axle, and wheel it out to the place where we have decided upon building
the house. And now we had better go to bed."

William, however, had made up his mind to do otherwise: he knew that
his mother would be very glad to have some fish, and he determined, as
the moon shone bright, to try if he could not catch some before he went
to bed; so he waited very quietly till he thought Ready was asleep as
well as the others, and then went out with the lines, and went down to
the beach, where he picked up three or four shells, and, breaking them
between two pieces of rock, took out the fish and baited his hooks. He
then walked to the point. It was a beautiful night; the water was very
smooth, and the moonbeams pierced deep below the surface. William threw
in his line, and as soon as the lead touched the bottom he pulled it up
about a foot, as Ready had instructed him; and he had not held his line
more than half a minute, when it was jerked so forcibly, that not
expecting it he was nearly hauled into the water; as it was, the fish
was so strong that the line slipped through his hand and scored his
fingers; but after a time he was able to pull it in, and he landed on
the beach a large silver-scaled fish, weighing nine or ten pounds. As
soon as he had dragged it so far away from the edge of the rocks as to
prevent its flapping into the water again, William took out the hook
and determined to try for another. His line was down as short a time as
before, when it was again jerked with violence; but William was this
time prepared, and he let out the line and played the fish till it was
tired, and then pulled it up, and found that the second fish was even
larger than the first. Satisfied with his success, he wound up his
lines, and, running a piece of string through the gills of the fish,
dragged them back to the tents, and hanged them to the pole, for fear
of the dogs eating them; he then went in, and was soon fast asleep. The
next morning William was the first up, and showed his prizes with much