OSLA'S WEDDING. 317 



of whom Ned was the eldest, had, by the kindness 

 of the laird, been allowed to remain in their croft at 

 little more than a nominal rent, paid from some small 

 savings left by the poor drowned sailor. The neighbours 

 — always remarkably kind and helpful to widows and 

 orphans whom a sudden calamity at sea had bereft of 

 their breadwinner — assisted to cultivate the little fields 

 of oats and potatoes, and liberally supplied the family 

 with fish. Ned was employed as a " beach-boy " in the 

 work of curing and drying fish during the summer 

 months ; and in winter he was very active in catching 

 piltacks and sillacks, which, as already stated, swarm 

 in the bays and along the coast everywhere, and are 

 most wholesome and nutritious food. And so the 

 family struggled on bravely, till Ned was old enough 

 to be taken as a junior hand in a fishing-boat. He 

 had then grown to be a big, strong, active lad, bright 

 and obliging, and a great favourite with every one. His 

 goodness and devotion to his mother and the younger 

 members of the family, to whom he became principal 

 breadwinner, won for him universal sympathy and 

 admiration ; and so it happened that at an unusually 

 early age he became skipper of a fishing-boat, and one 

 of the most enterprising and successful fishermen in 

 the island. At the time our little story commences, 

 Ned was twenty-five years of age, and his sweetheart, 

 Osla, twenty-two. 



One morning, all the fishing-boats, after hauling their 

 lines, had been overtaken far out at sea by a violent 

 storm. Osla's father's boat and Ned's were in close 



