s sluggish blood had been "up" for one
fiery hour. For one great day he had been the hero of the coast--the
peer of all its heroes. Then the fire went out, and Scud became as he
was. Perhaps Scud was more popular; his babies were better fed.
Fishermen treated him with a grudged respect, and when he was pointed
out to every new squad of boarders as the bravest man on the whole
coast, they smiled. How could that grinning, singing Scud save a
jelly-fish?

It was just eleven o'clock. With what impatience we had waited for the
tramp of those rubber boots! We rushed upon the piazza and greeted Scud
and Salt, dressed in their oil-skins, just as they had come from the
trap. Scud halted uneasily at the front door.

"No miss, I can't come in in this toggery; I'm all gurry. I'll go home
and change my clothes. Couldn't get here sooner. Herrin' jess struck. We
sold ten barr'l this mornin'."

But we constrained him, and Scud entered, staring about, shuffling his
rubber boots and wiping them as best he might. White scales of fish
glittered upon his black oil-skins. He looked as if he were mailed in
silver.

It devolved upon me to fetch Betty from the pantry; but I saw as I went
that all of the people in the parlor stood up as Scud entered, as if
they were greeting a prince. Scud looked from one to the other
uncomfortably. He blushed a deep russet red, and stared, and then
laughed in a vacant way. Betty now appeared in the doorway, and the
three made a most impressive group in their working-clothes, wondering
what it was all about, and what the city folk were after now.

"Scud," said the master of the house, clearing his throat, "you have
done the bravest deed this coast has record of for twenty years. You
have saved to us our children, dearer than our life. You had your own
wife to think of, and the children who depend upon you for their bread.
You have been a hero. To us you are always a hero, and our love and
gratitude will last as long as our days. I have the privilege of
presenting to you the highest tribute Massachusetts pays to her brave
men--the gold medal of her great Humane Society, one hundred years old.
This honor has not been sought, but has been eagerly bestowed. May it
never leave your family! It will be an inspiration to your boys. You
have obtained the reward of your pluck, and you deserve it, old fellow.
Now shake!" The speech broke in eloquence, but not in feeling.

"See," said Mabel, "I kiss the medal for you