flaring in the breeze at the door, one of the panes of the glass of it
being broken.

Before I entered, Mr. Treenail took me to one side--"Tom, Tom Cringle,
you must go into this crimp-shop; pass yourself off for an apprentice
of the _Guava_, bound for Trinidad, the ship that arrived just as we
started, and pick up all the knowledge you can regarding the
whereabouts of the men, for we are, as you know, cruelly ill manned,
and must replenish as we best may." I entered the house, after having
agreed to rejoin my superior officer so soon as I considered I had
obtained my object. I rapped at the inner door, in which there was a
small unglazed aperture cut, about four inches square; and I now, for
the first time, perceived that a strong glare of light was cast into
the lobby, where I stood, by a large argand with a brilliant reflector,
that, like a magazine lantern, had been mortised into the bulkhead, at
a height of about two feet above the door in which the spy-hole was
cut. My first signal was not attended to: I rapped again, and, looking
round, I noticed Mr. Treenail flitting backwards and forwards across
the doorway, in the rain, his pale face and his sharp nose, with the
sparkling drop at the end on't, glancing in the light of the lamp. I
heard a step within, and a very pretty face now appeared at the wicket.

"Who are you saking here, an' please ye?"

"No one in particular, my dear; but if you don't let me in, I shall be
lodged in jail before five minutes be over."

"I can't help that, young man," said she; "but where are ye from,
darling!"