stones sharply together. A fine black ash
was left from fires kindled in this way, which, mixed with a little
sea-water, made one of the purest inks. The good dad always encouraged
us to make notes on the smooth white skins of the young dab, bleached
and dried in the sun, explaining how useful they would be to us in
after-life, and showed us how to cut pens from the larger bones of the
fish. The only parts which the unselfish man reserved for himself were
the eyes which, when dried, were his only substitute for tobacco in that
lone part of the world, and which he smoked in a pipe most beautifully
carved by himself, from the spine of an old cod.

'The heads of the fish served the younger children for bricks, or even,
after a little trimming, for dolls, with which they amused themselves
during the long winter evenings. Many another device had we whereby we
made the most of our very small opportunities, but you will readily see
how dependent we were for everything upon the good fortune and
resources of our father, without whom we should all very quickly have
perished.

'For many days and nights at a time our good dad would remain upon the
sea, returning sometimes with a good supply of fish; at other times,
alas! with only one or two little dabs, or even with nothing at all.
Yet, by dint of saving up for a rainy day, when we had more than enough
for our present needs, we managed to jog along fairly comfortably. One
sad winter's evening, however, our good parent returned, having caught
nothing but a very small dab and a very severe cold. Our anxious mother,
in a state of alarm, lit a great fire and, after making him take a bowl
of steaming fish gruel, with his feet at the same time in a bath of hot
sea-water, she sent him to bed, and covered him up with as many fish
skins as she could spare from the house. The next day he was decidedly
worse, and our anxiety increased day by day as he showed no signs of
improvement. Very soon, with no one to replenish our larder, our stores
began to run low, and starvation stared us in the face.

'At last one morning the invalid called our eldest brother to him and
said to him:--"Son, our stores are all eaten up, and unless we obtain
food by to-morrow morning we shall all surely die, so take my boat and
fishing-line and see what luck will attend you." With tears in his eyes,
the good-hearted boy left the house and very soon embarked.

[Illustration: THE HEADS SERVED FOR DOLLS]

'Having