jammed.

"Oh, I say!" exclaimed Rex as he opened the door and noticed how lofty
and roomy and how beautifully fitted up was the place, "what jolly
cabins!"

"Jolly!" retorted Dale, "I don't see anything jolly about them. I think
they're _beastly_ holes; there's not room to swing a cat in 'em."

"Well, you don't want to swing a cat in them, do you?" inquired Rex
gravely, firing off the venerable joke at his senior half unconsciously.
"I think they are first-rate cabins, considering that they're on board
ship; you can't expect to have such rooms here as you have at `The
Blackthorns.' Space is limited afloat, you know."

"Eight you are, Mr Fortescue," shouted Brook through the bulkhead, his
cabin adjoining that of the partners, and conversation, unless pitched
in a low tone, being quite audible from one to the other; "I call these
cabins _splendid_; moreover than that, look how light and atmospheric
they are; why, you wouldn't find lighter or more luxuriant cabins in the
_Great Eastern_ herself."

"I wish, Brook, you'd shut up and mind your own business," snarled Mr
Dale as in his irritation he wrenched off a drawer-knob; "you're a good
deal too ready with your opinions, and I'll thank you to keep 'em to
yourself until you're asked for 'em for the future."

Here Rex Fortescue interposed, pouring by his tact and good-humour oil
upon the troubled waters, and bringing harmony out of discord once more;
so that, by the time everything had been packed away in its proper place
and the dinner-bell had rung out its welcome peal, peace reigned
undisturbed in the handsome saloon of the _Galatea_.

Meanwhile, the passengers having all embarked, the ship at once
proceeded down the river in tow, and when the occupants of the saloon
rose from the dinner-table and went on deck to enjoy the beauty of the
evening they found themselves off Sheerness, in the midst of a fleet of
ships and steamers of all builds and all nationalities, some outward-
bound like themselves, and others entering the river, either under
steam, in tow, or under canvas, as the case might be. Here came a
magnificent steamship, towering high out of the water, at the close of
her voyage from India, with sallow-complexioned passengers scattered
about her decks fore and aft, muffled up in thick overcoats, and pacing
briskly to and fro to stimulate the circulation of the thin blood in
their veins, and looking the picture of chilly misery, though the
evening was al