his mates," added Zulu, with a broad grin.

"Shove out the boat now, lads," said the skipper.

At this order the capacious and rather clumsy boat, which had hitherto
lain on the deck of the _Evening Star_ like a ponderous fixture, was
seized by the crew. A vigorous pull at a block and tackle sent it up on
the side of the smack. A still more vigorous shove by the men--some
with backs applied, some with arms, and all with a will--sent it
stern-foremost into the sea. It took in a few gallons of water by the
plunge, but was none the worse for that.

At the same moment Zulu literally tumbled into it. No stepping or
jumping into it was possible with the sea that was running. Indeed the
fishermen of the North Sea are acrobats by necessity, and their tumbling
is quite as wonderful, though not quite so neat, as that of
professionals. Perchance if the arena in which the latter perform were
to pitch about as heavily as the _Evening Star_ did on that occasion,
they might be beaten at their own work by the fishermen!

Zulu was followed by Ned Spivin, while Gunter, taking a quick turn of
the long and strong painter round a belaying-pin, held on.

The _Evening Star_ was now lying-to, not far from the steam-carrier.
Her boat danced on the waves like a cork, pitching heavily from side to
side, with now the stern and now the bow pointing to the sky; at one
moment leaping with its gunwale above the level of the smack's bulwarks;
at the next moment eight or ten feet down in the trough of the waves;
never at rest for an instant, always tugging madly at its tether, and
often surging against the vessel's side, from actual contact with which
it was protected by strong rope fenders. But indeed the boat's great
strength of build seemed its best guarantee against damage.

To one unaccustomed to such work it might have seemed utterly impossible
to put anything whatever on board of such a pitching boat. Tying a
mule-pack on the back of a bouncing wild horse may suggest an equivalent
difficulty to a landsman. Nevertheless the crew of the _Evening Star_
did it with as much quiet determination and almost as much speed as if
there was no sea on at all. Billy and Trevor slid the trunks to the
vessel's side; the mate and Gunter lifted them, rested them a moment on
the edge; Zulu and Spivin stood in the surging boat with outstretched
arms and glaring eyes. A mighty swing of the boat suggested that the
little craft meant to run the big one