and help me to give her a fresh coat of paint.'

'What is the use of wasting paint over an old thing like that,
Grandfather? You only use her for taking out the lobster-pots. I wish we
had a good boat we could hire out to visitors.'

'"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride,"' the old man said, 'or
perhaps, in the present case, they would sail. But I have not quite
enough money put by for a new boat yet.'

'And there is little chance of making any,' Jack grumbled.

'Well, we must just make the best of what we have got. And, you know,
Jack, I must have things ship-shape about me, and so, even if the _Mary
Jane_ has seen her best days, she can still be kept spick and span as
well as seaworthy.'

'There would be some sense in keeping a smart little craft which looked
nice,' Jack argued, 'but this old tub is only fit for firewood.'

'Now, look here, sonny, suppose I were to say, "It is no use for an old
fellow like me to try to look respectable. I will just have done with
brush and comb, soap and water, and go in rags, and will leave it for
the young folks to be smart and tidy?"'

'Oh, that wouldn't do at all!' Jack said, looking at the old man, with
his jolly ruddy face and white hair. 'Granny would never allow that.'

'And I am not going to allow my old _Mary Jane_ to be slovenly either.
But I will manage the job myself if old folks and old boats are not
worth your troubling about.'

Now this made Jack rather ashamed of his reluctance to help, so in the
afternoon he came and worked with a will, until the old boat in her new
dress looked as if she had grown young again.

Indeed, the fresh paint had such a smart appearance that a little girl
passing down to the beach stopped and gazed at it with admiration.

'Look, Daddy,' she called to her father. 'Isn't it a dear little
boat? Could we have it to go for a row?'

'It certainly looks broad and safe enough for a small girl who finds it
difficult to keep still,' was the answer, and the result was an
arrangement to hire the boat at intervals for the rest of the summer
season.

And when the _Mary Jane_ was laid up for the winter, Jack and his
grandfather counted their earnings, and found that enough had been
gained to make up the sum wanted for a new boat.

'That coat of paint was worth something after all,' the old man said.
'And remember, sonny, that "taut and trim" is a good motto to hold by
whether your work lies among boats or not.'

M. H.

[Illustrat