366 THE STEAM EXCURSION. 



ing the group from the opposite side of the street. The wan looks, 

 and gaudy finery of the wretched, thinly clad females, contrasted 

 as strangely with the gay sun-light, as did their forced merriment 

 with the boisterous hilarity of the two young men, who now and 

 then varied their amusements by " bonneting" the proprietor of this 

 itinerant coffee house. 



Mr. Percy Noakes walked briskly by, and when he turned down 

 Strand-lane, and caught a glimpse of the glistening water, he thought 

 that he had never felt so important or so happy in his life. 



" Boat, Sir !" cried one of the three watermen who were mopping 

 out their boats, and all whistling different tunes. " Boat, Sir !" 



" No," replied Mr. Percy Noakes rather sharply, for the inquiry 

 was not made in a manner at all suitable to his dignity. 



" Would you prefer a wessel, Sir ?" inquired another, to the in- 

 finite delight of the ' Jack-in-the- water.' 



Mr. Percy Noakes replied with a look of the most supreme con- 

 tempt. 



" Did you want to be put on board a steamer, Sir ?" inquired an 

 old fireman-waterman very confidentially. He was dressed in a 

 faded red suit, just the colour of the cover of a very old Court-guide. 



" Yes, make haste the Endeavour ; off the Custom-house." 



"Endeavour!" cried the man who had convulsed the 'Jack' 

 before. (c Vy, I see the Endeavour go up half an hour ago." 



<( So did I," said another ; " and I should think she'd gone down 

 by this time, for she's a precious sight too full of ladies and gen'lmen." 



Mr. Percy Noakes affected to disregard these representations, and 

 stepped into the boat, which the old man, by dint of scrambling, and 

 shoving, and grating, had brought up to the causeway. " Shove her 

 off," cried Mr. Percy Noakes, and away the boat glided down the 

 river, Mr. Percy Noakes seated on the recently mopped seat, and 

 the watermen at the stairs offering to bet him any reasonable sum 

 that he'd never reach the tf Custum-us." 



' ' Here she is, by Jove !" said the delighted Percy, as they ran 

 alongside the Endeavour. 



" Hold hard !" cried the steward over the side, and Mr. Percy 

 Noakes jumped on board. 



" Hope you'll find everything as you wished it, Sir she looks 

 uncommon well this morning." 



" She does, indeed !" replied the manager, in a state of ecstacy 

 which it is impossible to describe. The deck was scrubbed, and the 

 seats were scrubbed, and there was a bench for the band, and a 

 place for dancing, and a pile of camp stools, and an awning ; and 

 then Mr. Percy Noakes bustled down below, and there were the 

 pastrycook's men, and the steward's wife laying out the dinner on 

 two tables the whole length of the cabin ; and then Mr. Percy 

 Noakes took off his coat, and rushed backwards and forwards, doing 

 nothing, but quite convinced he was assisting everybody ; and the 

 steward's wife laughed till she cried, and Mr. Percy Noakes 

 panted with the violence of his exertions. And then the bell at 

 London-bridge wharf rang, and a Margate boat was just starting, 

 and a Graveserid boat was just starting, and people shouted, and 



