The Silken East ^
simple in his habits and ways, with weariness written
about the corners of his red eyes. A h ! they know
their work, these men, if any one does and they do
it, as the genuine sailor always does, thoroughly and
without talk, and they race these ships of theirs, big
as ocean steamfers, round corners, and over shallows,
A CREEK AT EBB TIDE
with less than a foot of water between them and a
blasted reputation, with a skill and dating of which
they are wholly unconscious. And I say nothing of
the Clydesmen who rule the throbbing engines, and
say even less than the skipper.
Besides the big steamers, there are numerous little
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