The Sandman His Sea Stories — William J. Hopkins

Grown-ups who rack their brains for bed-time stories will find these books a treasure. They didn't wait to be told what to do, for they knew well enough that Captain Jacob was afraid that the tide might rise so high that the floor of that room and of the office would be covered with water and all the pretty things would be wet and spoiled. Of course, water wouldn't spoil the china and such things, but it would spoil the shawls and the silks and the tea and the spices. So they worked hard until they had all the things up stairs. And, by that time, the water was beginning to come in at the door and to creep along over the floor; and Captain Jacob and the mate and all the men went outside, and stood where they were sheltered from the wind, and they watched the river, that stretched out very wide indeed, and they watched the things that were being driven up on its surface by the wind, and they watched the Industry.