handled the second of the family cobles, and the five men made an excellent living.  It was a fine sight to see the fellows go away in the afternoon.  They wore great boots that came up to the thigh, blue woollen caps, or sou-westers, and thick dark Guernseys.  All of them were dark-haired and dark-eyed, and with their earrings, they looked strange and foreign.  The three younger lads, who were much bigger than their father, went partners in one boat, and the two gaudy craft took their several ways.  The men never said good-bye or good-night, nor did they use any other form of politeness, because by the fishermen any demonstration of friendliness, even among relations, is counted as showing softness.  The mother of the lads was a handsome, broad-shouldered woman who had been a beauty in her day.  She mostly used to spare time for seeing her tall fellows off, but she never waved to them.  In spite of this reticence, it must not be supposed that the family were unkindly:  more gentle and helpful men never lived, and there was not one of them who had not done some brave thing.  It may be worth while to tell a story illustrative of their disposition.

One brisk morning, when the sea was running high, a little boy was sailing a fine model yacht in one of the great pools on the shore.  The tide was running in, and presently the advancing water rushed into the pool.  The yacht was just in the centre when the whirl of the sea took her.  She swung round; the westerly wind caught her, and in a moment she was over the barrier and away into deep water.  The little thing was well leaded, and she went off like a dolphin.  The youthful owner saw her now and again as she topped the waves, and he lamented exceedingly.  At last it struck him to run north to the village.  Just as he reached the cove, Big Harry’s younger sons were coming in after a night at sea.  The men were wet and sleepy enough, but when the little boy told them his story they lifted him into the bow of the coble and shoved off again.  With three reefs in the sail they dodged out among the jumping seas, and ran over the bay after the truant yacht.  The swift coble soon overhauled the runaway, and the men came back well drenched by their second trip.  The whole thing was done with perfect simplicity; and the fishermen would not accept even a glass of ale from the boy’s father.  They said “they were glad to see the bairn so pleased,” and they tease the said “bairn” about his skill in navigation even to this day.  When we see kindness like this we may be content to do without words or other minor demonstrations.

During all the long nights Big Harry and Little Harry used to sit together very silently.  Sometimes when the corks at one part of the net went under water suddenly, one of the men would say, “There’s a troot fast,” but conversation did not extend beyond elementary observations like this.  The dark came down over the bay, and the last gleam died away from the distant hills.  The water purred