Poor Miss Seaward had stated a simple truth in regard to herself, but that truth was founded on want of food, not on want of appetite or capacity for more.

At first it had been arranged that an account-book should be kept, and that the captain should pay for one-third of the food that was consumed in the house, but he had consumed so much, and the sisters so ridiculously little, that he refused to fall in with such an arrangement and insisted on paying for all the food consumed, with the exception of the cup of coffee, cream, and sugar, with which he regaled himself every day after dinner. Of course they had had a battle over this matter also, but the captain had carried the day, as he usually did, for he had marvellous powers of suasion. He had indeed so argued, and talked, and bamboozled the meek sisters—sometimes seriously, oftener jocularly,— that they had almost been brought to the belief that somehow or other their lodger was only doing what was just! After all, they were not so far wrong, for all that they ate of the captain's provisions amounted to a mere drop in the bucket, while the intellectual food with which they plied their lodger in return, and the wealth of sympathy with which they surrounded him, was far beyond the power of gold to purchase.

"No," said Captain Bream, sipping his coffee and shaking his head, when Jessie again pressed on him the propriety of sitting in the parlour of an evening, "I can't do it. The fact is that I'm studying—though you may think I'm rather an oldish student—and I can't study except when I'm alone."

"What are you studying?" asked Kate, and then, observing that the captain looked slightly confused, and feeling that she ought not to have put the question, she quickly changed the subject by adding—"for whatever it is, you will be quite free from interruption here. My sister and I often sit for hours without talking, and—"

"No, no, dear Miss Kate. Say no more," interrupted the captain; "I must stick to my own cabin except at meal-times, and, of course, when we want a bit of a talk together. There is one thing, however, that I would like. I know you have family worship with your little lass. May I join you?"

"Oh! it would give us such pleasure," exclaimed Kate, eagerly, "if you would come and conduct worship for us."

The captain protested that he would not do that, but finally gave in, and afterwards acted the part of chaplain in the family.

"By the way," he said, when about to quit the parlour, "I've brought another chest to the house."

"Yes," said Kate, "we felt the shock when you put it down."

"Well, it is a bit heavy. I've fairly given up my connection with my last ship, and as the new commander took possession this morning I was obliged to bring away my last box. Now, I don't want Liffie to move it about when putting things to rights, or to meddle with it in any way. When we want to sweep behind or under it I'll shift it myself. But, after all, you're safe not to move it, for the three of you together couldn't if you were to try ever so much. So, good-day. I'll be back to tea."

"Kate," said Jessie, after he was gone, "I am quite sure that there is some mystery connected with that box."

"Of course you are," replied Kate, with a laugh, "you always see mystery in things that you don't understand! You saw mystery too, didn't you, in the late sitting up and studies of Captain Bream."

"Indeed I did, and I am quite sure that there is some mystery about that, too."

"Just so, and I have no doubt that you observe mystery of some sort," added Kate, with a humorous glance, "in the order for worsted work that we have just received."

"Undoubtedly I do," replied Jessie, with decision. "The whole affair is mysterious—ridiculously so. In truth it seems to me that we are surrounded by mystery."

"Well, well, sister mine," said the matter-of-fact Kate, going to a small cupboard and producing an ample work-box that served for both, "whatever mysteries may surround us, it is our business to fulfil our engagements, so we will at once begin our knitting of cuffs and comforters for the fishermen of the North Sea."



CHAPTER SIX.

THE CURSE OF THE NORTH SEA; AND THE TRAWLS AT WORK.

There are few objects in nature, we think, more soothing to the feelings and at the same time more heart-stirring to the soul than the wide ocean in a profound calm, when sky and temperature, health, hour, and other surrounding conditions combine to produce unison of the entire being.

Such were the conditions, one lovely morning about the end of summer, which gladdened the heart of little Billy Bright as he leaned over the side of the Evening Star, and made faces at his own reflected image in the sea, while he softly whistled a slow melody to which the gentle swell beat time.

The Evening Star was at that time the centre of a constellation—if we may so call it—of fishing-smacks, which floated in hundreds around her. It was the "Short Blue" fleet of deep-sea trawlers; so named because of the short square flag of blue, by which it was distinguished from other deep-sea fleets—such as the Grimsby fleet, the Columbia fleet, the Great Northern, Yarmouth, Red Cross, and other fleets—which do our fishing business from year's end to year's end on the North Sea.

But Billy was thoughtless and apt to enjoy what was agreeable, without reference to its being profitable. Some of the conditions which rejoiced his heart had the reverse effect on his father. That gruff-spirited fisherman did not want oily seas, or serene blue skies, or reflected clouds and sunshine—no, what he wanted was fish, and before the Evening Star could drag her ponderous "gear" along the bottom of the sea, so as to capture fish, it was necessary that a stiffish breeze should not only ruffle but rouse the billows of the North Sea—all the better if it should fringe their crests with foam.

"My usual luck," growled David Bright, as he came on deck after a hearty breakfast, and sat down on the bulwarks to fill his pipe and do what in him lay to spoil his digestion—though, to do David justice, his powers in that line were so strong that he appeared to be invulnerable to tobacco and spirits. We use the word "appeared" advisedly, for in reality the undermining process was going on surely, though in his case slowly.

His "hands," having enjoyed an equally good breakfast, were moving quietly about, paying similar attention to their digestions!

There was our tall friend Joe Davidson, the mate; and Ned Spivin, a man of enormous chest and shoulders, though short in the legs; and Luke Trevor, a handsome young fellow of middle size, but great strength and activity, and John Gunter, a big sour-faced man with a low brow, rough black hair, and a surly spirit. Billy was supposed to be minding the tiller, but, in the circumstances, the tiller was left to mind itself. Zulu was the only active member on board, to judge from the clatter of his pots and pans below.

"My usual luck," said the skipper a second time, in a deeper growl.

"Seems to me," said Gunter, in a growl that was even more deep and discontented than that of the skipper, "that luck is always down on us."

"'Tis the same luck that the rest o' the fleet has got, anyhow," observed Joe Davidson, who was the most cheerful spirit in the smack; but, indeed, all on board, with the exception of the skipper and Gunter, were men of a hearty, honest, cheerful nature, more or less careless about life and limb.

To the mate's remark the skipper said "humph," and Gunter said that he was the unluckiest fellow that ever went to sea.

"You're always growling, Jack," said Ned Spivin, who was fond of chaffing his mates; "they should have named you Grunter when they were at it."

"I only wish the Coper was alon'side," said the skipper, "but she's always out of the way when she's wanted. Who saw her last?"

"I did," said Luke Trevor, "just after we had crossed the Silver Pits; and I wish we might never see her again."

"Why so, mate?" asked Gunter.

"Because she's the greatest curse that floats on the North Sea," returned Luke in a tone of indignation.

"Ah!—you hate her because you've jined the teetotallers," returned Gunter with something of a sneer.

"No, mate, I don't hate her because I've jined the teetotallers, but I've jined the teetotallers because I hate her."

"Pretty much the same thing, ain't it?"

"No more the same thing," retorted Luke, "than it is the same thing to put the cart before the horse or the horse before the cart. It wasn't total-abstainin' that made me hate the Coper, but it was hatred of the Coper that made me take to total-abstainin'—don't you see?"

"Not he," said Billy Bright, who had joined the group; "Gunter never sees nothing unless you stick it on to the end of his nose, an' even then you've got to tear his eyes open an' force him to look."

Gunter seized a rope's-end and made a demonstration of an intention to apply it, but Billy was too active; he leaped aside with a laugh, and then, getting behind the mast, invited the man to come on "an' do his wust."

Gunter laid down the rope's-end with a grim smile and turned to Luke Trevor.

"But I'm sure you've got no occasion," he said, "to blackguard the Coper, for you haven't bin to visit her much."

"No, thank God, I have not," said Luke earnestly, "yet I've bin aboard often enough to wish I had never bin there at all. It's not that, mates, that makes me so hard on the Coper, but it was through the accursed drink got aboard o' that floatin' grog-shop that I lost my best friend."

"How was that, Luke? we never heerd on it."

The young fisherman paused a few moments as if unwilling to talk on a distasteful subject.

"Well, it ain't surprisin' you didn't hear of it," he said, "because I was in the Morgan fleet at the time, an' it's more than a year past. The way of it was this. We was all becalmed, on a mornin' much like this, not far off the Borkum Reef, when our skipper jumped into the boat, ordered my friend Sterlin' an' me into it, an' went off cruisin'. We visited one or two smacks, the skippers o' which were great chums of our skipper, an' he got drunk there. Soon after, a stiff breeze sprang up, an' the admiral signalled to bear away to the nor'-west'ard. We bundled into our boat an' made for our smack, but by ill luck we had to pass the Coper, an' nothin' would please the skipper but to go aboard and have a glass. Sterlin' tried to prevent him, but he grew savage an' told him to mind his own business. Well, he had more than one glass, and by that time it was blowin' so 'ard we began to think we'd have some trouble to get back again. At last he consented to leave, an' a difficult job it was to get him into the boat wi' the sea that was runnin'. When we got alongside of our smack, he laid hold of Sterlin's oar an' told him to throw the painter aboard. My friend jumped up an' threw the end o' the painter to one of the hands. He was just about to lay hold o' the side an' spring over when the skipper stumbled against him, caused him to miss his grip, an' sent him clean overboard. Poor Sterlin' had on his long boots an' a heavy jacket. He went down like a stone. We never saw him again."

"Did none o' you try to save him?" asked Joe quickly.

"We couldn't," replied Luke. "I made a dash at him, but he was out o' sight by that time. He went down so quick that I can't help thinkin' he must have struck his head on the side in goin' over."

Luke Trevor did not say, as he might have truly said, that he dived after his friend, being himself a good swimmer, and nearly lost his own life in the attempt to save that of Sterling.

"D'ye think the skipper did it a' purpose, mate?" asked David.

"Sartinly not," answered Luke. "The skipper had no ill-will at him, but he was so drunk he couldn't take care of himself, an' didn't know what he was about."

"That wasn't the fault o' the Coper," growled Gunter. "You say he got half-screwed afore he went there, an' he might have got dead-drunk without goin' aboard of her at all."

"So he might," retorted Luke; "nevertheless it was the Coper that finished him off at that time—as it has finished off many a man before, and will, no doubt, be the death o' many more in time to come."

The Copers, which Luke Trevor complained of so bitterly, are Dutch vessels which provide spirits and tobacco, the former of a cheap, bad, and peculiarly fiery nature. They follow the fleets everywhere, and are a continual source of mischief to the fishermen, many of whom, like men on shore, find it hard to resist a temptation which is continually presented to them.

"There goes the admiral," sang out little Billy, who, while listening to the conversation, had kept his sharp little eyes moving about.

The admiral of the fleet, among North Sea fishermen, is a very important personage. There is an "admiral" to each fleet, though we write just now about the admiral of the "Short Blue." He is chosen for steadiness and capacity, and has to direct the whole fleet as to the course it shall steer, the letting down of its "gear" or trawls, etcetera, and his orders are obeyed by all. One powerful reason for such obedience is that if they do not follow the admiral they will find themselves at last far away from the steamers which come out from the Thames daily to receive the fish; for it is a rule that those steamers make straight for the admiral's vessel. By day the admiral is distinguished by a flag half way up the maintop-mast stay. By night signals are made with rockets.

While the crew of the Evening Star were thus conversing, a slight breeze had sprung up, and Billy had observed that the admiral's smack was heading to windward in an easterly direction. As the breeze came down on the various vessels of the fleet, they all steered the same course, so that in a few minutes nearly two hundred smacks were following him like a shoal of herring. The glassy surface of the sea was effectually broken, and a field of rippling indigo took the place of the ethereal sheet of blue.

Thus the whole fleet passed steadily to windward, the object being to get to such a position on the "fishing-grounds" before night-fall, that they could put about and sail before the wind during the night, dragging their ponderous trawls over the banks where fish were known to lie.

Night is considered the best time to fish, though they also fish by day, the reason being, it is conjectured, that the fish do not see the net so well at night; it may be, also, that they are addicted to slumber at that period! Be the reason what it may, the fact is well-known. Accordingly, about ten o'clock the admiral hove-to for a few minutes. So did the fleet. On board the Evening Star they took soundings, and found twenty-five fathoms. Then the admiral called attention by showing a "flare."

"Look out now, Billy," said David Bright to his son, who was standing close by the capstan.

Billy needed no caution. His sharp eyes were already on the watch.

"A green rocket! There she goes, father."

The green rocket signified that the gear was to be put down on the starboard side, and the fleet to steer to the southward.

Bustling activity and tremendous vigour now characterised the crew of the Evening Star as they proceeded to obey the order. A clear starry sky and a bright moon enabled them to see clearly what they were about, and they were further enlightened by a lantern in the rigging.

The trawl which they had to put down was, as we have said, a huge and ponderous affair, and could only be moved by means of powerful blocks and tackle aided by the capstan. It consisted of a thick spar called the "beam", about forty-eight feet long, and nearly a foot thick, supported on a massive iron hoop, or runner, at each end. These irons were meant to drag over the bottom of the sea and keep the beam from touching it. Attached to this beam was the bag-net—a very powerful one, as may be supposed, with a small mesh. It was seventy feet long, and about sixteen feet of the outermost end was much stronger than the rest, and formed the bag, named the cod-end, in which the fish were ultimately collected. Besides being stronger, the cod-end was covered by flounces of old netting, to prevent the rough bottom from chafing it too much. The cost of such a net alone is about 7 pounds. To the beam, attached at the two ends, was a very powerful rope called the bridle. It was twenty fathoms long. To this was fastened the warp—a rope made of best manilla and hemp, always of great strength. The amount of this paid out depended much on the weather; if very rough it might be about 40 fathoms, if moderate about 100. Sometimes such net and gear is carried away, and this involves a loss of about 60 pounds sterling. We may dismiss these statistics by saying that a good night's fishing may be worth from 10 pounds to 27 pounds, and a good trip—of eight weeks— may produce from 200 to 280 pounds.

Soon the gear was down in the twenty-five fathom water, and the trawl-warp became as rigid almost as an iron bar, while the speed of the smack through the water was greatly reduced—perhaps to three miles an hour—by the heavy drag behind her, a drag that ever increased as fish of all sorts and sizes were scraped into the net. Why the fish are such idiots as to remain in the net when they could swim out of it at the rate of thirty miles an hour is best known to themselves.

Besides the luminaries which glittered in the sky that night the sea was alive with the mast-head lights of the fishing smacks, but these lower lights, unlike the serenely steady lights above, were ever changing in position, as well as dancing on the crested waves, giving life to the dark waters, and creating, at least in the little breast of Billy Bright, a feeling of companionship which was highly gratifying.

"Now, lad, go below and see if Zulu has got something for us to eat," said David to his son. "Here, Luke Trevor, mind the helm."

The young fisherman, who had been labouring with the others at the gear like a Hercules, stepped forward and took the tiller, while the skipper and his son descended to the cabin, where the rest of the men were already assembled in anticipation of supper. The cabin was remarkably snug, but it was also pre-eminently simple. So, also, was the meal. The arts of upholstery and cookery had not been brought to bear in either case. The apartment was about twelve feet long by ten broad, and barely high enough to let Joe Davidson stand upright. Two wooden lockers ran along either side of it. Behind these were the bunks of the men. At the inner end were some more lockers, and aft, there was an open stove, or fireplace, alongside of the companion-ladder. A clock and a barometer were the chief ornaments of the place. The atmosphere of it was not fresh by any means, and volumes of tobacco smoke rendered it hazy.

But what cared these heavy-booted, rough-handed, big-framed, iron-sinewed, strong-hearted men for fresh air? They got enough of that, during their long hours on deck, to counteract the stifling odours of the regions below!

"Now, then, boys, dar you is," said Zulu, placing a huge pot on the floor, containing some sort of nautical soup. "I's cook you soup an' tea, an' dar's sugar an' butter, an' lots o' fish and biskit, so you fire away till you bu'st yourselves."

The jovial Zulu bestowed on the company a broad and genial grin as he set the example by filling a bowl with the soup. The others did not require a second bidding. What they lacked in quality was more than made up in quantity, and rendered delicious by appetite.

Conversation flagged, of course, while these hardy sons of toil were busy with their teeth, balancing themselves and their cups and bowls carefully, while the little vessel rolled heavily over the heaving waves. By degrees the teeth became less active and the tongues began to wag.

"I wish that feller would knock off psalm-singin'," said Gunter with an oath, as he laid down his knife and wiped his mouth.

He referred to Luke Trevor, who possessed a sweet mellow voice, and was cheering himself, as he stood at the helm, by humming a hymn, or something like one, for the words were not distinguishable in the cabin.

"I think that Luke, if he was here, would wish some other feller to knock off cursin' an' swearin'," said Joe.

"Come, Joe," said the skipper, "don't you pretend to be one o' the religious sort, for you know you're not."

"That's true," returned Joe, "and I don't pretend to be; but surely a man may object to cursin' without bein' religious. I've heard men say that they don't mean nothin' by their swearin'. P'raps the psalm-singin' men might say the same; but for my part if they both mean nothin' by it, I'd rather be blessed than cursed by my mates any day."

"The admiral's signallin', sir," sung out Luke, putting his head down the companion at that moment.

The men went on deck instantly; nevertheless each found time to light the inevitable pipe before devoting himself entirely to duty.

The signal was to haul up the trawl, and accordingly all the fleet set to work at their capstans, the nets having by that time been down about three or four hours.

It was hard work and slow, that heaving at the capstans hour after hour, with the turbulent sea tossing about the little smacks, few of which were much above seventy tons burden. One or two in the fleet worked their capstans by steam-power—an immense relief to the men, besides a saving of time.

"It's hard on the wrists," said Gunter during a brief pause in the labour, as he turned up the cuffs of his oiled frock and displayed a pair of wrists that might well have caused him to growl. The constant chafing of the hard cuffs had produced painful sores and swellings, which were further irritated by salt water.

"My blessin's on de sweet ladies what takes so much trouble for us," said Zulu, pulling up his sleeves and regarding with much satisfaction a pair of worsted cuffs; "nebber had no sore wrists since I put on dese. W'y you no use him, Gunter?"

"'Cause I've lost 'em, you black baboon," was Gunter's polite reply.

"Nebber mind, you long-nosed white gorilla," was Zulu's civil rejoinder, "you kin git another pair when nixt we goes aboard de mission-ship. Till den you kin grin an enjoy you'self."

"Heave away, lads," said the skipper, and away went the capstan again as the men grasped the handles and bent their strong backs, sometimes heaving in a few turns of the great rope with a run, as the trawl probably passed over a smooth bit of sand; sometimes drawing it in with difficulty, inch by inch, as the net was drawn over some rough or rocky place, and occasionally coming for a time to a dead lock, when—as is not unfrequently the case—they caught hold of a bit of old wreck, or, worse still, were caught by the fluke of a lost anchor.

Thus painfully but steadily they toiled, until the bridle or rope next to the beam appeared above the waves, and then they knew that the end of all their labour was at hand.



CHAPTER SEVEN.

A HAUL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES—MYSTERIOUS NEWS FROM THE LAND.

"Now Billy, you shrimp," cried David Bright, seizing his son by the collar and giving him a friendly shake that would have been thought severe handling by any but a fisher-boy, "don't go excitin' of yourself. You'll never make a man worth speakin' of if you can't keep down your feelin's."

But Billy could not keep down his feelings. They were too strong for him. He was naturally of an excitable—what we may call a jovial— jumping—disposition, and, although he had now been some months at sea, he had not yet succeeded in crushing down that burst of delight with which he viewed the cod-end of the great deep-sea net as it was hoisted over the side by the power of block and tackle.

"You never trouble yourself about my feelin's, father, so long's I do my dooty," said the boy with native insolence, as he looked eagerly over the side at the mass of fish which gleamed faintly white as it neared the surface, while he helped with all his little might to draw in the net.

"But I want to teach you more than dooty, my boy," returned the skipper. "I've got to make a man of you. I promised that to your mother, you know. If you want to be a man, you must foller my example—be cool an' steady."

"If I'm to foller your example, father, why don't you let me foller it all round, an' smoke an' drink as well?"

"Shut up, you agrawatin' sinner," growled the skipper. "Heave away, lads. Here, hand me the rope, an' send aft the tackle."

By this time the heavy beam had been secured to the side of the vessel, most of the net hauled in, and the bag, or cod-end, was above the surface filled almost to bursting with upwards of a ton of turbots, soles, haddocks, plaice, dabs, whitings, etcetera, besides several hundredweight of mud, weeds, stones, and oysters. Sometimes, indeed, this bag does burst, and in one moment all the profit and toil of a night's fishing is lost.

When the skipper had secured a strong rope round the bag and hooked it on to a block and tackle made fast to the rigging, the order was given to heave away, and gradually the ponderous mass rose like an oval balloon, or buoy, over the vessel's side. When it cleared the rail it was swung inwards and secured in a hanging position, with the lower end sweeping the deck as the smack rolled from side to side. In all these operations, from the prolonged heaving at the capstan to the hauling in of the net, hand over hand, the men were exerting their great physical powers to the uttermost—almost without a moment's relaxation—besides being deluged at times by spray, which, however, their oiled frocks, long boots, and sou'-westers prevented from quite drenching them. But now all danger of loss was over, and they proceeded to liberate the fish.

The cod-end had its lower part secured by a strong rope. All that had to be done, therefore, was to untie the rope and open the bottom of the net.

It fell to Luke Trevor to do this. Billy was standing by in eager expectation. Ned Spivin stood behind him. Now, we have said that Spivin was fond of chaffing his mates and of practical jokes. So was Billy, and between these two, therefore, there was a species of rivalry.

When Spivin observed that Luke was about to pull out the last loop that held the bag, he shouted in a loud voice of alarm—

"Hallo! Billy, catch hold of this rope, quick!"

Billy turned like a flash of light and seized the rope held out to him. The momentary distraction was enough. Before he could understand the joke the bottom of the bag opened, the ton-and-a-half, more or less, of fish burst forth, spread itself over the deck like an avalanche, swept Billy off his little legs, and almost overwhelmed him, to the immense delight of Spivin, who impudently bent down and offered to help him to rise.

"Come here, Billy, and I'll help you up," he said, kindly, as the tail of a skate flipped across the boy's nose, and almost slid into his mouth.

Billy made no reply, but, clearing himself of fish, jumped up, seized a gaping cod by the gills, and sent it all alive and kicking straight into Spivin's face. The aim was true. The man was blinded for a few moments by the fish, and his mates were well-nigh choked with laughter.

"Come, come—no sky-larking!" growled the skipper. "Play when your work is done, boys."

Thus reproved, the crew began to clear away the mass of weeds and refuse, after which all hands prepared the trawl to be ready for going down again, and then they set to work to clean and sort the fish. This was comparatively easy work at that season of the year, but when winter gales and winter frosts sweep over the North Sea, only those who suffer it know what it is to stand on the slimy pitching deck with naked and benumbed hands, disembowelling fish and packing them in small oblong boxes called "trunks," for the London market. And little do Londoners think, perhaps, when eating their turbot, sole, plaice, cod, haddock, whiting, or other fish, by what severe night-work, amid bitter cold, and too often tremendous risks, the food has been provided for them.

It is not, however, our purpose to moralise just now, though we might do so with great propriety, but to tell our story, on which some of the seemingly trifling incidents of that night had a special bearing. One of those incidents was the cutting of a finger. Ned Spivin, whose tendency towards fun and frolic at all times rendered him rather slap-dash and careless, was engaged in the rather ignoble work of cutting off skates' tails—these appendages not being deemed marketable. This operation he performed with a hatchet, but some one borrowed the hatchet for a few minutes, and Spivin continued the operation with his knife. One of the tails being tough, and the knife blunt, the impatient man used violence. Impatience and violence not unfrequently result in damage. The tail gave way unexpectedly, and Spivin cut a deep gash in his left hand. Cuts, gashes, and bruises are the frequent experience of smacksmen. Spivin bound up the gash with a handkerchief, and went on with his work.

Before their work was quite done, however, a gale, which had been threatening from the nor'-west, set in with considerable force, and rapidly increased, so that the packing of the last few trunks, and stowing them into the hold, became a matter not only of difficulty but of danger.

By that time the sky had clouded over, and the lantern in the rigging alone gave light.

"It will blow harder," said Trevor to Billy as they stood under shelter of the weather bulwarks holding on to the shrouds. "Does it never come into your mind to think where we would all go to if the Evening Star went down?"

"No, Luke. I can't say as it does. Somehow I never think of father's smack goin' down."

"And yet," returned Luke in a meditative tone, "it may happen, you know, any night. It's not six months since the Raven went down, with all hands, though she was as tight a craft as any in the fleet, and her captain was a first-rate seaman, besides bein' steady."

"Ay, but then, you see," said Billy, "she was took by three heavy seas one arter the other, and no vessel, you know, could stand that."

"No, not even the Evening Star if she was took that fashion, an' we never know when it's goin' to happen. I suspect, Billy, that the psalm-singers, as Gunter calls 'em, has the best of it. They work as well as any men in the fleet—sometimes I think better—an' then they're always in such a jolly state o' mind! If good luck comes, they praise God for it, an' if bad luck comes they praise God that it's no worse. Whatever turns up they appear to be in a thankful state o' mind, and that seems to me a deal better than growlin', swearin', and grumblin', as so many of us do at what we can't change. What d'ee think, Billy?"

"Well, to tell 'ee the truth, Luke, I don't think about it at all— anyhow, I've never thought about it till to-night."

"But it's worth thinkin' about, Billy?"

"That's true," returned the boy, who was of a naturally straightforward disposition, and never feared to express his opinions freely.

Just then a sea rose on the weather quarter, threatening, apparently, to fall inboard. So many waves had done the same thing before, that no one seemed to regard it much; but the experienced eye of the skipper noticed a difference, and he had barely time to give a warning shout when the wave rushed over the side like a mighty river, and swept the deck from stem to stern. Many loose articles were swept away and lost, and the boat which lay on the deck alongside of the mast, had a narrow escape. Billy and his friend Luke, being well under the lee of the bulwarks, escaped the full force of the deluge, but Ned Spivin, who steered, was all but torn from his position, though he clung with all his strength to the tiller and the rope that held it fast. The skipper was under the partial shelter of the mizzenmast, and clung to the belaying-pins. John Gunter was the only one who came to grief. He was dashed with great violence to leeward, but held on to the shrouds for his life. The mate was below at the moment and so was Zulu, whose howl coming from the cabin, coupled with a hiss of water in the fire, told that he had suffered from the shock.

The immense body of water that filled the main-sail threw the vessel for a short time nearly on her beam-ends—a position that may be better understood when we say that it converts one of the sides of the vessel into the floor, the other side into the ceiling, and the floor and deck respectively into upright walls!

Fortunately the little smack got rid of the water in a few seconds, arose slowly, and appeared to shake herself like a duck rising out of the sea. Sail had already been reduced to the utmost; nevertheless, the wind was so strong that for three hours afterwards the crew never caught sight of the lee-bulwarks, so buried were they in foam as the Evening Star leaned over and rushed madly on her course.

Towards morning the wind moderated a little, and then the crew gazed anxiously around on the heaving grey waves, for well did they know that such a squall could not pass over the North Sea without claiming its victims.

"It blowed that 'ard at one time," said Ned Spivin to Joe Davidson, "that I expected to see the main-mast tore out of 'er."

"I'm afeard for the Rainbow," said Joe. "She's nothin' better than a old bunch o' boards."

"Sometimes them old things hold out longer than we expect," returned Ned.

He was right. When the losses of that night came to be reckoned up, several good vessels were discovered to be missing, but the rotten old Rainbow still remained undestroyed though not unscathed, and a sad sight met the eyes of the men of the fleet when daylight revealed the fact that some of the smacks had their flags flying half-mast, indicating that many men had been washed overboard and lost during the night.

As the day advanced, the weather improved, and the fishermen began to look anxiously out for the steamer which was to convey their fish to market, but none was to be seen. Although a number of steamers run between Billingsgate and the Short Blue fleet, it sometimes happens that they do not manage to find the fleet at once, and occasionally a day or more is lost in searching for it—to the damage of the fish if the weather be warm. It seemed as if a delay of this kind, had happened on the occasion of which we write; the admiral therefore signalled to let down the nets for a day haul.

While this was being done, a vessel was seen to join the fleet from the westward.

"That's Singin' Peter," said David Bright to his mate. "I'd know his rig at any distance."

"So it is. P'raps he's got letters for us."

Singing Peter was one of the many fishermen who had been brought to a knowledge of Jesus Christ and saved from his sins. Wild and careless before conversion, he afterwards became an enthusiastic follower of the Lamb of God, and was so fond of singing hymns in His praise that he became known in the fleet by the sobriquet of Singing Peter. His beaming face and wholly changed life bore testimony to what the Holy Spirit had wrought in him.

Peter had been home to Gorleston on his week of holiday, and had now returned to the fleet for his eight weeks' fishing-cruise, carrying a flag to show that he had just arrived, bringing letters and clothes, etcetera, for some of the crews.

"I used to think Peter warn't a bad feller," said David Bright, as the new arrival drew near; "he was always good company, an' ready for his glass, but now he's taken to singin' psalms, I can make nothin' of 'im."

"There's them in the fleet that like him better since he took to that," said Luke Trevor.

"It may be so, lad, but that's not accordin' to my taste," retorted the skipper.

David was, however, by no means a surly fellow. When Peter's vessel came within hail, he held up his hand and shouted—

"What cheer! what cheer, Peter!" as heartily as possible.

Singing Peter held up his hand in reply, and waved it as he shouted back—

"What cheer! All well, praise the Lord!"

"D'ye hear that Billy?" said Luke, in a low voice. "He never forgets to praise the Lord."

When the vessels drew nearer, Peter again waved his hand, and shouted—

"I've got letters for 'ee."

"All right my hearty! I'll send for 'em."

In less than five minutes the boat of the Evening Star was launched over the side, stern-foremost, and she had scarce got fairly afloat on the dancing waves when Joe and Luke "swarmed" into her, had the oars out and were sweeping off so as to intercept Peter's vessel They soon reached her, received a packet wrapped up in a bit of newspaper, and quickly returned.

The packet contained two letters—one for the skipper, the other for the mate—from their respective wives.

"Joe," said the skipper, when he had perused his letter, "come down below. I want to speak to 'ee."

"That's just what I was goin' to say to yourself, for the letter from my missis says somethin' that consarns you."

When master and mate were alone together in the cabin, each read to the other his letter.

"My missis," said the skipper, unfolding his letter and regarding it with a puzzled expression, "although she's had a pretty good edication, has paid little attention to her pot-hooks—but this is how it runs— pretty near. 'Dear old man,' (she's always been an affectionate woman, Joe, though I do treat her badly when I'm in liquor), 'I hope you are having a good time of it and that darling Billy likes the sea, and is a good boy. My reason for writing just now is to tell you about that dear sweet creature, Miss Ruth Dotropy. She has been down at Yarmouth again on a visit, and of course she has been over to see me and Mrs Davidson, in such a lovely blue—' (ah! well, Joe, there's no need to read you that bit; it's all about dress—as if dress could make Miss Ruth better or worse! But women's minds will run on ribbons an' suchlike. Well, after yawin' about for a bit, she comes back to the pint, an' steers a straight course again. She goes on, after a blot or two that I can't make nothin' of), 'You'll be surprised to hear, David, that she's been making some particular inquiries about you and me; which I don't understand at all, and looking as if she knew a deal more than she cared to tell. She's been asking Mrs Davidson too about it, and what puzzles me most is—' There's another aggrawatin' blot here, Joe, so that I can't make out what puzzles her. Look here. Can you spell it out?"

Joe tried, but shook his head.

"It's a puzzler to her," he said, "an' she's took good care to make it a puzzler to everybody else, but go on."

"There's nothin' else to go on wi', Joe, for after steerin' past the blot, she runs foul o' Miss Ruth's dress again, and the only thing worth mentionin' is a post-script, where she says, 'I think there's something wrong, dear David, and I wish you was here.' That's all."

"Now, that is strange, for my missis writes about the wery same thing," said Joe, "only she seems to have gone in for a little more confusion an' blots than your missis, an' that blessed little babby of ours is always gittin' in the way, so she can't help runnin' foul of it, but that same puzzler crops up every now an' then. See, here's what she writes:—

"'Darlin' Joe,' (a touch more affectionate than yours—eh! skipper?) 'if our dear darlin' babby will let me, I'm a-goin' to write you a letter— there, I know'd she wouldn't. She's bin and capsized the wash-tub, though, as you know, she can't walk yet, but she rolls about most awful, Joe, just what you say the Evening Star does in a gale on the North Sea. An' she's got most dreadful heels—oh! you've no idear! Whativer they comes down upon goes—' There's a big blot here," said Joe, with a puzzled look, "'goes—whativer they comes down upon goes—' No, I can't make it out."

"'Goes to sticks an' stivers,' p'raps," said the skipper.

"No, my Maggie never uses words like that," said Joe with decision.

"'Goes all to smash,' then," suggested the skipper.

"No, nor it ain't that; my Maggie's too soft-tongued for that."

"Well, you know, things must go somewhere, or somehow, Joe, when such a pair o' heels comes down on 'em—but steer clear o' the blot and the babby, an' see what comes next."

"'Well,'" continued Joe, reading on, "'I was goin' to tell you, when babby made that last smash, ("I told you it was a smash," said David, softly), that dear Miss Ruth has bin worritin' herself—if babby would only keep quiet for two minutes—worritin' herself about Mrs Bright in a way that none of us can understand. She's anxious to make inquiries about her and her affairs in a secret sort o' way, but the dear young lady is so honest—there's babby again! Now, I've got her all right. It was the milk-can this time, but there warn't much in it, an' the cat's got the benefit. Well, darlin' Joe, where was I—oh, the dear young lady's so honest an' straitfor'ard, that even a child could see through her, though none of us can make out what she's drivin' at. Yesterday she went to see Mrs Bright, an' took a liar with her—'"

"Hallo! Joe, surely she'd niver do that," said the skipper in a remonstrative tone.

"She means a lawyer," returned Joe, apologetically, "but Maggie niver could spell that word, though I've often tried to teach 'er—'Maggie,' says I, 'you mustn't write liar, but law-yer.'

"'La! yer jokin',' says she.

"'No,' says I, 'I'm not, that's the way to spell it,' an' as Maggie's a biddable lass, she got to do it all right, but her memory ain't over strong, so, you see, she's got back to the old story. Howsever, she don't really mean it, you know."

"Just so," returned the skipper, "heave ahead wi' the letter, Joe."

Knitting his brows, and applying himself to the much-soiled and crumpled sheet, the mate continued to read:—

"'An' the liar he puzzled her with all sorts o' questions, just as if he was a schoolmaster and she a school-girl. He bothered her to that extent she began to lose temper, ("he better take care," muttered the skipper, chuckling), but Miss Ruth she sees that, an' putt a stop to it in her own sweet way, ("lucky for the liar," muttered the skipper), an' so they went away without explainin'. We've all had a great talk over it, an' we're most of us inclined to think—oh! that babby, she's bin an rammed her darlin' futt into the tar-bucket! but it ain't much the worse, though it's cost about half-a-pound o' butter to take it off, an' that ain't a joke wi' butter at 1 shilling, 4 pence a pound, an' times so bad—well, as I was goin' to say, if that blessed babby would only let me, we're all inclined to think it must have somethin' to do wi' that man as David owes money to, who said last year that he'd sell his smack an' turn him an' his family out o' house an' home if he didn't pay up, though what Miss Ruth has to do wi' that, or how she come for to know it we can't make out at all.'"

"The blackguard!" growled the skipper, fiercely, referring to 'that man,' "if I only had his long nose within three futt o' my fist, I'd let him feel what my knuckles is made of!"

"Steamer in sight, father," sang out Billy at that moment down the companion-hatch.

The conference being thus abruptly terminated, the skipper and mate of the Evening Star went on deck to give orders for the immediate hauling up of the trawl and to "have a squint" at the steamer, which was seen at that moment like a little cloud on the horizon.



CHAPTER EIGHT.

DANGERS, DIFFICULTIES, AND EXCITEMENTS OF THE TRAFFIC; LOADING THE STEAMER.

Bustling activity of the most vigorous kind was now the order of the day in the Short Blue fleet, for the arrival of the carrying-steamer, and the fact that she was making towards the admiral, indicated that she meant to return to London in a few hours, and necessitated the hauling of the trawls, cleaning the fish, and packing them; getting up the "trunks" that had been packed during the night, launching the boats, and trans-shipping them in spite of the yet heavy sea.

As every one may understand, such perishable food as fish must be conveyed to market with the utmost possible despatch. This is accomplished by the constant running of fast steamers between the fleets and the Thames. The fish when put on board are further preserved by means of ice, and no delay is permitted in trans-shipment. As we have said, the steamers are bound to make straight for the admiral's smack. Knowing this, the other vessels keep as near to the admiral as they conveniently can, so that when the steamer is preparing to return, they may be ready to rush at her like a fleet of nautical locusts, and put their fish on board.

Hot haste and cool precision mark the action of the fishermen in all that is done, for they know well that only a limited time will be allowed them, and if any careless or wilful stragglers from the fleet come up when the time is nearly past, they stand a chance of seeing the carrier steam off without their fish, which are thus left to be shipped the following day, and to be sold at last as an inferior article, or, perhaps, condemned and thrown away as unfit for human food.

The Evening Star chanced to be not far from the admiral when the steamer appeared. It was one of the fleet of steam-carriers owned by the well-known fish firm of Messrs. Hewett and Company of London. When it passed David Bright's smack the crew had got in the trawl and were cleaning and packing the catch—which was a good one—as if their very lives depended on their speed. They immediately followed in the wake of the carrier toward the admiral.

As all the smacks were heading towards the same centre, they came in on every tack, and from all points of the compass.

"Look sharp, boys," said David Bright, who was steering, "we must git every fish aboard. It's now eight o'clock, an' she won't wait beyond eleven or twelve, you may be sure."

There was no need for the caution. Every man and boy was already doing his utmost.

It fell to Billy's lot to help in packing the trunks, and deftly he did it,—keeping soles, turbot, and halibut separate, to form boxes, or "trunks of prime," and packing other fish as much as possible according to their kind, until he came to roker, dabs, gurnets, etcetera, which he packed together under the name of "offal." This does not mean refuse, but only inferior fish, which are bought by hawkers, and sold to the poor. The trunks were partly open on top, but secured by cords which kept the fish from slipping out, and each trunk was labelled with the name of the smack, to which it belonged, and the party to whom it was consigned.

As the fleet converged to the centre, the vessels began to crowd together and friends to recognise and hail each other, so that the scene became very animated, while the risk of collision was considerable. Indeed, it was only by consummate skill, judgment and coolness that, in many cases, collisions were avoided.

"There's the Sparrow," said Billy to Trevor, eagerly, as he pointed to a smack, whose master, Jim Frost, he knew and was fond of. It bore down in such a direction as to pass close under the stern of the Evening Star.

"What cheer! what cheer!" cried Billy, holding one of his little hands high above his head.

"What cheer!" came back in strong, hearty tones from the Sparrow's deck.

"What luck, Jim?" asked David Bright, as the vessel flew past.

"We fouled an old wreck this mornin', an' tore the net all to pieces, but we got a good haul last night—praise the Lord."

"Which piece o' luck d'ye praise the Lord for?" demanded David, in a scoffing tone.

"For both," shouted Frost, promptly. "It might have bin worse. We might have lost the gear, you know—or one o' the hands."

When this reply was finished, the vessels were too far apart for further intercourse.

"Humph!" ejaculated Gunter, "one o' the psalm-singin' lot, I suppose."

"If it's the psalm-singin'," said Spivin, "as makes Jim Frost bear his troubles wi' good temper, an' thank God for foul weather an' fair, the sooner you take to it the better for yourself."

"Ay, an' for his mates," added Zulu, with a broad grin.

"Shove out the boat now, lads," said the skipper.

At this order the capacious and rather clumsy boat, which had hitherto lain on the deck of the Evening Star like a ponderous fixture, was seized by the crew. A vigorous pull at a block and tackle sent it up on the side of the smack. A still more vigorous shove by the men—some with backs applied, some with arms, and all with a will—sent it stern-foremost into the sea. It took in a few gallons of water by the plunge, but was none the worse for that.

At the same moment Zulu literally tumbled into it. No stepping or jumping into it was possible with the sea that was running. Indeed the fishermen of the North Sea are acrobats by necessity, and their tumbling is quite as wonderful, though not quite so neat, as that of professionals. Perchance if the arena in which the latter perform were to pitch about as heavily as the Evening Star did on that occasion, they might be beaten at their own work by the fishermen!

Zulu was followed by Ned Spivin, while Gunter, taking a quick turn of the long and strong painter round a belaying-pin, held on.

The Evening Star was now lying-to, not far from the steam-carrier. Her boat danced on the waves like a cork, pitching heavily from side to side, with now the stern and now the bow pointing to the sky; at one moment leaping with its gunwale above the level of the smack's bulwarks; at the next moment eight or ten feet down in the trough of the waves; never at rest for an instant, always tugging madly at its tether, and often surging against the vessel's side, from actual contact with which it was protected by strong rope fenders. But indeed the boat's great strength of build seemed its best guarantee against damage.

To one unaccustomed to such work it might have seemed utterly impossible to put anything whatever on board of such a pitching boat. Tying a mule-pack on the back of a bouncing wild horse may suggest an equivalent difficulty to a landsman. Nevertheless the crew of the Evening Star did it with as much quiet determination and almost as much speed as if there was no sea on at all. Billy and Trevor slid the trunks to the vessel's side; the mate and Gunter lifted them, rested them a moment on the edge; Zulu and Spivin stood in the surging boat with outstretched arms and glaring eyes. A mighty swing of the boat suggested that the little craft meant to run the big one down. They closed, two trunks were grappled, let go, deposited, and before the next wave swung them alongside again, Spivin and Zulu were glaring up—ready for more—while Joe and Gunter were gazing down—ready to deliver.

When the boat was loaded the painter was cast off and she dropped astern. The oars were shipped, and they made for the steamer. From the low deck of the smack they could be seen, now pictured against the sky on a wave's crest, and then lost to view altogether for a few seconds in the watery valley beyond.

By that time quite a crowd of little boats had reached the steamer, and were holding on to her, while their respective smacks lay-to close by, or sailed slowly round the carrier, so that recognitions, salutations, and friendly chaff were going on all round—the confusion of masts, and sails, and voices ever increasing as the outlying portions of the fleet came scudding in to the rendezvous.

"There goes the Boy Jim," said Luke Trevor, pointing towards a smart craft that was going swiftly past them.

"Who's the Boy Jim?" growled Gunter, whose temper, at no time a good one, had been much damaged by the blows he had received in the fall of the previous night.

"He's nobody—it's the name o' that smack," answered Luke.

"An' her master, John Johnston, is one o' my best friends," said Billy, raising his fist on high in salutation. "What cheer, John! what cheer, my hearty!"

The master of the Boy Jim was seen to raise his hand in reply to the salutation, and his voice came strong and cheerily over the sea, but he was too far off to be heard distinctly, so Billy raised his hand again by way of saying, "All right, my boy!"

At the same time a hail was heard at the other side of the vessel. The crew turned round and crossed the deck.

"It's our namesake—or nearly so—the Morning Star," said Trevor to Gunter, for the latter being a new hand knew little of the names of either smacks or masters.

"Is her skipper a friend o' yours too?" asked Gunter of Billy.

"Yes, Bowers is a friend o' mine—an' a first-rate fellow too; which is more than you will ever be," retorted Billy, again stretching up the ready arm and hand. "What cheer, Joseph, what cheer!"

"What cheer! Billy—why, I didn't know you, you've grow'd so much," shouted the master of the Morning Star, whose middle-sized, but broad and powerful frame was surmounted by a massive countenance, with good humour in the twinkling eyes, and kindly chaff often in the goodly-sized mouth.

"Yes, I've grow'd," retorted Billy, "an' I mean to go on growin' till I'm big enough to wallop you."

"Your cheek has been growin' too, Billy."

"So it has, but nothin' like to your jaw, Joseph."

"What luck?" shouted David as the Morning Star was passing on.

"Fifteen trunks. What have you got?"

The skipper held up his hand to acknowledge the information, and shouted "nineteen," in reply.

"You seem to have a lot o' friends among the skippers, Billy," said Gunter, with a sneer, for he was fond of teasing the boy, who, to do him justice, could take chaff well, except when thrown at him by ill-natured fellows.

"Yes, I have a good lot," retorted Billy. "I met 'em all first in Yarmouth, when ashore for their week's holiday. There's Joseph White, master of the mission smack Cholmondeley, a splendid feller he is; an' Bogers of the Cephas, an' Snell of the Ruth, an' Kiddell of the Celerity, an' Moore of the M.A.A., an' Roberts of the Magnet, an' Goodchild and Brown, an' a lot more, all first-rate fellers, whose little fingers are worth the whole o' your big body."

"Well, well, what a lucky fellow you are!" said Gunter, with affected surprise; "an' have you no bad fellers at all among your acquaintance?"

"Oh yes," returned the boy quickly, "I knows a good lot o' them too. There's Dick the Swab, of the White Cloud, who drinks like a fish, an' Pimply Brock, who could swear you out o' your oiled frock in five minutes, an' a lot of others more or less wicked, but not one of 'em so bad as a big ugly feller I knows named John Gunter, who—"

Billy was interrupted by Gunter making a rush at him, but the boy was too nimble for the man, besides which, Gunter's bruises, to which we have before referred, were too painful to be trifled with. Soon afterwards the boat returned for another cargo of trunks, and the crew of the Evening Star went to work again.

Meanwhile the "power of littles" began to tell on the capacious hold of the steamer. Let us go on board of her for a few minutes and mount the bridge. The fleet had now closed in and swarmed around her so thickly, that it seemed a miracle that the vessels did not come into collision. From the smacks, boat after boat had run alongside and made fast, until an absolute flotilla was formed on either side. As each boat came up it thrust itself into the mass, the man who had pulled the bow-oar taking the end of the long painter in his hand ready for a leap. Some boats' crews, having trans-shipped their trunks, were backing out; others were in the midst of that arduous and even dangerous operation; while still more came pouring in, seeking a place of entrance through the heaving mass.

The boat of the Evening Star was ere long among the latter with her second load—Zulu grinning in the bow and Spivin in the stern. Zulu was of that cheery temperament that cannot help grinning. If he had been suddenly called on to face Death himself, we believe he would have met him with a grin. And, truly, we may say without jesting, that Zulu had often so faced the King of Terrors, for it is a sad fact that many a bold and brave young fellow meets his death in this operation of trans-shipping the fish—a fall overboard is so very easy, and, hampered as these men are with huge sea-boots and heavy garments, it too often happens that when they chance to fall into the sea they go down like a stone.

They never seem to think of that, however. Certainly Zulu did not as he crouched there with glittering eyes and glistening teeth, like a dark tiger ready for a spring.

There was strict discipline, but not much interference with the work, on board the steamer. No boat was permitted to put its trunks aboard abaft a certain part of the vessel, but in front of that the fishermen were left to do the work as best they could. They were not, however, assisted—not even to the extent of fastening their painters—the crew of the steamer being employed below in stowing and iceing the fish.

When the Evening Star's boat, therefore, had forced itself alongside, Zulu found himself heaving against the steamer's side, now looking up at an iron wall about fifteen feet high, anon pitching high on the billows till he could see right down on the deck. He watched his opportunity, threw himself over the iron wall, with the painter in one hand, (while Spivin and the boat seemed to sink in the depths below), rolled over on the deck, scrambled to his feet, made the painter fast to the foremast shrouds, and ran to look over the side.

Spivin was there ready for him, looking up, with a trunk on the boat's gunwale. Next moment he was looking down, for a wave had lifted the boat's gunwale absolutely above the vessel's bulwark for an instant. No words were needed. Each knew what to do. Zulu made a powerful grab, Spivin let go, the trunk was on the steamer's rail, whence it was hurled to the deck, narrowly missing the legs and toes of half-a-dozen reckless men who seized it and sent it below. Almost before Zulu could turn round Spivin was up again with another trunk, another wild grab was made, but not successfully, and Spivin sank to rise again. A second effort proved successful—and thus they went on, now and then missing the mark, but more frequently hitting it, until the boat was empty.

You have only to multiply this little scene by forty or fifty, and you have an idea of the loading of that steamer on the high seas. Of course you must diversify the picture a little, for in one place you have a man hanging over the side with a trunk in mid-air, barely caught when in its descent, and almost too heavy for him by reason of his position. In another place you have a man glaring up at a trunk, in another glaring down;—in all cases action the most violent and most diversified, coupled with cool contempt of crushed fingers and bruised shins and toes.

At last the furore began to subside. By degrees the latest boats arrived, and in about three hours from the time of commencing, the crew of the steamer began to batten down the hatches. Just then, like the "late passenger," the late trawler came up. The captain of the steamer had seen it long before on the horizon doing its best to save the market, and good-naturedly delayed a little to take its fish on board, but another smack that came up a quarter of an hour or so after that, found the hatches closed, and heard the crushing reply to his hail—"Too late!"

Then the carrying-steamer turned her sharp bow to the sou'-west, put on full steam, and made for the Thames—distant nearly 300 miles—with over 2000 trunks of fresh fish on board, for the breakfast, luncheon and dinner tables of the Great City. Thus, if the steamer were to leave early on a Monday, it would arrive on Tuesday night and the fish be sold in the market on Wednesday morning about five o'clock.

With little variation this scene is enacted every day, all the year round, on the North Sea. It may not be uninteresting to add, that on the arrival of the steamer at Billingsgate, the whole of her cargo would probably be landed and sold in less than one hour and a half.



CHAPTER NINE.

ANOTHER DRAG-NET HAULED—THE MISSION SMACK.

When the steamer left the fleet the wind was beginning to moderate, and all eyes were turned as usual towards the admiral's smack to observe his movements.

The fishing vessels were still crowded together, running to and fro, out and in, without definite purpose, plunging over the heaving swells—some of them visible on the crests, others half hidden in the hollows—and behaving generally like living creatures that were impatiently awaiting the signal to begin a race.

While in this position two smacks came so near to the Evening Star, on opposite sides, that they seemed bent on running her down. David Bright did not concern himself, however. He knew they were well able to take care of themselves. They both sheered off to avoid him, but after doing so, ran rather near to each other.

"One o' them b'longs to the Swab," said Billy.

"Ay," said Joe, "if he hadn't swabbed up too much liquor this morning, he wouldn't steer like that. Why, he will foul her!"

As he spoke the Swab's bowsprit passed just inside one of the ropes of the other vessel, and was snapped off as if it had been a pipe-stem.

"Sarves him right," growled Gunter.

"It's a pity all the same," said Trevor. "If we all got what we deserve, we'd be in a worse case than we are to-day mayhap."

"Come, now, Gunter," said Joe, "don't look so cross. We'll have a chance this arternoon, I see, to bear away for the mission-ship, an' git somethin' for your shins, and a bandage for Spivin's cut, as well as some cuffs for them that wants 'em."

Captain Bright did not like visiting the mission-ship, having no sympathy with her work, but as she happened to be not far distant at the time, and he was in want of surgical assistance, he had no reasonable ground for objecting.

By this time the admiral had signalled to steer to the nor'-east, and the fleet was soon racing to windward, all on the same tack. Gradually the Evening Star overhauled the mission-ship, but before she had quite overtaken her, the wind, which had been failing, fell to a dead calm. The distance between the two vessels, however, not being great, the boat was launched, and the skipper, Luke Trevor, Gunter and Billy went off in her.

The mission vessel, to which reference has more than once been made, is a fishing-smack in the service of the Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen, and serves the purpose of a floating church, a dispensary, a temperance halt and a library to a portion of the North Sea fleet. It fills a peculiar as well as a very important position, which requires explanation.

Only a few years ago a visitor to the North Sea fleet observed, with much concern, that hundreds of the men and boys who manned it were living godless as well as toilsome lives, with no one—at least in winter—to care for their souls. At the same time he noted that the Dutch copers, or floating grog-shops, were regularly appointed to supply the fleets with cheap and bad spirits, and stuck to them through fair-weather and foul, in summer and winter, enduring hardship and encountering danger and great risk in pursuit of their evil calling. Up to that time a few lay missionaries and Bible-readers had occasionally gone to visit the fleets in the summer-time, [see Appendix], but the visitor of whom we write felt that there was a screw loose here, and reasoned with himself somewhat thus:—

"Shall the devil have his mission-ships, whose crews are not afraid to face the winter gales, and shall the servants of the Lord be mere fair-weather Christians, carrying their blessed and all-important message of love and peace to these hard-working and almost forsaken men only during a summer-trip to the North Sea? If fish must be caught, and the lives of fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons be not only risked but lost for the purpose, has not the Master got men who are ready to say, 'The glorious Gospel must be carried to these men, and we will hoist our flag on the North Sea summer and winter, so as to be a constant witness there for our God and His Christ?'"

For thirty years before, it has been said, a very few earnest Christians among the fishermen of the fleet had been praying that some such thoughts might be put into the hearts of men who had the power to render help.

We venture to observe in passing that, perchance, those praying fishermen were not so "few" as appearances might lead us to suppose, for God has His "hidden ones" everywhere, and some of these may have been at the throne of grace long prior to the "thirty years" here mentioned.

Let not the reader object to turn aside a few minutes to consider how greatly help was needed—forty-six weeks or so on the sea in all weathers all the year round, broken by a week at a time—or about six or seven weeks altogether—on shore with wife and family; the rest, hard unvarying toil and exposure, with nothing to do during the brief intervals of leisure—nothing to read, nothing new to think of, no church to raise the mind to the Creator, and distinguish the Sabbath from the week-day, and no social intercourse of a natural kind, (for a society of men only is not natural), to elevate them above the lower animals, and with only drinking and gambling left to degrade them below these creatures; and this for forty or fifty years of their lives, with, in too many cases, neither hope nor thought beyond!

At last the fishermen's prayers were answered, the thoughts of the visitor bore fruit, and, convinced that he was being led by God, he began to move in the matter with prayer and energy. The result was that in the year 1881 he received the unsolicited offer of a smack which should be at his entire disposal for mission purposes, but should endeavour to sustain herself, if possible, by fishing like the rest of the fleet. The vessel was accepted. A Christian skipper and fisherman, named Budd, and a like-minded crew, were put into her; she was fitted out with an extra cabin, with cupboards for a library and other conveniences. The hold was arranged with a view to being converted into a chapel on Sundays, and it was decided that, in order to keep it clear on such days, the trawl should not be let down on Saturday nights; a large medicine-chest—which was afterwards reported to be "one of the greatest blessings in the fleet,"—was put on board; the captain made a colporteur of the Bible Society, agent for the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society and of the Church of England Temperance Society. The Religious Tract Society, and various publishers, made a grant of books to form the nucleus of a free lending library; the National Lifeboat Institution presented an aneroid barometer, and Messrs. Hewett and Company made a present of the insurance premium of 50 pounds. Thus furnished and armed, as aforesaid, as a Mission Church, Temperance Hall, Circulating Library, and Dispensary, the little craft one day sailed in amongst the smacks of the "Short Blue" fleet, amid the boisterous greetings of the crews, and took up her position under the name of the Ensign, with a great twenty-feet Mission-flag flying at the main-mast-head.

This, then was the style of vessel towards which the boat of the Evening Star was now being pulled over a superficially smooth but still heaving sea. The boat was not alone. Other smacks, the masters of which as well as some of the men were professed Christians, had availed themselves of the opportunity to visit the mission smack, while not a few had come, like the master of the Evening Star, to procure medicine and books, so that when David Bright drew near he observed the deck to be pretty well crowded, while a long tail of boats floated astern, and more were seen coming over the waves to the rendezvous.

It was no solemn meeting that. Shore-going folk, who are too apt to connect religious gatherings with Sunday clothes, subdued voices, and long faces, would have had their ideas changed if they had seen it. Men of the roughest cast, mentally and physically, were there, in heavy boots and dirty garments, laughing and chatting, and greeting one another; some of the younger among them sky-larking in a mild way—that is, giving an occasional poke in the ribs that would have been an average blow to a "land-lubber," or a tip to a hat which sent it on the deck, or a slap on the back like a pistol-shot. There seemed to be "no humbug," as the saying goes, among these men; no pretence, and all was kindly good-fellowship, for those who were on the Lord's side showed it—if need were, said it—while those who were not, felt perhaps, that they were in a minority and kept quiet.

"Come along, Joe, what cheer!"

"Here you are, Bill—how goes it, my hearty!"

"All well, praise the Lord."

"Ay, hasn't He sent us fine weather at the right time? just to let us have a comfortable meetin'!"

"That's so, Dick, the Master does all things well."

"What cheer! Johnson, I'm glad to see you here. The boy has got some cocoa for'ard—have some?"

"Thank 'ee, I will."

Such were some of the expressions heartily uttered, which flew about as friend met friend on the mission deck.

"I say, Harry," cried one, "was it you that lost your bowsprit this mornin'?"

"No, it was the Swab," said Harry, "but we lost our net and all the gear last night."

"That was unfort'nit," remarked a friend in a tone of sympathy, which attracted the attention of some of those who stood near.

"Ah! lads," said the master of the mission-ship, "that was a small matter compared with the loss suffered by poor Daniel Rodger. Did you hear of it?"

"Yes, yes," said some. "No," said another. "I thought I saw his flag half-mast this mornin', but was too fur off to make sure."

Most of the men crowded round the master of the smack, while, in deep sad tones, he told how the son of Daniel Rodger had, during the night, been swept overboard by a heavy sea and drowned before the boat could be launched to rescue him. "But," continued the speaker in a cheerful voice, "the dear boy was a follower of Jesus, and he is now with Him."

When this was said, "Praise the Lord!" and "Thank God!" broke from several of the men in tones of unmistakable sincerity.

It was at this point that the boat of the Evening Star ranged alongside. The master of the mission smack went to the side and held out his hand, which David Bright grasped with his right, grappling the smack's rail at the same time with his left, and vaulted inboard with a hearty salutation. As heartily was it returned, especially by the unbelievers on board, who, perchance, regarded him as a welcome accession to their numbers!

Billy, Gunter, and the others tumbled on to the deck in the usual indescribable manner, and the former, making fast the long painter, added the Evening Star's boat to the lengthening flotilla astern.

"Your man seems to be hurt," said the master of the mission smack—whom we may well style the missionary—"not badly, I hope. You're limpin' a bit."

"Oh! nothin' to speak of," growled Gunter, "on'y a bit o' skin knocked off."

"We'll put that all right soon," returned the missionary, shaking hands with the other members of the crew. "But p'r'aps you'd like to go below with us, first. We're goin' to hold a little service. It'll be more comfortable under hatches than on deck."

"No, thank 'ee," replied Gunter with decision. "I'll wait till yer done."

"P'r'aps you would like to come?" said the missionary to the captain.

"Well, I—I may as well as not," said David with some hesitation.

"Come along then, lads," and the genial sailor-missionary led the way to the capacious hold, which had been swept clean, and some dozens of fish-boxes set up on end in rows. These, besides being handy, formed excellent seats to men who were not much used to arm-chairs.

In a few seconds the little church on the Ocean Wilderness was nearly full of earnest, thoughtful men, for these fishermen were charmingly natural as well as enthusiastic. They did not assume solemn expressions, but all thought of sky-larking or levity seemed to have vanished as they entered the hold, and earnestness almost necessarily involves gravity.

With eager expectation they gazed at their leader while he gave out a hymn.

"You'll find little books on the table here, those of you who haven't got 'em," he said, pointing to a little pile of red-covered booklets at his side. "We'll sing the 272nd.

"'Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of life!'"

Really, reader, it is not easy to convey in words the effect of the singing of that congregation! Nothing that we on land are accustomed to can compare with it. In the first place, the volume of sound was tremendous, for these men seemed to have been gifted with leathern lungs and brazen throats. Many of the voices were tuneful as well as powerful. One or two, indeed, were little better than cracked tea-kettles, but the good voices effectually drowned the cracked kettles. Moreover, there was deep enthusiasm in many of the hearts present, and the hold was small. We leave the rest to the reader's imagination, but we are bound to say that it had a thrilling effect. And they were sorry, too, when the hymn was finished. This was obvious, for when one of the singers began the last verse over again the others joined him with alacrity and sang it straight through. Even Gunter and those like-minded men who had remained on deck were moved by the fervour of the singing.

Then the sailor-missionary offered a prayer, as simple as it was straightforward and short, after which a chapter was read, and another hymn sung. Then came the discourse, founded on the words, "Whosoever will."

"There you have it, lads—clear as the sun at noonday—free as the rolling sea. The worst drunkard and swearer in the Short Blue comes under that 'whosoever'—ay, the worst man in the world, for Jesus is able and willing to save to the uttermost." ("Praise God!" ejaculated one of the earnest listeners fervently.)

But fear not, reader, we have no intention of treating you to a semi-nautical sermon. Whether you be Christian or not, our desire is simply to paint for you a true picture of life on the North Sea as we have seen it, and, as it were unwise to omit the deepest shadows from a picture, so would it be inexcusable to leave out the highest lights— even although you should fail to recognise them as such.

The discourse was not long, but the earnestness of the preacher was very real. The effect on his audience was varied. Most of them sympathised deeply, and seemed to listen as much with eyes as ears. A few, who had not come there for religious purposes, wore somewhat cynical, even scornful, expressions at first, but these were partially subdued by the manner of the speaker as he reasoned of spiritual things and the world to come.

On deck, Gunter and those who had stayed with him became curious to know what the "preachin' skipper" was saying, and drew near to the fore-hatch, up which the tones of his strong voice travelled. Gradually they bent their heads down and lay at full-length on the deck listening intently to every word. They noted, also, the frequent ejaculations of assent, and the aspirations of hope that escaped from the audience.

Not one, but two or three hymns were sung after the discourse was over, and one after another of the fishermen prayed. They were very loath to break up, but, a breeze having arisen, it became necessary that they should depart, so they came on deck at last, and an animated scene of receiving and exchanging books, magazines, tracts, and pamphlets ensued. Then, also, Gunter got some salve for his shins, Ned Spivin had his cut hand dressed and plastered. Cuffs were supplied to those whose wrists had been damaged, and gratuitous advice was given generally to all to give up drink.

"An' don't let the moderate drinkers deceive you lads," said the skipper, "as they're apt to do—an' no wonder, for they deceive themselves. Moderate drinkin' may be good, for all I know, for old folk an' sick folk, but it's not good for young and healthy men. They don't need stimulants, an' if they take what they don't need they're sure to suffer for it. There's a terrible line in drinkin', an' if you once cross that line, your case is all but hopeless. I once knew a man who crossed it, and when that man began to drink he used to say that he did it in 'moderation,' an' he went on in 'moderation,' an' the evil was so slow in workin' that he never yet knew when he crossed the line, an' he died at last of what he called moderate drinkin'. They all begin in moderation, but some of 'em go on to the ruin of body, soul, an' spirit, rather than give up their moderation! Come now, lads, I want one or two o' you young fellows to sign the temperance pledge. It can't cost you much to do it just now, but if you grow up drinkers you may reach a point—I don't know where that point lies—to come back from which will cost you something like the tearing of your souls out o' your bodies. You'll come, won't you?"

"Yes, I'll go," said a bright young fisherman with a frame like Hercules and a face almost as soft as that of a girl.

"That's right! Come down."

"And I've brought two o' my boys," said a burly man with a cast-iron sort of face, who had been himself an abstainer for many years.

While the master of the mission smack was producing the materials for signing the pledge in the cabin, he took occasion to explain that the signing was only a help towards the great end of temperance; that nothing but conversion to God, and constant trust in the living Saviour, could make man or woman safe.

"It's not hard to understand," he said, looking the youths earnestly in the eyes. "See here, suppose an unbeliever determines to get the better of his besettin' sin. He's man enough to strive well for a time. At last he begins to grow a little weary o' the battle—it is so awful hard. Better almost to die an' be done with it, he sometimes thinks. Then comes a day when his temptation is ten times more than he is able to bear. He throws up the sponge; he has done his best an' failed, so away he goes like the sow that was washed to his wallowing in the mire. But he has not done his best. He has not gone to his Maker; an' surely the maker of a machine is the best judge o' how to mend it. Now, when a believer in Jesus comes to the same point o' temptation he falls on his knees an' cries for help; an' he gets it too, for faithful is He that has promised to help those who call upon Him in trouble. Many a man has fallen on his knees as weak as a baby, and risen up as strong as a giant."

"Here," said a voice close to the speaker's elbow, "here, hand me the pen, an' I'll sign the pledge."

"What, you, Billy Bright!" said the missionary, smiling at the precocious manliness of the little fellow. "Does your father want you to do it?"

"Oh! you never mind what my father wants. He leaves me pretty much to do as I please—except smoke, and as he won't let me do that. I mean to spite him by refusin' to drink when he wants me to."

"But I'm afraid, Billy," returned the missionary, laughing, "that that's not quite the spirit in which to sign the pledge."

"Did I say it was, old boy!" retorted Billy, seizing the pen, dabbing it into the ink, and signing his name in a wild straggling sort of way, ending with a huge round blot.

"There, that'll do instead of a full stop," he said, thrusting his little hands into his pockets as he swaggered out of the cabin and went on deck.

"He'll make a rare good man, or an awful bad 'un, that," said the missionary skipper, casting a kindly look after the boy.

Soon afterwards the boats left the mission smack, and her crew began to bustle about, making preparation to let down the gear whenever the Admiral should give the signal.

"We carry two sorts of trawl-nets, Andrew," said the captain to his mate, who was like-minded in all respects, "and I think we have caught some men to-day with one of 'em—praise the Lord!"

"Yes, praise the Lord!" said the mate, and apparently deeming this, as it was, a sufficient reply, he went about his work in silence.

The breeze freshened. The shades of night gathered; the Admiral gave his signal; the nets were shot and the Short Blue fleet sailed away into the deepening darkness of the wild North Sea.

Note. Since that day additional vessels have been attached to the Mission-fleet, which now, 1886, consists of five smacks—and will probably, ere long, number many more—all earning their own maintenance while serving the Mission cause. But these do by no means meet the requirements of the various North Sea fleets. There are still in those fleets thousands of men and boys who derive no benefit from the Mission vessels already sent out, because they belong to fleets to which Mission-ships have not yet been attached; and it is the earnest prayer of those engaged in the good work that liberal-minded Christians may send funds to enable them not only to carry on, but to extend, their operations in this interesting field of labour.



CHAPTER TEN.

A STRONG CONTRAST—A VICTIM OF THE COPER.

Birds of a feather flock together, undoubtedly—at sea as well as on land. As surely as Johnston, and Moore, and Jim Frost, and such men, hung about the mission-ship—ready to go aboard and to have a little meeting when suitable calms occurred, so surely did David Bright, the Swab, and other like-minded men, find themselves in the neighbourhood of the Coper when there was nothing to be done in the way of fishing.

Two days after the events narrated in the last chapter, the Swab—whose proper name was Dick Herring, and who sailed his own smack, the White Cloud—found himself in the neighbourhood of the floating grog-shop.

"Get out the boat, Brock," said Herring to his mate—who has already been introduced to the reader as Pimply Brock, and whose nose rendered any explanation of that name unnecessary; "take some fish, an' get as much as you can for 'em."

The Swab did not name what his mate was to procure in barter with the fish, neither did Brock ask. It was an old-established order, well understood.

Soon Brock and two hands were on their way to the floating "poison-shop," as one of the men had named it. He was affectionately received there, and, ere long, returned to the White Cloud with a supply of fire-water.

"You're good at a bargain, Brock," said his master, with an approving nod, tossing off a glass of the demon that held him as if in chains of steel—chains that no man could break. "I wish," he added, looking round on the sea wistfully, "that some of our friends would come to join us in a spree."

"So do I," said Brock, slightly inflaming his nasal pimples, by pouring a glass of spirits down his throat.

There must be some strange, subtle sympathy between drunkards, for, at the very time these two men expressed their wish, the master of the Evening Star said to Gunter, "Get out the boat. I'll go cruisin'."

It must not be supposed that by this he meant to declare his intention of going off on a lengthened voyage in his little boat. David Bright only meant that, having observed through his telescope the little transaction between the White Cloud and the Coper, his intention was to pay that vessel a visit—to go carousing, or, as the North Sea smacksmen have it, "cruisin'."

Gunter obeyed the order with satisfaction and alacrity.

"Jump in, Spivin, and you come too, Billy."

"I say, father," said the boy in a low voice, "are ye goin' to drink wi' the Swab after what ye heard aboard the mission smack?"

"You clap a stopper on your jaw an' obey orders," replied the skipper angrily.

Although full of light-hearted insolence, which his mates called cheek, Billy was by no means a rebellious boy. He knew, from sad experience, that when his father made up his mind to "go in for a drinking-bout," the consequences were often deplorable, and fain would he have dissuaded him, but he also knew that to persist in opposing him would only make matters worse, and probably bring severe chastisement on himself. With an air of quiet gravity, therefore, that seemed very unnatural to him, he leaped into the boat and took an oar.

"What cheer, David?" said the Swab, offering his rugged hand when the former jumped on the deck of the White Cloud. "I thought you'd come."

"You was right, Dick," returned David, shaking the proffered hand.

"Come below, an' wet your whistle. Bring your men too," said Dick. "This is a new hand?" pointing to Ned.

"Ay, he's noo, is Ned Spivin, but he can drink."

"Come down, then, all of 'ee."

Now, Ned Spivin was one of those yielding good-natured youths who find it impossible to resist what may be styled good-fellowship. If you had tried to force Ned Spivin, to order him, or to frighten him into any course, he would have laughed in your face and fought you if necessary; but if you tempted Ned to do evil by kindly tones and looks, he was powerless to resist.

"You're right, skipper, I can drink—sometimes." They all went below, leaving Billy on deck "to look after the boat," as his father said, though, being made fast, the boat required no looking after.

Immediately the party in the little cabin had a glass round. Ere long it occurred to them that they might have another glass. Of course they did not require to be reminded of their pipes, and as nearly all the crew was in the little cabin, besides the visitors, the fumes from pipes and glasses soon brought the atmosphere to a condition that would have failed to support any but the strongest kind of human life. It supported these men well enough, however, for they soon began to use their tongues and brains in a manner that might have surprised a dispassionate observer.

It is, perhaps, needless to say that they interlarded their conversation with fearful oaths, to which of course we can do no more than make passing reference.

By degrees the conversation degenerated into disputation, for it is the manner of some men, when "in liquor," to become intensely pugnacious as well as owlishly philosophical. The subject-matter of dispute may be varied, but the result is nearly always the same—a series of amazing convolutions of the brain, which is supposed to be profound reasoning, waxing hotter and hotter as the utterances grow thicker and thicker, and the tones louder and louder, until the culminating point is reached when the point which could not be proved by the mind is hammered home with the fist.

To little Billy, who had been left in sole charge of the deck, and whose little mind had been strangely impressed on board the mission-ship, the words and sounds, to say nothing of the fumes, which proceeded from the cabin furnished much food for meditation. The babel of tongues soon became incessant, for three, if not four or five, of the speakers had become so impressed with the importance of their opinions, and so anxious to give their mates the benefit, that they all spoke at once. This of course necessitated much loud talking and gesticulation by all of them, which greatly helped, no doubt, to make their meaning clear. At least it did not render it less clear. As the din and riot increased so did the tendency to add fuel to the fire by deeper drinking, which resulted in fiercer quarrelling.

At last one of the contending voices shouted so loud that the others for a few moments gave way, and the words became audible to the little listener on deck. The voice belonged to Gunter.

"You said," he shouted fiercely, "that I—"

"No, I didn't," retorted Brock, breaking in with a rather premature contradiction.

"Hear him out. N-nothin' like fair play in ar-argiment," said an extremely drunken voice.

"Right you are," cried another; "fire away, Gunter."

"You said," resumed Gunter with a little more of argument in his tone, though still vehemently, "that I said—that—that—well, whativer it was I said, I'll take my davy that I niver said anything o' the sort."

"That's a lie," cried Brock.

"You're another," shouted Gunter, and waved his hand contemptuously.

Whether it was accident or design we know not, but Gunter's hand knocked the pipe out of Brook's mouth.

To Billy's ear the well-known sound of a blow followed, and he ran to look down into the cabin, where all was instantly in an uproar.

"Choke him off," cried David Bright. "Knock his brains out," suggested Herring. Billy could not see well through the dense smoke, but apparently the more humane advice was followed, for, after a good deal of gasping, a heavy body was flung upon the floor.

"All right, shove him into a bunk," cried the Swab.

At the same moment Ned Spivin sprang on deck, and, stretching himself with his arms extended upwards, drew a long breath of fresh air.

"There, Billy," he said, "I've had enough of it."

"Of grog, d'ye mean?" asked the boy.

"No, but of the hell-upon-earth down there," replied the young man.

"Well, Ned, I should just think you have had enough o' that," said Billy, "an' of grog too—though you don't seem much screwed after all."

"I'm not screwed at all, Billy—not even half-seas-over. It's more the smoke an' fumes that have choked me than the grog. Come, lad, let's go for'ard an' git as far from it as we can."

The man and boy went to the bow of the vessel, and seated themselves near the heel of the bowsprit, where the sounds from the cabin reached them only as a faint murmur, and did not disturb the stillness of the night.

And a day of quiet splendour it certainly was—the sea as calm as glass, insomuch that it reflected all the fleecy clouds that hung in the bright sky. Even the ocean-swell had gone to rest with just motion enough left to prove that the calm was not a "dead" one, but a slumber. All round, the numerous vessels of the Short Blue fleet floated in peaceful idleness. At every distance they lay, from a hundred yards to the far-off horizon.

We say that they floated peacefully, but we speak only as to appearance, for there were other hells in the fleet, similar to that which we have described, and the soft sound of distant oars could be distinguished now and then as boats plied to and fro between their smacks and the Coper, fetching the deadly liquid with which these hells were set on fire.

Other sounds there were, however, which fell pleasantly on the ears of the two listeners.

"Psalm-singers," said Billy.

"They might be worse," replied Ned. "What smack does it come from, think 'ee?"

"The Boy Jim, or the Cephas—not sure which, for I can't make out the voices. It might be from the Sparrow, but that's it close to us, and there could be no mistake about Jim Frost's voice if he was to strike up."

"What! has Jim Frost hoisted the Bethel-flag?"

"Ay, didn't you see it flyin' last Sunday for the first time?"

"No, I didn't," returned Ned, "but I'm glad to hear it, for, though I'm not one o' that set myself. I do like to see a man not ashamed to show his colours."

The flag to which they referred is supplied at half cost to the fleet by the Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen—and is hoisted every Sabbath-day by those skippers in the fleet who, having made up their minds boldly to accept all the consequences of the step, have come out decidedly on the Lord's side.

While the two shipmates were conversing thus in low tones, enjoying the fresh air and the calm influences around them, the notes of an accordion came over the water in tones that were sweetened and mellowed by distance.

"Ha! that's Jim Frost now," said Billy, in subdued excitement, while pleasure glittered in his eyes. "Oh! Ned, I does like music. It makes my heart fit to bu'st sometimes, it does. An' Jim plays that— that what's 'is name—so beautiful!"

"His accordion," said Ned.

"Yes—his accordium—"

"No, Billy, not accordium, but accordion."

"Well, well—no matter. I don't care a button what you calls it, so long as Jim plays it. Why, he'd make his fortin' if he was to play that thing about the streets o' Lun'on. Listen."

Jim Frost deserved all the praise that the enthusiastic boy bestowed on him, for, besides possessing a fine ear and taste for music, and having taught himself to play well, he had a magnificent tenor voice, and took great delight in singing the beautiful hymns which at that time had been introduced to the fleet. On this particular day he was joined by his crew, whose voices—more or less tuneful—came rolling over the water in a great volume of melody.