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 pa.s.sed 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 appet.i.te. 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 s.p.a.ce between the two with dried gra.s.ses, 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 s.p.a.ces for the pa.s.sage 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.