r, two pence on the point."

The pilot, a tan-brown moustached little man, came in--not for his
black straw hat, but for his oilskins and goloshes. "That's right," said
Phillips with malevolent sympathy, "that's right, pilot, always keep
your feet thoroughly dry." The pilot had at least the excuse that it
was drizzling outside.

It blew hard and harder all night; and the next morning, Sunday, one
thought of the collapse of an English October. About half-past seven we
dropped anchor in the "roads" outside our promised port; on all sides
bleakly lapping and passing the pea-soup waters of the River Plate. Father
Prout's whimsical haunting old lines pervaded my mind as I stared and
warmed myself with pacing up and down:

With deep affection and recollection
I often think of the Shandon bells,
Whose sounds so wild would, in days of childhood,
Fling round my cradle their magic spells.
On this I ponder, where'er I wander,
And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee,
With thy bells of Shandon,
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters of the River Lee.

Not far from his old loves, how did some of us once for a brief stay,
with those whirlpools in Flanders still roaring more hungrily in our
destiny, hear other bells ring in enchanting coolness over the gliding
boat, borne on the bosom of wooded Blackwater!

But these bleak and turbid waters turned the ringing song to parody, nor
did the _Bonadventure's_ bell, a war product, sound particularly grand
upon them as those past bells on their importal streams. The outlook and
the chilliness made breakfast unusually welcome. The pilot came in, but
having no English to speak of (or with) he could not tell us his real
views on the weather and such important matters. The chief loudly--for
more clarity--pressed him with such questions as "When does your next
STRIKE begin?" but he smiled and ate on.

About dinner-time a fine white launch came out to us; and a number of
authorities, including some doctors, came aboard. The ship's company
assembled aft like an awkward squad, and the doctors came along the
line feeling pulses; a task which they did genially and without strain.
That done, and no one being set aside for a further examination, all
dispersed. The authorities (a generous allowance of them) proceeded to
Hosea's quarters, no doubt to wind up the morning's work in comfort. I
listened meanwhile to Mead, who leaning over ab