ther spear, and he proposed, as soon as he was able to
go out, to attempt catching some fish.

During one of our excursions, Robin and I had reached the shore of a
fine lake, in the clear water of which we had seen several large
white-fish; and when we told Martin, he begged that we would take his
net and spear and try to catch them.

"But they are all under the ice now, for the lake must be frozen over,"
I observed.

"So much the better; you will catch them the more easily," he answered.
"All you have to do is to cut a hole in the ice, and let down the net,
and the fish which will come to breathe at the open water are sure to be
caught."

As Martin himself was unable to go out, Robin and I undertook to follow
his directions, at which he appeared greatly pleased. As both he and
Alick seemed to wish for fish we set off at once, leaving Pat to take
care of them.

We found the lake completely frozen over, and though the ice was not yet
very thick, it was sufficiently so to bear our weight. With our long
sheath-knives we contrived after some labour to cut a hole in the ice;
we then let down one of the nets, holding tight to the upper edge. We
had not long to wait, when we felt by the violent agitation of the net
that a fish had been caught. We hauled it carefully in, not knowing
whether the fish might escape; but it was securely fastened by the
gills, and we soon had it safe. It weighed, we calculated, between six
and eight pounds.

Our success encouraged us to proceed, and another fish, of a still
larger size, was captured.

"This is good fun," cried Robin. "We shall never want food while we can
catch fish in this fashion."

Again we put down the net; but though we waited long, no fish came into
it. Losing patience, we agreed to cut another hole at some distance
off, fancying that the fish might have been frightened at seeing their
companions drawn so suspiciously out of the water. Having cut the hole,
we, as before, let down the net, and shortly afterwards captured a third
fish. I suspect that, had we remained at the first hole, we should have
been equally successful.

The fish at this early season of the year were probably swimming about
freely under the water, and did not require the fresh air which
afterwards would become so welcome to them. We cut two or three other
holes, and altogether caught five fish--a pretty fair load to carry
home. We had the advantage, at this season of the year, of bein