Read "A Fisher Girl of France" by Fernand Calmettes online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The wharf was as busy a scene as if it had been midday. Among the brigs and schooners unloading wood from Norway, the women were not long in making out a strange-looking steamer. She did not have paddles like a tug, she was shorter than a despatch-boat, and not so sharp as a corvette. Her deck was loaded with rope ladders, with long tubes, and strange dresses. On her davits hung boats such as were ordinarily found only on larger vessels, -- a big ship's boat, and a steam-launch.
"Look there, Elise, this surely has something to do with your father. You can see visors such as divers wear."