mediæval town-hall. But I may not pause to study it. The hours are
shrinking; but little margin is left. By midnight I am back in Calais
once more, listening to its old wheezy chimes. It seems like an old
friend, to which I have returned after a long, long absence, so many
events have been crowded into the day. It still wants some interval to
the hour past midnight, when the packet sails.




XII.

_ST. PIERRE LES CALAIS._


As I wandered down to the end of the long pier, which stretched out
its long arm, bent like an elbow, looking, like all French piers, as
if made of frail wickerwork, I thought of a day, some years ago, when
that eminent inventor, Bessemer, conceived the captivating idea of
constructing a steamboat that should abolish sea-sickness for ever!
The principle was that of a huge swinging saloon, moved by hydraulic
power, while a man directed the movement by a sort of spirit-level.
Previously the inventor had set up a model in his garden, where a
number of scientists saw the section of a ship rocking violently by
steam. I recall that pleasant day down at Denmark Hill, with all the
engineers assembled, who were thus going to sea in a garden. A small
steam-engine worked the apparatus--a kind of a section of a
boat--which was tossed up and down violently; while in the centre was
balanced a small platform, on which we experimenters stood. On large
tables were laid out the working plans of the grand Bessemer