The adventure of the night appeared more and more difficult of execution,

till suddenly Dick's countenance lightened.

Lawless!" he cried, "you that were a shipman, can ye steal me a ship?"

Master Dick," replied Lawless, "if ye would back me, I would agree to

steal York Minster."

Presently after, these two set forth and descended to the harbour. It

was a considerable basin, lying among sand hills, and surrounded with

patches of down, ancient ruinous lumber, and tumble-down slums of the

town. Many decked ships and many open boats either lay there at anchor,

or had been drawn up on the beach. A long duration of bad weather had

driven them from the high seas into the shelter of the port; and the

great trooping of black clouds, and the cold squalls that followed one

another, now with a sprinkling of dry snow, now in a mere swoop of wind,

promised no improvement but rather threatened a more serious storm in the

immediate future.

The seamen, in view of the cold and the wind, had for the most part slunk

ashore, and were now roaring and singing in the shoreside taverns. Many

of the ships already rode unguarded at their anchors; and as the day wore

on, and the weather offered no appearance of improvement, the number was

continually being augmented. It was to these deserted ships, and, above

all, to those of them that lay far out, that Lawless directed his

attention; while Dick, seated upon an anchor that was half embedded in

The Black Arrow