dory was saved from destruction. “One half was jest punkins. Tom Platt wanted to haul her an’ ha’ done wid ut; but I said, ‘I’ll back the doctor that has the second sight, an’ the other half come up sagging full o’ big uns.’ Hurry, Man’nle, an’ bring’s a tub o’ bait. There’s luck afloat tonight.”
The fish bit at the newly baited hooks from which their brethren had just been taken, and Tom Platt and Long Jack moved methodically up and down the length of the trawl, the boat’s nose surging under the wet line of hooks, stripping the sea-cucumbers that they called pumpkins, slatting off the fresh-caught cod against the gunwale, rebaiting, and loading Manuel’s dory till dusk.
“I’ll take no risks,” said Disko then—“not with him floatin’ around so near. Abishai won’t sink fer a week. Heave in the dories an’ we’ll dress daown after supper.”
That was a mighty dressing-down, attended by three or four blowing grampuses. It lasted till nine o’clock, and Disko was thrice heard to chuckle as Harvey pitched the split fish into the hold.
“Say, you’re haulin’ ahead dretful fast,” said Dan, when they ground the knives after the men had turned in. “There’s somethin’ of a sea tonight, an’ I hain’t heard you make no remarks on it.”
“Too busy,” Harvey replied, testing a blade’s edge. “Come to think of it, she is a high-kicker.”
The little schooner was gambolling all around her anchor among the silver-tipped waves. Backing with a start of affected surprise at the sight of the strained cable, she pounced on it like a kitten, while the spray of her descent burst through the hawseholes with the report of a gun. Shaking her head, she would say: “Well, I’m sorry I can’t stay any longer with you. I’m going North,” and would sidle off, halting suddenly with a