[Illustration: FISH HUNG ON POLES TO DRY] Why did the fishermen come at this time of the year? Were there no cod in these waters in the summer? Those were questions Lars asked the old fisherman. Lars learned that the cod were great travelers. They had come from the big Atlantic Ocean to reach the Lofoten Islands. Great numbers of cod swim together. They reach those waters of the Lofoten late in January. By the time the water is dark with the fish, the fishermen are ready to begin their fishing. But the waters in the Lofotens get many, many more fish than those which come in from the Atlantic. It is in the waters of these islands that the cod mothers lay the eggs from which baby cod are hatched. And millions and millions of baby cod are hatched each year. Lars watched some fishermen fastening a fishing line on the shore. The line was a strong and heavy cord. Most of the lines used by the Lofoten fishermen are five or six thousand feet long. The long fishing line is held near the top of the water by corks which will not sink. The long line is taken far out to sea by the boats. The end of the long line has a heavy weight fastened to it. That weight is dropped into the water and it holds the fishing line in the place that the fishermen want it. Short lines are fastened to each long line. The short lines have hooks upon them. More than a thousand hooks are dropped into the water from each long fishing line. [Illustration: THIS FISHING BOAT HAD A GOOD CATCH] Some of the fishermen use nets instead of lines. They go out in boats to set their nets. Each morning the fishing boats with the fishermen go out to take the fish off the hooks on the lines and to put more bait on the hooks, or to empty the fish from the nets. Lars wanted to go out in the boat with his friend, but the old fisherman said that fishing was too dangerous for a young boy like Lars. The fishing is so dangerous that the Government of Norway sends officers to the islands every winter to help protect the fishermen. No fishing boat is allowed to leave the shore to go to the lines or nets until the officer gives the signal that the waters are safe. But in spite of the help of the officers many lives are lost in those waters each year. One morning Lars saw the flag which was the signal of the officer that the sea was safe for the fishing boats. Then he saw the thousands of boats start out to sea to look after the lines and nets. There were rowboats, motor boats, steamboats, and sailboats. He could see the boats far off the shores for hours as the men worked to load the fish they had caught. Five hundred fish is a good catch for a boat, but sometimes a boat brings in a thousand cod at one haul. After a few days of fishing, fish are everywhere on the islands. They hang on poles along the shore. They lie stretched on the rocks. And everywhere is the smell of fish.