had asked about it; and why didn't she, (Nellie), relieve her curiosity
before, upon the point, instead of waitin' till now?

"Well, you see, Peggy," replied her friend, with the confidential air of
one who has a secret to tell, "my Bob has took it into his head to give
his mates a surprise by fishin' for albatrosses."

"Lawks! Nellie, an' that _will_ give 'em a surprise!" interrupted Mrs
Mitford, drying her eyes. "How ever can any man _fish_ for a bird--
unless, indeed, it goes under water an' changes its nature, which no
creetur can do; though, now I come to think of it, I have seen flyin'
fish, an' so, perhaps, there may be albytresses, or other birds, that--"

"Hallo! Nellie, hard at the twine, lass? You've made about enough of
it now," cried our coxswain, entering the camp at that moment, sitting
down beside his wife, and examining the ball of cord which she had been
so busily spinning.

"I'm glad you think there's enough, Bob, for I've come to the end o' the
stuff you gathered for me."

"Plenty more where that came from, Nell; but there's no need to gather
more than enough; for enough, you know, is as good as a feast. Well,
Peggy," he added, turning to the poor woman, and patting her gently on
the shoulder, "has Nell been tellin' you what I'm goin' to try?"

"She was beginnin' to tell me, Mr Massey, when you came in, something
about fishin' for albytresses, an' I always thought albytresses was
birds, and--"

"Quite right, Peggy. See, this is how it is: you bait a hook--but
come," said the coxswain, rising suddenly, and taking up the ball of
twine, "they do say example's better than precept. Come along wi' me
an' Nell, an' we'll show you how to do it."

So saying, Massey led the two women down to the boat, telling Mrs
Hayward, whom they passed on the way, to heave some more sticks on the
fire, as it was getting low.

"Never fear," said Eva, who carried the baling-dish full of shell-fish
in her hands. "I shall never forget the fright we got that time Joe let
it get so low that it was almost at the last spark. You won't be long
away, will you?"

"Not long. Anyhow, we'll be sure to turn up for dinner."

During their short residence on the island, the coxswain had observed
that albatrosses paid them frequent visits. The giant birds had
exhibited some signs of curiosity as to the doings of the new arrivals
on the island; so he resolved to capture one of them, with a view to
soup!

Embarking in