But her charm of manner, her wonder-working smile, her unfailing good-humour, that had made life easy for her elsewhere, seemed to be of no avail here—with the grown-up folk, at all events. Not that they were rude: they were merely obdurate and silent. Of course, when she got this one or that pinned by a direct question, he did not absolutely refuse to reply; but their answers were so contradictory, and their demands in most cases so impossible, that no practical enlightenment was possible. One man wanted more boats from the Government; another said that more boats were of no use unless the Government supplied nets as well; a third said boats and nets were valueless unless they had a steamer calling daily. There was also a demand that the Government should build more harbours; and when Mary said, in reply to this, that she understood the harbours they had got—Lochgarra, that is to say, and Camus Bheag—to be about as excellent as any in the West Highlands, she was answered that the harbours were perhaps good enough—if there was a railway. Then there were some who did not seem to have any occupation at all. "Don’t you have anything to work at?" she said, to one tall and rather good-looking young fellow, who was standing looking on at the women and girls gathering the sea-tangle. "My father has a croft," he made answer, in a listless way. "But wouldn’t you," she said, in a very gentle and hesitating manner, so as not to seem impertinent, "wouldn’t you rather go away and find some work for yourself?" "Aw, well, I was at Glasgow, and I was getting twenty shillings a week there." "And you did not stay?" "Well, I could not live there," he said, simply enough. "It is no use getting twenty shillings a week if you cannot live in a place; and in a few years I would be dead, if I was living in Glasgow. I am better to be alive here than dead in Glasgow." "Then perhaps you go to the East Coast fishing?" she suggested. "No, I am not going there now. I was there one or two years, but it did not pay me." "And don’t you do anything?" she asked again. "Well, in January I am in the Naval Reserve." "And the rest of the year you don’t do anything?" "Well, my father has a croft"—and that was about all the information she could extract from him. As a final attempt she said to him, timidly— "If I were to try to get you a boat and nets from the Government, would it be of service to you?" "It would need eight of a crew," said he, with an obvious lack of interest, "and I would not be knowing where to find them."