312 ALONGSHORE v 



A subdued grinding of machinery woke us 

 about two In the morning. The ship was notice- 

 ably steadier. Away to the north-east Etaples 

 light flashed Into the clouds, — we had drifted a 

 long way south-west. On deck, under the bright 

 electric light, every man of the crew was turned 

 out. They had started hauling In the nets. The 

 grinding noise was that of the steam-capstan, a 

 strong thing on the strain. And such was the 

 discipline of the crew that they also seemed a 

 single strong thing greatly on the strain. All 

 around us, under the peacefully bobbing lights of 

 other ships, the same work was going on as 

 swiftly as men could do It, but without haste or 

 hurry. 



As the cable came In over the bows two men 

 unbent the lanyards, letting those of the net drop 

 back Into the sea and throwing the buoys on one 

 side. Thence the cable travelled along deck, 

 underneath the net, to the revolving steam- 

 capstan, took three turns round It, and descended 

 Into the net-hold, where a man colled it with very 

 great care. 



For the net, a long, thin roller the length of 

 the herring-trunks had been rigged up on the 

 port gunwale; and in the centre of the deck a 



