Bearings for a New Course

And now, my brave boys, comes the best of the fun,
It's hands about ship and reef topsails in one;
So it's lay aloft, topman, as the hellum goes down,
And clew down your topsails as the mainyard goes round.
--La Pique.

At the end of that week the Ethel and May had delivered at market her
first fare of fish and her captains had divided her first shares. Mayo
decided that the results were but of proportion to the modest returns.
He was viewing the regeneration of the tribe of Hue and Cry. In their
case it had been the right touch at the right time. For years their
hopes had been hungry for a chance to make good. Now gratitude inspired
them and an almost insane desire to show that they were not worthless
drove them to supreme effort. The leaven of the psychology of
independence was getting in its work.

The people of Hue and Cry for three generations had been made to feel
that they were pariahs. When they had brought their fish or clams to the
mainland the buyers were both unjust and contemptuous, as if they were
dealing with begging children who must expect only a charitable gift
for their product instead of a real man's price. Prices suited the
fish-buyers' moods of the day. The islanders had never been admitted
to the plane of straight business like other fishermen. They had always
taken meekly what had been offered--whether coin or insults. Therefore,
their labor had never returned them full values.