in every direction but the right one for the means of getting
on board her!

After a bit, dad was the first to recover his composure.

"Well, Tom," said he, "the best thing we can do now will be to ride
round the bay to the point where that boat has started out from. I
think I can see another craft of some sort lying alongside the jetty;
and, I daresay, we'll be able to get out to the vessel if we go there."

As he spoke he mounted Dandy again, while I jumped up nimbly on Prince's
back; and, in another moment we were cantering along the sandy beach
towards the point in question, with Jake running behind holding on to
Dandy's tail, and still laughing to himself in high glee.

On approaching the jetty, it looked much bigger than it had appeared to
be in the distance. It was a long wooden pier, indeed, that projected
some hundred yards or so into the sea, and it had a crane at the end for
hoisting and lowering the heavy hogs-heads of sugar. Dozens of these
were ranged along its length awaiting shipment, and a gang of negroes
were busily engaged under a white overseer in stowing some of them into
the launch of the _Josephine_, which was moored right under the crane.
The name of the vessel was painted in white letters on the stern of the
boat, which was turned towards us as we rode up so that we could easily
see it.

On dad's telling the overseer what he wanted, we learnt that Captain
Miles was on board his vessel, and that the launch would be going out to
her as soon as she was loaded; so we had nothing to do now but to wait
until she had taken in as many casks of sugar as she could carry.

To me, this delay was not very tedious; for, as the overseer made the
negroes "hurry up" with their task, I was much amused with the brisk way
in which they trundled the huge hogs-heads along, running them up to the
pier-head, slinging them to the chains of the crane, and then lowering
them down into the launch. There was much creaking of cog-wheels and
cheerful, "Yo-heave-hoing!" from the men in the boat below, as they
stowed them away in the bottom of the craft as easily as if they were
only so many tiny little kegs, the darkeys joining in the sailors'
chorus with much good-humour.

Bye and bye the job was finished, when, room having been reserved for
dad and myself in the stern-sheets, the seaman in charge of the boat
told us to jump in.

Then, some of the negro gang coming on board also to help man the long
oars, which,