He walked in front of me, up and down several flights of steps, until, at some little distance lower down the hill, he stopped before a small cottage.  Sure enough there were herrings, frying and spluttering on the fire, and there too was Polly herself, arrayed in a clean white apron, and turning the herrings with a fork.  The kitchen was very low, and the rafters seemed resting on my head as I entered; but the window and door were both wide open, and the whole place struck me as being wonderfully sweet and clean.  A low wooden settle stood by the fire, one or two plain deal chairs by the wall, and little John’s three-legged stool was placed close to his father’s arm-chair.  A small shelf above the fireplace held the family library.  I noticed a Bible, a hymn-book, a Pilgrim’s Progress, and several other books, all of which had seen their best days and were doubtless in constant use.  On the walls were prints in wooden frames and much discoloured by the turf smoke of the fire.  Upon a carved old oak cupboard, which held the clothes of the family, were arranged various rare shells and stones, curious sea-urchins and other treasures of the sea, and in the centre, the chief ornament of the house and the pride of Polly’s heart, a ship, carved and rigged by Duncan himself, and preserved carefully under a glass shade.

Polly gave me a hearty Yorkshire welcome, and we soon gathered about the small round table.  Duncan, with little John on his knee, asked a blessing, and Polly poured out the tea, and we all did justice to the meal.

The more I saw of these honest people, the more I liked them and felt inclined to trust them.  When tea was over, Polly took me to see the guest-chamber in which her husband had offered me a bed.  It was a low room in the roof, containing a plain wooden bedstead, one chair, a small wash-hand stand, and a square of looking-glass hanging on the wall.  There was no other furniture, and, indeed, there was room for no other, and the room was unadorned except by three or four funeral cards in dismal black frames, which were hanging at different heights on the wall opposite the bed.  But the square casement window was thrown wide open, and the pure sea air filled the little room, and the coarse white coverings of the bed were spotless, and, indeed, the whole place looked and felt both fresh and clean.

‘You’ll pardon me, sir,’ said Duncan, ’for asking you to look at such a poor place.’

‘But I like it, Duncan,’ I answered, ’and I like you, and I like your wife, and if you will have me as a lodger, I am willing and glad to stay.’

The terms were soon agreed upon to the satisfaction of both parties, and then all things being settled, Polly went to put little John to bed whilst I went with Duncan to see his boat.

It was an old boat, and it had been his father’s before him, and it had weathered many a storm; but it was the dream of Duncan’s life to buy a new one, and he and Polly had nearly saved up money enough for it.