"BREAD UPON THE WATERS"
was far from mad. There was a sou'wester brewin’ when we made the mouth o' the Mersey, a bitter cold morn wi' a grey-green sea and a grey-green sky—Liverpool weather, as they say; an' there we lay choppin', an' the crew swore. Ye canna keep secrets aboard ship. They thought McRimmon was mad, too.
"Syne we saw the Grotkau rollin' oot on the top o' flood, deep an' double deep, wi' her new-painted funnel an' her new-painted boats an' a'. She looked her name, an', moreover, she coughed like it. Calder tauld me at Radley's what ailed his engines, but my own ear would ha' told me twa mile awa', by the beat o' them. Round we came, plungin' an' squatterin' in her wake, an' the wind cut wi' good promise o' more to come. By six it blew hard but clear, an' before the middle watch it was a sou'wester in airnest.
"'She 'll edge into Ireland, this gait,' says Bell. I was with him on the bridge, watchin' the Grotkau’s port light. Ye canna see green so far as red, or we 'd ha' kept to leeward. We 'd no passengers to consider, an' (all eyes being on the Grotkau) we fair walked into a liner rampin' home to Liverpool. Or, to be preceese, Bell no more than twisted the Kite oot from under her bows, and there was a little damnin' betwix' the twa bridges. Noo a passenger"—McPhee regarded me benignantly—"wad ha' told the papers that as soon as he got to the Customs. We stuck to the Grotkau's tail that night an' the next twa days—she slowed down to five knot by my reckonin'—and we lapped along the weary way to the Fastnet."
"But you don't go by the Fastnet to get to any South American port, do you?" I said.
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