see them. Work your vessel up quite close, and then boards can be laid
from the deck, and the same thing can be done the other way on."

"Yes, master, that's what I meant; but I forgot all about the tide. You
see, we are coming in just at low water, and I sha'n't be able to get
within fifty fathoms of the shore till well on towards night."

"What! And we have to stop here all day?" cried the King angrily.

"Yes, that's about it. I'll get in as close as I can, and then we shall
be in the mud."

"But is there no other way farther along?" cried the King.

"The only other way is for me to hail a barge or a flat, and swing the
horses down into that; but I shouldn't like to undertake the job."

"It must be done," said the King. His words were law, and, in his
impatient eagerness to get clear of the vessel where he had passed so
many uncomfortable hours, he promised to hold the skipper free from
responsibility.

Taking advantage of the King going aft with Saint Simon, Denis went up
to the skipper.

"Do you think there will be any danger," he said, "to the horses?"

"Shouldn't like to promise, my lad," was the reply, "but if they were my
horses I should go to your master and say, What's the use of being in
such a hurry? It's only waiting a tide, and then we could get close
in."

"But you don't know him," said Denis. "He will have his own way."

"Yes, I can see that," said the bluff skipper. "It'd do him good to be
six months aboard my vessel under me. I'd make another man of him. Ah,
you may laugh, my young sharper. You think I'm a quiet, good-tempered
sort of an old chap, but a ship's captain has to be a bit of a Tartar
too. Do you know what he is aboard his ship? Well, I'll tell you.
He's a king."

Denis gazed sharply in the man's face, wondering whether he had any
suspicion as to who his passenger really was, as he went on talking.

"You see, my boy, I'm used to this sort of thing. Sometimes it's
cattle, sometimes it's pigs and sheep. Well, they don't like going down
into a flat-bottomed boat; but," he added, with a chuckle and a nudge,
"they have to go, and if they won't go decently like passengers, we just
shoves them overboard and lets them swim ashore. But with horses like
these it would be spoiling them to treat them roughly."

"But you need not treat them roughly," said Denis. "You could sling
them with your ropes and tackle into the boat."

"Yes, you could," said the skipper; "but th