30 HALF AN HOUR WITH PREPARATIONS. 



and a few yards of sash-line. Fold the cloth in the 

 middle, so as to bring the two ends together, and 

 then sew up the sides, stitching them outside. Place 

 the wooden hoop outside the bag, and turn the edges 

 of the latter well over it, so as to cover it com- 

 pletely. Then sew it close and tight all round, so 

 that the bag may hang free from the lower inner 

 edge of the hoop. Next cut the sash-line in two, 

 laying the pieces evenly side by side : take them both 

 together exactly in the centre, and letting the four 

 ends hang down, make an overhand knot of all parts, 

 five or six inches below the bend. This will give 

 you a loop, or rather, two precisely equal loops, 

 above the one knot. The four pendent ends you 

 put through four little holes in the bag, placed at 

 equal distances from each other, and then close up 

 under the hoop, passing the ends from inside, bring- 

 ing them up over the outside of the hoop, and 

 securing each one to its own part by a double stitch. 

 If this be done properly and carefully, the hoop will 

 be exactly horizontal and evenly balanced, and you 

 will have provided yourself with a capitally strong 

 net for about eighteen pence. Let the boat get 

 about half a mile away from the beach before you 

 throw it over, towing it about ten feet astern. If 

 you are sailing or rowing at the rate of about three 

 or four miles an hour, you will then Be able to keep 

 about half the hoop above the surface, and thus 

 prevent the larger captives making their escape. 

 Supposing you have made a moonlight excursion a 



