The vessels that we had dodged by this bit of luffing were now dropping by us; one red light was slowly sliding past our quarter to port, and one green shooting by our bow to starboard. Evidently Clancy had only been waiting to steer clear of these two neighbors, for there was plenty of fish in sight now. The sea was flashing with trails of them. Clancy now began to bite out commands. "Stand ready everybody. In the boat and dory there--is everything ready, skipper?" "All ready, boat and dory." Out came Clancy's orders then--rapid fire--and as he ripped them out, no whistling wind could smother his voice, no swash of the sea could drown it. In boat, dory and on deck, every brain glowed to understand and every heart pumped to obey. "Up with your wheel, George, and let her swing by. Stea-dy. Ready in the boat. Steady your wheel. Are you ready in the boat? Let her swing off a little more, George. Steady--hold her there. Stand by in the boat. Now then--now! Cast off your painter, cast off and pull to the west'ard. And drive her! Up with the wheel. More yet--that's good. Drive her, I say, skipper. Where's that dory?--I don't see the dory. The dory, the dory--where in hell's the dory?--show that lantern in the dory. All right, the dory. Hold her up, George. Don't let her swing off another inch now. Drive her, boys, drive her! Look out now! Stand by the seine! Stand by--the twine--do you hear, Steve! The twine! Drive her--drive her--blessed Lord! drive her. That's the stuff, skipper, drive her! Let her come up, George. Down with your wheel--down with you wheel--ste-a-dy. Drive her, skipper, drive her! Turn in now--in--shorter yet. Drive her now--where's that dory!--hold her up!--not you, George! you're all right--ste-a-dy. Hold that dory up to the wind!--that's it, boys--you're all right--straight ahead now! That's the stuff. Turn her in now again, skipper. In the dory there--show your lantern in the dory and be ready for the seine-boat. Good enough. Now cover your lantern in the dory and haul away when you're ready." To have experienced the strain and drive of that rush, to have held an oar in the boat during that and to have shared with the men in the confidence they gathered--ours was a skipper to steer a boat around a school--and the soul that rang in Clancy's voice!--why, just to stand on deck, as I did, and listen to it--it was like living.