The FoUr MAcnIcols

BY WILLIAM BLACK

becoming a landscape painter, but gave up art for journalism. He wrote many novels, of which “A Princess of Thule” and “A Daughter of Heth” are the most popular.

Ⅰ

1. The four MacNicols lived at Erisaig, a fishing village in the north of Scotland. Robert, the eldest, was an active, stout-sinewed, black-eyed lad of seventeen; Duncan and Nicol were Rob’s younger brothers, and Neil was their orphan cousin.

2. Their father, a hand on board the steamer Glenara Castle, had but small wages. It was all he could do to pay for the boys’ lodging and schooling, leaving them pretty much to hunt for themselves as regarded food and clothes.

Their food, mostly porridge, potatoes, and fish of their owncatching, cost little; and they did not spend much money on clothes.

3. Nevertheless, for various purposes, money was necessary to them; and this they obtained by going down in the morning when the herring boats came in and helping the men to strip the nets. The men were generally tired out and sleepy with their long night’s work. They were glad to give these lads twopence or threepence apiece to undertake the labor of lifting the nets out of the hold and shaking out the silvery fish

4. And when they had shaken out the last of the nets and received their wages, they stepped ashore with a certain pride; and generally they put both hands in their pockets, as a real fisherman would do

5. On the whole, it was an idle, careless, happy life that they led up to the time that their father was drowned.

That was a sad evening for Rob MacNicol. It was his first introduction to the cruel facts of life. And amid his sorrow for the loss of his father, Rob felt that now he must care for his two brothers and his cousin.

6. “Neil,” said Rob to his cousin, “we’ll have to think about things now. We have just about as much left as will pay for the lodgings this week, and Nicol must go three nights a week to the night school. What we get for stripping the nets will not do now.”

“It will not,” said Neil.

7. “Neil,” said he, “if we had only a net, do you not think we couldcuddies ?”

And again he said, “Neil, do you not think we could make a net for ourselves out of the old rags lying at the shed?”

8. And again he said, “Do you think that Peter, the tailor, would let us have his old boat for a shilling a week?”

It was clear that Rob had been carefully considering the details of this plan. And it was eagerly welcomed, not only by Neil, but also by the brothers Duncan and Nicol.

9. It was determined, under Rob’s direction, to set to work at once. So Rob bade his brothers and cousin get their rude fishing rods and betake themselves down to the rocks at the mouth of the harbor, and see what fish they could get for himduring the afternoon.

10. Meanwhile he himself went along to the shed, which was used as a sort of storage house by some of the fishermen; andhere he found lying about plenty of pieces of net that had been cast aside.

11. Rob was allowed to pick out a number of pieces that he thought might serve his purpose; and these he carried home. But then came the question of floats and sinkers. Enough pieces of cork to form the floats might in time be got about thebeach; but the sinkers had all been removed from the castaway netting.

12. In this extremity Rob thought of rigging up a couple of guy poles, as the salmon fishers call them, one for each end ofthe smallseine he had in view, so that these guy poles, with a lump of lead at the lower end, would keep the net vertical while it was being dragged through the water.

13. All this took up the best part of the afternoon; for he had to hunt about before he could get a couple of stout poles; and he had to bargain with the blacksmith for a lump of lead. Then he walked along to the point where the other MacNicols were busy fishing

14. They had been lucky with their lines and bait. On the rocks beside them lay two or three small cod, a large flounder,and nearly a dozensaithe . Rob got hold of these, washed them clean, put a string through their gills, and marched off with them to the village.

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15. He felt no shame in trying to sell fish: was it not the whole trade of the village? So he walked into the grocer’s shop.“Will you buy some fish?” said he; “they’re fresh.

16. The grocer looked at them.

“What do you want?”

“A ball of twine.”

“Let me tell you this, Rob,” said the grocer, severely, “that a lad in your place should be thinking of something else besides flying a kite.

17. “I don’t want to fly a kite,” said Rob; “I want to mend anet.”

“Oh, that is quite different,” said the grocer; and then he added, with a good-natured laugh, “Are you going to be a fisherman, Rob?

“I will see,” said Rob.

18. So he had his ball of twine— and a very large one it was.

Off he set to his companions. “Come away, boys, I have other work for you.”

19. Well, it took them several days of very hard and constant work before they rigged up something resembling a small seine. Then Rob affixed his guy poles; and the lads went to thegrocer and got from him a lot of old rope, on the promise to give him a few fresh fish whenever they happened to have a good haul.

20. Then Rob proceeded to his fateful interview with Peter, the tailor, who agreed to let them have his boat for a shilling a week.

Rob went back eager and joyous. Forthwith, a thoroughthole pins , they had a new piece of cork put into the bottom.

21. At last they were ready and went out to try their luck. So successful were they, and so eagerly did they work, that, when the coming darkness warned them to return, they had the stern of the boat about a third full of very fair-sized saithe.

22. When they got into the slip, Neil at once proceeded to inform the inhabitants of Erisaig that for sixpence a hundred they could have fine fresh cuddies

23. The sale of the cuddies proceeded briskly. Indeed, when the people had gone away again, and the four lads were by themselves, there was not a single cuddy left except a dozen that Rob had put into a can of water, to be given to the grocer in the morning as part payment for the loan of the ropes.

24. “What do you make it all together?” said Neil to Rob, who was counting the money.

“Three shillings and ninepenee.”

“Three shillings and ninepence! Man, that’s a lot! Will you put it in the savings bank?”

25. “No, I will not,” said Rob. “I’m not satisfied with the net,Neil. We must have better ropes all the way round; and sinkers, too; and whatever money we can spare, we must spend on the net.”

26. It was wise counsel, as events showed. For one afternoon, some ten days afterward, they set out as usual. They had been having varying success; but they had earned more than enough to pay their landlady, the tailor, and the schoolmaster; and everyfarthing beyond these necessary expenses they had spent on the net.

27. They had replaced all the rotten pieces with sound twine; they had got new ropes; they had deepened it, moreover, and added some more sinkers to help the guy poles.

Ⅲ

28. Well, on this afternoon, Duncan and Nicol were pulling away to one of the small, quiet bays, and Rob was idly looking around him, when he saw something on the surface of the sea at some distance off that excited a sudden interest. It was what the fishermen call “broken water”—aseething produced by a shoal of fish

29. “Look, look, Neil!” he cried. “It’s either mackerel or herring: shall we try for them?”

The greatest excitement now prevailed on board. The younger brothers pulled their hardest for that rough patch on the water.

30. Rob undid the rope from the guy pole and got this last ready to drop overboard. They came nearer and nearer that strange hissing of the water. They kept rather away from it; and Rob quietly dropped the guy pole over.

31. Then the three lads pulled hard, and in a circle, so that at last they were sending the bow of the boat straight toward the floating guy pole. The other guy pole was near the stern ofthe boat, the rope made fast to one of thethwarts . In a few minutes Rob had caught this first guy pole; they were now possessed of the two ends of the net.

32. But the water had grown suddenly quiet. Had the fish dived and escaped them? There was not the motion of a fin anywhere; and yet the net seemed heavy to haul.

33. “Rob,” said Neil, almost in a whisper, “we’ve got them!”“We haven’t got them, but they’re in the net. Man, I wonder if it’ll stand.”

34. Then it was that the diligent patching and the strong tackle told. The question was not with regard to the strength of

the net; it was rather with regard to the strength of the younger lads: for they had succeeded in inclosing a goodly portion of a large shoal of mackerel, and the weight seemed more than they could get into the boat.

35. But even the strength of the younger ones seemed to grow into the strength of giants when they saw through the clear water a great moving mass like quicksilver.

And then the wild excitement of hauling in; the difficulty of it; the danger of the fish escaping; the warning cries of Rob;the clatter made by the mackerel; the possibility of swamping the boat, as all the four were straining their utmost at one side!

36. When that heaving, sparkling mass of quicksilver at last was captured, shining all through the brown meshes of the net, the young lads sat down quite exhausted, wet through and happy.

37. “Man! Rob, what do you think of that?” said Neil, in amazement.

“What do I think?” said Rob. “I think that if we could get two or three more hauls like that, I would buy soon a share in Coll MacDougall’s boat and go after the herring.”

38. They had no more thought that afternoon of “cuddy” fishing after this famous take, but rowed back to Erisaig; then Rob left the boat at the slip and walked up to the office of the fish salesman

39. “What will you give me for mackerel?” he said. The salesman laughed at him, thinking he had caught a few with

rods and flies

40. “I’m not buying mackerel,” said he; “not by the half dozen.”

“I have half a boat load,” said Rob.“Well, I will buy the mackerel from you,” he said, “I will give you half acrown the hundred for them.”

41. “Half a crown!” said Rob. “I will take three and sixpence the hundred for them.”

“I will not give it to you. But I will give you three shillings the hundred, and a good price, too.”

“Very well, then,” said Rob.42. So the MacNicols got all together two pounds and eight shillings for that load of mackerel; and out of that Rob spent the eight shillings on still further improving the net, the two pounds going into the savings bank.

43. It is to be imagined that after this they kept a pretty sharp lookout for “broken water”; but of course they could not expect to run across a shoal of mackerel every day.

44. However, as time went on, with bad luck and good, and bydint of hard and constant work, whatever the luck was, the sum in the savings bank slowly increased, and at last Rob announced to his companions that they had saved enough to enable him to purchase a share in Coll MacDougall’s boat. This was accordingly done after a great deal of bargaining.

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45. These MacNicol boys had grown to be greatly respected in Erisaig. Theaudacity of four boys setting up to do fishing on their own account had at first amused the neighbors, but their success and their conduct generally soon raised them above ridicule.

46. One day, as Rob was going along the main street of Erisaig, the banker called him into his office

“Rob,” said he, “have you seen the skiff at the building yard?”

“Yes,” said Rob, rather wistfully, for many a time he had stood and looked at the beautiful lines of the new craft; “she’s a splendid boat.”

“And you’ve seen the new drift net in the shed?”“Yes, I have that.”

47. “Well, you see, Rob,” continued Mr. Bailie, regarding him with a good-natured look, “I had the boat built and the net bought as a kind of speculation. Now, I have been hearing a good deal about you, Rob, from the neighbors. They say that you and your brothers and cousin are sober and diligent lads, and that you are good seamen and careful. Then you have been awhile at the herring fishing yourself. Now, do you think youcould manage that new boat?”

48. In his excitement at the notion of being made master of such a beautiful craft, Rob forgot the respect he ought to

have shown in addressing so great a person as the banker. He blurted out, “Man, I would just like to try!”

49. “I will pay you a certain sum per week while the fishinglasts,” continued Mr. Bailie, “and you will hire what crew you think fit. Likewise, I will give you a percentage on the takes. Will that do?”

50. Rob was quite bewildered. All he could say was, “I am obliged to you, sir. Will you wait for a minute till I see Neil?”

And very soon the wild rumor ran through Erisaig that no other than Rob MacNicol had been appointed master of the new skiff, theMary of Argyle, and that he had taken his brothers and cousin as a crew.

51. Rob, having sold out his share in MacDougall’s boat, bought jerseys and black boots and yellow oilskins for his companions; so that the new crew, if they were rather slightly built, looked smart enough as they went down to the slip to overhaul theMary of Argyle.

52. Then came the afternoon on which they were to set out for the first time after the herring. All Erisaig came out to see;Rob was a proud lad as he stepped on board with the lazy indifference of the trained fisherman very well imitated, and took his seat as stroke oar.

53. The afternoon was lovely; there was not a breath of wind; the setting sun shone over the bay; and theMary of Argylewent away across the shining waters, with the long white oars dipping with the precision of clockwork.

54. At the mouth of the harbor,Mary of Argyle. Daft Sandy was a half-witted old man to whom Rob had been kind.

“What is it you want?” cried Rob.55. “I want to come on board, Rob,” the old man said, as he now rowed his boat up to the stern of the skiff.

“Rob,” said he, in a whisper, as he fastened his boat, “I promised I would tell you something. I’ll show you how to findthe herring.”

56. “You!” said Rob.“Yes, Rob; I’ll make a rich man of you. I will tell you something about the herring that not any one in Erisaig knows— that not any one in all Scotland knows.”

57. He begged Rob to take him for that night’s fishing. He

had discovered a sure sign of the presence of herring, unknown to any of the fishermen; this sign that the old man had discovered went to show the presence of large masses of fish,stationary and deep; it was the appearance, on the surface of the water, of small air bubbles.

58. He was sure of it. He had watched it. It was a secret worth a bankful of money. And again hebesought Rob to let him accompany him. Rob had stopped the lads when they were throwing herring at him; Rob alone should have the benefit of this valuable discovery of his.

59. Rob MacNicol was doubtful, for he had never heard of this thing before; but he could not resist the old half-witted creature. So they pulled him in and anchored the boat; then they set forth again, rowing slowly as the light faded out of the sky, and keeping watch all around on the almost glassy sea.

Ⅴ

60. There was no sign of any herring; no breaking of the water; and none of the other boats, as far as they could make out, had as yet shot their nets.

61. The night was coming on, and they were far away from Erisaig, but still old Sandy kept up his watch, studying the surface of the water as though he expected to find pearls floating there. And at last, in great excitement, he grasped Rob’s arm.

62. Leaning over the side of the boat, they could just make out in the dusk a great quantity ofminute air bubbles rising to the surface of the sea.

“Put some stones along with the sinkers, Rob,” the old man said in a whisper, as though he were afraid the herring would hear. “Go deep, deep, deep!”

63. To let out a long drift net, which sometimes goes as deep as fifteenfathoms , is an easy affair; but to haul it in again is a hard task; and when it happens to be laden, and heavily laden, with silver-gleaming fish, that is a break-back business for fouryoung lads.

64. But there is such a thing as the nervous, eager, joyous strength of success; and if you are hauling in yard after yard of a dripping net, only to find the brown meshes starred at everypoint with the shining silver of the herring, then even young lads can work like men. Daft Sandy was laughing all the while.65. “Rob, my man, what think you of the air bubbles now? Maybe Daft Sandy is not so daft after all. And do you think I would go and tell any one but yourself, Rob?”

66. Rob could not speak: he was breathless. Nor was their work nearly done when they had got in the net, with all its splendid silver treasure. There was not a breath of wind; they had to set to work to pull the heavy boat back to Erisaig.

67. The gray of the dawn gave way to a glowing sunrise.

When they at length reached the quay, the people were all about. The lads were tired out, but there were tencrans of herring in that boat.

68. Mr. Baile came along and shook hands with Rob and congratulated him; for it turned out that, while not another Erisaig boat had that night got more than from two to three crans, theMary of Argylehad ten crans—as good herring as ever were got out of Loch Scrone.

69. Well, the MacNicol lads were now in a fair way of earning an independent and honorable living. Sometimes they had good luck and sometimes bad luck; but always they had the advantage of that additional means of discovering the whereabouts of the herring that had been imparted to them by Daft Sandy.

70. And the last that the present writer heard of them was this: that they had bought outright themajor-domo ,—cook, gardener, and mender of nets. sUnwSMUMbTza9qDlxbklTkE6oh1qy97knQQJSeyG2wQmZb1rAzKj3BHdVguHyCxX