^50 THE JERSEY COAST. 



"Yes," broke in his brother, who was just re- 

 covering from the spell first put upon him by our 

 athlete's continual offers to accommodate him in 

 any way he wished. " Tes, it will be a dear blow 

 for you ; I saw you strike him." 



" No," said the lawyer, advancing for the first time 

 from behind the blind where he had been an unmoved 

 and impartial umpire of the fray, "you sliould not 

 say that ; your brother certainly struck first ; I saw 

 him distinctly." His manner was solemn, and con- 

 vincing, and conclusive, taken in connexion with 

 his perfect equanimity during the affair; but, of 

 course, he was met by contradiction and protesta- 

 tion from the two brothers. This dispute would 

 have been endless, but at that moment a fine flock 

 of willets was descried advancing towards the 

 stools. 



" Down, down," every one shouted, and, true to 

 the bayman's instinct, friend and foe crowded down 

 on the sand together, waiting breathlessly the arri- 

 val of the birds. The latter came up handsomely, 

 were received with four barrels, and left several of 

 their number as keepsakes or peace-offerings ; for, 

 of course, anger was dissipated, and the defeated 

 enemy retired amid a few merry suggestions, and 

 the excellent advice that they had better not repeat 

 their joke. 



Such squabbles— for it can' be called nothing 

 graver — lower one's opinion of human kind, and it 

 makes one ashamed to think that two men may hug 

 and pull one another about, and roll on the sand for 



