The tubs were full of neatly coiled line carrying a big hook each few feet; and the testing and baiting of every single hook, with the stowage of the baited line so that it should run clear when shot from the dory, was a scientific business.

Dan managed it in the dark, without looking, while Harvey caught his fingers on the barbs and bewailed his fate.

But the hooks flew through Dan's fingers like tatting on an old maid's lap.

"I helped bait up trawl ashore 'fore I could well walk," he said.

"But it's a putterin' job all the same.