'A TRAVELLER'S TALES' 



193 



refusing to sail in a ship because the rats are leaving 

 it, as if they had some kind of foreknowledge that 

 she would never come back to port again. Some 

 of us — most of us, in fact — would have been very 

 glad to know beforehand what was going to happen 

 to her, and then we could have chosen another ship. 

 But she looked such a lovely old tub that we just 

 flocked into her, and we found that she might have 

 been built many years ago exactly to suit our con- 

 venience. She had not too much cargo on board, 

 so that we had plenty of room, and what cargo 

 there was proved to be reasonably edible, when we 

 contrived to sample certain portions of it. 



'And so we all started off in high spirits on a 

 comparatively short coasting voyage, with a good 

 prospect of a merry spree on shore when we reached 

 our destination, little recking, many of us, of the 

 fate which was in store for us. I hate the word 

 " recking " now, however you may choose to spell it. 



* All went well for a couple of days ; we had a fair 

 wind and a calm sea, and we congratulated our- 

 selves on having chosen so seaworthy and comfort- 

 able a ship. We slept for a good part of the day 

 and made merry by night, helping the sailors to do 

 their duty by licking out the pots and pans, the 

 cleaning of which they had wisely put off to the 



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