think he let Maggie have too much of her own way. She was hopping all over that ship, in her yachting- skirt and a red tam-o’ like a bright bird on a dead black tree. The old salts used to grin when they saw her coming along, and offered to teach her knots and splices. I believe she liked the men, for Charley’s sake, I suppose.

‘As you may imagine, the diabolic propensities of that cursed ship were never spoken of on board of her—not in her cabin, at any rate. Only once, on the homeward passage, Charley incautiously said something about bringing all her crew home this time. Old Colchester began to look uncomfortable at once, and that silly, hard-bitten old woman flew out at Charley as though he had said something indecent. I was quite confounded myself; as to Maggie, she sat completely mystified, opening her dark eyes very wide. Of course, before she was a day older she wormed it all out of me. She was a very difficult person to lie to.

‘ “How awful!” she said, quite solemn. “So many poor fellows! I am glad the voyage is nearly over. I won’t have a moment’s peace about Charley now.”

‘I assured her Charley was all right: it took more than that ship knew to get over a seaman like Charley; and she agreed with me.

‘Next day we got the tug off Dungeness;* and when the tow-rope was fast, Charley rubbed his hands and said to me in an undertone:

‘ “We’ve baffled her, Neddy.”

‘ “Looks like it,” I said, with a grin at him. It was beautiful weather and the sea as smooth as a mill- pond. We went up the river without a shadow of trouble except once, when, off Hole Haven,* she took a sudden sheer and nearly had a barge anchored just clear of the fairway. But I was aft, and she did not catch me napping that time. Charley came up on the poop looking very concerned. “Close shave,” says he.

‘ “Never mind, Charley,” I answered cheerily. “You’ve tamed her.”

‘We were to tow right up. The river pilot boarded us well down, and the first words I heard him say were: “You may just as well take your port anchor inboard at once, Mr Mate.”

‘This had been done when I went forward and saw Maggie on the forecastle-head enjoying the bustle. I begged her to go aft, but she took no notice of me, of course. Then Charley, who was very busy, caught sight of her, and shouted in his biggest voice: “Get off the forecastle-head Maggie. You’re in the way here.” For all answer she made a funny face at him, and I saw poor Charley turn away, hiding a smile. She was flushed with the excitement of getting home again, and her eyes seemed to snap live sparks as she looked at the river. A collier-brig* had gone round just ahead of us, and our tug had to stop her engines in a hurry to avoid running slap bang into her.

‘In a moment, as is usually the case, all the shipping in the reach seemed to get into a hopeless tangle. A schooner and a ketch * got up a small collision all to themselves right in the middle of the river. It was very exciting to watch. Meantime our tug remained stopped. Any other ship than that brute could have been coaxed to keep straight for a couple of minutes. But not she! Her head fell off at once; she swung athwart the stream and began to drift down, taking her tug along with her too, at that. I noticed a cluster of coasters at anchor, within a quarter of a mile of us, and I thought I had better speak to the pilot. “If you let this brute get amongst that lot,” I said quietly, “she will stop there for hours, grinding some of them to bits before we get her out again.”

‘ “Don’t I know her!” cries he, stamping his foot in a perfect fury. And he out with his whistle to make that bothered tug get the ship’s head up-stream again as quick as possible. He blew like mad, waving his arm to port, and presently we could see that the tug’s engines had been set going ahead. Her paddles


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