A HUMANISING AGENCY 215 



more often a case of the spirit being willing, but the 

 flesh weak, the lady spending most of her time in 

 her bunk, engaged in earnest prayers on her own 

 behalf. 



" On this particular trip there was no doctor, and 

 the ' occasional ' lady was myself. I am afraid that 

 I did not come up to expectations in many ways, 

 but I gave my services where I could, and the 

 smacksmen kindly made the best of them. 



" For three days after leaving Gorleston we sailed 

 along in a vain endeavour to find the fleet. We had 

 expected to come up with it in about twenty-four 

 hours, but were doomed to disappointment. During 

 those three days I was astonished to notice how few 

 ships of any description we passed. It seemed as 

 if our own little craft was the solitary occupant of that 

 great sea, and it gave me somewhat of a feeling of 

 desolation. Once we came across a smack, the crew 

 of which hailed us, and on coming near we were 

 informed that the skipper had fallen down the hatch- 

 way and broken a rib. The man was hoisted on 

 board and his hurt attended to by our skipper, who 

 was something of a doctor, and was then pressed to 

 stay in hospital to be nursed until better, but he 

 absolutely refused to remain, and rejoined his smack. 



"We also passed a smack which was searching, 

 as were we, for the Short Blues, and for some time 

 we kept together. A fog gathered, however, and after 

 it had dispersed we found that we had lost our 

 companion. With the exception of that night of fog, 

 the weather all the week was fine and clear, but there 

 was a swell, and consequently we rolled a good deal. 



