another man from the
"Bateau Pilote" boarded her. "She shall be taken to Flushing."

"You will put into Flushing, then, so that I can obtain the men on board
of her."

"I will--yes."

"Did a ship--the Young America--go up the river last night?" asked Paul.

"No; no ship. We see a ship off the Rabs when the storm came. She come
about, and go to sea before the wind."

This was what Paul supposed the Young America had done. He had no fears
in regard to the safety of the ship as long as she had plenty of sea
room. She would soon return, and the pilot-boat would be able to report
the Josephine to the anxious people on board of her. The Belgian pilot
took charge of the vessel; and after he had headed her towards the
channel by which he intended to enter the river, he began to ask
questions in regard to the juvenile officers and crew. He did not speak
English any more fluently than Paul did French, and they did not get
along very well. Mr. Stoute, having finished his breakfast, came on
deck. He taught the French in the Josephine, and was very happy to find
an opportunity to air his vocabulary.

The skipper of the galiot came up from the cabin soon after with his
family. As the pilot spoke Dutch, the story of the unfortunate captain
was obtained at last. The vessel had been caught in the squall, and
knocked down. Two men on deck had been washed away and drowned. The
companion-way being open, the water had rushed in and prevented the
vessel from righting. The women, who lived on board all the time, as is
frequently the case with the families of Dutch skippers, had climbed up
and obtained a hold upon the berths on the port side of the cabin. By
these means they were saved from drowning; but the cabin doors, being on
the starboard side, were under water, so that they could not escape
while the vessel lay on her beam-ends.

The Josephine, followed by the "Wel tevreeden," entered the river. It
was a beautiful day, warm and pleasant; and the officers and crew, in
spite of the hardships of the preceding night, were eager to obtain
their first view of the new country whose waters they were now entering.
It was still over sixty miles, by the course of the Scheldt, to Antwerp;
but the sights on the river and on the shore were novel and interesting.
The vessels which sailed up and down the river were essentially
different from any they had ever seen, with the exception, perhaps, of
the wrecked galiot. They looked more like huge c