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Among the Grande Mignon boats there was intense rivalry. In the

holds the layers of salted fish rose steadily under the

phenomenal fishing. The salt-barrels were emptied and crowded out

by the cod, hake, and pollock. It was these boats that Ellinwood

watched with the eye of a hawk, for back in Freekirk Head he knew

that Bill Boughton stood ready to pay a bonus for the first cargo

to reach port. Now was the time when the advance orders from the

West Indies were coming up, and, because of the failure of the

season on the island itself, these orders stood unfilled.

One or two of the smallest sloops had already wet their salt and

weighed anchor for home, taking letters and messages; but these,

Pete knew, could only supply an infinitesimal portion of the

demand. What Boughton looked for was a healthy load of fifteen

hundred to two thousand quintals all ready for drying.