would be exhausted;
so Rob began to pull round towards the shore again. At the same time
Neil, who had had his instructions, began to haul in his end of the net
gently, so that by and by, when Rob had run the boat on the beach, and
jumped out with his rope in his hand, the line of floats began to form
a semicircle that was gradually narrowing and coming nearer the shore.

It was a moment of great excitement, and not a word was spoken. For
although this was ostensibly only a trial to see how the net would
work, each lad in his secret heart was wondering whether there might
not be a haul of fish captured from the mysterious deep; and not one of
them, not Rob himself, could tell whether this very considerable weight
they were gradually pulling in was the weight of the net merely, or the
weight of fish, or the weight of seaweed.

The semicircle of the floats came nearer and nearer, all eyes striving
to pierce the clear water.

'I hope the rope'll no break,' said Rob, anxiously, for the weight was
great.

'And it's only seaweed!' said Duncan, in a tone of great disappointment.

But Rob's eye had been caught by some unusual appearance in the water.
It seemed troubled somehow; and more especially near the line of floats.

'Is it?' said he; and he hastily bade Duncan take the rope and haul it
gently in. He himself began to take up handfuls of small stones, and
fling them into the sea close by the two guy-poles, so that the fish
should be frightened back into the net. And as the semicircle grew
still smaller, it was very obvious that, though there might be seaweed
in the net, it was not all seaweed. By this time the guy-poles had
been got ashore; they were now hauling at the net itself.

'Quicker now, boys!' Rob called out. 'Man alive, look at that!'

All the space of water now enclosed by the net was seen to be in a
state of commotion; the net itself was being violently shaken; here and
there a fish leapt into the air.

'Steady, boys! Don't jerk, or ye'll tear the net to bits!' Rob called
out in great excitement.

For behold! when they had hauled this great weight up on the shore with
a final swoop, there was something there that almost bewildered them--a
living mass of fish floundering about in the wet seaweed--some
springing into the air--others flopping out on to the sand--many
helplessly entangled in the meshes. It was a wonderful sight; but
their astonishment and delight had to give place to action.

'