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Henty, G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902

"When London Burned : a Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire"

It came at once
alongside, and in five minutes they reached the _Good Venture_. As
soon as the women had ascended the accommodation ladder, some sailors
ran down and helped to carry up the trunks.
"Empty them all out in the cabin," Captain Dave said to his wife; "we
will take them back with us."
As soon as he had seen the ladies into the cabin, Captain Watson
called his son Frank, who was his chief mate, and half a dozen of his
men. These carried the boxes, as fast as they were emptied, down into
the boat.
"We will all go ashore together," he said to Captain Dave. "I was a
fool not to think of it before. We will soon make light work of it."
As soon as they reached the house, some of the sailors were sent off
with the remaining trunks and bundles, while the others carried
upstairs those they had brought, and quickly emptied into them the
remaining contents of the drawers and linen press. So quickly and
steadily did the work go on, that no less than six trips were made to
the _Good Venture_ in the next three hours, and at the end of that
time almost everything portable had been carried away, including
several pieces of valuable furniture, and a large number of objects
brought home by Captain Dave from his various voyages. The last
journey, indeed, was devoted to saving some of the most valuable
contents of the store. Captain Dave, delighted at having saved so
much, would not have thought of taking more, but Captain Watson would
not hear of this.


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