I pulled into the _hard_, and made fast my boat. There was no one
outside the door when I landed; on entering, I found them all seated at
the table, and a grand display of fragments, in the shape of
herring-bones, etcetera. "Well, Jacob--come at last--thought you had
forgot us; piped to breakfast at eight bells--always do, you know," said
old Tom, on my making my appearance.

"Have you had your breakfast, Jacob?" said Mrs Beazeley.

"No," replied I; "I was obliged to go up to Mr Turnbull's, and that
detained me."

"No more sodgers, Jacob," said Tom; "father and I eat them all."

"Have you?" replied Mrs Beazeley, taking two more red herrings out of
the cupboard, and putting them on the fire to grill; "no, no, master
Tom, there's some for Jacob yet."

"Well, mother, you make nets to some purpose, for you've always a fish
when it's wanted."

I despatched my breakfast, and as soon as all had been cleared away by
his wife, old Tom, crossing his two timber legs, commenced business, for
it appeared, what I was not aware of, that we had met on a sort of
council-of-war.

"Jacob, sit down by me; old woman, bring yourself to an anchor in the
high chair. Tom, sit anywhere, so you sit still."

"And leave my net alone, Tom," cried his mother, in parenthesis.--"You
see, Jacob, the whole long and short of it is this--I feel my toes more
and more, and flannel's no longer warm. I can't tide it any longer, and
I think it high time to lie up in ordinary and moor abreast of the old
woman. Now, there's Tom, in the first place, what's to do with he? I
think that I'll build him a wherry, and as I'm free of the river he can
finish his apprenticeship with my name on the boat; but to build him a
wherry would be rather a heavy pull for me."

"If you mean to build it yourself, I think it will prove a _heavy pull_
for me," replied Tom.

"Silence, Tom; I built you, and God knows you're light enough."

"And, Tom, leave my net alone," cried his mother.

"Father made me light-fingered, mother."

"Ay, and light-hearted too, boy," rejoined the dame, looking fondly at
her son.

"Well," continued old Tom, "supposing that Tom be provided for in that
way; then now I comes to myself. I've an idea that I can do a good bit
of work in patching up boats; for you see I always was a bit of a
carpenter, and I know how the builders extortionate the poor watermen
when there's a trifle amiss. Now, if they knew I could do it, they'd
all come