"Conrad, Josph - Youth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Conrad Joseph)

cried. A belated waterman offered his services, and
Mahon struck a bargain with him for half-a-crown to
tow our skipper alongside; but it was Mrs. Beard that
came up the ladder first. They had been floating about
the dock in that mizzly cold rain for nearly an hour. I
was never so surprised in my life.

"It appears that when he heard my shout 'Come up,'
he understood at once what was the matter, caught up
his wife, ran on deck, and across, and down into our boat,
which was fast to the ladder. Not bad for a sixty-year-
old. Just imagine that old fellow saving heroically in
his arms that old woman--the woman of his life. He
set her down on a thwart, and was ready to climb back
on board when the painter came adrift somehow, and
away they went together. Of course in the confusion
we did not hear him shouting. He looked abashed. She
said cheerfully, 'I suppose it does not matter my losing
the train now?' 'No, Jenny--you go below and get
warm,' he growled. Then to us: 'A sailor has no busi-
ness with a wife--I say. There I was, out of the ship.
Well, no harm done this time. Let's go and look at what
that fool of a steamer smashed.'

"It wasn't much, but it delayed us three weeks. At
the end of that time, the captain being engaged with his
agents, I carried Mrs. Beard's bag to the railway-sta-
tion and put her all comfy into a third-class carriage.
She lowered the window to say, 'You are a good young
man. If you see John--Captain Beard--without his
muffler at night, just remind him from me to keep his
throat well wrapped up.' 'Certainly, Mrs. Beard,' I
said. 'You are a good young man; I noticed how at-
tentive you are to John--to Captain--' The train
pulled out suddenly; I took my cap off to the old
woman: I never saw her again. . . . Pass the bottle.

"We went to sea next day. When we made that start
for Bankok we had been already three months out of
London. We had expected to be a fortnight or so--at
the outside.

"It was January, and the weather was beautiful--the
beautiful sunny winter weather that has more charm
than in the summer-time, because it is unexpected, and
crisp, and you know it won't, it can't, last long. It's
like a windfall, like a godsend, like an unexpected piece
of luck.

"It lasted all down the North Sea, all down Channel;