'The ladies will be less trouble than the empty casks, at all
events,' said Conyngham, 'because they will keep below.'

The sailor shook his head forebodingly and took an heroic pinch of
snuff.

'One's as capable of carrying mischief as the other,' he muttered in
the bigoted voice of a married teetotaller.

The ship was ready for sea, and this mariner's spirit was ever
uneasy and restless till the anchor was on deck and the hawser
stowed.

'There's a boat leaving the quay now,' he added. 'Seems she's
lumbered up forr'ard wi' women's hamper.'

And indeed the black form of a skiff so laden could be seen
approaching through the driving snow and gloom. The mate called to
the steward to come on deck, and this bearded servitor of dames
emerged from the galley with uprolled sleeves and a fine contempt
for cold winds. A boy went forward with a coil of rope on his arm,
for the tide was running hard and the Garonne is no ladies' pleasure
stream. It is not an easy matter to board a ship in mid-current
when tide and wind are at variance, and the fingers so cold that a
rope slips through them like a log-line. The 'Granville,' having
still on board her cargo of coals for Algeciras, lay low in the
water with both her anchors out and the tide singing round her old-
fashioned hempen hawsers.

'Now see ye throw a clear rope,' shouted the mate to the boy who had