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“Whose boy is he?” said I.

“Why, Andrer’s, up here to the fish-house. She’s dead, and him and the boy get along together somehow or ‘nother. They’ve both got something saved up, and Andrer’s a clever fellow; took it very hard, losing his wife. I was telling of him the other day: ‘Andrer,’ says I, ‘ye ought to look up somebody or ‘nother, and not live this way. There’s plenty o’ smart, stirring women that would mend ye up, and cook for ye, and do well by ye.’–‘No,’ says he; ‘I’ve hed my wife, and I’ve lost her.’–‘Well, now,’ says I, ‘ye’ve shown respect, and there’s the boy a-growin’ up, and if either of you was took sick, why, here ye be.’–‘Yes,’ says he, ‘here I be, sure enough;’ and he drawed a long breath, ‘s if he felt bad; so that’s all I said. But it’s no way for a man to get along, and he ought to think of the boy. He owned a good house about half a mile up the road; but he moved right down here after she died, and his cousin took it, and it burnt up in the winter. Four year ago that was. I was down to the Georges Banks.”

Some other men came down toward the water, and took a boat that was waiting, already fitted out with a trawl coiled in two tubs, and some hand-lines and bait for rock-cod and haddock, and my friend joined them; they were going out for a night’s fishing. I watched them hoist the little sprit-sail, and drift a little until they caught the wind, and then I looked again for Georgie, whose boat was like a black spot on the water.

I knew him better soon after that. I used to go out with him for lobsters, or to catch cunners, and it was strange that he never had any cronies, and would hardly speak to the other children. He was very shy; but he had put all his heart into his work,–a man’s hard work, which he had taken from choice. His father was kind to him; but he had a sorry home, and no mother,–the brave, fearless, steady little soul!

He looked forward to going one day (I hope that day has already dawned) to see the shipyards at a large seaport some twenty miles away. His face lit up when he told me of it, as some other child’s would who had been promised a day in fairy-land. And he confided to me that he thought he should go to the Banks that coming winter. “But it’s so cold!” said I; “should you really like it?”–“Cold!” said Georgie. “Ho! rest of the men never froze.” That was it,–the “rest of the men;” and he would work until he dropped, or tend a line until his fingers froze, for the sake of that likeness,–the grave, slow little man, who has so much business with the sea, and who trusts himself with touching confidence to its treacherous keeping and favour.

Andrew West, Georgie’s father, was almost as silent as his son at first, but it was not long before we were very good friends, and I went out with him at four o’clock one morning, to see him set his trawl. I remember there was a thin mist over the sea, and the air was almost chilly: but, as the sun came up, it changed the colour of everything to the most exquisite pink,–the smooth slow waves, and the mist that blew over them as if it were a cloud that had fallen down out of the sky. The world just then was like the hollow of a great pink sea-shell; and we could only hear the noise of it, the dull sound of the waves among the outer ledges.

We had to drift about for an hour or two when the trawl was set; and after a while the fog shut down again gray and close, so we could not see either the sun or the shore. We were a little more than four miles out, and we had put out more than half a mile of lines. It is very interesting to see the different fish that come up on the hooks,–worthless sculpin and dog-fish, and good rock-cod and haddock, and curious stray creatures which often even the fishermen do not know. We had capital good luck that morning, and Georgie and Andrew and I were all pleased. I had a hand-line, and was fishing part of the time, and Georgie thought very well of me when he found I was not afraid of a big fish, and, besides that, I had taken the oars while he tended the sail, though there was hardly wind enough to make it worth his while. It was about eight o’clock when we came in, and there was a horse and wagon standing near the landing; and we saw a woman come out of Andrew’s little house. “There’s your aunt Hannah a’ready,” said he to Georgie; and presently she came down the pebbles to meet the boat, looking at me with much wonder as I jumped ashore.