22 THE FISHERMAN’S BOY.

lower end a good deal under the water, and
made the other end lift up higher. Then,
when the tide went down, old Lookout would
gradually lie down again too. So that they
could always tell, by looking at the old watch
dog, how high the tide was. Besides that,
he would tell them whether it was ebb or
flood.’’

‘¢ Ebb or flood?” inquired Lucy.

“Yes; that is, whether the tide was coming
in or going out. When the tide is flowing
in, it is called flood tide, all the time from
when it first begins to come in, until the
bay is full: then it is high tide. Very soon
it begins to ebb, that is, to run out again; and
it is called ebb tide until it is all out, and
then it is low tide again.”

‘‘But how could the buoy tell,” said
Rollo, “whether the tide was coming in or
going out?”

‘Why, it was confined, you see, only at
one end, and so the tide, when it was coming
in, or going out, carried off the upper end of
the buoy, so as to make old Lookout’s head
point the way the tide was going. When
the tide was coming in, old Lookout turned
his head towards the head of the bay; and