Part 16 (1/2)

'We weighed anchor at one o'clock, and in passing the anchored galliot took a good look at her 'Kormoran' was on her stern; otherwise she was just like a hundred others nobody was on deck

'We spent the whole afternoon till dark exploring the Harle, or gap betangeroog and Spiekeroog; the sea breaking heavily on the banks outsideFine as the day was, the scene froree The naked spots of the two islands are hideous in their sterility: melancholy bits of wreck-wood their only relief, save for one or two grotesque beacons, and,actually _in_ the water, on the north side of wangeroog, a striking witness to the encroachment of the sea On the mainland, which was barely visible, there was one very prominent landmark, a spire, which from the chart we took to be that of _Esens,_ a town fourshort Sunset is soon after five, and an hour later it is too dark to see booms and buoys distinctly The tides also are aard just now

(I exclude all the technicalities that I can, but the reader should take note that the tide-table is very i and evening is between five and six--just at twilight For the night, we groped with the lead into the Muschel Balge, the tributary channel which laps round the inside of Spiekeroog, and lay in two fatho a little when the ebb set in strong against the wind

'A galliot passed us, going west, just as ere stowing sails; too dark to see her naher up our channel

'The great event of the day has been the sighting of a s the coast That was about half-past four, ere sounding along the Harle

'Davies identified her at once as the Blitz, Conized the 'Dulcibella', but, anyway, she seemed to take no notice of us and steamed slowly on We quite expected to fall in with her e caht of her has excited us a good deal She is an ugly, cranky little vessel, painted grey, with one funnel Davis is contemptuous about her low freeboard forward; says he would rather go to sea in the Dulce He has her diers' ends: one hundred and forty feet by twenty-five, one 49 gun, one 34, and four ht

'_17th Oct_--Glass falling heavily this ust Wind back in the SW andat _530_ we tacked on the tide over the ”water-shed” behind Spiekeroog So did the galliot we had seen last night, but we again hed anchor before we came up to her berth Davies, however, swore she was the 'Korreater part of the day, which we spent in exploring the Otzu), now and then firing some perfunctory shots at seals and sea-birds (nautical details o back to an inside anchorage, e made a bad round on the very top of high water, and are now sitting hard and fast on the edge of the Rute Flat, south of the east spit of Langeoog The light was bad, and a -off failed, and at 8 pm ere left on a perfect Ararat of sand, and only a yard or two from that accursed boom, which is perched on the very su to blow hard too, though that is no great matter, as we are sheltered by banks on the sou'-west and nor'-west sides, the likely quarters We hope to float at _615_ to-et her off, we have been transferring so the yacht--a horrid business handling the pigs of lead, heavy, greasy, and black The saloon is an inferno, the deck like a collier's, and ourselves like sweeps

'The anchors are laid out, and there is nothing ale from the sou'-e turned out, but it helped us to float off safely at six The dinghy was very nearly swa the ballast back into the yacht was the toughest job of all We got the dinghy alongside, and Davies juood), balanced hiot a chance, attached the pigs one by one on to a bight of rope, secured to the peak halyards, on which I hoisted froo for a few minutes, and then easier

'It was nine before we had finished replacing the pigs in the hold, a filthy but delicate operation, as they fit like a puzzle, and if one is out of place the floor-boards won't shut down Co at anchor in the Schill Balje, inside Spiekeroog, about a mile and a half off She h-water for shelter froale: a neat bit of work for a vessel of her size, as Davies says she draws nine-foot-ten, and there can't be h-water neaps Several salliots farther up our channel, but we couldn't make out if the 'Kormoran' was one

'When the banks uncovered we lay , tempestuous walk over the Rute, with colass tu for Bensersiel, one of theflood, as it seeht opportunity, if ere to visit one of those ”siels” at all Davies was very lukewared cloud, appearing to trail into the very sea, brought up a terrific squall This passed, and there was a deathly pause of ten minutes while the whole sky eddied as with smoke-wreaths Then an icy puff struck us fro till it reached north-east; there it settled and grew harder every moment

'”Sou'-west to north-east--only the worst sort do that,” said Davies

'The shi+ft to the east changed the whole situation (as shi+fts often have before),the Rute Flats a lee shore, while to ard lay the deep lagoons of the Otzu drift for wind and sea We had to clear out sharp, to set the mizzen It was out of the question to beat to ard, for it was blowing a hurricane in a fewfarther in well behind the Jans sand, and not risking Bensersiel A blunder of et up anchor, settled the question Thirty out of our forty fatho sleet-shower that had co the tremendous strain on the cable, I cast the slack off the bitts and left it loose There was then only one turn of the chain round the dru out But now , and in an instant it hizzing out of the hawse-pipe and overboard I tried to stop it with e of the yacht, heard so snap below, and saw the last of it disappear The yacht fell off the wind, and drifted astern I shouted, and had the sense to hoist the reefed foresail at once Davies had her in hand in no ti aft I found him cool and characteristic

'”Doesn'tthe Elbe we had had a buoy-line on our anchor against the e to slip our cable and run For the same reason the end of the chain was not et it Can't now Should have had to slip it anyhoind and sea too strong We'll try for Bensersiel Can't trust to a warp and kedge out here”

'An exciting run it was, across country, so to speak, over an unboo's walk

Shoal water all the way and a hollow sea breaking everywhere We soon made out the Bensersiel booms, but even under mizzen and foresail only we travelled too fast, and had to heave to outside them, for the channel looked too shallow still We lowered half the centre-board and kept her just holding her own to ard, through aperiod In the end had to run for it sooner than weto leeward in spite of all, and the light was failing Bore up at _515_, and raced up the channel with the boo water Davies stood forward, signalling--port, starboard, or steady--with his ar froed by wave-tops Suddenly found a sort of dyke on our right just covering with sea The shore appeared through scud, andDavies brandished his left arm furiously; I ported hard, and ere in sh a slit between tood jetties Inside a small square harbour showed, but there was no room to round up properly and no tie over, and it just got a grip in time to check our momentum and save our bowsprit froside, rather bewildered

'Not more so than the natives, who seemed to think we had dropped from the sky They were very friendly, with an undercurrent of disappointe work outside, I think All showed e sails, etc We were rescued by a fussy person in uniform and spectacles, ept them aside and announced hi in this absurd mud-hole!), marched down into the cabin, which was in a fearful e printed foro, our crew, our last port, our destination, our food, stores, and everything No cargo (pleasure); captain, Davies; crew, land What spirits had we? Whisky, produced What salt? Tin of Cerebos, produced, and a dauns fingered, bunks rifled Meanwhile the Ger clues to our purpose, were in full evidence, crying for notice which they did not get (We had forgotten our precautions in the hurry of our start froe form was as full as he could make it, he suddenly became human, talkative, and thirsty; and, e treated hih clothes and crust of brine and gries_ of a high official He insisted on our bringing our cushi+ons to dry at his house, and to get rid of hie and wash

He talked hi and charts; but he returned, in the postmaster's uniform this time before we had finished supper, and haled us and our cushi+ons up through dark and e near the quay To reach it we crossed a s what seeates, just as we had thought

'He showed his prizes to his wife, as quite flustered by the distinguished strangers, and received the cushi+ons with awe; and next ere carried off to the Gasthaus and exhibited to the village circle, where we talked ducks and weather (nobody takes us seriously; I never felt less like a conspirator) Our friend, who is a feather-headed chatterbox, is enormously important about his ridiculous little port, whose principal custo to and fro according to tide A few lighters also come down the stream with bricks and produce from the interior, and are towed to the islands The harbour has from five to seven feet in it for two hours out of twelve! Herr Schenkel talked us back to the yacht, which we found resting on the mud--and here we are Davies pretends there are harbour s about how to get away fro that it's i north-east winds, the channel being too narrow to tack in For e relief to be in any sort of harbour after a fortnight in the open There are no tides or anchors to think about, and no bu Fresh

TO RESUME my story in narrative form

I akened at ten o'clock on the 19th, after a long and delicious sleep, by Davies's voice outside, talking his un out, in my pyjamas, I saw hi old-laced navy cap He had a close-trimmed auburn beard, a keen, handso in a raw air