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There were Frenchmen, too, from the Miquelon Islands, who worked

in colored caps and wore sheath-knives in belts around their

waists. Pete often looked over their dirty decks and wondered if

his late enemy were among them. There were also vessels called

"toothpicks" that did an exclusive trawling business, never using

dories except to underrun the trawls or to set them out. These

vessels were built on yacht lines and, because they filled their

holds quickly, made quick runs to port with their catches, thus

getting in several trips in a season.

Also, there were the steam trawlers, the most progressive of the

fleet, owned and operated by huge fish firms in Boston or

Portland. These were not dependent on the vagaries of the wind

and steamed wherever their skippers divined that fish might be.