They all sailed merrily across the sea chattering like a flock of magpies , or singing their favourite songs . And when they reached the shore , what an unpacking there was ! For this was a noted fishing ground , and here they would live , in little wooden huts , till autumn and bad weather came round again . The maiden and the two young men happened to share the same hut with some friends , and fished daily from the same boat . And as time went on , one of the youths remarked that the girl took less notice of him than she did of his companion . At first he tried to think that he was dreaming , and for a long while he kept his eyes shut very tight to what he did not want to see , but in spite of his efforts , the truth managed to wriggle through , and then the young man gave up trying to deceive himself , and set about finding some way to get the better of his rival . The plan that he hit upon could not be carried out for some months ; but the longer the young man thought of it , the more pleased he was with it , so he made no sign of his feelings , and waited patiently till the moment came . This was the very day that they were all going to leave the islands , and sail back to the mainland for the winter . In the bustle and hurry of departure , the cunning fisherman contrived that their boat should be the last to put off , and when everything was ready , and the sails about to be set , he suddenly called out : ` Oh , dear , what shall I do ! I have left my best knife behind in the hut . Run , like a good fellow , and get it for me , while I raise the anchor and loosen the tiller . ' Not thinking any harm , the youth jumped back on shore and made his way up the steep hank . At the door of the hut he stopped and looked back , then started and gazed in horror . The head of the boat stood out to sea , and he was left alone on the island . Yes , there was no doubt of it -- he was quite alone ; and he had nothing to help him except the knife which his comrade had purposely dropped on the ledge of the window . For some minutes he was too stunned by the treachery of his friend to think about anything at all , but after a while he shook himself awake , and determined that he would manage to keep alive somehow , if it were only to revenge himself . So he put the knife in his pocket and went off to a part of the island which was not so bare as the rest , and had a small grove of trees . From one of these he cut himself a bow , which he strung with a piece of cord that had been left lying about the huts . When this was ready the young man ran down to the shore and shot one or two sea-birds , which he plucked and cooked for supper . In this way the months slipped by , and Christmas came round again .
The evening before , the youth went down to the rocks and into the copse , collecting all the drift wood the sea had washed up or the gale had blown down , and he piled it up in a great stack outside the door , so XXXXX he might not have to fetch any all the next day .
For So about across by except from that till with