134 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



an' herrin' are wonderful good things to eat, they 

 say." 



"There's no question, to my thinkin'," pursues the 

 skipper, "'at herrin's get to know when you've come 

 amongst 'em. They feel the loss o' their comrades an' 

 swim away. An' I think that that's as wonderful as 

 their want o' sense in not goin' astarn when they're 

 meshed. If they did they'd escape, many o' 'em, but 

 they allus drive ahead, an' keep stuck. They've no 

 chance, what wi' the drifters an' the dogfish an' the cod, 

 which carry off enormous numbers. The dogfish are 

 cruel an' destructive creatures, doin' a lot o' harm to our 

 nets, but in the case o' the cod we do get something for 

 our pains and loss, for we bring 'em on board. With 

 the dogfish we can do nothing but bang him on the 

 head an' we allus do that, givin' him a wide berth, for 

 he's fair poison if he gets his teeth into you. I've seen 

 cod that thick about the nets that they've been like a 

 flock o' sheep, an' that crazy after herrin' 'at they just 

 jump up out o' the water alongside an' beg for 'em, as a 

 dog will beg for a biscuit. You see, we get to under- 

 stand fish, us fishermen, just as gentlemen ashore know 

 the ways o' dogs an' horses. Now, sir, I don't know 

 about you, but I'm goin' to turn in. Take my bunk 

 there, if you'd like it. I can manage on the locker." 

 "I think," I answer, "that I will lie down on deck." 

 George peeps from his dark cupboard and smiles 

 broadly. The skipper gives me a coverless pillow and 

 a couple of rugs and I climb the straight short ladder 

 to the deck. "Take up thy bed and walk," says 

 George, as a forlorn hope, and the laughter which greets 

 the sally does not die till I am stretched on the planks, 



