s stepped
well forward, with a boom that Colin did not overestimate greatly when
he put it at eighty feet. Although the boy was not a keen judge, he
thought the bowsprit immensely long, and noticed what a narrow nose the
seiner possessed.

Early the next morning she put out. The weather was ugly, but the
captain of the _Shiner_ was a Gloucester fisherman, and he went slap
down Boston Harbor with every inch of canvas set alow and aloft. The
seiner lay well over on her side, and Colin, while he had often sailed
in small boats with the lee rail under, found it a new sensation to go
tearing along at such speed. He knew nothing of his new chief, and stole
a glance at him, finding the statistician smoking a pipe with entire
unconcern.

Colin smiled to himself. For a moment he had forgotten, the statistician
was a Bureau man, too. The _Shiner_ sped out to sea, cleaving the water
at thirteen knots an hour easily, although her thirty-six-foot
seine-boat was towing after her.

"She certainly can sail, Mr. Roote!" exclaimed the boy, but he only got
a grunt in reply.

The evening of the third day had come before Colin gained any idea as to
the purpose of this trip. He saw that it would be no use asking
questions, and waited until he should be told what he was to do. In the
meantime, he was enjoying the sail immensely, for the craft seemed
instinct with life, and Colin learned from the other fishermen aboard
that she was one of the fastest vessels out of Gloucester. Colin had
settled himself under the blankets for the night and just dropped off
to sleep when there came a hail from the masthead.

"Fish! Lyin' nor'-nor'-east."

Every man stirred in his bunk, but none made a move. Colin, who had
wakened instantly with muscles tense and ready to spring out, followed
the example of the others round him, and waited. Indeed he dropped off
to sleep again, when the voice of the captain came from the wheel:

"Pass the word to oil up."

There was no need to say "Pass the word," for every man below heard the
order, and tumbled up at once, sliding into sea-boots, oilskins, and
sou'westers. Most of the men lighted a pipe, and one or two took a
'mug-up' from the coffee-kettle. Evidently the mackerel were not far
away, for in less than five minutes the captain called again:

"All on deck!"

Up the ladder went the fishermen with a rush. There was not a star
visible, and the night was as black as though the ship were plunging
into a cav