Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/77

Rh But the password given, he was allowed to go on without question, by a sentinel whose  one sleepy thought was the bed into which  he hoped soon to turn. Once on the highroad to Delft, Gysbert’s troubles were for the time over, and he abandoned himself to a  leisurely walk, and to the enjoyment of his  breakfast, a stale malt-cake which he  munched contentedly as he trudged along.

Then the sun rose, the morning mist evaporated, and the waters of the canal  sparkled like jewels in the clear air of the  July day. A lazy boat with one big brown sail edged its way slowly along the canal in  the direction of Delft.

“I might as well save my strength,” argued Gysbert to himself, “and what is more, I have time in quantities to spare. Hi!—Herr Captain, I pray you take me on your gallant bark!” The captain looked up from  a sail he was mending, and scanned the boy  from head to foot.

“I like thee not,” he answered. “Thou