ne_, upon the other, banished to
the threshold of the port, rolling there to her scuppers, and flaunting
the plague-flag as she rolled. A few sea-birds screamed and cried about
the ship; and within easy range, a man-of-war guard-boat hung off and on
and glittered with the weapons of marines. The exuberant daylight and
the blinding heaven of the tropics picked out and framed the pictures.

A neat boat, manned by natives in uniform, and steered by the doctor of
the port, put from shore towards three of the afternoon, and pulled
smartly for the schooner. The fore-sheets were heaped with sacks of
flour, onions, and potatoes, perched among which was Huish dressed as a
foremast hand; a heap of chests and cases impeded the action of the
oarsmen; and in the stern, by the left hand of the doctor, sat Herrick,
dressed in a fresh rig of slops, his brown beard trimmed to a point, a
pile of paper novels on his lap, and nursing the while between his feet
a chronometer, for which they had exchanged that of the _Farallone_,
long since run down and the rate lost.

They passed the guard-boat, exchanging hails with the boatswain's mate
in charge, and drew near at last to the forbidden ship. Not a cat
stirred, there was no speech of man; and the sea being exceeding high
outside, and the reef close to where the schooner lay, the clamour of
the surf hung round her like the sound of battle.

"_Ohe la goelette!_" sang out the doctor, with his best voice.

Instantly, from the house where they had been stowing away stores, first
Davis, and then the ragamuffin, swarthy crew made their appearance.

"Hullo, Hay, that you?" said the captain, leaning on the rail. "Tell the
old man to lay her alongside, as if she was eggs. There's a hell of a
run of sea here, and his boat's brittle."

The movement of the schooner was at that time more than usually violent.
Now she heaved her side as high as a deep-sea steamer's, and showed the
flashing of her copper; now she swung swiftly towards the boat until her
scuppers gurgled.

"I hope you have sea-legs," observed the doctor. "You will require
them."

Indeed, to board the _Farallone_, in that exposed position where she
lay, was an affair of some dexterity. The less precious goods were
hoisted roughly; the chronometer, after repeated failures, was passed
gently and successfully from hand to hand; and there remained only the
more difficult business of embarking Huish. Even that piece of dead
weight (shipp