THE FISHERS
Up with the sun next morning, the girls began the day by bathing in a little secluded pool, where there was no danger of being interrupted by a shark. Immediately after breakfast they set off to the site of their hut, looked cautiously around to make sure that no one had been there, and began to weave the grasses they had prepared the day before. Elizabeth was at first rather slow, but the others worked quickly, and by dinner-time they had each finished a mat several feet square.
"You two have quite outstripped me," said Elizabeth as they returned to the boat. "I'll go on with my mat after dinner, while you see what you can do to make some fishing-tackle."
"Right!" cried Tommy; "you shall have fish for supper, if you're good."
They dined on bananas and coffee, ruefully noticing that the tin of condensed milk was nearly empty. Then Mary and Tommy went up the stream to a place where they had seen a clump of canes, which would furnish any number of fishing-rods. They selected one about six feet long, and after a good deal of trouble, the wood being tough, cut it down. Tommy brought out of her pocket two or three pieces of string of unequal length and thickness, and knotted them together.
"There's our line," she said, "and it's lucky there's no one here to laugh at it."
"How can we fasten it on to the rod?" asked Mary.
"Tie it, of course."
Tommy proceeded to tie the string to the thinner end of the rod.
"Oh, bother!" she said, "the cane's so smooth the string slips down every time. This won't do."
"Let's make a hole in the rod, and put the string through it," suggested Mary.
"The cane is sure to split if we try to bore a hole with a knife," said Tommy. "I know! There's a sort of spike in my knife. We'll make it red-hot, and then I dare say we can bore a clean hole."
They ran back to their little camp on the beach, where Elizabeth was still at work on her mat.
"How are you getting on?" asked Mary.
"Faster now," replied Elizabeth. "I shall beat you both soon."
They told her what they had done, and Tommy thrust the spike into the fire, which they never allowed to go out. Meanwhile, Mary hunted for something that would serve as a hook. She gave a cry of delight when she discovered a strong safety-pin; and Tommy having by this time bored a hole neatly through the cane, they very soon had their rough-and-ready fishing-tackle complete. It only remained to bait the hook. They found plenty of small shellfish clinging fast to the rocks on the shore, and they prised these up with their knives, and provided themselves with a number of the little molluscs. Thus equipped, they went along the shore in search of a spot that promised success. They were both excited—and Elizabeth was so much interested in the experiment that she laid down her mat and followed her sisters. After a little time they came to an irregular line of rocks running from the base of the cliffs towards the reef on which they had nearly struck on approaching the island. They had already observed that some of the rocks always stood above water, while others were sometimes submerged. These latter were easily distinguishable by the seaweed and the limpets with which they were covered. At the present moment the tide was going down, and the girls thought that they would have a good chance of catching some of the fish that had probably come up with the tide.
Accordingly, they made their way for some distance along the rocky barrier. The sea was pretty calm, owing to the protection of the reef; but every now and then there was a dash of spray over the rocks at the farthest end. Choosing a rock that was lashed by broken water on the seaward side, and had a deep calm pool on the landward side, they determined to try their luck.
"I can see hundreds of fish darting about," said Mary, peering into the pool as Tommy baited the hook.
"The more the merrier," said Tommy. "Look out, Bess, I don't want to hook you, dear."
The other girls gave Tommy a wide berth as she cast her hook, then came to her side and waited for the expected catch. She had not put on a float, declaring that any fish worth catching would soon make itself felt. But as she drew the line towards her she had no sense of weight or resistance; the hook came up with the bait untouched.
"They don't fancy it, apparently," said Tommy. "I'll have another try. Look out!" Again she cast the line, and again drew it in.
"I declare, the little wretches are nibbling the bait off under our very noses," she cried, as the hook passed through the clear water of the pool. "How disgusting!"
"Poor little things! why shouldn't they enjoy themselves?" said Mary.
"Oh! if you're going to talk like that, I've done," said Tommy, flinging down the rod impatiently.
Elizabeth picked it up.
"Let me try," she said.
She baited the hook again, but had no more success than her sister.
"It is exasperating," she said. "I'm surprised the fish here are so clever."
"You'd better have tried a bent pin as I suggested," said Mary. "You'd have caught some of those little chaps swarming there. The safety-pin is too big for them."
"Who wants little skinny things?" said Tommy. "I'd like a haddock or a cod. Let me try again, Bess."
Once more the hook was baited and let down. Again it was surrounded by a swarm of eager nibblers, and Tommy was on the point of drawing it back in disgust when suddenly the crowd of little fish parted and scattered in all directions, darting off like streaks of light. The girls held their breath as they saw a "whopper," as Tommy called it, come slowly towards the bait. It seemed to smell at it, moving round with flicks of its tail. Then it opened its mouth—and Tommy felt a tug on the line.
"Got him!" she cried triumphantly. "A monster, too."
The other girls watched her as she drew it in. She wasted no time in playing it, but simply hauled it up towards the rock. Bess stooped, and while Mary held her to prevent her from stumbling into the sea, she slipped her hands underneath the fish and jerked it out of the water.
"He's not such a monster after all," said Mary. "How deceptive the water is!"
The fish, indeed, was no bigger than a good-sized haddock.
"It is big enough to make us a good supper," said Elizabeth, "and I don't think we should try to catch any more now. They won't keep in this climate. Tommy can catch some every day if she likes."
"All right," said Tommy. "But, I say, I can't wait till supper-time. The look of the fish gives me an appetite. I vote we have it for tea. You're cook, Bess. I'll finish your mat while you're getting the fish ready."
This was agreed upon, and they returned to the camp. The two younger girls resumed the weaving, while Elizabeth, using a flat stone as a kitchen table, set about cleaning the fish in a very housewifely manner.
All at once Mary dropped her hands and cried "Oh!"
"What's the matter?" asked Tommy.
"Suppose the fish is poisonous! Some are, you know."
"Goodness, yes! What can we do? We haven't a taster, like some old kings I've read about."
"Don't worry," said Elizabeth tranquilly. "We must have a change of food, and there's bound to be a little risk in trying new things. We'll cook it, and I'll eat a little. We shall soon know if there's any harm in it."
"Oh, no, Bess," said Mary. "Why should you take the risk?"
"Somebody must, and I'm the eldest—and the toughest, I expect, so that if it does make me ill I shall get over it sooner than you."
"And I did so want a snack!" sighed Tommy. "You won't eat much, will you, Bess? We couldn't spare you, you know."
"I'll be careful," said Elizabeth, with a smile. "It looks very tempting, doesn't it?"
"Don't, Bess; you make my mouth water," said Tommy. "How are you going to fry it?"
"I thought of boiling it in the kettle."
"I wouldn't do that," said Mary. "I don't care for fishy tea. It would take ages to get the taste out of the kettle."
"But I don't see how we can fry it without a frying-pan."
"Bake it," said Tommy. "Let's make an oven. I'll show you."
She ran to the beach and collected a number of stones, which she brought back and arranged in the shape of a small circle. Outside this she placed a second circle, and filled the space between the two with dried grasses, brushwood and twigs.
"Now, Bess," she said, "but a portion of the fish in the inner circle. Then we'll set light to the fuel, and cover it all over with stones, and the fish will bake in no time."
"But it will be smoky," protested Mary.
"Not if we wrap it in leaves. Let's try, at any rate; if it doesn't succeed we shan't have spoiled much."
The fish was wrapped in leaves as Tommy suggested, and placed on a stone in the midst of the small circle. Then, having pressed the fuel firmly together so that it should not burn away too quickly, Elizabeth kindled it from the fire, and covered it with stones, leaving a few spaces for the passage of air. They were so much interested in their experiment that they sat idly about the novel oven, waiting until the fish should be cooked. Every now and again Tommy would lift off one of the stones to see how the cooking was proceeding.
"The leaves are turning brown," she would say delightedly. "And what a lovely smell!"
After about a quarter of an hour they removed the stones and the wrappings, and Elizabeth declared the fish was done.
"It doesn't look so nice as if we'd had egg and bread-crumbs," she said, "but we must do without those luxuries."
She tasted a small portion.
"Very nice," she said, "in spite of no salt or pepper."
"Don't eat too much," said Mary anxiously.
"I must give it a fair trial. Make the tea, Tommy, will you? A cup of tea will qualify the poison if there is any."
"What a nerve you've got!" said Tommy admiringly.
Soon all were drinking tea, and the younger girls munched bananas, while Elizabeth ate a few small pieces of the baked fish. They watched her with anxiety mingled with envy.
"Really, you mustn't eat any more," said Tommy at last. "Now rest against the side of the boat." She placed a shawl behind her sister's head, and covered her feet with her macintosh.
"Any one would think I was an invalid," said Elizabeth, laughing.
"It's nothing to laugh at," said Mary severely. "You may be very ill by and by."
"Meanwhile put the rest of the fish where the flies and insects can't get at it," said Elizabeth. "There's a nice little hollow in that rock over there. Cover it with leaves."
This done, they sat one on each side of Elizabeth, propping their chins on their hands, and gazing at her with mournful interest.
"This is too absurd," said Elizabeth, after a few minutes. "Let us get on with our hut. I can't stand being stared at like this. Come along, girls. We must cut down some more canes to make walls; I'll show you what I mean."
They went up-stream to the clump of canes, and, selecting some of the longest, proceeded to hack them down with their knives—no easy task, for the longest canes were also the thickest. But after a little trouble they got three or four that Elizabeth thought would answer her purpose, and took them to the site chosen for the hut. Here they laid the canes across the projecting branches of the three trees, binding them firmly in place with strong tendrils of a creeping plant. After an hour's work all the canes were in position, forming a kind of framework for the roof.
"Now all we have to do is to cover this with matting, and our roof is finished," said Elizabeth. "We shall have to get some more canes to stretch matting on for the walls, and as we have used up nearly all the grasses we collected, we had better go at once to get some more ready for to-morrow."
"To-morrow!" cried Mary. "I'd forgotten! Do you feel quite well, Bess?"
"As well as possible."
"How long is it since you ate the fish?" asked Tommy.
"More than two hours—long enough for the poison to act, I'm sure. So we may make up our minds that the fish is perfectly wholesome, and there's baked fish for supper for all of us to-night."
"Hurray!" said Tommy, beginning to dance. "Let's go and get the grasses; by the time we have got enough to make our mats it will be supper-time. Oh! I am so glad you are not ill, Bess."
They spent an hour or two in gathering grasses, and returned to their little camp shortly before sunset, in order to cook their supper before dark. Tommy ran to the hole in the rock where the fish had been left. A cry of dismay startled her sisters.
"What is it?" they cried, turning towards her.
"It's gone, every bit of it; oh, who has stolen it?"
She looked round with alarm in her eyes, and the other girls also glanced about them with consternation and anxiety. Was it possible that some one had been spying on them?
"I did see somebody that day," said Tommy in a whisper.
"But who would want to steal a bit of fish?" said Elizabeth, with practical common-sense. "If there are natives here, they could fish for themselves, I'm sure."
"There aren't any cats in these parts, are there, Mary?" asked Tommy.
"I never read of them. But—good gracious!" she cried suddenly, "there are the bones!"
She had looked a little farther into the hole than Tommy had done, and there lay the skeleton of the fish picked clean of every bit of flesh.
"I know what it is," she said. "It's a land-crab's hole, and the wretch smelt the fish, I suppose, and came out for a feast while we were busy."
"The mean thing!" cried Tommy. "And we shan't have any fish for supper after all. I'll serve him out."
She ran to the boat and brought back the boat-hook, with which she poked vigorously in the hole. In a few minutes a large crab came scuttling out, at the sight of which she picked up her skirt and ran away, not liking the look of his formidable nippers.
They supped as usual on bananas and tea, resolving to choose a safer larder when next they kept fish for a future meal.