"
Willis saw some planks had been taken up in a distant part of the
wharf's flooring. He went there and swung himself down under the
wharf. There were rocks there, and Willis, following the sound of a
hammer, came to his father.
"That you, Willis?" asked his father pleasantly.
"Pa," said the boy, "some of the other men are up there eating
crabs. Why don't you go up and get some, too?"
"It isn't lunch-time," returned Mr. Sutherland. "We're expected to
work now."
"Three or four of the men aren't working," said Willis.
"No," rejoined his father. "Several of the men lately have taken to
catching crabs sometimes during work-hours."
"The men tie a rope to a big twine net, and bait it, and let it out
into the bay. In a little while they haul it in again, and there are
maybe half a dozen big crabs in the net. The men have made a sort of
boiler out of an empty kerosene can with one end cut off. They
attach a hose to the boiler of the engine and fill that can with hot
water. The crabs cook in a short time and those men stop work to
eat. It would be all right if the men cooked the crabs at noon, when
we're allowed to lay off, but they stop in the fore-noon sometimes
an hour, and again in the afternoon sometimes, and eat crabs. The
foreman we have now allows it. He does it himself."
While Mr. Sutherland talked he was working.
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