8o ALONGSHORE n 



'longside his stupid ol' boat. 'Er can't say nort 

 to thic; an' then us can slip inside o'en when he's 

 gone across beach. You take thlccy paddle. . . . 

 Look out! Coo'h ! how the gert poop do swear! 

 Sounds so bad. P'raps us had better git 'long.' 



Git 'long they do — for ten minutes, or until 

 more kids arrive. One could kill them will- 

 ingly were it possible to bring them back to 

 life before nightfall. (Fancy a child rising from 

 the dead to find it was just bedtime!) As 'tis, In 

 this world of headwinds, there is nothing to do 

 but cuss. And it does not follow that a man who 

 swears at the kids dislikes children. Rather the 

 contrary; for if he did they would give him and 

 his boats a wide berth; whereas, if at the back of 

 his mind he has a fondness for them, the wise little 

 scoundrels get to know it, hang around him and 

 his boats, and torment him the more. Still less 

 does it follow that his remarks corrupt their youth- 

 ful communications. They can cuss as well as he, 

 among themselves; I have overheard them many 

 a time; good manners demand merely that they 

 should not cuss before their elders. It is one of 

 the very first things they learn at school, If not 

 before. Only the other day, a golden-headed 

 little baby of my acquaintance was being fed at 



