But I Find I Am Digressing
Terribly, And The Gloomy Winter Days Of England, Which Make The
Recollection Of A Bright Tropical Morning So Agreeable A Task To
Contemplate, Must Be My Excuse.
After breakfast, I hurried down to the beach to see if Tom Frewin, the
skipper of the little cutter, 'Daylight', would be likely to keep his
promise, and have the vessel ready to start by noon.
I found him busily
engaged with his not over-numerous crew - for it consisted only of a man
and a boy, besides himself, though Mrs. Tom, who also lived in the tiny
craft, ought to be counted as no inconsiderable addition to the vessel's
complement, for she did the cooking, and on occasions could take the tiller
and steer as cunningly as the gallant Tom himself. I found him hard at
work hurrying the cargo over the side, assisted by the townspeople, who all
showed the greatest anxiety that no time should be lost in setting out for
the relief of the shipwrecked men. Everything thus pointing to the
probability of our getting away that afternoon, the provision question had
to be next considered, for the party would be numerous, and the exact time
our expedition would take could scarcely be correctly estimated. We knew
Government would refund us for any reasonable outlay, and so determined our
search should not be cut short by any scarcity of food, and our fears of
overshooting the mark and laying in more than we could consume, were
allayed by Mr. McB - , the store-keeper who generously offered to supply us,
and to take back, without charge, anything that remained at the expiration
of the trip.
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