United States or Dominica ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Clubbe was busy enough throughout the day at the old slip-way, where "The Last Hope" was under repair the last ship, it appeared likely, that the rotten timbers could support or the old, old shipwrights mend. Loo Barebone was no less regular in his attendance at the river-side, and worked all day, on deck or in the rigging, at leisurely sail-making or neat seizing of a worn rope.
Colville and Monsieur de Gemosac were on the quay in the afternoon at high tide when "The Last Hope" was warped on to the slip-way. All Farlingford was there too, and Captain Clubbe carried out the difficult task with hardly any words at all from a corner of the jetty, with Loo Barebone on board as second in command.
The moss-grown slip-way, where "The Last Hope" had been drawn up for repair, stood gaunt and empty, half submerged by the flowing tide. Many Farlingford men were engaged in the winter fisheries on the Dogger, and farther north, in Lowestoft boats. In winter, Farlingford thrust out into the North Sea, surrounded by marsh is forgotten by the world.
"It is not the end," answered Colville, cheerfully, "It is only the end of a chapter. Le roi est mort vive le roi!" He pointed with his stick, as he spoke, to the schooner creeping in between the dykes. "The Last Hope" had been expected for some days. It was known in Farlingford that she was foul, and that Captain Clubbe had decided to put her on the slip-way at the end of the next voyage.
In the morning he had, as usual, run down into the river and to the slip-way, little suspecting that Miriam and Sep were just above him behind the dyke, where they had sat three days before listening to Dormer Colville's story of the little boy who was a King.
Without lifting his head he scanned the weather, noting that the scud was blowing more northward now. It might only be what is known as a slant. On the other hand, it might prove to be a true breeze, coming from the usual quarter. The "tap-tap" of the caulker's hammer on the slip-way in Harwich River was silent now. There must be a breeze in-shore that carried the sound away.
Without lifting his head he scanned the weather, noting that the scud was blowing more northward now. It might only be what is known as a slant. On the other hand, it might prove to be a true breeze, coming from the usual quarter. The "tap-tap" of the caulker's hammer on the slip-way in Harwich River was silent now. There must be a breeze in-shore that carried the sound away.
"It is not the end," answered Colville, cheerfully. "It is only the end of a chapter. Le roi est mort vive le roi!" He pointed with his stick, as he spoke, to the schooner creeping in between the dykes. "The Last Hope" had been expected for some days. It was known in Farlingford that she was foul, and that Captain Clubbe had decided to put her on the slip-way at the end of the next voyage.
In the morning he had, as usual, run down into the river and to the slip-way, little suspecting that Miriam and Sep were just above him behind the dyke, where they had sat three days before listening to Dormer Colville's story of the little boy who was a King.
In a Scheme for the working out of social salvation the great, the only, test that is worth anything is the success with which they attain the object for which they are devised. An ugly old tub of a boat that will land a shipwrecked sailor safe on the beach is worth more to him than the finest yacht that ever left a slip-way incapable of effecting the same object.
Word Of The Day