'No, I don't think so, but I like seeing ships and hearing about
voyages.'

'_I'd_ like to be a sailor,' said Bridget suddenly. Rosalys and her
brother could not help laughing.

'What a funny sailor you'd make,' they said. And indeed it was not easy
to imagine her short, compact, roundabout figure climbing up masts and
darting about with the monkey-like swiftness of a smart little middy.

'I don't think you'd like it for long, Miss Biddy,' said Jane, the
young maid. 'I came once, in my last place, from Scotland by sea, and
though I wasn't at all ill, it was dreadful rough work. I was glad to
feel my feet on firm land again.'

'Was it very stormy?' asked all the children together. 'And how long
were you in the ship? Oh, do tell us about it, Jane.'

Jane's value rose immensely on the spot. She was not a particularly
lively girl generally, but this was quite a discovery.

'Was it a very big ship?' asked Bridget, 'or quite a teeny-weeny one,
just big enough to hold all of us like?'

'You stupid little goose,' said Rough. 'You mean a boat--a _ship_ is
never as little as that.'

'Boats and ships is all the same,' Biddy persisted; 'and I heard papa
say there was a Scotch boat to Seacove twice a week--there now, Rough.'