tion of the
men. As 15 or 20 of them usually scream at once, it is only she who
screams loudest and flourishes her umbrella most vigorously that can
obtain a hearing. The calm unruffled demeanour of the men is as much a
feature in the scene as is the frenzy of the women.

During one of my visits I saw a fisherman there who was the most
interesting specimen of cool impudence I ever encountered. He wore a
blue coat, knee-breeches, white worsted stockings, and on his head of
long yellow hair a red night-cap with a tall hat on top of all. When I
discovered him he was looking up with a grave sarcastic expression into
the flushed countenance of a stout, blue-eyed lass who had just eagerly
offered him _syv skillings_ (seven skillings), for a lot of fish. That
was about 3 and a half pence, the skilling being half a penny. The man
had declined by look, not by tongue, and the girl began to grow angry.

"Haere du, fiskman," (hear you, fisherman), she cried, "vil du har otte
skillings?" (will you have eight skillings?)

The fisherman turned away and gazed out to sea. The girl grew crimson
in the face at this.

"Fiskman, fiskman!" she cried, "vil du har _ni_ (nine) skillings?"

The fisherman kicked out of the way a lobster that was crawling too near
his naked toes, and began to bale out the boat. The girl now seemed to
become furious. Her blue eyes flashed like those of a tiger. She
gasped for breath, while her cotton umbrella flashed over the
fisherman's head like a pink meteor. Had that umbrella been only a foot
longer the tall black hat would have come to grief undoubtedly.
Suddenly she paused, and in a tone of the deepest solemnity, said--

"Haere du, fiskman, vil du har ti (ten) shillings?"

The rock of Gibraltar is not more unyielding than was that "fiskman."
He took off his hat, removed his night-cap, smoothed his yellow hair,
and wiped his forehead; then, replacing the cap and hat, he thrust both
hands into his coat pockets, turned his back on the entire market, and
began to whistle.

This was too much! It was past female endurance! The girl turned
round, scattered the bystanders right and left, and fled as if she had
resolved then and there to dash out her brains on the first post she
met, and so have done with men and fish for ever. But she was not done
with them yet! The spell was still upon her. Ere she had got a dozen
yards away she paused, stood one moment in uncertainty, and then rushing
back