I felt, too, that this journey, so suddenly entered upon, was bound to
take me away from daily life's actualities at every step. I felt it more
than ever when presently we steamed out into the North Sea, on a dark
night fitful with gusts of wind, and I lingered on deck, alone of all the
tale of the ship's passengers. That sea was to me something
unforgettable, something much more than a name. It had been for some
time the schoolroom of my trade. On it, I may safely say, I had learned,
too, my first words of English. A wild and stormy abode, sometimes, was
that confined, shallow-water academy of seamanship from which I launched
myself on the wide oceans. My teachers had been the sailors of the
Norfolk shore; coast men, with steady eyes, mighty limbs, and gentle
voice; men of very few words, which at least were never bare of meaning.
Honest, strong, steady men, sobered by domestic ties, one and all, as far
as I can remember.
That is what years ago the North Sea I could hear growling in the dark
all round the ship had been for me. And I fancied that I must have been
carrying its voice in my ear ever since, for nothing could be more
familiar than those short, angry sounds I was listening to with a smile
of affectionate recognition.
Pages:
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225