w more about him and have greater reasons for
not liking him than I have."

"Michael," said Nelly, looking up, "I will trust only those whom you
trust, and I do not wish to like any one whom you do not like."

Still, although Nelly took no care to show any preference for Eban, it
was not in her heart to be rude or unkind to him; but Dame Lanreath
tried to make him understand that his visits were not wished for. He,
however, fancied that she alone did not like him, and still flattered
himself that he was making his way with Nelly.

Thus matters went on month after month. Michael and David Treloar
succeeded together better even than at first expected. David was always
ready to do the hard work, and, placing perfect confidence in Michael's
skill and judgment, readily obeyed him.

It was the height of summer-time. The pilchards in vast schools began
to visit the coast of Cornwall, and the fishermen in all directions were
preparing for their capture. The boats were got ready, the nets
thoroughly repaired, and corks and leads and tow lines and warps fitted.
_Huers_, as the men are called who watch for the fish, had taken their
stations on every height on the look-out for their approach. Each
_huer_ kept near him the "white bush," which is the name given to a mass
of furze covered with tow or white ribbons. This being raised aloft is
the sign that a school is in sight. The boats employed were of two
descriptions, the largest of from twenty to thirty tons, carrying seven
or eight men; and the smaller somewhat larger than the "Dove," having
only three or four men.

Michael had succeeded in obtaining another hand, so that, small as his
boat was, he was fully able to take a part in the work.

The pilchard belongs to the herring family, but is somewhat smaller, and
differs from that fish in external appearance, having a shorter head and
a more compact body; its scales, too, are rather longer than those of
the common herring. It is supposed to retire during the winter to the
deep water of the ocean, and to rise only as the summer approaches to
the surface, when it commences its travels and moves eastward towards
the English Channel.

At first it forms only small bands, but these increase till a large army
is collected, under the guidance, it is supposed, of a chief. Onward it
makes its way, pursued by birds of prey who pounce down and carry off
thousands of individuals, whose loss, however, scarcely diminishes the