"Please hurry, I fear the ship is about to leave," she said. Her voice was strong, and it carried to the ship and the lower deck, where two officers stood next to the gangway.

"Don't worry, madam," one of the officers shouted down at her. "We would never leave you standing on the dock." He elbowed the officer standing next to him, and they both laughed.

The woman smiled up at the officers and nodded. Then one of the officers ordered three deck hands to go down and help lug the woman's trunks up the gangway. She waited a moment or two, watching the sailors carry her belongings up the gangway. Then she turned and dropped some coins into the carriage driver's hand. By then, one of the deck officers had bounded down the gangway until he stood directl...

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