ch were to be cleaned, and when he got fairly under
way he missed John, for it was difficult for him to skin fish and work
the boat at the same time. Seating himself in the stern he passed his
arm round the tiller,--for there was no comb to keep it in place,--and
commenced his labors. He soon found that he was working at a great
disadvantage, and he exerted his ingenuity to devise a plan for
overcoming the difficulty. Taking a small line, he made the middle of it
fast to the end of the tiller; then passing it round the cleets, he tied
the ends together. This apparatus kept the tiller in its place, and he
could change it to any required position by pulling the line. Resuming
his labors upon the fish, he found his plan worked very well, and the
perch were in readiness for market when he reached the shore. After
securing the boat, he hastened with the fish to the cottage, where his
dinner was waiting for him. His mother congratulated him upon his
success, and told him that Captain Littleton had been to see her during
his absence, and that she was entirely reconciled to his new occupation.

The most difficult part of the business, in Paul's estimation, was yet
to come--that of selling the fish. As he left the house with his
precious load of merchandise, he could not help feeling that the grand
scheme was still an experiment, for it had not been demonstrated that
Bayville would buy six or eight dozen of perch every day. It was a large
place, containing about six thousand inhabitants; and as he walked
along, he brought his mathematical knowledge into use in an attempt to
convince himself that the market was large enough to keep him busy
during the season. At the least calculation there were six hundred
families in the town, and probably a thousand. If each family would buy
a mess of perch once in ten days, it would make six hundred dozen in
that time, or sixty dozen a day; but, to make allowance for
over-estimates, he was willing to reduce the total one half, and call it
thirty dozen a day. The fisherman would supply a large portion of the
demand, but he concluded that he should have no difficulty in selling
all the perch he could catch.

Passing the house of Captain Littleton, the next was that of Major
Nettle, and he resolved to make his first attempt to sell. The
gentleman, was not at home, and the servants didn't know anything about
it; and he was just leaving when Thomas Nettle accosted him.

"What have you got, Paul?"