Explore "Across India" by Oliver Optic on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The barge was ready as soon as it was needed, and lay at the platform of the gangway, with the crew in their white uniforms, quite as smart as man-of-war's-men. The coolie boatmen who were seeking a job to put the passengers on shore were disappointed. The clothing of the guests had been taken in hand by Sparks and Sordy, the cabin stewards, dried, cleaned, and pressed. They wore them now, and had returned the borrowed garments.
The party were impatient to see the strange sights on shore; and they were ready at the gangway when the viscount, to whom the commander had abandoned the direction of the company, gave the word. The ladies were assisted to their places, and the "Big Four" went into the fore-sheets. Bargate, the old man-of-war's-man, was the cockswain, and his lordship gave the word to him to give way.