h
were much above seventy tons burden. One or two in the fleet worked
their capstans by steam-power--an immense relief to the men, besides a
saving of time.

"It's hard on the wrists," said Gunter during a brief pause in the
labour, as he turned up the cuffs of his oiled frock and displayed a
pair of wrists that might well have caused him to growl. The constant
chafing of the hard cuffs had produced painful sores and swellings,
which were further irritated by salt water.

"My blessin's on de sweet ladies what takes so much trouble for us,"
said Zulu, pulling up his sleeves and regarding with much satisfaction a
pair of worsted cuffs; "nebber had no sore wrists since I put on dese.
W'y you no use him, Gunter?"

"'Cause I've lost 'em, you black baboon," was Gunter's polite reply.

"Nebber mind, you long-nosed white gorilla," was Zulu's civil rejoinder,
"you kin git another pair when nixt we goes aboard de mission-ship.
Till den you kin grin an enjoy you'self."

"Heave away, lads," said the skipper, and away went the capstan again as
the men grasped the handles and bent their strong backs, sometimes
heaving in a few turns of the great rope with a run, as the trawl
probably passed over a smooth bit of sand; sometimes drawing it in with
difficulty, inch by inch, as the net was drawn over some rough or rocky
place, and occasionally coming for a time to a dead lock, when--as is
not unfrequently the case--they caught hold of a bit of old wreck, or,
worse still, were caught by the fluke of a lost anchor.

Thus painfully but steadily they toiled, until the bridle or rope next
to the beam appeared above the waves, and then they knew that the end of
all their labour was at hand.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

A HAUL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES--MYSTERIOUS NEWS FROM THE LAND.

"Now Billy, you shrimp," cried David Bright, seizing his son by the
collar and giving him a friendly shake that would have been thought
severe handling by any but a fisher-boy, "don't go excitin' of yourself.
You'll never make a man worth speakin' of if you can't keep down your
feelin's."

But Billy could not keep down his feelings. They were too strong for
him. He was naturally of an excitable--what we may call a jovial--
jumping--disposition, and, although he had now been some months at sea,
he had not yet succeeded in crushing down that burst of delight with
which he viewed the cod-end of the great deep-sea net as it was hoisted
over the side by the power o