282 ALONGSHORE v 



man stranded. They won. Laughing spectators 

 led back to the old man his yapping victorious 

 steeds; but work was not Interrupted, for in the 

 big catch there was more interest than in the 

 little farce. 



Hardly could I entice Jim from one sight to 

 another, from one boat to the next. He smiled 

 at the crews, and, looking up a moment, they 

 grinned back. Then he spoke In English, and 

 they shook their heads, or called out, 'Yes? 

 Angllsh? No speak It.' 



'Hanged If they hain't nice civil chaps!' was 

 Jim's conclusion. 



'Good Lord ! There's a mess !' he shouted 

 when we came alongside a drifter, which I think 

 was Notre Dame de Boulogne. She had fouled her 

 nets with those of another craft. A hydraulic 

 crane was dragging them out of her in a tangle 

 that was all loose ends. A score of brown men 

 on one hawser, and a thin horse on another, were 

 tearing the nets apart. Pieces of yarn and of 

 rope lay all over the road. 



'Do you often get in a mess like this?' I 

 Inquired. 



'Only too often !' was the reply. 



'Yes,' said Jim. 'This here stiff twine, what 



