mmand. The seventh of August! How near it was to the first of
September! The firm of Topsail, Armstrong, Grimm & Company, with the
skipper and cook, shivered to think of it. Ten more trading days! Not
another hour could they afford if the _Spot Cash_ would surely make
St. John's harbour on the specified day. And she would--she
must--Archie declared. His honour was involved--the honour of them
all--of the firm of Topsail, Armstrong, Grimm & Company. Had not Sir
Archibald said so?

So in the harbours of the Shore Bill o' Burnt Bay once more tussled
valiantly with "The Lost Pirate," and the flags flew, and the
phonograph ground out inviting music, and Bobby North shook the
hornpipe out of his active toes, and Bagg double-shuffled, and the
torches flared, and "Kandy for Kids" and "Don't be Foolish and Fully
Fooled" persuaded the populace, and Signor Fakerino created
mystification, and Billy Topsail employed his sweet little pipe most
wistfully in the old ballad of the coast:

"Sure, the chain 'e parted,
An' the schooner drove ashore,
An' the wives of the 'ands
Never saw un any more,
No more!
Never saw un any mo-o-o-re!"

It was all to good purpose. Trade was even brisker than in White Bay.
Out went the merchandise and in came the fish. Nor did the _Spot Cash_
once leave harbour without a hearty, even wistful, invitation to
return. Within seven days, so fast did the fish come aboard, the hold
had an appearance of plethora. Jimmie Grimm and Bagg protested that
not another quintal of fish could be stowed away. It was fairly time
to think of a deck-load. There was still something in the cabin:
something to be disposed of--something to turn into fish. And it was
Archie who proposed the scheme of riddance.

"A bargain sale," said he. "The very thing."

"An' Jolly Harbour's the place," said the skipper.

"Then homeward bound!" shouted Archie.

They ran into Jolly Harbour on the wings of a brisk southerly
wind--and unfortunately in the dusk brought up hard and fast on
Blow-Me-Down Rock.

* * * * *

Aground! They were hard and fast aground on Blow-Me-Down Rock in Jolly
Harbour at high tide. A malignant sea made a certainty of it. It
lifted the _Spot Cash_--drove her on--and gently deposited her with a
horrifying list to starboard. Archie Armstrong wrung his h