lain to his guests the method of fishing.

'You see this weight on the end of the line,' he said, 'and there's a
bit of scarlet cloth attached; well, you let down the line to the
stones and then draw it up again like this, and keep doing so until the
crabs come out to see what's the matter; then you dance it up and down
in front of them until they get into a rage, and catch hold of it; then
you draw it up on board and the silly asses are too angry to let go and
you catch them, don't you see?'

'Jolly fun,' said Harry, and a smile overspread Gerald's features. 'I
suppose you get a lot of them that way?'

'Yes,' said Marjorie, 'but don't jump about so, Harry; you're making
the boat bob from side to side.'

Harry muttered something and drew back into the boat. All the lines
were flung out, and every now and again an irate crab was drawn up,
clinging obstinately to the string.

The sport proved most absorbing, but after a little, Tricksy happening
to look towards the shore drew Marjorie's attention to two figures
standing on the hillside.

'What's the matter, Marjorie?' said Reggie, as the girl changed colour.

Following the direction of her eyes his attitude stiffened, and Allan
and Hamish looked to see what was the matter.

'It's Gibbie MacKerrach,' said Reggie, 'and he's talking to Andrew
MacPeters.'

The combination had an ominous sound, and they all looked extremely
concerned.

'What's the matter?' asked Harry.

'It's that gipsy lad who used to like Neil so much,' said Allan; 'the
other is the fellow who we suspect may have been the thief. It's to be
hoped that he is not making Gibbie tell him things that will do harm to
Neil.'

'Which one is the gipsy?' asked Harry. 'I heard father say that they
were camping on the moor not far from the Corrachin Caves.'

Marjorie, Allan, and Reggie looked at each other with startled eyes.
Then Allan said, 'Pull away from here, will you, Reggie, and don't let
them see us if you can help it. It would be better that Andrew should
not know that we saw him with Gibbie.'

'Now,' said Allan, after the boat had been rowed out of sight. 'We can
try some deep-sea fishing.'

Reggie caught a small haddock which was divided among the party for
bait, and the lines were thrown out again.

In a little while Reggie drew in a small cod, and a minute afterwards a
good-sized haddock was found to be on Harry's line.

'Gently, Harry, gently, you'll get the line broken,' said Ha