Living Silver 



deen and that they intended to shoot the trawl twice before 

 returning to port. Nevertheless there was the harbourmaster's 

 call: 'Where bound?' and the Goldfish's answer: 'North Sea.' 

 The speed of the old ship meant that she would take close on two 

 hours to reach her destination, so the would-be trawlermen had 

 planned a long loud game of nap. But Finch had other ideas. 



'Get to hell out of that fo'c'sle. We're going to clean up this 

 rat-trap. I don't want my fry floured in coaldust.' 



They began at the top, scrubbing and dousing the bridge with 

 hoses of salt water, working round to the decks where the sea- 

 sickness of their stricken comrades was already beginning to 

 appear. 'I suppose they'll want the engine room prettified, and 

 the coal polished,' and the pickpocket directed a tidy spray of 

 brine straight at the chief engineer. 



Curses quietened and laughter abated, they returned to the 

 fore deck expecting to relax ; but they were immediately ordered 

 to arrange the fish pounds in their brackets. Jan had been won- 

 dering vaguely why these little crosses of steel were sticking up 

 out of the decking. Their only function seemed to be the tripping 

 up of anybody who didn't watch his feet as he walked to and from 

 the fo'c'sle. But now long wooden boards, about eighteen inches 

 high, were produced and these were duly fitted into their frame- 

 work until the fore part of the ship looked like a magnified section 

 through a bee's hive. Each square cubicle was known as a pound 

 and they were meant to serve for the rough separation of the 

 catch into sizes and species as well as to keep it from being 

 thrown by the hundredweight at the winch or against the fo'c'sle 

 or bodily at the gunwales and down the scuppers in a heavy sea. 



By the time all was done and they had hoisted the mizzen sail, 

 there was just a moment to spare for another cup of tea before the 

 telegraph rang and they knew they were nearing their ground. 

 The long low swell, on which the Caroon was swaying with a kind 

 of deliberate unsteadiness, was dragging Jan's stomach muscles 

 along with it. He could almost hear the blood in his belly thud- 

 ding from front to back, from fore to aft, and he wanted to cough 



32 



