144 ALONGSHORE "i 



Darkness fell. On going out again after sup- 

 per, Benjie was there, still watching, crouched down 

 on the lee side of a boat. *Can 'ee glimpse their 

 light?' he asked. 'I can't. But they'm hauling 

 their nets right enough. They won't bide out 

 there in this. I only hopes they gets 'em aboard 

 all right wi'out hauling o'em out o' the headropes. 

 C'ooh! 'tis hauling; / knows. I've a-been out 

 there before now in a scuffle like this here, an' had 

 to let fathoms o'it slip through me hands 'cause I 

 couldn't hold on to it. 'Tisn't no fit time to be 

 out there. These here thunder-puffs. . . .' 



The south-easterly wind was still freshening, 

 the lop still making. Distant flickers of lightning 

 showed the sea as a vast troubled cavern under- 

 neath the clouds; flashes overhead lit up the 

 turmoil of it; otherwise only the grey crests of 

 the inshore breakers were visible. It began to 

 spot with rain. 'This '11 lay the sea a bit if it 

 comes on proper,' Benjie remarked. As if some 

 magic had spirited them away, the townsfolk who 

 had been walking the Front to watch the lightning 

 disappeared. Their tramp and their chatter 

 suddenly ceased. The Shore Road was empty, but 

 for a few shadows hastily crossing the wet shine 

 beneath the lamps. The sea hissed as it does 



