Then more of the same tribe, who had run on ahead, were heard
shouting to boatmen, three of whom pulled alongside, and two being
vanquished, the luggage went tumbling into the remaining one.
'Never saw such a dreadful scene in my life--never!' said Mr.
Swancourt, floundering into the boat. 'Worse than Famine and
Sword upon one. I thought such customs were confined to
continental ports. Aren't you astonished, Elfride?'
'Oh no,' said Elfride, appearing amid the dingy scene like a
rainbow in a murky sky. 'It is a pleasant novelty, I think.'
'Where in the wide ocean is our steamer?' the vicar inquired. 'I
can see nothing but old hulks, for the life of me.'
'Just behind that one,' said Knight; 'we shall soon be round under
her.'
The object of their search was soon after disclosed to view--a
great lumbering form of inky blackness, which looked as if it had
never known the touch of a paint-brush for fifty years. It was
lying beside just such another, and the way on board was down a
narrow lane of water between the two, about a yard and a half wide
at one end, and gradually converging to a point. At the moment of
their entry into this narrow passage, a brilliantly painted rival
paddled down the river like a trotting steed, creating such a
series of waves and splashes that their frail wherry was tossed
like a teacup, and the vicar and his wife slanted this way and
that, inclining their heads into contact with a Punch-and-Judy air
and countenance, the wavelets striking the sides of the two hulls,
and flapping back into their laps.
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