at once. One voyage she left the ship in
Bombay and travelled across India, rejoining at Calcutta. Then she lived
in Antwerp a good while, but got sick of it and shipped again when the
ship sailed for Callao. That was the last of her voyages, my mother's I
mean. For all I know the _Erin's Isle_ swims yet. My sister was drowned
and I was born before she dropped her anchor in London River."

"Drowned!" said Bill; "a little baby?"

"Going ashore in Callao," said Mr. Carville, turning to her, "there was
a 'roller' started. I believe it's caused by the sea-bed shifting;
slight earthquake in fact. The roller was a big wave and struck the
ship's boat as they were rowing across the harbour. Accidents will
happen, no matter how careful you are."

"Yes," we said quietly, "they will."

"They went from Callao to Brisbane and loaded again in Melbourne for
home. My mother used to say she thought they would _never_ get round the
Cape of Good Hope. My father had done the voyage once in sixty-two days,
almost a record; but this time everything went dead wrong. They were
driven as far as the Crozets, somewhere down near the South Pole, I
believe. The grub gave out, and even my mother had to eat bread from
corn that was ground in the coffee mill. The crew got restless and
sulky. I've often tried to imagine it, the Skipper and his two mates,
talking it over in the cuddy, keeping the men working to stop their
thinking, running for days under reefed courses and double reefed
topsails. And all the time with something else on his mind, something
that materialized finally, into _me_!

"My mother told me that my father nearly went crazy with joy when I was
born one Sunday morning, 18 south, 21 west, at seven bells on the
starboard watch. They were in the trade then, spanking along almost due
north for Fernando Noronha. It was rum for all hands that morning,
almost the only soft thing left on the ship, and a little tea. The tea
came in handy for their pipes, my mother told me. Poor chaps! They were
dying for a smoke. Well, I have always got a good deal of satisfaction
from knowing everybody was glad I came into the world. My father was
dancing mad to get home and tell all the folks that the curse was
lifted. He promised my mother anything; a home in London was one thing.
He said he would quit the sea, for another. And he kept his word too. He
was going on fifty-five, and had been at sea for thirty-eight years.
Think of that! I've been at it