hy's shackles
wos werry narrer; worn't made f'r a sailorman's 'and at all, but 'e
knowed wot e' wos a-doin' of, for th' Ole Man wos one o' them dandy
blokes wot sails out o' London; 'an's like a lidye's 'e 'ad, an' w'en
they takes their shackles aft, 'e cottons t' Dutchy's at onest. 'Now,
them's wot I calls shackles, Johnson, me man,' sez 'e. 'Jest fits me
'and like a glove,' 'e sez, 'oldin' ov 'em up, an' lettin' 'em fall
back an' forrard acrost 'is wrist. 'Linnet's is too broad,' 'e sez.
'Good work, hexellint work,' 'e sez, 'but too broad for th' 'ands.'
Linnet, 'e sed as 'ow 'e made shackles for sailormen's 'ands; sed 'e
didn't 'old wi' Captains 'andlin' their own sea-chests, but it worn't
no use--Dutchy got th' two quid, an' th' stooard got cramp ov 'is 'ands
hevery time 'e took out th' Ole Man's chest ov a mornin'. An' th' Mate
giv' Linnet five bob an' an ole pair o' sea-boots f'r 'is pair, an'
cheap they wos, for Linnet, 'e wos a man wot knowed 'is work."

"A Mate's th' best judge ov a sailorman's work, anywye," said the
bo'sun pleasantly.

"'Im? 'E wor a good judge, too," said the wily Granger. "'E said as
'ow Linnet's wos out-an-out th' best pair. I knowed they wos, for them
Dutchmen ain't so 'andy at double rose knots as a white man!"

"No! Sure they ain't!"

XXIII

A LANDFALL

In the dark of the morning a dense fog had closed around us, shutting
in our horizon when we had most need of a clear outlook. We had
expected to sight the Lizard before dawn to pick up a Falmouth pilot at
noon, to be anchored in the Roads by nightfall--we had it all planned
out, even to the man who was to stand the first anchor-watch--and now,
before the friendly gleam of the Lizard Lights had reached us, was
fog--damp, chilling, dispiriting, a pall of white, clammy vapour that
no cunning of seamanship could avail against.

Denser it grew, that deep, terrifying wall that shut us off, shipmate
from shipmate. Overhead, only the black shadow of the lower sails
loomed up; forward, the ship was shrouded ghostly, unreal. Trailing
wreaths of vapour passed before and about the side-lamps, throwing back
their glare in mockery of the useless rays. All sense of distance was
taken from us: familiar deck fittings assumed huge, grotesque
proportions; the blurred and shadowy outlines of listening men about
the decks seemed magnified and unreal. Sound, too, was distorted by
the inconstant sea-fog; a whisper might carry far,