in this wind would be the height of foolhardiness, and I care for you too
much, dear, to expose you to unnecessary risks."

I thought this rather a neat conclusion, but Ethelbertha merely replied
that she wished, under the circumstances, we hadn't come on board till
Tuesday, and went below.

In the morning the wind veered round to the north; I was up early, and
observed this to Captain Goyles.

"Aye, aye, sir," he remarked; "it's unfortunate, but it can't be helped."

"You don't think it possible for us to start to-day?" I hazarded.

He did not get angry with me, he only laughed.

"Well, sir," said he, "if you was a-wanting to go to Ipswich, I should
say as it couldn't be better for us, but our destination being, as you
see, the Dutch coast--why there you are!"

I broke the news to Ethelbertha, and we agreed to spend the day on shore.
Harwich is not a merry town, towards evening you might call it dull. We
had some tea and watercress at Dovercourt, and then returned to the quay
to look for Captain Goyles and the boat. We waited an hour for him. When
he came he was more cheerful than we were; if he had not told me himself
that he never drank anything but one glass of hot grog before turning in
for the night, I should have said he was drunk.

The next morning the wind was in the south, which made Captain Goyles
rather anxious, it appearing that it was equally unsafe to move or to