. How swiftly the clouds fly! How the
ocean seethes and roars! We hear it all over town, sobbing, roaring,
thundering! Away in by the wharves of the market square the waters are
all in a turmoil. The little boats rock and rock, and the big ships dip
up and down. The wet rigging sparkles, the mooring chains strain and
creak, and there is _such_ a smell of salt in the air! You can almost
taste the salt with your tongue.

In such weather the damaged ships come in. One autumn there came a
Spanish steamship, with a green funnel and a white hull. It lay with
almost its whole stern under water when the pilot from Krabbesund
brought it in. That was jolly; not for the people on board,--it was
anything but jolly for them,--but for us children.

When we choose, we go out into the harbor in boats and row round and
round among the strange ships. At last, very likely, the sailors call
out to us and ask us to come on board, and then it doesn't take us long
to scramble up the ladder, you may be sure! On board, it is awfully
jolly. Once a French skipper gave us some pineapple preserves; but
generally we only get crackers. When the Spanish ship was in, the
streets swarmed with foreign sailors, with long brown necks and burning
black eyes. Then the old policeman, Mr. Weiby, strutted about, and sent
Father long written reports about street rows and disturbances. The
Spaniards didn't bother themselves a mite about old Weiby, puffing
around with his chin high in the air!

Sometimes on summer afternoons when the water lies calm and shining, we
slip off and borrow a boat (Mr. Terkelsen's, quite often) and go rowing
around the island. Then, afterwards, we float about,--dabbling and
splashing in the darkened water until evening comes on. Ah! that is
pleasure!

AN ADVENTURE

One summer evening Massa Peckell, Mina Trap and I saved two people from
drowning; and we were praised for it in the newspapers. Really it is
most delightful to see your name in print! I should like ever so much to
do something else that the papers would praise me for, but I don't know
what it could be!

This is how it happened that time. We had borrowed old Terkelsen's boat
and rowed quite a way out. From a wharf on one of the islands another
boat laden with wood came towards us. The wood was in slabs and chips
and was piled high fore and aft. Down between the piles sat two children
rowing. As they came nearer we saw that it was Lisa and George, the
lighthouse-keepe