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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Young Trawler, by R.M. Ballantyne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Young Trawler
+
+Author: R.M. Ballantyne
+
+Release Date: June 6, 2007 [EBook #21713]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG TRAWLER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG TRAWLER, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+INTRODUCES DEEP-SEA FISHERMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES.
+
+On a certain breezy morning in October--not many years ago--a wilderness
+of foam rioted wildly over those dangerous sands which lie off the port
+of Yarmouth, where the _Evening Star_, fishing-smack, was getting ready
+for sea.
+
+In one of the narrow lanes or "Rows" peculiar to that town, the skipper
+of the smack stood at his own door, grumbling.  He was a broad burly
+man, a little past the prime of life, but prematurely aged by hard work
+and hard living.
+
+"He's always out o' the way when he's wanted, an' always in the way when
+he's not wanted," said the skipper angrily to his wife, of whom he was
+at the moment taking, as one of his mates remarked, a tender farewell.
+
+"Don't be hard on him, David," pleaded the wife, tearfully, as she
+looked up in her husband's face.
+
+"He's only a bit thoughtless; and I shouldn't wonder if he was already
+down at the smack."
+
+"If he's not," returned the fisherman with a frown, as he clenched his
+huge right hand--and a hard and horny hand it was, from constant
+grappling with ropes, oars, hand-spikes, and the like--"if he's not,
+I'll--"
+
+He stopped abruptly, as he looked down at his wife's eyes, and the frown
+faded.  No wonder, for that wife's eyes were soft and gentle, and her
+face was fair and very attractive as well as refined in expression,
+though not particularly pretty.
+
+"Well, old girl, come, I won't be hard on 'im.  Now I'm off,--good-day."
+And with that the fisherman stooped to kiss his wife, who returned the
+salute with interest.  At the same time she thrust a packet into his
+hand.
+
+"What's this, Nell?"
+
+"A Testament, David--from me.  It will do your soul good if you will
+read it.  And the tract wrapped round it is from a lady."
+
+The frown returned to the man's face as he growled--"What lady?"
+
+"The lady with the curious name, who was down here last summer for
+sea-bathing; don't you remember Miss Ruth Dotropy?  It is a temperance
+tract."
+
+David Bright made a motion as though he were about to fling the parcel
+away, but he thought better of it, and thrust it into the capacious
+pocket of his rough coat.  The brow cleared again as he left his wife,
+who called after him, "Don't be hard on Billy, David; remember he's our
+only one--and he's not bad, just a little thoughtless."
+
+"Never fear, Nell, I'll make a man of him."
+
+Lighting a large pipe as he spoke, the skipper of the _Evening Star_
+nodded farewell, and sauntered away.
+
+In another of the narrow lanes of Yarmouth another fisherman stood at
+his own door, also taking leave of his wife.  This man was the mate--
+just engaged--of David Bright's vessel, and very different in some
+respects from the skipper, being tall, handsome, fresh and young--not
+more than twenty-four--as well as powerful of build.  His wife, a
+good-looking young woman, with their first-born in her arms, had bidden
+him good-bye.
+
+We will not trouble the reader with more of their parting conversation
+than the last few words.
+
+"Now, Maggie, dear, whatever you do, take care o' that blessed babby."
+
+"Trust me for that, Joe," said Maggie, imprinting a kiss of considerable
+violence and fervour on the said baby, which gazed at its mother--as it
+gazed at everything--in blank amazement.
+
+"An' don't forget to see Miss Ruth, if you can, or send a message to
+her, about that matter."
+
+"I'll not forget, Joe."
+
+The mate of the _Evening Star_ bestowed a parting kiss of extreme
+gentleness on the wondering infant, and hastened away.
+
+He had not proceeded far when he encountered a creature which filled his
+heart with laughter.  Indeed Joe Davidson's heart was easily filled with
+emotions of every kind, for he was an unusually sympathetic fellow, and
+rather fond of a joke.
+
+The creature referred to was a small boy of thirteen years of age or
+thereabouts, with a pretty little face, a Grecian little nose, a
+rose-bud of a mouth, curly fair hair, bright blue eyes, and a light
+handsome frame, which, however, was a smart, active, and wiry frame.  He
+was made to look as large and solid as possible by means of the rough
+costume of a fisherman, and there was a bold look in the blue eyes which
+told of a strong will.  What amused Joe Davidson most, however, was the
+tremendous swagger in the creature's gait, and the imperturbable gravity
+with which he smoked a cigar!  The little fellow was so deeply absorbed
+in thought as he passed the mate that he did not raise his eyes from the
+ground.  An irresistible impulse seized on Joe.  He stooped, and gently
+plucked the cigar from the boy's mouth.
+
+Instantly the creature doubled his little fists, and, without taking the
+trouble to look so high as his adversary's face, rushed at his legs,
+which he began to kick and pommel furiously.
+
+As the legs were cased in heavy sea-boots he failed to make any
+impression on them, and, after a few moments of exhausting effort, he
+stepped back so as to get a full look at his foe.
+
+"What d'ee mean by that, Joe Davidson, you fathom of impudence?" he
+demanded, with flushed face and flashing eyes.
+
+"Only that I wants a light," answered the mate, pulling out his pipe,
+and applying the cigar to it.
+
+"Humph!" returned the boy, mollified, and at the same time tickled, by
+the obvious pretence; "you might have axed leave first, I think."
+
+"So I might.  I ax parding _now_," returned Joe, handing back the cigar;
+"good-day, Billy."
+
+The little boy, gazed after the fisherman in speechless admiration, for
+the cool quiet manner in which the thing had been done had, as he said,
+taken the wind completely out of his sails, and prevented his usually
+ready reply.
+
+Replacing the cigar in the rose-bud, he went puffing along till he
+reached the house of David Bright, which he entered.
+
+"Your father's gone, Billy," said Mrs Bright.  "Haste ye after him,
+else you'll catch it.  Oh! do give up smokin', dear boy.  Good-bye.  God
+keep you, my darling."
+
+She caught the little fellow in a hasty embrace.
+
+"Hold on, mother, you'll bust me!" cried Billy, returning the embrace,
+however, with affectionate vigour.  "An' if I'm late, daddy will sail
+without me.  Let go!"
+
+He shouted the last words as if the reference had been to the anchor of
+the _Evening Star_.  His mother laughed as she released him, and he ran
+down to the quay with none of his late dignity remaining.  He knew his
+father's temper well, and was fearful of being left behind.
+
+He was just in time.  The little smack was almost under weigh as he
+tumbled, rather than jumped, on board.  Ere long she was out beyond the
+breakers that marked the shoals, and running to the eastward under a
+stiff breeze.
+
+This was little Billy's first trip to sea in his father's fishing-smack,
+and he went not as a passenger but as a "hand."  It is probable that
+there never sailed out of Yarmouth a lad who was prouder of his position
+than little Billy of the _Evening Star_.  He was rigged from top to toe
+in a brand-new suit, of what we may style nautical garments.  His thin
+little body was made to appear of twice its natural bulk by a
+broad-shouldered pilot-cloth coat, under which was a thick guernsey.  He
+was almost extinguished by a large yellow sou'-wester, and all but
+swallowed up by a pair of sea-boots that reached to his hips.  These
+boots, indeed, seemed so capacious as to induce the belief that if he
+did not take care the part of his body that still remained outside of
+them might fall inside and disappear.
+
+Altogether--what between pride of position, vanity in regard to the new
+suit, glee at being fairly at sea and doing for himself, and a certain
+humorous perception that he was ridiculously small--little Billy
+presented a very remarkable appearance as he stood that day on the deck
+of his father's vessel, with his little legs straddling wide apart,
+after the fashion of nautical men, and his hands thrust deep into the
+pockets of his sea-going coat.
+
+For some time he was so engrossed with the novelty of his situation, and
+the roll of the crested waves, that his eyes did not rise much higher
+than the legs of his comparatively gigantic associates; but when
+curiosity at last prompted him to scan their faces, great was his
+surprise to observe among them Joe Davidson, the young man who had
+plucked the cigar from his lips in Yarmouth.
+
+"What! are _you_ one o' the hands, Joe?" he asked, going towards the man
+with an abortive attempt to walk steadily on the pitching deck.
+
+"Ay, lad, I'm your father's mate," replied Joe.  "But surely _you_ are
+not goin' as a hand?"
+
+"That's just what I am," returned Billy, with a look of dignity which
+was somewhat marred by a heavy lurch causing him to stagger.  "I'm part
+owner, d'ee see, an' ready to take command when the old man retires, so
+you'd better mind your helm, young man, an' steer clear of impudence in
+future, if you don't want to lead the life of a dog aboard of this here
+smack."
+
+"I'll try, sir," said Joe Davidson, touching his forelock, while a
+humorous twinkle lit up his bright eyes.
+
+"Hallo!  Billy!" shouted the skipper, who was steering; "come here, boy.
+You didn't come aboard to idle, you know; I've let you have a good look
+at the sea all for nothin'.  It's time now that you went to work to larn
+your duties.  Zulu!"
+
+The last word caused a woolly head to protrude from the after hatchway,
+revealing a youth about twice the size of Billy.  Having some drops of
+black blood in him this lad had been styled Zulu--and, being a handy
+fellow, had been made cook.
+
+"Here, take this boy below," said the skipper, "and teach him
+something--anything you like, so long as you keep him at work.  No
+idlers allowed on board, you know."
+
+"Yes, sar," said Zulu.
+
+Billy was delighted to obey.  He was naturally a smart, active fellow,
+and not only willing, but proud, to submit to discipline.  He descended
+a short ladder into the little cabin with which he had become
+acquainted, as a visitor, when the smack was in port on former
+occasions.  With Zulu he was also acquainted, that youth having been for
+some time in his father's service.
+
+"Kin you do cookin'?" asked Zulu with a grin that revealed an unusually
+large cavern full of glistening teeth, mingled with more than an average
+allowance of tongue and gums.
+
+"Oh!  I say," remonstrated Billy, "it's growed bigger than ever!"
+
+Zulu expanded his mouth to its utmost, and shut his eyes in enjoyment of
+the complimentary joke.
+
+"Oh course it hab," he said on recovering; "I's 'bliged to eat so much
+at sea dat de mout gits wider ebery trip.  Dat leetle hole what you've
+got in your face 'll git so big as mine fore long, Billy.  Den you be
+like some ob de leetle fishes we catch--all mout and no body worth
+mentioning.  But you no tell me yit: Kin you do cookin'?"
+
+"Oh yes, I can manage a Yarmouth bloater," replied Billy.
+
+"But," said Zulu, "kin you cook a 'tater widout makin' him's outside all
+of a mush, an' him's inside same so as a stone?"
+
+Instead of answering, Billy sat down on the settle which ran round the
+cabin and looked up at his dark friend very solemnly.
+
+"Hallo!" exclaimed Zulu.
+
+"There--there's something wrong wi' me," said Billy, with a faint
+attempt to smile as he became rather pale.
+
+Seeing this, his friend quietly put a bucket beside him.
+
+"I say, Zulu," observed the poor boy with a desperate attempt at
+pleasantry, "I wonder what's up."
+
+"Des nuffin' up yit but he won't be long," replied the young cook with a
+look full of sympathy.
+
+It would be unjust to our little hero to proceed further.  This being,
+as we have said, his first trip to sea, he naturally found himself,
+after an hour or two, stretched out in one of the bunks which surrounded
+the little cabin.  There he was permitted to lie and think longingly of
+his mother, surrounded by dense tobacco smoke, hot vapours, and greasy
+fumes, until he blushed to find himself wishing, with all his heart,
+that he had never left home!
+
+There we will leave him to meditate and form useless resolves, which he
+never carried out, while we introduce to the reader some of the other
+actors in our tale.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+A CONTRAST TO CHAPTER I.
+
+From that heaving grey wilderness of water called the North Sea we pass
+now to that lively wilderness of bricks and mortar called London.
+
+West-end mansions are not naturally picturesque or interesting subjects
+either for the brush or the pen, and we would not willingly drag our
+readers into one of them, did not circumstances--over which we have not
+a shadow of control--compel us to do so.
+
+The particular mansion to which we now direct attention belonged to a
+certain Mrs Dotropy, whose husband's ancestors, by the way, were said
+to have come over with the Conqueror--whether in his own ship or in one
+of the bumboats that followed is not certain.  They were De Tropys at
+that time, but, having sunk in the social scale in the course of
+centuries, and then risen again in succeeding centuries through the
+medium of trade, they reappeared on the surface with their patronymic
+transformed as now presented.
+
+"Mother," said Ruth Dotropy to a magnificent duchess-like woman, "I've
+come to ask you about the poor--"
+
+"Ruth, dear," interrupted the mother, "I wish you would not worry me
+about the poor!  They're a troublesome, ill-doing set; always grumbling,
+dirty, ill-natured, suspicious, and envious of the rich--as if it was
+our fault that we are rich!  I don't want to hear anything more about
+the poor."
+
+Ruth, who was a soft-cheeked, soft-handed, and soft-hearted girl of
+eighteen, stood, hat in hand, before her mother with a slight smile on
+her rosy lips.
+
+"You are not quite just to the poor, mother," returned Ruth, scarce able
+to restrain a laugh at her parent's vehemence.  "Some of them are all
+that you say, no doubt, but there are many, even among the poorest of
+the poor, who are good-natured, well-doing, unsuspicious, and
+respectful, not only to the rich but also to each other and to
+everybody.  There is Mrs Wolsey, for instance, she--"
+
+"Oh! but she's an exception, you know," said Mrs Dotropy, "there are
+not many like Mrs Wolsey."
+
+"And there is Mrs Gladman," continued Ruth.
+
+"Yes, but she's another exception."
+
+"And Mrs Robbie."
+
+"Why, Ruth, what's the use of picking out all the exceptions to prove
+your point?  Of course the exception proves the rule--at least so the
+proverb says--but a great many exceptions prove nothing that I know of,
+except--that is--but what's the use of arguing, child, you'll never be
+convinced.  Come, how much do you want me to give?"
+
+Easy-going Mrs Dotropy's mind, we need scarcely point out, was of a
+confused type, and she "hated argument."  Perhaps, on the whole, it was
+to the advantage of her friends and kindred that she did so.
+
+"I only want you to give a little time, mother," replied Ruth, swinging
+her hat to and fro, while she looked archly into Mrs Dotropy's large,
+dignified, and sternly-kind countenance, if we may venture on such an
+expression,--"I want you to go with me and see--"
+
+"Yes, yes, I know what you're going to say, child, you want me to go and
+`see for myself,' which means that I'm to soil my boots in filthy
+places, subject my ears to profanity, my eyes to horrible sights, and my
+nose to intolerable smells.  No, Ruth, I cannot oblige you.  Of what use
+would it be?  If my doing this would relieve the miseries of the poor,
+you might reasonably ask me to go among them, but it would not.  I give
+them as much money as I can afford to give, and, as far as I can see, it
+does them no good.  They never seem better off, and they always want
+more.  They are not even grateful for it.  Just look at Lady Openhand.
+What good does she accomplish by her liberality, and her tearful eyes,
+and sympathetic heart, even though her feelings are undoubtedly genuine?
+Only the other day I chanced to walk behind her along several streets
+and saw her stop and give money to seven or eight beggars who accosted
+her.  She never _can_ refuse any one who asks with a pitiful look and a
+pathetic cock-and-bull story.  Several of them were young and strong,
+and quite undeserving of charity.  Three, I observed, went straight to a
+public-house with what she had given them, and the last, a small street
+boy, went into fits of suppressed laughter after she had passed, and
+made faces at her--finishing off by putting the thumb of his left hand
+to his nose, and spreading out his fingers as wide as possible.  I do
+not understand the exact significance of that action, but there is
+something in it so intensely insolent that it is quite incompatible with
+the idea of gratitude."
+
+"Yes, mother, I saw him too," said Ruth, with a demure look; "it
+curiously enough happened that I was following you at the time.  You
+afterwards passed the same boy with a refusal, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, child, of course--and a reproof."
+
+"I thought so.  Well, after you had passed, he not only applied his left
+thumb to his nose and spread his fingers, but also put the thumb of his
+right hand against the little finger of his left, and spread out the
+other five fingers at _you_.  So, whatever he meant Lady Openhand to
+receive, he meant you to have twice as much.  But Lady Openhand makes a
+mistake, I think, she does not _consider_ the poor; she only feels
+deeply for them and gives to them."
+
+"_Only_ feels and gives!" repeated Mrs Dotropy, with a look of solemn
+amazement.
+
+Being quite incapable of disentangling or expressing the flood of ideas
+that overwhelmed her, the good lady relieved herself after a few broken
+sentences, with the assertion that it was of no use arguing with Ruth,
+for Ruth would never be convinced.
+
+She was so far right, in that her daughter could not change her mind on
+the strength of mere dogmatic assertion, even although she was a pliant
+and teachable little creature.  So, at least, Mr Lewis, her pastor, had
+found her when he tried to impress on her a few important lessons--such
+as, that it is better to give than to receive; that man _is_ his
+brother's keeper; that we are commanded to walk in the footsteps of
+Jesus, who came to save the lost, to rescue the perishing, and who fed
+the hungry.
+
+"But, mother," resumed Ruth, "I want you to go with me to-day to visit
+some poor people who are _not_ troublesome, who are perfectly clean, are
+never ill-natured, suspect nothing, and envy nobody."
+
+"They must indeed be wonderful people," said Mrs Dotropy, with a laugh
+at Ruth's enthusiasm, "quite angelic."
+
+"They are as nearly so as mortals ever become, I think," returned Ruth,
+putting on her hat; "won't you come, mother?"
+
+Now, Mrs Dotropy had the faculty of giving in gracefully, although she
+could not argue.  Rising with an amused smile, she kissed Ruth's
+forehead and went to prepare for a visit to the poor.
+
+Let us now turn to a small street scarcely ten minutes' walk from the
+mansion where the above conversation took place.
+
+It was what may be styled a Lilliputian street.  Almost everything in it
+was small.  The houses were small; the shops were small; the rents--
+well, they were certainly not so small as they should have been, the
+doors and windows were small; and the very children that played in the
+gutter, with an exceedingly small amount of clothing on them, were
+rather diminutive.  Some of the doors stood open, revealing the fact
+that it had been thought wise by the builders of the houses to waste no
+space in lobbies or entrance halls.  One or two, however, displayed
+entries, or passages--dark and narrow--the doors to which were blistered
+and severely battered, because, being the public property of several
+families, they had no particular owner to protect them.
+
+There was a small flat over a green-grocer's shop to which one of the
+cleanest of those entries led.  It consisted of two rooms, a
+light-closet and a kitchen, and was low-ceilinged and poorly furnished,
+but there was a distinct air of cleanliness about it, with a consequent
+tendency to comfort.  The carpet of the chief room was very old, but it
+had been miraculously darned and patched.  The table was little larger
+than that of a gigantic doll's-house, but it was covered with a clean,
+though threadbare, cloth, that had seen better days, and on it lay
+several old and well-thumbed books, besides two work-baskets.
+
+In an old--a very old--easy-chair at one side of the fire sat a lady
+rather beyond middle age, with her hands clasped on her lap, and her
+eyes gazing dreamily at the fire.  Perhaps she was speculating on the
+question how long two small lumps of coal and a little dross would last.
+The grate in which that amount of fuel burned was a miniature specimen
+of simplicity,--a mere hollow in the wall with two bars across.  The
+fire itself was so small that nothing but constant solicitude saved it
+from extinction.
+
+There was much of grey mingled with the fair tresses of the lady, and
+the remains of beauty were very distinct on a countenance, the lines of
+which suggested suffering, gentleness, submission, and humility.
+Perchance the little sigh that escaped her as she gazed at the
+preposterously small fire had reference to days gone by when health
+revelled in her veins; when wealth was lavished in her father's house;
+when food and fun were plentiful; when grief and care were scarce.
+Whatever her thoughts might have been, they were interrupted by the
+entrance of another lady, who sat down beside her, laid a penny on the
+table, and looked at the lady in the easy-chair with a peculiar,
+half-comical expression.
+
+"It is our _last_, Jessie," she said, and as she said it the expression
+intensified, yet it seemed a little forced.
+
+There needed no magician to tell that these two were sisters.  The
+indescribable similarity was strong, yet the difference was great.
+Jessie was evidently, though not much, the elder.
+
+"It's almost absurd, Kate," she said, "to think that we should actually
+have--come--at last--to--"
+
+She stopped, and Kate looked earnestly at her.  There was a tremulous
+motion about the corners of both their mouths.  Jessie laid her head on
+Kate's shoulder, and both wept--gently.  They did not "burst into
+tears," for they were not by nature demonstrative.  Their position made
+it easy to slide down on their knees and bury their heads side by side
+in the great old easy-chair that had been carefully kept when all the
+rest was sold, because it had belonged to their father.
+
+We may not record the scarce audible prayer.  Those who have suffered
+know what it was.  Those who have not suffered could not understand it.
+After the prayer they sat down in a somewhat tranquil mood to "talk it
+over."  Poor things--they had often talked it over, without much result,
+except that blessed one of evolving mutual sympathy.
+
+"If I were only a little younger and stronger," said Kate, who had been,
+and still was of a lively disposition, "I would offer myself as a
+housemaid, but that is out of the question now; besides, I could not
+leave you, Jessie, the invalid of the family--that once was."
+
+"Come, Kate, let us have no reference to the invalid of the family any
+more.  I am getting quite strong.  Do you know I do believe that poverty
+is doing my health good; my appetite is improving.  I really feel quite
+hungry now."
+
+"We will have tea, then," said Kate, getting up briskly; "the things
+that we got will make one good meal, at all events, though the cost of
+them has reduced our funds to the low ebb of one penny; so, let us enjoy
+ourselves while it lasts!"
+
+Kate seized the poker as she spoke, and gave the fire a thrust that
+almost extinguished it.  Then she heaped on a few ounces of coal with
+reckless indifference to the future, and put on a little kettle to boil.
+Soon the small table was spread with a white cloth, a silver teapot,
+and two beautiful cups that had been allowed them out of the family
+wreck; a loaf of bread, a very small quantity of brown sugar, a smaller
+quantity of skim-milk, and the smallest conceivable pat of salt butter.
+
+"And this took all the money except one penny?" asked Jessie, regarding
+the table with a look of mingled sadness and amazement.
+
+"All--every farthing," replied Kate, "and I consider the result a
+triumph of domestic economy."
+
+The sisters were about to sit down to enjoy their triumph when a
+bounding step was heard on the stair.
+
+"That's Ruth," exclaimed Kate, rising and hurrying to the door; "quick,
+get out the other cup, Jessie.  Oh!  Ruth, darling, this is good of you.
+We were sure you would come this week, as--"
+
+She stopped abruptly, for a large presence loomed on the stair behind
+Ruth.
+
+"I have brought mamma to see you, Kate--the Misses Seaward, mamma; you
+have often heard me speak of them."
+
+"Yes, dear, and I have much pleasure in making the Misses Seaward's
+acquaintance.  My daughter is very fond of you, ladies, I know, and the
+little puss has brought me here by way of a surprise, I suppose, for we
+came out to pay a very different kind of visit.  She--"
+
+"Oh! but mamma," hastily exclaimed Ruth, who saw that her mother, whom
+she had hitherto kept in ignorance of the circumstances of the poor
+ladies, was approaching dangerous ground, "our visit here _has_ to do
+with--with the people we were speaking about.  I have come," she added,
+turning quickly to Miss Jessie, "to transact a little business with
+you--about those poor people, you remember, whom you were so sorry for.
+Mamma will be glad to hear what we have to say about them.  Won't you,
+mamma?"
+
+"Of course, of course, dear," replied Mrs Dotropy, who, however,
+experienced a slight feeling of annoyance at being thus dragged into a
+preliminary consideration of the affairs of poor people before paying a
+personal visit to them.  Being good-natured, however, and kind, she
+submitted gracefully and took note, while chairs were placed round the
+table for this amateur Board, that ladies with moderate means--obviously
+_very_ moderate--appeared to enjoy their afternoon tea quite as much as
+rich people.  You see, it never entered into Mrs Dotropy's mind--how
+could it?--that what she imagined to be "afternoon tea" was dinner, tea,
+and supper combined in one meal, beyond which there lay no prospective
+meal, except what one penny might purchase.
+
+With a mysterious look, and a gleam of delight in her eyes, Ruth drew
+forth a well-filled purse, the contents of which, in shillings,
+sixpences, and coppers, she poured out upon the tea-table.
+
+"There," she said triumphantly, "I have collected all that myself, and
+I've come to consult you how much of it should be given to each, and how
+we are to get them to take it."
+
+"How kind of you, Ruth!" exclaimed Kate and Jessie Seaward, gazing on
+the coin with intense, almost miserly satisfaction.
+
+"Nonsense! it's not kind a bit," responded Ruth; "if you knew the
+pleasure I've had in gathering it, and telling the sad story of the poor
+people; and then, the thought of the comfort it will bring to them,
+though it _is_ so little after all."
+
+"It won't appear little in their eyes, Ruth," said Kate, "for you can't
+think how badly off some of them are.  I assure you when Jessie and I
+think of it, as we often do, it makes us quite miserable."
+
+Poor Misses Seaward!  In their sympathy with the distress of others they
+had quite forgotten, for the moment, their own extreme poverty.  They
+had even failed to observe that their own last penny had been
+inadvertently but hopelessly mingled with the coin which Ruth had so
+triumphantly showered upon the table.
+
+"I've got a paper here with the name of each," continued the excited
+girl, "so that we may divide the money in the proportions you think
+best.  That, however, will be easy, but I confess I have puzzled my
+brain in vain to hit on a way to get poor Bella Tilly to accept
+charity."
+
+"That will be no difficulty," said Jessie, "because we won't offer her
+charity.  She has been knitting socks for sale lately, so we can buy
+these."
+
+"Oh! how stupid I am," cried Ruth, "the idea of buying something from
+her never once occurred to me.  We'll buy all her socks--yes, and put
+our own price on them too; capital!"
+
+"Who is Bella Tilly?" asked Mrs Dotropy.
+
+"A young governess," replied Jessie, "whose health has given way.  She
+is an orphan--has not, I believe, a relative in the whole world--and has
+been obliged to give up her last situation, not only because of her
+health, but because she was badly treated."
+
+"But how about poor Mr Garnet the musician?" resumed Ruth, "has _he_
+anything to sell?"
+
+"I think not," answered Kate; "the sweet sounds in which he deals can
+now be no longer made since the paralytic stroke rendered his left arm
+powerless.  His flute was the last thing he had to sell, and he did not
+part with it until hunger compelled him; and even then only after the
+doctors had told him that recovery was impossible.  But I daresay we
+shall find some means of overcoming his scruples.  He has relatives, but
+they are all either poor or heartless, and between the two he is
+starving."
+
+Thus, one by one, the cases of those poor ones were considered until all
+Ruth's money was apportioned, and Mrs Dotropy had become so much
+interested, that she added a sovereign to the fund, for the express
+benefit of Bella Tilly.  Thereafter, Ruth and her mother departed,
+leaving the list and the pile of money on the table, for the sisters had
+undertaken to distribute the fund.  Before leaving, however, Ruth placed
+a letter in Kate's hand, saying that it had reference to an institution
+which would interest them.
+
+"Now isn't that nice?" said Kate, sitting down with a beaming smile,
+when their visitors had gone, "so like Ruth.  Ah! if she only knew how
+much we need a little of that money.  Well, well, we--"
+
+"The tea is quite cold," interrupted Jessie, "and the fire has gone
+out!"
+
+"Jessie!" exclaimed Kate with a sudden look of solemnity--"the _penny_!"
+
+Jessie looked blankly at the table, and said--"Gone!"
+
+"No, it is _there_," said Kate.
+
+"Yes, but Ruth, you know, didn't count the money till she came here, and
+so did not detect the extra penny, and we forgot it.  Every farthing
+there has been apportioned on that list and must be accounted for.  I
+couldn't bear to take a penny out of the sum, and have to tell Ruth that
+we kept it off because it was ours.  It would seem so mean, for she
+cannot know how much we need it.  Besides, from which of the poor
+people's little stores could we deduct it?"
+
+This last argument had more weight with Kate than the others, so, with a
+little sigh, she proceeded to open Ruth's letter, while Jessie poured
+out a cup of cold tea, gazing pathetically the while at the pile of
+money which still lay glittering on the table.
+
+Ruth's letter contained two 5 pounds Bank of England notes, and ran as
+follows:--
+
+  "DEAREST JESSIE AND KATE,--I sent your screen to the institution for
+  the sale of needlework, where it was greatly admired.  One gentleman
+  said it was quite a work of genius! a lady, who seemed to estimate
+  genius more highly than the gentleman, bought it for 10 pounds, which
+  I now enclose.  In my opinion it was worth far more.  However, it is
+  gratifying that your first attempt in this way has been successful.
+
+  "YOUR LOVING RUTH."
+
+"Loving indeed!" exclaimed Kate in a tremulous voice.
+
+Jessie appeared to have choked on the cold tea, for, after some
+ineffectual attempts at speech, she retired to the window and coughed.
+
+The first act of the sisters, on recovering, was to double the amount on
+Ruth's list of poor people, and to work out another sum in short
+division on the back of an old letter.
+
+"Why did you deceive me, dear?" said Mrs Dotropy, on reaching the
+street after her visit.  "You said you were going with me to see poor
+people, in place of which you have taken me to hear a consultation
+_about_ poor people with two ladies, and now you propose to return
+home."
+
+"The two ladies are themselves _very_ poor."
+
+"No doubt they are, child, but you cannot for a moment class them with
+those whom we usually style `the poor.'"
+
+"No, mother, I cannot, for they are far worse off than these.  Having
+been reared in affluence, with tenderer feelings and weaker muscles, as
+well as more delicate health, they are much less able to fight the
+battle of adversity than the lower poor, and I happen to know that the
+dear Misses Seaward are reduced just now to the very last extreme of
+poverty.  But you have relieved them, mother."
+
+"I, child!  How?"
+
+"The nursery screen that you bought yesterday by my advice was decorated
+by Jessie and Kate Seaward, so I thought it would be nice to let you see
+for yourself how sweet and `deserving' are the poor people whom you have
+befriended!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+INTRODUCES CONSTERNATION TO A DELICATE HOUSEHOLD.
+
+The day following that on which Mrs Dotropy and Ruth had gone out to
+visit "the poor," Jessie and Kate Seaward received a visit from a man
+who caused them no little anxiety--we might almost say alarm.  He was a
+sea-captain of the name of Bream.
+
+As this gentleman was rather eccentric, it may interest the reader to
+follow him, from the commencement of the day on which we introduce him.
+
+But first let it be stated that Captain Bream was a fine-looking man,
+though large and rugged.  His upper lip and chin were bare, for he was
+in the habit of mowing those regions every morning with a blunt razor.
+To see Captain Bream go through this operation of mowing when at sea in
+a gale of wind was a sight that might have charmed the humorous, and
+horrified the nervous.  The captain's shoulders were broad, and his
+bones big; his waistcoat, also, was large, his height six feet two, his
+voice a profound bass, and his manner boisterous but hearty.  He was apt
+to roar in conversation, but it was in a gale of wind that you should
+have heard him!  In such circumstances, the celebrated bull of Bashan
+would have been constrained to retire from his presence with its tail
+between its legs.  When we say that Captain Bream's eyes were kind eyes,
+and that the smile of his large mouth was a winning smile, we have
+sketched a full-length portrait of him,--or, as painters might put it,
+an "extra-full-length."
+
+Well, when Captain Bream, having mown his chin, presented himself in
+public, on the morning of the particular day of which we write, he
+appeared to be in a meditative mood, and sauntered slowly, with the
+professional gait of a sailor, through several narrow streets near
+London Bridge.  His hands were thrust into his coat-pockets, and a half
+humorous, half perplexed expression rested on his face.  Evidently
+something troubled him, and he gave vent to a little of that something
+in deep tones, being apt to think aloud as he went along in disjointed
+sentences.
+
+"Very odd," he murmured, "but that girl is always after some queer--
+well, no matter.  It's my business to--but it does puzzle me to guess
+why she should want me to live in such an out-o'-the-way--however, I
+suppose _she_ knows, and that's enough for me."
+
+"Shine yer boots, sir?" said a small voice cutting short these broken
+remarks.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Shine yer boots, sir, an' p'raps I can 'elp yer to clear up yer mind
+w'en I'm a doin' of it."
+
+It was the voice of a small shoeblack, whose eyes looked wistful.
+
+The captain glanced at his boots; they wanted "shining" sadly, for the
+nautical valet who should have attended to such matters had neglected
+his duty that morning.
+
+"Where d'ee live, my lad?" asked the captain, who, being large-hearted
+and having spent most of his life at sea, felt unusual interest in all
+things terrestrial when he chanced to be on shore.
+
+"I live nowheres in par-tickler," answered the boy.
+
+"But where d'ee sleep of a night?"
+
+"Vell, that depends.  Mostly anywheres."
+
+"Got any father?"
+
+"No, sir, I hain't; nor yet no mother--never had no fathers nor mothers,
+as I knows on, an' wot's more, I don't want any.  They're a chancey lot,
+is fathers an' mothers--most of 'em.  Better without 'em altogether, to
+my mind.  Tother foot, sir."
+
+Looking down with a benignant smile at this independent specimen of
+humanity, the captain obeyed orders.
+
+"D'ee make much at this work now, my lad?" asked the captain.
+
+"Not wery much, sir.  Just about enough to keep soul an' body together,
+an' not always that.  It was on'y last veek as I was starvin' to that
+extent that my soul very nigh broke out an' made his escape, but the
+doctor he got 'old of it by the tail an' 'eld on till 'e indooced it to
+stay on a bit longer.  There you are, sir; might shave in 'em!"
+
+"How much to pay?"
+
+"Vell, gen'lemen usually gives me a penny, but that's in or'nary cases.
+Ven I has to shine boots like a pair o' ships' boats I looks for suthin'
+hextra--though I don't always get it!"
+
+"There you are, my lad," said the captain, giving the boy something
+"hextra," which appeared to satisfy him.  Thereafter he proceeded to the
+Bridge, and, embarking on one of the river steamers, was soon deposited
+at Pimlico.  Thence, traversing St. George's Square, he soon found
+himself in the little street in which dwelt the Misses Seaward.  He
+looked about him for some minutes and then entered a green-grocer's
+shop, crushing his hat against the top of the door-way.
+
+Wishing the green-grocer good-morning he asked if lodgings were to be
+had in that neighbourhood.
+
+"Well, yes, sir," he replied, "but I fear that you'd find most of 'em
+rather small for a man of your size."
+
+"No fear o' that," replied the captain with a loud guffaw, which roused
+the grocer's cat a little, "I'm used to small cabins, an' smaller bunks,
+d'ee see, an' can stow myself away easy in any sort of hole.  Why, I've
+managed to snooze in a bunk only five foot four, by clewin' up my legs--
+though it wasn't comfortable.  But it's not the size I care about so
+much as the character o' the landlady.  I like tidy respectable people,
+you see--havin' bin always used to a well-kept ship."
+
+"Ah!  I know one who'll just suit you.  Up at the other end o' the
+street.  Two rooms kept by a young widow who--"
+
+"Hold hard there," interrupted the captain; "none o' your young widows
+for me.  They're dangerous.  Besides, big as I am, I don't want _two_
+rooms to sleep in.  If you know of any old maid, now, with _one_ room--
+that's what would suit me to a tee; an easy-going sort o' woman, who--"
+
+"I know of two elderly _ladies_," interrupted the green-grocer,
+thoughtfully; "they're sisters, and have got a small room to let; but--
+but--they're delicate sort o' creeters, you know; have seen better days,
+an' are raither timid, an' might want a female lodger, or a man who--
+who--"
+
+"Out with it," interrupted the captain, "a man who is soft-spoken and
+well-mannered--not a big noisy old sea-horse like me!  Is that what you
+would say?"
+
+"Just so," answered the green-grocer with an amiable nod.
+
+"What's the name of the sisters?"
+
+"Seaward."
+
+"Seaward! eh!" exclaimed the captain in surprise.  "That's odd, now,
+that a seafarin' man should be sent to seaward for his lodgin's, even
+when he gets on shore.  Ha! ha!  I've always had a leanin' to seaward.
+I'll try the sisters.  They can only tell me to 'bout ship, you know,
+and be off on the other tack."
+
+And again the captain gave such boisterous vent to his mirth that the
+green-grocer's cat got up and walked indignantly away, for, albeit well
+used to the assaults of small boys, it apparently could not stand the
+noise of this new and bass disturber of the peace.
+
+Having ascertained that the Misses Seaward dwelt above the shop in which
+he stood, Captain Bream went straight up-stairs and rapped heavily at
+their door.
+
+Now, although the sisters had been gradually reduced to the extreme of
+poverty, they had hitherto struggled successfully against the necessity
+of performing what is known as the "dirty work" of a house.  By stinting
+themselves in food, working hard at anything they succeeded in getting
+to do, and mending and re-mending their garments until it became
+miraculous, even to themselves, how these managed to hang together, they
+had, up to that period in their history, managed to pay to a slender
+little girl, out of their slender means, a still more slender salary for
+coming night and morning to clean their grate, light their fire, carry
+out their ashes, brush their boots, wash their door-steps, and otherwise
+perform work for which the sisters were peculiarly unfitted by age,
+training, and taste.  This girl's name was Liffie Lee.  She was good as
+far as she went but she did not go far.  Her goodness was not the result
+of principle.  She had no principle; did not know what the word meant,
+but she had a nature, and that nature was soft, unselfish,
+self-oblivious,--the last a blessing of incalculable price!
+
+It was Liffie Lee who responded to Captain Bream's knock.  She was at
+the time about to leave the house in undisturbed possession of its
+owners--or rather, occupiers.
+
+"Does a Miss Seaward live here?"
+
+It was a dark passage, and Liffie Lee almost quaked at the depth and
+metallic solemnity of the voice, as she glanced up at the spot where it
+appeared to come from.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"May I see her?"
+
+"I--I'll see, sir, if you'll wait outside, sir."
+
+She gently yet quickly shut the door in the captain's face, and next
+moment appeared in the little parlour with a flushed face and widely
+open eyes.
+
+The biggest man she had ever seen, or _heard_, she said, wanted to see
+Miss Seaward.
+
+Why did he want to see her and what was his name?
+
+She didn't know, and had omitted to ask his name, having been so
+frightened that she had left him at the door, which she had shut against
+him.
+
+"An', please, Miss," continued Liffie, in a tone of suppressed
+eagerness, "if I was you I'd lock the parlour door in case he bu'sts in
+the outer one.  You might open the winder an' screech for the pleece."
+
+"Oh!  Liffie, what a frightened thing you are," remonstrated Jessie, "go
+and show the man in at once."
+
+"Oh! no, Miss," pleaded Liffie, "you'd better 'ave 'im took up at once.
+You've no notion what dreadful men that sort are.  _I_ know 'em well.
+We've got some of 'em where _we_ live, and--and they're _awful_!"
+
+Another knock at this point cut the conversation short, and Kate herself
+went to open the door.
+
+"May I have a word with Miss Seaward?" asked the captain respectfully.
+
+"Ye'es, certainly," answered Kate, with some hesitation, for, although
+reassured by the visitor's manner, his appearance and voice alarmed her
+too.  She ushered him into the parlour, however, which was suddenly
+reduced to a mere bandbox by contrast with him.
+
+Being politely asked to take a chair, he bowed and took hold of one, but
+on regarding its very slender proportions--it was a cane chair--he
+smiled and shook his head.  The smile did much for him.
+
+"Pray take this one," said Jessie, pointing to the old arm-chair, which
+was strong enough even for him, "our visitors are not usually such--
+such--"
+
+"Thumping walruses! out with it, Miss Seaward," said the captain,
+seating himself--gently, for he had suffered in this matter more than
+once during his life--"I'm used to being found fault with for my size."
+
+"Pray do not imagine," said Jessie, hastening to exculpate herself,
+"that I could be so very impolite as--as to--"
+
+"Yes, yes, I know that," interrupted the captain, blowing his nose--and
+the familiar operation was in itself something awful in such a small
+room--"and I _am_ too big, there's no doubt about that however, it can't
+be helped.  I must just grin and bear it.  But I came here on business,
+so we'll have business first, and pleasure, if you like, afterwards."
+
+"You may go now," said Kate at this point to Liffie Lee, who was still
+standing transfixed in open-mouthed amazement gazing at the visitor.
+
+With native obedience and humility the child left the room, though
+anxious to see and hear more.
+
+"You have a furnished room to let I believe, ladies," said the captain,
+coming at once to the point.
+
+Jessie and Kate glanced at each other.  The latter felt a strong
+tendency to laugh, and the former replied:--
+
+"We have, indeed, one small room--a very small room, in fact a mere
+closet with a window in the roof,--which we are very anxious to let if
+possible to a lady--a--female.  It is very poorly furnished, but it is
+comfortable, and we would make it very cheap.  Is it about the hiring of
+such a room that you come?"
+
+"Yes, madam, it is," said the captain, decisively.
+
+"But is the lady for whom you act," said Jessie, "prepared for a
+particularly small room, and _very_ poorly furnished?"
+
+"Yes, she is," replied the captain with a loud guffaw that made the very
+windows vibrate; "in fact _I_ am the lady who wants the room.  It's true
+I'm not very lady-like, but I can say for myself that I'll give you less
+trouble than many a lady would, an' I don't mind the cost."
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed Miss Seaward with a mingled look of amusement
+and perplexity which she did not attempt to conceal, while Kate laughed
+outright; "why, sir, the room is not much, if at all, longer than
+yourself."
+
+"No matter," returned the captain, "I'm nowise particular, an' I've been
+recommended to come to you; so here I am, ready to strike a bargain if
+you're agreeable."
+
+"Pray, may I ask who recommended you?" said Jessie.
+
+The seaman looked perplexed for a moment.
+
+"Well, I didn't observe his name over the door," he said, "but the man
+in the shop below recommended me."
+
+"Oh? the green-grocer!" exclaimed both ladies together, but they did not
+add what they thought, namely, that the green-grocer was a very
+impertinent fellow to play off upon them what looked very much like a
+practical joke.
+
+"Perhaps the best way to settle the matter," said Kate, "will be to show
+the gentleman our room.  He will then understand the impossibility."
+
+"That's right," exclaimed the captain; rising--and in doing so he seemed
+about to damage the ceiling--"let's go below, by all means, and see the
+cabin."
+
+"It is not down-stairs," remarked Jessie, leading the way; "we are at
+the top of the house here, and the room is on a level with this one."
+
+"So much the better.  I like a deck-cabin.  In fact I've bin used to it
+aboard my last ship."
+
+On being ushered into the room which he wished to hire, the sailor found
+himself in an apartment so very unsuited to his size and character that
+even he felt slightly troubled.
+
+"It's not so much the size that bothers me," he said, stroking his chin
+gently, "as the fittings."
+
+There was some ground for the seaman's perplexity, for the closet in
+which he stood, apart from the fact of its being only ten feet long by
+six broad, had been arranged by the tasteful sisters after the manner of
+a lady's boudoir, with a view to captivate some poor sister of very
+limited means, or, perhaps, some humble-minded and possibly undersized
+young clerk from the country.  The bed, besides being rather small, and
+covered with a snow-white counterpane, was canopied with white muslin
+curtains lined with pink calico.  The wash-hand stand was low, fragile,
+and diminutive.  The little deal table, which occupied an inconveniently
+large proportion of the space, was clothed in a garment similar to that
+of the bed.  The one solitary chair was of that cheap construction which
+is meant to creak warningly when sat upon by light people, and to
+resolve itself into match-wood when the desecrator is heavy.  Two
+pictures graced the walls--one the infant Samuel in a rosewood frame,
+the other an oil painting--of probably the first century, for its
+subject was quite undistinguishable--in a gold slip.  The latter was a
+relic of better days--a spared relic, which the public had refused to
+buy at any price, though the auctioneer had described it as a rare
+specimen of one of the old--the very old--masters, with Rembrandtesque
+proclivities.  No chest of drawers obtruded itself in that small
+chamber, but instead thereof the economical yet provident sisters,
+foreseeing the importance of a retreat for garments, had supplied a deal
+box, of which they stuffed the lid and then covered the whole with green
+baize, thus causing it to serve the double purpose of a wardrobe and a
+small sofa.
+
+"However," said Captain Bream, after a brief but careful look round,
+"it'll do.  With a little cuttin' and carvin' here an' there, we'll
+manage to squeeze in, for you must know, ladies, that we sea-farin' men
+have a wonderful knack o' stuffin' a good deal into small space."
+
+The sisters made no reply.  Indeed they were speechless, and horrified
+at the bare idea of the entrance of so huge a lodger into their quiet
+home.
+
+"Look ye here, now," he continued in a comfortable, self-satisfied tone,
+as he expanded his great arms along the length of the bed to measure it,
+"the bunk's about five foot eight inches long.  Well, I'm about six foot
+two in my socks--six inches short; that's a difficulty no doubt, but
+it's get-over-able this way, we'll splice the green box to it."
+
+He grasped the sofa-wardrobe as he spoke, and placed it to the foot of
+the bed, then embracing the entire mass of mattresses and bedding at the
+lower end, raised it up, thrust the green box under with his foot, and
+laid the bedding down on it--thus adding about eighteen inches to the
+length.
+
+"There you are, d'ee see--quite long enough, an' a foot to spare."
+
+"But it does not fit," urged Kate, who, becoming desperate, resolved to
+throw every possible obstruction in the way.
+
+"That's true, madam," returned the captain with an approving nod.  "I
+see you've got a mechanical eye--there's a difference of elevation
+'tween the box and the bed of three inches or more, but bless you,
+that's nothin' to speak of.  If you'd ever been in a gale o' wind at sea
+you'd know that we seadogs are used to considerable difference of
+elevation between our heads an' feet.  My top-coat stuffed in'll put
+that to rights.  But you'll have to furl the flummery tops'ls--to lower
+'em altogether would be safer."
+
+He took hold of the muslin curtains with great tenderness as he spoke,
+fearing, apparently, to damage them.
+
+"You see," he continued, apologetically, "I'm not used to this sort o'
+thing.  Moreover, I've a tendency to nightmare.  Don't alarm yourselves,
+ladies, I never do anything worse to disturb folk than give a shout or a
+yell or two, but occasionally I do let fly with a leg or an arm when the
+fit's on me, an' if I should get entangled with this flummery, you know
+I'd be apt to damage it.  Yes, the safest way will be to douse the
+tops'ls altogether.  As to the chair--well, I'll supply a noo one
+that'll stand rough weather.  If you'll also clear away the petticoats
+from the table it'll do well enough.  In regard to the lookin'-glass, I
+know pretty well what I'm like, an' don't have any desire to study my
+portrait.  As for shavin', I've got a bull's-eye sort of glass in the
+lid o' my soap-box that serves all my purpose, and I shave wi' cold
+water, so I won't be botherin' you in the mornin's for hot.  I've got a
+paintin' of my last ship--the Daisy--done in water-colours--it's a
+pretty big 'un, but by hangin' Samuel on the other bulk-head, an'
+stickin' that black thing over the door, we can make room for it."
+
+As Captain Bream ran on in this fashion, smoothing down all
+difficulties, and making everything comfortable, the poor sisters grew
+more and more desperate, and Kate felt a tendency to recklessness coming
+on.  Suddenly a happy thought occurred to her.
+
+"But sir," she interposed with much firmness of tone and manner, "there
+is one great difficulty in the way of our letting the room to you which
+I fear cannot be overcome."
+
+The captain looked at her inquiringly, and Jessie regarded her with
+admiration and wonder, for she could not conceive what this
+insurmountable difficulty could be.
+
+"My sister and I," continued Kate, "have both an _unconquerable_ dislike
+to tobacco--"
+
+"Oh! _that's_ no objection," cried the captain with a light laugh--which
+in him, however, was an ear-splitting guffaw--"for I don't smoke!"
+
+"Don't smoke?" repeated both sisters in tones of incredulity, for in
+their imagination a seaman who did not smoke seemed as great an
+impossibility as a street boy who did not whistle.
+
+"An' what's more," continued the captain, "I don't drink.  I'm a
+tee-total abstainer.  I leave smokin' to steam-funnels, an' drinkin' to
+the fish."
+
+"But," persisted Kate, on whom another happy thought had descended, "my
+sister and I keep very early hours, and a latch-key we could never--"
+
+"Pooh! that's no difficulty," again interrupted this unconquerable man
+of the sea; "I hate late hours myself, when I'm ashore, havin' more than
+enough of 'em when afloat.  I'll go to bed regularly at nine o'clock,
+an' won't want a latch-key."
+
+The idea of such a man going to bed at all was awesome enough, but the
+notion of his doing so in that small room, and in that delicately
+arranged little bed under that roof-tree, was so perplexing, that the
+sisters anxiously rummaged their minds for a new objection, but could
+find none until their visitor asked the rent of the room.  Then Kate was
+assailed by another happy thought, and promptly named double the amount
+which she and Jessie had previously fixed as its value--which amount she
+felt sure would prove prohibitory.
+
+Her dismay, then, may be imagined when the captain exclaimed with a
+sigh--perhaps it were better to say a breeze--of relief:--
+
+"Well, then, that's all comfortably settled.  I consider the rent quite
+moderate.  I'll send up my chest to-morrow mornin', an' will turn up
+myself in the evenin'.  I'll bid ye good-day now, ladies, an' beg your
+pardon for keepin' you so long about this little matter."
+
+He held out his hand.  One after another the crushed sisters put their
+delicate little hands into the seaman's enormous paw, and meekly bade
+him good-bye, after which the nautical giant strode noisily out of the
+house, shut the door with an inadvertent bang, stumbled heavily down the
+dark stair and passage, and finally vanished from the scene.
+
+Then Jessie and Kate Seaward returned to their little parlour, sat down
+at opposite sides of the miniature grate, and gazed at each other for
+some minutes in solemn silence--both strongly impressed with the feeling
+that they had passed through a tremendous storm, and got suddenly into a
+profoundly dead calm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+BILLY BRIGHT THE FISHER-BOY VISITS LONDON--HAS A FIGHT--ENLARGES HIS
+MIND, AND UNDERTAKES BUSINESS.
+
+We must now return to the _Evening Star_ fishing-smack, but only for a
+few minutes at present.  Later on we shall have occasion to visit her
+under stirring circumstances.  We saw her last heading eastward to her
+fishing-ground in the North Sea.  We present her now, after a two
+months' trip, sailing to the west, homeward bound.
+
+Eight weeks at sea; nine days on shore, is the unvarying routine of the
+North Sea smacksman's life, summer and winter, all the year round.  Two
+months of toil and exposure of the severest kind, fair-weather or foul,
+and little more than one week of repose in the bosom of his family--
+varied by visits more or less frequent to the tap-room of the
+public-house.  It is a rugged life to body and soul.  Severest toil and
+little rest for the one; strong temptation and little refreshment to the
+other.
+
+"Strong temptation!" you exclaim, "what! out on the heaving billows and
+among the howling gales of winter on the North Sea?"
+
+Ay, stronger temptation than you might suppose, as, in the sequel, you
+shall see.
+
+But we are homeward bound just now.  One of the gales above referred to
+is blowing itself out and the _Evening Star_ is threading her way among
+the shoals to her brief repose in Yarmouth.
+
+The crew are standing about the deck looking eagerly towards the land,
+and little Billy is steering.  [See Frontispiece.]
+
+Yes, that ridiculous atom of humanity, with a rope, or "steering
+lanyard," round the tiller to prevent its knocking him down or sweeping
+him overboard, stands there guiding the plunging smack on her course
+through the dangerous shoals.  Of course Billy's father has an eye on
+him, but he does not require to say more than an occasional word at long
+intervals.
+
+Need we observe that our little hero is no longer subject to the demon
+which felled him at starting, and made his rosy face so pale?  One
+glance at the healthy brown cheeks will settle that question.  Another
+glance at his costume will suffice to explain, without words, much of
+Billy's life during the past eight weeks.  The sou'-wester is crushed
+and soiled, the coat is limp, rent, mended, button-bereaved more or
+less, and bespattered, and the boots wear the aspect of having seen
+service.  The little hands too, which even while ashore were not
+particularly white, now bear traces of having had much to do with tar,
+and grease, and fishy substances, besides being red with cold, swelled
+with sundry bruises, and seamed with several scars--for Billy is
+reckless by nature, and it takes time and much experience of suffering
+to teach a man how to take care of his hands in the fisheries of the
+North Sea!
+
+An hour or two more sufficed to carry our smack into port, and then the
+various members of the crew hurried home.
+
+Billy swaggered beside his father and tried to look manly until he
+reached his own door, where all thought of personal appearance suddenly
+vanished, and he leaped with an unmanly squeal of delight into his
+mother's arms.  You may be sure that those arms did not spare him!
+
+"You'll not go down to-night, David?" said Mrs Bright, when, having
+half choked her son, she turned to her husband.
+
+"No, lass,--I won't," said the skipper in a tone of decision.
+
+Mrs Bright was much gratified by the promise, for well did she know,
+from bitter experience, that if her David went down to meet his comrades
+at the public-house on his arrival, his brief holidays would probably be
+spent in a state of semi-intoxication.  Indeed, even with this promise
+she knew that much of his time, and a good deal of his hardly earned
+money, would be devoted to the publican.
+
+"We'll not have much of Billy's company this week, I fear," said Mrs
+Bright, with a glance of pride at her son, who returned it with a look
+of surprise.
+
+"Why so, Nell?" asked her husband.
+
+"Because he has got to go to London."
+
+"To Lun'on!" exclaimed the father.
+
+"Lun'on!" echoed the son.
+
+"Yes; it seems that Miss Ruth--that dear young lady, Miss Ruth Dotropy--
+you remember her, Billy?"
+
+"Remember her!  I should think I does," said the boy, emphatically, "if
+I was to live as long as Meethusilim I'd never forget Miss Dotropy."
+
+"Well," continued Mrs Bright, "she wrote and asked Joe Davidson's wife
+to send her a fisher-boy to London for a day or two, and she'd pay his
+railway fare up an' back, and all his expenses.  What ever Miss Ruth
+wants to do with him I don't know, nor any one else.  Mrs Davidson
+couldn't find a boy that was fit to send, so she said she'd wait till
+you came back, Billy, and send _you_ up."
+
+"Well, wonders ain't a-goin' to cease yet a while," exclaimed Billy,
+with a look of gratified pride.  "Hows'ever, I'm game for anythink--from
+pitch an' toss up'ards.  When am I to start, mother?"
+
+"To-morrow, by the first train."
+
+"All right--an' what sort o' rig?  I couldn't go in them 'ere slops, you
+know.  It wouldn't give 'em a k'rect idear o' Yarmouth boys, would it?"
+
+"Of course not sonny, an I've got ready your old Sunday coat, it ain't
+too small for you yet--an' some other things."
+
+Accordingly, rigged out, as he expressed it, in a well-mended and
+brushed pilot-cloth coat; a round blue-cloth cap; a pair of trousers to
+match, and a pair of new shoes, Billy found himself speeding towards the
+great city with what he styled "a stiff breakfast under hatches, four or
+five shillings in the locker, an' a bu'stin' heart beneath his veskit."
+
+In a few hours he found himself in the bewildering streets, inquiring
+his way to the great square in the West End where Mrs Dotropy dwelt.
+
+The first person of whom he made inquiry was a street boy, and, while he
+was speaking, the city Arab regarded the provincial boy's innocent
+face--for it was a peculiarly innocent face when in repose--with a look
+of mingled curiosity and cunning.
+
+"Now look 'ee here, young 'un," said the Arab, "I don't know nothink
+about the Vest End squares, an' what's more I don't want to, but I do
+know a lot about the East End streets, an' if you'll come with me,
+I'll--"
+
+"Thank 'ee, no," interrupted Billy, with unlooked-for decision, "I've
+got business to look arter at the _West_ End."
+
+"Yell, cooriously enough," returned the Arab, "I've got business at the
+_East_ End.  By the vay, you don't 'appen to 'ave any browns--any
+coppers--about you--eh?"
+
+"Of course I has.  You don't suppose a man goes cruisin' about Lun'on
+without any shot in the locker, do you?"
+
+"To be sure not," responded the street boy; "I might 'ave know'd that a
+man like you wouldn't, anyhow.  Now, it so 'appens that I'm wery much in
+want o' change.  You couldn't give me browns for a sixpence, could you?"
+
+The Arab said this so earnestly--at the same time producing a sixpence,
+or something that looked like one, from his pockets--that the provincial
+boy's rising suspicions were quite disarmed.
+
+"Let me see," he said, plunging his hand into his trousers pocket--"one,
+two, three--no, I've only got fourpence, but--"
+
+He was cut short by the Arab making a sudden grasp at the coins, which
+sent most of them spinning on the pavement.
+
+Like lightning little Billy sprang forward and planted his right fist on
+the point of the Arab's nose with such vigour that the blow caused him
+to stagger backwards.  Before he could recover Billy followed him up
+with a left-hander on the forehead and a right-hander on the chest,
+which last sent him over on his back.  So sudden was the onset that the
+passers-by scarcely understood what was occurring before it was all
+over.  A grave policeman stepped forward at the moment.  The Arab rose,
+glided into a whirl of wheels and horses' legs, and disappeared, while
+Billy stood still with doubled fists glaring defiance.
+
+"Now then, my boy, what's all this about?" said the man in blue, placing
+a large hand gently on the small shoulder.
+
+"He's bin and knocked my coppers about," said our little hero
+indignantly, as he looked up, but the stern yet kindly smile on the
+policeman's face restored him, and he condescended on a fuller
+explanation as he proceeded to pick up his pence.
+
+Having been cautioned about the danger of entering into conversation
+with strangers in London--especially with street boys--Billy was
+directed to a Pimlico omnibus, and deposited not far from his
+destination.  Inquiring his way thereafter of several policemen--who
+were, as he afterwards related to admiring friends, as thick in London
+as bloaters in Yarmouth--he found himself in front of the Dotropy
+residence.
+
+"Yes, my little man," said the footman who opened the door of the West
+End mansion, "Miss Ruth is at 'ome, and 'as been expecting you.  Come
+this way."
+
+That footman lost ground in Billy's estimation because of using the word
+_little_.  If he had said "my boy," it would have been all right; "my
+man" would have been gratifying; but "my little man" was repulsive.  A
+smart servant girl who chanced to see him on his way to the library also
+caused him much pain by whispering to her fellow something about a sweet
+innocent-faced darling, and he put on a savage frown, as he was ushered
+into the room, by way of counteracting the sweet innocence.  A glass
+opposite suddenly revealed to its owner the smooth rosy-brown visage,
+screwed up in a compound expression.  That expression changed so swiftly
+to sheer surprise, that a burst of involuntary laughter was the result.
+A deep flush, and silence, followed, as the urchin looked with some
+confusion round the room to see if he had been observed or overheard,
+and a sense of relief came as he found that he was alone.  No one had
+seen or heard him except some of the Dotropy ancestors who had "come
+over" with the Conqueror, and who gazed sternly from the walls.  For,
+you see, being a family of note, the dining-room could not hold all the
+ancestors, so that some of them had to be accommodated in the library.
+
+That glance round had a powerful effect on the mind of the fisher-boy,
+so powerful indeed that all thought of self vanished, for he found
+himself for the first time, in a room the like of which he had never
+seen, or heard, or dreamed of.
+
+He knew, of course, that there were libraries in Yarmouth, and was aware
+that they had something to do with books, but he had never seen a
+collection on a large scale, and, up to that time, had no particular
+curiosity about books.
+
+Indeed, if truth must be told, Billy hated books, because the only point
+in regard to which he and his mother had ever differed was a book!  A
+tattered, ragged, much-soiled book it was, with big letters at the
+beginning, simple arrangements of letters in the middle, and maddening
+compounds of them towards the end.  Earnestly, patiently, lovingly, yet
+perseveringly, had Mrs Bright tried to drill the contents of that book
+into Billy's unwilling brain, but with little success, for, albeit a
+willing and obliging child, there was a limit to his powers of
+comprehension, and a tendency in his young mind to hold in contempt what
+he did not understand.
+
+One day a somewhat pedantic visitor told Billy that he would never be a
+great man if he did not try to understand the book in question--to
+thoroughly digest it.
+
+"You hear what the gentleman says, Billy, you dirty little gurnet," said
+David Bright on that occasion, "you've got to di-gest it, my lad, to
+di-gest it."
+
+"Yes, father," said Billy, with a finger in his mouth and his eyes on
+the visitor.
+
+The boy's mind was inquisitive and ingenious.  He pestered his father,
+after the visitor had gone, for an explanation as to what he meant by
+digesting the book.
+
+"Why, sonny," returned David, knitting his brows very hard, for the
+question was somewhat of a puzzler, "he means that you've got to stow
+away in your brain the knowledge that's in the book, an' work away at
+it--di-gest it, d'ee see--same as you stow grub into yer stummick an'
+digest that."
+
+Billy pondered this a long time till a happy thought occurred to him.
+
+"_I'll_ digest it," said he, slapping his thigh one day when he was left
+alone in the house.  "We'll all di-gest it together!"
+
+He jumped up, took the lid off a pot of pea-soup that was boiling on the
+fire, and dropped the hated book into it.
+
+"What's this i' the soup, Nell?" said David that day at dinner, as he
+fished a mass of curious substance out of the pot.  "Many a queer thing
+have I fished up i' the trawl from the bottom o' the North Sea, but
+ne'er afore did I make such a haul as this in a pot o' pea-soup.  What
+is't?"
+
+"Why, David," replied the wife, examining the substance with a puzzled
+expression, "I do believe it's the primer!"
+
+They both turned their eyes inquiringly on the boy, who sat gravely
+watching them.
+
+"All right, father," he said, "I put 'im in.  We're a-goin' to di-gest
+it, you know."
+
+"Dirty boy!" exclaimed his mother, flinging the remains of the boiled
+book under the grate.  "You've ruined the soup."
+
+"Never a bit, Nell," said the skipper, who was in no wise particular as
+to his food, "clean paper an' print can't do no damage to the soup.  An'
+after all, I don't see why a man shouldn't take in knowledge as well
+through the stummick as through the brain.  It don't matter a roker's
+tail whether you ship cargo through the main-hatch or through the
+fore-hatch, so long as it gits inside somehow.  Come, let's have a bowl
+of it.  I never was good at letters myself, an' I'll be bound to say
+that Billy and I will di-gest the book better this way than the right
+way."
+
+Thus was the finishing touch put to Billy Bright's education at that
+time, and we have described the incident in order that the reader may
+fully understand the condition of the boy's mind as he stood gazing
+round the library of the West End mansion.
+
+"Books!" exclaimed Billy, afterwards, when questioned by a Yarmouth
+friend, "I should just think there _was_ books.  Oh! it's o' no manner
+o' use tryin' to tell 'ee about it.  There was books from the floor to
+the ceilin' all round the room--books in red covers, an' blue covers,
+an' green, an' yellow, an' pink, an' white--all the colours in the
+rainbow, and all of 'em more or less kivered wi' gold--w'y--I don't know
+what their insides was worth, but sartin sure am I that they couldn't
+come up to their outsides.  Mints of money must 'ave bin spent in
+kiverin' of 'em.  An' there was ladders to git at 'em--a short un to git
+at the books below, an' a long un to go aloft for 'em in the top rows.
+What people finds to write about beats me to understand; but who ever
+buys and reads it all beats me wuss."
+
+While new and puzzling thoughts were thus chasing each other through the
+fisher-boy's brain Ruth Dotropy entered.
+
+"What!  Billy Bright," she exclaimed in a tone of great satisfaction,
+hurrying forward and holding out her hand.  "I'm so glad they have sent
+_you_.  I would have asked them to send you, when I wrote, but thought
+you were at sea."
+
+"Yes, Miss, but I've got back again," said Billy, grasping the offered
+hand timidly, fearing to soil it.
+
+For the same reason he sat down carefully on the edge of a chair, when
+Ruth said heartily, "Come, sit down and let's have a talk together,"
+for, you see, he had become so accustomed to fishy clothes and tarred
+hands that he had a tendency to forget that he was now "clean" and "in a
+split-new rig."
+
+Ruth's manner and reception put the poor boy at once at his ease.  For
+some time she plied him with questions about the fisher-folk of Yarmouth
+and Gorleston, in whom she had taken great interest during a summer
+spent at the former town,--at which time she had made the acquaintance
+of little Billy.  Then she began to talk of the sea and the fishery, and
+the smacks with their crews.  Of course the boy was in his element on
+these subjects, and not only answered his fair questioner fully, but
+volunteered a number of anecdotes, and a vast amount of interesting
+information about fishing, which quite charmed Ruth, inducing her to
+encourage him to go on.
+
+"Oh! yes, Miss," he said, "it's quite true what you've bin told.
+There's hundreds and hundreds of smacks a-fishin' out there on the North
+Sea all the year round, summer an' winter.  In course I can't say
+whether there's a popilation, as you calls it, of over twelve thousand,
+always afloat, never havin' counted 'em myself, but I know there must be
+a-many thousand men an' boys there."
+
+"Billy was right.  There is really a population of over 12,000 men and
+boys afloat all the year round on the North Sea, engaged in the arduous
+work of daily supplying the London and other markets with fresh fish."
+
+"And what port do they run for when a storm comes on?" asked Ruth.
+
+"What port, Miss? why, they don't run for no port at all, cos why?
+there's no port near enough to run for."
+
+"Do you mean to say, that they remain at sea during all the storms--even
+the worst?"
+
+"That's just what we does, Miss.  Blow high, blow low, it's all the
+same; we must weather it the best way we can.  An' you should see how it
+blows in winter!  That's the time we catches it wust.  It's so cold too!
+I've not bin out in winter yet myself, but father says it's cold enough
+to freeze the nose off your face, an' it blows 'ard enough a'most to
+blow you inside out.  You wouldn't like to face that sort o' thing--
+would you, Miss?"
+
+With a light laugh Ruth admitted that she disliked the idea of such
+North Sea experiences.
+
+"Oh! you've no idea, Miss, how it do blow sometimes," continued Billy,
+who was a naturally communicative boy, and felt that he had got hold of
+a sympathetic ear.  "Have you ever heard of the gale that blew so 'ard
+that they had to station two men an' a boy to hold on to the captain's
+hair for fear it should be blowed right off his 'ead?"
+
+"Yes," answered Ruth, with a silvery laugh.  "I've heard of that gale."
+
+"Have you, Miss?" said Billy with a slightly surprised look.  "That's
+queer, now.  I thought nobody know'd o' that gale 'cept us o' the North
+Sea, an', p'raps, some o' the people o' Yarmouth an' Gorleston."
+
+"I rather think that I must have read of it somewhere," said Ruth.
+Billy glanced reproachfully at the surrounding books, under the
+impression that it must have been one of these which had taken the wind
+out of his sails.
+
+"Well, Miss," he continued, "I don't mean for to say I ever was in a
+gale that obliged us to be careful of the skipper's hair, but I do say
+that father's seed somethink like it, for many a time our smack has bin
+blowed over on her beam-ends--that means laid a'most flat, Miss, with
+'er sails on the sea.  One night father's smack was sailin' along
+close-hauled when a heavy sea struck 'er abaft the channels, and filled
+the bag o' the mains'l.  She was just risin' to clear herself when
+another sea follared, filled the mains'l again, an' sent 'er on 'er
+beam-ends.  The sea was makin' a clean breach over 'er from stem to
+stern, an' cleared the deck o' the boat an' gear an' everythink.  Down
+went all hands below an' shut the companion, to prevent 'er being
+swamped.  Meanwhile the weight o' water bu'st the mains'l, so that the
+vessel partly righted, an' let the hands come on deck agin.  Then, after
+the gale had eased a bit, two or three o' their comrades bore down on
+'em and towed 'em round, so as the wind got under 'er an' lifted 'er a
+bit, but the ballast had bin shot from the bilge into the side, so they
+couldn't right her altogether, but had to tow 'er into port that way--
+over two hundred miles--the snow an' hail blowin', too, like one
+o'clock!"
+
+"Really, they must have had a terrible time of it," returned Ruth,
+"though I don't know exactly how dreadful `one o'clock' may be.  But
+tell me, Billy, do the fishermen like the worsted mitts and helmets and
+comforters that were sent to them from this house last year?"
+
+"Oh! don't they, just!  I've heard them blessin' the ladies as sent 'em,
+many a time.  You see, Miss, the oil-skins chafe our wrists most awful
+when we're workin' of the gear--"
+
+"What is the gear, Billy?"
+
+"The nets, Miss, an' all the tackle as belongs to 'em.  An' then the
+salt water makes the sores wuss--it used to be quite awful, but the
+cuffs keeps us all right.  An' the books an' tracts, too, Miss--the
+hands are wery fond o' them, an'--"
+
+"We will talk about the books and tracts another time," said Ruth,
+interrupting, "but just now we must proceed to business.  Of course you
+understand that I must have some object in view in sending for a
+fisher-boy from Yarmouth."
+
+"Well, Miss, it did occur to me that I wasn't axed to come here for
+nuffin'."
+
+"Just so, my boy.  Now I want your help, so I will explain.  We are to
+have what is called a drawing-room meeting here in a few days, in behalf
+of the Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen, and one of your fisher captains is
+to be present to give an account of the work carried on among the men of
+the fleet by the mission vessels.  So I want you to be there as one of
+the boys--"
+
+"Not to speak to 'em, Miss, I hope?" said Billy, with a look of affected
+modesty.
+
+"No, not to speak," replied Ruth, laughing, "only to represent the boys
+of the fleet.  But that's not the main thing I want you for.  It is
+this, and remember, Billy, that I am now taking you into my confidence,
+so you must not tell what I shall speak to you about to any living
+soul."
+
+"Not even to mother?" asked the boy.
+
+"No, not even--well, you _may_ tell it to your mother, for boys ought to
+have no secrets from their mothers; besides, _your_ mother is a discreet
+woman, and lives a long way off from London.  You must know, then,
+Billy, that I have two very dear friends--two ladies--who are in deep
+poverty, and I want to give them money--"
+
+"Well, why don't you give it 'em, Miss?" said Billy, seeing that Ruth
+hesitated.  "You must have lots of it to give away," he added, looking
+contemplatively round.
+
+"Yes, thank God, who gave it to me, I have, as you say, lots of it, but
+I cannot give it to the dear ladies I speak of because--because--"
+
+"They're too proud to take it, p'raps," suggested Billy.
+
+"No; they are not proud--very far from it; but they are sensitive."
+
+"What's that, Miss?"
+
+Ruth was puzzled for a reply.
+
+"It--it means," she said, "that they have delicate feelings, which
+cannot bear the idea of accepting money without working for it, when
+there are so many millions of poor people without money who _cannot_
+work for it.  They once said to me, indeed, that if they were to accept
+money in charity they would feel as if they were robbing the really
+poor."
+
+"Why don't they work, then?" asked Billy in some surprise.  "Why don't
+they go to sea as stooardesses or somethink o' that sort?"
+
+"Because they have never been trained to such work, or, indeed, to any
+particular work," returned Ruth; "moreover, they are in rather delicate
+health, and are not young.  Their father was rich, and meant to leave
+them plenty to live on, but he failed, and left them in broken health
+without a penny.  Wasn't it sad?"
+
+"Indeed it was, Miss," replied the boy, whose ready sympathy was easily
+enlisted.
+
+"Well, now, Billy, I want you to go to see these ladies.  Tell them that
+you are a fisher-boy belonging to the North sea trawling fleet, and that
+you have called from a house which wants a job undertaken.  You will
+then explain about the fishery, and how the wrists of the men are
+chafed, and break out into painful sores, and how worsted mitts serve
+the purpose at once of prevention and cure.  Say that the house by which
+you have been sent has many hands at work--and so I have, Billy, for
+many ladies send the cuffs and things made by them for the fleet to _me_
+to be forwarded, only they work gratuitously, and I want the work done
+by my two friends to be paid for, you understand?  Tell them that still
+more hands are wanted, and ask them if they are open to an engagement.
+You must be very matter-of-fact, grave, and businesslike, you know.  Ask
+them how many pairs they think they will be able to make in a week, and
+say that the price to be paid will be fixed on receipt of the first
+sample.  But, remember, on no account are you to mention the name of the
+house that sent you; you will also leave with them this bag of worsted.
+Now, do you fully understand?"
+
+Billy replied by a decided wink, coupled with an intelligent nod.
+
+After a good deal of further advice and explanation, Ruth gave Billy the
+name and address of her friends, and sent him forth on his mission.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+HOW BILLY CONDUCTS THE BUSINESS--HOW CAPTAIN BREAM OVERCOMES THE
+SISTERS, AND HOW JESSIE SEAWARD SEES MYSTERY IN EVERYTHING.
+
+"I wonder," said Billy to himself on reaching the street as he looked
+down at the legs of his trousers, "I wonder if they're any shorter.
+Yes, they don't seem to be quite so far down on the shoes as when I left
+Yarmouth.  I _must_ have grow'd an inch or two since I came up to
+Lun'on!"
+
+Under this gratifying impression the fisher-boy drew himself up to his
+full height, his little chest swelling with new sensations, and his
+whole body rolling along with a nautical swagger that drew on him the
+admiration of some, the contempt of others, and caused several street
+boys to ask "if his mother knowed 'e was hout," and other insolent
+questions.
+
+But Billy cared for none of these things.  The provincial boy was quite
+equal to the occasion, though his return "chaff" smacked much of salt
+water.
+
+Arrived at the poverty-stricken street in which the Misses Seaward
+dwelt, Billy mounted the narrow staircase and knocked at the door.  It
+was opened by Liffie Lee, who had remained on that day to accomplish
+some extra work.
+
+"Is your missis at home, my dear?"
+
+"There ain't no missis here, an' I ain't _your_ dear," was the prompt
+reply.
+
+Billy was taken aback.  He had not anticipated so ready and caustic a
+response, in one so small and child-like.
+
+"Come now--no offence meant," he said, "but you're not a-goin' to deny
+that the Miss Seawards does live here."
+
+"I ain't a-goin' to deny nothink," replied Liffie, a little softened by
+the boy's apologetic tone, "only when I'm expected to give a civil
+answer, I expects a civil question."
+
+"That's all fair an' aboveboard.  Now, will you tell the Miss Seawards I
+wants to see 'em, on a matter of business--of importance."
+
+Another minute and Billy stood in the presence of the ladies he wished
+to see.  Prepared beforehand to like them, his affections were at once
+fixed for ever by the first glimpse of their kindly faces.
+
+With a matter-of-fact gravity, that greatly amused the sisters--though
+they carefully concealed their feelings--little Billy stated his
+business, and, in so doing, threw his auditors into a flutter of hope
+and gratitude, surprise and perplexity.
+
+"But what is the name of the house that sends you?" asked Miss Jessie.
+
+"That I am not allowed for to tell," said the boy-of-business, firmly.
+
+"A mercantile house in the city, I suppose," said Kate.
+
+"What sort o' house it may be is more than a sea-farin' man like me
+knows, an' of course it's in the city.  You wouldn't expect a
+business-house to be in the country, would you? all I know is that they
+want mitts made--hundreds of 'em--no end o' mitts--an' they hain't got
+hands enough to make 'em, so they sent me to ask if you'll undertake to
+help in the work, or if they're to git some one else to do it.  Now,
+will you, or will you not? that's the pint."
+
+"Of course we shall be only too happy," answered Jessie, "though the
+application is strange.  How did you come to know that we were in want
+of--that is, who sent you to us?"
+
+"The house sent me, as I said afore, Miss."
+
+"Yes, but how did the house come to know of our existence, and how is it
+that a house of any sort should send a sailor-boy as its messenger?"
+
+"How the house came to know of you is more than I can say.  They don't
+tell me all the outs-an'-ins of their affairs, you know.  As to a house
+sendin' a sailor-boy as its messenger--did you ever hear of the great
+house of Messrs. Hewett and Company, what supplies Billin'sgate with
+fish?"
+
+"I'm not sure--well, yes, I think I have heard of that house," said
+Kate, "though we are not in the way of hearing much about the commercial
+houses of London."
+
+"Well," continued Billy, "that house sends hundreds of fisher-boys as
+messengers.  It sends 'em to the deep-sea with a message to the fish, an
+the message is--`come out o' the water you skulkin' critters, an' be
+sent up to Billin'sgate to be sold an' eaten!'  The fish don't come
+willin'ly, I'm bound for to say that, but we make 'em come all the same,
+willin' or not, for we've wonderful powers o' persuasion.  So you see,
+houses _do_ send fisher-boys as messengers sometimes; now, what am I to
+say to the partikler house as sends _me_? will you go in for mitts? you
+may take comforters if you prefer it, or helmets."
+
+"What do you mean by helmets, my boy?"
+
+"Worsted ones, of course.  Things made to kiver up a man's head and
+neck and come down to his shoulders, with a hole in front just big
+enough to let his eyes, nose, and cheek-bones come through.  With a
+sou'-wester on top, and a comforter round the neck, they're not so bad
+in a stiff nor'-wester in Janoowairy.  Now's your chance, ladies, now,
+or niver!"
+
+There was something so ludicrous in the manly tone and decided manner of
+the smooth-faced little creature before them, that the sisters burst
+into a hearty fit of laughter.
+
+"Forgive us, dear boy, but the idea of our being asked in this sudden
+way to make innumerable mitts and comforters and worsted helmets seems
+so odd that we can't help laughing.  What is your name?  That is not a
+secret, I hope?"
+
+"By no means.  My name is Billy Bright.  If you're very partikler, you
+may call me Willum."
+
+"I prefer Billy," said Kate.  "Now, Billy, it is near our dinner hour.
+Will you stay and dine with us?  If you do, you'll meet such a nice
+man--such a big man too--and somewhat in your own line of life; a
+sea-captain.  We expect him every--"
+
+"No, thank 'ee, Miss," interrupted the boy, rising abruptly.  "I sees
+more than enough o' big sea-captings when I'm afloat.  Besides, I've got
+more business on hand, so I'll bid 'ee good-day."
+
+Pulling his forelock he left the room.
+
+"The ladies has undertook some work for me, my dear," said Billy to
+Liffie Lee, as he stood at the door buttoning up his little coat, "so
+p'raps I may see you again."
+
+"It won't break my 'art if you don't," replied Liffie; "no, nor yet
+yours."
+
+"Speak for yourself, young 'ooman.  You don't know nothing about _my_
+'art."
+
+As he spoke, a heavy foot was heard at the bottom of the stair.
+
+"That's our lodger," said Liffie; "no foot but his can bang the stair or
+make it creak like that."
+
+"Well, I'm off," cried Billy, descending two steps at a time.
+
+Half-way down he encountered what seemed to him a giant with a chest on
+his shoulder.  It was the darkest part of the stair where they met.
+
+"Look out ahead!  Hard a starboard!" growled Captain Bream, who seemed
+to be heavily weighted.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" cried Billy, as he brushed past, bounded into the street,
+and swaggered away.
+
+"What boy was that, Liffie?" asked the captain, letting down the chest
+he carried with a shock that caused the frail tenement to quiver from
+cellar to roof-tree.
+
+"I don't know, sir."
+
+"He must be a sailor-boy, from his answer," rejoined the captain.  "Open
+the door o' my cabin, lass, and I'll carry it right in.  It's somewhat
+heavy."
+
+He lifted the chest, which was within an eighth of an inch of being too
+large to pass through the little door-way, and put it in a corner, after
+which he entered the parlour, and sat down in a solid wooden chair which
+he had supplied to the establishment for his own special use.
+
+"You see," he had said, on the day when he introduced it, "I've come to
+grief so often in the matter of chairs that I've become chary as to how
+I use 'em.  If all the chairs that I've had go crash under me was put
+together they'd furnish a good-sized house.  Look before you leap is a
+well-known proverb, but, look before you sit down, has become a more
+familiar experience to me through life.  It's an awkward thing bein' so
+heavy, and I hope you'll never know what it is, ladies."
+
+Judging from their appearance just then there did not seem much prospect
+of that!
+
+"Now," continued the captain, rubbing his hands and looking benignantly
+at Jessie, "I have settled the matter at last; fairly said good-bye to
+old Ocean, an' fixed to cast anchor for good on the land."
+
+"Have you indeed, captain?" said Jessie, "I should fancy that you must
+feel rather sorry to bid farewell to so old a friend."
+
+"That's true, Miss Seaward.  An old and good friend the sea has been to
+me, thank God.  But I'm gettin' too old myself to be much of a friend to
+_it_, so I've fixed to say good-bye.  And the question is, Am I to stop
+on here, or am I to look out for another lodgin'?  You see I've been a
+good many weeks with you now, an' you've had a fair taste of me, so to
+speak.  I know I'm a rough sort o' fish for the like o' you to have to
+do with, and, like some o' the hermit crabs, rather too big for my
+shell, so if you find me awkward or uncomfortable don't hesitate to say
+so.  I won't be surprised, though I confess I should be sorry to leave
+you."
+
+"Well, Captain Bream," said Kate, who was generally the speaker when
+delicate, difficult or unpleasant subjects had to be dealt with, "since
+you have been so candid with us we will be equally candid with you.
+When you first came to us, I confess that we were much alarmed; you
+seemed--so very big," (the captain tried to shrink a little--without
+success--and smiled in a deprecating manner), "and our rooms and
+furniture seemed so very small and delicate, so to speak; and then your
+voice was so fearfully deep and gruff," (the captain cleared his throat
+softly--in B natural of the bass clef--and smiled again), "that we were
+almost frightened to receive you; but, now that we have had experience
+of you, we are quite willing that you should continue with us--on one
+condition, however."
+
+"And that is?" asked the captain anxiously.
+
+"That you pay us a lower rent."
+
+"A--a higher rent you mean, I suppose?"
+
+"No; I mean a lower."
+
+Captain Bream's benign visage became grave and elongated.
+
+"You see, captain," continued Kate, flushing a little, "when you first
+came, we tried--excuse me--to get rid of you, to shake you off, and we
+almost doubled the rent of our little room, hoping that--"
+
+"Quite right, quite right," interrupted the captain, "and according to
+strict justice, for ain't I almost double the size of or'nary men, an'
+don't I give more than double the trouble?"
+
+"Not so," returned Kate, firmly, "you don't give half the trouble that
+other men do."
+
+"Excuse me, Miss Kate," said the captain with a twinkle in his grey eye,
+"you told me I was your first lodger, so how can you know how much
+trouble other men would give?"
+
+"No matter," persisted Kate, a little confused, "you don't give _half_
+the trouble that other lodgers would have given if we had had them."
+
+"Ah! h'm--well," returned the captain softly, in the profoundest
+possible bass, "looking at the matter in that light, perhaps you are not
+far wrong.  But, go on."
+
+"Well, I have only to add," continued Kate, "that you have been so kind
+to us, and so considerate, and have given us so little--so _very_ little
+trouble, that it will give us both great pleasure to have you continue
+to lodge with us, if you agree to the reduction of the rent."
+
+"Very well," said Captain Bream, pulling out an immense gold
+chronometer--the gift, in days gone by, of a band of highly grateful and
+appreciative passengers.  "I've got business in the city an hour hence.
+We shall have dinner first.  Two hours afterwards I will return with a
+cab and take away my boxes.  That will give you plenty of time to make
+out your little bill and--"
+
+"What _do_ you mean, captain?" interrupted Kate, in much surprise.
+
+"I mean, dear ladies, that you and I entered into an agreement to rent
+your little cabin for so much.  Now it has been my rule in life to stick
+to agreements, and I mean to stick to this one or throw up my situation.
+Besides, I'm not goin' to submit to have the half of my rent cut off.
+I can't stand it.  Like old Shylock, I mean to stick to the letter of
+the bond.  Now, _is_ it `to be, or not to be?' as Hamlet said to the
+ass."
+
+"I was not aware that Hamlet said that to an ass," remarked Jessie, with
+a little laugh.
+
+"Oh yes! he did," returned the captain quite confidently; "he said it to
+himself, you know, an' that was the same thing.  But what about the
+agreement?"
+
+"Well, since you are so determined, I suppose we must give in," said
+Kate.
+
+"We can't resist you, captain," said Jessie, "but there is one thing
+that we must positively insist on, namely, that you come and sit in this
+room of an evening.  I suppose you read or write a great deal, for we
+see your light burning very late sometimes, and as you have no fire you
+must often feel very cold."
+
+"Cold!" shouted the captain, with a laugh that caused the very
+window-frames to vibrate.  "My dear ladies, I'm never cold.  Got so used
+to it, I suppose, that it has no power over me.  Why, when a man o' my
+size gets heated right through, it takes three or four hours to cool him
+even a little.  Besides, if it do come a very sharp frost, I've got a
+bear-skin coat that our ship-carpenter made for me one voyage in the
+arctic regions.  It is hot enough inside almost to cook you.  Did I ever
+show it you?  I'll fetch it."
+
+Captain Bream rose with such energy that he unintentionally spurned his
+chair--his own solid peculiar chair--and caused it to pirouette on one
+leg before tumbling backward with a crash.  Next minute he returned
+enveloped from head to foot in what might be termed a white-bear ulster,
+with an enormous hood at the back of his neck.
+
+Accustomed as the sisters were to their lodger's bulk, they were not
+prepared for the marvellous increase caused by the monstrous hairy
+garment.
+
+"It would puzzle the cold to get at me through this, wouldn't it?" said
+its owner, surveying it with complacency.  "It was my own invention
+too--at least the carpenter and I concocted it between us.
+
+"The sleeves are closed up at the ends, you see, and a thumb attached to
+each, so as to make sleeves and mittens all of a piece, with a slit near
+the wrists to let you shove your hands out when you want to use them
+naked, an' a flap to cover the slit and keep the wind out when you don't
+want to shove out your hands.  Then the hood, you see, is large and
+easy, so that it can be pulled well for'ard--so--and this broad band
+behind it unbuttons and comes round in front of the face and buttons,
+so--to keep all snug when you lay down to sleep."
+
+"Wonderful!" exclaimed the sisters as the captain stood before them like
+a great pillar of white fur, with nothing of him visible save the eyes
+and feet.
+
+"But that's not all," continued the ancient mariner, turning his back to
+the sisters.  "You see that great flap hooked up behind?"
+
+"Yes," answered Jessie and Kate in the same breath.
+
+"Well, then, notice what I do."
+
+He sat down on the floor, and unhooking the flap, drew it round in
+front, where he re-hooked it to another row of eyes in such a manner
+that it completely covered his feet and lower limbs.
+
+"There, you see, I'm in a regular fur-bag now, all ready for a night in
+the snow."
+
+By way of illustration he extended himself on the floor at full-length,
+and, by reason of that length being so great, and the room so narrow,
+his feet went into the window-recess, while his head lay near the door.
+
+All ignorant of this illustration of arctic life going on, Liffie Lee,
+intent on dinner purposes, opened the door and drove it violently
+against the captain's head.
+
+"Avast there!" he shouted, rising promptly.  "Come in, lass.  Come in--
+no damage done."
+
+"Oh! sir," exclaimed the horrified Liffie, "I ax your parding."
+
+"Don't put yourself about my girl.  I'm used to collisions, and it's not
+in the power o' your small carcass to do me damage."
+
+Disrobing himself as he spoke, the lodger retired to his cabin to lay
+aside his curious garment, and Liffie, assisted by Kate, took advantage
+of his absence to spread their little board.
+
+"I never saw such a man," said Kate in a low voice as she bustled about.
+
+"Saw!" exclaimed Jessie under her breath, "I never even conceived of
+such a man.  He is so violent in his actions that I constantly feel as
+if I should be run over and killed.  It feels like living in the same
+house with a runaway mail coach.  How fortunate that his spirit is so
+gentle and kind!"
+
+A tremendous crash at that moment caused Jessie to stop with a gasp.
+
+"Hallo! fetch a swab--a dish-clout or somethin', Liffie," came
+thundering from the captain's room.  "Don't be alarmed, ladies, it's
+only the wash-hand basin.  Knocked it over in hangin' up the coat.
+Nothin' smashed.  It's a tin basin, you know.  Look alive, lass, else
+the water'll git down below, for the caulkin' of these planks ain't much
+to boast of, an' you'll have the green-grocer up in a towering rage!"
+
+A few minutes later this curious trio sat down to dinner, and the
+captain, according to a custom established from the commencement of his
+sojourn, asked a blessing on the meat in few words, but with a deeply
+reverent manner, his great hands being clasped before him, and with his
+eyes shut like a little child.
+
+"Well now, before beginning," he said, looking up, "let me understand;
+is this matter of the lodging and rent settled?"
+
+"Yes, it is settled," answered Jessie.  "We've got used to you, captain,
+and should be very, very sorry to lose you."
+
+"Come, that's all right.  Let's shake hands on it over the leg of
+mutton."
+
+He extended his long arm over the small table, and spread out his
+enormous palm in front of Jessie Seaward.  With an amused laugh she laid
+her little hand in it--to grasp it was out of the question--and the
+mighty palm closed for a moment with an affectionate squeeze.  The same
+ceremony having been gone through with Kate, he proceeded to carve.
+
+And what a difference between the dinners that once graced--perhaps we
+should say disgraced--that board, and those that smoked upon it now!
+Then, tea and toast, with sometimes an egg, and occasionally a bit of
+bacon, were the light viands; now, beef, mutton, peas, greens, potatoes,
+and other things, constituted the heavy fare.
+
+The sisters had already begun to get stronger on it.  The captain would
+have got stronger, no doubt, had that been possible.
+
+And what a satisfactory thing it was to watch Captain Bream at his
+meals!  There was something grand--absolutely majestic--in his action.
+Being a profoundly modest and unselfish man it was not possible to
+associate the idea of gluttony with him, though he possessed the
+digestion of an ostrich, and the appetite of a shark.  There was nothing
+hurried, or eager, or careless, in his mode of eating.  His motions were
+rather slow than otherwise; his proceedings deliberate.  He would even
+at times check a tempting morsel on its way to his mouth that he might
+more thoroughly understand and appreciate something that Jessie or Kate
+chanced to be telling him.  Yet with all that, he compelled you, while
+looking at him, to whisper to yourself--"how he does shovel it in!"
+
+"I declare to you, Kate," said Jessie, on one occasion after the captain
+had left the room, "I saw him take one bite to-day which ought to have
+choked him, but it didn't.  He stuck his fork into a piece of mutton as
+big--oh!  I'm afraid to say how big; it really seemed to me the size of
+your hand, and he piled quite a little mound of green peas on it, with a
+great mass of broken fragments and gravy, and put it all into his mouth
+at once, though that mouth was already pretty well-filled with the
+larger half of an enormous potato.  I thought he would never get it in,
+but something you said caused him to laugh at the time, and before the
+laugh was over the bite had disappeared.  Before it was properly
+swallowed he was helping himself to another slice from the leg of
+mutton!  I declare to you, Kate, that many a time I have dined
+altogether on less than that one bite!"
+
+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.
+
+"He's got Singin' Peter a-visitin' him," said Billy.  "Don't you hear
+him?"
+
+"Ay, I hear him, boy.  There's no mistakin' Singin' Peter's voice.  I'd
+know it among a thousand."
+
+"If it's hell here," remarked Billy, with a great sigh of satisfaction,
+after the hymn was done, "it do seem like heaven over there.  I only
+wish we had Jim Frost on board of us instead of that brute Gunter."
+
+"Don't be hard on Gunter, Billy," said Ned.  "We don't know what he's
+got to bear.  Some men are born, you see, wi' narves that are for ever
+screwin' at 'em, an' ticklin' of 'em up; an' other men have narves that
+always keep smoothin' of 'em down.  The last are the pleasantest to have
+to do with, no doubt, but the others ain't quite so bad as they look
+sometimes.  Their bark is worse than their bite."
+
+"Hush!" exclaimed the boy, holding up a finger at the moment, for Jim
+Frost's accordion again sent forth its rich tones in the prelude to a
+hymn.  A few moments later and the tuneful voices came rolling towards
+them in that beautiful hymn, the chorus of which ends:--
+
+  "We shall know each other better when the mists are rolled away."
+
+When the last verse was sung little Billy found a tear struggling to get
+out of each eye, and a lump sticking in his throat, so he turned his
+head away to conceal them.
+
+"Ain't it beautiful?" he said, when the lump had disappeared.
+
+"And ain't it curious," answered Ned, "that it should touch on what we
+was talkin' about afore they began?  P'r'aps we shall know John Gunter
+better `when the mists are rolled away.'"
+
+Billy shook his head dubiously.  "I'm not so sure o' that," he said.
+"Anyhow, there's a deal o' mist to be rolled away before we can know
+_him_ better."
+
+"There's a breeze comin' up from the south'ard," remarked Ned, who, to
+say truth, did not seem to care very much about getting to know his
+surly shipmate better; "we'll have to get your father aboard soon."
+
+"That won't be an easy matter," said Billy, and he was right, for when
+David Bright was set down with a friend, and a glass, and a pack of
+cards, it was very difficult to move him.  He was, indeed, as fond of
+gambling as of drinking, and lost much of his hardly earned gains in
+that way.  Billy, therefore, received little but abuse when he tried to
+induce him to return to his own vessel, but the freshing of the breeze,
+and a sudden lurch of the smack, which overturned his glass of grog into
+Gunter's lap, induced him at last to go on deck.
+
+There the appearance of things had changed considerably.  Clouds were
+beginning to obscure the bright sky, the breeze had effectually
+shattered the clear mirror of the sea, and a swell was beginning to roll
+the _White Cloud_, so that legs which would have found it difficult to
+steady their owners on solid land made sad work of their office on the
+heaving deck.
+
+"Haul up the boat," cried Brock in a drivelling voice as he came on
+deck; "where are you steerin' to?  Let me take the helm."
+
+He staggered toward the tiller as he spoke, but Dick Herring and one of
+his mates, seeing that he was quite unable to steer, tried to prevent
+him.  Brock, however, had reached that stage of drunkenness in which men
+are apt to become particularly obstinate, and, being a powerful man,
+struggled violently to accomplish his purpose.
+
+"Let him have it," said Herring at last.  "He can't do much damage."
+
+When set free, the miserable man grasped the tiller and tried to steady
+himself.  A lurch of the vessel, however, rendered his effort abortive.
+The tiller fell to leeward.  Brock went headlong with it, stumbled over
+the side, and, before any one could stretch out a hand to prevent it,
+fell into the sea and sank.
+
+His comrades were apparently sobered in an instant.  There was no need
+for the hurried order to jump into the boat alongside.  Ned Spivin and
+Billy were in it with the painter cast off and the oars out in a couple
+of seconds.  The boat of the _White Cloud_ was also launched with a
+speed, that only North Sea fishermen, perhaps, can accomplish, and both
+crews rowed about eagerly while the smack lay-to.  But all without
+success.  The unfortunate man was never more seen, and the visitors left
+the vessel in sobered silence, and rowed, without exchanging a word, to
+their own smack, which lay about a quarter of a mile distant on the port
+quarter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+RUTH AND CAPTAIN BREAM TAKE TO SCHEMING.
+
+Returning to London, we will follow Captain Bream, who, one fine
+morning, walked up to Mrs Dotropy's mansion at the west end, and
+applied the knocker vigorously.
+
+"Is Miss Ruth at home?"
+
+Yes, Miss Ruth was at home, and would he walk in.
+
+He was ushered into the library of the mansion; that room in which the
+Dotropy ancestors, who could not find space among their kindred in the
+dining-room, held, so to speak, an overflow meeting to themselves.  Ruth
+soon joined him.
+
+"I'm so glad to see you, Captain Bream," she said, shaking with much
+fervency the hand held out to her.  "Sit down.  It is so kind of you to
+come at once to help me in my little schemes--though I have not seen you
+to explain why I asked you--but there, I was almost off on another
+subject before I had begun the one I wish to consult you about.  And, do
+you know, captain," added Ruth, with a slightly perplexed look, "I find
+scheming a very troublesome business!"
+
+"I should think you did, Miss Ruth, and it seems to me that it's always
+better to go straight at what you've got to do without scheming--all
+fair an' aboveboard.  Excuse me, my dear, but an old man who has sailed
+your lamented father's ships for over thirty years, and known you since
+you were a baby, may be allowed to say he's surprised that _you_ should
+take to scheming."
+
+"An old man who has not only sailed my dear father's ships for over
+thirty years," said Ruth, "but has brought me toys from all parts of the
+world, and has, besides, been as true to the family as the needle to the
+pole--or truer, if all be true that is said of needles--may say to my
+father's daughter exactly what he pleases without the smallest chance of
+giving offence.  But, let me tell you, sir, that you are a foolish old
+man, and much too quick in forming your opinions.  Scheming is both
+justifiable and honourable at times--as I shall soon convince you."
+
+A beaming smile overspread the captain's visage as he said--
+
+"Very well, Miss Ruth.  Go on."
+
+"But before I go on tell me how are the Miss Seawards?"
+
+"Quite well, I believe.  At least I have no reason to think otherwise.
+Rather thinnish if anything, but filled out wonderfully since I first
+saw 'em."
+
+"That's good," said Ruth, laughing.  "And now, do you know why I asked
+you to go and lodge with them?"
+
+"Well, I always thought it was because you knew I wanted a lodgin',
+though I confess it has puzzled me to make out why you wanted me to come
+to such an out-o'-the-way part o' the city; and, to tell you the truth,
+it _is_ rather inconvenient, but your letter was so urgent, Miss Ruth,
+that I knew you must have some good reason, and as your dear father's
+daughter has a right to command me, I obeyed, as you know, without
+question."
+
+"You are a good old man," returned Ruth, laying her hand on the brown
+fist of the captain and looking up in his face with the same loving
+girlish look that she had bestowed on him many a time in years past on
+his frequent visits with foreign toys, "and I shall test your goodness a
+good deal before I have done with you."
+
+"Test away, Miss Ruth.  You'll find I can stand a good deal of testin'.
+I haven't sailed the salt sea for forty years for nothing."
+
+"Well then," said Ruth, looking slightly perplexed again.  "What would
+you do, Captain Bream, if you knew of two ladies who were unable to
+work, or to find suitable work, and so poor as to be literally
+starving--what would you do?"
+
+"Give 'em money, of course."
+
+"But suppose that, owing to some delicacy of feeling, or, perhaps, some
+sort of mistaken pride, they would not accept money, and flushed very
+much and felt hurt, if you ventured to offer it to them?"
+
+"Why, then, I'd send 'em victuals."
+
+"But suppose," continued Ruth, "that there were great difficulties in
+the way of doing that, and they felt as much objection to receive
+gratuitous victuals as money, what would you do then? you would not let
+them starve, would you?"
+
+"Of course not," returned the captain, promptly.  "If it fairly came to
+that I'd be apt to treat 'em as nurses do obstinate infants and castor
+oil.  I'd take 'em on my knee, force open their mouths, and shove the
+victuals down their throats."
+
+Ruth burst into a merry little laugh at this.
+
+"But," said she, "don't you think that before proceeding to such
+forcible treatment you might scheme a little to get them to take it
+willingly, as nurses sometimes disguise the taste of the oil with coffee
+or milk?"
+
+"Well, you _might_ scheme a little on that sort of principle, Miss Ruth;
+but in ordinary cases I prefer straightforward plans myself."
+
+"Then why, let me ask," said Ruth with some severity in her look, "do
+you dare to scheme with the wind as you and all sailors do when it is
+dead against you?"
+
+"You're becomin' too deep for me now, my dear; what d'ee mean?"
+
+"When the wind blows dead against you, say from the north," replied
+Ruth, "don't you begin your naughty--at least your nautical--scheming at
+once?  Don't you lay your course to the nor'-west and pretend you are
+going in that direction, and then don't you soon tack about--isn't that
+what you call it--and steer nor'-east, pretending that you are going
+_that_ way, when all the time you are wanting to go due north?  What do
+you call that, sir, if it is not scheming to circumvent the wind?"
+
+While she was speaking, Captain Bream's smile expanded and broke forth
+at last in one of his bass broadsides of laughter, which gave Ruth great
+delight for she had, as a little girl, enjoyed these thunderous laughs
+excessively, and her taste for them had not departed.
+
+"Well, my dear," said her visitor, "I admit that there are some sorts o'
+fair-an'-above-board schemin' which ain't dishonourable, or unworthy of
+a British sailor."
+
+"Very good," returned Ruth; "then listen while I reveal some of my
+recent scheming.  Some time ago I found out that two very dear friends
+of mine--who were in delicate health and quite unable to work hard, as
+well as being unable to find any kind of work whatever--were on the
+point of starvation.  They would not accept money.  I schemed a little
+to get them to earn money, but it was not easy, and the result was not a
+sufficiently permanent income.  At last I thought I would try to get
+them a boarder--a somewhat rich boarder, whose powerful appetite and
+large meals might leave some crumbs for--"
+
+"You don't mean to tell me, Miss Ruth," interrupted the captain, in
+amazement, "that the Miss Seawards were in a state of starvation when I
+went to 'em!"
+
+"Indeed I do," replied Ruth; "at least as nearly in that state as was
+compatible with existence."
+
+"Well, well," said the captain, "no wonder they looked so thin; and no
+wonder they're beginnin' to be a little better in flesh now, wi' the
+legs o' mutton an' chops an' such like things that I get in to take the
+edge off my appetite--which, as you justly observe, Miss Ruth, is not a
+bad one.  I'm glad you've told me this, however, for I'll go in for
+extra heavy feedin' now."
+
+"That's right.  But stay, Captain Bream, I have not nearly done with my
+scheming yet.  And I shall still want you to help me."
+
+"Go ahead, my dear.  I'm your man, for, to tell 'ee the downright truth,
+I've taken a great fancy to these two sisters, an' would steer a long
+way out o' my course to help 'em."
+
+"I knew you would," returned Ruth with a little look of triumph.
+"Whoever comes in contact with these dear friends of mine thinks exactly
+as you do.  Now, their health is not nearly as good as it ought to be,
+so I want them to have a change of air.  You see, the poor little street
+in which they live is not the freshest in London."
+
+"Exactly so.  They want a trip to Brighton or Broadstairs or Ramsgate,
+and a whiff of fresh sea-air, eh?" said the captain with a look of
+satisfaction.
+
+"No not to these places," said Ruth; "I thought of Yarmouth."
+
+"Well, Yarmouth--just as good.  Any part o' the coast will do to blow
+the London cobwebs out o' their brains--say Yarmouth."
+
+"Very good, captain, but my difficulty is, how to manage it."
+
+"Nothing easier, Miss Ruth.  I will take an afternoon train, run down,
+hire a lodgin', come up to-morrow, an' carry the Miss Seawards off wi'
+me."
+
+"But suppose they won't go?"
+
+"But they must go.  I'm quite able to take up one under each arm an'
+carry 'em off by force if they won't."
+
+"I would highly approve of that method, captain, if it were possible,
+but I'm afraid such things are not permitted in this free country.  No,
+if done at all, the thing must be gone about with a little more care and
+delicacy."
+
+"Well then, I'll go down an' take a lodgin', an' write up and ask them
+to pay me a visit for the benefit of their health."
+
+Ruth shook her pretty little head and frowned.
+
+"Won't do," she said.  "I know them too well.  They're so unselfish that
+they won't budge a step to benefit themselves."
+
+"H'm!  I see, Miss Ruth, we want a little scheming here--eh?  Well, I'll
+manage it.  You leave this little matter in my hands, and see if I don't
+get 'em to visit Yarmouth, by hook or by crook.  By the way, Miss Ruth,
+was it one o' your little schemes, givin' 'em these mitts and comforters
+to make?"
+
+"Of course it was," Ruth replied with a laugh and a blush.  "You see
+these things are really very much wanted by the North sea fishermen, and
+a great many benevolent women spend much time in knitting for them--and
+not only women, but also boys."
+
+"Boys!" echoed the captain in surprise--"boys knit mitts and
+comforters?"
+
+"Yes.  I assure you that the telegraph boys of the Notting Hill branch
+of the Post-office have actually spent some of their spare time in doing
+this work."
+
+"I'll look upon telegraph boys with more respect ever after this," said
+the captain with emphasis.
+
+"Well, as I was saying," continued Ruth, "Mamma bought far more worsted
+for me than I could ever find time to work up into mitts or comforters,
+so I have employed the Miss Seawards to do it for me--at so much a pair.
+But they don't know it's for me, so be careful not to--"
+
+"Yes, yes, I see--more scheming.  Well, I'll take care not to blab."
+
+"And I sent the worsted and arranged the transaction through such a dear
+pretty little fisher-boy from Yarmouth.  But perhaps you have seen him
+at your lodging."
+
+"No, I haven't seen him, but I've heard a good deal about him.  The
+ladies seem to be as much impressed with his sweetness and prettiness as
+yourself, Miss Ruth.  For my part, I'm not over fond o' sweet pretty
+boys.  I prefer 'em rough-cast or even ugly, so long's they're smart an'
+willin'."
+
+"Oh! but you have no idea what a smart and willing boy he is," said
+Ruth, firing up in defence of her little friend.  "I assure you he is
+most willing and intelligent, and I do believe he would scratch his face
+and twist his little nose into a screw if by so doing he could make
+himself ugly, for I have observed that he is terribly annoyed when
+people call him pretty--as they often foolishly do."
+
+"Well, I'll be off now on this little business," said the captain,
+rising and smoothing his hat with his cuff.  "But--but--Miss Ruth--
+excuse me, you said something about sending the Miss Seawards a _rich_
+lodger when you sent me.  How d'ee know I'm rich?"
+
+"Well, I only guessed it," returned Ruth with a laugh, "and, you know,
+more than once you have hinted to me that you had got on very well--that
+God had prospered you--I think these were the words you have sometimes
+used."
+
+"These are the words I would always use," returned the captain.  "The
+prosperity that has attended me through life I distinctly recognise at
+being the result of God's will, not of my wisdom.  Don't we see that the
+cleverest of men sometimes fail, and, on the other hand, the most stupid
+fellows sometimes succeed?  It is God that setteth up one and putteth
+down another."
+
+"I'm glad to hear that you think so clearly on this point, captain,
+though I did not know it before.  It is another bond between us.
+However, if I have been wrong in supposing you to be rich, I--"
+
+"Nay, I did not deny it, Miss Ruth, but it does not follow that a man
+means to say he is rich when he says that he has got on very well.
+However, my dear, I don't mind tellin' you, as a secret that I _am_
+rich--as rich, that is, as there's any use to be, an' far richer than I
+deserve to be.  You must know," continued the captain, sinking his voice
+to a hoarse whisper, "that your dear father used to allow me to put my
+savin's into his hands for investment, and the investments succeeded so
+well that at last I found myself in possession of five hundred a year!"
+
+Captain Bream said this with much deliberation and an emphatic nod for
+each word, while he gazed solemnly in Ruth's face.  "Not a bad fortune
+for an old bachelor, eh?  Then," he continued, after a moment's pause,
+"when I was wrecked, two years ago in Australia, I took a fancy to have
+a look at the gold diggin's, so off I went to Bendigo, and I set to work
+diggin' for the mere fun o' the thing, and the very first day I turned
+up a nugget as big as my fist and two of the same sort the day after,
+an' then a lot o' little ones; in fact I had got hold of a first-rate
+claim, an' when I had dug away for a month or so I put it all in a big
+chest, sold the claim, and came straight home, bringin' the chest with
+me.  I have it now, up in my cabin yonder.  It well-nigh broke my back
+gittin' it up the stair, though my back ain't a weak one."
+
+"And how much is the gold worth?" eagerly asked Ruth, who had listened
+with a sympathetic expression on her face.
+
+"That's more than I can tell.  I scarce know how to go about convertin'
+it into cash; but I'm in no hurry.  Now mind, Miss Ruth, not a word o'
+this to any livin' soul.  Not even to your own mother, for she ain't
+_my_ mother, d'ee see, an' has no right to know it.  In fact I've never
+told it to any one till this day, for I have no one in the wide world to
+care about it.  Once, indeed, I had--"
+
+He stopped short.
+
+"Ah! you are thinking of your sister?" said the sympathetic Ruth; "the
+sister whom you once told me about long ago."
+
+"Yes, Miss Ruth, I _was_ thinkin' o' her; but--" He stopped again.
+
+"Do tell me about her," said Ruth, earnestly.  "Has she been long dead?"
+
+"Dead! my dear.  I didn't say she was dead, an' yet it ain't unlikely
+she is, for it's long, long since I heard of her.  There's not much to
+tell about her after all," said the captain, sadly.  "But she was a dear
+sweet little girl at the time--just turned eighteen--an' very fond o'
+me.  We had no parents living, an' no kindred except one old aunt, with
+whom my sister lived.  I was away at the time on a long voyage, and had
+to take a cargo from the East Indies to China before returnin' home.  At
+Hongkong I fell ill, an' was laid up there for months.  Altogether a
+good many troubles came on me at that time--though they were blessed
+troubles to me, for they ended in the saving o' my soul through my eyes
+bein' opened to see my sins and Jesus Christ as my Saviour.  It was
+three years before I set foot in England again, and when I got back I
+found that my old aunt was dead, and that my dear sister had married a
+seaman and gone away--no one knew where."
+
+"And you've never heard of her since?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Never."
+
+"And don't know who she married?"
+
+"Know nothin' more about her, my dear, than I've told 'ee.  Good-bye
+now, Miss Ruth.  I must look sharp about this business of yours."
+
+He showed such evident disinclination to continue the painful subject,
+that Ruth forbore to press it, and they parted to prosecute their
+respective schemes.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+CAPTAIN BREAM DEVELOPS A CAPACITY FOR SCHEMING.
+
+At dinner that day Captain Bream paused in the act of conveying a whole
+potato to his mouth on the end of his fork, and said--
+
+"Miss Seaward, I'm going to leave you--"
+
+"Leave us!" cried Kate, interrupting him with a look of consternation,
+for she and Jessie had both become so fond of the amiable seaman, with
+the frame of Goliath and the heart of Samuel, that they were now as much
+afraid of losing, as they had formerly been of possessing him.  "Leave
+us, captain!"
+
+"Only for a time, Miss Kate--only for a time," he replied, hastily, as
+he checked the power of further utterance with the potato.  "Only for a
+time," he repeated, on recovering the power.  "You see, I've got a
+little bit of business to transact down at Yarmouth, and it will take me
+a good while to do it.  Some weeks at the least--perhaps some months--
+but there's no help for it, for the thing _must_ be done."
+
+The captain said this with so much decision, that Kate could scarcely
+forbear laughing as she said--
+
+"Dear me, it must be very important business since you seem so
+determined about it.  Is there anything or any one likely to oppose you
+in transacting the business?"
+
+"Well, not exactly at present," returned the captain blandly, "but there
+are two obstinate friends of mine who, I have been told, would oppose me
+pretty stoutly if I was to tell 'em all the truth about it."
+
+"Is there any necessity," asked Jessie, "for telling these obstinate
+friends anything about the business at all?"
+
+"Well, yes," replied the captain with a chuckle that almost brought on a
+choking fit; "I can't well avoid tellin' them somethin' about it, for
+they've a right to know, but--"
+
+"Wouldn't it save you all trouble, then," broke in Kate, seeing his
+hesitation, "to tell them just as much of the business as they were
+entitled to know, and no more."
+
+"That's just the very thing I mean to do," replied the captain, bursting
+into a laugh so deep and thunderous that the small domestic, Liffie Lee,
+entered the room abruptly to ask if anything was wanted, but in reality
+to find out what all the fun was about.  Having been dismissed with a
+caution not to intrude again till rung for, the captain helped himself
+to an enormous slice of beef; earnestly, but unsuccessfully, pressed the
+sisters to "go in for more and grow fat," and then continued his
+discourse.
+
+"You must know, ladies, that I have taken to studyin' a good deal in my
+old age.  Another potato--thank 'ee."
+
+"Yes, we have observed that," said Kate.  "May I ask what is the nature
+of your studies--navigation?"
+
+"Navigation!" shouted the captain with another laugh so rich and racy
+that poor Liffie Lee almost entered in defiance of orders; "no, Miss
+Kate, it ain't navigation!  I've bin pretty well grounded in that
+subject for the last forty years.  No, my study _now_ is theology."
+
+"Theology!" exclaimed the sisters in surprise.
+
+"Yes, theology.  Is it so strange, then, that a man drawin' near the
+close of life should wish to be more particular than when he was young
+in tryin' to find out all he can about his Maker?" returned the captain
+gravely.
+
+"Forgive us," said Jessie, hastening to explain; "it is not that.  If
+you had said you had taken to reading the Bible carefully and
+systematically, we would not have been surprised, but it--it was--your
+talking so quietly about theology that made us--"
+
+"Yes, yes, I see," interrupted the good-natured seaman; "well, it _is_
+reading the Word of God that I mean.  You see, I regard the Bible as my
+class-book, my book o' logarithms, chart compass, rudder, etcetera, all
+rolled into one.  Now, I don't mind tellin' you a secret.  When I first
+went to sea I was a very wild harum-scarum young fellow, an' havin' some
+sort of influence over my mates, I did 'em a deal of damage and led 'em
+astray.  Well, when the Lord in His great mercy saved my soul, I could
+not forget this, and although I knew I was forgiven, my heart was
+grieved to think of the mischief I had done.  I felt as if I would give
+anything in life to undo it if I could.  As this was not possible,
+however, I bethought me that the next best thing would be to do as much
+good as I could to the class that I had damaged, so, when I came home
+and left the sea for good, I used to go down about the docks and give
+away Bibles and Testaments to the sailors.  Then I got to say a word or
+two to 'em now and then about their souls but I soon found that there
+are professed unbelievers among the tars, an' they put questions that
+puzzled me at times, so I took to readin' the Bible with a view to
+answering objectors an' bein' able to give a reason of the hope that is
+in me--to studyin', in fact, what I call theology.  But I ain't above
+takin' help," continued the captain with a modest look, "from ordinary
+good books when I come across 'em--my chief difficulty bein', to find
+out what are the best books to consult, and this has led me sometimes to
+think of buyin' up all the theological books I can lay hands on, an'
+glancin' 'em all through so as to make notes of such as seemed worth
+readin' with care.  The labour however seems so great, that up to now
+I've bin kept back, but I've had a talk with a friend to-day which has
+decided me, so I'll go off to Yarmouth to-morrow an' buy a whole lot o'
+theological books--a regular library in fact--and set to work to read
+up.  But there's one thing I would like, which would save me an enormous
+amount o' labour, if I could get it."
+
+"What is that?" asked the sisters, eagerly, and in the same breath, for
+they had become quite interested in their friend's aspirations.
+
+"I would like," said the captain, slowly, and fixing his eyes on his
+plate, for he was now beginning to scheme, "I would like to find some
+one--a clever boy perhaps, though a girl would be preferable--who would
+take the trouble off my hands of glancin' through the books first, an'
+makin' notes of their contents for me, so as to prevent my wastin' time
+on those that are worthless."
+
+"I fear," said Jessie, "that few boys or girls would be capable of such
+work, for it would require not only intelligence but a considerable
+amount of scriptural knowledge."
+
+The captain heaved a deep sigh.  "Yes," he said, shaking his head
+slowly, "you're right, and I'm afraid I'll have to get some grown-up
+person to help me, but that won't be easy.  And then, d'ee know, I don't
+feel as if I could git on in such investigations with a stranger."
+
+"What a pity," said Kate, "that you could not bring the books here, and
+then _I_ could help you, for although I do not pretend to be deeply
+learned in scriptural knowledge, I daresay I know enough for your
+purpose; but why not get the books in London?  Is there any necessity
+for buying them in Yarmouth?"
+
+Poor Captain Bream was so unused to scheming, that he had made no
+preparation for such a question, and felt much confused.  He could give
+no good reason for making his purchase in Yarmouth, and nothing would
+have induced him to tell a falsehood.
+
+"Well, really," he said, after a few moments' hesitation, "there are
+circumstances sometimes in a man's life which render it difficult for
+him to explain things, but--but I _have_ a reason for wishin' to buy
+this library in Yarmouth, an' it seems to me a good one.  Besides, I've
+got a likin' for sea-air, bein' my native air, so to speak, and I've no
+doubt that theology would come more easy to me if I was in a snug little
+room facin' the sea, where I could see the blue waters dancin', an' the
+shipping go by, an' the youngsters playin' on the sands.  Yes, it _must_
+be done at Yarmouth.  London would never do; it's too hot an' stuffy.
+Not that I care for that, but then you might--ah--that is--I mean to
+say--you might agree with me on this point if you were there.  But why,"
+he added with fresh animation as he saw the way opening up before him,
+"why, Miss Kate, since you are so kind as to say you'd like to help me,
+why might you not take a run down to Yarmouth with me, an' help me
+there?"
+
+"Because," answered Kate, laughing, "I could not very well leave my
+sister alone."
+
+"Of course not--quite right, but there's no need for that; she could
+come too, and it would do you both much good, not to speak o' the
+_immense_ advantage to me!  I do assure you I'd feel well-nigh as
+helpless as an infant, if left to tackle this business alone."
+
+From this point there began a regular skirmish between the captain and
+the sisters; the one trying to convince the others that it would be
+doing him a favour for which he could never find words to thank them,
+and the others endeavouring to show by every sort of argument that the
+thing was utterly unpossible, that the captain little knew what a burden
+he proposed to take on his shoulders, and that there was no use whatever
+in talking about it.
+
+But Captain Bream was a man of resolution.  He stuck to his point and
+pleaded his own cause so powerfully that the sisters began to waver.
+
+"But think," urged Kate, who did the most of the fighting, "you forget
+Liffie Lee.  She is no longer a mere visitor for an hour or two of a
+morning, as she used to be, but a regular hired servant and we could not
+leave her behind."
+
+"I know that.  It was my coming that made you hire her; and, now I think
+of it, I've a right to claim at least part of her, so she can come too,
+an' we'll lock up the house an' get Mr Green-grocer to look after it--
+air it now and then.  Come, just make up your minds.  Only think, how
+beautiful the blue sea will be just now, an' the sunny skies, an' the
+yellow sands--I declare it makes me long to go.  An' then you'll see
+that pretty boy you've taken such a fancy to--what's 'is name?"
+
+"Billy Bright," said Kate.
+
+"Just so--Billy Bright--though I can't say that I'm over fond o' pretty
+little boys.  They're too often soft an'--"
+
+"But I tell you he's as bold as a lion, and wise as a man, and tough
+as--as--"
+
+"As a beefsteak," said the captain; "yes, yes, I know all that, and I'm
+quite prepared to believe that he is an exception.  Well, now, it's
+agreed to--is it?"
+
+But the sisters did not at once give in.  They fought on with true
+feminine courage until the captain tried the effect of deep dejection
+and innocent submission, when their tender hearts could stand out no
+longer, and, hauling down their colours, they finally agreed to become
+librarians and accompany their lodger to Yarmouth.
+
+Then the captain left them to report the victory to his commodore, Ruth
+Dotropy.
+
+"I never had such a battle in my life!" he said to that scheming young
+creature.  "They didn't give in till they'd fired off every shot in
+their locker.  Trafalgar and the Nile were nothin' to it."
+
+"But do you really mean to say," asked Ruth, who could hardly speak at
+first for laughing, "that you intend to buy all these theological books
+and set the sisters to work?"
+
+"To be sure I do.  You didn't suppose that I was goin' to tell a parcel
+o' lies to help out your schemes, my dear?  It has been for some months
+past simmerin' in my brain that I ought to go through a small course of
+education in that line.  And all you have done for me is to make me go
+in for it somewhat sooner, and a little heavier than I had intended in
+the way of books.  And there's no doubt I'll study better at the
+sea-side than in London.  Besides, I shall have the fishermen to try the
+effects of my studies on, and you may be sure I won't let the poor
+things work too hard at the books."
+
+"I'll trust you for that," said Ruth.
+
+Now, while these little plans were being arranged, an event was pending
+in the North Sea fleet which merits particular notice.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+RUN DOWN IN A FOG--CAPTAIN BREAM ACTS SURPRISINGLY.
+
+One day a fishing-smack was on the eve of quitting the Short Blue fleet
+for its little holiday of a week in port.  It was the _Sparrow_, of
+which Jim Frost was master.  A flag was flying to indicate its
+intention, and invite letters, etcetera, for home, if any of the crews
+should feel disposed to send them.
+
+Several boats put off from their respective smacks in reply to the
+signal.  One of these belonged to Singing Peter.
+
+"Glad to see you, Peter," said Jim Frost as the former leaped on the
+_Sparrow's_ deck.
+
+"Same to you, lad.  I wish you a pleasant spell ashore, and may the
+Master be with you," returned Peter.
+
+"The Master is sure to be with me," replied Frost, "for has he not said,
+`I will never leave thee?'  Isn't it a fine thing, Peter, to think that,
+whatever happens, the Lord is here to guard us from evil?"
+
+"Ay, Jim, an' to take us home when the time comes."
+
+"`Which is far better,'" responded Jim.
+
+"You'll not get away to-night," remarked Peter as he gazed out upon the
+sea.  "It's goin' to fall calm."
+
+"No matter.  I can wait."
+
+"What say ye, lad, to a hymn?" said Peter.
+
+"I'm your man," replied Jim, with a laugh, "I thought it wouldn't be
+long before Singin' Peter would want to raise his pipe."
+
+"He can't help it, d'ee see," returned Peter, answering the laugh with a
+smile; "if I didn't sing I'd blow up.  It's my safety-valve, Jim, an' I
+like to blow off steam when I gets alongside o' like-minded men."
+
+"We're all like-minded here.  Fetch my accordion," said Jim, turning to
+one of his men.
+
+In a few minutes a lively hymn was raised in lusty tones which rolled
+far and wide over the slumbering sea.  Then these like-minded men
+offered up several prayers, and it was observed that Jim Frost was
+peculiarly earnest that night.  Of course they had some more hymns, for
+as the calm was by that time complete, and it was not possible for any
+sailing vessel to quit the fleet, there was no occasion to hurry.
+Indeed there is no saying how long these iron-framed fishermen would
+have kept it up, if it had not been for a slight fog which warned the
+visitors to depart.
+
+As the night advanced the fog thickened, so that it was not possible to
+see more than fifty yards around any of the fishing-smacks.
+
+Now it is probably known to most people that the greatest danger to
+which those who do business on the sea are exposed is during fog.
+
+When all around is calm and peaceful; when the sound of voices comes
+with muffled sound over the smooth water; when the eye sees nothing save
+a ghostly white horizon all round close at hand; when almost the only
+sound that breaks on the ear is the gentle lapping of the sea, or the
+quiet creak of plank and spar, as the vessel slowly lifts and falls on
+the gentle swell, and when landsmen perchance feel most secure--then it
+is that the dark cloud of danger lowers most heavily, though perhaps
+unrecognised, over the mariner, and stirs him to anxious watchfulness,
+when apparently in profoundest repose.
+
+Jim Frost knew well the dangers of the situation, but he had been long
+accustomed to face all the dangers peculiar to his calling on the deep
+without flinching--strong in the confidence of his well-tried courage
+and seamanship, and stronger still in his trust in Him who holds the
+water in the hollow of His hand.  Many a time had he been becalmed in
+fog on the North Sea.  He knew what to do, kept the fog-horn blowing,
+and took all the steps for safety that were possible in the
+circumstances.
+
+But, somehow, the young fisherman did not feel his usual easy-going
+indifference on that particular night, though his trust in God was not
+less strong.  He felt no fear, indeed, but a solemn sobriety of spirit
+had taken the place of his wonted cheery temperament, and, instead of
+singing in lively tones as he paced the deck, he hummed airs of a slow
+pathetic kind in a soft undertone.
+
+It is often said that men receive mysterious intimations, sometimes, of
+impending disaster.  It may be so.  We cannot tell.  Certainly it seemed
+as if Jim Frost had received some such intimation that night.
+
+"I can't understand it, Evan," he said to his mate when the latter came
+on deck a little after midnight to relieve him.  "A feeling as if
+something was going to happen has taken possession of me, and I can't
+shake it off.  You know I'm not the man to fancy danger when there's
+none."
+
+Evan--a youth whom he had been the means of rescuing when about to fall,
+under great temptation--replied that perhaps want of sleep was the
+cause.
+
+"You know," he said, "men become little better than babbies when they
+goes long without sleep, an' you've not had much of late.  What with
+that tearin' o' the net an' the gale that's just gone, an' that book,
+you know--"
+
+"Ah!" interrupted Jim, "you mustn't lay the blame on the book, Evan.  I
+haven't bin sittin' up _very_ late at it; though I confess I'm uncommon
+fond o' readin'.  Besides, it's a good book, more likely to quiet a
+man's mind than to rouse it.  How we ever got on without readin' before
+that mission-ship came to us, is more than I can understand!  Why, it
+seems to have lifted me into a new world."
+
+"That's so.  I'm fond o' readin' myself," said Evan, who, although not
+quite so enthusiastic or intellectual as his friend, appreciated very
+highly the library-bags which had been recently sent to the fleet.
+
+"But the strange thing is," said Jim, returning to the subject of his
+impressions--"the strange thing is, that my mind is not runnin' on
+danger or damaged gear, or books, or gales, but on my dear wife at home.
+I've bin thinkin' of Nancy in a way that I don't remember to have done
+before, an' the face of my darlin' Lucy, wi' her black eyes an' rosy
+cheeks so like her mother, is never absent from my eyes for a moment."
+
+"Want o' sleep," said the practical Evan.  "You'd better turn in an'
+have a good spell as long as the calm lasts."
+
+"You remember the patch o' green in front o' my cottage in Gorleston?"
+asked Jim, paying no attention to his mate's advice.
+
+"Yes," answered Evan.
+
+"Well, when I was sittin' for'ard there, not half-an-hour since, I seed
+my Nancy a-sittin' on that green as plain as I see you, sewin' away at
+somethin', an' Lucy playin' at her knee.  They was so real-like that I
+couldn't help sayin' `Nancy!' an' I do assure you that she stopped
+sewin' an' turned her head a-one side for a moment as if she was
+listenin'.  An' it was all so real-like too."
+
+"You was dreamin'; that was all," said the unromantic Evan.
+
+"No, mate.  I wasn't dreamin'," returned Jim.  "I was as wide awake as I
+am at this moment for I was lookin' out all round just as keen as if I
+had not bin thinkin' about home at all."
+
+"Well, you'd as well go below an' dream about 'em now if you can,"
+suggested Evan, "an' I'll keep a sharp look-out."
+
+"No, lad, I can't.  I'm not a bit sleepy."
+
+As Jim said this he turned and went to the bow of the smack.
+
+At that moment the muffled sound of a steamer's paddles was heard.
+Probably the fog had something to do with the peculiarity of the sound,
+for next moment a fog-whistle sounded its harsh tone close at hand, and
+a dark towering shadow seemed to rush down upon the _Sparrow_.
+
+Even if there had been a breeze there would have been no time to steer
+clear of the danger.  As it was, the little vessel lay quite helpless on
+the sea, Evan shouted down the companion for the men to turn out for
+their lives.  The man at the bow sounded the fog-horn loud and long.  At
+the same instant Jim Frost's voice rang out strong and clear a warning
+cry.  It was answered from above.  There were sudden screams and cries.
+The fog-whistle shrieked.  Engines were reversed.  "Hard a-port!" was
+shouted.  Steam was blown off, and, amid confusion and turmoil
+indescribable, an ocean steamer struck the little _Sparrow_ amidships,
+and fairly rammed her into the sea.
+
+It could scarcely be said that there was a crash.  The one was too heavy
+and the other too light for that.  The smack lay over almost gracefully,
+as if submitting humbly to her inevitable doom.  There was one great
+cry, and next moment she was rolling beneath the keel of the monster
+that had so ruthlessly run her down.
+
+Not far off--so near indeed that those on board almost saw the
+catastrophe--lay the _Evening Star_.  They of course heard the cries and
+the confusion, and knew only too well what had occurred.
+
+To order out the boat was the work of an instant.  With powerful strokes
+Joe, Spivin, Trevor, and Gunter, caused it to leap to the rescue.  On
+reaching the spot they discovered and saved the mate.  He was found
+clinging to an oar, but all the others had disappeared.  The steamer
+which had done the deed had lowered a boat, and diligent search was made
+in all directions round the spot where the fatal collision had occurred.
+No other living soul, however, was found.  Only a few broken spars and
+the upturned boat of the smack remained to tell where Jim Frost, and the
+rest of his like-minded men, had exchanged the garb of toil for the
+garments of glory!
+
+As a matter of course this event made a profound impression for a time
+on board of the _Evening Star_ and of such vessels as were near enough
+next morning to be informed of the sad news.  A large portion of the
+fleet, however, was for some time unaware of what had taken place, and
+some of the masters and crews, who were averse to what they styled
+"psalm-singin' and prayin'," did not seem to be much affected by the
+loss.
+
+Whether grieved or indifferent however, the work of the fleet had to be
+done.  Whether fishermen live or die, sink or swim, the inexorable
+demand of Billingsgate for fish must be met!  Accordingly, next day
+about noon, a fresh breeze having sprung up, and a carrier-steamer being
+there ready for her load, the same lively scene which we have described
+in a previous chapter was re-enacted, and after the smacks were
+discharged they all went off as formerly in the same direction, like a
+shoal of herrings, to new fishing-grounds.
+
+When they had got well away to the eastward and were beating up against
+a stiff northerly breeze, David Bright who stood near the helm of the
+_Evening Star_, said to his son in a peculiarly low voice--
+
+"Now, Billy, you go below an' fetch me a glass of grog."
+
+Billy went below as desired, but very unwillingly, for he well knew his
+father's varying moods, and recognised in the peculiar tone in which the
+order was given, a species of despondency--almost amounting to despair--
+which not unfrequently ushered in some of his worst fits of
+intemperance.
+
+"Your fadder's in de blues to-day," said Zulu, as he toiled over his
+cooking apparatus in the little cabin; "when he spok like dat, he goes
+in for heavy drink."
+
+"I know that well enough," returned Billy, almost angrily.
+
+"Why you no try him wid a 'speriment?" asked the cook, wrinkling up his
+nose and displaying his tremendous gums.
+
+"For any sake don't open your mouth like that, Zulu, but tell me what
+you mean by a 'speriment," said the boy.
+
+"How kin I tell what's a 'speriment if I'm not to open my mout'?"
+
+"Shut up, you nigger! an' talk sense."
+
+"Der you go agin, Billy.  How kin I talk sense if I'm to shut up?  Don't
+you know what a 'speriment is?  Why it's--it's--just a 'speriment you
+know--a dodge."
+
+"If you mean a dodge, why don't you say a dodge?" retorted Billy; "well,
+what is your dodge? look alive, for daddy'll be shoutin' for his grog in
+a minute."
+
+"You jus' listen," said the cook, in a hoarse whisper, as he opened his
+enormous eyes to their widest, "you jus' take a wine-glass--de big 'un
+as your fadder be fond of--an' put in 'im two teaspoonfuls o' vinegar,
+one tablespoonful o' parafine hoil, one leetle pinch o' pepper, an' one
+big pinch ob salt with a leetle mustard, an' give 'im dat.  Your fadder
+never take time to smell him's grog--always toss 'im off quick."
+
+"Yes, an' then he'd toss the wine-glass into my face an' kick me round
+the deck afterwards, if not overboard," said Billy, with a look of
+contempt.  "No, Zulu, I don't like your 'speriment, but you've put a
+notion into my head, for even when a fool speaks a wise man may learn--"
+
+"Yes, I often tink dat," said the cook, interrupting, with a look of
+innocence.  "You quite right, so speak away, Billy, an' I'll learn."
+
+"You fetch me the wine-glass," said the boy, sharply.
+
+Zulu obeyed.
+
+"Now, fill it up with water--so, an' put in a little brown sugar to give
+it colour.  That's enough, stir him up.  Not bad rum--to _look_ at.
+I'll try father wi' that."
+
+Accordingly, our little hero went on deck and handed the glass to his
+father--retreating a step or two, promptly yet quietly, after doing so.
+
+As Zulu had said, David Bright did not waste time in smelling his
+liquor.  He emptied the glass at one gulp, and then gazed at his son
+with closed lips and gradually widening eyes.
+
+"It's only sugar and water, daddy," said Billy, uncertain whether to
+laugh or look grave.
+
+For a few moments the skipper was speechless.  Then his face flushed,
+and he said in a voice of thunder, "Go below an' fetch up the keg."
+
+There was no disobeying _that_ order!  The poor boy leaped down the
+ladder and seized the rum-keg.
+
+"Your 'speriment might have been better after all, Zulu," he whispered
+as he passed up again, and stood before his father.
+
+What may have passed in the mind of that father during the brief
+interval we cannot tell, but he still stood with the empty wine-glass in
+his hand and a fierce expression on his face.
+
+To Billy's surprise, however, instead of seizing the keg and filling out
+a bumper, he said sternly--"See here," and tossed the wine-glass into
+the sea.  "Now lad," he added, in a quiet voice, "throw that keg after
+it."
+
+The poor boy looked at his sire with wondering eyes, and hesitated.
+
+"Overboard with it!" said David Bright in a voice of decision.
+
+With a mingling of wild amazement, glee, and good-will, Billy, exerting
+all his strength, hurled the rum-keg into the air, and it fell with a
+heavy splash upon the sea.
+
+"There, Billy," said David, placing his hand gently on the boy's head,
+"you go below and say your prayers, an' if ye don't know how to pray,
+get Luke Trevor to teach you, an' don't forget to thank God that your
+old father's bin an' done it at last."
+
+We are not informed how far Billy complied with these remarkable orders,
+but certain we are that David Bright did not taste a drop of strong
+drink during the remainder of that voyage.  Whether he tasted it
+afterwards at all must be left for this chronicle to tell at the proper
+time and place.
+
+At present it is necessary that we should return to Yarmouth, where
+Captain Bream, in pursuance of his deep-laid schemes, entered a
+bookseller's shop and made a sweeping demand for theological literature.
+
+"What particular work do you require, sir?" asked the surprised and
+somewhat amused bookseller.
+
+"I don't know that I want any one in particular," said the captain, "I
+want pretty well all that have bin published up to this date.  You know
+the names of 'em all, I suppose?"
+
+"Indeed no, sir," answered the man with a look of uncertainty.
+"Theological works are very numerous, and some of them very expensive.
+Perhaps if--"
+
+"Now, look here.  I've got neither time nor inclination to get upon the
+subject just now," said the captain.  "You just set your clerk to work
+to make out a list o' the principal works o' the kind you've got on
+hand, an' I'll come back in the evenin' to see about it.  Never mind the
+price.  I won't stick at that--nor yet the quality.  Anything that
+throws light on religion will do."
+
+"But, sir," said the shopman, "some of the theological works of the
+present day are supposed--at least by the orthodox--to throw darkness
+instead of light on religion."
+
+"All right," returned the captain, "throw 'em all in.  I don't expect
+divines to agree any more than doctors.  Besides, I've got a chart to
+steer by, called the Bible, that'll keep me clear o' rocks an' shoals.
+You make your mind easy, an' do as I bid you.  Get the books together by
+six o'clock this evening, an' the account made out, for I always pay
+cash down.  Good-day."
+
+Leaving the bookseller to employ himself with this astounding "order,"
+Captain Bream next went to that part of the town which faces the
+sea-beach, and knocked at the door of a house in the window of which was
+a ticket with "lodgings" inscribed on it.
+
+"Let me see your rooms, my good girl," said the captain to the little
+maid who opened the door.
+
+The little maid looked up at the captain with some surprise and no
+little hesitancy.  She evidently feared either that the rooms would not
+be suitable for the applicant or that the applicant would not be
+suitable for the rooms.  She admitted him, however, and, leading him
+up-stairs, ushered him into the parlour of the establishment.
+
+"Splendid!" exclaimed the captain on beholding the large window, from
+which there was seen a glorious view of the sea, so near that the ships
+passing through the deep water close to the beach seemed as if they were
+trying which of them could sail nearest to land without grounding.
+
+"Splendid!" he repeated with immense satisfaction as he turned from the
+view to the room itself; "now this is what I call fortunate.  The very
+thing--sofa for Miss Jessie--easy-chair for Miss Kate--rocking chair for
+both of 'em.  Nothin' quite suitable for me, (looking round), but that's
+not difficult to remedy.  Glass over the chimney to see their pretty
+faces in, and what have we here--a press?"
+
+"No, sir," said the little maid, pushing open the door, "a small room
+off this one, sir."
+
+"Glorious!" shouted the captain, entering and striking the top of the
+door-way with his head in doing so.  "Nothing could be better.  This is
+the theological library!  Just the thing--good-sized window, same view,
+small table, and--well, I declare! if there ain't _empty_ bookshelves!"
+
+"Very sorry, sir," said the little maid, hastening to apologise; "we
+have no books, but they'll be handy for any books you may bring to the
+sea-side with you, sir, or for any little knick-knacks and odds and
+ends."
+
+"Yes, yes, my good girl.  I'll fetch a few theological odds and ends
+to-night that'll p'r'aps fill 'em up.  By the way, you've a bedroom, I
+hope?"
+
+He looked anxious, and the maid, who seemed inclined to laugh, said that
+of course they had, a nice airy bedroom on the same floor on the other
+side of the passage--also commanding the sea.
+
+The captain's face beamed again.
+
+"And now, my girl--but, by the way, I shall want another bedroom.  Have
+you--"
+
+"I'm sorry to say that we have not.  The rest of the house is quite
+full."
+
+Captain Bream's face again became anxious.  "That's bad," he said; "of
+course I can get one out o' the house, but it would be inconvenient."
+
+"There _is_ a hattic, sir," said the maid, "but it is 'igh up, and so
+very small, that I fear--"
+
+"Let me see the attic," said the captain, promptly.
+
+The maid conducted him up another flight of steps to a room, or rather
+closet, which did not appear to be more than five feet broad and barely
+six feet long; including the storm-window, it might have been perhaps
+seven feet long.  It was situated in a sort of angle, so that from the
+window you could have a view of a piece of slate roof, and two crooked
+chimney pots with a slice of the sea between them.  As there was much
+traffic on the sea off that coast, the slice referred to frequently
+exhibited a ship or a boat for a few seconds.
+
+"My study!" murmured the captain, looking round on the bare walls, and
+the wooden chair, and a low bedstead which constituted the furniture.
+"Not much room for the intellect to expand here.  However, I've seen
+worse."
+
+"We consider it a very good hattic, sir," said the little maid, somewhat
+hurt by the last remark.
+
+"I meant no offence, my dear," said the captain, with one of his
+blandest smiles, "only the berth _is_ rather small, d'ee see, for a man
+of my size.  It is first-rate as far as it goes, but if it went a little
+further--in the direction of the sea, you know--it might give me a
+little more room to kick about my legs.  But it'll do.  It'll do.  I'll
+take all the rooms, so you'll consider them engaged."
+
+"But you haven't asked the price of 'em yet sir," said the little maid.
+
+"I don't care tuppence about the price, my dear.  Are you the landlady?"
+
+"La! no, sir," replied the girl, laughing outright as they returned to
+the parlour.
+
+"Well then, you send the landlady to me, and I'll soon settle matters."
+
+When the landlady appeared, the captain was as good as his word.  He at
+once agreed to her terms, as well as her stipulations, and paid the
+first week's rent in advance on the spot.
+
+"Now," said he, on leaving, "I'll come back this evening with a lot of
+books.  To-morrow forenoon, the ladies for whom the rooms are taken will
+arrive, please God, and you will have everything ready and in apple-pie
+order for 'em.  I'll see about grub afterwards, but in the meantime you
+may give orders to have sent in to-morrow a lot o' fresh eggs and milk
+and cream--lots of cream--and fresh butter and tea and coffee an'
+suchlike.  But I needn't do more than give a wink to a lady of your
+experience."
+
+With this last gallant remark Captain Bream left the lodging and
+strolled down to the sea-beach.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+RUTH'S HOPES AS TO HER PLOT BRIGHTEN A LITTLE.
+
+"Mother," said Ruth one day to her dignified parent, "shall you be soon
+free of engagements?"
+
+"Yes, probably by the end of next week.  Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because I am longing to get away to Yarmouth.  I had a letter from dear
+Kate Seaward to-day.  They have been a week in their lodging now, and
+are enjoying it immensely.  Here is the letter.  Let me read a bit of it
+to you.  She says: `You have no idea how much we are charmed with this
+place.  It is a perfect paradise!  Perhaps part of our feeling of
+delight is due to the great change from our smoky little residence in
+London, but you would not wonder at my enthusiasm if you saw the sweet
+little window beside which I am writing, and the splendid sea--like a
+great field of clear glass, which spreads away on all sides to the
+horizon.  Oh!  I do love the sea--to look at, I mean.  You must not
+suppose, dear, that I have any love left when I am _on_ it.  Oh no!  The
+memory of my last crossing of the Channel--that dreadful British
+Channel--is as fresh as if it had happened yesterday--the heaving of the
+steamer and the howling of the wind, the staggering of the passengers,
+and the expression of their faces, to say nothing of their colour.  And
+then the sensations!  Appalling is a mild word.  It is not appropriate.
+If I might coin a word, horrific seems more suitable.  But words utterly
+fail when deep and powerful sensations are concerned.  I do assure you,
+Ruth, that I was absolutely indifferent as to what should become of me
+that dreadful day as I lay extended flat on my back on one of the saloon
+sofas.  And when that nurse with the baby was forced by a lurch of the
+ship to sit down on me, I do believe that I could have thanked her if
+she had crushed me out of existence.  Yes, I hate the sea as a place of
+residence, but I love it as an object to be looked at, especially when
+it is calm and glittering, as it now is, in the early morning sun.
+
+"Talking of the early morning reminds me of good Captain Bream, who is
+one of the most singular and incomprehensible creatures I ever met with.
+He is an early riser--not that that makes him singular--but instead of
+going out to walk he remains up in his pigeon-hole of a room studying
+theology!  And such a miscellaneous collection of books he has got on
+all sorts of religious controversy!  He say he wants to be able to meet
+the objections of unbelievers whom he sometimes encounters when
+preaching to sailors.  Jessie and I have heard him preach to a number of
+sailors and fishermen assembled in an old boat-shed, and you have no
+idea, Ruth, how delightful it is to hear him.  _So_ different from what
+one expected, and so very unlike the preaching of many men.  I have
+often wondered why it is that some men--sensible men, too, in other
+matters--should think it necessary to talk in a sing-song, or whiny
+voice, with a pathetic drawl, or through their noses, when they have to
+speak on religious subjects!  I once heard an indignant clergyman say
+that he thought it was a device of the devil to turn sacred things into
+ridicule, but I cannot agree with that.  It seems to me that men are
+often too ready to saddle Satan with evil devices which they ought to
+fix on their own stupid shoulders.  Captain Bream simply _talks_ when he
+preaches; just as if he were talking on any business matter of great
+importance, and he does it so nicely, too, and so earnestly, like a
+father talking to his children.  Many of the rough-looking fishermen
+were quite melted, and after the meeting a good many of them remained
+behind to talk with him privately.  Jessie and I are convinced that he
+is doing a great and good work here.  But he is a most eccentric man,
+and seems a good deal perplexed by his theological studies.  The other
+day Jessie ventured to question him about these, and he became quite
+energetic as he said:--
+
+"`I tell 'ee what it is, ladies, when I go cruisin' out and in among
+these theological volumes until I lose my reckoning altogether an' git
+among shoals an' quicksands that I never so much as heard of before, I
+just lay hold o' the cable that's made fast to my sheet-anchor, and I
+haul in on that.  Here is the sheet-anchor, he said, pulling his little
+Bible from his pocket, the Word of God.  That's it.  When I feel how
+ignorant an' stoopid an' unlearned I am, I just keep haulin' on the
+cable till I come to some such word as this, "Not by might, nor by
+power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord," an' so I'm comforted, an' my
+mind's made easy, for, after all we may think and say and read, it
+_must_ come to this--"Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."
+Every man must work out his own theology for himself, accordin' to that
+Word, and I've worked it out so far by God's blessin', that Jesus
+Christ--the God--man--is my foundation, the Holy Spirit is my guide, and
+salvation from sin is my aim and end--not only for myself but for my
+fellow-sinners.
+
+"`But I must not go on quoting the Captain's sayings and eccentric
+doings, else I shall never stop.
+
+"`When are you and your mother coming down?  I cannot tell how much we
+long to have you with us to share in our enjoyment of this charming
+place.  And the fisher-people are so interesting too.  I don't wonder
+you took such a fancy to them.  Of course we have not had time to make
+acquaintance with many of them yet.  And Jessie has become so engrossed
+with the Captain's theological books that I can't tear her away from
+them.  At first she began to inspect their contents with a view to
+tabulate them and help the captain, but she gets so deep in them that
+she forgets time altogether, and I have often found her, after having
+been several hours in the library, sitting there poring over a huge
+volume without having made a single note or jotting!  The captain is
+quite facetious about it, and said yesterday that if she didn't work a
+little harder he'd have to dismiss her from the service an' ship a new
+hand.  Then he dragged us both out for a long walk on the beach.  We
+cannot resist him.  Nobody can.  And _such_ cream as we have!--more like
+thin butter than cream.  And such quantities of it too, for he declares
+he is very fond of it, and must always have plenty on hand.  But I
+cannot help thinking it is for our sakes he has it, for although he
+talks much about it and makes great demonstration and noise when he
+drinks it, he does not really consume much--and you know it must be
+drunk by somebody, else it would spoil.  Oh! we are having, as the
+captain himself says, a remarkably jolly time of it here, and only want
+you to make our happiness complete.  But with all his fun and energy and
+cheerfulness, I cannot avoid noticing that dear Captain Bream is
+frequently very pensive and absent.  I cannot help thinking sometimes
+that he is the victim of some secret sorrow.'"
+
+At this point Ruth looked up in her mother's face and burst into a fit
+of hilarious laughter.
+
+"Only think, mother," she said, "of great big, stout, jolly old Captain
+Bream having a secret sorrow!"
+
+"My dear," said Mrs Dotropy in a reproachful tone, "you are too
+flippant in your references to stout old people.  You should remember
+that even the stoutest of them may once have been thin.  And it is not
+impossible that Captain Bream may still be suffering from unrequited
+affection, or--"
+
+Again Ruth burst into silvery laughter, but checked it and apologised.
+
+"I can't help it mother.  It does seem so funny to think of Captain
+Bream having ever been thin, or with hair on his head, or suffering from
+disappointed love.  I wonder that it does not occur to Kate that the
+good man is perhaps suffering because of the sorrows of others.  It
+would be much more like his generous and unselfish nature.  But now,
+mother, may I write to Kate and tell her to expect us next week?"
+
+"Yes, I think you may.  But why are you in such haste, child?"
+
+"Because I'm burning to clear up that little mystery that I told you
+of--if indeed it is a mystery, and not a mere fancy."
+
+Ruth sighed as if her spirit were slightly troubled.  "Really, child,
+you have quite raised my curiosity about that mystery as you call it.
+Why will you not confide in me?"
+
+"Because I may be all wrong, and when I find out that I'm right--if I
+find out that I'm right--then you shall know all about it."
+
+"And there's that chest, too, that the captain sent here for us to take
+care of when he left town," continued Mrs Dotropy, "you make quite a
+mystery about that too, for I see that you know something about it.  If
+I had not perfect confidence in your heart, child, I should feel quite
+anxious, for it is the first time in your life that you have concealed
+anything from me."
+
+"Thank you, mother, for trusting my heart," said Ruth, putting an arm
+round the dignified lady's neck and kissing her.
+
+"That's all very well, Ruth, but I do not put so much trust in your
+head."
+
+"I'm sorry for that, Mother, but meantime my head says that while it
+would be wrong in me to keep any secret about myself from you, I have no
+right to reveal the secrets of others.  But about this chest--has the
+banker sent for it yet?"
+
+"No, not yet but I expect some one from the bank every minute, (she
+consulted a small jewelled watch), and it is probable that our young
+friend Mr Dalton himself may come."
+
+"Mr Dalton!" exclaimed Ruth, with a sudden flush that might have
+indicated pleasure or annoyance.  Mrs Dotropy, however, did not observe
+the flush, but continued--
+
+"The chest seems miraculously heavy.  I told James to put it into the
+store-room, but he could not lift it, although he is a strong man, and
+had to get the butler's assistance."
+
+At that moment the conversation was interrupted by the door being thrown
+open, and Mr Dalton was announced.
+
+He was a young man of handsome face and figure, with dark eyes, short
+curly hair, and a pleasing address.
+
+Apologising for not being more punctual in calling for the chest, he
+explained that pressing-business had detained him.
+
+"Of course, of course," said Mrs Dotropy, with the familiarity of an
+old friend--for such she was to the youth--"you men of business always
+carry about that cloak of pressing-business to cover your sins and
+shortcomings with."
+
+"Nay, you are unjust," said the young man, "I appeal to Miss Ruth.  Did
+I not say to Captain Bream that I might perhaps have difficulty in
+getting away at the hour named, as it was a business hour, and, the
+transaction being of a friendly and private nature--"
+
+"My dear sir," interrupted Mrs Dotropy, "if it is private, pray do not
+make it public."
+
+"Has not Miss Ruth, then, told you--"
+
+He stopped and looked from one lady to the other.
+
+"Miss Ruth," said that young lady, flushing deeply, "is supposed to know
+nothing whatever about your transactions with Captain Bream.  Shall I go
+and tell James to carry the box down-stairs, mother?"
+
+Mrs Dotropy gave permission, and Ruth retired.  A few minutes later,
+young Dalton drove away with the captain's chest of gold.
+
+A week after that the mother and daughter drove away from the same door
+to the railway station, and in process of time found themselves one
+pleasant afternoon at Yarmouth, in the little parlour with the window
+that commanded the gorgeous view of the sea, taking tea with the captain
+himself and his friends Jessie and Kate Seaward.
+
+A lodging had been secured quite close to their own by the Dotropys.
+
+"Now," said Ruth to Jessie that evening in private, with flushed cheeks
+and eager eyes, "I shall be able to carry out my little plot, and see
+whether I am right, now that I have at last got Captain Bream down to
+Yarmouth."
+
+"What little plot?" asked Jessie.
+
+"I may not tell you yet," said Ruth with a laugh.  "I shall let you know
+all about it soon."
+
+But Ruth was wrong.  There was destined to be a slip 'twixt the cup and
+her sweet lip just then, for that same evening Captain Bream received a
+telegram from London, which induced him to leave Yarmouth hastily to see
+a friend, he said, and keep an old-standing engagement.  He promised,
+however, to be back in two or three days at furthest.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+A CLOUD COMES OVER RUTH'S HOPES, AND DIMS THEIR BRIGHTNESS.
+
+To prevent the reader supposing that there is any deep-laid scheme or
+profound mystery, with which we mean to torment him during the course of
+our tale, we may as well say at once that the little plot, which Ruth
+had in view, and which began to grow quite into a romance the longer she
+pondered it, was neither more nor less than to bring Captain Bream and
+Mrs David Bright face to face.
+
+Ruth had what we may style a constructive mind.  Give her a few rough
+materials, and straight-way she would build a castle with them.  If she
+had not enough of material, she immediately invented more, and thus
+continued her castle-building.  Being highly imaginative and romantic,
+her structures were sometimes amazing edifices, at which orthodox
+architects might have turned up their noses--and with some reason, too,
+for poor little Ruth's castles were built frequently on bad foundations,
+and sometimes even in the air, so that they too often fell in splendid
+ruins at her feet!
+
+It would not be just however, to say that none of Ruth's buildings stood
+firm.  Occasionally she built upon a good foundation.  Now and then she
+made a straight shot and hit the mark.  For instance, the little edifice
+of cuffs and comforters to the North Sea trawlers survived, and remains
+to the present day a monument of usefulness, (which few monuments are),
+and of well-placed philanthropy.  It may not, perhaps, be just to say
+that Ruth actually laid the foundation--conceived the first idea--of
+that good work, but she was at all events among the first builders,
+became an active overseer, and did much of the work with her own hands.
+Still, as we have said, too many of Ruth's castles came to the ground,
+and the poor thing was so well used to the sight of falling material
+that she had at last begun to be quite expert in detecting the first
+symptoms of dissolution, and often regarded them with despairing
+anxiety.  It was so with her when Captain Bream was summoned so suddenly
+away from Yarmouth.
+
+Eagerly, anxiously, had she planned to get him down to that town for the
+purpose of confronting him with Mrs David Bright--the reason being
+that, from various things the captain had said to her at different
+times, and from various remarks that Mrs Bright had made on sundry
+occasions, she felt convinced that the North Sea fisherman's wife was
+none other than Captain Bream's long-lost sister!
+
+It would be well-nigh impossible, as well as useless, to investigate the
+process of reasoning and the chain of investigation, by which she came
+to this conclusion, but having once laid the foundation, she began to
+build on it with her wonted enthusiasm, and with a hopefulness that
+partial failure could not destroy.
+
+The captain's departure, just when she hoped to put the copestone on her
+little edifice was a severe blow, for it compelled her to shut up her
+hopes and fears in her own breast, and, being of a sympathetic nature,
+that was difficult.  But Ruth was a wise little woman as well as
+sympathetic.  She had sense enough to know that it might be a tremendous
+disappointment to Captain Bream, if, after having had his hopes raised,
+it were discovered that Mrs Bright was _not_ his sister.  Ruth had
+therefore made up her mind not to give the slightest hint to him, or to
+any one else, about her hopes, until the matter could be settled by
+bringing the two together, when, of course, they would at once recognise
+each other.
+
+Although damped somewhat by this unlooked-for interruption to her little
+schemes, she did not allow her efforts to flag.
+
+"I see," she said one day, on entering the theological library, where
+Jessie, having laid down a worsted cuff which she had been knitting, was
+deep in Leslie's _Short and Easy method with the Deists_, and Kate,
+having dropped a worsted comforter, had lost herself in Chalmers's
+_Astronomical Discourses_.  "I see you are both busy, so I won't disturb
+you.  I only looked in to say that I'm going out for an hour or two."
+
+"We are never too busy, darling," said Jessie, "to count _your_ visits
+an interruption.  Would you like us to walk with you?"
+
+"N-no.  Not just now.  The fact is, I am going out on a little private
+expedition," said Ruth, pursing her mouth till it resembled a cherry.
+
+"Oh! about that little plot?" asked Jessie, laughing.  Ruth nodded and
+joined in the laugh, but would not commit herself in words.
+
+"Now, don't work too hard, Kate," she cried with an arch look as she
+turned to leave.
+
+"It is harder work than you suppose, Miss Impudence," said Kate; "what
+with cuffs and contradictions, comforters and confusion, worsted helmets
+and worse theology, my brain seems to be getting into what the captain
+calls a sort of semi-theological lop-scowse that quite unfits me for
+anything.  Go away, you naughty girl, and carry out your dark plots,
+whatever they are."
+
+Ruth ran off laughing, and soon found herself at the door of Mrs
+Bright's humble dwelling.
+
+Now, Mrs Bright, although very fond of her fair young visitor, had
+begun, as we have seen, to grow rather puzzled and suspicious as to her
+frequent inquiries into her past history.
+
+"You told me, I think, that your maiden name was Bream," said Ruth,
+after a few remarks about the weather and the prospects of the _Short
+Blue_ fleet, etcetera.
+
+"Yes, Miss Ruth," answered Mrs Bright; but the answer was so short and
+her tone so peculiar that poor scheming little Ruth was quelled at once.
+She did not even dare to say another word on the subject nearest her
+heart at the time, and hastily, if not awkwardly, changed the subject to
+little Billy.
+
+Here indeed she had touched a theme in regard to which Mrs Bright was
+always ready to respond.
+
+"Ah! he _is_ a good boy, is Billy," she said, "an uncommonly good boy--
+though he is not perfect by any means.  And he's a little too fond of
+fighting.  But, after all, it's not for its own sake he likes it, dear
+boy!  It's only when there's a good reason for it that he takes to it.
+Did I ever tell you about his kicking a boy bigger than himself into the
+sea off the end of the pier?"
+
+"No, you never told me that."
+
+"Well, this is how it was.  There's a small girl named Lilly Brass--a
+sweet little tot of four years old or thereabouts, and Billy's very fond
+of her.  Lilly has a brother named Tommy, who's as full of mischief as
+an egg is full of meat, and he has a trick of getting on the edge of the
+pier, near where they live, and tryin' to walk on it and encouraging
+Lilly to follow him.  The boy had been often warned not to do it, but he
+didn't mind, and my Billy grew very angry about it.
+
+"`I don't care about little Brass himself mother,' said Billy to me one
+day; `he may tumble in an' be drownded if he likes, but I'm afeared for
+little Lilly, for she likes to do what he does.'
+
+"So, one day Billy saw Tommy Brass at his old tricks, with Lilly looking
+on, quite delighted, and what did my boy do, think ye?  He went up to
+Brass, who was bigger and older than himself, and gave him such a hearty
+kick that it sent him right off into the sea.  The poor boy could not
+swim a stroke, and the water was deep, so my Billy, who can swim like a
+fish, jumped in after him and helped to get him safe ashore.  Tommy
+Brass was none the worse; so, after wringing the water out of his
+clothes, he went up to Billy and gave him a slap in the face.  Billy is
+not a boastful boy.  He does not speak much when he's roused; but he
+pulled off his coat and gave Brass such a thump on the nose that he
+knocked him flat on the sand.  Up he jumped, however, in a moment and
+went at Billy furiously, but he had no chance.  My boy was too active
+for him.  He jumped a' one side, struck out his leg, and let him tumble
+over it, giving him a punch on the head as he went past that helped to
+send his nose deeper into the sand.  At last he beat him entirely, and
+then, as he was puttin' on his jacket again, he said--`Tommy Brass, it
+ain't so much on account o' that slap you gave me, that I've licked you,
+but because you 'ticed Lilly into danger.  And, you mark what I say:
+every time I catch you walkin' on that there pier-edge, or _hear_ of you
+doin' of it, I'll give you a lickin'.'
+
+"Tommy Brass has never walked on that pier-edge since," concluded Mrs
+Bright, "but I'm sorry to say that ever since that day Lilly Brass has
+refused to have a word to say to Billy, and when asked why, she says,
+`'cause he sowsed an' whacked my brudder Tommy!'"
+
+Thus did Mrs Bright entertain her visitor with comment and anecdote
+about Billy until she felt at last constrained to leave without having
+recovered courage to broach again the subject which had brought her to
+the fisherman's home.
+
+That same afternoon Mrs Bright paid a friendly visit to the wife of her
+husband's mate.
+
+"I can't think whatever Miss Ruth Dotropy is so curious about me for,
+she's bin at me again," said Mrs Bright to Mrs Davidson, who was busy
+with her needle on some part of the costume of her "blessed babby,"
+which lay, like an angel, in its little crib behind the door.
+
+"P'r'aps it's all along of her bein' so interested in you," replied
+pretty Mrs Davidson.  "She asks me many odd questions at times about
+myself, and my dear Joe, and the babby--though I admit she don't inquire
+much about my past life."
+
+"Well, that's not surprising," said Mrs Bright with a laugh, as she sat
+down on a stool to have a chat.  "You see, Maggie, you haven't got much
+of a past life to inquire about, and Joe is such a good man that you've
+no call to be suspecting anything; but it wasn't always so with my dear
+David.  I wouldn't say it even to you, Maggie, if it wasn't that
+everybody in Yarmouth knows it--my David drinks hard sometimes, and
+although I know he's as true as gold to me, an' never broke the laws of
+the land, everybody won't believe that, you know, and the dear man
+_might_ fall under suspicion."
+
+"But you don't suppose, if he did," said Mrs Davidson, with a look of
+surprise, "that Miss Ruth would go about actin' the part of a detective,
+do you?"
+
+"Well, no, I don't," replied her friend, looking somewhat puzzled.  "All
+the same it _is_ mysterious why she should go on as she's bin doin',
+asking me what my maiden name was, and who my relations were, and if I
+ever had any brothers, and when and where I first met wi' David.  But
+whatever her reasons may be I'm resolved that she'll get nothing more
+out of me."
+
+"Of course," returned Maggie, "you must do as you think right in that
+matter.  All I can say is, I would tell Miss Ruth all that was in _my_
+mind without any fear that she'd abuse my confidence."
+
+"Ah!  Maggie, I might say that too if my mind and conscience were as
+clear as yours.  But they're not.  It is true I have long ago brought my
+sins to Jesus and had them washed away in His precious blood.  And I
+never cease to pray for my dear David, but--but--"
+
+"Don't you fear, Nell," said Mrs Davidson, earnestly, and in a tone of
+encouragement.  "Your prayer is sure to be answered."
+
+"Oh!  Maggie, I try to believe it--indeed I do.  But when I see David go
+down to that--that public-house, and come up the worse o' liquor, an'
+sometimes little Billy with him with a cigar in his sweet little mouth
+an' the smell o' drink on him, my heart fails me, for you know what an
+_awful_ snare that drink is, once it gets the upper hand--and--"
+
+Poor Mrs Bright fairly broke down at this point for a few seconds; and
+no wonder, for, not even to her most confidential and sympathetic friend
+could she tell of the terrible change for the worse that came over her
+husband when the accursed fire-water burned in his veins.
+
+"Nell," said Maggie, laying her work in her lap and taking her friend's
+hand.  "Don't give way like that.  God would never ask us to pray for
+one another, if He didn't mean to answer us.  Would He, now?"
+
+"That's true, Maggie, that's true," said Mrs Bright, much comforted.
+"I never thought of that before.  You're young, but you're wise, dear.
+Of course, the good Lord will never mock us, and if there's anything I
+have asked for of late, it has been the salvation of David and Billy.
+What was it, Maggie, that made your Joe first turn his thoughts to the
+Lord?"
+
+"It was one of his mates.  You remember when he sailed wi' that good
+man, Singin' Peter?  Well, Peter used often to speak to him about his
+soul to no purpose; but that fine man, Luke Trevor, who also sailed wi'
+Singin' Peter at the time, had a long talk with Joe one night, an' the
+Holy Spirit made use of his words, for Joe broke down an' gave in.
+They're both wi' your David and Billy now, so you may be sure they won't
+throw away the chance they have of speakin' to 'em."
+
+"God grant them success!" murmured Mrs Bright, earnestly.
+
+"Amen!" responded the younger woman.  "But, Nell, you haven't told me
+yet what you think o' the Miss Seawards."
+
+"Think?  I think that next to Miss Ruth they are the sweetest ladies I
+ever met," returned Mrs Bright with enthusiasm.  "They are so modest
+and humble, that when they are putting themselves about to serve you,
+they almost make you feel that you're doing them a favour.  Don't you
+remember only last week when they came to see poor Jake's boy that was
+nearly drowned, and insisted on sitting up with him all night--first one
+and then the other taking her turn till daylight, because Mrs Jake was
+dead-drunk and not able for anything."
+
+"Remember it?" exclaimed Maggie, "I should think I does, and the awful
+way Mrs Jake swore at them afore she rightly understood what was
+wrong."
+
+"Well, did you hear what Mrs Jake said in the afternoon of that same
+day?"
+
+"No--except that she was more civil to 'em, so I was told."
+
+"Civil! yes, she was more civil indeed.  She'd got quite sober by the
+afternoon, and the neighbours told her how near the boy was to death,
+and that the doctor said if it hadn't been for the wise and prompt
+measures taken by the Miss Seawards before he arrived, he didn't believe
+the boy would have lived--when they told her that, she said nothing.
+When the Miss Seawards came back in the afternoon, they tapped so gently
+at the door that you would have thought they were beggars who expected a
+scolding, an' when Mrs Jake cried out gruffly in her man-like voice,
+`Who's that?' they replied as softly as if they had been doing some
+mischief, `May we come in?'  `May you come in?' shouted Mrs Jake, so
+that you might have heard her half way down the street, as she flung the
+door wide open, `may angels from heaven come in? yes, you _may_ come
+in!' an' with that she seized the younger one round the neck an' fairly
+hugged her, for you see Mrs Jake has strong feelin's, an' is very fond
+of her boy, an' then she went flop down on a chair, threw her apron over
+her head, and howled.  I can call it by no other name."
+
+"The poor ladies were almost scared, and didn't seem rightly to know how
+to take it, and Miss Kate--the younger one you know--had her pretty new
+summer dress awfully crushed by the squeeze, as well as dirtied, for
+Mrs Jake had been washin', besides cleaning up a bit just before they
+arrived."
+
+"Well, I never!" exclaimed Maggie in great admiration.  "I always
+thought there was a soft spot in Mrs Jake's heart, if only a body could
+find it out."
+
+"My dear," said Mrs Bright, impressively, "there's a soft spot I
+believe in everybody's heart, though in some hearts it's pretty well
+choked up an' overlaid--"
+
+At that moment a bursting yell from the crib behind the door went
+straight to the soft spot in Mrs Davidson's heart, and sank deeply into
+it.
+
+"That blessed babby!" she cried, leaping up in such haste that her work
+went into the grate, in which, however, there was happily no fire.
+
+"Oh! my darling! you're Joe to the back-bone--though you _are_ a girl--
+all bounce, an' bang, an' tenderness!"
+
+Seizing the infant in her strong arms she gave it a hug which ought to
+have produced another yell, but the little one was tough, besides which,
+she was used to it, and said nothing.  The calm did not last long,
+however.  Little Mag, as she was called, felt that her interior
+somewhere was somehow in want of something, and took the usual way to
+publish the fact.
+
+After that, conversation became impossible.  A storm had burst upon the
+friends which increased rapidly, so Mrs Bright rose to say good-bye in
+the midst of a squall which ought to have blown her through the door-way
+or out at the window into the street.  She was not irritated, however.
+As she left the house followed by the squall, which was soon moderated
+to a stiffish breeze by distance, the sound called up reminiscences of
+little Billy, and she smiled as she thought of the unvarying continuity
+of human affairs--the gush of infant memories, and the squalls of other
+days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+TEMPTATION ON THE DEEP.
+
+Let us return once more to the North Sea.
+
+It was drawing towards the close of another fishing period, and the crew
+of the _Evening Star_ were beginning to think of the pleasures of their
+week on shore when, one afternoon, their vessel found herself becalmed
+near to the Dutch man-trap--the vessel laden with that greatest of the
+world's curses--strong drink.
+
+It is usual, we believe, in ordinary warfare, that, on the eve of a
+great battle, there should be preparations and indications, more or less
+obvious, of the coming fight; but it is not always so in spiritual
+warfare.  Sometimes the hardest and most important battles of the Great
+War are fought on unselected ground, the assault having been delivered
+unexpectedly and when the soul was off its guard, or, perchance, when it
+was presuming on fancied security, and relying on its own might instead
+of the strength of the Lord.  So it was at this time with David Bright,
+skipper of the _Evening Star_.
+
+Who would have thought, as he sat that day on the rail of his little
+vessel, calmly looking out to the horizon in anticipation of a good
+fishing-breeze, that the mighty forces of Good and Evil were mustering
+unseen for a tremendous conflict, on which, perchance, the angels were
+permitted to look down with interest, and that the battle-field was to
+be the soul of that rugged fisherman of the North Sea!  He knew not,
+little dreamed of, what was pending; but the Captain of his salvation
+knew it all.
+
+There was but one entrance to that battle-field--the gate of man's
+Free-will.  Through that portal the powers of darkness must enter if
+they gained admittance at all.  Elsewhere the walls were high as heaven,
+deeper than hell, for, except at this point, the fortress was
+impregnable.
+
+Yet, although David Bright knew not the power nor the number of the
+mighty forces that were marshalling, he was not entirely ignorant of the
+war that was going on.  There had been some skirmishing already, in
+front of the gate, in which he had come off victorious.  The demon Habit
+had assaulted him more than once, and had pressed him sore; for a
+terrible thirst--such, it is said, as only confirmed drunkards
+understand--had more than once tormented him.  When the first attack was
+made, the sturdy fisherman stood quietly on his deck with hands in
+pockets and eyes on the horizon, looking as if nothing were going on,
+and he smiled grimly as he muttered to himself rather than to the demon:
+"Lucky for me that I made Billy heave it overboard!"
+
+"Oh! but," said the demon, "you were a weak fool when you did that.
+There's the Coper alongside now; go, get another keg.  It is cheap, and
+you can just take a little drop to relieve that desperate craving.
+Come, now, be a man, and show that you have powers of self-restraint.
+You have always boasted of the strength of your will, haven't you?  Show
+it now."
+
+"Ay, an' prove the strength of my will," replied David, with another
+grim smile, "by givin' in to _your_ will.  No, devil!  I _am_ a fool,
+but not quite such a fool as that comes to."
+
+The demon fell back at that and left him.
+
+On the next attack the skipper was worn-out with fatigue and watching.
+They had had a long spell of dirty weather.  Work of the hardest kind--
+even for a hardy frame--had been done, and there was still work to do,
+and David's great physical powers were well-nigh used up.  The gear was
+down, and a stiff nor'-west breeze not only drove the smack over the
+surging waves, but caused her to plunge into them like a wild horse
+bridled and held back.
+
+"You can't hold out much longer at this rate," whispered the demon.
+"Take a drop just by way of a medicine to keep you awake and tide you
+over this bout; and, by good luck, your man Gunter has some grog left in
+that bottle he got yesterday from the Coper."
+
+"Billy," said David, in a quiet voice, without deigning a reply to his
+foe, "Billy, my lad, you fetch me a pot o' coffee or tea--whatever's
+ready, an' let it be hot."
+
+"Yes, father," said Billy, hastening smartly to obey, for he had a very
+slight suspicion of the conflict that was raging, though his conceptions
+were far, far short of the reality.
+
+The demon received a staggering blow that time, and he slunk away
+scowling when he noted the gleam of satisfaction on the victor's face as
+he handed back the empty pot to his son.
+
+Warfare! yes, little do those who are "dead in trespasses and sins," and
+those who swim gaily with the current of self-indulgence, know of the
+ferocious fights, the raging storms, that are going on all round them on
+battle-grounds which, to all outward appearance, are calm and
+undisturbed.
+
+But we have said that this was merely skirmishing outside the gate.
+
+It was not till the afternoon referred to at the beginning of this
+chapter that the grand assault was made.
+
+On that day the skipper of the _Evening Star_ had been subjected to more
+than ordinary troubles.  In the first place, he had brought up a dead
+man in his net along with the fish--a by no means unknown incident in
+trawl-fishing experience, for bodies of men who have been washed out of
+vessels in gales, or drowned in other ways, are sometimes entangled in
+the gear and brought to the surface.  At other times bales and boxes--
+goods that have been cast away or wrecked--are fished up in this way.
+
+Being in a depressed state of mind, the sight of the dead man made David
+uncomfortable for a time, but, having thrown the corpse overboard again,
+he soon forgot it.  The next thing that happened was the fishing up of
+an enormous mass of wreckage, which tore the net almost to pieces, and
+compelled him to bend on a new one.  This was not only a heavy loss of
+itself, but entailed the loss of the fish that would otherwise have been
+in the net and poor David Bright, already at zero in his spirits, sank
+considerably below that point.
+
+But the final disaster was reserved for a later hour.  The new net had
+been shot, and one of the best banks of the fishing-ground had been gone
+over.  The breeze which had carried the fleet along was just beginning
+to die down when the Admiral made the signal to haul up.
+
+To work they went, therefore--all through the fleet--to hoist in the
+harvest of the deep.
+
+It was slow and weary work, as well as hard, that hauling in of the
+great cable with its gear.  Between two or three hours they laboured and
+toiled at it, while the thick veins stood out like cords on the men's
+necks, and beads of perspiration trickled down their brows.
+
+"It's goin' to be a big haul, father," said Billy, as the crew stopped
+for a few moments to rest.
+
+"P'r'aps another lump of wreck," replied the skipper, somewhat bitterly.
+
+"I hope not," returned Billy, in a cheery voice, resuming his work of
+passing the warp down below as it came off the capstan.
+
+At last the end of the bridle came inboard, and the fishermen knew that
+their toil, for that time at least, was drawing to a close.  Excitement
+of a mild type began to arise in the enthusiastic and hopeful among
+them.
+
+"Now, boys, heave away," said Joe Davidson, setting the example.
+
+"It seems unwillin' to come, don't it," growled Gunter.
+
+"Dat's 'cause him full ob fishes," said Zulu; "heave away, boys--
+altogidder!"
+
+He strained with all his might.  So did the rest of the crew.  Round
+went the capstan, and in a few minutes the great forty-eight feet beam
+appeared.  This was soon hoisted up by means of tackle, and made fast to
+the side, and then began the hauling in--we might almost say clawing
+in--of the net, hand over hand, until the cod-end was visible near the
+surface.  It now became evident that a grand haul had indeed been made,
+and that it had been the mere weight of the fish that had delayed them
+so long.
+
+Great was the anxiety of course to secure the prize, and energetic the
+action displayed.  Zulu, being the most active and cat-like, was ordered
+to pass a rope round the net to which a powerful double block was
+applied.
+
+"Haul away now, boys," said the skipper, whose spirits were somewhat
+revived by the sight.
+
+Soon the great balloon-shaped cod-end with its solid mass of fish rose
+slowly into the air, and some of the men laid hold to be ready to swing
+it inboard and deposit it on the deck, when, suddenly, the stout rope
+that bound the lower end of the bag gave way.  The entire mass of fish
+dropped back into the sea, and sank to the bottom!
+
+For a few seconds dead silence ensued, while the men glanced at the
+empty cod-end, and at each other.  Then a terrible oath burst from John
+Gunter, and a sort of sigh broke from some of the others, as if words
+were incapable of expressing their feelings--as, indeed, they were!  The
+skipper was standing by the companion-hatch at the moment with a
+handspike in his grasp.  A deep-toned curse issued from his lips when
+the fish went down, and he dashed the handspike to the deck with fearful
+violence.
+
+Once again, at this critical moment, the demon ventured to raise his
+head.
+
+"The Coper's close on the port bow!" he whispered; "go, drown it all in
+grog, man, and be jolly!"
+
+Jolly!  How many men have cast away their souls, for the sake of what is
+implied in that little word!
+
+And now, alas! the gate of man's Free-will was creaking on its hinges.
+No created power above or below could have moved that gate save the
+power of David Bright himself.
+
+"Shove out the boat!" shouted the miserable man, with a fierceness of
+expression and tone that there was no misunderstanding.  Poor Billy
+understood it well enough.
+
+"Oh! no, father!  Don't do it father!" he cried in an entreating voice;
+but already the little boat was dancing on the waves alongside, with
+John Gunter in her.
+
+"Jump in, Luke," said Joe Davidson, hastily, for he was anxious that at
+least one trusty man should be of the party.
+
+Luke jumped in at once, and was instantly followed by Billy.  The
+painter was cast off, and they pulled towards the floating grog-shop.
+
+The tempter received them with a hearty salute.
+
+"Cheap spirits an' cheap baccy!" said John Gunter, as he sat on the rail
+of the Coper drinking the one and smoking the other, "that's what I
+likes, an' plenty of both."
+
+"That's so, John," returned David Bright, who sat beside him, and,
+having already drained several bumpers of the fiery fluid, had quite got
+over his troubles.  "You an' I are of the same mind, John; nevertheless
+you're a great sulky-faced humbug for all that!"
+
+"What d'ee mean by that?" demanded Gunter, who was becoming rapidly
+drunk and quarrelsome.
+
+"What do I mean? why, I mean that you're the best man in the smack, out
+o' sight, an' it's a rare pity that your mother hasn't got half-a-dozen
+more like you.  If she had I'd man the _Evening Star_ with your whole
+family.  Here, give us a hold o' your grapplin'-iron, old man."
+
+He seized Gunter's fist as he spoke, and gave it a shake so hearty and
+powerful, that he almost hurled that lover of cheap grog and baccy
+overboard.
+
+"Hold on, skipper!" growled the fisherman, who was for a moment
+uncertain whether to return the friendly grasp or fight; but the fierce,
+wild, contemptuous laugh with which David Bright concluded the speech
+decided him.
+
+"Y'you--you're a jolly good fellow," he stammered; "here, fill up
+again."
+
+The poor skipper filled up again, and again, until his speech began to
+grow thick and unsteady.
+
+"Yesh," continued Gunter, doubling his fist and smiting his knee, "I do
+like sheap grog an' sheap baccy, an' the Coper's the place to get 'em
+both.  Ain't it?"
+
+He looked up sharply at the owner of the Coper, who stood in front of
+him, and who of course assented cheerfully to the question.
+
+"Ain't it?" he repeated still more sharply, turning to Luke Trevor, who
+sat close to him with a grave, anxious look.  "Why don't you drink?" he
+added.
+
+"Because I don't want to," returned Luke, quietly.
+
+"D-do-don't want to," returned Gunter, angrily--for it takes little to
+make some drunk men angry--"You don't want to spend your money, you
+young miser--that's what you m-mean.  An' yet it's sheap enough, I'm
+sure.  You'll not git anything in the fleet so sheap as you will in the
+Coper."
+
+"There you are wrong," returned Luke, decidedly.  "You'll get things
+cheaper aboard the mission-ship, for they'll give you physic, an' books,
+an good advice, and help as far as they can, all for nothing--which is
+cheaper than the Coper's wares."
+
+"Right you are, Luke.  Pitch into him," cried David Bright who was fast
+drinking himself into a state of madness.
+
+"Father," whispered Billy, with an anxious look, "don't you think you've
+had enough?"
+
+The reply to this was a tremendous cuff on the ear which sent the poor
+boy staggering backwards, so that he nearly fell.  Recovering himself he
+retired behind the Coper's boat and tried to crush down the sobs that
+rose in his throat.  He was to some extent successful, but a few tears
+that could not be restrained hopped over his sunburnt cheeks.
+
+It was not pain, nor even the indignity, that drew forth those tears and
+choking sobs, but the thought that the father he was so fond of had
+dealt the blow.
+
+Meanwhile Luke Trevor, who felt that matters had reached a dangerous
+point, rose and went to the place where the boat's painter had been
+tied.  David Bright was sitting close to the spot.
+
+"Don't you think it is time we were going, skipper?" he said,
+respectfully, as he laid his hand on the rope.
+
+"No, I don't," replied the skipper, sharply.  "Leave go that rope."
+
+Luke hesitated.  Instantly the enraged skipper leaped up and struck him
+a blow on the chest which knocked him down.  At the same moment,
+observing that Gunter looked on with a leer of drunken amusement, he
+transferred his wrath to him, flung the remains of the spirits he had
+been drinking in the man's face, and made a rush at him.  Fortunately
+Gunter, who had risen, staggered and fell, so that the skipper missed
+his aim and tumbled over him.  In a moment Gunter had regained his feet
+and prepared for combat, but his adversary's head had struck on the side
+of the vessel, and he lay stunned and helpless on the deck.
+
+Luke, who had recovered almost immediately, now assisted Gunter and
+Billy to raise the prostrate man.  It was not an easy matter to handle
+one whose frame was so heavy, but with the assistance of the owner of
+the Coper they managed it.
+
+"It's only a slight cut," said Billy, looking anxiously round at Trevor.
+
+"Ay, lad, it ain't the cut or the blow as keeps him down, but the grog.
+Come, we must git him aboard sharp.  Haul up the boat Gunter, while I
+stop the leak in his skull."
+
+With a kerchief, Luke soon bound up the slight wound that the wretched
+man had received, and then they tried to rouse him, but the effort was
+in vain.  David did indeed recover sufficient intelligence to be able to
+bellow once or twice for more grog, but he could not be brought to the
+condition of helping himself in any way.
+
+"What'll we do, Luke?" asked Billy, in a tone and with a look of deep
+distress, as the huge form of his father lay, a scarcely animate mass,
+on the deck at his feet.  "We _must_ get him aboard somehow."
+
+"Never fear, Billy, my boy," said Luke, cheerfully, "we'll get him
+aboard somehow.  It's not the first time I've had to do it.  Come along,
+Gunter, lend a hand."
+
+"Not I!" said Gunter, with a drunken swagger.  "_I'm_ not goin' for an
+hour or more."
+
+"Oh yes, you are," returned Luke, dipping one of the Coper's buckets
+over the side and pulling it up full of water.
+
+"No, I ain't.  Who'll make me?"
+
+"I will," said Luke, and he sent the contents of the bucket straight
+into his comrade's face.
+
+"Hooray!" shouted Billy, convulsed at once with delight and surprise at
+the suddenness of the act to say nothing of its violence.  "Give it 'im,
+Luke--polish 'im off!"
+
+Luke did not however, take the pugnacious boy's advice; instead of
+awaiting the attack of the enraged Gunter, he ran laughing round the
+capstan and defied him to catch him.  Gunter soon found, after bruising
+his shins and elbows, and stumbling over ropes, etcetera, that the
+effort was hopeless, and gave it up.
+
+"But I'll pay you off w'en I gits a hold of 'ee, Luke.  You make sure o'
+that," he growled as he gave up the chase.
+
+"All right, Gunter; I'll give you a chance to-morrow, lad, if you'll
+only bear a hand wi' the skipper just now."
+
+Without another word Gunter, who was somewhat sobered by the cold bath,
+went to where the skipper lay, and attempted to raise him.  Being joined
+by the others the skipper was rolled to the side of the vessel, and then
+lifted in a half-sitting position on to the rail, where he was held in
+the grasp of Gunter and the Coper's skipper, while Luke and Billy,
+jumping into the boat, hauled it close under the spot.
+
+There was what Billy called a "nasty jobble of a sea on," so that many
+difficulties met in the job they had in hand.  These may be best stated
+by the actors themselves.
+
+"Now then, boy, haul up a bit--ever so little, there; too much; ease off
+a bit.  Hold on!"
+
+"All right Luke, but she pitches about so, that a feller can't hit the
+exact spot."
+
+"Look out now, Gunter," said Luke; "let 'im go so as he'll come plump
+into my arms.  Not too soon, else you'll stand a chance o' sendin' us
+both through the bottom of the boat."
+
+"No, nor yet too late," cried the anxious Billy, "else he'll go flop
+into the sea!"
+
+It was nervous work, for if he should go flop into the sea he would have
+been certain to go down like a stone.
+
+One or two attempts were made.  The boat, rising up from a hollow in the
+sea to a height of several feet, surged close to where the men with
+their drunken burden stood.
+
+"Look out!" cried Luke, with arms extended and ten fingers in a
+claw-like position.
+
+"Now then," growled Gunter.
+
+But the treacherous wave fell short, and David Bright was on the point
+of being dropt into the sea when his friends' fingers clawed him back to
+safety.
+
+"Better make fast a rope to him," suggested Billy, in breathless
+anxiety.
+
+The skipper of the Coper acted on the advice at once, and made the end
+of a rope fast round Bright's waist.
+
+Again the boat rose, surged seaward, then swooped towards the Coper,
+against which it would have been dashed but for the strong arms of Luke.
+It rose so high that the drunk man was for a moment on a level with the
+gunwale.  It was too good a chance to be missed.
+
+"Shove!" roared Gunter.
+
+Over went the skipper into the arms of Luke, who lost his balance, and
+both rolled into the bottom of the boat as it sank into the succeeding
+hollow.
+
+The danger being past, poor Billy signalised the event, and at the same
+time relieved his feelings, with a lusty cheer.
+
+In a very short time Joe Davidson steered the _Evening Star_ close to
+their tossing boat.  Billy stood ready with the painter, and the instant
+the sides touched, he was over the rail like a monkey and made fast.
+
+The taking of the drunk man out of the boat was by no means so difficult
+as getting him into it had been.  Joe, Luke, Spivin, and Zulu, as well
+as Billy, leaned over the side of the smack, with their ten arms
+extended and their fifty fingers curled like crabs' claws or
+grappling-irons, ready to hook on and hold on.  David Bright's extended
+and helpless form was held in position by Gunter.  When it came within
+reach the fifty fingers closed; the boat surged away, and David was
+safe, though still held in suspense over the deep.
+
+But that was only for a moment.  A good heave placed him on the vessel's
+rail, and another laid him on the deck.
+
+"Brought on board his own smack like a dead pig!" muttered Gunter, whose
+anger at the skipper rekindled when he saw him once more in safety.
+
+"He's fifty times better than you, even as he lies, you surly old
+grampus," cried Billy, with flushed cheeks and flashing eyes.
+
+"Come, Billy," said Joe Davidson, kindly, "lend a hand, boy, to carry
+him below.  It's a sad break-down, but remember--he's not past
+redemption.  Come."
+
+Four of the fishermen raised the skipper in their strong arms, and
+conveyed him to his own bunk, where they left him to sleep off the
+effects of his debauch.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+CONVERSE IN THE CABIN--THE TEMPTER AGAIN--AN ACCIDENT.
+
+One night, some days after the incident just recorded, the _Evening
+Star_ shot her gear, in obedience to orders, on the port hand, and
+proceeded, with the rest of the fleet, to give a pressing invitation to
+those fish which inhabited that particular shoal in the North Sea known
+to fishermen by the name of Skimlico.  The name, when properly spelt,
+runs thus: Schiermonik-oog.  But our fishermen, with a happy disregard
+of orthography, and, perhaps, with an eye to that brevity which is said
+to be the soul of wit, prefer to call it Skimlico.
+
+When the gear was down the men retired to their little cabin to refresh
+themselves with a meal and a pipe.
+
+The skipper, who had recovered neither his spirits nor his self-respect
+since his recent fall, preferred to remain on deck.  Billy, who had
+never lost either, joined the revellers below--with all the more
+satisfaction that Evan, the rescued mate of the _Sparrow_, was with
+them.
+
+"Out o' the road, Zulu," cried Ned Spivin, pushing the cook aside, and
+sitting down close to the fire, "I'll have a bit o' fish."
+
+He stuck on the end of his knife a piece of sole, out of which the life
+had barely departed, and held it up before the fire to roast.
+
+"Hand me a mug o' tea, an' a biscuit, Zulu," said Joe Davidson; "fill it
+up, boy.  I like good measure."
+
+"Are them taters ready?" asked Luke Trevor.  "An' the plum-duff?  You
+haven't got any for us to-day, have 'ee?"
+
+"Shut up!" cried Zulu.  "How many hands you tink I've got?"
+
+"Eight at the very least," said Spivin, "an' I can prove it."
+
+"How you do dat?" asked Zulu, opening up his great eyes.
+
+"Easy.  Hold out your paws.  Isn't that one hand?"  (pointing to his
+left.)
+
+"Yes."
+
+"An' doesn't that make two hands?"  (pointing to his right.)
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, ain't one hand and two hands equal to three hands, you booby? an'
+don't you know that monkeys have hands instead o' feet?  So as you're a
+monkey, that's six hands.  And haven't you a handsome face, an' a
+handsome figgur, which is eight, you grampus!  Come, use one o' your
+many hands an' pass the biscuits."
+
+"Sartinly!" said Zulu, at once kicking a small bit of biscuit which
+Spivin still held in his hand to the other end of the cabin, where it
+fell into the lap of Trevor, who thanked Zulu kindly, and ate it up.
+
+"Oh! forgib me, massa," cried Zulu, in mock repentance.  "I's nebber
+nebber do it again!  But you know you ax me to use one o' my hands to
+pass de biskit.  Well, I 'bey orders.  I use 'im, an' pass de biskit on
+to Luke."
+
+"Come, Ned, Zulu's more than a match for you there.  Let him alone,"
+cried Joe Davidson, "and don't be so stingy with your sugar, Zulu.
+Here, fill up again."
+
+The conversation at this point became what is sometimes styled general,
+but was interrupted now and then, as one and another of the men dropped
+into the anecdotal tone, and thus secured undivided attention for a
+longer or shorter space according to his powers in story-telling.
+
+"What a appetite you've got, Luke," said Joe, as he helped his comrade
+to a second large plateful of salt beef, potatoes, and duff.
+
+"Hold on, Joe!  I've a pretty fair appetite, but am not quite up to
+that."
+
+"Nonsense, Luke, you've only got to try.  A man has no notion what 'e
+can do till 'e tries."
+
+"Ah, that's true," said Ned Spivin, checking a lump of salt beef on the
+end of his clasp-knife half way to his mouth; "did I ever tell 'ee,
+lads, that little hanecdote about a man we called Glutton, he was such
+an awful eater?"
+
+"No, never heard on it," said several voices.
+
+"Well, then, this is 'ow it was," said Spivin, clearing his voice.  "You
+must know, I was once in Callyforny, where all the goold comes from.  Me
+an' most o' my mates had runned away from our ship to the diggin's, you
+see, which of course none on us would have thought of doin'--oh dear
+no--if it hadn't bin that the skipper runned away too; so it was no use
+for us to stop behind, d'ee see?  Well, we was diggin' one day, in a
+place where there was a lot o' red Injins--not steam engines, you know,
+but the sort o' niggers what lives out there.  One o' them Injins was
+named Glutton--he was such an awful eater--and one o' my mates, whose
+name was Samson, bet a bag o' goold-dust, that he'd make the glutton eat
+till he bu'sted.  I'm afeard that Samson was groggy at the time.
+Howiver, we took him up, an' invited Glutton to a feast next day.  He
+was a great thin savage, over six futt high, with plenty breadth of beam
+about the shoulders, and a mouth that seemed made a' purpus for
+shovellin' wittles into.  We laid in lots of grub because we was all
+more or less given to feedin'--an' some of us not bad hands at it.
+Before we began the feast Samson, who seemed to be repentin' of his bet,
+took us a-one side an' says, `Now mind,' says he, `I can't say exactly
+_how_ he'll bu'st, or _when_ he'll bu'st, or what sort of a bu'st he'll
+make of it.'  `Oh, never mind that,' says we, laughin'.  `We won't be
+par-tickler how he does it.  If he bu'sts at all, in any fashion, we'll
+be satisfied, and admit that you've won.'
+
+"Well, we went to work, an' the way that Injin went in for grub was
+quite awful.  You wouldn't have believed it if you'd seen it."
+
+"P'r'aps not," said Zulu, with a grin.
+
+"An' when we'd all finished we sat glarin' at him, some of us half
+believin' that he'd really go off, but he took no notice.  On he went
+until he'd finished a small leg o' pork, two wild-ducks, six plover,
+eight mugs o' tea, an' fifteen hard-boiled eggs.  But there was no sign
+o' bu'stin'.  Glutton was as slim to look at as before he began.  At
+this pint Samson got up an' went out o' the hut.  In a minute or so he
+came back with a bark basket quite shallow, but about fourteen inches
+square, an' full of all kinds of eggs--for the wild-birds was breedin'
+at the time.  `What's that for?' says we.  `For Glutton, when he's ready
+for 'em,' says he.  `There's six dozen here, an' if that don't do it,
+I've got another basket ready outside.'  With that he sets the basket
+down in front o' the Injin, who just gave a glance at it over a goose
+drumstick he was tearin' away at.  Well, Samson turned round to sit down
+in his place again, when somethin' or other caught hold of his foot
+tripped him up, an' down he sat squash! into the basket of eggs.  You
+niver did see sich a mess!  There was sich a lot, an' Samson was so
+heavy, that the yolks squirted up all round him, an' a lot of it went
+slap into some of our faces.  For one moment we sat glarin', we was so
+took by surprise, and Glutton was so tickled that he gave a great roar
+of laughter, an' swayed himself from side to side, an' fore an' aft like
+a Dutchman in a cross sea.  Of course we joined him.  We couldn't help
+it, but we was brought up in the middle by Samson sayin', while he
+scraped himself, `Well, boys, I've won.'  `Won!' says I, `how so?  He
+ain't bu'sted yet.'  `Hasn't he?' cried Samson.  `Hasn't he gone on
+eatin' till he bu'sted out larfin?'  We was real mad at 'im, for a'
+course that wasn't the kind o' bu'stin we meant; and the end of it was,
+that we spent the most o' that night disputin' the pint whether Samson
+had lost or won.  We continued the dispute every night for a month, an'
+sometimes had a free fight over it by way of a change, but I don't think
+it was ever settled.  Leastways it wasn't up to the time when I left the
+country."
+
+"Here, Zulu, hand me a mug o' tea," said Billy Bright; "the biggest one
+you've got."
+
+"What's make you turn so greedy?" asked Zulu.
+
+"It's not greed," returned Billy, "but Ned's little story is so hard an'
+tough, that I can't get it down dry."
+
+"I should think not.  It would take the Glutton himself to swallow it
+with a bucket of tea to wash it down," said Luke Trevor.
+
+At this point the conversation was interrupted by an order from the
+skipper to go on deck and "jibe" the smack, an operation which it would
+be difficult, as well as unprofitable, to explain to landsmen.  When it
+was completed the men returned to the little cabin, where conversation
+was resumed.
+
+"Who'll spin us a _yarn_ now, something more believable than the last?"
+asked Billy, as they began to refill pipes.
+
+"Do it yourself, boy," said Joe.
+
+"Not I.  Never was a good hand at it," returned Billy, "but I know that
+the mate o' the _Sparrow_ there can spin a good yarn.  Come, Evan, tell
+us about that dead man what came up to point out his own murderer."
+
+"I'm not sure," said Evan, "that the story is a true one, though there's
+truth at the bottom of it, for we all know well enough that we sometimes
+pick up a corpse in our nets."
+
+"Know it!" exclaimed Joe, "I should think we do.  Why, it's not so long
+ago that I picked one up myself.  But what were ye goin' to say, mate?"
+
+"I was goin' to say that this yarn tells of what happened long before
+you an' me was born; so we can't be wery sure on it you know."
+
+"Why not?" interrupted Ned Spivin.  "The battle o' Trafalgar happened
+long before you an' me was born; so did the battle o' Waterloo, yet
+we're sure enough about them, ain't we?"
+
+"Right you are, Ned," returned Evan; "it would be a bad look-out for the
+world if we couldn't believe or prove the truth of things that happened
+before we was born!"
+
+"Come, shut up your argiments," growled Gunter, "an' let Evan go on wi'
+his yarn."
+
+"Well, as I was a-goin' to say," resumed Evan, "the story may or may not
+be true, but it's possible, an' it was told to me when I was a boy by
+the old fisherman as said he saw the dead man his-self.  One stormy
+night the fleet was out--for you must know the fishin' was carried on in
+the old days in the same way pretty much, though they hadn't steamers to
+help 'em like we has now.  They was goin' along close-hauled, with a
+heavy sea on, not far, it must have been, from the Silver Pits--though
+they wasn't discovered at that time."
+
+We may interrupt Evan here, to explain that the Silver Pits is a name
+given to a particular part of the North Sea which is frequented by
+immense numbers of soles.  The man who by chance discovered the spot
+kept his secret, it is said, long enough to enable him to make a
+considerable amount of money.  It was observed, however, that he was in
+the habit of falling behind the fleet frequently, and turning up with
+splendid hauls of "prime" fish.  This led to the discovery of his haunt,
+and the spot named the Silver Pits, is still a prolific fishing-ground.
+
+"Well," continued Evan, "there was a sort of half furriner aboard.  He
+wasn't a reg'lar fisherman--never served his apprenticeship to it, you
+know,--an' was named Zola.  The skipper, whose name was John Dewks,
+couldn't abide him, an' they often used to quarrel, specially when they
+was in liquor.  There was nobody on deck that night except the skipper
+and Zola, but my old friend--Dawson was his name--was in his bunk lyin'
+wide awake.  He heard that Zola an' the skipper was disputin' about
+somethin', but couldn't make out what was said--only he know'd they was
+both very angry.  At last he heard the skipper say sharply--`Ha! would
+you dare?'
+
+"`Yes, I vill dare,' cries Zola, in his broken English, `I vill cut your
+throat.'  With that there seemed to be a kind of scuffle.  Then there
+was a loud cry, and Dawson with the other men rushed on deck.
+
+"`Oh!' cried Zola, lookin' wild, `de skipper! him fall into de sea!
+Quick, out wid de boat!'
+
+"Some ran to the boat but the mate stopped 'em.  `It's no use, boys.
+She couldn't live in such a sea, an' our poor skipper is fathoms down by
+this time.  It would only sacrifice more lives to try.'  `This was
+true,' Dawson said, `for the night was as dark as pitch, an' a heavy sea
+on.'
+
+"Dawson went to the man an' whispered in his ear.  `You know you are
+lying, Zola; you cut the skipper's throat.'
+
+"`No, I didn't; he felled overboard,' answered the man in such an
+earnest tone that Dawson's opinion was shook.  But next day when they
+was at breakfast, he noticed that the point of Zola's clasp-knife was
+broken off.
+
+"`Hallo!  Zola,' says he, `what's broke the point of your knife?'
+
+"The man was much confused, but replied quickly enough that he broke it
+when cleaning fish--it had dropped on the deck an' broke.
+
+"This brought back all Dawson's suspicion, but as he could prove nothing
+he thought it best to hold his tongue.  That afternoon, however, it fell
+calm, an' they found themselves close aboard of one of the smacks which
+had sailed astern of them on the port quarter durin' the night.  She
+appeared to be signallin', so the mate hove-to till he came up.
+
+"`We've got the body o' your skipper aboard,' they said, when near
+enough to hail.
+
+"Dawson looked at Zola.  His lips were compressed, and he was very
+stern, but said nothin'.  Nobody spoke except the mate, who told them to
+shove out the boat and fetch the body.  This was done, and it was found
+that the poor man had been wounded in the breast.  `Murdered!' the men
+whispered, as they looked at Zola.
+
+"`Why you looks at me so?' he says, fiercely; `skipper falls over an'
+sink; git among wrecks at de bottom, an' a nail scratch him.'
+
+"Nobody answered, but when the corpse was put down in the hold the mate
+examined it and found the broken point of Zola's knife stickin' in the
+breast-bone.
+
+"That night at supper, while they were all eatin' an' talkin' in low
+tones, the mate said in an easy off-hand tone, `Hand me your knife,
+Zola, for a moment.'  Now, his askin' that was so natural-like that the
+man at once did what he was asked, though next moment he saw the
+mistake.  His greatest mistake, however, was that he did not fling the
+knife away when he found it was broken; but they do say that `murder
+will out.'  The mate at once fitted the point to the broken knife.  Zola
+leaped up and tried to snatch another knife from one o' the men, but
+they was too quick for him.  He was seized, and his hands tied, and they
+were leadin' him along the deck to put him in the hold when he burst
+from them and jumped overboard.  They hove-to at once, an' out with the
+boat, but never saw Zola again; he must have gone down like a stone."
+
+"That was a terrible end," said Joe, "and him all unprepared to die."
+
+"True, Joe, but are _we_ all prepared to die?" rejoined Evan, looking
+around, earnestly.  "It is said that there's a day comin' when the sea
+shall give up _all_ its dead, and the secrets of men, whatever they are,
+shall be revealed."
+
+From this point Evan, whose earnest spirit was always hungering after
+the souls of men, led the conversation to religious subjects, and got
+his audience into a serious, attentive state of mind.
+
+We have said that David Bright had remained that light on deck, but he
+did not on that account lose all that went on in the little cabin.  He
+heard indeed the light conversation and chaff of the earlier part of the
+night but paid no heed to it.  When, however, Evan began the foregoing
+anecdote, his attention was aroused, and as the speaker sat close to the
+foot of the companion every word he uttered was audible on deck.
+
+At the time, our fallen skipper was giving way to despair.  He had been
+so thoroughly determined to give up drink; had been so confident of the
+power of his really strong will, and had begun the struggle so well and
+also continued for a time so successfully, that this fall had quite
+overwhelmed him.  It was such a thorough fall, too, accompanied by such
+violence to his poor boy, and to one of his best men, that he had no
+heart for another effort.  And once again the demon tempter came to him,
+as he stood alone there, and helpless on the deserted deck.  A faint
+gleam of light, shooting up the companion, illuminated his pale but
+stern features which had an unusual expression on them, but no eye was
+there to look upon those features, save the all-searching Eye of God.
+
+"It was soon over with _him_!" he muttered, as he listened to Evan
+telling of Zola's leap into the sea.  "An' a good riddance to myself as
+well as to the world it would be if I followed his example.  I could
+drop quietly over, an' they'd never find it out till--but--"
+
+"Come, don't hesitate," whispered the demon.  "I thought you were a man
+once, but now you seem to be a coward after all!"
+
+It was at this critical point that Evan, the mate of the _Sparrow_, all
+ignorant of the eager listener overhead, began to urge repentance on his
+unbelieving comrades, and pointed to the Crucified One--showing that no
+sinner was beyond hope, that Peter had denied his Master with oaths and
+curses, and that even the thief on the cross had life enough left for a
+saving look.
+
+"We have nothing to _do_, lads, only to _submit_," he said, earnestly.
+
+"Nothing to do!" thought David Bright in surprise, not unmingled with
+contempt as he thought of the terrible fight he had gone through before
+his fall.
+
+"Nothing to do!" exclaimed John Gunter in the cabin, echoing, as it
+were, the skipper's thought, with much of his surprise and much more of
+his contempt.  "Why, mate, I thought that you religious folk felt bound
+to pray, an' sing, an' preach, an' work!"
+
+"No, lad--no--not for _salvation_," returned Evan; "we have only to
+_accept_ salvation--to cease from refusing it and scorning it.  After we
+have got it from and in Jesus, we will pray, and sing, and work, ay, an'
+preach too, if we can, for the love of the Master who `loved us and gave
+Himself for us.'"
+
+Light began to break in on the dark mind of David Bright, as he listened
+to these words, and earnestly did he ponder them, long after the speaker
+and the rest of the crew had turned in.
+
+Daylight began to flow softly over the sea, like a mellow influence from
+the better land, when the net was hauled.
+
+Soon the light intensified and showed the rest of the fleet floating
+around in all directions, and busily engaged in the same work--two of
+the nearest vessels being the mission smack and that of Singing Peter.
+Ere long the fish were cleaned, packed, put on board the steamer and off
+to market.  By that time a dead calm prevailed, compelling the fishermen
+to "take things easy."
+
+"Billy," said David Bright, "fetch me that bit of wood and a hatchet."
+
+Billy obeyed.
+
+"Now then, let's see how well you'll cut that down to the size o' this
+trunk--to fit on where that bit has bin tore off."
+
+The skipper was seated on a pile of boxes; he flung his left hand with a
+careless swing, on the fish-box on which Billy was about to cut the
+piece of wood, and pointed to the trunk which needed repair.  Billy
+raised the axe and brought it down with the precision and vigour
+peculiar to him.  Instead of slicing off a lamp of wood, however, the
+hatchet struck a hard knot, glanced off, and came down on his father's
+open palm, into which it cut deeply.
+
+"Oh! father," exclaimed the poor boy, dropping the axe and standing as
+if petrified with horror as the blood spouted from the gaping wound,
+flowed over the fish-box, and bespattered the deck.
+
+He could say no more.
+
+"Shove out the boat, boys," said the skipper promptly, as he shut up the
+wounded hand and bound it tightly in that position with his
+pocket-handkerchief to stop the bleeding.
+
+Joe Davidson, who had seen the accident, and at once understood what was
+wanted, sprang to the boat at the same moment with Luke and Spivin.  A
+good heave, at the tackle; a hearty shove with strong shoulders, and the
+stern was over the rail.  Another shove and it was in the sea.
+
+"Lucky we are so close to her," said Joe, as he jumped into the boat
+followed by Luke and Gunter.
+
+"Lucky indeed," responded Luke.
+
+Somehow David Bright managed to roll or jump or scramble into his boat
+as smartly with one hand as with two.  It is a rare school out there on
+the North Sea for the practice of free-hand gymnastics!
+
+"Bear away for the mission smack, Joe."
+
+No need to give Joe that order.  Ere the words had well passed the
+skipper's lips he and Luke Trevor were bending their powerful backs,
+and, with little Billy at the steering oar, the boat of the _Evening
+Star_ went bounding over the waves towards the fisherman's floating
+refuge for wounded bodies and souls.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+A DAY OF CALM FOLLOWED BY A NIGHT OF STORM.
+
+A fine-toned manly voice was heard, as the boat approached the mission
+smack, singing one of the popular hymns which are now pretty well-known
+throughout the fishing fleets.
+
+"No mistaking that voice," said David Bright turning an amused look on
+Billy; "Singin' Peter won't knock off till he's under the sod or under
+the sea."
+
+"Then he'll never knock off at all," returned Billy, "for Luke there has
+bin tellin' me that we only begin to sing rightly a song of praise that
+will never end when we git into the next world."
+
+"That depends, lad, on whether we goes up or down."
+
+"Well, I s'pose it does.  But tell me, daddy, ain't the hand very bad?
+I'm so awful sorry, you know."
+
+"It might ha' bin worse, Billy, but don't you take on so, my boy.  We'll
+be all right an' ship-shape when we gets it spliced or fixed up somehow,
+on board the mission-ship."
+
+The hand was not however, so easily fixed up as David Bright seemed to
+expect.
+
+"Come down an' let's have a look at it, David," said the skipper, when
+the vessel's deck was gained.
+
+By that time Singing Peter had stopped his tune, or, rather, he had
+changed it into a note of earnest sympathy, for he was a very
+tender-hearted man, and on terms of warm friendship with the master of
+the _Evening Star_.
+
+"It's a bad cut," said Peter, when the gaping gash in the poor man's
+palm was laid bare, and the blood began to flow afresh.  "We'll have to
+try a little o' the surgeon's business here.  You can take a stitch in
+human flesh I daresay, skipper?  If you can't, I'll try."
+
+The mission skipper was, however, equal to the occasion.  He sponged the
+wound clean; put a couple of stitches in it with sailor-like neatness--
+whether with surgeon-like exactness we cannot tell--drew the edges of
+the wound still more closely together by means of strips of sticking
+plaster; applied lint and bandages, and, finally, did up our skipper's
+fist in a manner that seemed quite artistic to the observant men around
+him.
+
+"A regular boxin'-glove," exclaimed David, hitting the operator a gentle
+tap on the nose with it.
+
+"Thank 'ee, friend," said the amateur surgeon, as he proceeded to
+re-stow his materials in the medicine chest; "you know that the
+Fishermen's Mission never asks a rap for its services, but neither does
+it expect to receive a rap without asking.  Come, David, you mustn't
+flourish it about like that.  We all know you're a plucky fellow, but
+it'll never splice properly if you go on so."
+
+"Hold on, Mr Missionary!" cried Gunter, as the lid of the chest was
+being closed, "don't shut up yet.  I wants some o' your doctor's stuff."
+
+"All right my hearty!  What do _you_ want?"
+
+"He wants a pair o' eye-glasses," cried Billy, whose heart was
+comforted, and whose spirits were raised by the success of the operation
+on his father's hand; "you see he's so short-sighted that he can't see
+no good in nobody but his-self."
+
+"Shut up, you young catfish!  See here," said Gunter, stretching out his
+wrists, which were red and much swollen.
+
+"Oh!  I can give you something for that;" so saying the skipper supplied
+the fisherman with a little ointment, and then, going to a cupboard,
+produced a pair of worsted cuffs.  "You rub 'em well with that first,"
+he said, "an' then wear the cuffs."
+
+"He'll want more cuffs than that," said Billy.
+
+"I think not my boy," said the skipper, with a benignant look, as he
+stooped to lock the chest.  "When these are worn-out he can have more."
+
+"Well, if you'd take my advice," returned Billy, "you'd give him another
+pair.  A cuff on each side of his head would do him a world of good."
+
+Gunter turned sharply to make a grasp at his young tormentor, but the
+lad had taken care to have the cabin table between them, and at once
+sprang laughing up the companion.
+
+"He's a smart boy, that," remarked the mission skipper.
+
+"Rather too smart," growled Gunter, as he pocketed his salve and cuffs,
+and went on deck.
+
+"Smart enough!" remarked David Bright with a low chuckle of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Come now," said the Missionary, "you'll stop and have some coffee or
+cocoa with us.  You can't work wi' that hand, you know.  Besides,
+there'll be no fishin' till this calm's over.  So we mean to have a
+little meetin' in the afternoon.  We're in luck too, just now," he added
+in a lower voice, "for we've got a real parson aboard.  That's him
+talkin' to my mate.  He's here on a visit--partly for his health, I
+believe--a regular clergyman of the Church of England and a splendid
+preacher, let me tell you.  You'll stop, now, won't you?"
+
+David Bright's countenance grew sad.  The memory of his recent failure
+and fall came over him.
+
+"What's the use o' _me_ attendin' your meetin's?" he said, almost
+angrily; "my soul's past recovery, for I don't believe in your prayin'
+an' psalm-singin'."
+
+"You trusted me freely wi' your hand, David, though I'm no surgeon.  Why
+won't you trust me a little wi' your soul, though I'm no parson--
+especially as it seems to be in a very bad way by your own account?
+Have a talk wi' the parson.  He's got such a way with him that he's sure
+to do you good."
+
+It was not so much the words thus spoken as the grave, kind, sensible
+tones and looks which accompanied them, that won the despairing
+fisherman.
+
+"Well, I'll stop," he said, with a short laugh; "the cocoa may do me
+good, even though the meetin' don't."
+
+"Now you're becoming soft and unmanly--a regular old wife," whispered
+the demon, who had watched him anxiously throughout the whole morning.
+
+"The boat's alongside, father," Billy called out, at that moment down
+the open skylight.
+
+"That's right," replied the father in a strong hearty voice.  "You go
+aboard wi' the rest, my boy, an' come back in the arternoon when you see
+'em hoist the mission-flag.  I'm goin' to stop aboard, an we'll all
+attend the meetin' together.  An' look you, Billy, fetch my Noo
+Testament with 'ee--the one your mother gave me."
+
+"Praise the Lord for these words!" said the mission skipper.
+
+He did not say it very loud, for he was not by nature a demonstrative
+man; neither did he whisper it, for he was not ashamed to thank his God
+for mercies received.
+
+At the same moment the demon fled away for that time--according to the
+true word, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
+
+David Bright did not talk much that afternoon.  His injured hand gave
+him considerable pain, but it was not that which silenced him.  Thoughts
+too deep for utterance were passing through his brain.  It was the
+turning-point of his life; and, while his mind was busy with the great
+issues that must be faced sooner or later by all mankind, he listened
+with mingled surprise, hope, fear, and pleasure, to the free and hearty
+converse of the godly crew of the gospel-ship, as they discoursed
+pleasantly, now of the homes in Yarmouth or Gorleston, now of the home
+above; or sang, with stentorian voices, some of the lively hymns that
+are happily current in the present day, or prayed in the ungrammatical
+language, and with the intense fervour, of untutored but thoroughly
+earnest men.
+
+They thought that David was suffering from his injury, and wisely let
+him alone, though they occasionally gave him a cheering word, and
+frequently plied him with hot cocoa, which he preferred much, he said,
+to coffee.
+
+This may seem to some a rather incongruous way of presenting religious
+and secular things.  It may be so, but we are not careful to preserve
+congruity, or to dilute our dish to please the palate of the fastidious.
+This world is full of incongruities, and we are endeavouring to present
+that portion of it now under consideration as it actually is at the
+present time.
+
+The heartiest, the most genial, and perhaps the noisiest fisherman there
+that day was the man whom we have referred to more than once as Singing
+Peter.  It seemed as if he were intoxicated with joy, and could not
+refrain from bursting into song in praise of Redeeming Love.  But Peter
+was by no means exclusive in his ideas.  He could descend to the simple
+matters of this life when needful.  Like David Bright he was a temporary
+visitor to the mission-ship, and waited for the afternoon meeting.
+Peter possessed:
+
+  "A heart at leisure from itself,
+  To soothe and sympathise,"
+
+and found time to have a private talk with David, whom he drew out so
+tenderly, yet powerfully, that he wormed from him the whole story of his
+spiritual as well as spirituous warfare.  He even got him down into the
+cabin alone, and, when there, proposed that they should pray together.
+To this David at once agreed, and the good man prayed with such simple
+fervour that David found himself ere long weeping like a child.  That
+the prayer of Singing Peter was in harmony with his spirit was evident
+from the deep "Amen!" which he uttered at its conclusion.
+
+"Many a time, Peter," he said, grasping his friend's hand, as they rose
+from their knees, "many a time has my face bin washed wi' salt water
+from the sea, but it's not often bin dabbled wi' salt water from my
+eyes!"
+
+In the afternoon the weather became unusually sultry, and as the calm
+continued, many of the fishing-smacks closed by imperceptible degrees
+around the mission-ship, whose flag flying at the mizzen told that the
+worship of God was soon to begin.  Several of the other smacks also flew
+Bethel-flags.  These belonged to the whole-hearted ones who had fairly
+and boldly come out on the Lord's side.  Others drew near, although they
+did not fly the flag.  Some of these belonged to the half-hearted, who
+wanted medicines or books, and were rather indifferent about the
+meeting, though willing enough, perhaps, to remain to it.
+
+One way or another there was soon a long tail of boats floating astern
+of the gospel-ship, and a goodly congregation on her deck.  Her skipper
+was very busy.  Books were being actively exchanged.  One or two men
+wanted to sign the pledge.  Salves, and plasters, and pills, were
+slightly in demand, for even North Sea fishermen, tough though they be,
+are subject to physical disturbance.
+
+At last the hour arrived, and the heavy-booted, rough-jacketed,
+sou'-westered, burly congregation adjourned to the hold, where,
+appropriately seated on fish-trunks, they opened their hymn-books and
+began to sing.
+
+They had a harmonium--provided, of course, by the Mission--and it
+chanced that the mission skipper had music enough in him to play a
+simple accompaniment on it, but the strong-lunged congregation drowned
+it out in the first five minutes.
+
+Then the invalid clergyman stood up and prayed, and read a chapter of
+God's Word, after which he preached--ay, preached in a way that drew
+tears from some, and hearty exclamations of thankfulness from others.
+It was not the power of rhetoric or of eloquence though he possessed
+both, so much as that mighty power, which consists in being thoroughly
+and intensely earnest in what one says, and in using a natural,
+conversational tone.
+
+There were more signings of the temperance pledge after the service, and
+one or two whose minds had been wavering before, now came forward and
+offered to purchase Bethel-flags.  Others wanted to purchase Testaments,
+prayer-books, and gospel compasses--the latter being the invention of an
+ingenious Christian.  It consisted of a mariner's compass drawn on
+card-board, with appropriate texts of God's Word printed on the various
+"points."  The same ingenious gentleman has more recently constructed a
+spiritual chart so to speak, on which are presented to the eye the
+various shoals, and quicksands, and rocks of sin, and danger, and
+temptation, that beset the Christian pilgrim, as well as the streams,
+rivers, and channels, that conduct him from the regions of Darkness into
+the realms of Light.
+
+All this took up so much time that it was getting dark when our
+fishermen began to go over the side, and proceed to their several
+vessels.
+
+Soon after that the aspect of nature entirely changed.  The sultry calm
+gave place to a fast increasing breeze, which raised white crests on the
+darkening waves.
+
+"A dirty night we're going to have of it," remarked David Bright to
+Singing Peter, as he got into his tossing boat with some difficulty.
+
+"It's all in the Master's hands," replied Peter, looking up with a glad
+expression on his weatherworn face.  With these words he left the
+mission smack and returned to his own vessel.
+
+The fishermen of the North Sea had cause to remember that night, for one
+of the worst gales of the season burst upon them.  Fishing was
+impossible.  It was all that they could do to weather the gale.  Sails
+were split and torn, rigging was damaged, and spars were sprung or
+carried away.  The wind howled as if millions of wicked spirits were
+yelling in the blast.  The sea rose in wild commotion, tossing the
+little smacks as if they had been corks, and causing the straining
+timbers to groan and creak.  Many a deck was washed that night from stem
+to stern, and when grey morning broke cold and dreary over the foaming
+sea, not a few flags, half-mast high, told that some souls had gone to
+their account.  Disaster had also befallen many of the smacks.  While
+some were greatly damaged, a few were lost entirely with all their
+crews.
+
+Singing Peter's vessel was among the lost.  The brightening day revealed
+the fact that the well-known craft had disappeared.  It had sunk with
+all hands, and the genial fisherman's strong and tuneful voice had
+ceased for ever to reverberate over the North Sea in order that it might
+for ever raise a louder and still more tuneful strain of deep-toned
+happiness among the harmonies of heaven.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+RUTH FINDS THAT EVERYTHING SEEMS TO GO AGAINST HER.
+
+Anxiously did Ruth Dotropy await the return of Captain Bream to
+Yarmouth, and patiently did she refrain, in the meantime, from
+questioning Mrs Bright as to her history before marriage, for that good
+woman's objection to be so questioned was quite sufficient to check her
+sensitive spirit.  But poor Ruth's enthusiastic hopes were doomed to
+disappointment at that time, for, only a few days after the captain's
+departure, she received a letter from him, part of which ran as
+follows:--
+
+"DEAR MISS RUTH,--I am exceedingly sorry and almost ashamed, to be
+obliged to say that I am unable to return to Yarmouth for some weeks at
+least.  The fact is that I have for a long time been engaged in a piece
+of business--a sort of search--which has caused me much anxiety and
+frequent disappointment.  My lawyer, however, now thinks he has hit on
+the right clue, so that I have good hope of being successful.  In the
+meantime will you do your best to comfort the Miss Seawards in my
+absence, and explain to them that nothing but necessity could make me
+leave them in the lurch in this fashion," etcetera.
+
+"How _very_ provoking!" exclaimed Ruth, with a pretty little frown on
+her innocent face after reading the letter to her stately mother.
+
+"Why provoking, dear?" asked Mrs Dotropy.  "Surely we can enjoy the
+fine air of Yarmouth without Captain Bream, and although the dear Miss
+Seawards are very fond of him, they will not pine or lose their health
+because of his absence for a short time.  Besides, have they not that
+wonderful theological library to divert them?"
+
+"Yes, mother--it's not that, but I was _so_ anxious to find out--"
+
+She stopped short.
+
+"Find out what, child?"
+
+"Well now, mother, I can _not_ keep it from you any longer.  I will tell
+you my little secret if you promise not to reveal it to any living
+soul."
+
+"How absurd you are, Ruth!  Do you suppose that I shall go about the
+streets proclaiming your secret, whatever it is, to Tom, Dick, and
+Harry, even if it were worth telling, much less when it is probably not
+worth remembering?  Of course I might let it slip, you know, by accident
+and when a thing slips there is no possibility of recovery, as I said
+once to your dear father that time when he slipped off the end of the
+pier into the water and had to be fished up by the waist-band of his
+trousers with grappling-irons, I think they called them--at all events
+they were very dangerous-looking things, and I've often argued with
+him--though I hate argument--that they might have gone into his body and
+killed him, yet he would insist that, being blunt, the thing was out of
+the question, though, as I carefully explained to him, the question had
+nothing to do with it--but it is useless arguing with you, Ruth--I mean,
+it was useless arguing with your father, dear man, for although he was
+as good as gold, he had a very confused mind, you know.  What was it we
+were talking about?--oh yes!--your secret.  Well, what is it?"
+
+With a flushed face and eager look, Ruth said, "Mother, I _cannot_ help
+being convinced that Mrs Bright the fisherman's wife, is no other than
+Captain Bream's lost sister!"
+
+"If you cannot help being convinced, child, it is of no use my
+attempting to reason with you.  But why think of such nonsense?  If she
+is what you suppose, she must have been a Miss Bream before marriage."
+
+"So she was!" exclaimed Ruth, with a look of triumph.  I have found that
+out--only I fear that is not proof positive, because, you know, although
+not a common name, Bream is by no means singular.
+
+"Well, but she would have been a lady--or--or would have had different
+manners if she had been Captain Bream's sister," objected Mrs Dotropy.
+
+"That does not follow," said Ruth, quickly.  "The captain may have risen
+from the ranks; we cannot tell; besides, Mrs Bright _is_ very refined,
+both in manner and speech, compared with those around her.  I was on the
+point one day of asking if she had a brother, when she seemed to draw up
+and cut the matter short; so I have had to fall back on my original plan
+of trying to bring the two face to face, which would at once settle the
+question, for of course they'd know each other."
+
+"Dear child, why make such a mystery about it?" said Mrs Dotropy; "why
+not tell the captain of your suspicion, and ask him to go and see the
+woman?"
+
+"Because it would be so cruel to raise his expectations, mother, and
+then perhaps find that I was wrong.  It would disappoint him so
+terribly.  But this reference to a `search' in his letter makes me feel
+almost sure he is searching for this lost sister."
+
+"Foolish child!  It is a wild fancy of your romantic brain.  Who ever
+heard," said the mother, "of a lawyer being employed to search for a
+sister?  Depend upon it, this captain is in search of some deed,--a lost
+will, or a--an old parchment or a document of some sort, perhaps
+referring to a mismanaged property, or estate, or fortune, for things of
+that kind are often seen in the newspapers; though how the newspapers
+come to find out about them all is more than I can understand.  I've
+often wondered at it.  Ah! your dear father used to say in his facetious
+way that he was "lost in the _Times_," when he wanted to be let alone.
+I don't mean advertised for as lost, of course, though he might have
+been, for I have seen him lose his head frequently; indeed I have been
+almost forced to the conclusion more than once that the _Times_ had a
+good deal to do with your father's mental confusion; it told such awful
+lies sometimes, and then a month or two afterwards would flatly
+contradict them all by telling the truth--at least it was probably the
+truth since it was the opposite of the lies; but it's of no use talking,
+I always find that.  What were you saying, child?"
+
+"Well, mother, I was going to say," answered Ruth, with a sigh, "that I
+must just have patience and be content to wait."
+
+"Now you talk like the dear, good, sensible little thing that you are,"
+said Mrs Dotropy, rising; "run, put on your hat and I'll walk with you
+by the sea, or go visit the fisher-folk if you like--or the Miss
+Seawards."
+
+In this amiable frame of mind the mother and daughter set off to the
+shore.
+
+Ruth's patience was indeed tried more severely than she had anticipated,
+for, whatever the search was in which Captain Bream had engaged, it
+compelled him to remain in town much longer than he had intended.
+
+Meanwhile the _Evening Star_ returned to port, and David Bright, with
+Billy, Joe, and the rest of the crew, went to enjoy themselves in their
+various ways during their brief holiday.
+
+Mrs Bright chanced to be spending the afternoon with Mrs Joe Davidson
+and her wonderful "babby" when the skipper and mate walked in upon them.
+There were two little shrieks of joy; then the two wives were enfolded,
+and for a few seconds lost to view, in the stupendous embrace of the two
+fishermen, while the babby was, for the moment, absolutely forgotten!
+But she took care not to be forgotten long.  On recovering from her
+first surprise she gave utterance to a howl worthy of a seaman's
+daughter.  Joe immediately seized her in his arms, and half smothered
+her in a fond embrace, to which, apparently, she did not object.
+
+Meanwhile little Billy stood looking on approvingly, with his hands in
+his pockets and his booted legs wide apart.
+
+"I wonder when somebody's a-goin' to pay some sort of attention to
+_me_," he said after a minute or two.
+
+"Why, Billy, I didn't see ye," cried Mrs Joe, holding out her hand;
+"how are ye, puss in boots?"
+
+"If it was any other female but yourself, Maggie, as said that, I'd
+scorn to notice you," returned Billy, half indignant.
+
+"My darling boy!" cried Mrs Bright, turning to her son and enfolding
+him in her arms.
+
+"Ah! that's the way to do it," responded Billy, submitting to the
+embrace.  "You're the old ooman as knows how to give a feller a good
+hearty squeeze.  But don't come it too strong, mother, else you'll put
+me all out o' shape.  See, daddy's a-goin' to show his-self off."
+
+This last remark had reference to a small bundle which David Bright was
+hastily untying.
+
+"See here, Nell," he said, with a strange mixture of eagerness and
+modesty, "I've joined 'em at last old girl.  Look at that."
+
+He unrolled a M.D.S.F. flag, which he had purchased from the skipper of
+the mission smack.
+
+"An' I've signed the pledge too, lass."
+
+"Oh!  David," she exclaimed, grasping her husband's right hand in both
+of hers.  But her heart was too full for more.
+
+"Yes, Nell, I've had grace given me to hoist the Lord's colours in the
+Short Blue, an' it was your little book as done it.  I'd ha' bin lost by
+now, if it hadn't bin for the blessed Word of God."
+
+Again Nell essayed to speak, but the words refused to come.  She laid
+her head on her husband's shoulder and wept for joy.
+
+We have said that David Bright was not by nature given to the melting
+mood, but his eyes grew dim and his voice faltered at this point and it
+is not improbable that there would have been a regular break-down, if
+Joe's blessed babby had not suddenly come to the rescue in the nick of
+time with one of her unexpected howls.  As temporary neglect was the
+cause of her complaint it was of course easily cured.  When quiet had
+been restored Mrs Bright turned to her son--"Now, Billy, my boy, I must
+send you off immediately."
+
+"But what if I won't go off--like a bad sky-rocket?" said the boy with a
+doubtful expression on his face.
+
+"But you'll have to go--and you'll be willing enough, too, when I tell
+you that it's to see Miss Ruth Dotropy you are going."
+
+"What!--the angel?"
+
+"Yes, she's here just now, and wants to see you very much, and made me
+promise to send you to her the moment you came home.  So, off you go!
+She lives with her mother in the old place, you know."
+
+"All right, _I_ know.  Farewell, mother."
+
+In a few minutes Billy was out of sight and hearing--which last implies
+a considerable distance, for Billy's whistle was peculiarly loud and
+shrill.  He fortunately had not to undergo the operation of being
+"cleaned" for this visit, having already subjected himself to that
+process just before getting into port.  The only portions of costume
+which he might have changed with propriety on reaching shore were his
+long boots, but he was so fond of these that he meant to stick to them,
+he said, through thick and thin, and had cleaned them up for the
+occasion.
+
+At the moment he turned into the street where his friends and admirers
+dwelt, Ruth chanced to be at the window, while the Miss Seawards, then
+on a visit to her mother, were seated in the room.
+
+"Oh! the _darling_!" exclaimed Ruth, with something almost like a little
+shriek of delight.
+
+"Which darling--you've got so many?" asked her mother.
+
+"Oh!  Billy Bright, the sweet innocent--look at him; quick!"
+
+Thus adjured the sisters ran laughing to the window, but the stately
+mother sat still.
+
+"D'you mean the boy with the boots on?" asked Jessie, who was
+short-sighted.
+
+"Yes, yes, that's him!"
+
+"If you had said the boots with the boy in them, Jessie," observed Kate,
+"you would have been nearer the mark!"
+
+In a few minutes, Billy, fully alive to his importance in the ladies'
+eyes, sat gravely in the midst of them answering rapid questions.
+
+"You've not had tea, Billy, I hope," said Ruth, rising and ringing the
+bell.
+
+"No, miss, I haven't, an' if I had, I'm always game for two teas."
+
+Soon Billy was engaged with bread, butter, cakes, and jam, besides other
+luxuries, some of which he had never even dreamed of before.
+
+"What an excellent appetite you have!" said Jessie Seaward, scarcely
+able to restrain her admiration.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said Billy, accepting another bun with much satisfaction,
+"we usually does pretty well in the Short Blue in that way, though we
+don't have sich grub as this to tickle our gums with.  You see, we has a
+lot o' fresh air out on the North Sea, an' it's pretty strong air too--
+specially when it blows 'ard.  W'y, I've seed it blow that 'ard that it
+was fit to tear the masts out of us; an' once it throw'd us right over
+on our beam-ends."
+
+"On what ends, boy?" asked Mrs Dotropy, who was beginning to feel
+interested in the self-sufficient little fisherman.
+
+"Our beam-ends, ma'am.  The beams as lie across under the deck, so that
+w'en we gits upon _their_ ends, you know, we're pretty well flat on the
+water."
+
+"How dreadful!" exclaimed Jessie; "but when that happens how can you
+walk the deck?"
+
+"We can't walk the deck, ma'am.  We has to scramble along the best way
+we can, holdin' on by hands and teeth and eyelids.  Thank 'ee, miss, but
+I really do think I'd better not try to eat any more.  I feels
+chock-full already, an' it might be dangerous.  There's severe laws now
+against overloadin', you know."
+
+"No such laws in this house, Billy," said Ruth, with a laugh.  "But now,
+if you have quite done, I should like to put a few questions to you."
+
+"Fire away, then, Miss," said the boy, looking exceedingly grave and
+wise.
+
+"Well, Billy," began Ruth, with an eager look, "I want to know something
+about your dear mother."
+
+She hesitated at this point as if uncertain how to begin, and the boy
+sought to encourage her with--"Wery good, Miss, I knows all about _her_.
+What d'ee want to ax me?"
+
+"I want to ask," said Ruth, slowly, "if you know what your mother's name
+was before she was married?"
+
+Ruth did not as the reader knows, require to ask this question, but she
+put it as a sort of feeler to ascertain how far Billy might be inclined
+to assist her.
+
+"Well, now, that _is_ a stumper!" exclaimed the boy, smiting his little
+thigh.  "I didn't know as she had a name afore she was married.
+Leastwise I never thought of it or heerd on it, not havin' bin
+acquainted with her at that time."
+
+With a short laugh Ruth said, "Well, never mind; but perhaps you can
+tell me, Billy, if your mother ever had a brother connected with the
+sea--a sailor, I mean."
+
+"Stumped again!" exclaimed the boy; "who'd have thought I was so
+ignorant about my own mother?  If she ever had sich a brother, he must
+have bin drownded, for I never heerd tell of 'im."
+
+"Then you never heard either your father or mother mention any other
+name than Bright--I mean in connection with yourselves?" said Ruth in a
+disappointed tone.
+
+"Never, Miss, as I can reck'lect on.  I would willin'ly say yes, to
+please you, but I'd raither not tell no lies."
+
+"That's right my good boy," said Mrs Dotropy, with a stately but
+approving nod, "for you know where all liars go to."
+
+"Yes, ma'am, an' I knows where liars _don't_ go to," returned Billy,
+looking up with pious resignation, whereat the Miss Seawards and Ruth
+burst into a laugh.
+
+It must not be supposed that Billy meant to be profane, but he had taken
+a dislike to Mrs Dotropy, and did not choose to be patronised by her.
+
+As poor Ruth found that it was useless to pursue her investigations in
+this direction further, she changed the subject to the North Sea
+fishery, with the details of which her little friend was of course quite
+conversant.  Then she proposed to accompany Billy home.
+
+"I want to make the acquaintance of your father," she said.
+
+"Ah! he's a true blue _now_, he is," said Billy.
+
+"Was your father not always a true blue?" asked Ruth, as they went along
+the street together.
+
+"Well, it ain't right for me to say ought agin my father--but--he's true
+blue _now_, anyhow."
+
+And Ruth found that the reformed drunkard was indeed "true blue," and
+very glad to see her; nevertheless she obtained no information from him
+on the subject she was so anxious about--not because he was
+uncommunicative, but because Ruth, being very timid, had not courage to
+open her lips upon it.
+
+The shades of evening were beginning to descend when she rose to leave.
+Both father and son offered to escort her home, but she declined the
+offer with many thanks, and went off alone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+DETAILS TWO ROBBERIES AND AN AWFUL SITUATION.
+
+The attainment of Felicity is said to be the aim of all mankind.  In
+order to this end, men in all ages have voluntarily submitted themselves
+to prolonged infelicity.  They have toiled in daily pain and sorrow
+throughout a long life to attain at last, if possible, to the coveted
+condition.  Some have pursued it in eager intensity, dancing and singing
+as they went.  Others have rushed after it in mad determination, cursing
+and grumbling as they ran.  Many have sought it in rapt contemplation of
+the Sublime and Beautiful.  Thousands have grubbed and grovelled for it
+in the gratification or the drowning of the senses, while not a few have
+sought and found it in simple, loving submission to their Maker's will,
+as made known by Conscience and Revelation.
+
+Of all the varied methods, John Gunter, the fisherman, preferred the
+grub-and-grovelling method, and the favourite scene of his grovelling
+was a low grog-shop in one of the lower parts of Yarmouth.
+
+It must be said, at this point, that Gunter was not considered by his
+mates as a regular out-and-out fisherman.  He had never served his
+apprenticeship, but, being a powerful and sufficiently active seaman,
+was tolerated among them.
+
+It is said that adversity makes strange bed-fellows.  It is not less
+true that strong drink makes strange companions.  Gunter's shipmates
+having had more than enough of him on the sea were only too glad to get
+clear of him when on land.  He therefore found himself obliged to look
+out for new companionships, for it is certain that man yearns after
+sympathy of some sort, and is not, under ordinary circumstances, content
+to be alone.
+
+The new friends he sought were not difficult to find.  In one of the
+darkest corners of the public-house referred to he found them--an
+accidental, group--consisting of an ex-clerk, an ex-parson, and a
+burglar, not "ex" as yet!  They had met for the first time, yet, though
+widely separated as regards their training in life, they had found the
+sympathetic level of drink in that dingy corner.  Of course, it need
+hardly be said that the first two had swung far out of their proper
+orbits before coming into harmonious contact with the last.  Of course,
+also, no one of the three desired that his antecedents should be known.
+There was not much chance, indeed, that the former occupations of the
+clerk or the parson would be guessed at, for every scrap of
+respectability had long ago been washed out of them by drink, and their
+greasy coats, battered hats, dirty and ragged linen, were, if possible,
+lower in the scale of disreputability than the rough garments of the
+burglar.
+
+The subject of their conversation was suitable to all ages and
+countries, to all kinds and conditions of men, for it was politics!  A
+fine, healthy, flexible subject, so utterly incomprehensible to fuddled
+brains that it could be distended, contracted, inflated, elongated, and
+twisted to suit any circumstances or states of mind.  And such grand
+scope too, for difference, or agreement of opinion.
+
+Oh! it was pitiful to see the idiotic expressions of these fallen men as
+they sat bound together by a mutual thirst which each abhorred, yet
+loved, and which none could shake off.  And there was something
+outrageously absurd too--yes, it is of no use attempting to shirk the
+fact--something intolerably funny in some of the gestures and tones,
+with which they discussed the affairs of the nation.
+
+"Hail fellow well met," was the generous tendency of Gunter's soul when
+ashore.  Accosting the three in gruff off-hand tones with some such
+sentiment, he sat down beside them.
+
+"Same to you, pal," said the burglar, with a sinister glance at the
+new-comer from under his heavy brows.
+
+"How do? ol' salt!" exclaimed the clerk, who was by far the most tipsy
+of the three.  "Come 'ere.  We'll make you r'free--umpire--to shettle
+zish d'shpute.  Queshn is, whether it's the dooty of the poor to help
+the rish--no, zhat's not it.  W-w'ether it's dooty of rish to help the
+poor--what's it--by sharin' all they have with 'em or--"
+
+"That's not the question at all," cried Gunter, gruffly--"the question
+is, what'll you have to drink!"
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed the parson, "that _is_ the question!"
+
+"You're a trump!" said the burglar.
+
+"Well," exclaimed the clerk, with a tremendous assumption of
+winking-dignity, "ishn't zhat zactly what I was goin' to shay, if you'd
+on'y listen.  `What'll you 'ave to drink!' jus' so.  Now, if you want to
+argue it out properly, you'll--"
+
+He was checked and almost floored by a tremendous though facetious slap
+on the back from Gunter, who said that they wouldn't argue it out; that
+they would drink it out first and argue it out afterwards.
+
+In pursuance of this plan he called the landlord, and, ordering spirits
+and water, treated the assembled company all round--including a few
+bloated and wretched women, some of whom carried children in their arms.
+
+Whatever of the ludicrous might have struck an observer of the scene,
+while listening to the above conversation, it would have been all put to
+flight by the sight of these poor women, and perchance by the thought
+that they had been brought up to that life; had never known better, and
+would never have a chance of knowing better, unless some exceptional
+rays of heavenly light, should penetrate the dark region in which they
+lived.  Praise be to God! such rays do visit such haunts at times, and
+brands are often plucked from the fire, but with these we have nothing
+to do at present.  Our object just now is to trace the course of John
+Gunter.
+
+You may be sure that one who spent his money so freely, and at the same
+time drank heavily, was not likely to escape the special attention of
+his new friend, the burglar.  That worthy, besides being an expert in
+the heavier branches of his art, was not unacquainted with its lighter
+work.  He watched the fisherman narrowly, observed in which pocket he
+kept his money, waited until he was sufficiently drunk for his purpose,
+and then picked his pockets at an engrossing moment, when the clerk was
+unfolding a perfect scheme of national reform to the parson, who, with
+eyes shut, and supposed to be listening intently, was in reality fast
+asleep.
+
+His object accomplished, the burglar said he would go out, and have a
+look at the weather, which he did, and having quietly hidden his spoils
+he returned to report the weather "all right," and to make quite sure
+that he had left nothing whatever in any of Gunter's pockets.  Having
+satisfied himself on this point he was about to retire to take a final
+look at the weather when Gunter said--"Hold on, mate; 'ave another
+glass."
+
+He felt in his pocket for the wherewith to pay for the drink, and missed
+his money.  He was by no means as drunk as he appeared to be, and at
+once suspected his comrade.
+
+"You've stole my blunt!" he shouted, without a moment's hesitation.
+
+"You're a liar," returned the burglar, promptly.  Gunter was fierce by
+nature.  He made no rejoinder, but struck a blow at the other which
+would have felled him had it taken effect.  The burglar, however, was a
+pugilist.  He evaded the blow, and returned it with such force that the
+fisherman staggered, but recovered himself, and grappled with his
+adversary.
+
+In a moment all was uproar and confusion; benches were upset, spittoons
+kicked about, and pipes smashed, as the two powerful men swayed about,
+and tried fiercely to strangle each other.  The women rushed screaming
+from the place; the landlord and his assistants interfered, but it was
+not until the police were called in that the combatants were separated.
+Then there occurred a violent scene of explanation, allegation,
+recrimination, and retort, during which the guardians of the peace
+attempted to throw oil on the troubled waters, for it is always their
+aim, we believe, to quiet down drunken uproars when possible rather than
+to take up the rioters.
+
+As the burglar, with an injured, innocent look, denied the charge made
+against him, and turned all his pockets inside out in proof of his
+veracity, Gunter was fain to content himself with the supposition that
+he had lost his money in some incomprehensible manner.
+
+In a very sulky mood he flung out of the public-house and sauntered
+away.  He knew not where to go, for he had no friends in Yarmouth--at
+least none who would have welcomed him--and he had not wherewith to pay
+for a bed, even in the poorest lodging.
+
+As he walked along, conscience began to smite him, but he was in no mood
+to listen to conscience.  He silenced it, and at the same time called
+himself, with an oath, a big fool.  There is no question that he was
+right, yet he would have denied the fact and fought any one else who
+should have ventured so to address him.
+
+The evening was beginning to grow dark as he turned down one of the
+narrow and lonely rows.
+
+Now, it so happened that this was one of the rows through which Ruth
+Dotropy had to pass on her way home.
+
+Ruth was not naturally timid, but when she suddenly beheld a
+half-drunken man coming towards her, and observed that no one else was
+near, something like a flutter of anxiety agitated her breast.  At the
+same moment something like a sledge-hammer blow smote the concave side
+of John Gunter's bosom.
+
+"She's got more than she needs," he growled between his teeth, "an' I've
+got nothin'!"
+
+As his conscience had been silenced this was a sufficient argument for
+John.
+
+"I'll thank you for a shillin', Miss," he said, confronting the now
+frightened girl after a hasty glance round.
+
+"Oh! yes, yes--willingly," gasped poor Ruth, fumbling in her pocket for
+her purse.  The purse, however, chanced to have been left at home.  "Oh,
+_how_ provoking!  I have not my purse with me, but if these few pence
+will--"
+
+"Never mind the pence, Miss," said Gunter,--accepting the pence;
+however, as he spoke--"that nice little watch will do jist as well."
+
+He snatched the watch which hung at Ruth's waist-belt, snapped the
+slender guard that held it, and made off.
+
+When sufficiently out of danger of pursuit, he paused under a lamp to
+examine his prize.  To his intense disgust he found that the little
+watch, instead of being a gold one, as he had expected, was only a
+silver one, of comparatively little value.
+
+"Well, your first haul in this line ain't worth much," he grumbled.
+"Hows'ever, I've got coppers enough for a night's lodgin' an' grub."
+
+Saying which he pocketed the watch, and went on his way.
+
+Meanwhile Ruth, having given vent to a sob of relief when the man left
+her, ran towards home as fast as she could, never pausing till she
+reached the Miss Seawards' door, which chanced to be a little nearer
+than her own.  Against this she plunged with wonderful violence for one
+so gentle and tender, and then hammered it with her knuckles in a way
+that would have done credit to a lightweight prize-fighter.
+
+The door was opened hastily by Liffie Lee, who, being a much lighter
+weight than her assailant, went down before her rush.
+
+"Lawk!  Miss Ruth," she exclaimed, on recovering her feet, "w'at's
+a-'appened?"
+
+But she asked the question of the empty air, for Ruth was already half
+sobbing, half laughing on the sofa, with a highly agitated sister on
+either side trying to calm her.
+
+"Oh! what a little donkey I am," she exclaimed, flinging off her bonnet
+and attempting to laugh.
+
+"What _has_ happened?" gasped Jessie.
+
+"_Do_ tell us, dear," cried Kate.
+
+"I--I've been robbed, by a--dreadful man--so awfully gruff, a sailor I
+think, and--oh!"  Ruth became suddenly much calmer.  "It did not occur
+to me till this moment--it is _the_ watch--papa's little silver watch
+that Captain Bream brought him as a sort of curiosity from abroad long
+ago.  Oh!  I _am_ so sorry!  It was such a favourite with dear papa, and
+he told me to take such care of it when he gave it to me, for there was
+a romantic little history connected with it."
+
+"What was it, dear?" asked Jessie, glad to find that the sudden
+diversion of her thoughts to the lost watch had done more to calm Ruth
+than all their demonstrative comfort.
+
+Ruth at once proceeded to relate the story of the watch, but we will not
+inflict it on the reader, as it has no particular bearing on our tale.
+It had something to do, however, with detaining Ruth far later than she
+had intended to remain, so that she jumped up hastily at last, saying
+she must really go home.
+
+"Are you sure the robber was a sailor?" asked Kate; "sailors are such
+dear nice men that I can hardly believe it."
+
+"I'm almost quite sure," returned Ruth; "at all events he was dressed
+like one--and, oh! he _was_ so gruff!"
+
+From this point Ruth diverged into further and more minute details of
+the robbery, over which the three gloated with a species of fascination
+which is more frequently associated with ghost stories than true tales.
+Indeed we may say that _four_ gloated over it, for Liffie Lee, unable to
+restrain her curiosity, put her head in at the door--at first with the
+more or less honest intention of asking if "hany think was wanted," and
+afterwards let her head remain from sheer inability to withdraw it.
+
+At one point in the thrilling narrative she became intensely excited,
+and when Ruth tried in sepulchral tones to imitate John Gunter's gruff
+voice, she exclaimed, "Oh! lawks!" in such a gasp that the three ladies
+leaped up with three shrieks like three conscience-smitten kittens
+caught in a guilty act!  Liffie was rebuked, but from pity, or perhaps
+sympathy, was allowed to remain to hear the end.
+
+When that point was reached, it was found to be so late that the streets
+were almost deserted, and the particular part in which their lodging
+stood was dreadfully silent.
+
+"How am I ever to get home?" asked Ruth.
+
+"It is not more than twenty doors off," said Kate, "and Liffie will go
+with you."
+
+"Lawks, ma'am," said Liffie, "what could the likes o' me do if we was
+attacked?  An' then--I should 'ave to return _alone_!"
+
+"That is true," said the tender-hearted Jessie; "what _is_ to be done?
+Our landlady goes to bed early.  It would never do to rouse her--and
+then, she may perhaps be as great a coward as we are.  Oh! if there was
+only a _man_ in the house.  Even a boy would do."
+
+"Ah!  I jist think 'e would," said Liffie.  "If little Billy was 'ere, I
+wouldn't ax for no man."
+
+"I'll tell you what," said Kate with a bright look of decision, "we'll
+all go together.  Get on your bonnet, Jessie."
+
+There was no resisting Kate when once she had made up her mind.  She put
+on her own bonnet, and her sister quickly returned ready, "with a
+heart," as Byron says, "for any fate?"
+
+"Now don't speak, any of you," whispered Kate.  "If we are attacked, let
+us give a united shriek.  That will raise some one to our aid."
+
+"I should think it would, ma'am.  It would a'most raise the dead," said
+Liffie, who also prepared herself for the ordeal.
+
+Dark and deserted streets at late hours, with dangerous characters known
+to be abroad, have terrors to some small extent, even for the averagely
+brave; what must they have, then, for those tender ones of the weaker
+sex whose spirits are gentle, perhaps timid, and whose nerves have been
+highly strung by much converse on subjects relating to violence?
+
+The first shock experienced by our quartette was caused by the door.
+From some inscrutable impulse Liffie Lee had locked it after Ruth had
+rushed in.
+
+"Open it gently," whispered Jessie, for the party had now got to the
+condition of feeling very much as if they were themselves burglars,
+engaged in some unholy enterprise, and feared to arouse sleepers.  But
+they need not have feared, for their landlady was one of the "seven
+sleepers" of Yarmouth.
+
+Liffie exerted her little strength with caution, but the lock was stiff;
+it would not move.  She screwed up her mouth, and put-to more strength;
+still it would not move.  Screwing up her eyebrows as well as her mouth,
+she tried again.  It would not budge.  She even screwed up her nose in a
+stupendous effort, but all in vain.  If there had been no need for
+caution, the thing would have been easy, but Jessie kept whispering,
+"Softly, Liffie, softly!" and Ruth echoed "Softly!"  At last Liffie
+screwed herself up entirely, body and soul, in one supreme effort; she
+agonised with the key.  It yielded, and the bolt flew back with a crack
+like a pistol-shot.
+
+"Oh!" burst in four different keys--not door-keys--from the party--under
+their breath however.
+
+"Open," whispered Jessie.
+
+Liffie obeyed, and when the half-opened door revealed intense darkness
+outside, a feeling of horror caused their very flesh to creep.
+
+"How I _wish_ I hadn't stayed!  I'll _never_ do it again!" whispered
+poor Ruth in the tones of a child about to be punished.
+
+"What's that!" exclaimed Jessie, with a start that caused Ruth almost to
+shriek.
+
+"Cats!" said Liffie Lee.
+
+"Impossible!" said Kate.
+
+But it was not impossible, for there, in a corner not far off, were
+dimly seen two intensely black objects, with backs and tails arranged on
+the moorish-arch principle, and a species of low thunder issuing from
+them, suggestive of dynamite in the stomach.
+
+Relieved to find it was nothing worse, the party emerged into the
+street.  The cats were too much enraged and engaged with each other to
+observe them.  They, like the ladies, were evidently cowards, for they
+continued to threaten without attacking.
+
+Liffie was left on guard with strict injunctions to stand inside, hold
+tight to the door-handle, let in the returning sisters, and then slam
+the door in the face of all the world beside.
+
+A run was now made for the Dotropy residence.  We could not call it a
+rush, for the three ladies were too light and elegant in form to proceed
+in such a manner.  They tripped it--if we may say so--on light fantastic
+toe, though with something of unseemly haste.  Ruth being young and
+active reached the door first, and, as before, went with a rebounding
+bang against it.  The anxious Mrs Dotropy had been for some time on the
+watch.  She opened the door.
+
+"Ruth!"
+
+"Mamma!"
+
+"Your daughter!" exclaimed the Miss Seawards in needless explanation, as
+they pushed her in, and then, turning round, fled homeward with so much
+noise that the attention of a night watchman was naturally attracted.
+The sisters heard his approaching foot-falls.  They put on, in sporting
+language, a spurt.  Just as the door was reached the two cats, becoming
+suddenly brave, filled the night-air with yells as of infants in agony.
+An irrepressible shriek burst from the sisters as they tripped over each
+other into the passage, and the faithful Liffie slammed the door in the
+face of the discomfited policeman.
+
+It was a crucial test of friendship, and the Miss Seawards came to the
+conclusion that night, before retiring to rest, that nothing on earth
+would ever induce them to do it again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+A HOPEFUL CLUB DISCOVERED.
+
+When Captain Bream, as before mentioned, was obliged to hurry off to
+London, and forsake the Miss Seawards, as well as his theological
+studies, he hastened to that portion of the city where merchants and
+brokers, and money-lenders, and men of the law do love to congregate.
+
+Turning down Cheapside the captain sought for one of the many labyrinths
+of narrow streets and lanes that blush unseen in that busy part of the
+Great Hive.
+
+"Only a penny, sir, _only_ a penny."
+
+The speaker was an ill-conditioned man, and the object offered for sale
+was a climbing monkey of easily deranged mechanism.
+
+"Do you suppose," said the captain, who, being full of anxious thought
+was for the moment irascible, "do you suppose that I am a baby?"
+
+"Oh! dear no, sir.  From appearances I should say you've bin weaned some
+little time--only a penny, sir.  A nice little gift for the missus, sir,
+if you ain't got no child'n."
+
+"Can you direct me," said the captain with a bland look--for his tempers
+were short-lived--"to Brockley Court?"
+
+"First to the left, sir, second to the right, straight on an' ask
+again--only a penny, sir, climbs like all alive, sir."
+
+Dropping a penny into the man's hand with a hope that it might help the
+monkeys to climb, Captain Bream turned into the labyrinth, and soon
+after found himself in a dark little room which was surrounded by piles
+of japanned tin boxes, and littered with bundles of documents,
+betokening the daily haunt of a man-of-law.
+
+The lawyer himself--a bland man with a rugged head, a Roman nose and a
+sharp eye--sat on a hard-bottomed chair in front of a square desk.  Why
+should business men, by the way, subject themselves to voluntary
+martyrdom by using polished seats of hard-wood?  Is it with a view to
+doing penance, for the sins of the class to which they belong?
+
+"Have you found her, Mr Saker?" asked Captain Bream, eagerly, on
+entering.
+
+"No, not got quite so far as that yet--pray sit down; but we have reason
+to believe that we have got a clue--a slight one, indeed, but then, the
+information we have to go upon in our profession is frequently very
+slight--very slight indeed."
+
+"True, too true," assented the captain.  "I sometimes wonder how, with
+so little to work on at times, you ever begin to go about an
+investigation."
+
+The lawyer smiled modestly in acknowledgment of the implied compliment.
+
+"We do, indeed, proceed on our investigations occasionally with
+exceeding little information to go upon, but then, my dear sir,
+investigation may be said to be a branch of our profession, for which we
+are in a manner specially trained.  Let me see, now."
+
+He took up a paper, and, opening it, began to read with a running
+commentary:--
+
+"Fair hair, slightly grey; delicate features, complexion rather pale,
+brown eyes, gentle manners."
+
+"That's her--that's her!" from the captain.
+
+"Age apparently a little over thirty.  You said, I think, that your
+sister was--"
+
+"Yes, yes," interrupted the captain in some excitement, "she was
+considerably younger than me, poor girl!"
+
+"Let me, however, caution you, my dear sir, not to be too sanguine,"
+said the man-of-law, looking over his spectacles at his client; "you
+have no idea how deceptive descriptions are.  People are so prone to
+receive them according to their desires rather than according to fact."
+
+"Well, but," returned the captain, with some asperity, "you tell me that
+this woman has fair hair slightly grey, delicate features, pale
+complexion, brown eyes, and gentle manners, all of which are _facts_!"
+
+"True, my dear sir, but they are facts applicable to many women,"
+replied the solicitor.  "Still, I confess I have some hope that we have
+hit upon the right scent at last.  If you could only have given us the
+name of her husband, our difficulty would have been comparatively
+slight.  I suppose you have no means of hunting that up now.  No distant
+relative or--"
+
+"No, none whatever.  All my relations are dead.  She lived with an old
+aunt at the time, who died soon after the poor girl's foolish elopement,
+leaving no reference to the matter behind her.  It is now fifteen years
+since then.  I was away on a long voyage at the time.  On my return, the
+old lady, as I have said, was dead, and her neighbours knew nothing
+except that my sister was reported to have run away with a seafaring
+man.  Some who had seen him about the place said he seemed to be beneath
+her in station but none knew his name."
+
+"Is it not strange," asked the solicitor, "that she has never in all
+these years made inquiries about you at the mercantile house which
+employed you?"
+
+"Well, not so strange as it would seem, for my sister's memory for names
+was a bad one.  She used constantly to forget the name of the ship I
+commanded, and, as far as I can remember, did not trouble herself about
+the owners.  I have no doubt she must have made many efforts to discover
+me--unless she was ashamed of having made a low match.  At all events,"
+added the captain, with a weary sigh, "I have never ceased to make
+inquiries about her, although I have not until now made the attempt
+through a lawyer.  But where is this person you have heard of to be
+found?"
+
+"On board of an emigrant ship," said the solicitor.
+
+"Where bound for?" demanded the captain in peat surprise.
+
+"For Australia, and she sails the day after to-morrow, I am told."
+
+"Her name!" cried the captain, starting up.
+
+"Calm yourself, my dear sir.  I have made all needful arrangements for
+your going off to-morrow.  It is too late to-day.  Sit down and let me
+explain; and, above all, bear in mind that this may turn out to be a
+wrong scent after all.  Of course you may surmise that we lawyers obtain
+our information from many and various sources.  The source whence the
+information concerning your matter has come is peculiar, namely, a
+lay-missionary who is going to visit the ship to-morrow--having some
+friends on board.  Happening to meet the man the other day, I mentioned
+your matter to him.  He is a very sharp-witted man, and one whose
+accuracy of observation I should trust implicitly, even if his own
+interests were involved.  Well, he said that on board of the steam-ship
+_Talisman_, now lying off Gravesend, he saw that very day a woman among
+the steerage emigrants who answered to my description exactly, and added
+that he had heard her spoken of as the wife of a somewhat dissipated
+man, who had all the appearance of a seafaring person, named Richards.
+Of course I attach no importance to the name, as you say you never knew
+it, but his being a sailor-like man, and the fact that he was probably
+beneath his wife in station, coupled with the correct description of the
+wife, while it does not justify our being too sanguine, raises our
+hopes, you see--"
+
+"I see, I see--yes.  I beg that you will give me the agent's name and
+address," cried the captain, whose hopes, despite the guarded and
+cautious statements of the solicitor, had been raised to the highest
+point.
+
+"Here is his name, with the part of the river where you are to meet
+him," said the calm man of law, handing his client a slip of paper; "but
+let me, my dear sir, impress on you the advisability of not allowing
+yourself to become too sanguine.  Disappointments are invariably more
+severe in cases where expectations have been too high; and I fear that
+you may be already building too trustfully upon the very slender
+foundation supplied by this information."
+
+Admitting the force of this truism, and putting the slip of paper in his
+purse, Captain Bream bade his solicitor good-bye, with many
+protestations of undying gratitude, and left the room with the highest
+possible hopes of success.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+IN THE MISSION BOAT ON THE THAMES--THE DAMPING OF THE BODY CANNOT DAMP
+THE ARDENT SPIRIT.
+
+Next morning Captain Bream accompanied the lay-missionary to Gravesend,
+where they took a boat and put off to the emigrant ship.
+
+Great was the captain's satisfaction to find that his companion had been
+a sailor, and could talk to him--in nautical language too--about
+seafaring matters and distant climes.
+
+"It is a good work in which you are engaged," he said; "are you going to
+preach to 'em?"
+
+"No, only to distribute Testaments, tracts, and good books--though I may
+preach if I get the chance.  My work lies chiefly among emigrants and
+boat and barge men, but I also do a good deal among regular sailors."
+
+"Ah!  That's the work that _I'm_ fond of," said the captain, with
+enthusiasm.  "Of course I don't mean to say that the soul of a sailor is
+of more value than that of any other man, but I lean to sailors
+naturally, havin' been among 'em the greater part of my life.  I've done
+a little myself in the way of preachin' to 'em."
+
+"Have you?" exclaimed the missionary, with a pleased look.
+
+And from this point the two men went off into a confidential and
+animated talk about their varied experiences on the sea of spiritual
+work, on which they had both been launched, while the boatman--an old
+and evidently sympathetic man--pulled them to the vessel which lay at
+some distance from the place of embarkation.
+
+While the two friends--for such they had become by that time--were
+chatting thus with each other, a little accident was in store for
+Captain Bream, which not only disarranged his plans, but afterwards
+considerably affected his career.
+
+Having reached the age of sixty years, our captain was not quite as
+active in body as he had once been.  He was, however, quite as active in
+heart and mind, besides having much of the fire of youth still burning
+in him.  Hence he was apt at times to forget his body in the impulsive
+buoyancy of his spirit.  An instance of this forgetfulness occurred that
+day.  The missionary paid a passing visit to a vessel on their way to
+the emigrant ship.  Having run alongside, Captain Bream put his foot on
+the first step of the ladder, with intent to mount the vessel's side.
+
+"Have a care, sir," said the old boatman, who was assisting him with
+some anxiety.
+
+It may be that the captain's too youthful spirit spurned assistance, or
+that he had miscalculated the powers of his too ancient body, for at the
+moment his foot slipped while as yet his hold of the man-ropes was not
+secure, and he fell with a lion-like roar that might have shamed the
+stoutest king of the African forests.
+
+It was not a cry of fear, still less was it a shout for help.  It seemed
+rather like an effervescing roar of indignant surprise.
+
+The boatman held up his arms to catch the unfortunate man, but his
+strength availed nothing against such a weight.  He was hurled into the
+bottom of the boat for his pains, and the captain went into the water
+feet first as deep as the waist.  Here, however, the disaster was
+checked, for his strong arms caught the boat and held on.
+
+The missionary, meanwhile, sprang forward and laid hold of him, while
+his man rose with wonderful agility and lent his aid.
+
+"Heave--ahoy!" cried the missionary, grasping a waist-band.
+
+"Yo, heave, ho!" shouted the boatman, seizing a leg.  Another moment and
+the captain was safe in the bottom of the boat, which by that time was
+floating quietly down the Thames!
+
+Great was the regret expressed by the missionary at this unfortunate
+event, and loud was the laughter with which it was treated by the
+captain himself, on being re-seated in the stern sheets.
+
+"We must go ashore and get a change of dry clothes for you, sir."
+
+"Not a bit of it," cried the captain.  "Row back to the ship; I'll mount
+that ladder yet.  If I didn't I'd keep dreaming of my discomfiture for a
+twelve-month to come."  They ran alongside the vessel a second time, and
+went up the side in safety.
+
+But, arrived on deck, the skipper, who happened to be a hospitable man
+and friendly to the missionary, insisted on having Captain Bream down
+into his cabin.
+
+"Now you'll put on a suit of my clothes," he said, "till your own are
+dry."
+
+The captain would not hear of it.
+
+"Just let me wring my own out," he said, "and I'll be all right."
+
+"Have a glass of wine then, or brandy?"
+
+"Impossible; thank'ee, I'm an abstainer."
+
+"But you need it to prevent catching cold, you know.  Take it as
+physic."
+
+"Physic!" exclaimed the captain.  "I never took physic in my life, and I
+won't begin wi' the nasty stuff now.  Thank'ee all the same."
+
+"Some coffee, then?  I've got it all ready."
+
+"Ay--that's better--if you're sure you've got it handy."
+
+While the captain and the skipper were discussing the coffee, the wet
+garments were sent to the galley and partially dried.  Meanwhile the
+missionary made the most of his opportunity among the men.  By the time
+he had finished his visit, the captain's nether garments were partially
+dried, so they continued their voyage to the emigrant ship.  When they
+reached her the poor captain's interest in other people's affairs had
+begun to fail, for his anxiety about his long-lost sister increased, as
+the probability of finding her at last became greater.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+HOW CAPTAIN BREAM FARED IN HIS SEARCH, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
+
+The finding of an individual in a large emigrant ship may not inaptly be
+compared to the finding of a needle in a haystack.  Foreseeing the
+difficulty, the missionary asked Captain Bream how he proposed to set
+about it.
+
+"You say that you do not know the married name of your sister?" he said,
+as they drew near to the towering sides of the great vessel.
+
+"No; I do not."
+
+"And you have not seen her for many years?"
+
+"Not for many years."
+
+"Nevertheless, you are quite sure that you will recognise her when you
+do see her?"
+
+"Ay, as sure as I am that I'd know my own face in a lookin'-glass, for
+she had points about her that I'm quite sure time could never alter."
+
+"You are involved in a great difficulty, I fear," continued his friend,
+"for, in the first place, the time at your disposal is not long; you
+cannot ask for the number of her berth, not having her name, and there
+is little probability of your being able to see every individual in a
+vessel like this while they keep moving about on deck and below."
+
+The captain admitted that the difficulties were great and his
+countenance grew longer, for, being as we have said a remarkably
+sympathetic man, the emotions of his heart were quickly telegraphed to
+his features.
+
+"It strikes me," continued the missionary, in a comforting tone, "that
+your best chance of success will be to enter my service for the
+occasion, and go about with me distributing New Testaments and tracts.
+You will thus, as it were, have a reason for going actively about
+looking into people's faces, and even into their berths.  Excuse me for
+asking--what do you think of doing if you find your sister, for the
+vessel starts in a few hours?"
+
+"Oh, I'll get her--and--and her husband to give up the voyage and return
+ashore with me.  I'm well enough off to make it worth their while."
+
+The missionary did not appear to think the plan very hopeful, but as
+they ran alongside at the moment them was no time for reply.
+
+It was indeed a bewildering scene to which they were introduced on
+reaching the deck.  The confusion of parting friends; of pushing porters
+with trunks and boxes; perplexed individuals searching for lost luggage;
+distracted creatures looking for lost relatives; calm yet energetic
+officers in merchant-service uniform moving about giving directions;
+active seamen pushing through the crowds in obedience to orders;
+children of all sizes playing and getting in people's way; infants of
+many kinds yelling hideously or uttering squalls of final despair.
+There was pathos and comicality too, intermingled.  Behold, on one side,
+an urchin sitting astonished--up to his armpits in a bandbox through
+which he has just crashed--and an irate parent trying to drag him out;
+while, on your other side, stands a grief-stricken mother trying to say
+farewell to a son whose hollow cheeks, glittering eyes, and short cough
+give little hope of a meeting again on this side the grave.  Above all
+the din, as if to render things more maddening, the tug alongside keeps
+up intermittent shrieks of its steam-whistle, for the first bell has
+rung to warn those who are not passengers to prepare for quitting the
+steamer.  Soon the second bell rings, and the bustle increases while in
+the excitement of partings the last farewells culminate.
+
+"We don't need to mind that bell, having our boat alongside," said the
+missionary to Captain Bream, as they stood a little to one side silently
+contemplating the scene.  "You see that smart young officer in uniform,
+close to the cabin skylight?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That's the captain."
+
+"Indeed.  He seems to me very young to have charge of such a vessel."
+
+"Not so young as he looks," returned the other.  "I shall have to get
+his permission before attempting anything on board, so we must wait here
+for a few minutes.  You see, he has gone into his cabin with the owners
+to have a few parting words.  While we are standing you'll have one of
+the best opportunities of seeing the passengers, for most of them will
+come on deck to bid relatives and friends farewell, and wave
+handkerchiefs as the tug steams away, so keep your eyes open.
+Meanwhile, I will amuse you with a little chit-chat about emigrants.
+This vessel is one of the largest that runs to Australia."
+
+"Indeed," responded the captain, with an absent look and tone that would
+probably have been the same if his friend had said that it ran to the
+moon.  The missionary did not observe that his companion was hopelessly
+sunk in the sea of abstraction.
+
+"Yes," he continued, "and, do you know, it is absolutely amazing what an
+amount of emigration goes on from this port continually, now-a-days.
+You would scarcely believe it unless brought as I am into close contact
+with it almost daily.  Why, there were no fewer than 26,000 emigrants
+who sailed from the Thames in the course of last year."
+
+"How many hogsheads, did you say?" asked the captain, still deeply sunk
+in abstraction.
+
+A laugh from his friend brought him to the surface, however, in some
+confusion.
+
+"Excuse me," he said, with a deprecatory look; "the truth is, my mind is
+apt to wander a bit in such a scene, and my eyes chanced to light at the
+moment you spoke on that hogshead over there.  How many emigrants, did
+you say?"
+
+"No fewer than 26,000," repeated the missionary good-naturedly, and went
+on to relate some interesting incidents, but the captain was soon again
+lost in the contemplation of a poor young girl who had wept to such an
+extent at parting from a female friend, then in the tug, that her
+attempts to smile through the weeping had descended from the sublime to
+the ridiculous.  She and her friend continued to wave their kerchiefs
+and smile and cry at each other notwithstanding, quite regardless of
+public opinion, until the tug left.  Then the poor young thing hid her
+sodden face in her moist handkerchief and descended with a moan of woe
+to her berth.  Despite the comical element in this incident, a tear was
+forced out of Captain Bream's eye, and we rather think that the
+missionary was similarly affected.  But, to say truth, the public at
+large cared little for such matters.  Each was too much taken up with
+the pressing urgency of his or her own sorrows to give much heed to the
+woes of strangers.
+
+"People in such frames of mind are easily touched by kind words and
+influences," said the missionary in a low voice.
+
+"True, the ground is well prepared for you," returned the captain
+softly, for another group had absorbed his attention.
+
+"And I distribute among them Testaments, gospels, and tracts, besides
+bags filled with books and magazines."
+
+"Was there much powder in 'em?" asked the captain, struggling to the
+surface at the last word.
+
+"I don't know about that," replied his friend with a laugh, "but I may
+venture to say that there was a good deal of fire in some of them."
+
+"Fire!" exclaimed the captain in surprise.  Explanation was prevented by
+the commander of the vessel issuing at that moment from the cabin with
+the owners.  Hearty shakings of hands and wishes for a good voyage
+followed.  The officers stood at the gangway; the last of the weeping
+laggards was kindly but firmly led away; the tug steamed off, and the
+emigrant vessel was left to make her final preparations for an immediate
+start on her long voyage to the antipodes, with none but her own
+inhabitants on board, save a few who had private means of quitting.
+
+"Now is our time," said the missionary, hastening towards the captain of
+the vessel.
+
+For one moment the latter gave him a stern look, as if he suspected him
+of being a man forgotten by the tug, but a bland smile of good-will
+overspread his features when the former explained his wishes.
+
+"Certainly, my good sir, go where you like, and do what you please."
+
+Armed with this permission, he and Captain Bream went to work to
+distribute their gifts.
+
+Most of the people received these gladly, some politely, a few with
+suspicion, as if they feared that payment was expected, and one or two
+refused them flatly.  The distributers, meanwhile, had many an
+opportunity afforded, when asked questions, of dropping here and there
+"a word in season."
+
+As this was the first time Captain Bream had ever been asked to act as
+an amateur distributer of Testaments and tracts, he waited a few
+minutes, with one of his arms well-filled, to observe how his companion
+proceeded, and then himself went to work.
+
+Of course, during all this time, he had not for an instant forgotten the
+main object of his journey.  On the contrary, much of the absence of
+mind to which we have referred was caused by the intense manner, in
+which he scanned the innumerable faces that passed to and fro before
+him.  He now went round eagerly distributing his gifts, though not so
+much impressed with the importance of the work as he would certainly
+have been had his mind been less pre-occupied.  It was observed,
+however, that the captain offered his parcels and Testaments only to
+women, a circumstance which caused a wag from Erin to exclaim--
+
+"Hallo! old gentleman, don't ye think the boys has got sowls as well as
+the faimales?"
+
+This was of course taken in good part by the captain, who at once
+corrected the mistake.  But after going twice round the deck, and
+drawing forth many humorous as well as caustic remarks as to his size
+and general appearance, he was forced to the conclusion that his sister
+was not there.  The lower regions still remained, however.
+
+Descending to these with some hope and a dozen Testaments, he found that
+the place was so littered with luggage, passengers, and children, that
+it was extremely difficult to move.  To make the confusion worse, nearly
+the whole space between decks had been fitted up with extra berths--here
+for the married, there for the unmarried--so that very little room
+indeed was left for passage, and exceedingly little light entered.
+
+But Captain Bream was not affected by such matters.  He was accustomed
+to them, and his eyesight was good.  He was bent on one object, which he
+pursued with quiet, unflagging perseverance--namely, that of gazing
+earnestly into the face of every woman in the ship.
+
+So eager was the poor man about it that he forgot to offer the last
+armful of Testaments which he had undertaken to distribute, and simply
+went from berth to berth staring at the females.  He would undoubtedly
+have been considered mad if it had not been that the women were too much
+taken up with their own affairs, to think much about any one with whom
+they had nothing to do.
+
+One distracting, and also disheartening, part of the process was, that,
+owing to the general activity on board, he came again and again to the
+same faces in different parts of the vessel, but he so frequently missed
+seeing others that hope was kept alive by the constant turning up of new
+faces.  Alas! none of them bore any resemblance to that for which he
+sought so earnestly!
+
+At last he returned to the place where his friend was preaching.  By
+that time, however, the crowd was so great that he could not enter.
+Turning aside, therefore, into an open berth, with a feeling of
+weariness and depression creeping over his mind and body, he was about
+to sit down on a box, when a female voice at the other end of the berth
+demanded to know what he wanted.
+
+Hope was a powerful element in Captain Bream's nature.  He rose quickly
+and stopped to gaze attentively into a female face, but it was so dark
+where she sat on a low box that he could hardly see her, and took a step
+forward.
+
+"Well, Mr Imprence, I hope as you'll know me again," said the woman,
+whose face was fiery red, and whose nature was furious.  "What _do_ you
+want here?"
+
+The captain sighed profoundly.  _That_ was obviously not his sister!
+Then a confused feeling of incapacity to give a good reason for being
+there came over him.  Suddenly he recollected the Testaments.
+
+"Have one?" he said eagerly, as he offered one of the little black
+books.
+
+"Have what?"
+
+"A Testament."
+
+"No, I won't have a Testament, I'm a Catholic," said the woman as she
+looked sternly up.
+
+Captain Bream was considering how he might best suggest that the Word of
+God was addressed to all mankind, when a thought seemed to strike the
+woman.
+
+"Are you the cap'n?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," he replied absently, and with some degree of truth.
+
+"Then it's my opinion, cap'n, an' I tell it you to your face, that you
+ought to be ashamed of yourself to put honest men an' wimen in places
+like this--neither light, nor hair, nor nothink in the way of hornament
+to--"
+
+"Captain Bream! are you there, sir?" cried the voice of his friend the
+missionary at that moment down the companion-hatch.
+
+"Ay, ay, I'm here."
+
+"I've found her at last, sir."
+
+The captain incontinently dropped the dozen Testaments into the woman's
+lap and went up the companion-ladder like a tree-squirrel.
+
+"This way, sir.  She's sittin' abaft the funnel."
+
+In a few seconds Captain Bream and his companion stood before a
+pretty-faced, fair-haired woman with soft gentle eyes, which suddenly
+opened with surprise as the two men hurried forward and came to a halt
+in front of her.  The captain looked anxiously at his friend.
+
+"Is this the--" he stopped.
+
+"Yes, that's her," said the missionary with a nod.  The captain turned
+slowly on his heel, and an irrepressible groan burst from him as he
+walked away.
+
+There was no need for the disappointed missionary to ask if he had been
+mistaken.  One look had sufficed for the captain.
+
+Sadly they returned to the shore, and there the missionary, being near
+his house, invited Captain Bream to go home with him and have a cup of
+tea.
+
+"It will revive you, my dear sir," he said, as the captain stood in
+silence at his side with his head bowed down.  "The disappointment must
+indeed be great.  Don't give up hope, however.  But your clothes are wet
+still.  No wonder you shiver, having gone about so long in damp
+garments.  Come away."
+
+Captain Bream yielded in silence.  He not only went and had a cup of his
+hospitable friends's tea, but he afterwards accepted the offer of one of
+his beds, where he went into a high fever, from which he did not recover
+for many weary weeks.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+THE WRECK OF THE EVENING STAR.
+
+About the time that Captain Bream was slowly recovering from the fever
+by which he had been stricken down, a disaster occurred out on the North
+Sea, in connection with the Short Blue, which told powerfully on some of
+the men of that fleet.  This was nothing less than the wreck of the
+_Evening Star_.
+
+The weather looked very unsettled the morning on which David Bright's
+turn came about to quit the fleet and sail for port.  He had flown the
+usual flag to intimate his readiness to convey letters, etcetera, on
+shore, and had also, with a new feeling of pride, run up his Bethel-Flag
+to show his true colours, as he said, and to intimate his willingness to
+join with Christian friends in a parting hymn and prayer.
+
+Some had availed themselves of the opportunity, and, just before
+starting, the _Evening Star_ ran close to the mission smack.
+
+"Lower the boat, Billy," said the skipper to his son as they sat in the
+cabin.
+
+"Ay, ay, daddy."
+
+There was a kindliness now in the tone of David Bright's voice when he
+spoke to Billy that drew out the heart of that urchin as it had never
+been drawn out before, save by his mother's soft voice, and which
+produced a corresponding sweetness in the tones of the boy--for "love
+begets love."
+
+The mission skipper received his visitor with unwonted heartiness.
+
+"I pray the Lord to give you a good time on shore, David," he said, as
+they went down to the cabin, where some of the other skippers were
+having a chat and a cup of coffee.
+
+"He'll do that," said David.  "He did it last time.  My dear missis
+could scarce believe her ears when I told her I was converted, or her
+eyes when she saw the Bethel-flag and the temperance pledge."
+
+"Praise the Lord!" exclaimed two or three of those present, with deep
+sincerity, as David thus referred to his changed condition.
+
+"I can't bide with 'ee, lads," said David, "for time's up, but before
+startin' I _would_ like to have a little prayer with 'ee, an' a hymn to
+the Master's praise."
+
+We need not say that they were all ready to comply.  After concluding,
+they saw him into his boat, and bade him God-speed in many a homely but
+hearty phrase.
+
+"Good-bye, skipper; fare ye well, Billy; the Lord be with 'ee, Joe."
+
+John Gunter was not omitted in the salutations, and his surly spirit was
+a little, though not much, softened as he replied.
+
+"Fare ye well, mates," shouted David, as he once more stood on his own
+deck, and let his vessel fall away.  A toss of the hand followed the
+salutation.  Little Billy echoed the sentiment and the toss, and in a
+few minutes the _Evening Star_ was making her way out of the fleet and
+heading westward.
+
+The night which followed was wild, and the wind variable.  Next day the
+sun did not show itself at all till evening, and the wind blew dead
+against them.  At sunset, red and lurid gleams in the west, and leaden
+darkness in the east, betokened at the best unsteady weather.
+
+Little did these bold mariners, however, regard such signs--not that
+they were reckless, but years of experience had accustomed them to think
+lightly of danger--to face and overcome it with equanimity.  In addition
+to his native coolness, David Bright had now the mighty _power_ of
+humble trust in God to sustain him.
+
+It still blew hard when they drew near to land, but the wind had changed
+its direction, blowing more on the shore, and increasing at last to a
+gale which lined the whole coast with breakers.  Before the _Evening
+Star_ could find refuge in port, night had again descended.
+Unfortunately it was one of the darkest nights of the season,
+accompanied with such blinding sleet that it became a difficult matter
+to distinguish the guiding lights.
+
+"A dirty night, Billy," said David Bright, who himself held the tiller.
+
+"Ay, father, it'll be all the pleasanter when we get home."
+
+"True, lad; the same may be said of the heavenly home when the gales of
+life are over.  D'ee see the light, boy?"
+
+"No, father, not quite sure.  Either it's not very clear, or the sleet
+an' spray blinds me."
+
+"`Let the lower lights be burning,'" murmured the skipper, as a
+tremendous wave, which seemed about to burst over them, rushed beneath
+the stern, raising it high in the air.  "You see the meanin' o' that
+line o' the hymn now, Billy, though you didn't when your dear mother
+taught it you.  Bless her heart, her patience and prayers ha' done it
+all."
+
+For some minutes after this there was silence.  The men of the _Evening
+Star_ were holding on to shroud or belaying-pin, finding shelter as best
+they could, and looking out anxiously for the "lower lights."
+
+"There'll be some hands missin', I doubt, in the Short Blue fleet
+to-morrow, father," remarked Billy, with a solemn look.
+
+"Likely enough; God have mercy on 'em," returned Bright.  "It wasn't a
+much stiffer gale than this, not many years gone by, when twenty-seven
+smacks foundered, and a hundred and eighty souls were called to stand
+before their Maker."
+
+As David spoke a sullen roar of breaking water was heard on the port
+bow.  They had been slightly misled, either by their uncertainty as to
+the position of the true lights, or by some false lights on shore.  At
+all events, whatever the cause, they were at that moment driving towards
+one of the dangerous sand-banks in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth.  The
+course of the smack was instantly changed, but it was too late.  Almost
+before an order could be given she struck heavily, her main-mast went
+over the side, carrying part of the mizzen along with it.  At the same
+time a wave broke just astern, and rushed over the deck, though happily
+not with its full force.
+
+Even in that moment of disaster the bold fishermen did not quail.  With
+their utmost energy indeed, but without confusion, they sprang to the
+boat which, although lifted, had not been washed away.  Accustomed to
+launch it in all weathers, they got it into the water, and, almost
+mechanically, Ned Spivin and Gunter tumbled into it, while Joe Davidson
+held on to the painter.  Billy Bright was about to follow, but looking
+back shouted, "Come along, father!"  David, however, paid no attention
+to him.  He still stood firmly at the tiller guiding the wreck, which
+having been lifted off, or over the part of the sand on which she had
+struck, was again plunging madly onward.
+
+A few moments and one of those overwhelming seas which even the
+inexperienced perceive to be irresistible, roared after the disabled
+vessel.  As it reached her she struck again.  The billow made a clean
+sweep over her.  Everything was carried away.  The boat was overturned,
+the stout painter snapped, and the crew left struggling in the water.
+
+But what of the people on shore when this terrible scene was being
+enacted?  They were not entirely ignorant of it.  Through driving sleet
+and spray they had seen in the thick darkness something that looked like
+a vessel in distress.  Soon the spectral object was seen to advance more
+distinctly out of the gloom.  Well did the fishermen know what that
+meant, and, procuring ropes, they hastened to the rescue, while spray,
+foam, sand, and even small pebbles, were swept up by the wild hurricane
+and dashed in their faces.
+
+Among the fishermen was a young man whose long ulster and cap told that
+he was a landsman, yet his strength, and his energy, were apparently
+equal to that of the men with whom he ran.  He carried a coil of thin
+rope in his left hand.  With the right he partly shielded his eyes.
+
+"They'll be certain to strike here," cried one of the fishermen, whose
+voice was drowned in the gale, but whose action caused the others to
+halt.
+
+He was right.  The vessel was seen to strike quite close, for the water
+was comparatively deep.
+
+"She's gone," exclaimed the young man already referred to, as the vessel
+was seen to be overwhelmed.
+
+He flung off his top-coat as he spoke, and, making one end of the small
+line fast round his waist, ran knee-deep into the water.  Some of the
+fishermen acted in a somewhat similar fashion, for they knew well that
+struggling men would soon be on the shore.
+
+They had not to wait long, for the crew of the _Evening Star_ were young
+and strong, and struggled powerfully for their lives.  In a few minutes
+the glaring eyes of Zulu appeared, and the young man of the ulster made
+a dash, caught him by the hair, and held on.  It seemed as if the angry
+sea would drag both men back into its maw, but the men on the beach held
+on to the rope, and they were dragged safely to land.
+
+A cheer on right and left told that others were being rescued.  Then it
+became known who the wrecked ones were.
+
+"It's the _Evening Star_!" exclaimed one.
+
+"Poor David!" said another.
+
+Then the cry was raised, "Have 'ee got little Billy?"
+
+"Ay, here he comes!" shouted a strange voice.
+
+It was that of the youth of the ulster, who now stood waist-deep eagerly
+stretching out his hands, towards an object with which the wild waves
+seemed to sport lovingly.  It was indeed little Billy, his eyes closed,
+his face white, and his curly yellow hair tossing in the foam, but he
+made no effort to save himself; evidently the force of the sea and
+perhaps the cold had been too much for his slight frame to bear.
+
+Twice did the young man make a grasp and miss him.  To go deeper in
+would have perhaps insured his own destruction.  The third time he
+succeeded in catching the boy's hair; the men on shore hauled them in,
+and soon little Billy lay on the beach surrounded by anxious fishermen.
+
+"Come, mates," said one, in a deep voice, "let's carry him to his
+mother."
+
+"Not so," said the young man who had rescued Billy, and who had only
+lain still for a moment where he had fallen to recover breath.  "Let him
+lie.  Undo his necktie, one of you."
+
+While he spoke he was busy making a tight roll of his own coat which he
+immediately placed under the shoulders of Billy, and proceeded at once
+to attempt to restore breathing by one of the methods of resuscitating
+the drowned.
+
+The fishermen assisted him, some hopefully, some doubtfully, a few with
+looks of disbelief in the process.  The youth persevered, however, with
+unflagging patience, well knowing that half-drowned people have been
+restored after nearly an hour of labour.
+
+"Who is he?" inquired one fisherman of another, referring to the
+stranger.
+
+"Don't you know him, mate?" asked the other in surprise.
+
+"No, I've just come ashore, you know."
+
+"That's Mr Dalton, the young banker, as takes such a lift o' the
+temp'rance coffee-taverns an' Blue-Ribbon movement."
+
+"He's comin'-to, sir!" exclaimed a voice eagerly.
+
+This had reference to little Billy, whose eyelids had been seen to
+quiver, and who presently heaved a sigh.
+
+"Fetch my coat," said Dalton.  "He will indeed be restored, thank God."
+
+The big ulster was brought.  Billy was carefully wrapped up in it, and
+one of the stoutest among his fisher friends lifted him in his arms and
+bore him off to his mother.
+
+"Have all the others been rescued?" inquired Dalton, eagerly, when Billy
+had been carried away.
+
+No one could answer the question.  All knew that some of the _Evening
+Star's_ crew had been saved, but they could not say how many.
+
+"They've bin taken to the Sailor's Home, sir," said one man.
+
+"Then run up like a good fellow and ask if _all_ are safe," said Dalton.
+"Meanwhile I will remain here and search the beach lest there should be
+more to rescue."
+
+Turning again to the foaming sea the young banker proceeded slowly along
+the shore some distance, when he observed the body of a man being rolled
+up on the sand and dragged back by each returning wave.  Rushing forward
+he caught it, and, with the aid of the fishermen, carried it beyond the
+reach of the hungry waves.  But these waves had already done their
+worst.  Dalton applied the proper means for restoration, but without
+success, and again the fishermen began to look gravely at each other and
+shake their heads.
+
+"Poor woman!" they murmured, but said no more.  Their feelings were too
+deep for speech as they mourned for one who was by that time a widow,
+though she knew it not.
+
+At that moment some of the men came running down from the town--one, a
+tall, strong figure, ahead of them.  It was Joe Davidson.  He had been
+more exhausted than some of the others on being rescued, and had been
+led to the Sailor's Home in a scarcely conscious condition.  When they
+began to reckon up the saved, and found that only one was missing, Joe's
+life seemed to return with a bound.  Breaking from those who sought to
+restrain him he ran down to the beach.
+
+He knelt beside the drowned fisherman with a wild expression in his eyes
+as he laid hold of something that partly covered the drowned man.  It
+was his own Bethel-flag which David Bright had twisted round his body!
+Joe sprang up and clasped his hands as if to restrain them from violent
+action.
+
+"Oh, David!" he said, and stopped suddenly, while the wild look left his
+eyes and something like a smile crossed his features.  "Can it be true
+that ye've gone so soon to the Better Land?"
+
+The words gathered in force as they were uttered, and it was with a
+great cry of grief that he shouted, "Oh, David, David! my brother!" and
+fell back heavily on the sand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+BILLY AND HIS FATHER RETURN HOME.
+
+Who can describe the strange mingling of grateful joy with bitter
+anguish that almost burst the heart of David Bright's widow on that
+terrible night!
+
+She was singing one of the "Songs of Zion," and busy with household
+cares, preparing for the expected return of her husband and her son,
+when they carried Billy in.
+
+It might be supposed that she would be anxious on such a stormy night
+but if the wives of North Sea fishermen were to give way to fears with
+every gale that blew, they would be filled with overwhelming anxiety
+nearly all the year round.
+
+When the knock at the door came at last the song ceased, and when the
+stout fisherman entered with his burden, and a fair curl, escaping from
+the folds of the ulster, told what that burden was, the colour fled from
+the poor woman's cheeks, and a sinking of the heart under a great dread
+almost overcame her.
+
+"He's all right, missus," said the man, quickly.
+
+"Thank God?" gasped Mrs Bright.  "Are--are the rest safe?"
+
+"I b'lieve they are.  Some of 'em are, I know."
+
+Obliged to be content, for the moment, with the amount of relief
+conveyed by these words, she had Billy laid on a bed, and bustled about
+actively rubbing him dry, wrapping him in blankets, applying hot bottles
+and otherwise restoring him; for as yet the poor boy showed only slight
+symptoms of returning vitality.
+
+While thus engaged the door burst open, and Maggie Davidson rushed in.
+
+"Oh, Nell!" she exclaimed, "what has happened--is it true--Billy!--dead?
+No; thank God for that, but--but--the _Evening Star_ must be wrecked!
+Are the rest safe?  Is Joe--"
+
+The excited young wife stopped and gasped with anxiety.
+
+"The Lord has been merciful in sending me my Billy," returned Mrs
+Bright, with forced calmness, "but I know nothing more."
+
+Turning at once, Maggie rushed wildly from the house intending to make
+straight for the shore.  But she had not gone far when a crowd of men
+appeared coming towards her.  Foremost among these was her own husband!
+
+With a sharp cry of joy she rushed forward and threw herself into his
+ready arms.
+
+"Oh! praise the Lord," she said; but as she spoke the appearance of her
+husband's face alarmed her.  Glancing hastily at the crowd behind, she
+cast a frightened look up at Joe's face.
+
+"Who is it?" she asked in a whisper, as four men advanced with slow
+measured tread bearing between them the form of a man.
+
+"David," he said, while an irrepressible sob convulsed him.
+
+For one moment the comely face of Maggie wore an expression of horror;
+then she broke from Joe, ran quickly back, and, seizing Mrs Bright in
+her arms, attempted in vain to speak.
+
+"What--what's wrong, Maggie?"
+
+The poor sympathetic young wife could not utter a word.  She could only
+throw her arms round her friend's neck, and burst into a passion of
+tears.
+
+But there was no need for words.  Mrs Bright knew full well what the
+tears meant, and her heart stood still while a horror of darkness seemed
+to sink down upon her.  At that moment she heard the tread of those who
+approached.
+
+Another minute, and all that remained of David Bright was laid on his
+bed, and his poor wife fell with a low wail upon his inanimate form,
+while Billy sat up on his couch and gazed in speechless despair.
+
+In that moment of terrible agony God did not leave the widow utterly
+comfortless, for even in the first keen glance at her dead husband she
+had noted the Bethel-Flag, which he had shown to her with such pride on
+his last holiday.  Afterwards she found in his pocket the Testament
+which she had given to him that year, and thus was reminded that the
+parting was not to be--for ever!
+
+We will not dwell on the painful scene.  In the midst of it, Ruth
+Dotropy glided in like an angel of light, and, kneeling quietly by the
+widow's side, sobbed as if the loss had been her own.  Poor Ruth!  She
+did not know how to set about comforting one in such overwhelming grief.
+Perhaps it was as well that she did not "try," for certainly, in time,
+she succeeded.
+
+How Ruth came to hear of the wreck and its consequences was not very
+apparent, but she had a peculiar faculty for discovering the locality of
+human grief, a sort of instinctive tendency to gravitate towards it,
+and, like her namesake of old, to cling to the sufferer.
+
+Returning to her own lodging, she found her mother, and told her all
+that had happened.
+
+"And now, mother," she said, "I must go at once to London, and tell
+Captain Bream of my suspicions about Mrs Bright, and get him to come
+down here, so as to bring them face to face without further delay."
+
+"My dear child, you will do nothing of the sort," said Mrs Dotropy,
+with unwonted decision.  "You know well enough that Captain Bream has
+had a long and severe illness, and could not stand anything in the
+nature of a shock in his present state."
+
+"Yes, mother, but they say that joy never kills, and if--"
+
+"Who says?" interrupted Mrs Dotropy; "who are `they' who say so many
+stupid things that every one seems bound to believe?  Joy _does_ kill,
+sometimes.  Besides, what if you turned out to be wrong, and raised
+hopes that were only destined to be crushed?  Don't you think that the
+joy of anticipation might--might be neutralised by the expectation,--I
+mean the sorrow of--of--but it's of no use arguing.  I set my face
+firmly against anything of the sort."
+
+"Well, perhaps you are right, mother," said Ruth, with a little sigh;
+"indeed, now I think of it I feel sure you are; for it might turn out to
+be a mistake, as you say, which would be an awful blow to poor Captain
+Bream in his present weak state.  So I must just wait patiently till he
+is better."
+
+"Which he will very soon be, my love," said Mrs Dotropy, "for he is
+sure to be splendidly nursed, now he has got back to his old quarters
+with these admirable Miss Seawards.  But tell me more about this sad
+wreck.  You say that the fisherman named Joe Davidson is safe?"
+
+"Yes, I know he is, for I have just seen him."
+
+"I'm glad of that, for I have a great regard for him, and am quite taken
+with his good little wife.  Indeed I feel almost envious of them, they
+do harmonise and agree so well together--not of course, that your
+excellent father and I did not agree--far from it.  I don't think that
+in all the course of our happy wedded life he ever once contradicted me;
+but somehow, he didn't seem quite to understand things--even when things
+were so plain that they might have been seen with a magnifying-glass--I
+mean a micro--that is--no matter.  I fear you would not understand much
+better, Ruth, darling, for you are not unlike your poor father.  But who
+told you about the wreck?"
+
+"A policeman, mother.  He said it was the _Evening Star_, and the moment
+I heard that I hurried straight to Mrs Bright, getting the policeman to
+escort me there and back.  He has quite as great an admiration of Joe as
+you have, mother, and gave me such an interesting account of the change
+for the better that has come over the fishermen generally since the
+Mission vessels carried the gospel among them.  He said he could hardly
+believe his eyes when he saw some men whom he had known to be dreadful
+characters changed into absolute lambs.  And you know, mother, that the
+opinion of policemen is of much weight, for they are by no means a soft
+or sentimental race of men."
+
+"True, Ruth," returned her mother with a laugh.  "After the scene
+enacted in front of our windows the other day, when one of them had so
+much trouble, and suffered such awful pommelling from the drunken
+ruffian he took up, I am quite prepared to admit that policemen are
+neither soft nor sentimental."
+
+"Now, mother, I cannot rest," said Ruth, rising, "I will go and try to
+quiet my feelings by writing an account of the whole affair to the Miss
+Seawards."
+
+"But you have not told me, child, who is the young man who behaved so
+gallantly in rescuing little Billy and others?"
+
+A deep blush overspread the girl's face as she looked down, and in a low
+voice said, "It was our old friend Mr Dalton."
+
+"Ruth!" exclaimed Mrs Dotropy, sharply, with a keen gaze into her
+daughter's countenance, "you are in love with Mr Dalton!"
+
+"No, mother, I am not," replied Ruth, with a decision of tone, and a
+sudden flash of the mild sweet eyes, that revealed a little of the old
+spirit of the De Tropys.  "Surely I may be permitted to admire a brave
+man without the charge of being in love with him!"
+
+"Quite true, quite true, my love," replied the mother, sinking back into
+her easy-chair.  "You had better go now, as you suggest, and calm
+yourself by writing to your friends."
+
+Ruth hurried from the room; sought the seclusion of her own chamber;
+flung herself into a chair, and put the question to herself, "_Am_ I in
+love with Mr Dalton?"
+
+It was a puzzling question; one that has been put full many a time in
+this world's history without receiving a very definite or satisfactory
+answer.  In this particular case it seemed to be not less puzzling than
+usual, for Ruth repeated it aloud more than once, "_Am_ I in love with
+Mr Dalton?" without drawing from herself an audible reply.
+
+She remained in the same attitude for a considerable time, with her
+sweet little head on one side, and her tiny hands clasped loosely on her
+lap--absorbed in meditation.
+
+From this condition she at last roused herself to sit down before a
+table with pen, ink, and paper.  Then she went to work on a graphic
+description of the wreck of the _Evening Star_,--in which, of course,
+Mr Dalton unavoidably played a very prominent part.
+
+Human nature is strangely and swiftly adaptable.  Ruth's heart fluttered
+with pleasure as she described the heroism of the young man, and next
+moment it throbbed with deepest sadness as she told of Mrs Bright's
+woe, and the paper on which she wrote became blotted with her tears.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+THE HOUSE OF MOURNING.
+
+We have it on the highest authority that it is better to go to the house
+of mourning than to the house of feasting.  This fallen world does not
+readily believe that, but then the world is notoriously slow to believe
+the truth, and also rather apt to believe what is false.  It was long
+before even the learned world could be got to believe that the world
+itself moves round the sun.  Indeed it is more than probable that more
+than half the world does not believe that yet.  On the other hand, much
+of it very likely believes still that the world is flat.  A savage of
+the prairie would almost certainly entertain that fallacy, while a
+savage of the mountains would perhaps laugh him to scorn, yet neither
+would admit that it was a globe.
+
+So, mankind is very unwilling to accept the truth that it is better to
+give than to receive, though such is certainly the case if there be
+truth in holy writ.
+
+John Gunter had been much impressed, and not a little softened, by the
+recent catastrophe of the shipwreck and of his skipper's death, but he
+had not yet been subdued to the point of believing that it would be
+better to spend an hour with widow Bright than to spend it in the
+public-house, even though his shipmate Joe Davidson did his best to
+persuade him of that truth.
+
+"Come," said Joe, as a last appeal, "come, John, what'll our shipmates
+think of 'ee if you never go near the poor thing to offer her a word o'
+comfort?"
+
+"_I_ can't comfort nobody," replied Gunter with a surly heave of his
+shoulder.
+
+"Yes, you can," said Joe, earnestly; "why, the very sight o' you bein'
+there, out o' respect to David, would do her poor heart good."
+
+The idea of anybody deriving comfort from a sight of _him_ so tickled
+Gunter that he only replied with a sarcastic laugh, nevertheless he
+followed his mate sulkily and, as it were, under protest.
+
+On entering the humble dwelling they found Spivin, Trevor, and Zulu
+already there.  Mrs Bright arose with tearful eyes to welcome the new
+guests.  Billy rose with her.  He had scarcely left his mother's side
+for more than a few minutes since the dark night of the wreck, though
+several days had elapsed.
+
+It was a great era in the life of the fisher-boy--a new departure.  It
+had brought him for the first time in his young life into personal
+contact as it were, with the dark side of life, and had made an
+indelible impression on his soul.  It did not indeed abate the sprightly
+activity of his mind or body, but it sobered his spirit and, in one day,
+made him more of a man than several years of ordinary life could have
+accomplished.  The most visible result was a manly consideration of, and
+a womanly tenderness towards, his mother, which went a long way to calm
+Mrs Bright's first outbreak of sorrow.
+
+These rough fishermen--rough only in outward appearance--had their own
+method of comforting the widow.  They did not attempt anything like
+direct consolation, however, but they sat beside her and chatted in
+quiet undertones--through which there ran an unmistakable sound of
+sympathy.  Their talk was about incidents and events of a pleasant or
+cheering kind in their several experiences.  And occasionally, though
+not often, they referred to the absent David when anything particularly
+favourable to him could be said.
+
+"We've got good news, Joe," said Billy, when the former was seated.
+
+"Ay, Billy, I'm glad o' that.  What may the good news be?"
+
+"Another `_Evening Star_' has been raised up to us by the Lord," said
+Mrs Bright, "but oh! it will never shine like the first one to _me_!"
+The poor woman could go no further, so Billy again took up the story.
+
+"You know," he said, "that our kind friend Miss Ruth Dotropy has been
+greatly taken up about us since father went--went home, and it seems
+that she's bin writin' to Lun'on about us, tellin' all about the wreck,
+an' about our mistake in goin' to sea, last trip, without bein'
+inspected, which lost us the insurance-money.  An' there's a rich friend
+o' hers as has sent her a thousand pound to buy mother another smack!"
+
+"You _don't_ say that's true, Billy!" exclaimed Joe, with a look of
+surprise.
+
+"That's just what I do say, Joe.  The smack is already bought, and is to
+be fitted out at once, an' mother has made _you_ her skipper, Joe, an'
+the rest have all agreed to go--Zulu as cook--and Gunter too.  Won't
+you, John?"
+
+The boy, who was somewhat excited by the news he had to tell, frankly
+held out his hand to Gunter, and that worthy, grasping it with an
+unwonted display of frankness on his part growled--"I'm with 'ee, lad."
+
+"Yes, it's all arranged," resumed Billy, "and we'll not be long o' being
+ready for sea, so you won't be left to starve, mother--"
+
+Up to this point the poor boy had held on with his wonted vivacity, but
+he stopped suddenly.  The corners of his mouth began to twitch, and,
+laying his head on his mother's bosom, he sobbed aloud.
+
+It did the widow good to comfort him.  The fishermen had an instinctive
+perception that their wisest course lay in taking no notice, and
+continuing their low-voiced intercourse.
+
+"Well, now," said Joe, "I have read in story-books of folk bein' as
+lib'ral sometimes as to give a thousand pounds, but I never thought I'd
+live to see 'em do it."
+
+"Why, Joe, where have your eyes and ears bin?" said Luke Trevor.  "Don't
+you know it was a lib'ral gentleman, if not two, or p'raps three, as
+lent the _Ensign_, our first gospel-ship, to the Mission?"
+
+"That's true, Luke; I forgot that when I spoke, an' there's more
+gospel-smacks comin', I'm told, presented in the same way by lib'ral
+folk."
+
+"It's my belief," said Luke, with emphasis, at the same time striking
+his right knee with his hand, "it's my belief that afore long we'll have
+a gospel-ship for every fleet on the North Sea."
+
+"Right you are, boy," said Joe, "an' the sooner the better.  Moreover,
+I've heard say that there's a talk about sellin' baccy on board of the
+mission-ships _cheaper_ than what they do aboard o' the copers.  Did any
+of 'ee hear o' that?"
+
+"I heard somethin' about it," answered Luke, "but it's too good news to
+be true.  If they do, it'll drive the copers off the sea."
+
+"Of course it will.  That's just what they're a-goin' to do it for, I
+suppose."
+
+Reader, the mode of dealing with the abominable "coper" traffic referred
+to by these men has at last happily been adopted, and the final blow has
+been dealt by the simple expedient of underselling the floating
+grog-shops in the article of tobacco.  Very considerable trouble and
+expense have to be incurred by the mission, however, for the tobacco has
+to be fetched from a foreign port; but the result amply repays the cost
+for the men naturally prefer paying only 1 shilling per pound on board
+the mission-ship, to paying 1 shilling 6 pence on board the "coper."
+The smacksman's advantages in this respect may be better understood when
+we say that on shore he has to pay 4 shillings per pound for tobacco.
+But his greatest advantage of all--that for which the plan has been
+adopted--is his being kept away from the vessel where, while purchasing
+tobacco, he is tempted to buy poisonous spirits.  Of course the
+anti-smoker is entitled to say "it were better that the smacksman should
+be saved from tobacco as well as drink!"  But of two evils it is wise to
+choose the less.  Tobacco at 1 shilling 6 pence procured in the "coper,"
+with, to some, its irresistible temptation to get drunk on vile spirits,
+is a greater evil than the procuring of the same weed at 1 shilling in a
+vessel all whose surroundings and internal arrangements are conducive to
+the benefit of soul and body.
+
+"D'ye mind the old _Swan_, boys?" asked an elderly man--a former friend
+of David Bright who had dropped in with his mite of genuine sympathy.
+
+"What, the first gospel-ship as was sent afloat some thirty years ago?
+It would be hard to remember what existed before I was born!"
+
+"Well, you've heard of her, anyhow.  She was lent by the Admiralty for
+the work in the year eighteen hundred and something, not to go out like
+the _Ensign_ to the North Sea fleets, but to cruise about an' visit in
+the Thames.  I was in the _Swan_ myself for a few months when I was a
+young fellow, and we had grand times aboard of that wessel.  It seemed
+to me like a sort o' home to the sailors that they'd make for arter
+their woyages was over.  Once, I reklect, we had a evenin' service, an'
+as several ships had come in from furrin parts that mornin' we had the
+_Swan_ chock-full o' noo hands; but bless you, though they was noo to us
+they warn't noo to each other.  They had many of 'em met aboard the
+_Swan_ years before.  Some of 'em hadn't met for seven and ten year, and
+sich a shakin' o' hands there was, an' recognisin' of each other!--I
+thought we'd never get the service begun.  Many of 'em was Christian
+men, and felt like brothers, you see."
+
+"Did many of the masters an' mates come to the services in those days?"
+asked Joe Davidson.
+
+"Ay, a-many of 'em.  W'y, I've seed lots o' both masters an' mates
+wolunteerin' to indoose their men to come w'en some of 'em warn't
+willin'--takin' their own boats, too, to the neighbourin' ships an'
+bringin' off the men as wanted to, w'en the _Swan's_ bell was a-ringin'
+for service.  I heard one man say he hadn't bin to a place o' worship
+for ten year, an' if he'd know'd what the _Swan_ was like he'd ha' bin
+to her sooner.
+
+"I mind meetin' wery unexpected with a friend at that time," continued
+the old fisherman, who saw that his audience was interested in his talk,
+and that the mind of poor Mrs Bright was being drawn from her great
+sorrow for a little.  "I hadn't met 'im for eight or ten years.
+
+"`Hallo!  Abel,' says I, `is that you?'
+
+"`That's me,' says he, ketchin' hold o' my grapnel, an' givin' it a
+shake that a'most unshipped the shoulder.  `Leastwise it's all that's
+left o' me.'
+
+"`What d'ee mean?' says I.
+
+"`I mean,' says he, `that I've just lost my wessel on the Gunfleet
+sands, but, thank God, I haven't lost my life, nor none o' my men,
+though it was a close shave.'
+
+"`How did it happen, Abel?' says I.
+
+"Says he, `It happened pretty much in the usual way.  A gale, wi' sleet
+that thick we could hardly see the end o' the jib-boom.  The moment we
+struck I know'd it was all over wi' the old wessel, but I didn't see my
+way to go under without a struggle, so we made a desp'rit attemp' to git
+out the boats, but a sea saved us the trouble, for it swept 'em all away
+before we got at 'em, as if they'd bin on'y chips o' wood.  Then, as if
+to mock us, another sea pitched us higher on the sands, so as the decks
+wasn't washed by every wave quite so bad, but we knew that wouldn't last
+for the tide was makin' fast, so I calls the crew together, an' says I,
+"Now, lads, I've often prayed with you an' for you.  In a few minutes
+we'll have to take to the riggin', an' you know what the end o' that's
+likely to be.  Before doin' so, I'll pray again, for nothin' is
+impossible to the Lord, an' it may be His will to spare us yet a while."
+Well, I prayed.  Then we took to the riggin' to wait for death--or
+rescue.  An' sure enough, after we had bin six hours there, an' was all
+but frozen, a fishin'-smack came past and took us off.'"
+
+"Now, mates," said Joe Davidson, after they had chatted thus in subdued
+tones for some time, "it do seem to me that as most of us are of one
+mind here, and we are, so to speak, of one fisher-family, it might do
+Mrs Bright good if we was to have a bit of the Word together, and a
+prayer or two."
+
+As every one agreed to this either heartily or by silence, a Bible was
+produced, and Joe,--being mate of the late _Evening Star_, and therefore
+a sort of natural head of the family--read the portion where God
+promises to be a Husband to the widow, and a Father to the fatherless.
+
+Then they all knelt while he prayed in simple language for comfort and a
+blessing to the mourning household.  He was followed with a very few but
+intensely earnest words by Luke.  Even John Gunter put up an
+unpremeditated prayer in the words, "God help us!" uttered in a choking
+voice, and the old fisherman followed them all with a deep "Amen."
+
+After that they shook hands tenderly with the widow and Billy, and went
+out silently from the house of mourning.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S APPETITE RESTORED, AND RUTH IN A NEW LIGHT.
+
+Captain Bream reclined one day on a sofa in the sitting-room of the
+house where he had first made the acquaintance of the Miss Seawards.
+Both ladies were seated by his side, the one working worsted cuffs and
+the other comforters, and both found the utmost difficulty in repressing
+tears when they looked at their kind nautical friend, for a great change
+had come over him since we last saw him.
+
+We will not venture to state what was the illness that had laid the
+captain, as he himself expressed it on his beam-ends, but whatever it
+might have been, it had reduced him to a mere shadow.  His once round
+cheeks were hollow; his eyes were so sunken that they appeared to have
+retired into the interior of his head, out of which, as out of two deep
+caverns, they gleamed solemnly.  His voice, having been originally
+pitched so low that it could not well get lower, had become reduced to
+the sound of a big drum muffled; it had also a faint resemblance to a
+bassoon with a bad cold.  His beard and moustache, having been allowed
+to grow, bore a striking likeness to a worn-out clothes-brush, and his
+garments appeared to hang upon a living skeleton of large proportions.
+
+It is right however, to add that this was the worst that could be said
+of him.  The spirit within was as cheery and loving and tender as ever
+it had been--indeed more so--and the only wonder was that it did not
+break a hole in the once tough but now thin shell of its prison-house,
+and soar upwards to its native regions in the sky!
+
+"You must _not_ work so hard at these cuffs, Miss Jessie," he said, with
+a pleasant though languid smile.  "If you do I'll reduce my board."
+
+"But that would only render it necessary that I should work harder,"
+returned Jessie, without checking the pace of the needles.
+
+"It is hard," resumed the captain, "that I should be disobeyed at every
+turn now that I'm on my beam-ends, with little more strength in me than
+a new-born kitten.  But never mind, I'm beginnin' to feel stronger, and
+I'll pay you off, my dear, when I'm able to move about."
+
+"Do you really feel a little stronger?" asked Kate, who, although more
+lively--even mischievous in a small way--than her sister, had been more
+deeply affected by the captain's long illness, and could not shake off
+the impression that he was going to die.
+
+"Feel stronger!" exclaimed the wrecked giant.  "Give me your hand.  D'ee
+feel _that_?"
+
+"That" which Kate was to feel was a squeeze as a test of strength.
+
+"There.  Doesn't it hurt you?  I believe I could make you cry if I was
+to try."
+
+And the captain did make her cry even without trying, for Kate was so
+deeply touched with the weakness of the trembling squeeze, coupled with
+the hearty kindness and little touches of fun in the prostrate man, that
+she could not keep it down.  Rising hurriedly, therefore, she flung her
+unfinished comforter into Jessie's lap, left the room, and, retiring to
+her chamber, wept quietly there.  Those tears were not now, however, as
+they had often been, tears of anxious sorrow, but of thankful joy.
+
+Having accomplished this little matter, and relieved her feelings, she
+returned to the parlour.
+
+"I've been just trying to persuade him, Kate," said Jessie, as the
+former entered, "that in a week or two a trip to Yarmouth will do him
+_so_ much good, but he does not seem to think he will be equal to it."
+
+"Come, now, Miss Jessie, that's not a fair way to put it.  I have no
+doubt that I shall be able enough--thanks to the good Lord who has
+spared me--but what I think is that Yarmouth, pleasant though it be, is
+not exactly what I want just now."
+
+"What then, do you think would be better for you?" asked Kate.
+
+"`The sea!  The sea!  The open sea!  The blue, the fresh, the ever
+free!'" answered the captain, with a gleam in the sunken eyes such as
+had not been seen there for many days.
+
+"Horrible thought!" said Jessie, with a pretended shudder.
+
+"You know the proverb, `What's one man's meat is another man's poison,'"
+returned the captain.  "Ah! ladies, only those who have been cradled on
+the deep for three quarters of a lifetime, and who love the whistling
+winds, and the surging waves, and the bounding bark, know what it is to
+long, as I do, for another rest upon my mother's breast:--
+
+  "`And a mother she was and is to me,
+  For I was born--was born on the open sea.'"
+
+"I had no idea you were so poetical," said Jessie, much surprised at the
+invalid's enthusiasm.
+
+"Sickness has a tendency to make people poetical.  I suppose," returned
+the captain.
+
+"But how are you to manage it?  You can scarcely walk yet.  Then excuse
+me, you haven't got a ship, and I fear that not many owners would
+intrust one to you till you are stronger.  So, what will you do?"
+
+"Go as a passenger, my dear.  See here; it's all arranged," said the
+captain, holding up a letter.
+
+"I got this by the post this morning, and want to consult with you about
+it.  Knowing my condition and desires, that excellent man the chaplain,
+who took me out in his steam-launch the day I got the first shot of this
+illness, had made known my case to the Director of the Mission to
+Deep-Sea Fishermen, and he has kindly agreed to let me go a trip to the
+North Sea in one of the mission-ships, on the understanding that I shall
+do as much of a missionary's work as I am fit for when there."
+
+"But you're not fit for work of any kind!" exclaimed Kate with a flush
+of indignation which was partly roused by the idea of her friend being
+taken away from her at a time when he required so much nursing, and
+partly by the impropriety of so sick a man being expected to work at
+all.
+
+"True, my dear, but I shall be fit enough in a week or two.  Why, I feel
+strength coming back like a torrent.  Even now I'm so hungry that I
+could devour my--my--"
+
+"Your dinner!" cried Kate, as, at that opportune moment the door opened
+and Liffie Lee appeared with a tray in her hand.
+
+There could be no doubt as to the captain's appetite.  Not only did his
+eyes glare, in quite a wolfish manner, at the food while it was being
+set before him, but the enormous quantity he took of that food became
+quite a source of alarm to the sisters, who watched and helped him.
+
+"Now, captain," said Jessie, laying her hand at last on his thin arm, as
+it was stretched out to help himself to more, "you really must not.  You
+know the doctor said that it would never do, at first, to--"
+
+"My dear," interrupted the invalid, "hang the doctor!"
+
+"Well, I have no objection to his being hanged, if you don't ask me to
+do it," returned Jessie, "but really--"
+
+"Oh! let him alone," said Kate, who, being very healthy, shared the
+captain's unreasonable contempt for medical men, and was more than
+pleased at the ravenous tendencies of her old friend.
+
+"Now for the sponge-cakes," said the captain, wiping his mouth and
+rubbing his hands on finishing the first course.
+
+"You are to have none," said Kate, firmly.  The captain's face elongated
+into a look of woe.
+
+"Because you are to have rice-pudding and thick cream instead!"
+continued Kate.
+
+The captain's face shortened again into a beaming smile.
+
+Liffie Lee appeared at the moment with the viands named.
+
+"I never saw anything like it!" exclaimed Jessie with a short laugh, and
+a look of resignation.
+
+"I enjoy it _so_ much!" said Kate, pouring out the cream with liberal
+hand.
+
+Liffie said nothing, but if the widest extension of her lips, and the
+exposing of her bright little teeth from ear to ear, meant anything, it
+meant that her sympathies were entirely with Kate.
+
+The captain was helped to pudding in a soup plate, that being relatively
+a rather small dessert plate for him.  He was about to plunge the
+dessert spoon into it, but stopped suddenly and gazed at it.  Then he
+turned his awful gaze on the small servant who almost shrank before it.
+
+"Liffie, my dear."
+
+"Y-yes, sir."
+
+"Bring me a _table-spoon_, the biggest one you have."
+
+"Yes, sir," she said,--and vanished.  Presently she returned with an
+enormous gravy spoon.
+
+"Ha! ha!" shouted the captain, with much of his old fire; "that's better
+than I had hoped for!  Hand it here, Liffie; it'll do."
+
+He seized the weapon, and Liffie uttered an involuntary squeal of
+delight as she saw him sweep up nearly the whole of his first helping,
+and make one bite of it!  He then attempted to smile at Liffie's
+expression of joy, but did it awkwardly in the circumstances.
+
+Just as he had finished his little repast, and was tranquilly stirring a
+breakfast cup of coffee, the door bell rang.
+
+A minute later Liffie appeared with her mouth and eyes like three round
+O's.
+
+"If you please, ma'am, here's Mister and Missis Dalton, as wants to know
+if they may come in."
+
+"Mr and Mrs who?" exclaimed both sisters.
+
+"Mister an' Missis Dalton," repeated Liffie.
+
+"Show them in--at once, child.  Some ridiculous mistake," said Jessie,
+glancing at Kate.  "But, stay, Liffie;--you have no objection, captain?"
+
+"None in the least."
+
+Another moment and Ruth appeared blushing in the door-way, with a
+handsome young man looming in the background.
+
+"Mr and Mrs Dalton!" said the two sisters with a dazed look as they
+sank into two chairs.
+
+"Oh _no_! darling Jessie," cried Ruth, rushing forward and throwing her
+arms round her friend; "not--not quite that yet, but--but--engaged.  And
+we determined that the _very first_ call we made should be to you,
+darling."
+
+"Well, now, this _is_ capital!  Quite a picture," growled the captain;
+"does more good to my digestion than--"
+
+"Come," interrupted Jessie, taking Ruth by the hand.  "Come to our
+room!"
+
+Regardless of all propriety, the sisters hurried Ruth off to their
+bedroom to have it out with her there, leaving young Dalton to face the
+captain.
+
+"I congratulate you, my lad," said the captain, frankly extending his
+hand.  "Sit down."
+
+Dalton as frankly shook the hand and thanked the captain, as he took a
+seat beside him.
+
+"I'm deeply grieved, Captain Bream, to see you so much reduced, yet
+rejoiced to find that you are fairly convalescent."
+
+"Humph!  I wouldn't give much for the depth of either your grief or joy
+on my account seein' that you've managed to get hooked on to an angel."
+
+"Well, I confess," said the youth, with a laugh, "that the joy connected
+with that fact pretty much overwhelms all other feelings at present."
+
+"The admission does you credit boy, for she is an angel.  I'm not usin'
+figures o' speech.  She's a real darlin', A1 at Lloyd's.  True blue
+through and through.  And let me tell you, young fellow, that I know her
+better than you do, for I saw her before you were bor--, no, that
+couldn't well be, but I knew her father before you were born, and
+herself ever since she saw the light."
+
+"I'm delighted to have your good opinion of her, though, of course, it
+cannot increase my estimation of her character.  Nothing can do that!"
+
+"Which means that _my_ opinion goes for nothing.  Well, the conceit of
+the rising generation is only equalled by--by that o' the one that went
+before it.  But, now, isn't it strange that you are the very man I want
+to see?"
+
+"It is indeed," replied Dalton with a slightly incredulous look.
+
+"Yes, the very man.  Look ye here.  Have you got a note-book?"
+
+"I have."
+
+"Pull it out, then.  I want you to draw out my will."
+
+"Your will, Captain Bream!"
+
+"My will," repeated the captain.  "Last will an' testament."
+
+"But I'm not lawyer enough to--"
+
+"I know that, man!  I only want you to sketch it out.  Listen.  I'm
+going in a week or two to the North Sea in a fishing-smack.  Well,
+there's no sayin' what may happen there.  I'm not infallible--or
+invulnerable--or waterproof, though I _am_ an old salt.  Now, you are
+acquainted with all my money matters, so I want you to jot down who the
+cash is to be divided among if I should go to the bottom; then, take the
+sketch to my lawyer--you know where he lives--and tell him to draw it
+out all ship-shape, an' bring it to me to sign.  Now, are you ready?"
+
+"But, my dear sir, this may take a long time, and the ladies will
+probably return before we--"
+
+"_You_ don't bother your head about the ladies, my lad, but do as I tell
+'ee.  Miss Ruth has got hold of two pair of ears and two hearts that
+won't be satisfied in five minutes.  Besides, my will won't be a long
+one.  Are you ready?"
+
+"Yes," said Dalton, spreading his note-book on his knee.
+
+"Well," resumed the captain, "after makin' all the usual arrangements
+for all expenses--funeral, etcetera, (of which there'll be none if I go
+to the bottom), an' some legacies of which I'll tell the lawyer when I
+see him, I leave all that remains to Miss Jessie and Miss Kate Seaward,
+share an' share alike, to do with it as they please, an' to leave it
+after them to whomsoever they like.  There!"
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"Yes, that's all," returned the captain, sadly.  "I once had a dear
+sister, but every effort I have made to find her out has failed.  Of
+course if I do come across her before it pleases the Lord to take me
+home, I'll alter the will.  In the meantime let it be drawn out so."
+
+Soon after this important transaction was finished the ladies returned,
+much flushed and excited, and full of apologies for their rude behaviour
+to their male friends.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+OUT WITH THE SHORT BLUE AGAIN.
+
+Pleasant and heart-stirring is the sensation of returning health to one
+who has sailed for many weeks in the "Doldrums" of Disease, weathered
+Point Danger, crossed the Line of Weakness, and begun to steer with
+favouring gales over the smooth sea of Convalescence.
+
+So thought Captain Bream one lovely summer day, some time after the
+events just narrated, as he sat on the bridge of a swift steamer which
+cut like a fish through the glassy waves of the North Sea.
+
+It was one of Hewett and Company's carriers, bound for the Short Blue
+fleet.  Over three hundred miles was the total run; she had already made
+the greater part of it.  The exact position of the ever-moving fleet was
+uncertain.  Nevertheless, her experienced captain was almost certain--as
+if by a sort of instinct--to hit the spot where the smacks lay ready
+with their trunks of fish to feed the insatiable maw of Billingsgate.
+
+Captain Bream's cheeks were not so hollow as they had been when we last
+saw him.  Neither were they so pale.  His eyes, too, had come a
+considerable way out of the caves into which they had retreated, and the
+wolfish glare in the presence of food was exchanged for a look of calm
+serenity.  His coat, instead of hanging on him like a shirt on a
+handspike, had begun to show indications of muscle covering the bones,
+and his vest no longer flapped against him like the topsail of a
+Dutchman in a dead calm.  Altogether, there was a healthy look about the
+old man which gave the impression that he had been into dock, and had a
+thorough overhaul.
+
+Enough of weakness remained, however, to induce a feeling of blessed
+restfulness in his entire being.  The once strong and energetic man had
+been brought to the novel condition of being quite willing to leave the
+responsibility of the world on other shoulders, and to enjoy the
+hitherto unknown luxury of doing nothing at all.  So thoroughly had he
+abandoned himself in this respect, that he did not even care to speak,
+but was satisfied to listen to others, or to gaze at the horizon in
+happy contemplation, or to pour on all around looks of calm benignity.
+
+"How do you feel to-day, sir?" asked the mate of the steamer, as he came
+on the bridge.
+
+"My strongest feeling," said Captain Bream, "is one of thankfulness to
+God that I am so well."
+
+"A good feelin' that doesn't always come as strong as it ought to, or as
+one would wish; does it, sir?" said the mate.
+
+"That's true," answered the captain, "but when a man, after bein' so low
+that he seems to be bound for the next world, finds the tide risin'
+again, the feelin' is apt to come stronger, d'ee see?  D'you expect to
+make the fleet to-day?"
+
+"Yes, sir, we should make it in the evenin' if the admiral has stuck to
+his plans."
+
+The captain became silent again, but after a few minutes, fearing that
+the mate might think him unsociable, he said--
+
+"I suppose the admiral is always chosen as being one of the best men of
+the fleet?"
+
+"That's the idea, sir, and the one chosen usually _is_ one of the best,
+though of course mistakes are sometimes made.  The present admiral is a
+first-rate man--a thorough-going fisherman, well acquainted with all the
+shoals, and a Christian into the bargain."
+
+"Ah, I suppose that is an advantage to the fleet in many respects," said
+the captain, brightening up, on finding the mate sympathetic on that
+point.
+
+"It is for the advantage of the fleet in _all_ respects, sir.  I have
+known an ungodly admiral, on a Sunday, when they couldn't fish, an' the
+weather was just right for heavin'-to an' going aboard the mission smack
+for service--I've known him keep the fleet movin' the whole day, for
+nothin' at all but spite.  Of course that didn't put any one in a good
+humour, an' you know, sir, men always work better when they're in good
+spirits."
+
+"Ay, well do I know that," said the captain, "for I've had a good deal
+to do wi' men in my time, and I have always found that Christian sailors
+as a rule are worth more than unbelievers, just because they work with a
+will--as the Bible puts it, `unto the Lord and not unto men.'  You've
+heard of General Havelock, no doubt?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir, you mean the Indian general who used to look after the
+souls of his men?"
+
+"That's the man," returned the captain.  "Well, I've been told that on
+one occasion when the commander-in-chief sent for some soldiers for
+special duty, and found that most of 'em were drunk, he turned an' said,
+`Send me some of Havelock's saints: they can be depended on!'  I'm not
+sure if I've got the story rightly, but, anyhow, that's what he said."
+
+"Ay, sir, I sometimes think it wonderful," said the mate, "that
+unbelievers don't themselves see that the love of God in a man's heart
+makes him a better and safer servant in all respects--according to the
+Word, `Godliness is profitable to the life that now is, as well as that
+which is to come.'  There's the fleet at last, sir!"
+
+While speaking, the mate had been scanning the horizon with his glass,
+which he immediately handed to the captain, who rose at once and saw the
+line of the Short Blue like little dots on the horizon.  The dots soon
+grew larger; then they assumed the form of vessels, and in a short time
+the carrying-steamer was amongst them, making straight for the admiral,
+whose smack was distinguishable by his flag.
+
+"What is the admiral's name?" asked the captain as they advanced.
+
+"Davidson--Joe Davidson; one of the brightest young fellows I ever
+knew," answered the captain of the steamer, who came on the bridge at
+that moment, "and a true Christian.  He is master of the _Evening
+Star_."
+
+"Why, I thought that was the name of a smack that was wrecked some time
+ago near Yarmouth--at least so my friends there wrote me," said Captain
+Bream with sudden interest; and well might he feel interest in the new
+_Evening Star_, for it was himself who had given the thousand pounds to
+purchase her, at Ruth Dotropy's request, but he had not been told that
+her skipper, Joe Davidson, had been made admiral of the fleet.
+
+"So it _was_ the _Evening Star_, sir, that was wrecked, but some
+open-handed gentleman in London bought a new smack for widow Bright and
+she called it by the same name, an' the young man, who had been mate
+with her husband, she has made skipper till her son Billy is old enough
+to take charge of her.  The strangest thing is, that all the old crew
+have stuck together, and the smack is now one of the best managed in the
+fleet.  Joe wouldn't have been made admiral if that wasn't so."
+
+To this, and a great deal more, the captain listened with great joy and
+thankfulness, without, however, giving a hint as to his own part in the
+matter.  Originally he had given the thousand pounds to please Ruth, and
+he had been at that time glad to think that the gift was to benefit a
+deserving and unfortunate widow.  It was not a little satisfactory,
+therefore, to hear that his gift had been so well bestowed; that it had
+even become the admiral's vessel, and that he was about to have the
+opportunity of boarding the new _Evening Star_ and himself inspecting
+its crew.
+
+"Tell me a little more about this _Evening Star_," he said to the
+captain of the steamer.  "I have sometimes heard of her from a lady
+friend of mine, who takes a great interest in her owner, but I was so
+ill at the time she wrote that I couldn't pay much attention to
+anything."
+
+Thus invited the captain proceeded to tell all he knew about David
+Bright and his wife, and Billy, and Luke Trevor, Spivin, Gunter, Zulu,
+the wreck, the launch of the new smack, etcetera,--much of which was
+quite new to Captain Bream, and all of which was of course deeply
+interesting to him.
+
+While these two were conversing the fleet gradually thickened around
+them, for a light breeze, which seemed to have sprung up for the very
+purpose, enabled them to close in.  Some of the smacks were close at
+hand; others more distant.  To those within hail, the captain and mate
+of the steamer gave the customary salute and toss of the fist in the air
+as they passed.
+
+"There's the admiral," said the captain, "two points off the port bow."
+
+"An' the gospel-ship close alongside," said the mate.  "Don't you see
+the M.D.S.F. flag?  Trust Joe for bein' near to her when he can manage
+it.  Here they come, fast an' thick.  There's the _Fern_, I'd know her a
+mile off, an' the _Martin_, an' _Rover_, _Coquette_, _Truant_!  What
+cheer, boys!"
+
+"Is that the _Cherub_ or the _Andax_ abeam of us?" asked the captain.
+
+"It's neither.  It's the _Guide_, or the _Boy Jim_, or the _Retriever_--
+not quite sure which."
+
+"Now, Captain Bream, shall we put you on board the mission-ship at once,
+or will you wait to see us boarded for empty trunks?"
+
+"I'll wait," returned Captain Bream.
+
+Soon the steamer hove-to, not far from the admiral's vessel.  The smacks
+came crowding round like bees round a hive, each one lowering a boat
+when near enough.
+
+And once again was enacted a scene similar in many respects to that
+which we have described in a previous chapter, with this difference,
+that the scramble now was partly for the purpose of obtaining empty
+boxes.  Another steamer had taken off most of their fish early that day,
+and the one just arrived meant to wait for the fish of the next morning.
+
+It chanced that a good many of the rougher men of the fleet came on
+board that evening, so that Captain Bream, whose recent experiences had
+led him half to expect that all the North Sea fishermen were amiable
+lions, had his mind sadly but effectively disabused of that false idea.
+The steamer's deck soon swarmed with some four hundred of the roughest
+and most boisterous men he had ever seen, and the air was filled with
+coarse and profane language, while a tendency to fight was exhibited by
+several of them.
+
+"They're a rough lot, sir," said the mate as he leant on the rail of the
+bridge, gazing down on the animated scene, "but they were a rougher lot
+before the gospel-ship came out to stay among them, and some of the
+brightest Christians now in the fleet were as bad as the worst you see
+down there."
+
+"Ay, Jesus came to save the _lost_, and the worst," said the captain in
+a low tone--"praise to His name!"
+
+As soon as the trunks had been received, the admiral bore away to
+windward, and the fleet began to follow and make preparation for the
+night's fishing; for the fish which were destined so soon to smoke on
+London tables were at that moment gambolling at the bottom of the sea!
+
+"We must run down to the mission smack, and put you aboard at once,
+sir," said the mate, "for she follows the admiral--though she does not
+fish on Saturday nights, so that the hold may be clear of fish and ready
+for service on Sundays."
+
+Captain Bream was ready.
+
+"They know you are coming, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, they expect me."
+
+In a few minutes the steamer was close to the mission-ship, and soon
+after, the powerful arms of its hospitable skipper and mate were
+extended to help the expected invalid out of the boat which had been
+sent for him.
+
+"We're makin' things all snug for the night," said the skipper, as he
+led his guest into the little cabin, "an' when we're done we shall have
+tea; but if you'd like it sooner--"
+
+"No, no, skipper, I'll wait.  Though I'm just come from the shore, you
+don't take me for an impatient land-lubber, do you?  Go, finish your
+work, and I'll rest a bit.  I've been ill, you see, an' can't stand as
+much as I used to," he added apologetically.
+
+When left alone, Captain Bream's mode of resting himself was to go down
+on his knees and thank God for having brought him to so congenial a
+resting-place on the world of waters, and to pray that he might be made
+use of to His glory while there.
+
+How that prayer was answered we shall see.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+ANOTHER FIGHT AND--VICTORY!
+
+It is interesting to observe the curious, and oftentimes unlikely, ways
+in which the guilt of man is brought to light, and the truth of that
+word demonstrated--"Be sure your sin shall find you out."
+
+Although John Gunter's heart was softened at the time of his old
+skipper's death, it was by no means changed, so that, after a brief
+space, it became harder than ever, and the man who had been melted--to
+some extent washed--returned, ere long, with increased devotion to his
+wallowing in the mire.  This made him so disagreeable to his old
+comrades, that they became anxious to get rid of him, but Joe Davidson,
+whose disposition was very hopeful, hesitated; and the widow, having a
+kindly feeling towards the man because he had sailed with her husband,
+did not wish him to be dismissed.
+
+Thus it came to pass that when Captain Bream joined the Short Blue fleet
+he was still a member of the crew of the new _Evening Star_.
+
+The day following that on which the captain arrived was Sunday, and, as
+usual, the smacks whose skippers had become followers of the Lord Jesus
+began to draw towards the mission-ship with their Bethel-flags flying.
+Among them was the new admiral--Joe of the _Evening Star_.  His vessel
+was pointed out, of course, to the captain as she approached.  We need
+scarcely say that he looked at her with unusual interest, and was glad
+when her boat was lowered to row part of her crew to the service about
+to be held in the hold of the gospel-ship.
+
+It was natural that Captain Bream should be much taken with the simple
+cheery manners of the admiral, as he stepped aboard and shook hands all
+round.  It was equally natural that he should take some interest, also,
+in John Gunter, for was it not obvious that that worthy was a fine
+specimen of the gruff, half-savage, raw material which he had gone out
+there to work upon?
+
+"Why did you not bring Billy, Joe?" asked the skipper of the mission
+vessel.
+
+"Well, you know, we had to leave some one to look after the smack, an' I
+left Luke Trevor, as he said he'd prefer to come to evenin' service, an'
+Billy said he'd like to stay with Luke."
+
+By this time a number of boats had put their rough-clad crews on the
+deck, and already a fair congregation was mustered.  Shaking of hands,
+salutations, question and reply, were going briskly on all round, with
+here and there a little mild chaffing, and occasionally a hearty laugh,
+while now and then the fervent "thank God" and "praise the Lord"
+revealed the spirits of the speakers.
+
+"You mentioned the name of Billy just now," said Captain Bream, drawing
+Joe Davidson aside.  "Is he a man or a boy?"
+
+"He's a boy, sir, though he don't like to be reminded o' the fact," said
+Joe with a laugh.  "He's the son of our skipper who was drowned--an' a
+good boy he is, though larky a bit.  But that don't do him no harm,
+bless ye."
+
+"I wonder," returned the captain, "if he is the boy some lady friends of
+mine are so fond of, who was sent up to London some time ago to--"
+
+"That's him, sir," interrupted Joe; "it was Billy as was sent to Lun'on;
+by the wish of a Miss Ruth Pont-rap-me, or some such name.  I never can
+remember it rightly, but she's awful fond o' the fisher-folks."
+
+"Ah, I know Miss Ruth Dotropy also," said the captain.  "Strange that I
+should find this Billy that they're all so fond of in the new _Evening
+Star_.  I must pay your smack a visit soon, Davidson, for I have a
+particular interest in her."
+
+"I'll be proud to see you aboard her, sir," returned Joe.  "Won't you
+come after service?  The calm will last a good while, I think."
+
+"Well, perhaps I may."
+
+The conversation was interrupted here by a general move to the vessel's
+hold, where the usual arrangements had been made--a table for a pulpit
+and fish-boxes for seats.
+
+"Do you feel well enough to speak to us to-day, Captain Bream?" asked
+the skipper of the mission-ship.
+
+"Oh yes, I'll be happy to do so.  The trip out has begun to work wonders
+already," said the captain.
+
+Now, the truth of that proverb, "One man may take a horse to the water,
+but ten men can't make him drink," is very often illustrated in the
+course of human affairs.  You may even treat a donkey in the same way,
+and the result will be similar.
+
+Joe Davidson had brought John Gunter to the mission-ship in the earnest
+hope that he would drink at the gospel fountain, but, after having got
+him there, Joe found that, so far from drinking, Gunter would not even
+go down to the services at all.  On this occasion he said that he
+preferred to remain on deck, and smoke his pipe.
+
+Unknown to all the world, save himself, John Gunter was at that time in
+a peculiarly unhappy state of mind.  His condition was outwardly
+manifested in the form of additional surliness.
+
+"You're like a bear with a sore head," Spivin had said to him when in
+the boat on the way to the service.
+
+"More like a black-face baboon wid de cholera," said Zulu.
+
+Invulnerable alike to chaff and to earnest advice, Gunter sat on the
+fore-hatch smoking, while psalms of praise were rising from the hold.
+
+Now, it was the little silver watch which caused all this trouble to
+Gunter.  Bad as the man was, he had never been an absolute thief, until
+the night on which he had robbed Ruth Dotropy.  The horror depicted in
+her pretty, innocent face when he stopped her had left an impression on
+his mind which neither recklessness nor drink could remove, and
+thankfully would he have returned the watch if he had known the young
+lady's name or residence.  Moreover, he was so inexperienced and timid
+in this new line of life, that he did not know how to turn the watch
+into cash with safety, and had no place in which to conceal it.  On the
+very day about which we write, seeing the Coper not far off, the unhappy
+man had thrust the watch into his trousers pocket with the intention of
+bartering it with the Dutchman for rum, if he should get the chance.
+Small chance indeed, with Joe Davidson for his skipper! but there is no
+accounting for the freaks of the guilty.
+
+The watch was now metaphorically burning a hole in Gunter's pocket, and,
+that pocket being somewhat similar in many respects to the pockets of
+average schoolboys, Ruth's pretty little watch lay in company with a few
+coppers, a bit of twine, a broken clasp-knife, two buttons, a short
+pipe, a crumpled tract of the Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen, and a
+half-finished quid of tobacco.
+
+But although John Gunter would not drink of his own free-will, he could
+not easily avoid the water of life that came rushing to him up the
+hatchway and filled his ears.  It came to him first, as we have said, in
+song; and the words of the hymn, "Sinner, list to the loving call,"
+passed not only his outer and inner ear, but dropped into his soul and
+disturbed him.
+
+Then he got a surprise when Captain Bream's voice resounded through the
+hold,--there was something so very deep and metallic about it, yet so
+tender and musical.  But the greatest surprise of all came when the
+captain, without a word of preface or statement as to where his text was
+to be found, looked his expectant audience earnestly in the face, and
+said slowly, "Thou shalt not steal."
+
+Poor Captain Bream! nothing was further from his thoughts than the idea
+that any one listening to him was actually a thief! but he had made up
+his mind to press home, with the Spirit's blessing, the great truth that
+the man who refuses to accept salvation in Jesus Christ robs God of the
+love and honour that are His due; robs his wife and children and
+fellow-men of the good example and Christian service which he was fitted
+and intended to exert, and robs himself, so to speak, of Eternal Life.
+
+The captain's arguments had much weight in the hold, but they had no
+weight on deck.  Many of his shafts of reason were permitted to pierce
+the tough frames of the rugged men before him, and lodge with good
+influence in tender hearts, but they all fell pointless on the deck
+above.  It was the pure unadulterated Word of God, "without note or
+comment," that was destined that day to penetrate the iron heart of John
+Gunter, and sink down into his soul.  "_Thou shalt not steal_!"  That
+was all of the sermon that Gunter heard; the rest fell on deaf ears, for
+these words continued to burn into his very soul.  Influenced by the new
+and deep feelings that had been aroused in him, he pulled the watch from
+his pocket with the intention of hurling it into the sea, but the
+thought that he would still deserve to be called a _thief_ caused him to
+hesitate.
+
+"Hallo!  Gunter, what pretty little thing is that you've got?"
+
+The words were uttered by Dick Herring of the _White Cloud_, who, being
+like-minded with John, had remained on deck like him to smoke and
+lounge.
+
+"You've got no business wi' that," growled Gunter, as he closed his hand
+on the watch, and thrust it back into his pocket.
+
+"I didn't say I had, mate," retorted Herring, with a puff of contempt,
+which at the same time emptied his mouth and his spirit.
+
+Herring said no more; but when the service was over, and the men were
+chatting about the deck, he quietly mentioned what he had seen, and some
+of the waggish among the crew came up to Gunter and asked him, with
+significant looks and laughs, what time o' day it was.
+
+At first Gunter replied in his wonted surly manner; but at last, feeling
+that the best way would be to put a bold face on the matter, he said
+with an off-hand laugh--
+
+"Herring thinks he's made a wonderful discovery, but surely there's
+nothing very strange in a man buyin' a little watch for his sweetheart."
+
+"You don't mean to say that _you_ have a sweetheart do you?" said a
+youth of about seventeen, who had a tendency to be what is styled
+cheeky.
+
+Gunter turned on him with contempt.  "Well, now," he replied, "if I had
+a smooth baby-face like yours I would _not_ say as I had, but bein' a
+man, you see, I may ventur' to say that I have."
+
+"Come, Gunter, you're too hard on 'im," cried Spivin; "I don't believe
+you've bought a watch for her at all; at least if you have, it must be a
+pewter one."
+
+Thus taunted, Gunter resolved to carry out the bold line of action.
+"What d'ee call that?" he cried, pulling out the watch and holding it up
+to view.
+
+Captain Bream chanced to be an amused witness of this little scene, but
+his expression changed to one of amazement when he beheld the peculiar
+and unmistakable watch which, years before, he had given to Ruth
+Dotropy's father.  Recovering himself quickly he stepped forward.
+
+"A very pretty little thing," he said, "and looks uncommonly like
+silver.  Let me see it."
+
+He held out his hand, and Gunter gave it to him without the slightest
+suspicion, of course, that he knew anything about it.  "Yes, undoubtedly
+it is silver, and a very curious style of article too," continued the
+captain in a low off-hand tone.  "You've no objection to my taking it to
+the cabin to look at it more carefully?"
+
+Of course Gunter had no objection, though a sensation of uneasiness
+arose within him, especially when Captain Bream asked him to go below
+with him, and whispered to Joe Davidson in a low tone, as he passed him,
+to shut the cabin skylight.
+
+No sooner were they below, with the cabin-door shut, than the captain
+looked steadily in the man's face, and said--
+
+"Gunter, you stole this watch from a young lady in Yarmouth."
+
+An electric shock could not have more effectually stunned the convicted
+fisherman.  He gazed at the captain in speechless surprise.  Then his
+fists clenched, a rush of blood came to his face, and a fierce oath rose
+to his white lips as he prepared to deny the charge.
+
+"Stop!" said the captain, impressively, and there was nothing of
+severity or indignation in his voice or look.  "Don't commit yourself,
+Gunter.  See, I place the watch on this table.  If you bought it to give
+to your sweetheart, take it up.  If you stole it from a pretty young
+lady in one of the rows of Yarmouth some months ago, and would now wish
+me to restore it to her--for I know her and the watch well--let it lie."
+
+Gunter looked at the captain, then at the watch, and hesitated.  Then
+his head drooped, and in a low voice he said--
+
+"I am guilty, sir."
+
+Without a word more, Captain Bream laid his hand on the poor man's
+shoulder and pressed it.  Gunter knew well what was meant.  He went down
+on his knees.  The captain kneeled beside him, and in a deep, intensely
+earnest voice, claimed forgiveness of the sin that had been confessed,
+and prayed that the sinner's soul might be there and then cleansed in
+the precious blood of Jesus.
+
+John Gunter was completely broken down; tears rolled over his cheeks,
+and it required all his great physical strength to enable him to keep
+down the sobs that well-nigh choked him.
+
+Fishermen of the North Sea are tough.  Their eyes are not easily made to
+swell or look red by salt water, whether it come from the ocean without
+or the mightier ocean within.  When Gunter had risen from his knees and
+wiped his eyes with the end of a comforter, which had probably been
+worked under the superintendence of Ruth herself; there were no signs of
+emotion left--only a subdued look in his weatherworn face.
+
+"I give myself up, sir," he said, "to suffer what punishment is due."
+
+"No punishment is due, my man.  Jesus has borne all the punishment due
+to you and me.  In regard to man, you have restored that which you took
+away, and well do I know that the young lady--like her Master--forgives
+freely.  I will return the watch to her.  You can go back to your
+comrades--nobody shall ever hear more about this.  If they chaff you, or
+question you, just say nothing, and smile at them."
+
+"But--but, sir," said Gunter, moving uneasily.
+
+"I ain't used to smilin'.  I--I've bin so used to look gruff that--"
+
+"Look gruff, then, my man," interrupted the captain, himself unable to
+repress a smile.  "If you're not gruff in your heart, it won't matter
+much what you look like.  Just look gruff, an' keep your mouth shut, and
+they'll soon let you alone."
+
+Acting on this advice, John Gunter returned to his mates looking
+gruffer, if possible, and more taciturn than ever, but radically
+changed, from that hour, in soul and spirit.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+THE CLIMAX REACHED AT LAST.
+
+As the calm weather continued in the afternoon, Joe Davidson tried to
+persuade Captain Bream to pay the _Evening Star_ a visit, but the latter
+felt that the excitement and exertion of preaching to such earnest and
+thirsting men had been more severe than he had expected.  He therefore
+excused himself, saying that he would lie down in his bunk for a short
+time, so as to be ready for the evening service.
+
+It was arranged that the skipper of the mission smack should conduct
+that service, and he was to call the captain when they were ready to
+begin.  When the time came, however, it was found that the exhausted
+invalid was so sound asleep that they did not like to disturb him.
+
+But although Captain Bream was a heavy sleeper and addicted to sonorous
+snoring, there were some things in nature through which even he could
+not slumber; and one of these things proved to be a hymn as sung by the
+fishermen of the North Sea!
+
+When, therefore, the Lifeboat hymn burst forth in tones that no
+cathedral organ ever equalled, and shook the timbers of the mission-ship
+from stem to stern, the captain turned round, yawned, and opened his
+eyes wide, and when the singers came to--
+
+  "Leave the poor old stranded wreck, and pull for the shore,"
+
+he leaped out of his bunk with tremendous energy.
+
+Pulling his garments into order, running his fingers through his hair,
+and trying to look as if he had not been asleep, he slipped quietly into
+the hold and sat down on a box behind the speaker, where he could see
+the earnest faces of the rugged congregation brought into strong relief
+by the light that streamed down the open hatchway.
+
+What the preacher said, or what his subject was, Captain Bream never
+knew, for, before he could bring his mind to bear on it, his eyes fell
+on an object which seemed to stop the very pulsations of his heart,
+while his face grew pale.  Fortunately he was himself in the deep shadow
+of the deck, and could not be easily observed.
+
+Yet the object which created such a powerful sensation in the captain's
+breast was not in itself calculated to cause amazement or alarm, for it
+was nothing more than a pretty-faced, curly-haired fisher-boy, who, with
+lips parted and his bright eyes gazing intently, was listening to the
+preacher with all his powers.  Need we say that it was our friend Billy
+Bright, and that in his fair face Captain Bream thought, or rather felt,
+that he recognised the features of his long-lost sister?
+
+With a strong effort the captain restrained his feelings and tried to
+listen, but in vain.  Not only were his eyes riveted on the young face
+before him, but his whole being seemed to be absorbed by it.  The
+necessity of keeping still, however, gave him time to make up his mind
+as to how he should act, so that when the service was brought to a
+close, he appeared on deck without a trace of his late excitement
+visible.
+
+"What lad is this?" he asked, going up to Joe, who was standing close to
+Billy.
+
+"This," said Joe, laying his hand kindly on the boy's shoulder, "is
+Billy Bright, son of the late owner of the old _Evenin' Star_."
+
+"What!" exclaimed the captain, unable to repress his surprise, "son of
+the widow who owns the new _Evening Star_? then that proves that your
+mother _must_ be alive?"
+
+"In _course_ she is!" returned Billy, with a look of astonishment.
+
+"Come down to the cabin with me, Billy," said the captain, with
+increasing excitement.  "I want to have a chat with you about your
+mother."
+
+Our little hero, although surprised, at once complied with the
+invitation, taking the opportunity, however, to wink at Zulu in passing,
+and whisper his belief that the old gen'l'man was mad.
+
+Setting Billy on a locker in front of him, Captain Bream began at once.
+
+"Is your mother alive, Billy,--tut, of course she's alive; I mean, is
+she well--in good health?"
+
+Billy became still more convinced that Captain Bream was mad, but
+answered that his mother was well, and that she had never been ill in
+her life to the best of his knowledge.
+
+While speaking, Billy glanced round the cabin in some anxiety as to how
+he should escape if the madman should proceed to violence.  He made up
+his mind that if the worst should come to the worst, he would dive under
+the table, get between the old gentleman's legs, trip him up, and bolt
+up the companion before he could regain his feet.  Relieved by the
+feeling that his mind was made up, he waited for more.
+
+"Billy," resumed the captain, after a long gaze at the boy's features,
+"is your mother like you?"
+
+"I should think not," replied Billy with some indignation.  "She's a
+woman, you know, an' I'm a--a--man."
+
+"Yes--of course," murmured the captain to himself, "there can be no
+doubt about it--none whatever--every gesture--every look!"
+
+Then aloud: "What was her name, my boy?"
+
+"Her name, sir? why, her name's Bright, of course."
+
+"Yes, yes, but I mean her maiden name."
+
+Billy was puzzled.  "If you mean the name my father used to call 'er,"
+he said, "it was Nell."
+
+"Ah! that's it--nearly, at least.  Nellie she used to be known by.  Yes,
+yes, but that's not what I want to know.  Can you tell me what her name
+was before she was married?"
+
+"Well now, that _is_ odd," answered Billy, "I've bin pumped somethink in
+this way before, though nuffin' good came of it as I knows on.  No, I
+_don't_ know what she was called afore she was married."
+
+"Did you ever hear of the name of Bream?" asked the captain anxiously.
+
+"Oh yes, I've heerd o' that name," said the boy, promptly.  "There's a
+fish called bream, you know."
+
+It soon became evident to poor Captain Bream that nothing of importance
+was to be learned from Billy, he therefore made up his mind at once as
+to how he should act.  Feeling that, with such a possibility unsettled,
+he would be utterly unfit for his duties with the fleet, he resolved to
+go straight to Yarmouth.
+
+"What is your mother's address?" he asked.
+
+Billy gave it him.
+
+"Now my boy, I happen to be much interested in your mother, so I'm goin'
+to Yarmouth on purpose to see her."
+
+"It's wery good o' you, sir, an' if you takes your turn ashore afore we
+do, just give mother my respec's an' say I'm all alive and kickin'."
+
+"I will, my boy," said the Captain, patting Billy on the head and
+actually stooping to kiss his forehead affectionately, after which he
+gave him leave to return on deck.
+
+"I don' know how it is," said Billy to Zulu afterwards, "but I've took a
+likin' for that old man, an' at the same time a queer sort o' fear of
+'im; I can't git it out o' my noddle that he's goin' to Yarmouth to
+inweigle my mother to marry him!"
+
+Zulu showed all his teeth and gums, shut his eyes, gave way to a burst
+of laughter, and said, "Nonsense!"
+
+"It may be nonsense," retorted Billy, "but if I thought he really meant
+it, I would run my head butt into his breadbasket, an' drive 'im
+overboard."
+
+Explaining to the surprised and rather disappointed skipper of the
+mission vessel that an unexpected turn of affairs required his immediate
+presence in Yarmouth, the captain asked what means there were of getting
+to land.
+
+"One of our fleet, the _Rainbow_, starts to-morrow morning, sir," was
+the reply; "so you can go without loss of time.  But I hope we shall see
+you again."
+
+"Oh yes, please God, I shall come off again--you may depend on that, for
+I've taken a great fancy to the men of the Short Blue, although I've
+been so short a time with them--moreover, I owe service as well as
+gratitude to the Mission for sending me here."
+
+Accordingly next morning he set sail with a fair wind, and in due course
+found himself on shore.  He went straight to the old abode of Mrs
+Dotropy, and, to his great satisfaction, found Ruth there.  He also
+found young Dalton, which was not quite so much to his satisfaction, but
+Ruth soon put his mind at rest by saying--
+
+"Oh!  Captain Bream, I'm _so_ glad to have this unexpected visit,
+because, for months and months past I have wanted you to go with me to
+visit a particular place in Yarmouth, and you have always slipped
+through my fingers; but I'm determined that you shan't escape again."
+
+"That's odd, my dear," returned the captain, "because my object in
+coming here is to take _you_ to a certain place in Yarmouth, and,
+although I have not had the opportunity of letting you slip through my
+fingers, I've no doubt you'd do so if you were tempted away by a bait
+that begins with a D."
+
+"How dare you, sir!" said Ruth, blushing, laughing, and frowning all at
+once--"but no.  Even D will fail in this instance--for my business is
+urgent."
+
+"Well, Miss Ruth, my business is urgent also.  The question therefore
+remains, which piece of business is to be gone about _first_."
+
+"How can you be so ungallant?  Are not a lady's wishes to be considered
+before those of a gentleman?  Come, sir, are you ready to go?  _I_ am
+quite ready, and fortunately D, to whom you dared to refer just now, has
+gone to the post with a letter."
+
+Although extremely anxious to have his mind set at rest, Captain Bream
+gave in with his accustomed good-nature, and went out with Ruth to
+settle _her_ business first.
+
+Rejoiced to have her little schemes at last so nearly brought to an
+issue, the eager girl hurried through the town till she came to one of
+its narrow Rows.
+
+"Well, my dear," said the captain, "it is at all events a piece of good
+luck that so far you have led _me_ in the very direction I desired to
+lead you."
+
+"Indeed?  Well, that is odd.  But after all," returned Ruth with a
+sudden feeling of depression, "it _may_ turn out to be a wild-goose
+chase."
+
+"_What_ may turn out to be a wild-goose chase?"
+
+"This--this fancy--this hope of mine, but you shall know directly--
+come."
+
+Ruth was almost running by this time, and the captain, being still far
+from strong, found it difficult to keep up with her.
+
+"This way, down here," she cried, turning a corner.
+
+"What, _this_ way?" exclaimed the captain in amazement.
+
+"Yes, why not?" said Ruth, reflecting some of his surprise as she looked
+up in his face.
+
+"Why--why, because this is the very Row I wanted to bring you to!"
+
+"That _is_ strange--but--but never mind just now; you'll explain
+afterwards.  Come along."
+
+Poor Ruth was too much excited to attend to any other business but that
+on which her heart was set just then; and fear lest her latest castle
+should prove to have no foundations and should fall like so many others
+in ruins at her feet, caused her to tremble.
+
+"Here is the door," she said at last, coming to a sudden halt before
+widow Bright's dwelling, and pressing both hands on her palpitating
+heart to keep it still.
+
+"Wonders will never cease!" exclaimed the captain.  "This is the very
+door to which I intended to bring _you_."
+
+Ruth turned her large blue eyes on her friend with a look that made them
+larger and, if possible, bluer than ever.  She suddenly began to feel as
+deep an interest in the captain's business as in her own.
+
+"_This_ door?" she said, pointing to it emphatically.
+
+"Yes, _that_ door.  Widow Bright lives there, don't she?"
+
+"Yes--oh! yes," said Ruth, squeezing her heart tighter.
+
+"Well, I've come here to search for a long-lost sister."
+
+"Oh!" gasped Ruth.
+
+But she got no time to gasp anything more, for the impatient captain had
+pushed the door open without knocking, and stood in the middle of the
+widow's kitchen.
+
+Mrs Bright was up to the elbows in soap-suds at the moment, busy with
+some of the absent Billy's garments.  Beside her sat Mrs Joe Davidson,
+endeavouring to remove, with butter, a quantity of tar with which the
+"blessed babby" had recently besmeared herself.
+
+They all looked up at the visitors, but all remained speechless, as if
+suddenly paralysed, for the expression on our big captain's face was
+wonderful, as well as indescribable.  Mrs Bright opened her eyes to
+their widest, also her mouth, and dropped the Billy-garments.  Mrs
+Davidson's buttery hands became motionless; so did the "babby's" tarry
+visage.  For three seconds this lasted.  Then the captain said, in the
+deepest bass notes he ever reached--
+
+"Sister Nellie!"
+
+A wild scream from Mrs Bright was the reply, as she sprang at Captain
+Bream, seized him in her arms, and covered the back of his neck with
+soap-suds.
+
+The castle was destined to stand, after all!  Ruth's joy overflowed.
+She glanced hurriedly round for some object on which to expend it.
+There was nothing but the "blessed babby"--and that was covered with
+tar; but genuine feeling does not stick at trifles.  Ruth caught up the
+filthy little creature, pressed it to her bounding heart, wept and
+laughed, and covered it with passionate kisses to such an extent that
+her own fair face became thoroughly besmeared, and it cost Mrs Joe an
+additional half hour's labour to get her clean, besides an enormous
+expenditure of butter--though that was selling at the time at the high
+figure of 1 shilling 6 pence a pound!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+THE LAST.
+
+There came a day, not very long after the events narrated in the
+previous chapter, when a grand wedding took place in Yarmouth.
+
+But it was not meant to be a grand one, by any means.  Quite the
+contrary.  The parties principally concerned were modest, retiring, and
+courted privacy.  But the more they courted privacy, the more did that
+condition--like a coy maiden--fly away from them.
+
+The name of the bride was Ruth, and the name of the bridegroom began,--
+as Captain Bream was fond of saying--with a Dee.
+
+Neither bride nor groom had anything particular to do with the sea, yet
+that wedding might have easily been mistaken for a fisherman's wedding--
+as well as a semi-public one, so numerous were the salts--young and
+old--who attended it; some with invitation, and others without.  You
+see, the ceremony being performed in the old parish church, any one who
+chose had a right to be there and look on.
+
+The reason of this nautical character of the wedding was not far to
+seek, for had not the bridegroom--whose name began with a Dee--risked
+his life in rescuing from the deep a Bright--we might almost say the
+brightest--young life belonging to the fishing fleets of the North Sea?
+And was not the lovely bride one of the best and staunchest friends of
+the fisherman?  And was she not mixed up, somehow, with the history of
+that good old sea-captain--if not actually a relation of his--who
+preached so powerfully, and who laboured so earnestly to turn seamen
+from darkness to light?  And had not the wedding been expressly delayed
+until the period of one of the smacks' return to port, so that six
+fishermen--namely, Joe Davidson, Ned Spivin, Luke Trevor, John Gunter,
+Billy Bright, and Zulu--might be invited guests?  Besides these, there
+were the skipper and crew of the gospel-ship which was also in port at
+that time; and other fishermen guests there were, known by such names as
+Mann, White, Snow, Johnston, Goodchild, Brown, Bowers, Tooke, Rogers,
+Snell, Moore, Roberts, and many more--all good men and true--who formed
+part of that great population of 12,000 which is always afloat on the
+North Sea.
+
+Besides these guests, and a host of others who were attracted by the
+unusual interest displayed in this wedding, there were several people
+with whom we may claim some slight acquaintance,--such as Miss Jessie
+Seaward and her sister, who wept much with joy, and laughed not a little
+at being so foolish as to cry, and Liffie Lee, who was roused with
+excitement to the condition of a half-tamed wildcat, but was so dressed
+up and brushed down and washed out that her best friend might have
+failed to recognise her.  But if we go on, we shall never have done--for
+the whole of Yarmouth seemed to be there--high and low, rich and poor!
+Of course Mrs Dotropy was also there, grand, confused, sententious as
+ever, amiable, and unable to command her feelings--in a state, so to
+speak, of melting magnificence.  And a great many "swell" people--as
+Billy styled them--came down from London, for Mrs Dotropy, to their
+disgust, had positively refused to have the wedding in the West End
+mansion, for reasons best known to herself.
+
+You should have heard the cheer that followed the happy couple when they
+finally left the church and drove away!  We do not refer to the cheering
+of the multitude; that, though very well in its way, was a mere
+mosquito-squeak to the deep-toned deafening, reverberating shout of an
+enthusiasm--born upon the sea, fed on the bread and water of life,
+strengthened alike by the breezes of success and the gales of
+adversity--which burst in hurricane violence from the leathern lungs and
+throats of the North Sea fishermen!  We leave it, reader, to your
+imagination.
+
+There was no wedding breakfast proper, for the happy pair left Yarmouth
+immediately after the knot was tied, but there was a small select party
+which drove off in a series of cabs to a feast prepared in a certain
+cottage not far from the town.  This party was composed chiefly of
+fishermen and their wives and children.  It was headed by Captain Bream
+and his sister Mrs Bright.  In the same carriage were Mrs Dotropy, the
+Miss Seawards, and Mrs Joe Davidson and her baby.  It was a big
+old-fashioned carriage capable of holding six inside, and Billy Bright
+"swarmed" upon the dickey.
+
+Arrived at the cottage, which had a fine lawn in front and commanded a
+splendid view of the sea, Captain Bream got down, took up a position at
+the garden-gate, and, shaking hands with each guest as he or she
+entered, bade him or her welcome to "Short Blue Cottage!"
+
+"'Tis a pleasant anchorage," he said to the sisters Seaward as they
+passed in, "very pleasant at the end of life's voyage.  Praise the Lord
+who gave it me!  Show them the way, Nellie; they'll know it better
+before long.  You'll find gooseberry bushes in the back garden, an' the
+theological library in the starboard attic.  Their own berths are on the
+ground-floor."
+
+You may be sure that with such a host the guests were not long in making
+themselves at home.
+
+Captain Bream had not invited the party merely to a wedding feast.  It
+was the season of fruits and flowers, and he had set his heart on his
+friends making a day of it.  Accordingly, he had made elaborate
+preparations for enjoyment.  With that practical sagacity which
+frequently distinguishes the nautical mind, he had provided bowls and
+quoits for the men; battledore and shuttlecock for the younger women;
+football and cricket and hoops, with some incomprehensible Eastern games
+for the children, and a large field at the side of the cottage afforded
+room for all without much chance of collision.
+
+The feast was, of course, a strictly temperance one, and we need
+scarcely say it was all the more enjoyable on that account.
+
+"You see, my friends," said the host, referring to this in one of his
+brief speeches, "as long as it may please God to leave me at anchor in
+this snug port, I'll never let a drop o' strong drink enter my doors,
+except in the form of physic, and even then I'll have the bottle
+labelled `poison--to be taken under doctor's prescription.'  So, my
+lads--my friends, I mean, beggin' the ladies' pardon--you'll have to
+drink this toast, and all the other toasts, in lemonade, ginger beer,
+soda water, seltzer, zoedone, tea, coffee, or cold water, all of which
+wholesome beverages have been supplied in overflowing abundance to this
+fallen world, and are to be found represented on this table."
+
+"Hear! hear!" from John Gunter, and it was wonderful to hear the
+improvement in the tone of Gunter's voice since he had left off strong
+drink.  His old foe, but now fast friend, Luke Trevor, who sat beside
+him, echoed the "hear! hear!" with such enthusiasm that all the others
+burst into a laugh, and ended in a hearty cheer.
+
+"Now, fill up--fill up, lads," continued the captain.  "Let it be a
+bumper, whatever tipple you may choose.  If our drink is better than it
+used to be, our cups ought not to be less full--and my toast is worthy
+of all honour.  I drink to the success and prosperity, temporal and
+spiritual, of the North Sea Trawlers,"--there was a symptom of a
+gathering cheer at this point, but the captain checked it with a raised
+finger, "especially to that particular fleet which goes by the name of
+the `_Short Blue_!'"
+
+The pent-up storm burst forth now with unrestrained vehemence, insomuch
+that three little ragged boys who had climbed on the low garden wall to
+watch proceedings, fell off backwards as if shot by the mere sound!
+
+Observing this, and being near them, Mrs Bright rose, quietly leaned
+over the wall, and emptied a basket of strawberries on their heads by
+way of consolation.
+
+We cannot afford space for the captain's speech in full.  Suffice it to
+say that he renewed his former promise to re-visit the fleet and spend
+some time among the fishermen as often as he could manage to do so, and
+wound up by coupling the name of Joe Davidson, skipper of the _Evening
+Star_, with the toast.
+
+Whereupon, up started Joe with flashing eyes; (intense enthusiasm
+overcoming sailor-like modesty;) and delivered a speech in which words
+seemed to tumble out of him anyhow and everyhow--longwise, shortwise,
+askew, and upside-down--without much reference to grammar, but with a
+powerful tendency in the direction of common sense.  We have not space
+for this speech either, but we give the concluding words:
+
+"I tell 'ee wot it is, boys.  Cap'n Bream has drunk prosperity to the
+_Short Blue_, an' so have we, for we love it, but there's another _Short
+Blue_--"
+
+A perfect storm of cheering broke forth at this point and drowned Joe
+altogether.  It would probably have blown over the three ragged boys a
+second time, but they were getting used to such fire, and, besides, were
+engaged with strawberries.
+
+"There's another _Short Blue_," resumed Joe, when the squall was over,
+"which my missis an' me was talkin' about this very day, when our
+blessed babby fell slap out o' bed an' set up such a howl--"
+
+Joe could get no further, because of the terrific peals of laughter
+which his words, coupled with the pathetic sincerity of his expression,
+drew forth.  Again and again he tried to speak, but his innocent look
+and his mighty shoulders, and tender voice, with the thoughts of that
+"blessed babby," were too much for his mates, so that he was obliged to
+finish off by shouting in a voice of thunder--"Let's drink success to
+SHORT BLUE COTTAGE!" and, with a toss of his hand in the true North
+Sea-salute style, sat down in a tempest of applause.
+
+"Yes," as an Irish fisherman remarked, "it was a great day intoirely,"
+that day at _Short Blue Cottage_, and as no description can do it full
+justice, we will turn to other matters--remarking, however, before
+quitting the subject, that we do not tell the reader the exact spot
+where the cottage is situated, as publicity on this point might subject
+our modest captain to much inconvenience!
+
+"Billy," said Captain Bream one day, a few months after the wedding-day
+just described, "come with me to the Theological Library; I want to have
+a chat with 'ee, lad."
+
+Billy followed his new-found uncle, and sat down opposite to him.
+
+"Now, lad, the time has come when you and I must have it out.  You're
+fond o' hard work, I'm told."
+
+"Well, uncle, I won't say as I'm exactly fond of it, but I don't object
+to it."
+
+"So far good," returned the captain.  "Well, you know I'm your uncle,
+an' I've got a goodish lot of tin, an' I'm goin' to leave the most of it
+to your mother--for she's the only relation I have on earth,--but you
+needn't expect that I'm goin' to leave it to _you_ after her."
+
+"I never said as I _did_ expect that, uncle," said Billy with such a
+straightforward look of simplicity that the captain burst into one of
+his thundering laughs.
+
+"Good, my boy," he said, in a more confidential tone.  "Well, then, this
+is how the matter stands.  I've long held the opinion that those who
+_can_ work _should_ work, and that all or nearly all the cash that
+people have to spare should be given or left to those who _can't_ work--
+such as poor invalids--specially women--and those who have come to grief
+one way or another, and lost the use o' their limbs."
+
+"Right you are, uncle," said Billy with strong emphasis.
+
+"Glad you agree so heartily, boy.  Well, that bein' so, I mean to leave
+the interest of all that I have to your dear mother as long as she
+lives--except a legacy to the Miss Seawards and some other poor folk
+that I know of.  Meanwhile, they have agreed, as long as I live, to stay
+wi' me here in this cottage, as my librarians and assistants in the
+matter of Theology.  I had a tough job to get 'em to agree, but I
+managed it at last.  So you see, Billy, I don't mean to leave you a
+sixpence."
+
+"Well, uncle," said Billy with a quiet look, "I don't care a brass
+farden!"
+
+Again the captain laughed.  "But," he continued, "I'm very fond o' you,
+Billy, an' there's no reason why I shouldn't help you, to help yourself.
+So, if you're willin', I'll send you to the best of schools, and after
+that to college, an' give you the best of education,--in short, make a
+man of you, an' put you in the way of makin' your fortune."
+
+Captain Bream looked steadily into the fair boy's handsome face as he
+made this glowing statement; but, somewhat to his disappointment, he got
+no responsive glance from Billy.  On the contrary, the boy became graver
+and graver, and at last his mind seemed lost in meditation while his
+gaze was fixed on the floor.
+
+"What think ye, lad?" demanded the captain.
+
+Billy seemed to awake as from a dream, and then, looking and speaking
+more like a man than he had ever done before, he said--
+
+"It is kind of you, uncle--very kind--but my dear dad once said _he_
+would make a man of me, and he _did_!  I'll do my best to larn as much
+as ever I can o' this world's larnin', but I'll never leave the sea."
+
+"Now, my boy," said the captain, "think well before you decide.  You
+could do far more good if you were a highly educated man, you know."
+
+"Right you _may_ be, uncle, an' I don't despise edication, by no means,
+but some folk are born to it, and others ain't.  Besides, good of the
+best kind can be done without _much_ edication, when the heart's right
+an' the will strong, as I've seed before now on the North Sea."
+
+"I'm sorry you look at it this way, Billy, for I don't see that I can do
+much for you if you determine to remain a fisherman."
+
+"Oh! yes, you can, uncle," cried Billy, rising up in his eagerness and
+shaking back his curly hair.  "You can do this.  You can take the money
+you intended to waste on my schoolin', an' send out books an' tracts and
+medicines, an' all sorts o' things to the fishin' fleets.  An' if you're
+awful rich--as you seem to be by the way you talk--you can give some
+thousands o' pounds an' fit out two or three more smacks as you did the
+noo _Evenin' Star_, an' hand 'em over to the Mission to become
+gospel-ships to the fleets that have got none yet.  That's the way to do
+good wi' your coppers.  As for me--my daddy was a fisherman and my
+mother was a fisherman's wife, and I'm a fisherman to the back-bone.
+What my father was before me, I mean to be after him, so, God
+permittin', I'll sail wi' Joe Davidson till I'm old enough to take
+command o' the _Evenin' Star_; and then I'll stick through thick an'
+thin to the North Sea, and live and die a fisherman of the _Short
+Blue_!"
+
+Billy Bright's determination was unalterable, so Captain Bream fell in
+with it, and heartily set about that part of the work which his nephew
+had recommended to him.
+
+Whether he and Billy will remain of the same mind to the end, the future
+alone can show--we cannot tell; but this we--you and I, Reader--can do
+if we will--we can sympathise with our enthusiastic young Trawler, and
+do what in us lies to soften the hard lot of the fisherman, by aiding
+those whose life-work it is to fish for souls of men, and to toil summer
+and winter, in the midst of life and death, tempest and cold, to rescue
+the perishing on the North Sea.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Young Trawler, by R.M. Ballantyne
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