r had the measles?"

"Not as I knows of."

"Looks like it," said the mate, lighting his pipe. "P'r'aps it'll be as
well to send you into dock to refit. You'd better turn in again,
anyhow, for a snooze would do you good."

Fred Martin acted on this advice, while Jay returned to the deck; but it
was evident that the snooze was not to be had, for he continued to turn
and toss uneasily, and to wonder what was wrong with him, as strong
healthy men are rather apt to do when suddenly seized with sickness.

At grey dawn the admiral signalled again. The order was to haul up the
nets, which had been scraping the bottom of the sea since midnight, and
the whole fleet set to work without delay.

Martin turned out with the rest, and tried to defy sickness for a time,
but it would not do. The strong man was obliged to succumb to a
stronger than he--not, however, until he had assisted as best as he
could in hauling up the trawl.

This second haul of the gear of the _Lively Poll_ illustrated one of
those mishaps, to which all deep-sea trawlers are liable, and which are
of frequent occurrence. A piece of wreck or a lost anchor, or
something, had caught the net, and torn it badly, so that when it
reached the surface all the fish had escaped.

"A night's work for nothing!" exclaimed Stephen Lockley, with an oath.

"_Might_ have been worse," suggested Martin.

By that time it was broad daylight, and as they had no fish to pack, the
crew busied themselves in removing the torn net from the beam, and
fitting on a new one. At the same time the crews of the other smacks
secured their various and varied hauls, cleaned, packed, and got ready
for delivery.

The smoke of the steam-carrier was seen on the horizon early in the
forenoon, and all the vessels of the fleet made for her, as chickens
make for their mother in times of danger.

We may not pause here to describe the picturesque confusion that
ensued--the arriving, congregating, tacking, crossing, and re-crossing
of smacks; the launching of little boats, and loading them with
"trunks;" the concentration of these round the steamer like minnows
round a whale; the shipping of the cargo, and the tremendous hurry and
energy displayed in the desire to do it quickly, and get the fish fresh
to market. Suffice it to say that in less than four hours the steamer
was loaded, and Fred Martin, fever-stricken and with a highly inflamed
hand and arm, started on a thirty-six hours' voyage to