86 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



satisfy you what's rolls an' coffee for a man to start the 

 day on ? However, I drank their coffee an' ran through 

 their rolls in a way 'at amazed 'em, an' left 'em without 

 any for anybody else. I wasn't satisfied, but there was 

 nothing more to eat, so I had to stop. 



" Now, you must understand 'at I hadn't a coin of 

 any sort in my pocket it had all gone in drink ; but the 

 way I looked at it was 'at they'd got my money amongst 

 'em somewhere, and I hadn't got vally for it, so I wasn't 

 troubled much on that point. However, they'd been 

 very kind, an' when I clearly saw 'at they wouldn't hear 

 o' bein' paid, an' 'at they begged me, in their foreign 

 way, not to mention it, I made a big pretence o' feelin' 

 in my pockets for the money. At last I thanked 'em 

 very kindly and left 'em, an' they came down to the 

 beach to see us both off, an' gave a very willin' shove to 

 the boat when we got her afloat again. The police had 

 a wonderful lot to say, an' we could plainly see 'at if we 

 went back we shouldn't be welcomed. The fleet had 

 gone, becoss a breeze had sprung up ; but we came 

 across a single-boater, an' he kept us aboard till we 

 picked our own smack up again. 



"Well, there you are. There's a little yarn o' the 

 way we used to amuse ourselves in the old days an' not 

 so very long ago, mind you before the Mission drove 

 the coper off the Dogger an' provided beautiful ships 

 where we can get tobacco at cost price, an' where, when 

 a man's ill, he can be looked after by a doctor an' pulled 

 round without havin' to go home, an' ten to one losin' 

 his berth. 



" Why, it's only a few weeks since one o' the coper's 

 skippers wrung his hands an' said 'at the Mission had 



