current, looked small and dingy;
when she rolled as the helm went over, the swell washed her low
bulwarks. She got smaller, until a rain squall blew across from the
Cheshire side and she melted into the background of dark water and
smoke. Barbara felt strangely forlorn, and it was some relief when
Cartwright touched her arm and they set off along the wall.

After the rain the wind freshened, and when Brown steamed out from the
river, a confused sea rolled across the shoals. The light was not good,
but a double row of buoys led out to sea, the ebb-tide was running, and
_Terrier_ made good progress. She shipped no water yet, and the hulk
lurched along without much strain on the rope. The rope was fastened to
a massive iron hook and ran across a curved wooden horse at the tug's
stern. Sometimes it slipped along the horse and tightened with a bang,
for the clumsy hulk sheered about. When her stern went up one saw an
indistinct figure holding the wheel.

When they passed the Bar Lightship, Lister climbed to the bridge and for
a few minutes looked about. The plunging red hull to starboard was the
last of the Mersey marks, for the North-West ship was hidden by low
clouds. Ahead the angry gray water was broken by streaks of foam.
_Terrier_ rolled and quivered when her bows smashed a sea, and showers
of spray beat like hail against the screens on the bridge.

"She's loggish," Brown remarked. "If you don't burn up that coal soon,
she'll wash it off. Looks like a dirty night, and I'm pushing across for
Lynas Point. With the wind at south-west, I want to get under the
Anglesey coast. There'll be some sea in the channel when we open up
Holyhead."

"The boat's good," said Lister. "Engines a bit neglected, but they're
running smooth and cool, and she has power to shove her along.
Cartwright has an eye for a useful craft."

Brown nodded. "The old fellow has an eye for all that's useful; I reckon
he sees farther than any man I know. There's something encouraging about
this, because the job he's given us looks tough--"

He stopped, for the tow-rope slipped noisily across the horse. There was
a clang of iron as the hook took the strain, and the captain frowned.
"That hulk is going to bother us before very long."

Lister seized the slanted rails. The lightship had vanished, but a
bright beam pierced the haze astern. Ahead the sea was empty; gray water
rolled beneath low and ragged clouds. Spray flew about the plunging
bows, and the