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When London Burned : a Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
page 270 of 482 (56%)
you as comfortable as I can, which indeed will not be much; for as we
shall, I hope, be going into action in the course of another ten
days, the decks must all be kept clear, and as we have the Prince on
board, we have less cabin room than we should have were we not an
admiral's flagship."

Wine was placed on the table, and they had a pleasant chat. They
learnt that the Fleet was now ready for sea.

"Four ships will sail with ours to-morrow," the captain said, "and
the other five will be off the next morning. They have all their
munitions on board, and will take in the rest of their provisions
to-morrow. The Dutch had thought to take us by surprise, but from
what we hear they are not so forward as we, for things have been
pushed on with great zeal at all our ports, the war being generally
popular with the nation, and especially with the merchants, whose
commerce has been greatly injured by the pretensions and violence of
the Dutch. The Portsmouth ships, and those from Plymouth, are already
on their way round to the mouth of the Thames, and in a week we may
be at sea. I only hope the Dutch will not be long before they come
out to fight us. However, we are likely to pick up a great many
prizes, and, next to fighting, you know, sailors like prize-money."

After an hour's talk the five gentlemen went below to their hammocks,
and then to bed, with much laughter at the difficulty they had in
mounting into their swinging cots.

It was scarce daylight when they were aroused by a great stir on
board the ship, and, hastily putting on their clothes, went on deck.
Already a crowd of men were aloft loosening the sails. Others had
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