[Picture: Paddle and Parasol]

This was the lady's very first essay in a canoe, nevertheless she
succeeded admirably in her effort, for it is far easier to learn a little
of paddling than a little of rowing, as every neophyte can tell you.

Henceforth I shall always know that a Rob Roy can well be matched by a
_Di Vernon_, and how much the most gentle movement afloat can be refined
by feminine grace. A few hints from the older paddler in the dingey were
rapidly taken up by the apt scholar in the canoe, while her friends rowed
beside us in a boat, and at length with that English pluck which so many
English girls possess, she boldly steered into a steamer's swell, and
then to the open sea, where, before a soft zephyr murmuring its undertone
whispers, we hoisted her parasol for a sail, and the visitors on Dover
pier had a novel treat in the duet between dingey and canoe.

Fairly rested next day, the yawl sailed by Ramsgate Cliffs until calm and
tide made us anchor in a hot baking sun.

The 'Gull Lightship' was not far off, so we sculled to her in the dingey.
This was the very first time I had myself actually seen the Rob Roy on
the water with all sails set, nor dare I conceal the pride that was felt
in looking at her graceful contour, her smart and sensible rig, and her
snowy sails so beautifully set, as the sunbeams lit them up; viewed from
a little distance, the yawl was only like a toy boat resting on a sheet
of glass.

The men of the 'Gull' with its red sides and red lantern masts, received
me with surprise, but with most grateful thanks for books to read, and
then they pressed their visitor to stop for dinner!

But he could not well feast in comfort while the Rob Roy was left alone
and all sails up, and especially as one of the numerous vessels then
drifting past (we had counted more than forty in sight at one time)
seemed to be borne dangerously near to the little craft.

On this lightship there are seven men, and four more on land to relieve
them regularly. {275} In the course of a lively conversation with their
visitor, they said, "How lonely you must be!" Surely when the men exiled
to a lightship pronounce the Rob Roy "lonely" there must be something in
the charge; but my obtuse perception has not yet enabled me to find it
out.

Meantime the tide had turned strongly, and my row back from the lightship
in the hot sun was one of the hardest pulls I ever had, so that the
lesson will n