Brown waved his cap and signed to a man in the pilot-house.

The hulk swung round in a wide sweep, and the adventurous voyage had begun.
_Terrier_, steaming across the strong current, looked small and dingy; when she rolled as the helm went over, the swell washed her low bulwarks.

She got smaller, until a rain squall blew across from the Cheshire side and she melted into the background of dark water and smoke.

Barbara felt strangely forlorn, and it was some relief when Cartwright touched her arm and they set off along the wall.
After the rain the wind freshened, and when Brown steamed out from the river, a confused sea rolled across the shoals.

The light was not good, but a double row of buoys led out to sea, the ebb-tide was running, and _Terrier_ made good progress.