Making excuse to Blanche and the company,
I went out to see him in the shop and found the man much disturbed. It
seemed that a certain vessel of mine that I had rechristened _Blanche_
in honour of my wife, which lay in the stream ready to sail, was in
great danger because of the tempest. Indeed, she was dragging at her
anchor, and it was feared that unless more anchors could be let down she
would come ashore and be wrecked against the jetty-heads or otherwise.
The reason why this had not been done, was that only the master and one
sailor were on board the vessel; the rest were feasting ashore in honour
of my marriage, and refused to row out to her, saying that the boat
would be swamped in the gale.
Now this ship, although not very large, was the best and staunchest that
I owned, being almost new; moreover, the cargo on board of her, laden
for the Mediterranean, was of great value, so great indeed that its loss
would have been very grievous to me. Therefore, it was plain that I must
see to the matter without delay, since from my servant's account there
was no hope that these rebellious sailors would listen to any lesser man
than myself.
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