The next morning Hilda went down to Rochester with Netta, Tom Roberts accompanying them. They had no difficulty in discovering the barge-builder's. It seemed to the girls a dirty-looking place, thickly littered as it was with shavings; men were at work on two or three barges which seemed, thus seen out of the water, an enormous size.  
"Which is Mr. Gill?" Hilda asked a man passing.
 
"That is him, miss," and he pointed to a man who was in the act of giving directions to some workmen. They waited until he had finished, and then went up to him.
 
"I want to buy a barge, Mr. Gill," Hilda said.
 
"To buy a barge!" he repeated in surprise, for never before had he had a young lady as a customer.
 
Hilda nodded. "I want to give it to a bargeman who has rendered me a great service," as if it were an everyday occurrence for a young lady to buy a barge as a present. "I want it at once, please; and it is to be a first-class barge. How much would it cost?"
 
The builder rubbed his chin. "Well, miss, it is a little unusual to sell a barge right off in this way; as a rule people want barges built for them. Some want them for speed, some want them for their carrying capacity."
 
"I want a first-class barge," Hilda replied. "I suppose it will be for traffic on the Thames, and that he will like it to be fast."
 
"Well, miss," the builder said slowly, for he could not yet quite persuade himself that this young lady was[Pg 302] really prepared to pay such a sum as a new barge would cost, "I have got such a barge. She was launched last week, but I had a dispute with the man for whom I built her, and I said that I would not hold him to his bargain, and that he could get a barge elsewhere. He went off in a huff, but I expect he will come back before long and ask me to let him have her, and I should not be altogether sorry to say that she is gone. She is a first-class barge, and I expect that she will be as fast as anything on the river. Of course, I have got everything ready for her—masts, sails, and gear, even down to her dingey—and in twenty-four hours she would be ready to sail. The price is fifteen hundred pounds," and he looked sharply at Hilda to see what effect that communication would have. To his great surprise she replied quietly:
 
"That is about the sum I expected, Mr. Gill. Can we look at her?"
 
"Certainly, miss; she is lying alongside, and it is nearly high tide."
 
He led the way over piles of balks of timber, across sloppy pieces of ground, over which at high tide water extended, to the edge of the wharf, where the barge floated. She was indeed all ready for her mast; her sides shone with fresh paint, her upper works were painted an emerald green, a color greatly in favor among bargemen, and there was a patch of the same on her bow, ready for the name, surrounded by gilt scrollwork.
 
"There she is, miss; as handsome a barge as there is afloat."
 
"I want to see the cabin. What a little place!" she went on, as she and Netta went down through a narrow hatchway, "and how low!"
 
"It is the usual height in barges, miss, and the same size, unless especially ordered otherwise."
 
"I should like the cabin to be made very comfortable, for I think the boatman will have his wife on board. Could it not be made a little larger?"[Pg 303]
 
"There would be no great difficulty about that. You see, this is a water-tight compartment, but of course it could be carried six feet farther forward and a permanent hatchway be fixed over it, and the lining made good in the new part. As to height, one might put in a good-sized skylight; it would not be usual, but of course it could be done."
 
"And you could put the bed-place across there, could you not, and put a curtain to draw across it?"
 
"Yes, that could be managed easy enough, miss; and it would make a very tidy cabin."
 
"Then how much would that cost extra?"
 
"Forty or fifty pounds, at the outside."
 
"And when could you get it all finished, and everything painted a nice color?"
 
"I could get it done in a week or ten days, if you made a point of it."
 
"I do make a point of it," Hilda said.
 
"What do you say to our leaving this bulkhead up as it is, miss, and making a door through it, and putting a small skylight, say three feet square, over the new part? You see, it will be fifteen feet wide by six feet, so that it will make a tidy little place. It would not cost more than the other way, not so much perhaps; for it would be a lot of trouble to get this bulkhead down, and then, you see, the second hand could have his bunk in here, on the lockers, and be quite separate."
 
"Isn't there a cabin at the other end?"
 
"Well, there is one, miss; you can come and look at it. That is where the second hand always sleeps when the bargeman has got his wife on board."
 
"I think that it would be better to have the second hand sleep there," Hilda said. "This is very rough," she went on, when she inspected the little cabin forward; "there are all the beams sticking out. Surely it can be made more comfortable than this."
 
"We could matchboard the timbers over if you like, but it is not usual."
 
"Never mind, please do it; and put some lockers up[Pg 304] for his clothes, and make it very comfortable. Has the barge got a name yet?"
 
"Well, miss, we have always called her the Medway; but there is no reason that you should stick to that name. She has not been registered yet, so we can call her any name you like."
 
"Then we will call her the Walter," Hilda said, for the girls had already settled this point between them.
 
"And now, Mr. Gill, I suppose there is nothing to do but to give you a check for fifteen hundred pounds, and I can pay for the alterations when I come down next Monday week. Can you get me a couple of men who understand the work—bargees, don't you call them? I want them to take her as far as Hole Haven and a short way up the creek."
 
"I can do that easily enough," the builder said; "and I promise you that everything shall be ready for sailing, though I don't guarantee that the paint in the new part of the cabin will be dry. All the rest I can promise. I will set a strong gang of men on at once."
 
A few days later Hilda wrote a line to William Nibson, saying that she intended to come down with the child on the following Monday, and hoped that he would be able to make it convenient to be at home on that day.
 
"She is not long in coming down again, Betsy," he said, when on the Friday the barge went up to Pitsea again, and he received the letter, which was carried home and read by his wife, he himself being, like most of his class at the time, unable to read or write. "I suppose the child pined in his new home, and she had to pacify him by saying that he should come down and see us next week. That will suit me very well. I have a load of manure waiting for me at Rotherhithe; it is for Farmer Gilston, near Pitsea, so that I shall just manage it comfortably. Next week I will go over to Rochester and see if I can hear of a good barge for sale."
 
On the following Monday morning the girls again went down to Rochester, this time taking Walter with[Pg 305] them; having the previous week sent off three or four great parcels by luggage train. Roberts went to look for a cart to bring them to the barge-builder's, and the girls went on alone.
 
"There she lies, miss," Mr. Gill said, pointing to a barge with new tanned sails lying out in the stream; "she is a boat any man might be proud of."
 
"She looks very nice indeed," Hilda said, "though, of course, I am no judge of such things."
 
"You may be sure that she is all right, Miss Covington."
 
"Is the paint dry, down below?"
 
"Yes. I saw that you were anxious about it, so put plenty of drier in. So that, though she was only painted on Saturday morning, she is perfectly dry now. But you are rather earlier than I had expected."
 
"Yes; we have sent a lot of things down by rail. Our man is getting a cart, and I dare say they will be here in a quarter of an hour."
 
The things were brought on a large hand-cart, and as soon as these were carried down to the boat they went off with Mr. Gill to the barge.
 
"There, miss," he said, as he led the way down into the cabin; "there is not a barge afloat with such a comfortable cabin as this. I put up two or three more cupboards, for as they will sleep in the next room there is plenty of space for them."
 
Except in point of height, the cabin was as comfortable a little room as could be desired. It was painted a light slate color, with the panels of the closets of a lighter shade of the same. The inner cabin was of the same color. A broad wooden bedstead extended across one end, and at the other were two long cupboards extending from the ceiling to the floor. The skylight afforded plenty of light to this room, while the large one in the main cabin gave standing height six feet square in the middle.
 
"It could not have been better," Hilda said, greatly pleased.[Pg 306]
 
"Well, miss, I took upon myself to do several things in the way of cupboards, and so on, that you had not ordered, but seeing that you wanted to have things comfortable I took upon myself to do them."
 
"You did quite right, Mr. Gill. This big skylight makes all the difference in height. I see that you have painted the name, and that you have got a flag flying from the masthead."
 
"Yes; bargemen generally like a bit of a flag, that is to say if they take any pride in their boat. You cannot trade in the barge until you have had it registered; shall I get that done for you?"
 
"Yes, I should be very much obliged if you would."
 
"And in whose name shall I register it? In yours?"
 
"No; in the name of William Nibson. If you want his address it is Creek Farm, Pitsea."
 
"Well, miss, he is a lucky fellow. I will get it done, and he can call here for the register the first time he comes up the Medway."
 
Roberts was sent ashore again for a number of hooks, screws, and a few tools.
 
"Now, Mr. Gill, we are quite ready to start. We shall get things straight on the voyage."
 
"You will have plenty of time, miss; she will anchor off Grain Spit till the tide begins to run up hard. You won't be able to get up the creek till an hour before high tide."
 
"That won't matter," Hilda said; "it will not be dark till nine."
 
"You can get up the anchor now," the builder said to two men who had been sitting smoking in the bow.
 
The barge's boat was lying bottom upwards on the hatches and another boat lay behind her.
 
"This boat does not belong to her, Mr. Gill; does she?" Hilda asked.
 
"No, miss; that is the men's boat. When they have got the barge to where she is to be moored, they will row down to Hole Haven, and get a tow up with the[Pg 307] first barge that comes down after the tide has turned. How will you be coming back, Miss Covington?"
 
"We have arranged for a gig to be at Hole Haven at eight o'clock to drive us to Brentwood, where we shall take train to town. We shall not be up before half-past eleven, but as we have our man with us that does not matter; besides, the carriage is to be at the station to meet the train."
 
The girls and Walter watched the operation of getting up the anchor and of setting the foresail and jib. They remained on deck while the barge beat down the long reach past the dockyards, and then with slackened sheets rounded the wooded curve down into Gillingham Reach, then, accompanied by Roberts, they went below. Here they were soon hard at work. The great packages were opened, and mattresses and bedclothes brought out.
 
"This reminds one of our work when you first came to us," Netta laughed, as they made the bed.
 
"Yes, it is like old times, certainly. We used to like to work then, because we were doing it together; we like it still more to-day, because not only are we together, but we are looking forward to the delight that we are going to give."
 
Carpets were laid down, curtains hung to the bed, and a wash-hand stand fixed in its place. A hamper of crockery was unpacked and the contents placed on the shelves that had been made for them, and cooking utensils arranged on the stove, which had been obtained for them by the builder. By this time Roberts had screwed up the hooks in the long cupboards, and in every spot round both cabins where they could be made available. Then numerous japanned tin boxes, filled with tea, sugar, and other groceries, were stowed away, and a large one with a label, "Tobacco," placed on a shelf for Bill Nibson's special delectation. Curtains that could be drawn were fixed to the skylights, looking-glasses fastened against the walls, and by the time that the barge neared Sheerness their labors were finished. Then the forward cabin was similarly made comfortable.[Pg 308] Walter had assisted to the best of his power in all the arrangements, and when he became tired was allowed to go up on deck, on his promise to remain quiet by the side of the helmsman.
 
"Now I think that everything is in its place," Hilda said at last, "and really they make two very pretty little rooms. I can't say that the one in the bow is pretty, but at any rate it is thoroughly comfortable, and I have no doubt that Joshua will be as pleased with it as the Nibsons are with theirs. Oh, dear, how dusty one gets! and we never thought of getting water on board for the jugs."
 
On going up on deck, however, they observed two barrels lashed together.
 
"Are those water?" Hilda asked the man at the tiller.
 
"Yes, ma'am."
 
"How do you get it out? I don't see a tap."
 
"You put that little pump lying by the side into the bunghole. I will do it for you, miss."
 
"Now we will go downst............