tern; neither the services of Bob nor of
Dick being required any further at the helm under the circumstances.

"You can light your pipe now, if you like," said Captain Dresser to Mr
Strong, when this was satisfactorily accomplished. "We shall have
nothing to do for the next hour or two; for we must have the net down
long enough to let something have a chance of getting into the pocket of
it."

"I suppose the smell of tobacco won't frighten the fish?" observed the
barrister, gladly taking advantage of the permission and striking a
vesuvian, his pipe being already loaded and ready. "Fresh-water anglers
are rather particular on the point."

"Bless you, no!" replied the old sailor laughing, "our fish at sea know
what's good for them and like it!"

Miss Nell, who seemed anxious about something, presently hazarded a
question when her father had lit his pipe and was smoking comfortably on
the forecastle.

"Are we not going to have any breakfast?" said she, in a very grave way,
as befitted a matter of such deep importance. "I feel very hungry."

"Dear me, I was almost forgetting breakfast!" cried the Captain,
throwing away the end of the cigar the barrister had offered him, which
he was smoking rather against the grain, preferring his tobacco in the
form of snuff. "Dick, did you bring the things all right as I told
you?"

"Yes, sir," replied Dick. "They be in the fo'c's'le, sir."

"Is the coffee on the stove?"

"Yes, sir, and biling."

"That's right," said the Captain, who continued, turning to Nellie,
"Now, missy, you can preside over our breakfast-table if you like.
You'll find all the traps ready in the little cabin for'ard under the
half-deck."

Thereupon, Miss Nellie, with much dignity, busied herself in pouring out
the coffee, which had been kept hot all the while on "such a dear little
stove," as she called out to Bob the moment she caught sight of it in
the fore-cabin; the pair constituting themselves steward and stewardess
instanter, and serving out, with Dick's help, their rations to the rest
of the company.

They were in the midst of breakfast, the trawl having been dragging
along the bottom of the sea for not quite an hour, when, all at once,
the rope holding it attached to the bowsprit-bitts began to jerk
violently.

"Hallo!" cried the Captain, starting up from his seat on one of the
bunks in the little cabin, which, even with stooping, he and Mr Strong
found it a hard matter to squeeze thems