re towards dusk,
they would make their first cast with their net.

Yes; and that evening, when it had quite turned to dusk, the people of
Erisaig were startled with a new proclamation. It was Neil MacNicol,
standing in front of the cottages, and boldly calling forth these words:

"IS THERE ANY ONE WANTING CUDDIES? THERE ARE CUDDIES TO BE SOLD AT THE
WEST SLIP, FOR A SIXPENCE A HUNDERD!"

[1] 'Cuddies' is the familiar name in those parts for young saithe.
'Trawling,' again, means there the use of an ordinary seine.

[2] 'Fleein' a dragon'--flying a kite.

CHAPTER IV.

FURTHER ENDEAVOUR.

That was indeed an anxious time when the four MacNicols proceeded to
try the net on which they had spent so much forethought and labour.
They had no great expectation of catching fish this evening; their
object was rather to try whether the ropes would hold, whether the
floats would be sufficient, and whether Rob's guy-poles would keep the
net vertical. So they got into the tailor's boat, and rowed away round
the point to a sandy bay where they had nothing to fear from rocks on
this their first experiment.

It was, as has been mentioned in the previous chapter, nearly dusk--an
excellent time for catching saithe, if saithe were about. The net had
been carefully placed in the stern of the boat, so that it would run
out easily, the rope attached to the guy-pole neatly coiled on the top.
Rob was very silent as his two brothers pulled away at the long oars.
He knew what depended on this trial. They had just enough money left
to settle with their landlady on the following evening; and Nicol's
school-fees had to be paid in advance.

They rowed quietly into this little bay, which, though of a sandy
bottom, was pretty deep. Rob had resolved to take the whole
responsibility of the experiment on himself. He landed his brothers
and his cousin, giving the latter the end of the rope attached to the
guy-pole; then he quietly pulled away again from the shore.

When the length of the rope was exhausted, he himself took the guy-pole
and gently dropped it over, to prevent splashing; and as he did so the
net began to pay out. He pulled slowly, just to see how the thing
would work; and it seemed to work very well. The net went out freely,
and apparently sank properly; from the top of the guy-pole to the stern
of the boat you could see nothing but the line of the floats on the
smooth water. But the net was a small one: soon it