I am afraid that, to a landsman, my panegyric may smack strongly
of gush, for no one but a seaman can rightly appraise such doings
as these; but I may be permitted to say that, when I think of men
whom I feel glad to have lived to know, foremost among them rises
the queer little figure of Paddy Gilroy.
*
CHAPTER XXVII
PORT PEGASUS
The wind still holding steadily in the old quarter, our skipper
got very restless. He recalled his former exploits, and, firing
at the thought, decided then and there to have a trip round to
Port Pegasus, in the hope that he might meet with some of his
former good luck in the vicinity of that magnificent bay. With
the greatest alacrity we obeyed his summons, handling the old
barky as if she were a small boat, and the same morning, for the
first time, ran out of the Straits to the eastward past Ruapuke
Island. Beautiful weather prevailed, making our trip a
delightful one, the wonderful scenery of that coast appealing to
even the most callous or indifferent among us. We hugged the
land closely, the skipper being familiar with all of it in a
general way, so that none of its beauties were lost to us. The
breeze holding good, by nightfall we had reached our destination,
anchoring in the north arm near a tumbling cascade of glittering
water that looked like a long feather laid on the dark-green
slope of the steep hill from which it gushed.
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