ell fish
of any description. But the fact was that the herring were generally
contracted for by the agents of the salesmen, and shipped directly for
Glasgow, so that they were but rarely retailed in Erisaig itself;
moreover, people accustomed to herring their whole life through
preferred variety--a freshly-caught mackerel, or flounder, or what not.
Perhaps, however, it was more curiosity than anything else that brought
the neighbours along to the west slip, to see what the MacNicols had
been about.

Well, there was a good deal of laughing and jeering, especially on the
part of the men (these were idlers: the fishermen were all gone away in
the boats); but the women, who had to provide for their households,
knew when they had a cheap bargain; and the sale of the 'cuddies'
proceeded briskly. Indeed, when the people had gone away again, and
the four lads were by themselves on the quay, there was not a single
'cuddy' left--except a dozen that Rob had put into a can of water, to
be given to the grocer in the morning as part payment for the loan of
the ropes.

'What do ye make it altogether?' said Neil to Rob, who was counting the
money.

'Three shillings and ninepence.'

'Three shillings and ninepence! Man, that's a lot. Will ye put it in
the savings bank?'

'No, I will not,' said Rob. 'I'm no satisfied with the net, Neil. We
must have better ropes all the way round; and whatever money we can
spare we maun spend on the net. Man, think of this now: if we were to
fall in with a big haul of herring or Johnnie-Dories, and lose them
through the breaking of the net, I think ye would jist sit down and
greet.'

It was wise counsel, as events showed. For one afternoon, some ten
days afterwards, they set out as usual. They had been having varying
success; but they had earned more than enough to pay their landlady,
the tailor, and the schoolmaster; and every farthing beyond these
necessary expenses they had spent on the net. They had replaced all
the rotten pieces with sound twine; they had got new ropes; they had
deepened it, moreover, and added some more sinkers to help the
guy-poles. Well, on this afternoon, Duncan and Nicol, being the two
youngest, were as usual pulling away to one of the small quiet bays,
and Rob was idly looking around him, when he saw something on the
surface of the sea at some distance off that excited a sudden interest.
It was what the fishermen call 'broken water'--a seething produced by a