"Angel-fish!" exclaimed Fritz; "what a name to give to anything 'hideous,' father!"
"There are bad angels as well as good ones," observed Ernest, in his dry, quiet way; "it is better to leave people to see for themselves which is meant."
By this time we were close in shore; and lowering the sail, we soon had our craft, with the raft in tow, safely moored to the bank.
No one was in sight, not a sound to be heard, so with united voice we gave a loud, cheery halloo, which after a while was answered in shrill tones, and the mother, with her two boys, came running from behind the rocks between us and the stream, each carrying a small bundle in a handkerchief, while little Franz held aloft a landing net.
Our return so soon was quite unexpected, and they anxiously inquired the reason, which we soon explained; and then the mysterious bundles were opened, and a great number of fine crawfish displayed; whose efforts to escape by scuttling away in every direction, directly they were placed in a heap on the ground, caused immense fun and laughter as the boys pursued and brought them back, only to find others scrambling off in a dozen different ways.
"Now, father, have we not done well to-day!" cried Jack, "did you ever see such splendid crawfish? Oh, there were thousands of them, and I am sure we have got two hundred here at least. Just look at their claws!"
"No doubt you were the discoverer of these fine crabs, eh, Jack?" said I.
"No! fancy young Franz being the lucky man!" answered he. "He and I went toward the stream while mother was busy, just to look for a good place for the bridge. Franz was picking up pebbles and alabasters, some because they were so pretty, some to strike sparks in the dark, and some, he insisted, were 'gold.' 'Jack!' 'Jack!' cried he presently, 'come and see the crabs on Fritz's jackal!' You know we threw it away there, and to be sure it was swarming with these creatures. Are you glad we have found them, father? Will they be good to eat?"
"Very excellent, my boy, and we may be thankful that food for our wants is thus provided day by day."
When each party had related the day's adventures, and while the mother was cooking the crawfish, we went to bring our store of planks to land. Even this apparently simple operation required thought, and I had to improvise rope-harness for the cow and the donkey, by which we could make them drag each board separately from the water's edge to the margin of the stream.