maldon River. Well, the judge give it agin them, for a course the -Corporation has all the fishin' rights above them beacons. But the -most amusingest part was, they chaps' lawyer tried to make aout a -winkle warn't a fish, but a wild animal. Yes, yes; they lost right -enough. - -'Us allus used to live wonnerful well on the ould _Kate_, for I had a -mate, Bill Summers, who was a masterpiece at shoot'n'. He were suthen -strorng, he were, and had masterous great limbs on 'im, but none the -more for that he were a wonnerful easy-spoken chap. I've knaowed he -caught a many times by same as keepers and that, but he allus had some -excuse or spoke 'em fair. Leastways, he den't never git into trouble. - -'I remember one November day there'd bin a heavy dag in the fore part -o' the day which cleared off towards the afternoon, and Bill went -ashore after a hare or whatever he could git daown on they ould -mashes away to the eastward there. A wonnerful lonely place that -is--no housen nor nawthen but they great ould mashes. A course Bill -den't reckon there'd be anyone a lookin' after the shootin' daown -there, but there were. But as I was a tellin' yer, Bill most allus -knaowed what to say to such as they. Well, just afore that come dark, -about flight time, I raowed the boat ashore to the edge o' the mud on -the lookaout for Bill. I waited some time, and that grew darker and -darker, and them watery birds and curlew kep' all on a callin', and -one o' they ould frank-herons come a flappin' overhead, and that fared -wonnerful an' lonesome. - -'Well, I was jist a wonderin' whether I hadn't better goo and look for -Bill in case he'd got stuck in one o' they fleets what run acrost -mashes, or had come to some hurt, for a man might lay aout there days -and weeks afore anyone might hap to find 'im. Then I heard suthen and -sees Bill a comin' suthen fast along the top o' the sea-wall with -another chap a comin' arter 'im. "Ullo," I thinks, "Bill's in -trouble," so I gives a whistle, and Bill answers and comes straight on -daown the mud towards the bo't with his gun in one hand and an ould -hare or suthen in the other. When he gits half-way daown the mud Bill -turns raound to the chap a follerin' and says, "Do yaou ever read the -noospapers, mate?" - -'The chap, he den't say nawthen, so Bill stops and 'as a look at 'is -gun, and then he says agin werry slow, "Funny things you reads of -'appenin' in the noospapers." - -'Well, that chap den't fare to come no further, and Bill finishes 'is -walk daown the mud alone. Wonnerful easy-spoken chap, 'e was. Yes, -yes; us allus had good livin' on the _Kate_. - -'Then agin, same as summer-time, maybe yaou've got a fair freight, or -yaou're doin' a bit o' cotcheling, and yaou're a layin' up some snug -creek, and the tides ain't just right for gittin' away, and yaou has -to wait three or faour days. Well, that's wonnerful comfortable, that -is, specially ef there's a bit of a village handy. Or same as layin' -wind-baound winter-time, maybe twenty barges all together--and I -remember sixty-two layin' wind-baound at the mouth o' the Burnham -River once't--well, that'll be a rum 'un if there ain't a bit o' -jollification goin' on aboard some o' they. Yes, yes; I allus says -bargin' is what ye likes to make it. - -'What other craft can a man take his missus in--leastways, ef he has a -mind to? They what ain't got little 'uns often takes their wives with -'em, and summer-time they can often manage without a mate in same as -ninety-ton barges. A course, that's a bit awk'ard ef ye gits into -trouble, for a woman can't do what a man can, and a man can't allus -say what he wants to ef he has the missus with him. - -'But that's true, women's wonnerful artful, and I've knaowed a woman -say suthen more better than what a man could. When ould Ted -Wetherby--a wonnerful hard-swearin' man--took his missus with him, -they was nearly run daown by a torpedo bo't in the Medway. That young -lootenant in charge pitched into Ted suthen cruel, but Ted he den't -say nawthen till that young chap was abaout in the middle of what 'e -'ad to say, and then 'e jist up and says, "Ush! Ladies at the hellum!" -And then the lootenant turns on Ted's missus, and tells she jist what -he thought about Ted and the barge. Ted's missus den't say nawthen -neither till they was jist sheerin' off, and then she says, "I don't -take no more notus o' what yaou say than ef ye ain't never spoke." -Bill tould me he reckoned that lootenant were more wild than ef Bill -'ad spoke hisself. - -'Then agin, a skipper of a barge is most all the time his own master -in a manner o' speakin'. A course, some says yachtin' is easier, and -maybe it is, but I don't hould with it. I've met scores o' yacht -skippers and had many a yarn along o' they, but I'd rather be skipper -of a little ould barge than any yacht afloat. My cousin, Seth Smith, -is skipper of a yacht, and he's tould me some o' the wrinkles o' -yachtin'. - -'From what I can 'ear of it, there's owners and owners. Accordin' to -some, they what don't knaow nawthen fare to be the best kind to be -with. Leastways, that's a wonnerful thing haow long a yacht will lay -off a place the skipper and crew likes. I remember one beautiful -little wessel a layin' off the same blessed ould place week after -week, so I ast a chap I knaowed if she den't never git under way. -"Well," 'e says, "yaou see, the owner, he don't knaow nawthen, and the -skipper and crew belongs 'ere. Chance time they do get under way, but -we most allus says o' she 'ef there ain't enough wind to blaow a match -aout there ain't enough wind for she to muster, and ef there's enough -wind to blaow a match aout that's too much for she, as the sayin' is." - -'But there's owners what sails their own wessels, and Seth says as -haow they is good enough to be along with, for ef they gits into -trouble they gits into trouble, and that ain't nawthen to do with the -crew. - -'But they owners what knaows a little is the worst, because they -thinks they knaows everything, in a manner o' speakin', and the -skipper has to be wonnerful careful. Yaou see, the trouble lays along -o' the steerin'. A course, most anyone can steer, though they don't -git the best aout of a wessel, but same as owners an' they allus fare -to reckon that steerin' is everything, which a course it ain't. Seth -has tould me a score o' times, he has, "Sam," he says, "that's a -strain on a man, that is, for he's got to keep all on a watchin' his -owner to see he keeps the wessel full or don't gybe she, or one thing -an' another. Naow same as tackin' up this 'ere little ould river," he -says, "or standin' into shaoal water, ye just says to me comfortable -like, 'Shove the ould gal round,' whereas my meanin' is that 'on't do -for a yacht skipper to say that to his owner. No, no; that 'on't do; -he's got to goo careful like. Maybe he'll say, 'What do you think -abaout comin' abaout sir?' Then maybe--if there ain't no visitors -aboard--the owner'll say, 'Let 'er come.' Then agin, maybe there's -visitors aboard, and the owner 'e takes a look raound and says, 'In -another length,' or suthen o' that." - -'But ef the skipper's bearin' a hand with suthen, or for one thing or -another he leaves that a bit late, so as he ain't got time to ask the -owner what e' thinks and let him have his look raound so that fare as -haow he's in charge, but jist says, "Shove her round," quick like, -then the owner ain't over and above pleased--especially if there's -visitors aboard, as I was a sayin'. That's ill convenient, that is, -for ef she don't come raound quick enough she'll take the graound, and -then the skipper's got to say a hill has graowed up or a landmark's -bin cut daown or suthen, and kaidge she off too; and a course, same as -on the ebb, that's a hundred to one she 'on't shift till she fleet -next tide. Yes, yes; a skipper's got to be wonnerful forehanded as -well as careful what 'e says. - -'I remember a friend o' mine, Jem Selby, goin' along of a gent who was -wonnerful praoud o' his cruises, what 'e did without a skipper. He -on'y took Jem, he said, cos Jem were a deep-water man and hadn't -never been in a yacht afore, but on'y in same as barques and ships and -wessels similar-same to that, and 'e wanted a man just to cook and put -him ashore. Well, this gent and Jem brought the little yacht--I can't -remember her name--from Lowestoft daown to Falmouth, and the gent was -wonnerful praoud o' hisself, as they'd been aout in some tidy breezes. -He was a tellin' of his friends at Falmouth all abaout his adventures, -and the gales o' wind they had come through, when he turns to Jem, who -was standin' by, and says, "What do yaou say to goin' raound Land's -End to-morrer, Jem?" "Well, I don't knaow, sir," says Jem; "yaou see, -we're a gettin' near the sea now." Maybe it were that, maybe it -warn't, but 'e den't ast Jem to sail along o' he next season. - -'Well, there yaou are now. Ye can't do nawthen and ye can't say -nawthen. No, no; from what I can 'ear of it and from what I can see of -it, yachtin' ain't in the same street as bargin', as the sayin' is. -Let alone, some o' they chaps never does a hand's turn o' work from -one week to another 'cept maybe polish a bit o' brass work. - -'Seth says as haow that ain't a bad job to be in charge of a little -yacht with a party o' young chaps, same as on their holiday. Young -chaps, same as they, never drinks without the skipper, and a course -they most allus lives well, so the skipper do too. Then agin, yaou see -they likes to do all the work, and the skipper just puggles abaout -like and tells they what to do, though a course they wants lookin' -arter none the more for that. Maybe on dewy nights the skipper 'as to -goo raound quiet like and ease up the halyards, for young chaps is all -for havin' everything smart and taut; but that ain't nawthen, and he -can most allus do that while they has their supper. - -'From what I see of it myself, I reckon young chaps same as they is a -bit troublesome goin' into harbour. I remember seein' a party o' faour -come into Lowestoft in a little yacht--a doddy little thing, she -were--with an ould fellow in charge. The _Lord Nelson_ was just -startin' for Yarmouth, so they couldn't berth until she'd gone, and as -I happed to be standin' by I made fast the lines the ould chap -thraowed on the pier. Well, the band was a playin' and the pier -crowded with gals a watchin' the yachts in the harbour, and they young -chaps den't fare to be able to keep quiet like with them gals a -lookin' on, and kep' all on worritin' the ould chap to knaow ef they -hadn't better give a pull on this or a pull on t'other. Then I seed -the artful ould chap give one on 'em the headrope to hould and another -the starn rope--though they might just as well a bin made fast--and -another he give a fender to, and t'other one, what was the most -worritsome o' the lot, 'e took and made fast the jib sheets raound the -bitts and tould he to pull on that. And he did. Lor', that did make -me laugh suthen. - -'Then agin, some o' they young 'uns hears things what they den't ought -to. I remember young Abe Putwain, who used to sail along of a -wonnerful larned ould gent what was always a lookin' at things he got -out o' the water with one o' they microscopes--a master great thing -that were, accord' to Abe. Well, this ould party and his friends was -most allus argyin' abaout suthen, and a course Abe could hear they -through the fo'c'sle door. Abe was the most reg'lar chapel man I ever -knaowed, and used allus to hould the plate by the door every Sunday -till he took up along this larned gent what I'm a talkin' abaout. Just -abaout Christmas my mate left to take a skipper's job, so bein' at -home I says to Abe, who I ain't seen for some bit, "Will you come, -mate, along o' me, as yaour bo't's laid up?" So he come as mate, and -one day, when we was sailing daown past the Naze and had just opened -up Harwich Church, I says, "Well, mate, there's the ould church!" I -says, meanin' the landmark. "Oh," 'e says, scornful like. "You don't -'ould with them idle superstitions, do yer?" he says. Well, that -warn't no use argyin' with he, for he ain't never bin to chapel since, -and that's what come o' yachtin', I reckon.' - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - _'Here are our thoughts--voyagers' thoughts_, - _Here not the land, firm land, alone appears_, may then by them be - said; - The sky o'erarches here--we feel the undulating deck beneath our - feet, - We feel the long pulsation--ebb and flow of endless motion; - The tones of unseen mystery--the vague and vast suggestions of the - briny world--the liquid-flowing syllables.' - - -The riding light was already garish in the early sunshine when we -turned out the next morning. The fragrance of the breeze coming in -faint puffs off the land, the clean taste of the air, the cries of the -sea birds, and the tender haze that overhung the land, set all our -senses tingling. Yet what a creature is man! As we stood by the main -rigging there came wafted aft to us from the forehatch the bubbling -sound and the smell of frying bacon, and we could scarcely endure the -delay of staying to wash down the decks, though that was a duty to be -performed before hunger might be satisfied honourably. - -We got under way soon after breakfast, but the wind was fluky and we -drifted rather than sailed. About low water we anchored in a clock -calm to wait for the easterly breeze which we knew would come later, -for the gossamers hung on the rigging. In the afternoon the wind duly -'shot up at east,' as the fishermen say, and we fetched over the -Dengie flats, opened the Blackwater, and bore away for Mersea Island -to pick up the other children. - -We anchored in the Deeps, for there was no room for such a large -vessel as ours in our old haunts up the creeks, but before the anchor -was down two small figures in white came running down King's Hard. -Inky and Margaret had been watching for us. We soon had the sailing -dinghy going off for them. How pleased they were, how excited about -their cabins, how astonished at finding their toys ready for them! - -At last, then, our scheme was complete. The family was reassembled -under a new roof, and that roof was a deck. - -We met several sailing friends at West Mersea, and found our old -yacht, the _Playmate_, from whose owners we heard an account of their -first trip to Mersea. Off the entrance they hailed the man on board -the watchboat, to ask the way into the quarters. The watchman, who had -known the _Playmate_ for years, and had seen her going in and out -scores of times, answered the question in the spirit in which he -supposed it had been asked. He had not heard that the vessel had -changed hands. - -'Go on. _Yaou_ knaow,' he shouted back. - -'No, we don't,' bawled the new owners. - -'Go on. _Yaou_ knaow,' he repeated, as the _Playmate_ forged on. - -'No, we don't,' yelled the new owners, becoming nervous of running -aground. - -'Yaou let the ould girl goo herself, then. _She_ knaow the way in!' -was the last they heard. - -During our short cruise we found out how best to arrange everything on -board so as to avoid breakages in a sea. Our furniture, of course, had -not been specially made for a ship; some of it had already been -screwed to the walls or bulkheads; the rest of it could be quickly -wedged. The shelves were all fitted with ledges, so that china and -silver had only to be laid flat behind the ledges. On deck we hung -thin boards over the windows, as these might easily be broken. - -At Osea Island in the Blackwater we took in eight hundred gallons of -water. We then visited Heybridge, Brightlingsea, and Wivenhoe, and -still left ourselves ample time to make the passage to Newcliff and -settle down comfortably before the boys were due at their school. - -To revisit the Essex sea-marshes is always to discover something new. -The dim low land may be called dreary compared with the more -vivacious Solent, but when the spell of this Dutch-like scenery has -been laid on you it has touched your heart for ever. - -Not all people who are in love with Essex have always been so. The -charms of the county inland, as well as on the coast, have to be -discovered gradually, because they are widely spread. - -Essex has no cathedral which gathers up the interest to one point. Yet -its houses are an epitome of its history and character; they look as -though they were part of the landscape, as though they had grown up -with the trees. Some houses in Essex--farmhouses and inns--often -welcome you with a clean white face, but the complexion of a whole -village seen far off is nearly always red, and a thin spire generally -tapers above the roofs. Churches and houses alike were built with the -materials which were ready to hand. There is much timber in the -building, because Essex has few quarries. In hundreds of churches, -too, you may see the relics of the Roman occupation. The Roman bricks -are worked into the lower parts of the walls; flint commonly comes -above the brick, and stout timbers are used not only for the roof, but -in the whole construction. Sometimes the spire is made entirely of -wood, and there is surely something beautiful and touching in the -exaltation to this use of the characteristic material of the county. -When a beam was wanted for a house, or a roof for a church, chestnut -was the wood, no doubt because of the belief that no insect takes -kindly to it. The great building age of what is now rural Essex must -have come immediately after the suppression of the monasteries, and -you can hardly go into an Essex village without finding a Tudor house. -If it be a manor-house, it may have a moat or a monkish fishpond; and -perhaps the pigeon tower, which dates from the times when the lord of -the manor had his rights of pigeonry, is still standing. The old inns -have a spaciousness which informs you of the well-being of -agricultural Essex when they were built. Where the land is good there -the inns are good also; where the land is poor the inns are built on -niggard lines. You can come across Essex villages--such as the -Rodings, the Lavers, and the Easters--which for remoteness of air and -unsophistication could not be matched except in counties so distant -from London as Cornwall and Cumberland. - -Certainly Essex has no great hills, even as it has no great buildings. -But the value of hills is relative. From many places in Essex only -about sixty feet above the sea there are wide views, and you may gaze -upon the Kentish coast thirty miles away on the other side of the -Thames. The secret of the Essex coast is the illusion of immensity. -The dome of sky is scarcely interrupted by the small frettings of land -and wood along the edges. In this vast atmospheric theatre a change of -weather may be seen at almost any point of the compass planning its -tactics on a clear hard line of horizon, and thence swinging up the -sky, showing the soft white flags of peace or the threatening front of -a battle formation. One even has an important sense of the monstrous -nearness of natural forces when the 'inverted bowl' is filled with a -dark low-flying scud that seems to be crushing down on you in a kind -of personal assault. - -Men who have become captivated by the marshes have been able to -measure the gradual and unconscious change in their feelings about -hills and flat lands by a visit to some such spot as the Italian -Lakes. The beauty of the lakes has always to be admitted--the purity -of the water, the affluence of the colour, the abrupt fall of the -hills to the water, the sweetness of the glinting villages perched -high up as though resting in a long and difficult climb to the sky. -But at the end of a week the visitor may have found himself insisting -on these beauties; he has felt that the sense of them is slipping -away. He who needs to argue with himself is losing ground. He becomes -unreasonably conscious that the water is imprisoned, and does not lead -to the sea round the distant headland; that the sky is filched away; -and that the winds are false, being misdirected by the hills and -simply blowing up or down a long corridor, so that Nature is -frustrated in these coddled and enchanted haunts. - -In shallow estuaries like those of Essex the tides have necessarily to -be studied more carefully than in deep waters. The ebb tide runs -faster than the flood; for the ebb is hurried seawards, pressed on its -flanks as it goes, by the weight of water that pours off the flats -from either side of the channel. The flood comes in from the sea like -a cautious explorer. It is as though it could afford to be slow -because it has the authority of the sea behind it. Moreover, it has -nothing to do with the joy and madness of escape from confinement, but -daily performs a sober function of renewal. It is a deliberate, -sightless creature, pushing before it sinuous fingers with which it -gropes its way through the crushed jungles of matted weed. - -For the gulls, the redshanks, the stint, the herons, and the curlew, -the important moments of the day are when the water first leaves the -banks and a refreshed feeding-ground is once more laid bare. But to -the yachtsman the vital time is when the sea advances, bringing its -salt breath among the drowsier inland scents, raising the weed from -the dead, and changing into sensitive buoyant things the smacks and -yachts which have been stranded on their sides, heavy and immobile for -hours. - -There are two yachtsmen at least who are almost ashamed to confess how -childish in its reality is their pleasure in watching the return of -the tide over the flats or up some shallow creek. They have not -counted the number of times they have leaned over the side of a yacht, -knowing she could not float for an hour or more, watching the tiny -crabs scuttle into fresh territories as the oily flood bearing yellow -flecks of tide-foam brims silently over one level on to the next; -watching each weed being lifted and supported by the water until its -whole length waves and bends in the tide like a poplar in a breeze; -watching the angle at which the yacht has been lying correct itself -until she sits upright in the mud; watching, perhaps, in the proper -season, the swish and flutter of the water, and the little puffs of -disturbed mud drifting away like smoke, as mullet thresh their way -through the entrancing green submarine avenues. And then there is -always the thrill of the moment when the rising water touches with -life the dead hull of a yacht, and turns her into a creature of -sensitiveness and grace swaying to the run of the tide. One moment she -is as a rock against which you might push unavailingly with all your -might; the next she has sidled off the ground, and will sheer this way -and that in response to a finger laid upon the tiller. - -As the tide rises towards its height you may see smacks--oyster -dredgers, trawlers, shrimpers, and eel boats--filling the shining -mouth of the estuary. The lighting of this part of the coast is like -nothing else in England. A pearly radiance seems to strike upwards -from the sea on to the underpart of the clouds, which borrows an -abnormal glow. In these waters, when the sea is not grey it is -generally shallow green, and sometimes, when there are thunder-clouds -with sunshine, it becomes an astonishing jade. At sunset the vapours -over the marshes burn like a furnace, and the cumulus clouds sometimes -glow underneath with the dusky fire of a Red Underwing moth. When the -water has left the flats the lighting does not change appreciably, -because the gleaming mud, glossy and shining like the skin of the -porpoises which sport along the channels, has the quality of water. -The most characteristic effect is the mirage, which swallows up the -meeting-point of sea and sky in a liquid glare, exalts the humblest -smack with the freeboard and towering rigging of a barque, and -separates the tops of trees from visible connection with the land, so -that they appear to be growing out of air and water. Often one might -fancy that the trees of the Blackwater and the Crouch, thus seen in -the distance, were the palm-trees of some Polynesian island. - -On the marshes, or reclaimed lands, which are inside the sea-walls, -and are intersected by tidal dykes called fleets, sea-fowl and -woodland birds mingle: curlew with wood pigeons, plover with -starlings, rooks and gulls, feeding harmoniously. Here and there the -mast and brailed-up sail of a barge sticking out of grazing-land tell -of a creek winding in from some hidden entrance, and remind you that -in Essex agriculture and seamanship are on more intimate terms than -are perhaps thought proper elsewhere. - -Outside the sea-walls are salt marshes ('salts' or 'saltings') which -are covered only by the higher tides. In the early summer the thrift -colours them with pink and white, and later a purple carpet is spread -by the sea lavender. The juicy glasswort (called 'samphire,' though it -is not the samphire of Dover Cliff in 'Lear') changes from a brilliant -green to scarlet. Herons wade in the rivulets; the whistle of the -redshanks, the mournful cry of the curlew, and the scream of the gulls -which fringe the edge of the water like the white crest of a breaking -wave, sound from end to end of these marshes. In the winter you may -hear the honking of Brent geese. But by far the most beautiful sight -is hundreds of thousands of stint or dunlins on the wing together. -These birds are also called ox-birds, and the fishermen call them -simply 'little birds.' When they wheel, as at the word of command, the -variations in their appearance are almost beyond belief; now they are -wreathed smoke floating across the sky, and scarcely distinguishable -from the long smudge that pours from the funnel of a steamer on the -horizon; now the sun catches their white underparts, and they are a -storm of driven snowflakes; now they present the razor edge of the -wing, and then disappear in the glare as by magic; again they turn -the broadest extent of their wings, and a solid and heavy mass -blackens the sky. - -[Illustration: BEAUMONT QUAY] - -In May, when the sea-birds are hatching their young, the spring-tides -are slack and do not cover the saltings. In a pretty figure of speech -the fishermen call these tides the Bird Tides. - -The lives of the fishermen are ruled by the tides. For them the -working hours of the clock have no significance. On the first of the -ebb, be it night or day, their work begins, and it is on the flood -that they return to their homes. They have no leisure or liking for -the time-devouring practice of sailing over a foul tide. The tide in -the affairs of these men is absolute. - -And although they do not confess in any recognizable phrase of lyrical -sensation that the sea has cast a spell upon them, it is obvious that -that is what has happened. On Sundays, when they are free from their -labour, they will assemble on the hard--a firm strip of shingle laid -upon the mud--and, with hands in pockets, gaze, through most of the -hours of daylight, upon the sweeping tide and the minor movements of -small boats and yachts with an air at once negligent and profound. The -mightiness of the sea, like the mightiness of the mountain, draws -mankind. Men have learned the secrets of these things in a way, and -have turned them to their profit or amusement; but the mastery is -superficial, and it is man who in these great presences is -unconsciously and spiritually enslaved. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - 'He was the mildest-mannered man - That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat.' - - -A great merit of a barge as a house is that when she is 'light,' or -almost 'light,' as the _Ark Royal_ is, she can be sailed out of rough -water on to a sand and left there, provided care be taken that she -does not sit on her anchor. By the time there is only three feet of -water the waves are very small, and thus, however strong the wind may -be and however hard the sand, a barge will take the ground so gently -that one can scarcely say when she touches. The explanation is simple -enough, for, besides being flat-bottomed, a barge, owing to her -length, strides many small waves at once. - -We put the plan into operation on our way to Newcliff. We were running -up Swin, and with the dark the breeze piped up; so instead of sailing -all night or anchoring in the Swin, where there would have been a -disagreeable sea on the flood-tide, we put the _Ark Royal_ on the sand -between the Maplin Lighthouse and the Ridge Buoy, and there she sat as -steady as a town hall. - -This is, of course, an easy way of going to the seaside, so to speak. -You simply sail on to a nice clean sand and stay there till the wind -moderates. Whenever the tide ebbs away, you can descend on to the -sands by a ladder over the side, and pursue the usual seaside -occupations of building docks and canals and forts and catching crabs. - -It was a memorable experience, this passage up the Thames estuary, -house and furniture and family all moving together without any of the -bother of packing up and catching trains, and counting heads and -luggage at junctions. The children enjoyed every moment of it--the -following sea and the dinghy plunging in our wake, the steamers bound -out and in, the smacks lying to their nets with the gulls wheeling -round them waiting for their food, the tugs towing sailing ships, the -topsail schooners, the buoys, the lightships. - -When we arrived at Newcliff we anchored off the town, intending to -look for a good winter berth later in the year. After the quiet of -Fleetwick, Newcliff struck us at once as over-full of noise and -people. At all events, we had the satisfaction of knowing that we were -not going to live on shore. The spot where we lay would have been well -enough for the summer, though with a fresh breeze on shore it was -impossible to take a boat safely alongside the stone wall. The boat, -however, could be rowed up a creek half a mile away. Unfortunately, -this meant the chance of being drenched with spray, and it was also a -too uncertain way of catching trains and trams. Nine times out of ten -we could row to the stone wall, and when the tide ebbed away and the -_Ark Royal_ lay high and dry (which, roughly, was for six out of every -twelve hours) we could always walk ashore. The sand was hard under -about an inch of fine silt. Here and there it was intersected by -shallow gullies, but short sea-boots served our purpose of getting on -shore dry. - -Of course, we always had to think ahead, for if one went ashore in the -boat and took no sea-boots, it might be necessary on returning to walk -to the _Ark Royal_; and if no one were on deck one might shout for -sea-boots for a long time from the land before being heard. The most -awkward time was when the flats were just covered with water, for then -there was too much water round the _Ark Royal_ for sea-boots and not -enough to float a boat to the shore. Then one simply had to wait until -it was possible to walk or row. Once we were caught in this way at one -o'clock in the morning after going to a theatre in London. We waited a -short time for the ebb, but were too sleepy to wait quite long enough. -We put on our sea-boots; and then, slinging my evening shoes and the -Mate's round my neck, and cramming my opera-hat well on to my head, I -gave the Mate my arm. The water itself was not too deep, but in the -dark it was difficult to avoid the gullies, and the Mate nearly -spoiled her new frock and my evening clothes by stumbling into a hole -and clutching at me. This was the only occasion on which I should have -been distressed if those who had disputed the advantages of living in -a barge could have seen us. In anything like a gale of wind there was -a nasty, short, confused, broken sea, and then one had either to row -up to the creek and be drenched or wait till the tide had ebbed. It -was evident that lying off the town for the winter was out of the -question. - -Soon we found a berth up the creek where yachts are laid up, and -agreed to pay a pound for the use of it for a year. It was well -sheltered, but as only a big tide would give us water into it we had -to wait some days after we had found it. - -Meanwhile Sam Prawle, who had remained with us all this time, had to -return home. The children had rallied him a good deal on his yarn -about 'Ould Gladstone' and on the ethics of salvage generally. Salvage -was Sam Prawle's favourite subject; and we could never make up our -minds whether he was more given to boasting of what he had done or to -regretting what he had not done. The evening before he went away he -was evidently concerned lest he should leave us with an impression -that salvage operations were not invariably honourable if not heroic -affairs. He therefore related to us the following episode, and the -reader must judge how far it helps Sam Prawle's case: - -'In them days, afore it was so easy to git leave to launch the -lifeboats as that is now, we allus used to keep a lugger for same as -salvage work. The last wessel as ever I went off to on a salvage job -my share come to thirteen pound and a bit extra for bein' skipper, and -if there hadn't bin a North Sea pilot aboard that ship us chaps 'ud -have had double. But then agin, if us hadn't bin quick a makin' our -bargain us shouldn't have had nawthen. - -'One night, after a dirty thick day blaowin' the best part of a gale -o' wind sou-westerly, the wind flew out nor-west, as that often do, -and that come clear and hard, so as when that come dawn you could see -for miles. Well, away to the south'ard, about six mile, we seed a -wessel on the Sizewell Bank; she was a layin' with her head best in -towards the land. There was a big sea runnin', but there warn't much -trouble in launching the lugger with the wind that way, though we -shipped a tidy sea afore we cast off the haulin'-aout warp. - -'We'd close-reefed the two lugs afore we launched the bo't, and it -warn't long afore the fifteen of us what owned the lugger was a racin' -off as hard as we dare. You see, we den't want no one to git in ahead -of we. Us dursn't put her head straight for the ship, for the sea was -all acrost with the shift o' wind, and us had to keep bearin' away and -luffin' up. You see, them seas was all untrue; they was heapin' up, -and breakin' first one side, then t'other, same as in the race raound -Orfordness. - -'As we drawed near the wessel, that fared to we as haow she were to -th' south'ard of the high part of the sand, and that warn't long afore -we knaowed it, cos we got our landmarks what we fish by, for we most -knaows that sand, same as you do the back o' your hand, as the sayin' -is. We laowered our sails and unshipped the masts and raounded to -under the wessel's quarter--a barquentine, she were, of about nine -hundred ton--and they thraowed us a line. All her sails was stowed -'cept the fore laower torpsail, which were blown to rags, and the sea -was breakin' over her port side pretty heavy. There warn't no spars -carried away, and there den't fare to be no other damage, and if she -was faithfully built she den't ought to have come to a great deal o' -hurt so fur. - -'Then they thraowed us another line for me to come aboard by, and we -hauled our ould bo't up as close as we durst for the backwash. I -jumped as she rose to a sea, but missed the mizzen riggin' and fell -agin the wessel's side; them chaps hung on all right, and the next sea -washed me on top o' the rail afore they could haul in the slack. That -fair knocked the wind aout o' me, and I reckon I was lucky I den't -break nawthen. I scrambled up, and found the cap'n houldin' on to the -rail to steady himself agin the bumping o' the wessel. - -'Well, she was paoundin' fairly heavy, but not so bad as other wessels -I've bin aboard. Still, that's enough to scare the life aout of anyone -what ain't never bin ashore on a sandbank in a blaow, and most owners -don't give a cap'n a chance to do ut twice--nor pilots neither. I -could see the cap'n fared wonnerful fidgety, for the wessel had been -ashore for seven hours and more, so I starts to make a bargain with -him for four hundred pound to get his ship off, when up comes a North -Sea pilot what was aboard. I was most took aback to see him there. - -'"What's all this?" he says. - -'"Four hundred pound to get she off," I says. - -'"Four hundred devils," he says. - -'"No cure, no pay," I says. - -'"No pay, you longshore shark!" he says. - -'Of course, he was a tryin' to make out there warn't no danger to the -wessel and nawthen to make a fuss about. You see, he was afeared there -might be questions asked about it, and he might get into trouble. -Anyway, it don't do a pilot no good to get a wessel ashore, even if -that ain't his fault which it warn't this time, for the wessel was -took aback by the shift o' wind and got agraound afore they could do -anything with her. - -'One thing I knaowed as soon as my foot touched them decks, and that -was that she warn't going to be long afore she come off. Sizewell -Bank's like many another raound here; that's as hard as a road on the -ebb and all alive on the flood, and them as knaows, same as we, can -tell from the way a wessel bumps what she's up to. I could feel she -warn't workin' in the sand no more, but was beginning to fleet, and -'ud soon be paoundin' heavier than ever, but 'ud be on the move each -time a sea lifted she. Howsomdever, I kep' my eyes on the cap'n, and I -could see he was skeered about his wessel, and 'ud be suthen pleased -to have she in deep water agin. - -'"Cap'n," I says, "three hundred and fifty pounds. No cure, no pay." - -"Too much," says the cap'n, but I see he'd like to pay it. - -'"Too much?" says the pilot. "I should think it is! The tide's a -flowin', and she'll come off herself soon; besides, if she don't we'll -have a dozen tugs and steamers by in two or three hours, and any of -'em glad to earn a fifty-pun' note for a pluck off." - -'"That'll be high water in two and a half hours, and you'll be here -another ebb if you ain't careful," I says to the cap'n, "and this -sand's as hard as a rock on the ebb. The pilot'll tell you that if you -don't knaow that already for yourself." - -'"There ain't no call to pay all that money," says the pilot. "She'll -come off right enough." - -'"Well," I says to the cap'n, "if I go off this ship I ain't a comin' -aboard agin 'cept for much bigger money, and when she's started her -garboards and 's making water you'll be sorry you refused a fair -offer!" - -'"I'll give yer two hundred," says the cap'n. - -'That fared to me best to take it, for she was bumpin' heavier, and I -laowed she'd begin to shift a bit soon. Then agin, the paounding was -in our favour, for I see that skeered the cap'n wonnerful, so I starts -a bluff on him. - -'"That 'on't do, cap'n," I says. "I'm off." - -'I went to the lee side of the poop, where our ould bo't was made -fast, to have a look at my mates. The ould thing was tumblin' abaout -suthen, for there was a heavy backwash off the ship's quarter. As she -came up on a sea they caught sight o' me and started pullin' faces and -shakin' their heads, and next time I see them they was doin' the same. -I tumbled to it quick enough that they wanted to say suthen to me, and -a course they couldn't shaout it out, so I threw 'em the fall o' the -mizzen sheet, and me and one o' the crew pulled ould Somers aboard. - -'"For 'eaven's sake," he says, close in my ear, "make a bargin quick! -She's a comin' off by herself! We've got a lead on the graound, and -she's moved twenty foot already." - -'I went back to the cap'n, and he was all on fidgetin' worse'n ever, -so I says, "Cap'n, my mates'll be satisfied with three hundred -paound." - -'"Don't you do no such thing," says the pilot; "she'll come off all -right." - -'"I'll stick to my two hundred," says the cap'n. - -'I dursn't wait, so I closed on it, and the mate writ aout two -agreements, one for the cap'n and t'other for me. Our chaps soon got -the kedge anchor and a hundred fathoms o' warp into the lugger and -laid that right aout astern, and I give the order for the lower main -torpsail and upper fore torpsail to be set. - -'Then our chaps come aboard, and what with heavin' her astern a bit -every time she lifted to a sea and them two torpsails aback, she come -off in half an hour. - -'Yes, yes; we got thirteen pound apiece, and if it hadn't been for -that pilot we'd a got double.' - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - 'Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, la vie est la, - Simple et tranquille; - Cette paisible rumeur-la - Vient de la ville.' - - -We engaged two men to help us up the creek, which is narrow and was -full of small boats difficult for a large craft to avoid. Unluckily, -there was no wind, and we had to punt. This made our difficulties -greater, as the _Ark Royal_, unlike her trading sisters, could not -cannon her way cheerfully up the creek lest her stanchions should be -carried away or her cabin tops be damaged. - -The two men used the poles forward while I steered. A proud helmsman I -was, knowing myself the owner and skipper of the largest yacht on the -station, as we passed a quay thronged with longshoremen looking on. At -that moment I had to put the wheel hard over, and as the barge's stern -swung towards the land her rudder touched the hawser of a smack moored -at the shipyard. The pull of a ninety-ton vessel moving however slowly -is enormous. The hawser tautened like a bar of iron; the _Ark -Royal's_ rudder was banged amidships, wrenching the wheel from my -hands; one of the spokes caught my belt, hoisted me off my feet, swung -me right over the top of the wheel, and dropped me on the other side -of the deck. The Mate and the children did not seem to understand that -this accident to the Skipper reflected some ridicule on the whole -ship's company. They cackled with delight, and wanted me to do it -again. - -[Illustration: WALTON CREEK] - -When we came abreast of our berth there was not enough water for us to -go in, so we lay on a spit of sand and mud for that day. On the next -tide, which was higher, we moved in stern first, leaving our anchor -well out in the creek ready to haul us off in the spring. - -The ebbing tide left us in a shallow dock about three feet deep into -which the _Ark Royal_ just fitted, so that with a ladder on to the -saltings we could easily get on and off the ship. From the road, -seventy or eighty yards away, there was a path across the saltings -right up to us, but as it was very muddy we bought forty or fifty -bushels of cockleshells and spread them on it. We also made a bridge -with planks over a small rill which cut across the path. - -To the west of us was a sea-wall, and behind it marshes stretching -away into dimness; to the north was the railway line; to the south, -first saltings and then the open Thames. At high water we could see -all the ships beyond the saltings; at low water they were hidden from -us. To the east there were gasworks, which we tried to forget, and the -ancient end of the town with houses of many shapes and attitudes. One -of the houses leaned over a quay against which smacks lay so close -that you could have reeved their peak halyards from the top windows. -There was only one house near by us, and in that lived a barge-owner, -who welcomed us and lent us a broad teak ship's ladder. Such was the -place in which we settled down for the winter. - -As soon as we had driven in posts and laid out spare anchors, with -long warps to hold us in position, we began to establish our -communications with the shore. We found tradesmen anxious to call -every day for orders. The postmaster promised three deliveries of our -letters. I took a season ticket to London, as the time had arrived for -me to begin my new work. The station was about eight minutes' walk -from the _Ark Royal_. The boy's school could be reached in about -twenty minutes by tram-car. We instructed the tradesmen's boys when -they came on board to go forward and conduct their business through -the forehatch. For visitors we hung the ship's bell in the mizzen -rigging. I engaged a sailor-boy as handyman and crew. - -The only thing that interrupted our traffic with the shore was the -spring tides, which covered the saltings, for if Jack, the handyman, -were not ready with a boat, a tradesman's boy would have to shout -until he was heard. Soon, however, the boys came to understand -signals, and when a boat could not be sent at once they would leave -the provisions on the grassy bank by the path, and someone from the -barge fetched them as soon as possible. There were only about six days -each fortnight on which the tides were high enough to make the use of -a boat necessary. - -Later we dismissed the boy, as a trusted family servant, Louisa, whom -we had known for many years, came to live with us. As Louisa could not -manage the boat, we set up a box on a post by the road in which -tradesmen could leave our provisions. - -If we had thought of the box sooner it would have saved us the robbery -of a red sausage by a passing dog. The Mate and I were on deck, and -saw the robbery committed. The time in which we launched the boat from -the davits would have done credit to a lifeboat's crew. It was rather -a long, stern chase after we had landed, and would have gone on much -longer but for the dog's greed in stopping two or three times to begin -his meal. As soon as we came near, off he went again, tearing over the -grass between the saltings and the road with our flaming sausage in -his mouth. It was a race between our endurance and his greed, and his -greed won, for at last he lay down with the sausage between his paws -and we fell on him from behind and captured our own. The sausage had -several dents in it, but it was not punctured. The dog had a good -mouth. - -As for mishaps to the food, more occurred on board when it was being -actually delivered than when it was waiting on shore. Twice the -milk-boy stumbled over the foreshore and spilt our milk on deck. A -more serious matter was the butcher-boy's fall. He came up the ladder -with his wooden tray on his shoulder one blustering day, was caught by -a gust as he reached the top, and was blown backwards into the mud. -Our joint lodged in the mud, and the wooden tray travelled a long way -like a sledge on the slippery mud before it stopped. - -Our coal was brought along the road in a cart, and man-handled from -there to the fore end of the ship. We took only four hundredweight at -a time, as we did not use much coal--the inside of a barge is very -easily heated--and we did not care to have the decks hampered. - -That winter, when an old barge was being broken up near by, we bought -a large quantity of small blocks of wood to use instead of coal in the -saloon. The coloured flames this wood gave off were delightful. As -there was no room for the wood on deck, we built a platform on the -ground alongside the _Ark Royal_. The platform sank a little, or -perhaps it was never high enough; at all events, when we had used only -half our stock an enormous tide came, and the remainder of the wood -floated away. As soon as we saw that the tide was going to be -abnormal we manned our boat and tried to salve as much of the wood as -possible, but the tide rose too fast for us. First the blocks floated -off in twos and threes, then in fives and tens, and at last in -squadrons. We pursued them and half filled the boat, but a fresh -westerly breeze scattered the Armada. We saw it spreading out and -trailing down the creek as the tide turned. Nor was that all. Long -before the blocks had reached the quay in their seaward flight they -had been marked by eyes trained from childhood in the search for -flotsam, jetsam, or salvage. Boats were launched, and our wood was -picked up and carried off almost under our noses. - -The annoyance of losing the wood was aggravated by the sootiness of -the coal upon which we now had to fall back. Not only did soot lie -about on deck in still weather, but the chimneys had to be swept once -a week. Certainly this was a very easy job; one had only to remove the -upper parts of the chimneys on deck, hold them over the side, and run -a mop through them; then get someone inside the ship to hold some -sacking below, and shove the mop down the lower parts of the chimneys. - -Our supply of eight hundred gallons of water generally lasted about -six weeks, for, as has been said already, we used chiefly salt water -for the bath. To refill the tanks we could either move out of our -berth on a spring tide and take the water on board through a hose from -a neighbouring shed where water was laid on, or we could have it -carried on board by hand. On the whole, we decided to have the water -carried on board, and our barge-owner friend kindly allowed us to take -the water from his house. - -As it did not much matter when the water was brought, or whether the -carrier worked one hour or eight hours a day, we gave the appointment -of water-carrier to a hairless, red-faced boy of twenty who lived in -an old boat. As a matter of fact, he was a man of about thirty-five, -of whom it was said by some that he was half-witted, by others that he -was lazy, and by others that he was artful. Anyhow, he suited us very -well, for in the circumstances he could not easily have suited us -badly. He came when he felt inclined, and with a yoke and two -three-gallon pails patiently, and at his own pace, fetched the water, -emptied it into our tanks, and went for more. He generally made five -round trips in an hour, thus bringing thirty gallons. He never worked -more than six hours a day, at which rate he could fill our tanks in -about five days; but he generally preferred to spread the work over -ten days. - -Even where we lay beyond the town the _Ark Royal_ was an object of -intense curiosity. Had we made a charge for showing people over her, -we should have collected enough money to buy a new mainsail. Among the -strangers who became acquainted with her internal beauties the most -enterprising and the most bewildered was a school-attendance officer. -He called one Saturday afternoon, and was told we should not be back -till the evening. We were waiting for dinner when Louisa announced -that he had returned. We invited him to the saloon and inquired his -business. He had heard that we had three children, and he had come to -assure himself that they were being educated. Oh, the boys were at Mr. -Jones's, and were going on to Haileybury? Quite so. He was sorry to -have troubled us. Then he, too, was shown round the ship, so that we -trust he did not consider his visit wholly wasted. - -Although our berth was more than a hundred yards from the railway, the -trains--particularly the expresses--shook the ground on which the _Ark -Royal_ sat. At first the noise disturbed us, but soon we became -unconscious of it. For other reasons I was grateful to the railway for -being where it was. On dark winter nights, when I was returning from -London, it never failed to please me to look out of the train and see -the warm radiance from the _Ark Royal_ striking up into the blackness. -Then the walk from the station along the narrow old street paved with -cobbles was delightful, and I could not hurry because I must stop to -watch an anchor or a trawlhead being forged in the blacksmith's, or to -look at the mops, buckets, oilskins, sou'-westers, compasses, -foghorns, lamps, and tins of paint, in the marine stores. And -particularly at high water--if the wind were on shore--as I came -abreast of the openings between the houses I was drawn by the -splashing of the waves against the quay. There I would peer at the -dark forms of dinghies scuffling in the small 'sissing' waves (as they -say in Essex), or watch a cockle-boat with ghostly sails come racing -home, and listen for the click of her patent blocks as she lowered her -long gaff in readiness to berth by the sheds farther up the creek near -the _Ark Royal_. I knew that unless I hurried she would be there -before me, but then on the wide piece of quay facing the Flag Inn -knots of fishermen would be pacing backwards and forwards, and -civility or interest required that the time of night should be passed -with them. Just then, perhaps, a green light close in would attract -me, and forthwith the dark canvas of a barge towering above it would -loom in sight. The short stiff walk of the fishermen would cease; all -eyes would strain into the darkness, and a discussion as to which -barge she was and for what quay she was bound would begin. At last the -barge would settle the matter by becoming recognizable beyond dispute. -We would watch the great mainsail grow smaller and smaller as it was -brailed up, and wait for the mainsail and topsail to come down with a -run. Then when the vessel seemed to be advancing right on to us there -would be a splash and the sound of cable rattling out, and her stern -would swing round towards the quay and she was anchored. A dark figure -in a boat, glimpses of a line, a shout, 'All fast!' the sound of more -cable being paid out, and the barge's bows would swing slowly in -towards the quay and she was berthed. Then the fishermen in their -sea-boots, and guernseys, and billycock hats, or jumpers and peaked -caps, would resume their stiff short walk, and I was free to go on my -homeward way. - -With sailormen it seems as though they felt that the safety of a ship -while being berthed depended on their not taking their eyes off her. -But perhaps they have no thought of rendering telepathic aid; it may -be that they are only hypnotized, like me. - -A little farther along the road one came into the open and could see -the shafts of light from the _Ark Royal_. On dark nights the sailing -directions to find our private path were very simple: go along the -road until all light is obscured on the port side and begins to show -on the starboard side; then you are abreast of the path. The richest -moments of pleasure came when it was high water at night, and one -could look over the saltings on to the business of the great river. -Especially on Fridays and Saturdays large liners were bound out or in; -there were always the clustered illuminations of the shore to the east -and south-east, the avenue of lights on the pier, and the Nore flaring -up and dying down; to the south the searchlights of Sheerness; and to -the south of west the River Middle gas-buoys blinking industriously in -the dark and guiding the sailor safely up to London. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - 'Mon coeur, comme un oiseau, voltigeait tout joyeux - Et planait librement a l'entour des cordages; - Le navire roulait sous un ciel sans nuages - Comme un ange enivre du soleil radieux.' - - -On Saturdays, when I was always at home, there was plenty to be done. -The mainsail, which we had not unbent, had to be aired and the blocks -had to be overhauled; and there were arrears of carpentering which -never seemed to be overtaken. At spring tides we used to sail about -the creek in the dinghy. In their holidays the boys made and sailed -model boats and invented ingenious and daring swinging games on board -with the falls of the halyards. And of course they invited all their -friends to see our floating home. - -We spent Christmas on board in great jollity. That time was marked by -one mishap, though it presented itself to the children as an -entertainment appropriate to the season. The _Ark Royal_ during spring -tides and a westerly gale blew partly out of her dock. As I was -walking back from the station one evening something about her struck -me as queer, though I was some way off and looking at her broadside -on. When I came nearer I could see that she was listing over at a very -steep angle. - -The children were frankly delighted, and told me incoherently and all -at once how their tea-things had slid off the table until books had -been put under the legs, and how the saloon door would not shut and -the kitchen door would not open. - -After unhanging the doors and planing pieces off them, we were able to -make shift all right till midnight, when the barge floated and I hove -her back into her berth. - -The wringing of the barge on this occasion led me to try definitely to -solve the problem of keeping her decks, and particularly the joins -between the decks and the coamings, perfectly watertight. It has been -already mentioned that all barges, owing to their length and build, -alter their shapes or 'wring' slightly according to the ground on -which they lie. On this account, if I were to convert another barge, I -should hang the doors at once with a certain margin. All our doors -have been unhung and planed two or three times. The wringing throws an -enormous strain on the coamings, tending to pull them apart from the -decks. You may caulk the joins thoroughly with oakum and serve them -with marine glue, but a fresh strain will pull them open again. At -last I invented a successful method. A quarter-round beading was -fastened along the decks about a quarter of an inch from the coaming, -and a hot mixture of marine glue and Stockholm tar was poured in -between the beading and the coaming. The Stockholm tar gives the -marine glue a permanent softness. We then covered the mixture with -another mixture of putty and varnish, which protected it from heat, -cold, and wet. The secret, in fine, is to caulk the joins with -something that will expand and contract like the surrounding material -without becoming detached from it. This something must remain soft and -sticky. But if the mixture be not buried under something else it will -melt and trickle across the decks like heavy treacle. - -The decks themselves were less difficult to keep tight; nevertheless, -we had some trouble at first. We began by painting or dressing them, -but later we covered them with a buff linoleum, which will be cheaper -in the long run. The puzzle was how to lay the linoleum on worn decks. -There were edges and knots which would soon have worked through. -However, we solved this problem, too. We spread half a hundredweight -of hot pitch, mixed with some tar, on the decks, and laid tarred felt -upon it. Above the felt we laid the linoleum, with more pitch and tar -to stick it. When in the mournful order of things the _Ark Royal_ -comes to her end, and is sawed up, burned, or ground to pieces by the -sea, that linoleum will perish as an integral part of the decks, for -nothing will ever separate them. - -The winter passed, and with the swelling of the buds and the gift of -song to the birds our corner of the world woke, too, and the yachts in -the saltings began to renew their plumage. On all sides were heard the -sounds of scraping; masts and spars and blocks sloughed their dull -winter skins and glistened with new varnish in the sun. - -The _Ark Royal_ also was fitted out. The whole ship smelt of varnish -and new rope; the headsails, topsail, and mizzen were bent, and she -was ready to move out of winter quarters. - -On Maundy Thursday we cast off the warps on shore, took our spare -anchors on board, and waited for the tide. I had engaged a sailor-boy -as crew, and also had a friend to help me. After five months' silence -we heard once more the exciting clank of the windlass as we hove in -the muddy chain. The chain came easily at first, and then checked at -the strain of breaking out the great bower anchor from the bed which -it had made for itself in the sand. A little humouring, and away it -came and up went our spreading red topsail. A fresh wind off the land -carried us slowly out of the creek through the small fry. Clear of the -creek we let the brails go, and the wind crashed out the mainsail. Up -went the bellying foresail and then the white jib topsail, and the -_Ark Royal_ was snoring through the water alive from truck to keel. -The great sprit scrooping against the mast spoke of freedom after -prison; the wind harped in the rigging; the rudder wriggled and -kicked in the following seas, sending a thrill of pleasure through the -helmsman. Even the dinghy seemed like a high-spirited animal that had -been kept too long in the stable. She would drop astern with her head -slightly sideways, and then leap and charge forwards at the tug of the -painter. It was a translucent morning. The fleet of bawleys was -getting under way, a topsail schooner was anchoring off the pier, a -cruiser was coming out of Sheerness, a barque in tow was going up Sea -Reach, there were red-sailed barges everywhere, and we were embracing -'our golden uncontrolled enfranchisement.' - -'Where are we going to?' was asked several times before we reached the -Nore. The point was that I did not know. So long as might be I did not -want to know, for there is a peculiarly satisfying pleasure in playing -with the sense of uncontrolled enfranchisement. - -At length it became necessary to decide. Meynell suggested Harwich; -Margaret, West Mersea; and Inky, Fambridge. But as we had no time to -go so far as any of these, I asked them to choose a place in Kent. - -Kent was a new land to them, and when I mentioned the probability of -seeing aeroplanes on Sheppey Island they were all for Kent. So we -headed for Warden Point, and the fair wind and tide soon took us -there; then hauling our wind we reached along the beautiful shelly -shore to Shellness and let go our anchor well inside the Swale about -six o'clock. On Good Friday morning, taking the young flood, we beat -up to Harty Ferry, anchored, and went to church. Most of Saturday -morning we lay on a hill watching the aeroplanes tear along the -ground, rise, fly round, and settle again; and in the afternoon we -sailed in the dinghy up to Sittingbourne and bought provisions. All -Sunday the glass fell, and towards evening the rain set in with the -wind south-east, and on Monday it blew such a gale that a return to -Newcliff was out of the question. - -[Illustration: LANDERMERE] - -On Tuesday I was obliged to go to London, and as it was blowing too -hard for the dinghy to take me to the Sittingbourne side I had to hire -the ferry-boat. The two men who pulled me across were nearly played -out before they landed me. Luckily my friend was able to remain on -board the _Ark Royal_ and look after things with the paid hand while I -was away. - -I rejoined the ship on Friday evening, and the next day in a fresh -wind we sailed to Queenborough. We anchored near the swing bridge, and -my friend went off in the boat to tell the men to swing the bridge for -us. The bridgeman flatly refused, because, he said, the _Ark Royal_ -was a barge and could lower her mast. I then went to see the man -myself, and asked him to look at our cabin-top and explain how the -mast could be lowered. He admitted that it could not be done. As a -matter of fact, it could have been done by taking off the furniture -hatch and removing the upper part of the coamings, and spending the -best part of a day over the job. But it was not my business to tell -him that. Even then he seemed doubtful, so I suggested telephoning to -Sheerness for instructions. He kept on repeating that the _Ark Royal_ -was a barge, and that he was not allowed to swing the bridge for -barges. - -Now I played my best card. I had brought my ship's papers with me, and -producing my Admiralty warrant to fly the Blue Ensign and one or two -other imposing documents, I hinted that further delay would compel me -to report the matter. I noticed that he wavered. Then, placing a -shilling in his hand and begging him not to ruin a promising career, I -left him standing by the levers ready to open the bridge. - -For the passage through we took on one of the hufflers,[5] and we -anchored on the other side, as wind and tide were against us for the -next reach. While we were at anchor many barges shot the bridge, which -had been closed directly we had passed through. It is one of the -prettiest sights in the world to see them do it. As the barges' -topsails became visible over the sea-walls far off the hufflers -recognized their clients and rowed off to meet them. The hufflers, the -most curious brotherhood of all irregular pilots, live here in old -hulks or built-up boats on the foreshore. The wind was straight across -the river and fresh, and a barge would come tearing along towards the -bridge with everything set. When she was quite close to the -bridge--sometimes not a length away--down went everything, all -standing, till the great sprit rested on deck; and then, with her -mainsail trailing in the water and a perfect tangle of ropes and gear -everywhere, the barge would shoot under the bridge. On the other side -she would anchor to hoist her gear again; but if the conditions had -been right she would have hoisted her gear under way and gone straight -on. To witness the consummate skill of this feat is to respect the -race of bargees for ever. Think of it! The gear aloft--mast, topmast, -and sails--weigh about three and a half tons, and there are just three -men--one nearly always at the wheel--to lower and hoist everything. -There have been many accidents and still more narrow escapes, for, -besides skill and nerve, foresight is required to see that everything -on board is clear. At Rochester there are three bridges close -together, and every day dozens of barges shoot them. It is well worth -the return fare from London to watch the performance. - - [5] See footnote on page 24. - -The next day we returned to Newcliff, moored off the town a little way -outside the creek in which we had spent the winter, and resumed our -familiar life. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - 'Get up, get up; for shame! the blooming morn - Upon her wings presents the god unshorn. - See how Aurora throws her fair - Fresh-quilted colours through the air; - Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see - The dew bespangling herb and tree.' - - -The coming of warm weather and long days proved to us that public -interest in our floating home had not dwindled. We were a good deal -disturbed by parties rowing round us the whole time we were afloat; -and even when the tide had left us, sightseers in pathetically -unsuitable boots would walk across the film of slime from the shore to -look at us. In Newcliff we had evidently become a legend. Boatmen in -charge of pleasure-boats would generally head for us; and as we sat on -deck we often formed part of the audience as the boatmen delivered -their peculiar versions of the details of our lives. But night would -come and sweep away every annoyance; then boats were in the occupation -only of professionals and yachtsmen, who would glide past us without -stopping; landward noises were hushed, and the land itself was seen -but dimly against the faint northern light thrown up from the hidden -midsummer sun. - -Sometimes we came on deck to see the dawn; then we always felt ashamed -that we had not more often watched that pageant. Men, indeed, know -little of the dawn; there must be many persons of eighty who have not -looked upon it more than a dozen times. And dawn at the mouth of a -great river, or, indeed, anywhere on salt water, differs from dawn on -the land, for the sailor, having to work the tides, will be off with -the first streak of light, if the tide serves then. - -One morning one of our anchors had to be shifted at daylight lest the -ship should sit on it, and the Mate and I were present at the birth of -a wonderful day. There was silence, save for the slight crepitation of -the water being drawn between the leeboards and the hull of the _Ark -Royal_. The east was the grey of doves; the land was sunk in mist; -then the mist began sliding away, and hills and houses grew by an -imperceptible process out of the opaqueness like a photograph -developing on a film. Seawards, the ruby lantern on the pierhead and -the flaring Nore paled, pink wisps of cloud flooded across the sky, -and the riding lights and buoy lights shrank to pin-points. - -The Nore ceased to revolve, the shore lights guttered out, and -indubitable daylight--how it had come one even then did not -understand--fell upon a fleet of long-gaffed bawleys mustering in the -Ray, and on a string of barges from the Medway, spreading like a skein -of geese along the Blyth sand. Half-way between the retreating mists -of the two shores there lay a long black plume of smoke from a -steamer, and the drumming of her propeller seemed to rise out of the -water at our feet. - -The day that followed was worthy of that dawn. The sky was without a -cloud, and the mirage shivered on the water from shore to shore. Faint -breezes off the land yielded before noon to a clock calm; then flaws -of air from the eastward smeared the glassy surface; the cat's-paws -became dimples, and the dimples tiny waves, and at last the crests of -the waves began to break prettily and playfully without malice. This -sea breeze blew true and warm all the afternoon, and when it met the -ebb the tideway was all sparkling till the evening. Later the land -breeze came again, and blew fainter and fainter until it ceased, and - - 'The sun, - Closing his benediction, - Sinks, and the darkening air - Thrills with a sense of the triumphing night-- - Night with her train of stars - And her great gift of sleep.' - -A particular pleasure of ours was to see the fishermen return. First -the fleet of bawleys would anchor in the Ray a mile away, and as soon -as the sails were stowed the men would put their catch in the boats -to sail home to the creek. Two or three boats, perhaps, would detach -themselves before the others like early ice-floes breaking away from -the pack. Then groups would shove away from the fleet and tail out -into a long procession as they raced for home. In the distance one -could see the tide creeping over the flats, but long before it reached -us there was water in the creek, so that only the sails of the boats -showed moving between the banks of sand. The next fleet to look out -for after the bawleys was the fleet of cockle-boats, and they would -work the creek or come over the flats according to the tide. Lastly, -close on high water, came the loaded barges. - -From the time the young flood came up the creek to the time the tide -ebbed off the flats there was always something happening. One never -woke at night and peered out but one saw the unceasing life of the -sea, from the mustering of the humble bawleys in the dark to go -shrimping to the passing of the liner, shining from stem to stern, -perhaps carrying a Viceroy to the East. Often I said to myself: 'Here -I am on deck in the night, and I ought to be asleep. But it is worth -it. Just think; I might be sleepless in a house in a town, and have to -look out upon a gas-lamp in a street.' - -And then the entrancing variations of the tides! What is the secret of -this curiosity that compels me to come frequently on deck even in the -night to see whether the tide is higher or lower than it ought to be? -It is the uncertainty of what will happen, and one's partial ignorance -of the causes of whatever does happen. Nautical almanacs give you -their explanations of abnormalities, but they add instances of -peculiar tides which are in contradiction of all their explanations. -Any encyclopaedia tells you that the sun and moon govern the tides; -that the moon's influence is two and a quarter times that of the sun; -that spring tides occur just after full moon and the change of the -moon, and rise higher and fall lower than neap tides, which occur at -the moon's quarters. But when you know that, how little you know! The -very next step takes you into one of the least accurate of sciences. - -In his famous 'Wrinkle' Captain Lecky says that we must wait for a -genius to elucidate some of the mysteries. In the accounts of tides -and tidal streams in nautical almanacs or the Admiralty Tide Tables -one comes across phenomena about which the best authorities can say -only: 'These peculiarities are probably due to....' Of the double low -water at Weymouth Captain Lecky writes that it is not to be explained, -but adds characteristically that someone has 'had a shot at it' in the -Admiralty Tide Tables. The double high water at Southampton, the -twelve-foot rise to the westward of the Bristol Channel, which -increases to twenty-seven feet at Lundy Island and forty feet at -Bristol, and the Severn bore, are easy to understand from the shape -of the land. But that there should be only a six to seven foot rise on -the English coast by the Isle of Wight, while there is a sixteen to -seventeen foot rise on the French coast opposite, is not so simple. - -Apart from peculiarities of their own in normal weather, tides are -affected by strong winds and a low barometer, and then the tide -tables, with their rise and fall to an inch and their time of high -water to a minute, become hopelessly inaccurate. A strong -north-north-west gale in the North Sea will raise the surface two or -three feet and make the tides run longer on the flood; a strong -south-east or south-west wind has the opposite effect. A low glass and -a strong south-west wind will make big tides at the entrance of the -Channel by Plymouth. On October 14, 1881, a large mail-steamer was -unable to dock at the East India Docks, London, because a severe -westerly gale had kept the tide back, so that at high water it was -five or six feet below its proper level, and the next flood came up -three hours before its time. In January of the same year a tide was -registered at London four feet ten inches above high-water mark. At -Liverpool there is a record of a tide six feet above 'H.W.O.S.,' which -is the abbreviation for 'high water ordinary springs.' At Milford -Haven in January, 1884, during a heavy westerly gale, the tide stopped -falling two hours before the proper time for low water, and at -low-water time had risen fifteen feet. So great is the contrariness of -the tides that even strong winds cannot be relied upon for their -effects. - -For those whose reclaimed marshes lie behind low sea-walls in Essex -the irregularities of the tides are too exciting at times. After the -fierce gale in November, 1897, had veered from south-west to -north-west, innumerable breaches were made in the sea-walls of the -East Coast estuaries and many marshes 'went to sea.' Watchers on -Latchingdon Hill, which overlooks the archipelago between the Crouch -and the Thames, saw a memorable sight that day. With the shift of wind -the atmosphere had cleared, and the shores of Kent were visible. At -the time of high water there was a big tide, and the flood was still -running strong, and continued for nearly two hours beyond its proper -time. Suddenly great streaks of white appeared along the east side of -Foulness Island. It was the tide pouring over the sea-walls. Havengore -Island, New England Island, Rushley, and Potton Islands disappeared -save for the solitary farmhouses standing in the water, and an -occasional knoll crowded with frightened beasts. Then the tide flowed -over the sea-walls of the Roach River and across Wallasea Island to -the River Crouch. Finally, little Bridgemarsh Island and the North -Fambridge marshes for two miles to the west of it disappeared, the -tide rolled up to the edge of the high ground, and the sea seemed to -stretch from Kent to the foot of Latchingdon Hill. - -With all practical observers the turn of the tide is the critical and -significant moment; it is then that the auspices are good or bad. -Smacksmen tell you that if it begins to rain at high water it will -continue for the whole of the ebb. They will say to one another, 'I -doubt that'll rain the ebb daown,' or 'We're a goin' to have an ebb's -rain.' If it begins to rain at low water they say that they will have -a 'coarse flood.' Again, on a calm summer morning, if it is high water -at seven or eight, and the wind then springs up easterly, there will -be an easterly wind all day. But if the tide is a midday one there -will be no wind till high water. Sometimes it will blow freshly at -high water when there has been no wind before, and though there may be -none afterwards. - -Fishermen who have got ashore on a sandbank in a bit of a sea declare -that they can tell at once whether the tide is ebbing or flowing by -the way the vessel bumps. On the flood-tide the sand is alive, but on -the ebb it is dead and as hard as flint. Ask them for an explanation, -and they will retort with further facts, such as that in a calm on the -flood-tide the sand can be seen boiling up in the water, but never on -the ebb. Again, they believe that frost checks the tides. They say it -'nips' them--a play upon the word 'neap,' which they use as a verb, -and pronounce 'nip.' Dredgermen on the River Crouch will tell you -that in winter, after a flood-tide with the wind easterly, the bottom -of the river is 'shet daown hard as a road,' and the dredges slide -over the bottom and will not lift the oysters. They cannot explain it. -Undoubtedly an onshore wind and a flood-tide bring sand into the lower -reaches, for the men find it in the dredges. On the other hand, some -declare that the bed of the river is often hardened, where no sand is, -as much as twelve miles from the sea. - -No wonder that the tides are for the fishermen the standard of -reference in all their conversation. They will say that such-and-such -a thing happened about an hour before high water, or that the skipper -of the _Ladybird_ went ashore just as the vessels were swinging to the -flood. If a skipper is asked when he is going to get under way, he -will say, 'As soon as the tide serves'; or if asked why he did not -arrive before, he will answer, 'I could not save my tide.' - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - 'From Bermuda's reefs; from edges - Of sunken ledges, - In some far-off, bright Azore; - From Bahama and the dashing, - Silver flashing - Surges of San Salvador.' - - -In August of our first summer afloat, we went for a month's cruise on -the Essex coast. We had various mishaps of the kind which arrive out -of the blue and remind the yachtsman that, however long his -experience, he is still a learner. - -One day, beating down the Colne in a fresh wind and a buffeting short -sea, I made an error of judgment by sailing between two anchored -barges where there was not enough room to handle the _Ark Royal_. -Finding myself in difficulties, I let go the anchor, but we dragged on -to one of the barges and bumped against her as gently as our best -fendoffs would let us. Our anchor had fouled the other barge's cable, -and it took some time to clear it, even with the help of the friendly -skipper of the barge we had bumped. - -[Illustration: THE RIVER ORWELL] - -'Aren't that the little ould _Will Arding_, sir?' he said, when we -were ready to drop astern and let go. - -'Yes.' - -'I reckoned that was she as soon as I seed 'er, and ain't she smart -with her enamel and all? But I'd a knaowed she anywhere. Scores and -scores o' times she's laid alongside o' we, that she hev!' - -No damage was done except to my feelings. But the barge skipper had -the delicacy to say that the _Ark Royal_ had meant to rub noses with -an old friend, and had dragged alongside on purpose. - -At Pin Mill Louisa had the panic of her life. We were all on shore -except Louisa, and a shift of wind blew the stern of the anchored _Ark -Royal_ on to the mud. As the tide fell the barge's bows sank lower and -lower until, to Louisa's horror, water began to rise over the kitchen -floor. Seeing the water rise continually, she naturally thought the -vessel had sprung a leak and was going to sink. Her first idea was to -lift the plug to let the water out--a thing she had seen me do when -the ship was high and dry. But luckily she could not get at it. With -some presence of mind she then went on deck and hailed a neighbouring -barge, whose skipper and mate came off and helped her to bail out her -kitchen, and explained to her that as a barge is flat-bottomed the -pumps can never empty her completely, and a very thin layer of water -spread over such a large surface will seem considerable when it runs -to one end. - -Life moves slowly in Pin Mill. If going by steamer to Ipswich or -Harwich one is expected to be seated in the ferry-boat, which goes out -to meet the steamer, at least ten minutes before she starts. When we -went to Ipswich one day the ferry-man, having stowed us and the other -passengers in the boat, left us and returned fifty yards up the hard -to resume varnishing a boat. When we did start it was certainly five -minutes earlier than necessary, and we had not got more than half-way -out when I saw a look of annoyance come into the ferry-man's face. - -'There yaou are,' he said angrily, jerking his hand towards some -figures on the shore; 'them people tould me they wanted to go to -Ipswich, and they came daown half an hour agoo, and they 'adn't got -nawthen to do, only wait, and they goo off for a walk or suthen!' - -Another day the children's gramophone nearly caused a fire on board to -be more serious than it need have been, for it prevented us from -hearing the cries for help which Louisa uttered while she struggled -with an outbreak in the forecastle. We had bought a new cooking-stove -with a patent automatic oil feed. We ought to have understood when -buying it that it would be unsuitable because it had to be kept -upright. The first time it was used while we were under way was one -day in Harwich Harbour. We had been running, and had just hauled our -wind to stand up the Orwell. Luncheon was almost ready. The _Ark -Royal_ was heeling a little to a fine topsail breeze, and was spanking -along to a selection from the 'Mikado,' when suddenly I saw some smoke -issuing from the forehatch. I sent one of the boys forward to see what -was happening, and he bellowed back that the forecastle was on fire. -The Mate took the wheel, and I rushed forward in time to see Louisa, -like a pantomime demon, pop up through the forehatch in a cloud of -smoke. We attacked the fire from aft, and a few buckets of water and -some damp sacking put it out. - -In September we returned to Newcliff, went into our old berth in the -creek, and once more spent Christmas on board. - -Soon afterwards the Mate was taken mysteriously ill. The doctor asked -for another opinion, and a specialist came from London. But for the -fact of our isolation on board ship the diagnosis would instantly have -been typhoid. But the next two days, we were told, would settle the -question. - -It was typhoid. - -The ship now became a hospital, with a special bed sent down from -London and two nurses. The saloon was emptied of everything save what -the nurses wanted, and the long struggle began. - -It was like all other serious illnesses in any other home--the -children sent away, the pitiful lies that affection devises, the -assumed bravery, the broken nights, the anxious talks with the nurses -or doctor, and (the background of it all) the fever chart. I wonder -whether any skipper of a ship ever watched his positions on a chart -with such feelings as I had then. - -The crisis came and passed, but 'When will she be out of danger?' was -asked secretly for many days before a confident answer came. How far -these good nurses perjured themselves I do not know. Often they made -me go to London, but the journey home was torture. Once, returning in -the dark, I saw from the train that there was no light in the saloon. -The Mate, as it turned out, was only sleeping. But afterwards a light -was always placed on deck to show me that all was well. - -At last the children were allowed to come and look fearfully through -the windows, and later to speak a few words through them. And then -step by step the Mate grew stronger until at last she walked on deck, -and we dressed the ship in her honour, and she went away on a long -convalescence. - -When she came back well and strong I had a surprise for her. She had -always been rather afraid of the great fifty-foot sprit which used to -sway in a heavy threatening way over our heads when the barge rolled -in a cross sea. I had therefore sold the mainsail, sprit, topsail, and -mizzen, bought a large yacht's mainsail second-hand, and had it made -into a new mainsail and topsail. I had also bought an eight tonner's -mainsail, which I rigged as a larger mizzen. The whole transaction -from first to last cost about eight pounds. - -What we really needed most was a motor-launch to give the barge -steerage way in calms, to help her up creeks, or for going on shore. -With a slow large craft it generally happens that one has to anchor a -long way off the landing-place, because the smaller craft are always -near the hard; and in bad weather this means heavy work. We bought a -book on internal combustion engines, but it did not prevent us from -buying an engine that did not generally achieve internal combustion. - -When the next August holidays came we were delayed in starting for our -usual cruise because the motor-boat had not been delivered. We stood -over her till she was ready, and then went for a trial trip, during -which she emitted the most distressing noises we had ever heard. -However, we could wait no longer, and took her in tow behind the _Ark -Royal_. - -The first night of the cruise we lay off Southend. The weather, which -had been bad, became worse; the wind backed with vicious determination -at low water; and by ten o'clock it was blowing a gale. Southend is an -exposed anchorage, and we foresaw that we should have some anxious -hours as the tide rose. We were close to the pier, where there were -five other barges, whose anchors lay round about us sticking up out -of the hard sand, and promising us destruction if we should sit on one -of them. - -We laid out another anchor, forcing it well into the sand, and by -eleven o'clock the _Ark Royal_ was afloat. It was a wild night indeed; -the barge wallowed, and the motor-boat jerked about on the rollers, -snatched and snubbed at her painter, while the spray was cut off from -the tops of the waves as though by a knife and flung into her. - -I was on deck all night. The gale was blowing its worst about two -o'clock in the morning at high water. I could have sworn that the -other barges had driven nearer to the _Ark Royal_, so close did their -flickering lights seem to us, till I checked our position by the marks -I had taken and by the anchor buoys of the barges, and made sure that -none of us was dragging. On board each of the barges I could discern a -dim watching figure. What an incredible waste of riven water as I -looked over the plunging bows of the _Ark Royal_! The sea was like a -snow-drift, and across this bleak waste the wind roared unresisted and -tossed the spray even on to the deck of the _Ark Royal_. I was much -occupied with the thought of a humiliating wreck on a lee shore, as I -had little hope of being able to claw off the land if we did begin to -drive. And yet I do not think there was a moment when I would have -admitted that I had chosen a wrong way of living to be here with my -family instead of in a house on the land. Every moment was enriched -by an exhilaration that conquered other feelings, a kind of zest in -defiance. - -The wind is a grand enemy. He gives you his warnings fairly, and those -who are not careless have generally time to cut and run if they are -only coasting. In this storm, for instance, no one could have mistaken -the signs. The glass had fallen rapidly, and a 'mizzle' of rain had -been followed by a downpour; and all the time the wind had been flying -round against the sun. The glass fell still more during the first four -hours of the gale, then it suddenly leaped upwards, and the wind -moderated or 'sobbed,' as the fishermen say, only to be followed by a -harder blow than ever--a blow in which the squalls moved at over sixty -miles an hour and followed one another in rapid succession, showing -that the gale was still young. - -There is nothing that relates the dweller at home so intimately to the -business of the wider waters as to lie at the mouth of a great -estuary. Here were steamers from the ends of the world slogging across -the snowdrift, their masthead lights moving steadily like major -planets across the sky. Some, perhaps, had passed through the very -region in which this storm had been born. No yachtsman who studies the -weather can think of a gale as an accident of the British Isles; he -sees in imagination a tiny cyclone created as a whirlwind somewhere, -it may be, in six to eight degrees north latitude. In the desert of -the Atlantic, in calm and heat, with the sun nearly overhead, a tiny -column of air ascends and cooler air rushes in to replace it. The -cyclone is born. Perhaps it is not a hundred yards across, but as it -goes revolving on its journey of thousands of miles it draws in the -air all round it as a snowball gathers snow. Westward and -north-westward it travels to the West Indies, turning on its axis -against the hands of a watch, unlike the cyclone born south of the -equator, which revolves the other way. The wind does not blow -accurately around the centre, but curves inwards spirally, so that in -the northern hemisphere, when you stand face to wind, the centre of -the storm is always from eight to twelve points to the right. - -When once you understand this rotatory and spiral movement of the wind -you cannot listen to the roar of a gale without thinking of -ocean-going sailing ships fleeing from the deadly centre. You think of -the cyclone touching the West Indies: one rim on the islands, the -palm-trees staggering at the assault; the other rim on the open ocean, -a ship laid over by the blast, the crew, clinging to the yards, -fighting to get the maddened canvas under control before it is too -late. The master of that ship had had the warning of the swell which -is the gentle forerunner of the storm, but perhaps he carried on too -long. Now, under heavily reefed canvas, or perhaps under bare poles, -he races from the deadly centre of the storm. - -From the West Indies the storm curves to the northward and -north-eastward, still growing in size, till it may have a diameter of -even a thousand miles. Along the Gulf Stream it comes, conveying -within its frame that mysterious core which no one in a sailing ship -ever wishes to see--a central patch, it is said, of unnatural calm -surrounded by squalls from every point of the compass, a patch where -the sea is piled up into a pyramid, untrue, treacherous, and -overwhelming. The cyclone bursts later into that tract of dripping fog -where the Gulf Stream meets her frigid sister from the north; and when -it reaches us in England it is sometimes huge and harmless, but -sometimes it has stored its strength and blares across a comparatively -narrow belt with the power of a hurricane. And it comes in various -guises, in pale bright skies, or wreathed in films of scud, or in -rolling hard-edged clouds of inky darkness, or behind a tormented veil -of rain. - -About three o'clock in the morning I went below to drink some tea and -to smoke. When I returned the motor-boat was gone. The frayed painter, -hanging from the stern of the _Ark Royal_, told me what had happened. -Our brand-new uninsured motor-boat, which we never ought to have -bought! I knew that if she had reached the stone-faced seawall or one -of the breakwaters there was little hope for her. - -As the tide fell I went off in the dinghy in search of her. -Fortunately, I found her in the hands of two men from the gasworks, -who had seen her coming ashore and had waded out to meet her. They had -pushed her clear of a breakwater, and were standing in the rollers -holding her head to sea at the foot of the sea-wall. - -As the tide fell farther we walked her out gradually to the _Ark -Royal_, and I settled the question of salvage by paying a couple of -pounds. Even Cockney Smith could not have accused the gas-workers of a -'salvage job' in the circumstances, though no doubt he would have -pointed out that they were gas-workers and not sailormen. - -Our cruise of that summer was ordered by the necessity of sailing -continually from one port where there was a motor engineer to another -port where there was another engineer. The children used to take the -metal seals off the petrol cans and hang them on the engine as medals, -in numbers according to the merit of its performance. If the engine -began to knock, for instance, a medal would be forfeited--to be -restored if the knocking stopped. They enjoyed the vagaries of the -engine; and loved it in secret even when it stopped work altogether -and had lost all its decorations. They christened the motor-boat -_Perhaps_. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - - 'The stormy evening closes now in vain, - Loud wails the wind and beats the driving rain, - While here in sheltered house, - With fire-y painted walls, - I hear the wind abroad, - I hear the calling squalls-- - "Blow, blow!" I cry; "you burst your cheeks in vain! - Blow, blow!" I cry; "my love is home again!"' - - -After the Mate's illness an unreasoning dread of the place where she -had lain ill conquered me, and I put away all idea of returning there -for the winter. Fortunately, a move was easy enough. If we had been -living in a house it would have been otherwise, but a 'house removal' -for us meant no more than weighing anchor and going to a new spot of -our choice. Our choice was conditioned, first, by the necessity of my -going to London daily; and, secondly, by the need of providing for our -girl's education, who was now of school-going age. - -One anchorage--now known to us as the Happy Haven--attracted us beyond -all others. We had found it under stress of weather during one of our -Essex cruises, and had ever since thought of it with affection for -the quiet peace of the tidal creek between its grassy banks and for -the welcome we had received from the family which lives at the head of -that creek and presides over its amenities. - -As the autumn deepened it became urgently necessary to decide upon our -winter quarters, but the Mate had received no answer to a letter in -which she had asked the Lady at the Happy Haven whether means of -education for Margaret could be found thereabouts. One day, when we -had almost despaired of an answer, I met the father of the family at -the Happy Haven unexpectedly in London. His wife, he said, had been -travelling; we must write again. And soon an answer came that solved -our difficulties. There was no school to give such an education as we -wanted, but Margaret could be taught with the family in the house at -the head of the Happy Haven. Within a few days we sailed to the Happy -Haven, and there we have since lived and hope long to live. - -To reach our port there are but two ways, one by water and one by -land. Are you coming by water? Then you must come in from the sea and -take the young flood up the river past the low-lying islands; if the -wind be foul you will have to wait for water according to your -draught. With a fair wind come straight on past the village and the -wood off which the smacks lie, and past the church tower to the south. -When abreast the creek leading to the red-tiled farmhouse on the -starboard hand you will find the best water in the middle. - -Keep close to the point on the north side, and from there steer -straight for the three great poplars you will see ahead until you -reach another church among the trees on the north side. Then keep the -hut on the point just open of the old water-mill. - -It is quite easy. But long before you come to the Happy Haven our -mahogany-faced old pilot, with a walk like a penguin, a parson's hat -tied under his chin with a piece of tarred string, a red jumper, and -yellow fearnought trousers, will 'board you,' if you want him, and -berth you. Two shillings is his charge. - -But suppose you come by land. For two shillings you can be driven from -the railway station out through the old market town until you come to -an avenue of trees and a rookery. There you must turn off the public -road into a private road, and drive under the great trees which meet -above, and down a lane of thorns until, suddenly turning a corner, you -will drive alongside the river to the grassy quay where the _Ark -Royal_ is lying. - -You can go no farther, for the road ends there. - -After all, you may say, there is not much to see. Only an old -water-mill and three barges alongside it; the mill-house, and above it -the mill-head spreading wide; our friend's house among the poplars; on -the opposite shore a farmhouse where a barge is loading hay; under -the sea-walls on both sides fields dotted with cattle and white gulls; -an unbroken vault of sky; and the shining creek stretching away into -the ultimate green of flat pasture lands. Perhaps a red-sailed barge -is coming up the river; the 'tuke,' or redshanks, are giving warning -of her approach; and a thousand dunlin keep settling on the brown mud, -rising to show off all together in a flash that they are snow white -underneath. - -A cable's length from the _Ark Royal_ is a small head of water held up -by a sea-wall and a sluice-gate, and from it, meandering down past the -ship into the gut, is a narrow course worn by the water. If you happen -to come at the right moment, two families of children in bathing -costumes--ours and the children from the house among the poplars--will -be taking turns at packing themselves into a large bath. Someone lifts -the gate, and the bath in a torrent of foamy water 'chutes' down the -channel into the gut or is capsized on the way. - -Such is a brief description of how to arrive at the Happy Haven, and -what there is to see there. But wild tugs with steel hawsers will not -drag the name from me. Those who want to live in floating homes will -search far to find a better berth. - -We have only one very near neighbour, an ex-barge skipper. Like the -bargee of whom Stevenson wrote, there seems to be no reason why he -should not live for ever. He has seen the best part of eighty -years, and is still hearty and quite as active as he need be. He has -achieved an appearance barely suitable to old age, and has stopped -there. He spends many hours each day in thought. Like us, he pays no -rent, rates, or taxes, for he lives in a small and old yacht. And -though his means of living are a mystery he lives well. - -[Illustration: BATHING IN THE SLUICE AT THE _ARK ROYAL'S_ -HEADQUARTERS] - -Twice to our knowledge he has taken a party for a short cruise in the -yacht, but beyond this we have never known him earn a penny. And yet -if a new mast be wanted, or new iron work, or paint, or varnish, or a -rope for fitting out, or a new sail, he buys it. Rumour says he has -been a notable smuggler, and there are some that say he has friends -who are still free traders. Others believe that he has a share in a -barge. But no one knows. - -Always healthy, he observes none of the laws of health. It is true he -sleeps nine hours every night, but that is in a cabin without -ventilation. On a fine summer's morning most people, when they get up, -begin to do something, even though it be unimportant. Not so our -friend. He starts the day--breaking, as usual, some rule of health--by -lighting his pipe. Then, seating himself comfortably in the open, he -airs himself for a long time. While the airing is going on he surveys -the sky many times, rotating slowly till he has examined all points of -the compass. If anyone be present, he will give his considered -verdict on the prospects of the weather for the day. - -When that problem has been solved he will chop a few sticks and remark -that he must 'see about his kittle.' Soon afterwards smoke will issue -from the chimney of his boat, and for the next hour he will not be -visible. After that some cleaning operations--not personal--will go on -in the cockpit for possibly another hour. Then he may scrape a spar or -varnish one, or do a bit of painting. If it be hot he will probably -rig an awning, and sit beneath it stitching at an old sail; if it be -cold he will rig up a windscreen, and sit behind that. - -A couple of hours before high water the pilot, also an ex-barge -skipper, arrives to see what barges are coming up, and then he and our -friend will be seen side by side discussing things connected with the -sea. The approaching barges have to be watched until recognized, and -again watched until they are safely berthed. From this important but -unpaid labour they know no remission during the proper hours. - -Thus, with intervals for meals, our curious neighbour passes his days -from one end of the year to the other. - -Sometimes I have had the privilege of being present at the sessions of -our neighbour and the pilot. One day the pilot described the sorrows -of fishermen when the stinging jelly-fish are about, for he spends an -odd day at sea in a smack. - -'The water's full o' they blessed ould stingin' squalders, and every -time us hauls aour net that's full on 'em, and they do make me swear -suthen. That ain't a mite o' use tryin' to be religious, same as if -you wants to be, with them stingin' squalders abaout. They're puffect -devils.' - -I remember the pilot's comment on our neighbour's account of a -hailstorm. 'That was a wonnerful heavy hailstorm, that was,' said our -neighbour, 'and the stones was most as big as acorns. And one come and -hit me on the laower part of the thumb. Lor', that did hurt suthen!' - -'Well, that come a long way, yer see,' said the pilot. - -Another day the pilot, who is appreciably more mobile than our -neighbour, described to me an errand of mercy he had undertaken. - -'I've just been daown to see pore ould George what bruk his arm last -week. Yaou know him, sir, don't ye? Him what's skipper of the _Nancy_. -I wonder who'll sail she while 'is arm's a mendin'. Wonnerful -venturesome fellow is George, and that's haow 'e come to do ut. He -took and bought one o' they bicycles. From what I can hear of it, 'e -larnt to ride that well enough same as on the flat. They what taught -he to ride tould he to shorten sail same as goin' daown hills and -that, and maybe 'e did. But accordin' to what I can hear of it, that -bicycle took charge daown the hill just past the railway, and George -den't fare to knaow what to do, so 'e reckoned that were best to -thraow she up in the wind. And they picked the ould fellow out o' the -ditch with his arm bruk. 'E's gettin' on well, and is all right in 'is -'ealth. The doctor's a givin' of him some of that medicine aout o' one -o' they raound bottles.' - -Besides his boat our neighbour owns a shed. When he applied originally -to the landowner for leave to put up the shed he was refused, because -the landowner feared that it would be unsightly. The negotiations that -followed are a model for diplomacy. - -The old man next asked that he might be allowed to haul up an ancient -sieve-like boat on to the bank. To this the landowner assented--if it -could be done, which he doubted. - -It was done. - -But at very high tides the ground underneath the overturned boat was -flooded, so that gear stored there could not be kept dry. The boat was -then raised bodily a foot or so from the ground by planking. After a -few weeks, to make more storage room still, the old man raised the -sides of his boat some three feet more and put a roof over her. - -This structure escaped objection from the landowner for a year, and so -the following summer the roof was removed, the sides were raised -another two feet, and the roof was put on again. - -This also escaped criticism. Accordingly, the following year an -annexe was built on at the bows, and eventually a cement floor was -laid. Now there is a water-butt at the junction of the annexe and the -main building. - -We await further developments. - -We made the mistake once--if, indeed, it was not an offence--of -offering our neighbour some work. He explained that he had too much to -do already, and referred to a particular job which he did not begin -till six months later. 'No sooner do I git one job done than I sees -another starin' me in the face,' he often says. - -Last summer he painted the inside of his yacht, and for ten days he -slept in his boat-hut on shore. Sundown every evening was his time for -'bunkin' up,' as he called it, and we used to make a point of asking -him what time he would be up in the morning. To this he would answer: -'Abaout five or six, I reckon. Last summer I used to get up at faour -sometimes. Goo to bed with the ould hens and git up along of -'em--that's the way.' - -Then we would watch him retire. There is no door on hinges to his hut, -but a flap which fits in the opening. He had to disappear stern first, -fit the flap in the bottom of the opening, and pull the top into -position with a string. He withdrew from our gaze each evening in the -following order: legs, body clad in a blue jersey, white beard, red -face, and straw hat. - -The next morning we would always be up first, and while we were busy -on deck we kept an eye open for the first trembling of the flap. Then -out would come the hat, the red face, the white beard, blue body, and -legs, and another day had begun for our neighbour. We thought he would -have made excuses for not getting up earlier, but we soon discovered -that on most days he had no idea what the time was. - -At the Happy Haven our water is brought to us by cart in a canvas -water-carrier, which holds two hundred gallons. One day we had a panic -about one of the tanks. The water-cart had brought four loads, and -still the tanks were not full. We heard a sound of running water, -which we took to be the water siphoning from one tank to the other. -When I returned from London the next evening, the sound of running -water continued, but there was something worse--an audible splashing. -And the water in the port tank had fallen. Friends were dining with us -that night, but luckily they did not expect conventional amusements; -they preferred tackling leaking water-tanks to bridge. - -The first thing to be done was to break the siphon between the two -tanks by letting air into the pipe. After trying in vain to unscrew a -joint I decided to drill a small hole in the pipe; but, using more -force than skill, I broke my only drill. This meant that all the water -still in the tanks--six hundred gallons--might find its way into the -bilge. We pulled up a floor-board aft, and discovered that the missing -water was even then nearly level with the floor. I lifted the plug -aft, but the water would not run out, as the barge was sitting on soft -mud, which choked the hole. Pumping is back-breaking work, and I did -not intend to do that if it could be avoided. I put on sea-boots and -went over the side with a boat-hook and a kind of hoe to puggle about -until there was a clear way for the water to run. The difficulty was -to find the hole, but the ladies held lights and called out directions -while the men shoved a stick through the plug-hole. The water began to -run at last, and the _Ark Royal_ was soon dry. - -The next day we emptied the port tank into the bilge, and the plumber -got inside through the manhole and found the hole, which by a great -piece of luck was in such a position that he could mend it by removing -enough of the bathroom bulkhead to allow his hand to get through. What -we should have done if the hole had been out of reach we hardly dared -to think. - -Many of our friends have said that they would like to live in the _Ark -Royal_ in the summer, but most of them boggle at the thought of the -winter. To me, somehow, the contrast between the comfortable interior -of our home and the rigours of the winter scene pressing close in upon -us is particularly satisfying. It is very agreeable at the end of a -winter's day in London to come back to the barge; to leave an office -with its telephone bells, and the hubbub of the streets; to come in -little more than an hour to where the lane of thorns ends at the -sea-wall. The faint glow ahead comes from the _Ark Royal_. Those -piping cries are the redshanks calling in the dark. As I come nearer -the separate columns of light from the windows and skylights beam like -searchlights. And above the blaze stands up the mast and rigging, free -from all burden and strain, resting the winter through. The cheerful -chimneys pour out their smoke, which, blowing darkly to leeward, turns -into clouds of misty gold as it crosses the belt of yellow light. - -Even in our retired creek it is a joy to know that we are on the magic -road, which is all roads in the world because it leads everywhere. Of -course, we shall never sail out to the back of beyond; but when on -summer nights we sit on deck under the pole star, and the -phosphorescent water streams past our side like molten metal, we feel -that the same sea that bears us laps equatorial islands and -continents. - -When the _Ark Royal_ lifts to the rising tide her timbers creak as -though she were asking to be free; and her voice is high or low -according to the wind. At night she speaks most clearly. In measure to -the wind she reminds us of peaceful driftings under still skies, or of -torn sails and dragging anchors. When a gale with all the weight of -winter behind it bursts in squalls through the rigging, the tiny -waves of our haven rip along our sides and the lamp in the saloon -swings gently. Then we know, at a safe remove, what weather there must -be 'outside' if we have such tumult in here. Heaven help us if we were -out in the Swin with those clean-bowed fish-carriers that are racing -in from the North Sea! Let us hope that the barges that have been -'caught' have reached such anchorages as Abraham's Bosom, or the -Blacktail Swatch, sheltered from clumsy steamers by the lighthouse and -from the weather by the sand. - -Even my insurance policy recognizes that our life is not as life on -shore. I am 'Master under God of and in the good ship or vessel called -the _Ark Royal_.' And the policy deals with life in a large way. For -example: 'Touching the perils whereof they, the assurers, are content -to bear, they are of the Seas, Men of War, Fire, Pirates, Rovers, -Thieves, Jettisons, Letters of Mart and Countermart, Surprisals, -Takings at Sea, Arrests, Restraints and Detainments of all Kings, -Princes and People of what Nation, Condition, or Quality soever, -Barratry of the Master and Mariners and of all other Perils and -Losses.' - - * * * * * - -Several years have we spent in the _Ark Royal_, and let it be admitted -that we feel the need for more room. Once more perceive the advantage -of living afloat. We can add to our establishment in units. No -builders will tear down our creepers, or excavate our garden, or mix -mortar on the lawn. Nor shall we suffer the horrid noise of -carpenters. When our additional rooms are ready they will be floated -alongside. No District Council will have a word to say about the -material of the new building or the nature of the roof. - -The _Overdraft_, as our first addition under the unitary system is -called--a name which is nautical in sound, and suggests both the -overflowing of the ship's company and a certain financial operation at -the bank--is an old lighter thirty-five feet long with a beam of -twelve feet. We are raising her sides to a height of seven feet six -inches and dividing her into three compartments. There will be a -sleeping-cabin at each end, and the middle room will be a workshop and -playroom, fitted with a carpenter's bench and a range for both cooking -and heating. If our friends in the house among the poplars give a -dance we shall be able to float the _Overdraft_ along to the foot of -their garden to provide extra rooms for their guests. When she lies -alongside the _Ark Royal_ there will be a covered-in gangway to her -entrance-door. - -Some day, by the unitary system, we may add other rooms, but the only -plan in the offing which seems reasonably likely to reach port soon is -a scheme for electric lighting by using our head of water to drive the -dynamo. - -The reader may permit, however, a vision of our ultimate development. -We have often desired to own a tug--having long been strong admirers -of the indescribable fussiness and importance of tugs. We should keep -steam up in our tug, and use her at moorings as a central heating -plant. We should offer to tow the trading barges in and out of the -creek, which would be one of the best pastimes imaginable, besides -bringing us many devoted friends. And then when we wanted to shift our -anchorage! You should just be there to see us start: first the tug, -then the _Ark Royal_, then the _Overdraft_, then the other extra -rooms, then the _Perhaps_, then the sailing dinghy, and lastly the -duck punt. When the moment came to anchor again there would be no -orders in the manner of 'Let go the 'ook, Bill,' but a dignified -signal from the tug in the way described by the best of English sea -songs: - - 'Then the signal was made for the grand fleet to anchor.' - - - - -APPENDIX - - -DETAILS OF THE COST OF BUYING, ALTERING, AND FITTING OUT THE _ARK -ROYAL_ - - L _s. d._ - - Purchase 140 0 0 - - Wood, match-lining, and flooring 37 17 7 - - Three-ply veneers 15 3 11 - - Insurance during alterations, L2; Registration, L1 1s.; - Changing name, L3 18s. 6 19 0 - - Galvanizing chain, stanchions, blacksmith's work 8 15 9 - - Two tanks of 400 gallons each 8 0 0 - - Six mahogany doors and other fittings from shipbreaker's - yard 5 4 6 - - Pumps, bath, w.c., heating stove for bath 13 16 7 - - Brass fittings, tools, and sundries 4 15 11 - - Paint and varnish 6 5 8 - - Rope 5 8 8 - - Disinfecting at gasworks: formaldehyde, etc. 4 2 6 - - Kitchen range, copper, etc. 6 0 0 - - Linoleum, wash-hand-stand, brass fittings 6 5 0 - - Plumbing 7 16 0 - - Raising main cabin-top 38 10 0 - - Wages: two men for four months 39 15 0 - - Lamps, L2 10s.; Nails, L2 3s.; Saloon stove, L2 10s. 7 3 0 - - Caulking deck and buying and fixing second-hand - skylight for boys' cabin 5 12 0 - - Brass screws, hinges, and wire rope 3 19 0 - - Petty cash 4 8 11 - ------------ - L375 19 0 - ============ - -A few words must be added in explanation of these bare figures. - -As the cost of labour after the _Ark Royal_ reached Fleetwick, with -the cabin-top raised, was only L39 15s., the reader can understand how -much was done by the owner's hands. Help, however, was given by -friends--in particular by a retired Civil Servant who displayed -extraordinary skill as a carpenter. It was a mistake not to raise the -main cabin-top ourselves. We probably could have done the job better, -and certainly we could have done it cheaper. - -Now as regards the annual expenses of upkeep, apart from the interest -on the capital sunk. These expenses, of course, do not appear in the -table of initial cost. The largest item is insurance. Our policy -allows us to cruise sixty-two days in the year, with a rebate for the -number of days' cruising short of the allowance. The policy works out -at about L10 a year. So far we have done all the annual fitting-out -ourselves, the cost of which, with varnish, paint, and renewals, has -averaged about L5. - -Our running gear lasts a long time, as our cruises are short. We have -not renewed our sails since the barge was rerigged. The sails of a -trading barge, if carefully tended, last ten or twelve years. Ours, -therefore, should last at least twenty. The upkeep of barges has been -reduced to a science. All gear and fittings are standardized, and -there is, besides, a free market in second-hand things taken out of -condemned barges. - -A barge's sides are tarred and blackleaded. This costs shillings where -paint and anti-fouling composition would cost pounds. Although we tar -and blacklead the _Ark Royal's_ sides, we have a false whale which we -enamel white. Another economy we practise is to paint the cabin-tops -with Stockholm tar, thinned out with paraffin and with a little teak -paint to colour it. As the superficial area of the two cabin-tops is -four hundred square feet, much paint would be required. The -stanchions, the wheel, iron uprights which hold the sidelight screens, -metal blocks, and most ironwork, we cover with galvanizing paint, -which costs little, is easily renewed, and looks smart. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF THE "ARK ROYAL."] - - - - -A GLOSSARY OF ESSEX WORDS AND PHRASES - - -In this Glossary obvious mispronunciations and corruptions are not -included. By including them a glossary might be extended indefinitely, -and to no profit. Numerous Essex dialect words are, of course, current -in other counties; Essex shares a particularly large number with the -rest of East Anglia. The aim here is simply to give the dialect words -which the authors of this book have themselves heard in Essex, and -which they believe to be most characteristic. No one interested in -dialect is ignorant where to turn for the greatest store of -information on the subject yet collected--Dr. Joseph Wright's masterly -work, _The English Dialect Dictionary_. The following list, however, -contains several words which do not appear in that Dictionary. The -dictionary is referred to as _E. D. D._: - -=Bangy= (pronounced 'banjy'), drizzling, misty. 'Bange' is a very light -rain. - -=Between lights=, twilight. - -=Bever=, light refreshments between the larger meals, eaten either at 11 -a.m. or 4 p.m. (_Cf._ 'levenses' and 'levener,' which are the same -words as 'elevens' and 'elevener,' meaning a slight meal eaten at -eleven in the morning. _Cf._ also 'fours' or 'fourses,' which is a -similar meal eaten about four o'clock in the afternoon.) - -=Bibble=, to tipple; to drink noisily like a duck. - -=Bird=, pupil of the eye. - -=Blare=, to cry, blubber. - -=Botty=, conceited. - -=Breeder=, abscess, boil. - -=Bulk=, to throb (the 'u' pronounced as in 'bull'). Also =Bullock=. - -=Buller=, _vide_ =Duller= (the 'u' pronounced as in 'dull'). - -=Bullock=, another form of 'bulk.' - -=Buskins=, gaiters. - -=Buzz=, blow on the head. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Cankerhooks=, tenterhooks. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Chance time=, sometimes. - -=Chissick=, pinch (of salt, pepper, sugar, or suchlike). (Not in _E. D. -D._) - -=Choice=, pinch (of salt, pepper, sugar, or suchlike). (Not in _E. D. -D._) - -=Coarse=, rough. Used of the weather. A fisherman will say, in a curious -phrase, 'Coarse weather, don't it?' - -=Coase=, to pet, stroke--_e.g._, 'he was coasing his dog.' The 's' is -pronounced as in 'roast.' (Not in _E. D. D._) The word no doubt comes -from the same root as the well-known word _cosset_. - -=Cob=, long basket, manure-hod. - -=Cotchel=. A barge is said to go cotchelling when she discharges or -takes up her cargo piecemeal at various ports, instead of taking a -single cargo from one port to another. _E. D. D._ gives the -substantive 'cotchel,' meaning an odd measure or a partially filled -sack, but does not mention the verb which has been formed from this -word. - -=Court=, stye--_e.g._, 'hogs' court,' 'pigs' court.' - -=Crock=, smudge of soot, smut. - -=Cuff=, tall story. (_E. D. D._ gives _cuffer_.) - -=Cuff=, to tell tall stories--_e.g._, 'He's cuffin' a rare yarn.' - -=Culch=, rubbish. Particularly, in fishermen's language, the broken -shells of an oyster-bed. - -=Curren=, cunning, sly. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -_Dag_ (frequently pronounced 'daig'), dew, mist. - -=Deleet=, cross-roads--_e.g._, a 'three deleet' or a 'four deleet,' -according as three or four roads meet. =Releet= is another form. (_E. D. -D._ gives =Releet= and =Eleet=.) - -=Ding=, to work at--_e.g._, 'I'm dinging all the coal out o' that ould -locker.' When fishermen throw their catch down into the hold, they are -said to ding it. The word of command for all hands to begin their -work is 'Ding!' In the Essex use of the word the sense of furious -effort mentioned in _E. D. D._ seems to be absent. - -=Discern=, to see. Constantly used when there is no suggestion whatever -of seeing something with an appreciable effort. - -=Do=, used elliptically for 'if it does,' 'if he does'--_e.g._, 'That'll -rain, _do_, that'll rain hard.' - -=Doddy=, little. Often used intensively with 'little'--_e.g._, 'Doddy -little boat.' - -=Doke=, dent, impression. - -=Dooberous=, doubtful, dubious, suspicious. The nearest word to this in -_E. D. D._ is the Norfolk 'dooblus,' which would perhaps be better -spelt 'dooblous.' An Essex fisherman will say, 'I doubt that's -dooberous to go to leeward of that buoy.' - -=Doubt=, to think, consider--_e.g._, 'I doubt that's goin' to rain'; 'I -doubt he won't catch the train.' - -=Draining=, _vide_ =Dreening=. - -=Dreening=, wringing wet. Also =Draining=. - -=Dringle=, to dawdle along. When the tide is barely moving it is said to -be 'just dringling.' - -=Drizzle=, to cry a little--_e,g._, 'She kep' all on a drizzlin'.' - -=Duller=, to moan or blubber noisily (the 'u' pronounced as in 'dull'). -Also =Buller=. - -=Dunted=, melancholy, depressed. - -=Dunty=, stupid. Used of sheep that are difficult to drive. - -=Duzzy=, stupid, dazed. - -=Fall=, to drift--_e.g._, a smack falls through a reach with her trawl -down. - -=Fare=, to do, seem. This word is the Essex maid-of-all-work. It serves -as many purposes as the French _faire_, with which, however, it -probably has no etymological connection. - -=Fleet=, tidal dyke in a marsh. Any shallow dyke or ditch. - -=Fleet=, to float. Past participle is 'flet.' - -=Fleet=, shallow--_e.g._, a man will 'plough fleet.' Again, a waterway -is said to be fleet enough when it has fall enough for the water to -flow. - -=Frickle=, to fidget. Used of the tide swerving about in eddies. - -=Gag=, to retch. - -=Good tightly=, properly, well. - -=Grizzle=, to whine, cry, complain. - -=Gull=, scour out, especially by means or running water. - -=Gushy=, gusty. - -=Haggy daggy=, mist. - -=Happen=, perhaps. - -=Head=. This word is used to express the superlative--_e.g._, 'a head -masterpiece.' - -=Hoggle=, to sail with easy canvas before a fair wind, or to roll in a -calm with the boom swinging. The word is no doubt related to such a -phrase as 'hoggling boggling,' meaning unsteady. - -=Hoo roo=, row, fight. - -=Housen=, houses. - -=Hull=, to hurl, to throw. - -=In=, often used for 'of'--_e.g._, 'What do I think in it?' - -=Jack at a pinch=, man employed in an emergency--_e.g._, man brought -into a crew at the last moment. - -=Jown=, joined, spliced. - -=Juble=, jolly, merry. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Kelter=, condition, order. 'Out of kelter' means 'out of order.' - -=Kilter=, _vide_ =Kelter=. - -=Largess=, extra pay, especially at harvest. - -=Lessest=, least. - -=Levener=, light meal between breakfast and dinner. _Vide_ =Bever=. - -=Low=, to allow, estimate, reckon. - -=Masterous=, wonderful, astonishing. A superlative of this word is -sometimes used. A man will say, 'That was the masterousest thing I -ever did see.' (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Masterpiece=, wonderful or astonishing thing. - -=Mawther=, a girl. - -=Mizzle=, light rain. - -=Nit=, nor yet. - -=Nuzzle=. A fisherman will say that he 'nuzzled the mud' (_i.e._, ran -the bows of his smack on the mud on the flood tide) while having his -dinner. - -=Offer to=, try to--_e.g._, 'I was that bad winter-time I lay abed six -weeks and never offered to move.' - -=Old.= It is impossible to ascribe any particular meaning to this word. -In Essex dialect it is the universal adjective. - -=Paffle=, breaking water caused by wind and tide--_e.g._, 'The reach was -all of a paffle.' (This meaning is not mentioned in _E. D. D._) - -=Paltry=, poor in health. - -=Peak=, to peep or pry--_e.g._, 'A rabbit peaked out of its hole.' - -=Pingle=, to be fanciful about one's food. - -=Pingly=, off colour, having a bad appetite. - -=Pucker=, to worry. - -=Pucker=, agitated state of mind--_e.g._, 'She was in a regular pucker.' - -=Puggle=, to mess about, particularly with a stick in opening a hole -stopped with rubbish. Thus, figuratively, to muddle about. - -=Push=, boil, abscess. - -=Releet=, _vide_ =Deleet=. - -=Riddy=, rid. - -=Rowels=, thick stockings worn inside sea-boots. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Same.= It is impossible to give precise meanings for this word in its -frequent and various uses. They may be deduced from the dialogue of -this book. It may be said that in Essex dialect the word 'same' -commonly introduces a hypothetical statement which might equally well -be expressed by 'supposing.' If you ask an Essex man to explain -something, he will begin: 'Same as if you was doing so-and-so--'. If -he imagines something happening in the winter, he will say, 'Same as -winter-time.' - -=Scrouge=, to crowd. - -=Scud.= When fish, lying in the net alongside a smack, are shaken along -to the most convenient point for lifting them on board, they are said -to be scudded. Fish are also scudded into the hold. - -=Seizen=, to bind, or seize, things together. - -=Shiftening=, change of clothes. - -=Shiver=, slice. - -=Similar-same=, like. - -=Snarled=, tangled, knotted. - -=Sneer=, to twitch, wince. - -=Sob.= When the wind dies away temporarily, it is said to 'sob' or 'sob -down.' - -=Soo=, to settle down, like a vessel on the mud that is gradually being -left by the tide. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Spuffle=, to fume. - -=Squalder=, jelly-fish. In Norfolk 'squadling' and 'swalder' mean a -small jelly-fish, but among Essex fishermen 'squalder,' which seems to -be a form of 'squadling,' is used of the large stinging jelly-fish. -(Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Stam=, to astonish. - -=Stench=, to stanch. Used of soaking a boat or barrel to make the wood -swell or 'take up.' - -=Stetchy=, _vide_ =Tetchy=. - -=Suthen=, something. Widely used as an adverb of emphasis--_e.g._, 'That -blowed suthen hard last night.' - -=Tempest=, thunderstorm. (Not used of wind.) - -=Ter=, it. Used in such phrases as 'as ter was' for 'as it was.' A -fisherman examining a dead bird on the shore was heard to say, 'That's -a watery bird be ter whether ter may'--_i.e._, 'That's a sea-bird -whatever it may be.' - -=Tetchy=, treacherous. Used of the wind when it flies about from one -point of the compass to another. Also =Stetchy=. - -=That=. Universally used throughout Essex, as in all East Anglia, for -'it.' People say, 'That's a goin' to rain,' 'I doubt that'll turn to -wind,' 'That'll be a rum 'un [_i.e._, a strange thing] if he comes,' -and so on. This is probably a relic of the old Anglo-Saxon neuter. - -=Thrashel=, _vide_ =Threscal=. - -=Threddle=, _vide_ =Thriddle=. - -=Threscal=, threshold, door-sill. Also =Thrashel=. - -=Thriddle=, to thread one's way as through a crowded harbour. (Not in -_E. D. D._) Also =Threddle=. - -=Tissick=, a tickling cough. - -=Tore out=, worn out. - -=To-she-from-she gate=, kissing gate. (Not in _E. D. D._) - -=Wanten=, wanted. - -=Went=, gone--_e.g._, 'He ought never to have went.' - -=Wonderful=, very--_e.g._, 'He's a wonderful long time a comin'.' Some -Essex people use the word (like 'old,' _q.v._) in almost every -sentence. - -=Wring=, to strain. A barge is said to wring when she changes her shape -slightly through lying on uneven ground. When a vessel begins to move -perceptibly, without actually floating, on the in-coming tide the -fisherman says, 'She's wringing.' This is only a special sense, of -course, of the old intransitive verb 'to wring,' meaning to writhe or -twist. - - -BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, ENGLAND - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Floating Home, by Cyril Ionides and J. B. 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