All of these articles the young lady set out systematically on a board which the Captain fixed across the thwarts to serve as a table; while, as for Mr Strong, all he did in the way of assistance was to set himself down on the most comfortable seat he could find in the stern- sheets, where, lighting his pipe, he beguiled the weary moments until lunch should be ready as best he could, smoking and thinking! He had not to wait long; for presently, with much dignity the Captain served up his first instalment of soles, which were declared by the barrister to be so good that another cooking was necessary; aye, and another too after that, until there was not a single sole left. "Poor aunt Polly!" exclaimed Nellie, laughing merrily when they were all consumed, and the bones of the fish chucked overboard to feed their brethren below. "All her soles are gone! What shall we tell her?" "Why, that we ate them," said the Captain, starting the laugh, and all joining in. Dick, who was at the moment devouring the last crust of bread left, after finishing his portion of the fish, nearly choked himself by bursting into a guffaw while in the act of swallowing; so, this necessitated the Captain's administering to him a cup of sea-water wherewith to wash down the morsel sticking in his throat, which did not taste nice after grilled sole, though the Captain said it was "as good as grog." They did not have much sport after luncheon, the next cast of the net bringing up nothing but boulders and mud, besides an old bottle that must have been dropped into the sea years before and, mayhap, went down with Kempenfeldt in the _Royal George_; for it was encrusted with seaweed and barnacles of almost a century's growth. After a bit, seeing that nothing further was to be gained by stopping out at sea, drifting with the tide alternately between the Nab and Warner light-ships, like Mahomet's coffin between heaven and earth, the Captain hauled up the trawl and bore away back homeward as well as he could with a foul wind, having to make several tacks before fetching the cutter's moorings off the coastguard-station. In spite of this, however, they reached "the Moorings" in time for dinner; when, notwithstanding their hearty luncheon, no deficiency of appetite could be observed in any of the party. Bob and Nellie were, of course, delighted with their experiences of the day; for, in addition to the joys of trawling and festive picnic on the water, which they thought even better than their previous one on land, they brought home a splendid "soldier crab," who caused much subsequent amusement when admitted to the aquarium, two new specimens of sea- anemones, and the "dead man's fingers," whose name made their aunt Polly shiver, the good lady declaring it "quite uncanny, sure." Their mother, however, was not quite so well-pleased with the result of the expedition.