, which he ordered
under way at once, to pick up Argyle at sea. So that when my pursuers
rode up to Mr. Stendhal's door in search of me, I was a dirty little
Dutch boy casting off a stern-hawser from a ring bolt. They seemed to
storm at Mr. Stendhal; but I don't know what they said; he acted the
part of surprised indignation to the life. When I looked my last on Mr.
Stendhal he was at the door, begging a search party to enter to see for
themselves that I was not hidden there. The galliot got under way, at
that moment, with a good deal of crying out from her sailors. As she
swung away into the canal, I saw the handsome lady idly looking on. She
was waiting at the door with the other riders. She was the only
woman there. To show her that I was a skilled seaman I cast off the
stern-hawser nimbly, then dropped on to the deck like one bred to the
trade. A moment later I was aloft, casting loose the gaff-topsail. From
that fine height as the barge began to move I saw the horsemen turning
away foiled. I saw the lady's leathered hat, making a little dash of
green among the drab of the riding coats. Then an outhouse hid them all
from sight. I was in a sea-going barge, bound out, under all sail,
along a waterway lined with old reeds, all blowing down with a rattling
shiver.

Now I am not going to tell you much more of my Holland experiences. I
was in that barge for about one whole fortnight, during which I think I
saw the greater part of the Dutch canals. We picked up Argyle at sea on
the first day. After that we went to Amsterdam with a cargo of hides.
Then we wandered about at the wind's will, thinking that it might puzzle
people, if any one should have stumbled on the right scent. All that
fortnight was a long delightful picnic to me. The barge was so like an
Oulton wherry that I was at home in her. I knew what to do, it was not
like being in the schooner. When we were lying up by a wharf, I used
to spend my spare hours in fishing, or in flinging fiat pebbles from
a cleft-stick at the water-rats. When we were under sail I used to sit
aloft in the cross-trees, looking out at the distant sea. At night,
after a supper of strong soup, we all turned in to our bunks in the tiny
cabin, from the scuttle of which I could see a little patch of sky full
of stars.

A boy lives very much in the present. I do not think that I thought much
of the Duke's service, nor of our venture for the crown. If I thought
at all of our adventures, I tho