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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40214 ***
+
+[Illustration: THE BOYS HAWKING ON THE BROAD.]
+
+
+
+
+ THE SWAN
+
+ AND HER CREW,
+
+ _OR THE ADVENTURES OF_
+
+ THREE YOUNG NATURALISTS AND SPORTSMEN
+
+ _ON THE BROADS AND RIVERS OF NORFOLK_.
+
+
+ BY
+ G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES,
+
+ AUTHOR OF "MOUNTAIN, MEADOW, AND MERE;" "RAMBLES AND ADVENTURES OF
+ OUR SCHOOL FIELD CLUB;" "ANGLING IDYLLS;" ETC., ETC.
+
+
+ SECOND EDITION.
+
+ _WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS._
+
+
+ London:
+ FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.,
+ BEDFORD STREET, STRAND.
+ NEW YORK:--SCRIBNER, WELFORD AND ARMSTRONG.
+
+
+
+
+ LONDON:
+ R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
+ BREAD STREET HILL,
+ QUEEN VICTORIA STREET.
+
+
+
+
+ PREFACE.
+
+
+A preface is like the bow of an actor when he comes on the stage, or
+like the hand-shaking of two friends when they meet--the prelude to the
+entertainment, or the friendly conversation. I suppose, therefore, I
+must follow the fashion, and say, "How d'ye do?" in this way. I hope the
+answer will be, "Quite well, thank you, and much the better for seeing
+you."
+
+In a book of similar character to this one, which I published a short
+time ago, I offered to reply to any questions which any of my young
+readers, who wished for further information upon any of the subjects
+mentioned in that book, might put to me, by means of letters addressed
+to me, to the care of the publishers. I then had the pleasure of
+answering many such letters, and I now repeat the offer to the readers
+of this book.
+
+I am indebted to my friend Mr. William Whitwell, of Oxford, who is, like
+myself, a lover of boys, for the chapter on the "LIFE OF A FERN."
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS.
+
+ PAGE
+ CHAPTER I.
+ Greeting.--The Broad District.--Hickling Broad.--Felling a
+ Tree.--Dodging the Swallows.--Shooting the Crossbills.--The
+ Boat-house. 1
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+ Stuffing the Crossbills.--The proposed Yacht.--An impaled
+ Woodcock. 8
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+ A Momentous Decision. 13
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+ Digging for Pupæ.--Dick Carleton.--Metamorphoses of
+ Butterfly. 14
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+ Building the Yacht.--The Launch.--Great Crested Grebe's
+ nest.--A floating Coot's nest.--Golden Crested Wrens.--
+ Their Migration.--The Flight of a Heron. 20
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+ Mr. Meredith.--"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it
+ with thy might."--A Botanical Lecture.--The Goat
+ Moth.--Blowing up a Tree.--An astonished Cow.--Caterpillars
+ in the Wood. 31
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+ A Trial Sail.--Preparing for a Cruise.--Charging a Reed
+ Bed.--An explosion of Birds.--The First Adventure.--
+ Orange-Tip Butterfly.--No Salt.--How Salt is obtained. 36
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+ An Eerie Night.--A Ghostly Apparition.--The Barn Owl.--A
+ Will-o'-the-Wisp.--The Ruff and Reeve.--Snaring
+ Ruffs.--A Nest.--Wroxham Broad.--Mud-boards and
+ Leaping-pole.--Wild Duck's Nest in a Tree. 43
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+ Chameleon.--Light-coloured Eggs.--Sitting Birds have no
+ Scent.--Forget-me-nots.--Trespassing.--The Owner.--A
+ Chase.--Capture.--Pintail Duck.--Drumming of
+ Snipe.--Swallow-tail Butterfly.--A Perilous Adventure. 51
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+ Moonlight.--Instinct and Reason.--Death's Head Moth.--
+ Bittern.--Water-rail.--Quail.--Golden Plover.--Hen-Harrier
+ and Weasel.--Preserving Bird-skins. 63
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+ To the Rescue.--A Long-tailed Tit's Nest.--A Shower of
+ Feathers. 75
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+ Yarmouth.--The "Rows."--A Stiff Breeze.--An Exciting
+ Sail.--Sparrow-hawk's Nest.--A Nasty Fall.--Long-eared
+ Owl.--Partridge.--Sandpiper. 79
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+ A Grizzly Bear.--Gossamers.--Strike only on the Box. 88
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+ Oulton Broad.--Lateeners.--Lowestoft.--Ringed Plover's
+ Nest.--Oyster-catcher.--Shore-fishing.--A Perilous Sail. 92
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+ Animals which never die.--A Wonderful Tip to his Tail.--
+ Thunderstorm.--Swan's Nest.--Bearded Tit.--Reed-wrens
+ and Cuckoo. 97
+
+ CHAPTER XVI.
+ Old School-fellows.--Tom-Tit's Nest in Boot.--Nuthatch.--
+ Wryneck.--Ant-hill.--Marsh-Tit.--A Comical Fix. 104
+
+ CHAPTER XVII.
+ The Boat-race.--Winning.--Mr. Marston.--Nightingale and
+ Nest.--The noise of the Nightingales. 113
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII.
+ A queer Umbrella.--Visit to Scoulton Gullery.--Driving
+ Tandem.--Running away.--Black-headed Gulls.--Collecting
+ the Eggs.--Carp.--Wood Argus Butterfly.--Scarlet
+ Pimpernel.--Grasshopper Warbler.--Chiff-Chaff.--Gall-Fly.--
+ Robins' Pincushions. 121
+
+ CHAPTER XIX.
+ Back again.--Taken in Tow.--Bobbing for Eels.--Glow-worms.--
+ Home.--Urticating Caterpillars. 132
+
+ CHAPTER XX.
+ Golden Oriole.--Landrail.--House-martins in Trouble.--
+ Siskin.--Peacock and Red Admiral Butterflies.--Winchat's
+ Nest.--Bitten by a Viper.--Viper and Snake.--Slow-worm. 137
+
+ CHAPTER XXI.
+ Fishing.--Jimmy's Dodge.--Bream-fishing.--Good Sport.--
+ Fecundity of Fish.--Balance Float.--Fish-hatching.--Edith
+ Rose.--A Night Sail. 149
+
+ CHAPTER XXII.
+ Calling for Landrails.--Landrail Shamming Death.--
+ Yellow-Under-wing Moth and Wasp.--Dragon-Fly and
+ Butterfly.--Stink-horn Fungus.--Sundew. 158
+
+ CHAPTER XXIII.
+ Setting Night-Lines.--An Encounter with Poachers. 161
+
+ CHAPTER XXIV.
+ Water Insects.--Aquaria. 165
+
+ CHAPTER XXV.
+ Making a Fern Case.--Ferns.--Harvest Mouse.--Mole.--
+ Ladybird.--Grasses. 176
+
+ CHAPTER XXVI.
+ The Life of a Fern. 185
+
+ CHAPTER XXVII.
+ On the "War-path."--Rabbit-shooting.--Flapper-shooting.--
+ Duck-shooting.--Wood-pigeons.--Life in an Oak-tree.--
+ Burying-beetles.--Lace-wing Fly.--Stag-beetle.--Hair-worm. 194
+
+ CHAPTER XXVIII.
+ Purple Emperor.--His taste for Carrion.--Woodpecker.--
+ Blue and Small Copper Butterflies.--Buff-tip Moth.--Moths
+ at Ivy.--Strange-looking Caterpillars. 202
+
+ CHAPTER XXIX.
+ How to Attract Perch.--Perch-fishing.--Pike.--Good
+ Sport.--Plaster Casts.--Model Eggs. 209
+
+ CHAPTER XXX.
+ Eel-fishing.--Setting the Nets.--Elvers.--The Merivale
+ Float. 214
+
+ CHAPTER XXXI.
+ Hawking. 220
+
+ CHAPTER XXXII.
+ Heron-hawking.--Great Bustard.--Stock-Dove in
+ Rabbit-hole.--"Dowe" Dogs.--Search for Bustard's Egg. 227
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIII.
+ Water-hen swallowed by Pike.--Casting-net.--Trapping
+ Water-hen for Bait.--A Monster Pike. 235
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIV.
+ Fishing on Stilts.--A Capsize.--Wild-fowl Shooting.--
+ A Flare-up. 239
+
+ CHAPTER XXXV.
+ Punt-shooting on Breydon.--A Narrow Escape. 242
+
+ CHAPTER XXXVI.
+ Drifted to Sea.--A Perilous Position.--Rescue. 246
+
+ CHAPTER XXXVII.
+ The Broad Frozen.--Skating.--Fish Frozen in Ice.--Birds
+ Frozen to the Ice.--Ice Ships. 249
+
+ CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+ The Thaw.--Cromer.--Prehistoric Remains. 251
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIX.
+ The Boys' Note Book. 253
+
+ CHAPTER XL.
+ The Regatta.--The "Waterlog's" Victory. 259
+
+ CHAPTER XLI.
+ The Conclusion. 264
+
+
+
+
+ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+ PAGE
+
+ THE BOYS HAWKING ON THE BROAD _Front._
+
+ CROSSBILL 9
+
+ WOODCOCK 12
+
+ METAMORPHOSES OF BUTTERFLY 16
+
+ THE PARK IN SUMMER 17
+
+ WHITE HAWTHORN BUTTERFLY 19
+
+ BUILDING THE BOAT 22
+
+ A YARMOUTH YAWL 24
+
+ THE COMMON COOT 28
+
+ COMMON WREN AND EGG 29
+
+ HERON 30
+
+ ORANGE-TIP BUTTERFLY 40
+
+ THE BARN-OWL AND EGG 44
+
+ WILD DUCK 50
+
+ ROACH 52
+
+ CHAMELEON 53
+
+ REDBREAST AND EGG 55
+
+ YACHT 57
+
+ COMMON SNIPE 60
+
+ SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY 61
+
+ MOONLIGHT SCENE 64
+
+ DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH 65
+
+ BITTERN 66
+
+ WATER-RAIL 68
+
+ AFRICAN BUSH QUAIL 69
+
+ NEST OF GOLDEN PLOVER 71
+
+ HEN-HARRIER 74
+
+ WEASEL 74
+
+ LONG-TAILED TIT AND EGG 78
+
+ SPARROW-HAWK 82
+
+ LONG-EARED OWL 84
+
+ COMMON PARTRIDGE 85
+
+ EGG OF COMMON PARTRIDGE 86
+
+ COMMON SANDPIPER 87
+
+ LATEEN SAIL 92
+
+ RINGED PLOVER 94
+
+ OYSTER-CATCHER 95
+
+ SWAN'S NEST 100
+
+ SWAN 101
+
+ CUCKOO AND EGG 103
+
+ TOM-TIT AND EGG 106
+
+ NUTHATCH 107
+
+ WRYNECK 108
+
+ WORKING ANT AND PORTION OF ANT-HILL 109
+
+ EGG OF WRYNECK 110
+
+ MARSH-TIT AND EGG 111
+
+ PAIR-OARED BOAT 116
+
+ MR. MARSTON'S HOUSE 117
+
+ NIGHTINGALE 119
+
+ NIGHTINGALE'S NEST 120
+
+ COMMON GULL 126
+
+ YOUNG GULLS COVERED WITH DOWN 127
+
+ CARP 128
+
+ CHIFF-CHAFF 130
+
+ OAK-GALL FLY 131
+
+ GLOW-WORM 136
+
+ ORIOLE 138
+
+ NEST OF AMERICAN SPECIES OF ORIOLE 139
+
+ LANDRAIL OR CORNCRAKE 140
+
+ HOUSE-MARTIN 141
+
+ SISKIN 141
+
+ PEACOCK BUTTERFLY, CHRYSALIS, AND CATERPILLAR 142
+
+ RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY 143
+
+ WINCHAT AND EGG 144
+
+ VIPER 145
+
+ COMMON RINGED SNAKE 146
+
+ SLOW-WORM 148
+
+ BREAM 150
+
+ ANGLING 153
+
+ TROUT 155
+
+ DRAGON-FLY 159
+
+ METAMORPHOSES OF FLESH-FLY 166
+
+ WATER-BEETLE 166
+
+ PUPA AND COMPOUND EYE OF DRAGON-FLY 167
+
+ LARVA OF GNAT. ESCAPE OF GNAT FROM ITS PUPA-CASE 167
+
+ METAMORPHOSES OF PLUMED GNAT 168
+
+ PUPA-CASE, LARVA, AND FLY OF CADDIS-WORM 169
+
+ MINNOW 170
+
+ SMOOTH NEWT 171
+
+ METAMORPHOSES OF NEWT 172
+
+ WATER-FLEAS AND ANIMALCULÆ IN DROP OF WATER AS
+ SEEN UNDER THE MICROSCOPE 173
+
+ FRESH-WATER AQUARIUM 174
+
+ METAMORPHOSES OF FROG 175
+
+ SEA-WATER AQUARIUM 176
+
+ WALL SPLEENWORT 177
+
+ FORKED SPLEENWORT 177
+
+ GREEN SPLEENWORT 177
+
+ OAK FERN 178
+
+ FRUCTIFICATION OF FERNS 179
+
+ WALL RUE, JERSEY FERN, MARSH FERN 180
+
+ HARVEST MOUSE AND NEST 181
+
+ MOLE 182
+
+ LADYBIRD AND ITS STAGES 183
+
+ FERN SPORES 187
+
+ SCALY SPLEENWORT OR "RUSTY BACK" 191
+
+ WILSON'S FILMY-FERN, TUNBRIDGE FILMY-FERN 192
+
+ WILD RABBITS 195
+
+ WOOD-PIGEON 197
+
+ SUSPENDED LEAF TENTS 198
+
+ LACE-WINGED FLY 200
+
+ STAG-HORNED PRIONUS AND DIAMOND BEETLE 201
+
+ GREEN WOODPECKER 204
+
+ BLUE BUTTERFLY 204
+
+ THE HAUNT OF THE PURPLE EMPEROR 205
+
+ PERCH AND GUDGEON 211
+
+ PIKE 212
+
+ EELS 218
+
+ APPARATUS USED IN HAWKING 221
+
+ COMMON HERON 228
+
+ GREAT BUSTARD 230
+
+ DOVES 231
+
+ WILD DUCK SHOOTING 244
+
+ MOLE CRICKET 254
+
+ COMMON LIZARD 255
+
+ OSPREY 256
+
+ GREAT CRESTED GREBE 256
+
+ WHITE ANTS' NEST, ANTS, ETC. 257
+
+ HEDGEHOG 258
+
+ HONEY BUZZARD 258
+
+
+
+
+ The Swan and her Crew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+ Greeting.--The Broad District.--Hickling Broad.--
+ Felling a Tree.--Dodging the Swallows.--
+ Shooting the Crossbills.--The Boat-house.
+
+
+With the same feeling of pleasure which one experiences when one writes
+to an old friend, I commence to write this new book, which I hope will
+be read by many a boy friend.
+
+It is very pleasant to an author to feel that he has a large circle of
+acquaintances whom he has never seen, and who know him only through his
+books. It should be his aim and endeavour to extend that circle of
+friends, and to increase the good feeling which they bear towards him.
+Therefore, my dear boys, I hope that after reading this book which I now
+submit to your approval, you will conceive as affectionate a regard for
+me as I have for you.
+
+This is a story of sport and adventure, natural history and science, and
+the movers in it are three boys just like yourselves; and that you may
+understand the better what they did, I shall first describe the scene of
+their exploits. It is the eastern part of Norfolk, and no better place
+could be found as a field for the doings of three enterprising young
+naturalists and sportsmen. It is known as the "Broad District," and it
+consists almost entirely of lake, river, and marsh. If we take Yarmouth
+on the sea-coast as the starting-point, and look inland, we shall see
+first of all a large tidal lake known as Breydon Water. From this
+radiate three rivers going north-west, west, and south-west. The chief
+of them is the Yare, which winds for thirty miles inward to the old city
+of Norwich. On our right is the river Bure, or North River, which after
+a very long and winding course leaves the marsh, and enters a
+richly-wooded country. To the south is the Waveney, a clear and
+beautiful stream, which flows past Beccles and Bungay, two towns in
+Suffolk. All these rivers are slow of current, wide and navigable not
+only for yachts, but for vessels of large burden, such as wherries,
+billy-boys, and small steamers. The banks of the rivers are fringed with
+tall reeds, and they flow through miles of level marsh, where, as far as
+the eye can reach, there is nothing to be seen but the white sails of
+the yachts and the dark sails of the wherries, and occasional windmills
+which are used for pumping the water out of the drains into the rivers.
+In order to deepen the channel of the river for the purposes of
+navigation, the embankments have been raised so high that the surface of
+the water is much above the level of the drains which carry the water
+off the surrounding marshes, and so the water has to be pumped into the
+river out of the drains by means of pumps set in action by windmills.
+
+Here and there amid the wide extent of marsh are large lakes or lagoons,
+which are locally termed "broads." These are very numerous and many of
+them very large. Most of them are connected with one or other of the
+rivers. Those on the Yare, are Surlingham and Rockland Broads; on the
+Bure, or connected with it by long dykes, are Filby and Ormesby Broads,
+Walsham, Ranworth, Hoveton, Wroxham, Barton, Martham and Hickling
+Broads, and Heigham Sounds. All these broads are full of fish, large
+pike and perch, and shoals of enormous bream. They are all very shallow,
+and are surrounded by dense aquatic vegetation, reeds, rushes, flags and
+bulrushes, and these are the haunts of many rare birds, and swarm with
+wild-fowl.
+
+The great characteristic of this part of the county is its utter
+loneliness and wildness, both qualities which are of especial interest
+to the sportsman and naturalist. As it is also the most eastern county
+of England, it is the first to receive many of the rarer migrants on
+their passage to our shores, and more rare birds are caught there each
+year than in any other part of our "tight little island."
+
+It is on the shores of Hickling Broad, and on a bright December day,
+the first of the Christmas holidays, that our story opens. A tall
+large-limbed boy, about sixteen years of age, yellow-haired, and
+blue-eyed, stands with his hands in his pockets, looking over the waste
+of waters on which the wavelets are dancing before a fresh breeze. His
+name is Frank Merivale, and he appears deep in thought.
+
+The broad waters he is gazing over are lonely and deserted save for
+occasional flights of wild-fowl, a marshman slowly pulling his boat
+across, and a wherry (as a Norfolk sailing barge is called) beating to
+windward along the broad, making very slow tacks to and fro, the reason
+of which would not be apparent to one who did not know the broad. Why
+does she not take long stretches which would take her more swiftly on
+her course? The reason is this, the broad is not more than three feet
+deep all over, save for a narrow channel in the middle, which is marked
+out by posts at long intervals, and if the wherry forsook this channel
+she would run aground.
+
+The Norfolk wherries are of very peculiar build and graceful appearance.
+They are long, low, and shallow, rather flat-bottomed, but fine and
+sharp in the stem and stern, which gives them a good hold of the water.
+They have one mast, stepped well forward and weighted at the foot so
+that it can be lowered to pass under bridges, and be easily raised
+again. This mast supports one immense sail, tanned black or red-brown.
+They sail wonderfully fast, even rivalling the yachts in their speed,
+and they can go very close to the wind. They are generally worked by two
+men, who live and sleep in the little cabin astern.
+
+We left Frank Merivale very much absorbed in thought. All at once a
+happy thought seemed to strike him, for he started from his reverie, and
+began to execute a step something between a walk and a war-dance. A
+clump of rushes put an untimely end to this by tripping him up, and
+causing him to measure his length upon the ground. With philosophical
+composure he picked himself up, and walked off, whistling merrily,
+towards a fir copse which stood upon the crest of a rising, lying above.
+We should say that while the flat marsh stretches between Hickling Broad
+and the sea, to the westward and inland the country is diversified with
+woods, and slight elevations forming a very pretty sylvan district.
+Reaching the fir-wood Frank entered it, and after looking about for a
+little time, he fixed upon a tall slender young larch-tree. He walked
+round and round it, and examined it critically, finally lying down on
+his back at its foot, and, with his eye close to its stem, glanced up it
+to see if it were perfectly straight. Satisfied on this point, he took
+out a large clasp-knife, and marked the trunk with a huge cross. Then he
+crossed the hedge and took his way through a large park, until he came
+to a paddock and pleasant house nestling among some large lime-trees,
+and surrounded by croquet lawns and well-kept gardens. It was an old
+house, built with many wings and projections and in many styles of
+architecture, the most prominent of which was a heavily-timbered
+Elizabethan style. Around the two principal sides of the house ran a
+wooden veranda, which in summer was luxuriantly hung with roses.
+
+This was Frank Merivale's home, and vaulting over the gate which
+separated the paddock from the lawn, he went into the house. Coming down
+the broad staircase into the hall, he met his two sisters; the eldest, a
+girl of thirteen, was like her brother, blue eyed and yellow-haired,
+with a face full of fun and mischief. Her name was Mary. The younger
+sister bore the same strong family likeness and was barely eleven.
+
+"Well, merry Mary Merivale," said Frank, "is the pater in?"
+
+"Yes, Frank, he is in the library."
+
+"That's all right; and where are you going?"
+
+"We are going to dig pupæ for you," answered Mary.
+
+"Then you are a good little woman," replied Frank, catching her round
+the waist, and giving her a kiss.
+
+"Have you got a mat to kneel upon, so as not to catch cold?"
+
+"Yes, we have got a mat and a trowel, in this basket, and we mean to get
+you a lot of moths. Don't we, Florrie?"
+
+"Yes, ever so many."
+
+Frank went along the passage, and entered the library. Mr. Merivale was
+seated at the table writing. He was a pale and studious-looking man,
+with a very kind and genial expression of face. He owned a small estate
+on the shores of the Broad, and was a deep thinker and scholarly writer,
+writing books which were intended chiefly for college libraries. He
+looked up as his son entered, and said,--
+
+"Well, Frank, what is it?"
+
+"Please father, my birthday is next week."
+
+"I had not forgotten it, my boy."
+
+"Well, sir, I suppose you are going to give me a present of some sort as
+usual, and I thought, if you don't mind, that I should like to choose my
+present this time for myself."
+
+"If you choose wisely, you shall have what you wish, Frank."
+
+"Well, sir, all that I want is that you should let me have one of the
+straight young larches by the Broad. I want to cut it down at once that
+it may season by the spring."
+
+"It is rather a strange birthday present, Frank, but you may have it, in
+addition to the one your mother and I were about to get you, which was
+Morris's _British Birds_."
+
+"Oh, father, I am so glad. That is just the book I have been wanting."
+
+Mr. Merivale did not ask his son what the larch-tree was for. He thought
+that if Frank wished him to know he would have told him at once. He had
+a most perfect trust in his children, and he delighted to let them see
+that he had this trust in them. Hence it was their pride to deserve the
+confidence placed in them, and a happier family was not to be found in
+all Norfolk. Mr. Merivale supposed his son had good reasons for not
+making him a confidant in the matter of the larch-tree, so forbore to
+ask him.
+
+Frank quickly made his way to the outbuildings, where he obtained a
+couple of axes and a long rope. Laden with these he set off along a
+thickly-hedged lane until he came to a cottage, set far back in an
+old-fashioned garden. Here lived Jimmy Brett, his great friend, a boy
+about the same age as himself, who lived with his grandmother, Mrs.
+Brett, in this quiet little cottage. As Frank went up the garden walk he
+saw Jimmy perched on a ladder, engaged in painting a long board, a foot
+wide, which he had fixed up the whole length of the front of the
+cottage, just below the bed-room window.
+
+"What on earth is that for, Jimmy?" cried Frank, in astonishment.
+
+Jimmy turned round, revealing himself as a slight, pale-faced lad, with
+an eager and intelligent countenance, and replied--
+
+"Well, you see, the swallows build in such great numbers in these wide
+old-fashioned eaves that they are rather a nuisance, and grandmother
+does not like the mess they make of the door-steps and windows below,
+so I thought if I put a board all the way along beneath their nests it
+would do away with the nuisance."
+
+"That is a clever idea, Jimmy; but do you not think that the swallows
+will build _below_ the board next year. They will think you put it there
+just on purpose for them."
+
+"I never thought of that, Frank," replied Jimmy, looking rather blank;
+"but now you mention it I think it is likely enough they will;" and by
+way of parenthesis I may say that next spring the swallows and
+house-martins did build under the new board in great numbers, and so
+frustrated Jimmy's plan altogether.
+
+"What are you going to do with those axes and that rope, Frank?"
+
+"Come and see; but first finish your painting, while I go in and see the
+grandmother."
+
+As the two boys walked off to the fir-copse, Frank told his friend that
+he meant to cut down the tree, but he would not tell him what it was
+that he wanted it for, and Jimmy's curiosity was provoked to a great
+degree.
+
+When they reached the wood they proceeded to the tree which Frank had
+marked, and Jimmy was sent up to fasten the rope to the top of it. Then
+while Frank took off his coat and applied the axe vigorously to the
+bottom of the tree, making the chips fly in all directions, Jimmy took
+the other end of the rope over the fence, and kept a steady pull upon
+it. At last the tree began to creak and groan, and then fell over with a
+crash. Jimmy then took the other axe, and the two began to lop off the
+branches. This was a long job, and when it was finished they were very
+warm and tired, and sat down to rest for a while on the fallen tree.
+
+A clicking and cracking sound in the wood about them now became audible
+to their quick ears. It might have been heard before had it not been
+drowned by the noise of the axes. They looked up, and to their great
+delight they saw a small flock of birds larger than a green linnet, and
+with plumage of red, brown, and yellow. They were flitting about the
+fir-trees, cutting off the fir-cones with their bills, and then holding
+them on the branches with their claws, and cracking them, and picking
+out the seeds, producing at the same time the noise which had attracted
+the attention of the boys.
+
+"What are they?" exclaimed Jimmy; "their beaks are hooked, and cross
+each other. I never saw birds like them before."
+
+"They are crossbills, as sure as we are here!" said Frank, excitedly.
+"Run to the boat-house as quick as you can, while I watch them, and
+bring the gun."
+
+Brett sped off like a deer, while Frank followed the movements of the
+strange birds with interest.
+
+Jimmy returned with the gun, and quite out of breath.
+
+"Now," said Frank, "from the difference in colour there are evidently
+males and females here, and we must get one of each; and we must do it
+without disturbing the others, as if we don't frighten them they may
+stay here and breed."
+
+They watched for some time before they could get the desired chance, and
+then two birds flew, toying with each other, to some distance from the
+rest. They were evidently male and female. Frank put the gun to his
+shoulder, a report rang through the wood, and both the crossbills, for
+such they were, fell dead to the ground.
+
+Frank might have shot many more, but he was a thorough naturalist, and,
+as such, he disliked the idea of indiscriminate and useless slaughter.
+He had procured specimens sufficient, and he humanely let the others go.
+
+"Now, Jimmy, we have got a prize. Crossbills are not seen every day. Let
+us go to the boat-house and skin them, and read something about them in
+our books."
+
+The boat-house, which belonged to Mr. Merivale, stood at the edge of a
+little bay of the Broad. It was a large, substantial structure,
+projecting out into the water, and having a large room above, approached
+by a staircase. This had been appropriated by Frank as his "den," and
+here it was that he and his friend transacted all their private
+business, held their natural history meetings, skinned and stuffed
+birds, and kept their collection of birds' eggs and butterflies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+ Stuffing the Crossbills.--The proposed Yacht.--An impaled Woodcock.
+
+
+Frank led the way up stairs, and unlocking the door they entered the
+room, and piling up some brushwood in the grate they lit it, and soon
+had a roaring fire. The room now presented a very cheerful appearance. A
+large window at one end looked out over the glittering Broad. The room
+itself was plainly furnished with a few deal chairs and a table, and at
+one side of it was an old-fashioned bureau, in the drawers of which the
+boys' natural history collections were stored. Around the room were
+several shelves, on which were some very creditably stuffed birds,
+flower-pots filled with mould and covered with gauze bent over cane
+arches, the use of which will presently appear, and a good number of
+books on natural history, chiefly of a cheap and popular kind.
+
+Frank got out a box containing knife-blades of various sizes fastened
+into handles of wood, two pairs of scissors, pliers, and other tools
+useful or necessary for skinning or stuffing birds; while Jimmy Brett
+took down a book on birds, and turned to the account of the crossbill;
+and as Frank was busy at one end of the table skinning the birds, Jimmy
+at the other end kept up a running commentary on his book for the
+benefit of his friend, in the following manner:--
+
+"There is a lot about crossbills here, Frank. They are rare, but they
+have been found at different times and in different months of the year
+in many parts of the kingdom. They vary greatly in size as well as in
+colour, according to age, sex, and the time of the year. They are
+yellow, red, green, or brown at different times, so if it were not for
+their cross bills it would be rather hard to distinguish them. There are
+two pictures of them here; one has a rose-coloured back and red-brown
+wings, and the other has a green back and brown wings. The beaks curve
+and cross each other, and appear to be particularly suited for breaking
+open the cones of fir-trees and picking out the seeds, and they will cut
+open apples and other fruit to get at the pips. They come generally in
+the winter, but often stay until the spring, and then they may breed
+here, although it is very seldom that their nests are found. They breed
+in Norway and Sweden, and nest very early in the year, and their nest
+seems to be like a missel thrush's, and is placed in fir-trees. Their
+eggs are white with just a touch of blue or green, and spotted with
+brown spots."
+
+[Illustration: CROSSBILL.]
+
+"There, that is all that seems to be worth noticing, but we have got a
+prize worth having. I am afraid they will not stop and breed. There are
+not enough pine woods about, and they appear to be fond of going from
+place to place, so that it is not likely they will be here in the
+spring."
+
+While he talked, Frank quickly and skilfully skinned and cleaned the
+birds, and then he painted the inside of the skins with a solution of
+corrosive sublimate dissolved in spirits of wine, which is a most
+excellent preservative and much more cleanly to handle than arsenical
+soap. Then he loosely stuffed them with cotton-wool, smoothed the
+feathers, and placed them on a shelf to dry.
+
+"Now, Frank," said Jimmy plaintively, "what _are_ you going to do with
+that young larch-tree? I have been very patient all this time, so you
+may as well tell me now."
+
+"Well, Jimmy, I have thought of a grand idea. You are the inventive
+genius of us two, and I usually carry things out; but I have invented
+something now which we must both help to carry out. What do you think of
+having a yacht, Jimmy--a large yacht, so that we could sail all over the
+Broad, and down the rivers, and all over the country, and fish and
+birdnest, and naturalize, and shoot wildfowl to our hearts' content?
+What do you think of that, my boy?"
+
+"It would be an awfully jolly thing, no doubt; but as far as Hickling
+Broad goes, it is too shallow for any yacht. Why, except in the Channel,
+it is not more than four feet deep in any part, large as it is; and
+parts of it are only two feet deep, so that if we had a yacht we should
+stick fast directly. Besides, how are we to get a yacht?"
+
+"Make one."
+
+"How? It will be impossible."
+
+"We could not make a yacht of the usual shape, and if we could, it would
+not suit our purposes. What I propose is that we should build a double
+yacht. Just listen while I explain, and don't interrupt. We will make
+two long pontoons, pointed at both ends, and connect the two by
+cross-pieces, on which we can lay a deck and build a small, low cabin.
+Such a boat would not draw more than a foot of water, and to make her
+sail to windward we should have a drop keel or centre board, which we
+could let down or draw up according to the depth of the water. Then I
+think a lug sail and mizen would suit her best. We will build her
+ourselves. And inch deal is cheap enough, so it cannot cost so much. I
+have saved my pocket-money to buy a lot of books, but I can do without
+them for a time"----
+
+"I have a couple of sovereigns," eagerly interrupted Jimmy.
+
+"That is right; then we can do it swimmingly. We will build her in old
+Bell's yard, and he will lend us what tools we have not got."
+
+Jimmy warmly welcomed the idea, and, getting out some paper and pencils,
+they began to draw plans and estimates of cost with great enthusiasm.
+
+"And now," said Frank, "we will go and see Bell and ask him what he
+thinks of it."
+
+Bell was a very eccentric old man, who lived on the shores of a small
+and winding creek, which ran up from the Broad. By trade he was a
+tailor, but he united to this the very different occupation of a
+boat-builder, and filled up his spare time with fishing and shooting
+wildfowl. He was a close observer of the habits of beasts, birds, and
+fishes, and was a great favourite with the boys, whose visits he liked
+and encouraged.
+
+Stepping into the boat that lay moored in the boat-house, the two boys
+rowed across a bend of the Broad and up the creek to his cottage. The
+old man was at work in his yard, repairing the bottom of a boat, while
+his old wife might be seen at the window of the house putting the
+finishing-touches to the Sunday coat of some village beau.
+
+"Good morning, Bell; it is a fine day."
+
+"Good morning, young master. Yes, it is a fine day, but it will be finer
+to-morrow. Yon robin sings higher in the poplar this afternoon than he
+did this morning, and that is a sure sign that finer weather is coming."
+
+"I never knew that before," said Frank.
+
+"No, you have not lived so long in the world as I have," replied Bell;
+"but I am glad you have come, for I have a very strange sight to show
+you. Look here."
+
+He went into the cottage, and returned, bringing with him a dry and
+withered branch, one end of which had been torn and slit, probably by
+the wind, so that it was a sharp and jagged spike. On the end of this
+was impaled a fine woodcock, dead of course, and with the sharp piece of
+wood imbedded in its breast.
+
+"Poor thing, how did it get into that fix?" Jimmy exclaimed.
+
+"Well, sir, you see it was in this way. The birds, as you know, are now
+coming from abroad--I can hear great flocks of them at night sometimes
+as they fly overhead calling to one another--and last night you know was
+pitch dark, so that this woodcock, coming over at a great speed, flew
+against this sharp branch in the dark and spiked itself. When I got up
+this morning I saw it in that oak-tree, and I sent my boy up to cut off
+the branch, and knowing you would like to have it, I kept it, just as it
+was."
+
+"We are very much obliged to you, Bell, and we will mount it and stuff
+it, just as it is. It will be an interesting thing to add to our museum,
+won't it, Jimmy?"
+
+"I have often heard of birds flying against the telegraph wires and
+being killed in the dark, and of their dashing against windows, either
+attracted by the light, or not seeing the glass, but I have not heard of
+anything so curious as this. One cannot help feeling sorry for the poor
+bird. After a long and tiring journey, and expecting to find all its
+troubles over, to meet with a sad end like this!"
+
+[Illustration: WOODCOCK.]
+
+The boys then unfolded their plan to Bell. Anything out of the common
+was sure to interest him, and hence, though he was not so sanguine of
+success as the boys were, yet he thought it might be done, and offered
+to help them as much as he could, and to let them use his yard.
+
+"There is nothing like making a beginning," said Frank, who was quick
+and impetuous in action, and he took off his coat and set to work
+vigorously to clear a space close by the water's edge, where the keel of
+a yacht might be laid, while Jimmy went through their calculations of
+cost with Bell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ A Momentous Decision.
+
+
+When Frank went home one of the servants told him that his father
+particularly wished to see him in the library as soon as he came in. He
+went into the library, and found his father and mother both there and
+looking rather serious.
+
+"Sit down, Frank," said his father. "We have something to say to you
+about which we wish you to think carefully before you decide. Sir
+Richard Carleton has been here. He is not only a neighbour but a friend
+of mine, although as I do not go out much we seldom meet each other. He
+is a widower with one son, a boy about your age. Do you know him?"
+
+"Very slightly, sir."
+
+"Well, this son of his, Dick Carleton, is very delicate; he has grown
+very tall and beyond his strength, and the doctor says he must not be
+sent to a public school. Now at home he has no boy companions, and he is
+moping himself to death. Sir Richard says he takes no interest in
+anything; he won't ride or work, and if he goes on like this it will end
+in a serious illness. What his father wants to do is to arouse in him
+some interest in his life, and to awake him out of the deadly apathy he
+is in at present. Sir Richard knows your healthy outdoor mode of life,
+and your fondness for Natural History and sport, and he thinks you
+might, if you chose, be the means of making his boy take some interest
+in the same sort of thing, and if you did so you would in all
+probability save his son's life. Now what he proposes is this: That you
+should leave the Grammar School at Norwich, and that his son and you
+should be placed under the tuition of our Rector until it is time to go
+to college. Your education would be as well attended to as at Norwich,
+and your mother and I could have no objection to the arrangement, but we
+wish you to decide for yourself."
+
+Frank's decision was made at once. The life at the Grammar School was
+very jolly, with its cricket and football and the rowing matches on the
+river, but if this new arrangement were carried out there would be far
+better opportunities of building and sailing the projected yacht, and of
+sporting and naturalizing on the broads and rivers, so he at once
+answered--
+
+"I shall be very willing to try it, sir; but Jimmy Brett must be
+included in the arrangement. I could not desert him, and he would be
+miserable without me at school. It would never do to separate us now,
+father."
+
+"Well, but do you think his grandmother can afford it? It will be more
+expensive than being at the Grammar School."
+
+"Then I tell you what, father and mother: the Rector must only charge
+Jimmy the same as the Grammar School, and you must make up the
+difference to him, and I will do with less pocket-money."
+
+"You shall not make that sacrifice, darling," said Mrs. Merivale; "we
+will put that all right, and I will go and see Mrs. Brett in the
+morning."
+
+And so the matter was finally arranged, and that the boys might become
+well acquainted with each other, Dick Carleton was invited to stay at
+Mr. Merivale's. But before he comes we will just go back a few hours and
+follow merry Mary Merivale, as her brother called her, and her younger
+sister Florrie, on their search for pupæ.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ Digging for Pupæ.--Dick Carleton.--Metamorphoses of Butterfly.
+
+
+About two miles further inland from Mr. Merivale's and in the midst of a
+fine and well-wooded country, was Sir Richard Carleton's house. Around
+it was a park with larger timber trees than were to be found in the rest
+of the countryside. Mary and Florence Merivale had fixed on this spot as
+the scene of their labours in the cause of science, as represented by
+the collections of their brother and Jimmy Brett. Leaving the path,
+they trespassed boldly in search of suitable trees for their purpose.
+Frank had told them that the vicinity of houses was the best, because
+moths, in all probability attracted by the lights, laid their eggs on
+trees and shrubs near houses. So the two girls went up as near the large
+house as they thought they might venture without being seen, and
+commenced their search.
+
+A tall youth strolling languidly down a path through the woods saw two
+kneeling figures in red cloaks at the foot of a large willow-tree, and
+their movements aroused his curiosity, and while he stands looking at
+them let us say what manner of boy Dick Carleton is. He is very tall and
+thin, but he has a figure that only wants filling out to be handsome. He
+has a very beautiful face and head, and curly brown hair. His large dark
+eyes and pale complexion make him look more delicate than he really is,
+but he is afflicted with a listless melancholy that shows itself in
+every movement. It was this melancholy which had aroused his father's
+fears, and it was plain that if it were not checked in time grave
+results might follow. He stood for some time looking at the two girls,
+wishing to ask what they were doing, but too shy to do so. At last Mary
+caught sight of him, and rising, she said--
+
+"I hope we are not trespassing?"
+
+"You are trespassing, but it does not matter," replied Dick, taking off
+his hat. "But may I ask what you are doing?"
+
+"We are digging for pupæ," answered Mary.
+
+"And what are pupæ?"
+
+"Don't you know?" asked Mary in surprise.
+
+"No."
+
+"Why they come into moths. The moth lays its egg, the eggs turn into
+caterpillars, which feed on leaves and trees, and then turn into these
+things," and she then showed him five or six large red cylindrical
+objects which she had in her basket. "When the spring comes these will
+turn into moths."
+
+"How wonderful," said Dick. "I did not know that before; but if the
+caterpillars feed on leaves, how is it that you dig those from the
+ground?"
+
+"The caterpillars of some moths go into the earth before they change
+into the pupæ state. I do not know why: I suppose they think it safer."
+
+"Where did you learn all this?" said Dick, his eyes lighting up with a
+new life and interest at this first glimpse of what was to him a new and
+strange world.
+
+"From my brother Frank and Jimmy Brett. They are making collections, and
+we are helping them as much as we can. My brother is Frank Merivale, and
+I am Mary Merivale."
+
+"And my name is Carleton; but please tell me more about these things.
+Will they turn into white butterflies?"
+
+"They won't turn into butterflies at all, but into moths, great ugly
+things with thick bodies; only Frank and Jimmy like them."
+
+[Illustration: METAMORPHOSES OF BUTTERFLY.]
+
+"I should like to find some if you will show me how to dig for them. I
+suppose if I keep them they will turn into moths some time."
+
+[Illustration: THE PARK IN SUMMER.]
+
+"Yes; put them into a flower-pot full of mould and keep it rather damp,
+and put something over so that the moths sha'n't fly away, and in the
+spring they will come out; but it is prettiest to see butterflies come
+out. They split open the chrysalis at the back of its neck and creep
+out, but their wings are all shrivelled up to nothing, and they climb up
+the side of the box, and then their wings spread out, and get so large
+and beautiful! I could find you plenty of the chrysalides of the
+white butterflies by your greenhouses, but if you want moths, take this
+trowel and dig around the other side of this tree about three inches
+from it and three inches deep. They do not breed on all trees; we have
+tried five to-day and found nothing, but at this one we have got
+twelve."
+
+More amused and interested than he had ever been before, Dick knelt down
+and began to dig. Very soon he found a large chrysalis, and, encouraged
+by this success, he dug more vigorously, and very soon he had found
+five, while the girls had increased their spoils to sixteen.
+
+"Now, Miss Merivale, will you come to the greenhouses and show me how to
+get some butterfly chrysalides? I shall be very glad if you will, and I
+should like to introduce you to my father, and I will ask him to ask
+your brother here, then he could tell me more about these things."
+
+[Illustration: WHITE HAWTHORN BUTTERFLY.]
+
+Mary hesitated, but Florrie said, "Oh, do go, Mary;" so she consented,
+and they walked up through the gardens, and Mary showed Dick where to
+look for the chrysalides of the common white butterfly, which are to be
+found through the winter attached by a silken thread to the sheltered
+sides of walls, and under the coping of greenhouses and buildings near
+the gardens where the caterpillars have fed on the lettuces and
+cabbages.
+
+Sir Richard Carleton was in one of the conservatories, and seeing him,
+Dick cried out--
+
+"Father, these red things will turn into moths, and these greenish-white
+ones into butterflies."
+
+"Yes, Dick, I know they will."
+
+"But you never told me so before, father."
+
+"Well, my boy, I never thought it would interest you, but I am very glad
+it does interest you. This is Mary Merivale, I think. How do you do, my
+dears? Come into the library all of you, and I will show you some books
+on butterflies."
+
+They went into the house and had some tea and cake, and turned over the
+pages of a book on entomology with coloured plates, which had lain dusty
+and forgotten on the shelves until now, and Mary and her sister pointed
+out to Dick moths and butterflies which their brother and Jimmy had in
+their collection.
+
+Sir Richard saw with delight that the right chord had been touched in
+his son's mind, and he no longer doubted the success of the experiment
+he had urged Mr. Merivale to try.
+
+The time slipped rapidly away, and when it was high time to go, Mary and
+Florrie were driven home by Sir Richard's groom, charmed with their
+visit, and full of praises of Sir Richard and his son.
+
+Dick Carleton was eager to know more of entomology, and set to work at
+once to read about it with an energy he had never displayed for anything
+before, and the father wrote off to his booksellers to order a newer and
+more reliable book upon the science than the one he possessed, to be
+given to Dick.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+ Building the Yacht.--The Launch.--Great Crested Grebe's nest.--
+ A Floating Coot's nest.--Golden Crested Wrens.--
+ Their Migration.--The Flight of a Heron.
+
+
+When Dick Carleton arrived at Mr. Merivale's to commence the visit which
+was to initiate the friendship of the boys, Frank and Jimmy were at the
+boat-house; and as soon as Dick had been welcomed by Mr. and Mrs.
+Merivale, Mary took him off to the boat-house to introduce him to Frank
+and Jimmy, and see that he was shown their collections. When they opened
+the door they saw the two boys busy at the table, with sheets of paper
+and drawing instruments before them. Dick felt and looked rather shy and
+nervous, but Frank's hearty greeting put him at his ease. Mary proceeded
+to do the honour of the place, and walked Dick about from side to side
+of the room to show him their butterflies and birds' eggs, stuffed
+birds, and the other natural history curiosities which the boys had
+collected, while they were followed by Frank and Jimmy, who smiled at
+her eagerness. They had a very fair collection of eggs, including most
+of the common kinds, but their collection of butterflies was not so
+good, as neither Frank nor Jimmy cared so much for entomology as they
+did for ornithology.
+
+"What are all these plans and drawings for?" said Mary, pointing to the
+litter on the table.
+
+"Shall we tell her Jimmy?" said Frank.
+
+"Yes, why not? She will know some time, so she may as well know now.
+Besides, she can help us to make the sails, you know. We sha'n't do the
+sewing so well as the wood-work."
+
+So the great project of the yacht was explained. Mary danced about the
+room in glee, and already fancied herself sailing about the broad. Dick
+said--
+
+"If it can be done, it would be the nicest thing one could think of."
+
+"It shall be done," said Frank decisively, and Dick looked up at him
+with admiring envy, and replied--
+
+"Then I will help you all I can, and go shares with you in the expense."
+
+"You are a brick," said Frank; "come and look at our plans, and see if
+you can make any suggestions."
+
+Later on, when Frank and Jimmy were left alone, Frank said--
+
+"He'll do, Jimmy."
+
+Jimmy said, "Yes," but looked mournful.
+
+"What's the matter, Jimmy?"
+
+"Two are company, but three are none; and you may like him better than
+me."
+
+Frank's hand descended heavily on his friend's shoulder, and he shook
+him roughly.
+
+"Don't be a fool, Jimmy," was all that he said, but in spite of the rude
+speech and the rough action, Jimmy saw a meaning beyond, and was quite
+satisfied. His face grew bright again, and from that time forward a warm
+friendship existed between the three boys, and was never broken or
+disturbed by any twinge of jealousy.
+
+[Illustration: BUILDING THE BOAT.]
+
+They lost no time in commencing to build the boat. The first thing to be
+done was to make two long pontoons or floats, on which to erect the
+superstructure of the yacht. This was a comparatively easy matter. They
+made two long wooden boxes of the following sizes and dimensions. Each
+box was twenty-four feet long, four feet wide in the middle portion and
+tapering off at each end to a fine point, and two feet six inches deep.
+It was made of one-inch deal, and strongly supported and fastened
+together by ribs and cross-pieces of wood in the interior. The seams
+were caulked with tow and a mixture of red and white lead, and then
+covered or protected by slips of wood nailed along them. These two
+pontoons were then laid on the ground side by side with a space of three
+feet six inches between their centres. They were then joined together by
+strong pieces of wood fastened the whole way across, every two feet. On
+the top of these again, a flooring of planks was laid, and neatly
+finished off round the edges with a bulwark of rope stretched on iron
+uprights. On this was erected a cabin three feet six inches in height,
+nine feet long and seven feet wide. This was fitted with a door at the
+aft end, and a row of little windows along each side. Inside were two
+low broad seats, which were also intended to serve as beds when occasion
+should require.
+
+Each pontoon was fitted with a rudder and a helm, and these were
+connected by a cross-piece of wood, so that both rudders were worked at
+once. On this cross-piece were two iron loops, that the steersman,
+holding on by them, might have greater power over the helm. Each pontoon
+had a strong keel about two inches deep to protect its bottom from
+injury. Such a keel was not sufficient to enable the boat to sail to
+windward, so two drop-keels or centre-boards were added, each about
+seven feet long and two feet six inches deep. These were fixed in a line
+along the centre two-thirds of the boat, and worked on strong pivots at
+their foremost corners, so that by means of chains attached to their aft
+corners and passing through holes in the deck they could be let down to
+any required depth, or hauled up in the space between the pontoons.
+
+These were intended to give the yacht a greater hold on the water when
+beating to windward. The main-mast was stepped close to the bows. Its
+lower part was weighted with lead and iron, and was so arranged that if
+it were requisite to pass under low bridges, the mast could be lowered
+and raised with great facility, working on a fulcrum three feet six
+inches from the deck. There was no bowsprit, but the fore-stay was made
+fast to the cross-piece connecting the bows. The mizen-mast was attached
+to a cross-piece at the stern, and the mizen-sail was worked by a sheet
+rove through a block at the end of a fixed boom. The main-sail was a
+lug-sail with a large boom, and did not require to be dipped every time
+a tack was made.
+
+The above is a description of the yacht when completed, but it must not
+be supposed that it was made straight off with no labour. On the
+contrary, it took an immensity of time and labour before it was
+completed. The three boys worked at it manfully, Frank taking the lead
+and doing the major portion of the work. Indeed, they would have given
+it up many times had it not been for his pluck and determination.
+Unforeseen difficulties fast presented themselves, and cost them no
+little thought to overcome. When they had got the two pontoons and the
+flooring done, they fell short of cash, and for two or three days they
+went about very disconsolately, until Dick informed them that his
+father's gardener was about to demolish a summer-house in the garden,
+and that they might have the wood. This enabled them to make the cabin,
+and by dint of keeping their eyes open, and picking up every scrap of
+wood or iron, and every nail or screw which they came across, they got
+along pretty well until Frank's quarter-day came, and he received his
+allowance of pocket-money. Mr. Merivale, who of course soon found out
+what they were after, laughingly said that they went about with such
+greedy eyes, and looked so suspiciously at everything, that he was
+afraid they might take a fancy to some part of him, as being useful for
+some part of their boat.
+
+[Illustration: A YARMOUTH YAWL.]
+
+At last they had everything ready but the sails, and then they had an
+unexpected stroke of good luck. Dick discovered in an old lumber loft, a
+complete set of sails belonging to a yawl-rigged yacht which was
+formerly the property of his grandfather. These his father willingly
+gave to him. Although so old they were strong, and they were speedily
+converted into sails for the yacht. Then the yacht was painted white,
+and a small flat-bottomed punt with pointed bows was made to accompany
+her, and all was ready for launching.
+
+By this time the land was green with spring, and the boys had commenced
+their studies with Mr. Meredith the Rector,--a clever, sensible
+Welshman, just the man to attract and manage three such boys as ours.
+
+Saturday, being a holiday, was fixed for the launching, and the boys
+were at Bell's yard by six o'clock in the morning, getting everything in
+readiness for the great event, and excited with the thought of a long
+day's sail in a yacht of their own making.
+
+It was a warm, bright morning. The hedges were shining with a most
+brilliant green, and clothed in places with the creamy white of the
+hawthorn blossoms. The broad lay still and placid in the sunlight, and
+the pairing water-birds swam in and out of its reed-fringed margin, and
+from one to another of its dense 'ronds,' or islands of reeds.
+
+"There is not a breath of wind," said Frank, wetting his finger, and
+holding it up, to feel if possible by the increased coldness on one side
+or another, from which quarter the wind was blowing.
+
+"I think there's a slight air from the south," he said.
+
+"Yes," replied Bell, "it will blow from the south or west to-day, if it
+blows at all, and I think from the look of those little fleecy clouds,
+that there will be a breeze before long."
+
+"Well, I am sure the ancient mariner never longed for a breeze as much
+as we do now to try our beautiful boat with," said Frank; "but by the
+way, what shall we call her? We have never thought of a name for her."
+Dick replied:
+
+"Call her the _Swan_, because like the Swan on 'sweet St. Mary's Lake,'
+she will float _double_."
+
+"Bravo! that is not bad. We will call her the _Swan_ then; but come, let
+us launch her."
+
+They set to work with a will, and, aided by Bell, they quickly had her
+on the water. Jumping on board, they felt the delight of being on board
+their own handiwork. They pushed the yacht along the narrow channel,
+which was barely wide enough for it, until they came to its outlet into
+the broad, and then they found their progress barred. A little
+promontory of rushes ran out across the dyke, and on the end of this
+promontory was a coot's nest containing eight eggs. It was necessary to
+cut away the promontory before the boat could pass into the open broad.
+They were loath to destroy the nest, so they carefully moved it from its
+position; and as it was very large and substantial, they allowed it to
+float, thinking the old bird would come and fix it herself. Then with
+beating hearts they hoisted their sails. Frank went to the helm, Jimmy
+took the main-sail sheet, and Dick the mizen sheet, while Bell sat on
+the cabin and whistled for a wind.
+
+"I am sure the leaves of the trees are rustling a little bit," said
+Dick.
+
+"And I think I see a ripple on the water," said Jimmy.
+
+Frank looked back and saw that they were already fifty yards from the
+shore, and that they were rapidly increasing the distance.
+
+"Why, look! she sails fast, without any wind at all," he said; but then
+they became sensible that there was a slight zephyr from the south,
+which increased as they got out more into the open water. A ripple arose
+on the water, and the yacht sailed faster. A cheer broke from the boys
+as they saw their efforts were crowned with success. The breeze
+increased, and they sped along more quickly, passing over acres of
+shallow water that sparkled as clear as glass over the bright yellow
+gravel. Immense shoals of bream and perch, and many large pike, darted
+away from them as they sailed on, and the _Swan_ slipped as softly
+through the water as they could desire. They went the whole length of
+the broad, and then Frank cried out--
+
+"Stand by, we are going about; haul in her sheet;" and putting the helm
+over, the yacht swung round like a top, and went across on the port tack
+up the broad.
+
+They put about again across to the reed bed, and after one more tack
+they came within hail of the boat-house, where they could see Mary and
+Florrie waiting for them, and waving their handkerchiefs. Frank took his
+"line" steadily, and ran her up in the wind's eye within ten yards of
+the boat-house; and Dick took the punt ashore for the two girls, who
+were loud in their expressions of delight and amazement. With this
+addition to their party they cruised about the broad for some hours,
+learning how to handle their craft, and gaining confidence in her.
+Towards noon it came on to blow very hard, and they landed Mary and
+Florrie, and set to work to enjoy themselves the more thoroughly as the
+breeze grew stronger. The boat behaved admirably. She was as steady as a
+rock, heeling over but very slightly even when the breeze blew strong on
+her beam. She came about well, and if she hung fire or was in danger of
+missing stays they had only to haul on the mizen-sheet, and her head
+went round "in a jiffy." She drew little more than a foot of water, so
+could, when her keels were drawn up, pass over the shallowest part of
+the broad in safety.
+
+"I say, this is fine," said Jimmy, rubbing his hands. Frank said
+nothing, but his kindling eye and satisfied look showed how thoroughly
+he enjoyed it all.
+
+While making a long tack across the broad, they ran across a straggling
+bed of rushes at a shallow portion. They offered but little resistance
+to their passage, but as they charged through them, Frank cried out--
+
+"I say, we passed over a great crested grebe's nest. I saw the eggs roll
+out into the water;" and he ran the boat into the wind and let her drift
+back stern foremost to the spot where the nest had been.
+
+"It was only a lump of rotting weed, all broken and dirty," said Dick.
+
+"That's what all grebe's nests look like," answered Frank; "they cover
+them with reeds when they leave them, so that no one can see the eggs,
+and few would think there were any there. Here's the place, drive the
+boat-hook in and hold the boat steady while I get up the eggs. There
+were five, but two are broken. What a pity! We don't want any for our
+collection, and the birds look so pretty on the broad, that it is a
+shame to disturb them, but we must take them now I suppose. Let's go
+back and see how the coot's nest is getting on."
+
+They sailed back some way, and then to their great surprise, they saw
+the coot's nest floating across the broad, and the old bird swimming
+round it, and evidently very much puzzled to know what to do.
+
+"Let us tack near her and watch," said Jimmy. So they sailed round at a
+distance and watched the poor bird, which followed its boat-like nest as
+it drifted before the wind. At length the boys were pleased to see the
+bird make an effort to get on the nest, and so strongly built was it
+that it bore her weight well. There she sat, and sailed before the wind
+at a fair pace.
+
+"Did you ever see the like of that before?"
+
+"No," answered Bell, "but I warrant you that the eggs must have been
+hard set, and near to being hatched, or she would never have done that."
+
+"She deserves to hatch them, at any rate. Had we better fix the nest or
+leave it alone?"
+
+"Better leave it alone; I think she will stick to it if it does not sink
+below her."
+
+[Illustration: THE COMMON COOT.]
+
+On Monday evening the boys sailed about the broad in search of the
+floating coot's nest, and found it among the reeds at the north end of
+the broad, and from the broken egg-shells in it they had no doubt but
+that the coot had hatched her young ones in safety, as she deserved to
+do.
+
+After landing Bell they ran the yacht into a 'rond' of reeds, and
+proceeded to eat their dinner, which they had brought with them, and
+very happy and comfortable they were. The sun shone brightly, the warm
+wind rustled through the reeds and flags, the sky and the water were
+blue, their boat was a success, and they sat and talked of cruises, and
+planned expeditions, and were as merry and jolly as any boys need desire
+to be.
+
+While they were talking, half-a-dozen tiny little gold-crested wrens
+alighted on the cordage of the mast. They seemed very tame and tired,
+and descended to the deck to eat some crumbs which were thrown to them.
+
+[Illustration: COMMON WREN AND EGG.]
+
+"What pretty little things they are, with their fiery yellow heads,"
+said Frank. "To think a tiny bird like that could make a long migration!
+These birds have only just arrived, that's clear."
+
+"Do gold crests migrate?" asked Jimmy.
+
+"Yes, they go south for the winter, and come back again in the spring. I
+don't know how far they go, but they have been taken some distance from
+land. More probably, however, these have been blown from the coast, for
+I don't think they cross the sea as a rule."
+
+As they returned homeward, the boys in running round a point of reeds,
+came upon a heron, which scuttled away in great haste, and in a very
+undignified manner. It seemed at first as if they should catch him, as
+they followed him so closely, but as he got fairly away, he rose in the
+air and distanced them.
+
+"How slowly he flaps his wings," said Dick.
+
+"How many times a minute do you think he flaps them?" asked Jimmy.
+
+[Illustration: HERON.]
+
+"Just about forty, at the outside," replied Dick.
+
+"Well, do you count, while I time you," and Jimmy took out his watch and
+marked the time, while Dick counted one, two, three, &c.
+
+When he had counted 120 Jimmy said--
+
+"Stop, the minute is up. Aren't you astonished?"
+
+"I am, and no mistake. How deceptive his flight is, and just fancy at
+what a pace must the wings of the smaller birds go!"
+
+They brought the yacht to anchor in front of the boat-house, and went
+home to relate the adventures of their voyage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+ Mr. Meredith.--"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
+ might."--A Botanical Lecture.--The Goat Moth.--Blowing up a Tree.--
+ An astonished Cow.--Caterpillars in the Wood.
+
+
+On the morrow, after morning service, the three boys (Dick having been
+invited to spend the day with Frank) were walking from church and
+talking upon the sermon which Mr. Meredith had just preached to them.
+
+It was a beautiful morning--one of those days on which it is a treat to
+live. The sun shone from a sky which was brilliant in its blue and
+white, the waters of the lake sparkled diamond-like under the stirring
+influence of a warm westerly wind. The scent of the honeysuckle and the
+roses in the cottage gardens filled the air with pleasant incense, and
+from every tall tree-top a thrush or blackbird sang his merriest.
+
+"That wasn't a bad motto which Meredith took for his text: 'Whatsoever
+thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,'" said Frank.
+
+"I think it is a motto you endeavour to carry out, Frank," answered
+Jimmy.
+
+"Well, I think if a fellow does that he can't be far wrong," replied
+Frank; "but here is the parson himself."
+
+A tall, broad-shouldered man came quickly up and said to them:
+
+"Well, boys, I hope you are applying my sermon to yourselves."
+
+"We should be glad to do so if we were quite sure about the application,
+Mr. Meredith," replied Frank.
+
+"Ah, you young rascal, you could not have been attending; but seriously,
+what I meant was this: You boys, and especially Master Frank, are very
+prone to take up a thing with all your might when once you begin. Now
+that is very right and proper. Whatever you do you should do your best
+to do well; but what I want you particularly to understand is that
+before taking up a thing, you should first of all think well and decide
+whether it is the right thing to do, and it is not until that question
+is settled that it becomes right to throw your whole heart into it. Now
+the immediate application of this is this: You are going head over heels
+into the study of Natural History, and you are making collections as
+fast as you can. Now it won't take you long to decide that Natural
+History is a very right and proper thing for you to take up, and
+therefore you may study it with all your might, and, I doubt not, to the
+praise and glory of God; but be very careful about the collecting part
+of the business. Don't let your zeal carry you too far. Don't let
+collecting be your sole aim and object, or you will become very low
+types of naturalists. Let it be only secondary and subservient to
+observation. Let your aim be to preserve rather than to destroy.
+Remember that God gave life to His creatures that they might enjoy it,
+as well as fulfil their missions and propagate their species. Therefore
+if you come across a rare bird, do not kill it unnecessarily; if you can
+observe its living motions it will interest you more and do you more
+good than will the possession of its stuffed body when dead."
+
+"I quite understand what you mean, sir," replied Frank; "and it is only
+what my father has often told me before. We will try to follow our
+pursuits in moderation."
+
+"Just so; then, as you have heard me so patiently, I will trouble you
+with another application of my sermon. Do what you are doing _well_.
+Don't let your observation be too cursory. Don't be Jacks of all trades
+and masters of none. This district is teeming with bird, insect, and
+animal life. You boys have peculiar opportunities for learning and
+discovering all that is rare and interesting. You are sharp, young, and
+active, and nothing can escape you. Now is the time for you to store up
+facts which will always be valuable. Buy yourselves notebooks; put down
+everything in writing which seems to you to be strange and noteworthy,
+and don't trust to your memories. But above all, take up some one branch
+of study and stick to it. It is well for you to know a little of
+everything, but it is better for you to know a great deal of one thing.
+Therefore I should advise each of you to take up a line that suits him
+and to pay particular attention to it. Thus you, Frank, may take up
+Ornithology; you, Dick, should go in for Entomology; and Jimmy, why
+should you not take up Botany?"
+
+The boys quite concurred in the justice of his observations, but Jimmy
+said:
+
+"There is nothing I should like better than to know something of Botany,
+but there seems so much to learn that I am almost afraid to begin."
+
+"Oh, nonsense," exclaimed Mr. Meredith; "let me give you a first lesson
+in it now. I suppose you know the names of all the most common flowers;
+but just look at their beauty. See how this hedge-bank is yellow with
+primroses, and yonder you see the faint blue of the violets peeping from
+their bed of dark-green leaves, and here is the white blossom of a
+strawberry, which I pluck to show you of what a flower consists. First
+there is the root, through which it draws its nourishment from the
+earth. Then there is the stem, and on the top of that is this green
+outer whorl or circle of leaves, which is called the calyx. Within the
+calyx is the corolla, which is formed of petals, which in this case are
+of a beautiful white. The corolla is the part in which the colour and
+beauty of a flower generally resides. Within the corolla are the
+stamens, and within the stamens are the pistils. The stamens and the
+pistils are the organs of reproduction, and the yellow dust or pollen
+which you see on most flowers is the medium by which the seeds are
+fertilized. Now this flower which I have just plucked is the
+wood-sorrel. Notice its threefold emerald-green leaf and the delicate
+white flower with the purple veins. It is pretty, is it not? See, if I
+strike it roughly, it shrinks and folds up something like a sensitive
+plant. It is a capital weather-glass. At the approach of rain both its
+flowers and leaves close up, and even if a cloud passes over the sun the
+flowers will close a little; and, finally, its leaves taste of a
+pleasant acid. There, you will have had enough of my lecture for the
+present, but I should like to tell you more about flowers some other
+time."
+
+The boys were both pleased and interested with what he had told them,
+and expressed their thanks accordingly; and then Mr. Meredith left them
+and went home to dinner.
+
+"I say, he is a brick of a fellow," said Jimmy; "if all parsons were
+like that man everybody else in the world would have a better time of
+it."
+
+They went into the boat-house and sat at the open window looking over
+the sparkling broad. Frank said:
+
+"I tell you what we must do. We must get Meredith to give us part of
+our holiday at the end of May or beginning of June, and we will take a
+cruise over all the rivers and broads of Norfolk and Suffolk. We could
+do it nicely in three weeks and scour every inch of the country in that
+time. What do you say? I will undertake to get my father's consent and
+Mrs. Brett's. What will Sir Richard say, Dick?"
+
+"If you go, Frank, I am sure he will let me go; he has every confidence
+in you, and that you will keep us all out of mischief."
+
+"I will try. Then it is agreed that we go."
+
+"Most certainly. Frank will go in for birds'-nesting, Dick will catch
+butterflies and moths, and I must try to do something in the way of
+botany."
+
+"And now it is time to go in; but before we go I just want to say that
+there is an old willow-tree down by the Broad which father thinks is an
+eyesore. I think that it is a likely tree in which to find the
+caterpillars of the goat-moth, which you know live on the wood of a
+willow, and eat long tunnels and galleries in it. What do you say to
+blowing the tree up with gunpowder?--it is only good for firewood, and
+perhaps we may find some caterpillars. Shall we get up early in the
+morning, bore a big hole into the heart of the tree, and fill it with
+gunpowder, set a train to it, and blow the whole affair up?"
+
+Such a proposal was sure to meet with consent, and at seven o'clock the
+next morning the boys were down at the tree, boring a large hole into
+it.
+
+The caterpillar of the great goat-moth feeds upon the wood of timber
+trees, notably oak, willow, and poplar. He is a smooth, ugly fellow of a
+red and yellow colour, with black feet and claws. He makes extensive
+galleries through the heart of a tree, eating and swallowing all that he
+gnaws away from the wood in his onward passage.
+
+During the summer he eats his way slowly through the tree, making
+numerous and winding galleries; but during the autumn and winter he
+takes a siesta, first casing himself in a strong covering made of chips
+of wood and the silk which he weaves. The next summer he renews his
+work, and so he lives and grows for the space of three years, and then
+turns into the pupæ state, and emerges about July a dark brown but not
+unlovely moth, which lives for a few weeks and then lays its eggs and
+dies.
+
+The boring was completed and was rammed full of coarse powder, and the
+mouth of the hole plugged up with a piece of wood. Through this plug a
+small hole was bored, and through this a long hollow straw made into a
+fuse was inserted.
+
+Setting fire to this, they retired to some distance to await the issue
+of their experiment.
+
+There was unfortunately a cow in the same meadow, and this cow was very
+much interested in their movements; so when they left the tree the cow
+approached, its curiosity the more aroused by the smoke rising from the
+burning fuse.
+
+"Now there is an instance of unreasoning curiosity which animals
+possess. That cow will poke her nose into that tree, and get blown up
+for her pains if we don't stop her. Let's shy stones at her."
+
+But stones in that marshy meadow were not easy to procure, so they tore
+up clods of earth and threw them at the cow. She scampered away, but
+went to the other side of the tree and again approached it. The boys
+dared not go any nearer to the old willow, because they momentarily
+expected the explosion, and they were in a great fright lest the cow
+should suffer damage. Just then, with a loud report and much smoke the
+powder exploded. They threw themselves down to avoid any errant
+fragments, and the cow scampered off unhurt, but exceedingly astonished
+and frightened, jumped the ditch which separated the meadow from the
+next one, and finally landed herself in another ditch, from which she
+had to be drawn with ropes and a vast deal of trouble by some of the
+neighbours.
+
+The first thought of the boys was to see after the cow, and when they
+saw she was in a fair way of being pulled out, they returned to their
+tree, and found it split and torn to pieces and thrown about in all
+directions. It was quite a chance whether they found any caterpillars in
+the tree or not, and, to tell the truth, they hardly expected to be
+successful in their search. What was their delight then to find, that
+not only were there caterpillars there, but a great number of them.
+Three or four they found dead and mangled by the force of the explosion,
+but the many perforations in the wood showed that there were many more
+caterpillars there. With the aid of a saw and axe they dug out several
+caterpillars not yet full grown, and also several pupæ which they knew
+would be out in two months' time. They carried some large pieces of the
+wood up to the boat-house for living caterpillars to feed on, and
+reinserted the pupæ in their wooden chambers, where they were safely
+kept until their appearance in July.
+
+The caterpillars of the white butterflies which Dick had collected under
+Mary's instructions had some time since come out, and it was a very
+pretty sight to see the chrysalis split at the head and the insect creep
+out with its wings all wet and crumpled, and then to watch them
+gradually expand to their full size and dry and harden, until the
+perfect insect was ready for flight, when with a few flaps of its wings,
+as if to try them, it would launch into the sunshine with a strong swift
+flight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+ A Trial Sail.--Preparing for a Cruise.--Charging a Reed Bed.--
+ An explosion of Birds.--The First Adventure.--
+ Orange-Tip Butterfly.--No Salt.--How Salt is obtained.
+
+
+The project of the cruise was not allowed to drop. The more the boys
+thought about it the more they determined to take it. The first thing to
+do was to obtain the consent of their elders. Mr. Merivale had no great
+objection to it. Sir Richard Carleton was so pleased with the rapid
+improvement in the health and spirits of his son that he would have
+consented to anything he proposed. Indeed, he was so anxious to help the
+boys in all their undertakings, that he would have spoilt them too much
+had it not been for the advice of Mr. Merivale, who said to him--
+
+"Don't let the boys think they can have anything they like for the
+asking, or you will spoil their independence of character. Depend upon
+it they will find far more delight in making things for themselves than
+in having them bought for them, and it will do them more good."
+
+Sir Richard saw the wisdom of this advice, but he insisted upon giving
+them a book on botany; and one day when the boys went into the
+boat-house they saw on the shelves a nicely bound copy of Ann Pratt's
+_Flowering Plants of Great Britain_ in six volumes. This was a great
+acquisition to them, and Jimmy, in the fulness of his delight, got upon
+the table with a volume under each arm, and executed a war-dance of
+exultation.
+
+The consent of the ladies was far harder to obtain. Mrs. Brett said she
+would see what Mrs. Merivale said; and Mrs. Merivale was afraid that it
+would not be safe, and for some days she hung back, and would not say
+"yes" or "no," although Frank pleaded hard with her. His mother was very
+much afraid of the water. She did not like to see yachts heeling over as
+if they were going to be upset, and she thought the boys were not old
+enough to manage a yacht by themselves. Frank at last persuaded her to
+take a sail in the _Swan_, and see for herself how safe it was, and a
+day was fixed when everyone should have a sail on the Broad, and try the
+capacities both of the yacht and of the boys as sailors. When the day
+arrived, however, Frank put them off, saying it was not convenient. Mr.
+Merivale smiled as he guessed the reason. It was blowing a stiff breeze,
+and sailing on such a day would not reassure a timid woman. The next
+day, however, was fine, and came with a gentle breeze, just rippling the
+surface of the water, and with a confident air, Frank got his party on
+board. The sail was quite a success. The yacht glided about on an even
+keel, and Frank, who was at the helm, carefully avoided any abrupt
+motion in tacking or gybing.
+
+"You see it is quite safe, mother," said he.
+
+"Yes, my dear, I suppose it is, and I suppose you must go, as you have
+set your heart upon it; but how can you possibly think of sleeping in
+that small cabin?"
+
+"One of us will sleep at each side, and the third will sleep in a
+hammock stretched across the middle."
+
+"But you will be suffocated, dear."
+
+"Have no fear, mother, we will see to the ventilation."
+
+So they obtained permission to go, and, as time was an object, they set
+to work with great vigour to prepare for their voyage. They made a
+hammock out of an old sail. Their beds were formed of cushions placed on
+the bunks on either side of the cabin. To prevent the necessity of
+tucking in their bedclothes they adopted a well-known dodge of
+yachtsmen; which is to double the sheets and blankets, and sew the
+sides and bottoms together, so as to form a bag into which they could
+creep. They took fishing-tackle with them, and also their old muzzle
+loader. Dick took his butterfly net, Jimmy a quantity of newspapers in
+which to dry plants, and Frank an opera-glass, with which to watch the
+movements of birds at a distance. Frank also took care to see to the
+eating department, and with his mother's help he got a very fair stock
+of provisions on board. The day at length arrived for their departure.
+It was the Monday in the last week of May. At eight o'clock in the
+morning they bade farewell to Mary and Florrie, who had come to see them
+off, hoisted their sails, and away they went before a light breeze from
+the northward. A cheer broke from them as they found themselves fairly
+afloat, and the boat-house grow smaller in the distance behind them, and
+the waving handkerchiefs of the two girls could be seen no longer. It
+was a beautiful morning, and their spirits were high. Holidays, sport,
+and adventure lay before them, a stout boat under them. There were no
+three happier boys in the world.
+
+They sailed slowly through the narrow outlet of Hickling Broad into
+Whiteslea Pool, and through another narrow passage into Heigham Sounds.
+
+A dyke called the Old Meadow Dyke ran from the Broad on the left into
+Horsey Mere; and Frank proposed making a detour along this and exploring
+Horsey Mere, but the other boys were too anxious to get on. It was too
+near home to begin to explore. In the middle of Heigham Sounds, which is
+a good sized sheet of water, was a large bed of reeds, such as is
+locally called a 'rond.'
+
+"Let us go slap-dash into that. We shall be sure to find some nests,"
+said Frank.
+
+"All right," said both Jimmy and Dick. So Frank put the helm up, and the
+yacht drove on before the wind, surging through the rustling reeds,
+which bowed and bent before her, until she came to a standstill well
+into the heart of the rond.
+
+"Down with the sails," said Frank, and the halyards were let go and the
+sails came down with a run. As the yacht crashed into the rond there was
+quite an explosion of birds from it. Water-hens, coots, and marsh-tits
+flew out on both sides, and from the centre of it rose a little duck
+with a bright, chestnut-coloured head and neck.
+
+"That is a teal," said Frank, "we shall find her nest here, so look
+carefully."
+
+They jumped into the shallow water, having first taken off their shoes
+and stockings, and began to hunt about for nests. They speedily found
+several coots' and water-hens' nests, and also a dab-chick's; but they
+wanted none of these, and continued their search for the teal's nest. At
+last--
+
+"Here it is," said Dick delightedly, and sure enough there the nest was,
+in a small bush which grew in the very centre of the rond, where the
+soil was pretty firm. The nest was large and thickly lined with
+feathers, and it contained twelve cream-coloured eggs. They took six of
+them, and then, satisfied with their spoil, they went back to their
+yacht, and tried to push her off again. But this was no easy task. They
+pushed and pushed, until they were exhausted, and the only effect their
+pushing seemed to have was to push their own legs deeper into the mud.
+The yacht refused to be moved.
+
+"Well, this is a pretty go, to be wrecked at the very beginning of our
+cruise! We have run her almost high and dry. How they will laugh at us
+at home!" said Jimmy.
+
+"They sha'n't have the chance of doing that. We will get her off somehow
+or other. We ought to have gone to leeward of the rond, and run her up
+in the wind's eye into it, and then we could have backed her off with
+the sails," said Frank.
+
+"Live and learn," said Dick. "I vote we strip and go overboard again and
+try to lift her off. We can get the oars from the boat, and use them as
+levers."
+
+This was undoubtedly the best thing to do, and although the water was
+not over warm, they took off their clothes and worked and pushed away,
+until they made the mud around the yacht as soft as a pudding, and
+themselves as black as negroes. Then the yacht moved a little, and
+putting forth all their strength they shoved her back into deeper water.
+Not waiting to dress themselves, they ran the sails up and steered away
+for the Kendal Dyke at the south-east end of the Broad. They meant to
+stay at the mouth of the Broad to bathe and dress. There was no one to
+see them, so it did not matter. As they neared the mouth of the dyke, to
+their great dismay a yacht with several people on board came out of it.
+The people stared in blank astonishment at the strange double-bodied
+yacht and her still stranger crew. Jimmy and Dick dived at once into
+the cabin. Frank could not leave the helm, and yet could not stay where
+he was; so without further thought he plunged into the water at the
+stern of the yacht, and, holding on by the rudder, he contrived to keep
+her on her course until Jimmy reappeared with something thrown over him,
+and took hold of the tiller. When they came to an anchorage in a
+secluded spot among the reeds, they bathed and dressed.
+
+"Well," said Dick, "if we go on having adventures at this rate, we shall
+have plenty to tell when we get home."
+
+"I like adventures, but these are not the sort I like," said Jimmy.
+
+"Well, never mind, better luck next time," said Frank, soothingly.
+
+Sailing through Kendal Dyke, which in places was so narrow that the
+_Swan_ brushed the reeds on both sides as she passed through, they
+reached the Hundred Stream, and, turning to the south-westward, they
+sailed, with no further adventure, until they came to Heigham Bridge,
+where they had to lower their masts in order to get through. While Frank
+and Jimmy did this, Dick took his butterfly net, and went after an
+orange-tip butterfly, which he saw flying past. This butterfly is one of
+the first which makes its appearance in the spring, and it is one of the
+prettiest. It looks as if a bunch of red and white rose petals had taken
+to themselves wings and fled. It is a small butterfly, having an
+orange-red tip on the ends of its forewings. The male only has this
+ornament. The female has only a greyish black tip. The under surface of
+the wings of this pretty insect is no less beautiful than the upper. It
+is white, with bright green marblings, or what appear as bright green to
+the naked eye. When looked at through the microscope it will be found
+that the green appearance is caused by the mixture of black and
+bright-yellow scales. (I suppose that most of my boy readers will know
+that the dust which is so easily rubbed off a butterfly's wings is in
+reality a coating of scales arranged one over the other like feathers
+and of very exquisite shapes.) The caterpillar of the orange-tip is
+green, with a white stripe on each side, and the chrysalis is very
+peculiar in shape, tooth-like, and pointed at both ends.
+
+[Illustration: ORANGE-TIP BUTTERFLY.]
+
+Dick was a long time away; and when he came back, flushed with
+exercise, he had no less than eight orange-tips in his net, which he
+proceeded to kill and set there and then.
+
+They sailed on very slowly, for the breeze had fallen, until they came
+to the Thurne Mouth, and then they turned up the Bure until they came to
+St. Benedict's Abbey, the ruins of which stand on the northern bank of
+the river. Here they determined to camp for the night, and accordingly
+ran their boat into a marshy creek, and made her fast to the reeds. They
+were much amused at the remarks of the people whom they passed, whether
+on the bank or on board the wherries and yachts. The like of the _Swan_
+had never before been seen on Norfolk waters. She was a _rara avis in
+terris_ and excited any amount of appreciatory and depreciatory comment.
+
+After making the boat snug and comfortable, the boys proceeded to cook
+their dinner. They brought out from the lockers some cold beef and ham,
+and boiled the potatoes in a small tin saucepan over the spirit-lamp.
+The meal was soon ready, and they sat down to it with most excellent
+appetites.
+
+"Where have you put the salt, Frank?" asked Dick.
+
+"The salt?" replied Frank, thoughtfully.
+
+"Yes, the salt."
+
+"Well, let me see. Dear me, we must have forgotten it."
+
+"But Frank, how can you--how can anybody eat beef without salt?" said
+Jimmy reproachfully.
+
+"Never mind, we will get some to-morrow," said Frank, looking guilty.
+
+"There are no shops about here, and there are no salt-mines in the
+marsh," said Jimmy, who refused to be comforted.
+
+"Talking about salt-mines, have you ever been down one?" said Frank, who
+was eager to turn the subject.
+
+"No; have you?"
+
+"Yes, and a jolly sort of place it is."
+
+"Then tell us all about it as a punishment."
+
+"It was at Northwich, in Cheshire, last year, when I was on a visit to
+my uncle. We drove over one day to look at the mines. They get an
+enormous quantity of salt from that district, and it is of two kinds,
+the white table salt and that dark lumpy salt they put in fields for
+cattle. They get the white salt from brine-pits, which are full of salt
+water. The water is pumped up and put into basins until it evaporates,
+and the white salt is left behind. There must be big holes in the earth
+filled with salt water, for as it is pumped away the surface of the
+earth caves in, and the houses lean against each other in a very
+tumble-down sort of fashion. The brown or rock-salt is dug out of mines,
+and we went down one of these. My cousin and I went down in a tub hardly
+large enough to hold us, and a workman clung to the rope above our
+heads. The shaft was dirty, narrow, and crooked, and we bumped finely
+against the sides. I didn't like it at all, I assure you; and when we
+cleared the shaft and hung suspended over a vast cavern, at the bottom
+of which were some dim lights, I felt rather in a funk. The man below
+reached up to us with a long pole, and pulled us away from the end of
+the shaft for fear of falling stones, and then we were lowered to the
+ground, and stepped out of the bucket and looked about us. We were in a
+very large cave, the roof of which was supported by immense square
+pillars of the salt rock. It was brown, of course, but it was quite
+translucent, and the light gleamed from it very prettily. Our guide lit
+a piece of magnesium-wire, and I never saw anything so magnificent in my
+life. The whole place seemed set with precious stones, and the dirty,
+half-naked men, leaning on their tools, looked as picturesque as you
+could well imagine. Then one of the men had finished boring a blast
+hole, and we waited while he filled it with powder and fired a shot. We
+all huddled in one corner of the cave, and then there was such a roar
+and smoke! The rock under our feet heaved and shook, and pieces of rock
+and stone flew about far too near for my liking."
+
+"I never knew how salt was got before," said Dick.
+
+"Nor I," said Jimmy; "and as Frank has told us so well we will forgive
+him for forgetting the salt."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ An Eerie Night.--A Ghostly Apparition.--The Barn Owl.--
+ A Will-o'-the Wisp.--The Ruff and Reeve.--Snaring Ruffs.--
+ A Nest.--Wroxham Broad.--Mud-boards and Leaping-pole.--
+ Wild Duck's Nest in a Tree.
+
+
+As the night fell the wind rose and moaned dismally over the marsh, and
+black clouds covered the sky, so that the night promised to be dirtier
+than usual at this time of the year. Lonely marshes stretched far and
+wide, with nothing to break their wild monotony save the ghostlike ruins
+of the Abbey in the foreground. It was not a pleasant night for the boys
+to spend out for the first time alone, and an eerie sort of feeling
+crept over them in spite of their efforts to appear at ease.
+
+At length Dick said--
+
+"I feel as if wild beasts were prowling about on the watch for us, and
+that if we went to sleep we should be eaten up alive."
+
+"So do I," admitted Frank; "but I suppose it will wear away in time. But
+what is that?" he exclaimed, in a startled tone, as an unearthly cry
+sounded among the ruins of the Abbey, and a white shape was dimly seen
+gliding between the broken windows.
+
+The boys gazed in breathless silence at this apparition. The cause of
+their alarm, however, was made plain to them, as a white owl came forth
+on noiseless wings, and fluttered stealthily over the marsh. They
+laughed heartily at their fright, but their laugh sounded forced and
+unnatural. It was so weird and lonely outside, that they went into the
+cabin and lit the lamp, and strove to make a cheerful supper. Then they
+undressed and tried to make themselves comfortable for the night. Frank
+took the hammock, and Dick and Jimmy the berths at each side. They left
+the lamp burning dimly for company's sake, but they could not go to
+sleep. The water lapping against the planks of the yacht and amid the
+stems of the reeds, the wind sighing over the waste fen, and the
+strange cries of the night-birds--the call of the water-hen, the hoarse
+bark of the coot, the cackle of wild ducks, and the host of other noises
+which they could not account for, kept them awake and on the _qui vive_.
+
+"What's that?" said Dick, after they had been quiet for some time.
+
+[Illustration: THE BARN OWL AND EGG.]
+
+A noise like a clap of thunder was to be heard, repeated at regular
+intervals, and growing louder, as if approaching them. They rushed on
+deck to see what was the cause of it, and were relieved to find that it
+was only a belated wherry beating up to windward, her canvas flapping
+each time she put about on a fresh tack. The men on board of her shouted
+"Good night" as they passed, and after this the boys felt more
+comfortable, and again courted sleep. They were just dropping off, when
+"patter, patter," went something on deck. Some one, or some thing had
+boarded them, and Frank went out to see what it was. A coot had come
+aboard to see if there might be anything eatable there, and she flew
+away as Frank appeared. He looked about ere he went down again, and to
+his astonishment he saw a spot of light dancing about on the marshes in
+a place where he thought no human being could be at this hour.
+
+"I say, Dick and Jimmy, here is a will-o'-the-wisp dancing about on the
+marshes."
+
+They came quickly on deck, and watched the strange light, which now and
+then disappeared, and then again became visible. It now shone bright,
+and then faint, and an uncertain glimmer beneath it showed that it
+hovered over the water as well as over the marsh.
+
+"There is no such thing as _ignis fatuus_ nowadays," said Jimmy, "so
+what can it be?"
+
+"I vote we go and see," said Frank.
+
+"You will only get bogged if you do. It is dangerous enough to walk on
+the marsh in the daylight, and almost impossible by night."
+
+"It strikes me there is a narrow channel, or dyke, leading from the
+river, which may lead to where that light is. I saw a line of water
+about twenty yards off. We passed it as we were about to anchor. Let us
+take the boat and go up it, if you wish to see what it is," said Jimmy.
+
+His suggestion was approved of, and they dressed and stepped into the
+punt, and after a little while they found the dyke and pushed their way
+along it. They moved cautiously and with little noise, and at last
+emerged upon a small open piece of water, and as they did so, the light
+gleamed for a moment and went out. They peered eagerly through the
+gloom, but could see nothing. All was silent and still, and very
+uncanny.
+
+"It is no good staying here," said Frank; "let us go back and try to
+sleep, or we shall not be fit to be seen to-morrow when we meet the
+others at Wroxham."
+
+So they rowed back, wondering what the cause of the light had been. They
+tumbled into their berths again and got just an hour's broken sleep
+before the dawn effectually aroused them. It was very early, but they
+had no choice but to rise and get something to eat. The morning was
+bright and cloudless, the lark sang merrily in the sky, waterfowl swam
+on the quiet stretches of the river in peaceful security, the freshness
+and charm which always accompanies the early dawn of day in the country
+had its natural effect upon them; and their spirits, which had been
+somewhat depressed by the uncomfortable night which they had passed,
+rose again to their natural height. Dick now suggested that they should
+again explore the windings of the creek, and try to find out the cause
+of the mysterious light which had so puzzled them the night before. They
+accordingly rowed up the lane of water as they had done the previous
+night, until they came to the piece of open water. Just as they were
+about to emerge from the narrow opening in the belt of reeds which
+surrounded it, Frank checked the motion of the boat by clutching hold of
+the reeds, and warned his companions to be silent. Looking in the
+direction in which he pointed, they saw the most curious bird they had
+ever seen, or were ever likely to see. On a little hillock on the edge
+of the reeds was a bird with a body like a thrush, but with long legs.
+It had a long beak, staring eyes, brown tufts of feathers on each side
+of its head, and a large flesh-coloured ruff of feathers round its neck.
+
+"I know what that is; it is a ruff," said Jimmy.
+
+"Yes, yes, but be quiet and watch it."
+
+They drew back behind the green fringe of reeds and watched the
+movements of the ruff, for such it was. Its movements were as strange as
+itself. It pranced up and down on the little hillock and fluttered its
+wings, and uttered a defiant cry. It seemed as if it were particularly
+desirous of attention from one spot in the marsh, for towards that spot
+its glances and movements were directed. Looking more eagerly towards
+this spot the boys saw a smaller bird, with no ruff around her neck, and
+clad in sober brown. This was a female, or reeve, and the male was
+showing himself off before her and trying to attract her attention,
+while she, with the tantalising nature of her sex, appeared to be quite
+unconscious of his blandishments, and went on composedly picking up her
+breakfast from the insects and worms in the marsh. Presently another
+ruff appeared on the scene, and, joining his rival on the little
+hillock, he commenced to emulate his performances, and the two danced a
+war-dance in the most amusing fashion, to the great delight of the three
+observers. The natural consequence of this rivalry soon followed, and
+the two ruffs began to fight in good earnest, laying hold of each other
+with their bills, and striking with their wings. The one drove the other
+to the bottom of the hill, and was apparently master of the field; but
+instead of returning to his post on the top, he flew away, leaving his
+adversary fluttering vainly, and evidently fast by the leg. Then the
+rushes on the other side of the open space were pushed aside, and a man
+in a rude boat made his appearance, and proceeded to seize the ruff and
+kill it.
+
+"The mystery of the light is explained," said Frank. "Hallo! you there,
+what are you doing that for?"
+
+The man started and looked round, answering surlily,
+
+"What's that to you?"
+
+"Oh, don't get into a wax. We only want to know for information's sake.
+What will you sell that ruff for?"
+
+"Two shillings, sir," replied the man, in a much more civil tone.
+
+"Well, here you are. Are there many ruffs about here?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not seen any for the last two years until this spring.
+They used to be common enough when I was a lad, and I have taken a score
+in one morning with these snares. I have seen more than a dozen together
+on one hill, and twice as many reeves around looking on. Those were fine
+times for us fowlers, those were."
+
+The boys asked to be allowed to look at his snares. They were made of
+horsehair, and were set in this fashion:--A length of hair with a
+running noose at each end was fixed by the middle into the slit of a
+peg, which was then driven into the ground. A number of these were set
+round the base of the hill with the nooses projecting about an inch
+above the surface of the herbage, and as the birds were driven off the
+hill they were caught by them. It was necessary, the man said, to keep a
+strict watch on the snares, for the birds sometimes broke away, or the
+rats and weasels, of which there are plenty in the marshes, would be
+beforehand with the fowler and seize the captured birds.
+
+"I suppose you were setting your snares last night?"
+
+"Ay, sir," replied the man, laughing; "I heard you coming after me, so I
+put my light out. I did not know what sort of men you might be, and they
+make believe to preserve these marshes now, and it is hard work for us
+to get a living."
+
+"Don't you think there may be a ruff's nest somewhere about?" said
+Jimmy.
+
+"I found one this morning with four eggs in it, but they are hard sat."
+
+"Never mind that, we can blow them, if you will show us where it is."
+
+"Get out of the boat, then, and come into this rond; but mind how you
+walk. Put your foot on the roots of the reeds, or you will go up to your
+middle in mud directly."
+
+The nest was made of coarse grass, and was placed in a clump of sedges.
+It contained four eggs of an olive-green colour, spotted with brown. As
+the man said that if they did not take them he should, and sell them for
+what they would fetch, the boys felt no hesitation in plundering the
+nest of all its contents, giving the man a gratuity of a shilling for
+showing the nest to them.
+
+This commercial transaction completed, they returned to their yacht and
+made a second breakfast.
+
+They had arranged to meet their elders at Wroxham Bridge at twelve
+o'clock, and spend the rest of the day sailing and pic-nicking on the
+Broad, so about ten o'clock they started. The breeze was light, as it
+generally is in the summer; and as for a portion of the way they had to
+beat to windward in a rather narrow channel, it took them some time to
+reach Wroxham.
+
+They found that the _Swan_ was not so handy in tacking as a
+single-hulled yacht would have been, and they had to use the mizen to
+swing her round each time they put about. Their progress was, therefore,
+slower than they had calculated upon, and they did not reach Wroxham
+until 12.30. Their way was past Ranworth Broad and the two Hovetons,
+besides some smaller broads, all connected with the river by dykes, half
+hidden by tall reeds, and looking deliciously lonely, and inviting
+exploration. Although they were so close they could see nothing of the
+broads' surface, and their existence was only made manifest to them by
+the white sails of yachts which were now and then to be seen gliding
+hither and thither through forests of reeds.
+
+Sir Richard, Mr. and Mrs. Merivale, Mrs. Brett, Mary and Florrie, were
+all waiting for them on the staithe by the bridge, and hailed their
+appearance with joy.
+
+"Well, boys, we thought you were lost," said Mr. Merivale.
+
+"No fear, father," answered Frank; "the _Swan_ sails grandly, and we
+have had no end of fun."
+
+"And how did you sleep last night? Wasn't it very lonely?" said his
+mother.
+
+The boys unanimously affirmed that it had been most awfully jolly, and
+that they had been most comfortable.
+
+Whilst the party were embarking, Frank went to the village carpenter's
+and got a stout leaping-pole with a block of wood at the end, so that it
+might not sink into the mud when they were jumping the ditches. He also
+obtained a pair of mud boards to put on his feet when walking over soft
+ground. These were pieces of wood a foot long by eighteen inches wide,
+with rope loops to slip over the feet. He expected to find them useful
+while bird-nesting on the marshes.
+
+They sailed at a good pace down the river, and then, while Mary was
+asking where the Broad was, Frank put the helm over, and they sailed
+through a narrow channel, on either side of which the reeds were seven
+feet high, and while the question was still on Mary's lips, they were
+gliding over the fine expanse of water which is known as Wroxham Broad.
+
+They had a very pleasant afternoon, and as the breeze was steady and the
+yacht behaved herself very well, the two elder ladies lost much of the
+nervousness with which they had regarded the boys' expedition. Dick was
+much impressed with the loveliness of the Broad. On the one side the
+woods came down to the water's edge, and on the other the wide marsh
+stretched away miles on miles, with its waving reed beds, tracts of
+white cotton-grasses, and many-coloured marsh grasses, which varied in
+sheen and tint as the wind waved them or the cloud-shadows passed over
+them. Here and there a gleam of white showed where the river or a broad
+lay, but for the most part the whereabouts of water was only shown by
+the brown sails of the wherries, or the snow-white sails of the yachts,
+which glided and tacked about in a manner that seemed most mysterious,
+seeing that there was no water visible for them to float on.
+
+At one end of Wroxham Broad is a labyrinth of dykes and pools, between
+wooded islands and ferny banks. The boys took the two girls in the punt
+through this charming maze, and they pushed their way through the large
+floating leaves of the water-lily, and the more pointed leaves of the
+arrowhead, gathering the many-coloured flowers which nestled amid the
+luxuriant growth of plant-life that fringed the water, stooping to
+avoid the trailing branches of the trees, and enjoying themselves
+mightily in exploring.
+
+"Is that a crow's nest in yonder tree?" said Jimmy.
+
+"I expect so, and there is the bird on, but her head does not look like
+a crow's. Hit the trunk with the oar," said Frank.
+
+[Illustration: WILD DUCK.]
+
+As the blow vibrated through the tree, the sitting bird flew off, and
+what do you think it proved to be? A _wild-duck_! The boys were
+astounded. They had heard of ducks building in hollow trees, and at some
+distance from water, but to build a nest on the top of a high tree
+seemed incredible, so Frank said he would climb up and see the eggs,
+but--
+
+"Let me go," said Dick, "I have never climbed a tall tree, and it looks
+an easy one, although it is tall, for there are plenty of branches."
+
+"Oh, please take care, Dick," said Mary.
+
+"Oh, he will be all right. You never tell me to take care, young woman,"
+said Frank, laughing, while Mary blushed.
+
+Dick was soon up the tree, showing skill worthy of a practised climber,
+and rather to the surprise of his companions.
+
+"It is a duck's nest in an old crow's nest, and there are ten eggs in,"
+shouted Dick from his lofty perch.
+
+"Bring two of them down then. We will write on them where they were
+found. I wonder how the old birds get the young ones down to the water?
+They can't fly for a long time after being hatched, and they must take
+to the water soon, or they will die."
+
+The question which Frank put has never been satisfactorily answered.
+
+The young ones must either perch on their mother's back, and hold on
+whilst they are being transported to their native element, or the old
+bird must seize them in her bill, like a cat does her kittens.
+
+When the others left, the boys sailed down stream again by the light of
+the red sunset, and as night stole over the marshes, they anchored by
+Horning ferry, and so tired were they that they fell asleep the moment
+they laid themselves down, forgetting their fears of the night before.
+They turned in at ten, and none of them awoke until eight the next
+morning.
+
+Before breakfast Frank and Jimmy spent some time in teaching Dick how to
+swim, and found him an apt pupil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ Chameleon.--Light Coloured Eggs.--Sitting Birds have no Scent.--
+ Forget-me-nots.--Trespassing.--The Owner.--A Chase.--Capture.--
+ Pintail Duck.--Drumming of Snipe.--Swallow-tail Butterfly.--
+ A Perilous Adventure.
+
+
+The young voyagers had by this time discovered that sailing about in the
+manner they were doing gave them tremendous appetites, and on this
+particular morning they found they had run short of bread and butter, so
+Jimmy was despatched to the little shop at Horning to procure some.
+
+After breakfast they were lounging on deck waiting for a breeze. Dick
+was sprawling on the roof of the cabin basking in the sun. Frank was
+fishing for roach in the clear slow stream, and Jimmy was perusing the
+newspaper in which the provisions had been wrapped. It was a still,
+lovely morning. White clouds sailed quickly across the blue sky, but
+there was no breeze to move the marsh grasses and reeds, or to ripple
+the placid stream. A lark sang merrily far above them, filling the air
+with melody. Small birds chirped in the sedges, and the water-hens and
+white-headed coots sailed busily to and fro.
+
+[Illustration: ROACH.]
+
+Jimmy looked up from his paper just as Frank pulled in a good sized
+roach, and said,--
+
+"Do either of you know how the chameleon changes its colour?"
+
+Upon receiving an answer in the negative he read as follows from the
+paper in his hand:--
+
+"M. Paul Bert has laid before the French Academy a _résumé_ of the
+observations of himself and others on the colour-changes of the
+chameleon. They appear to be due to change of place of certain coloured
+corpuscles. When they bury themselves under the skin, they form an
+opaque background to the cerulescent layer, and when they distribute
+themselves in superficial ramifications, they either leave the skin to
+show its yellow hue, or give it green and black tints. The movements of
+the colour corpuscles are directed by two orders of nerves, one causing
+their descending, and the other their ascending, motions. In a state of
+extreme excitation the corpuscles hide below the skin, and do so in
+sleep, anæsthesia, or death. The nerves which cause the corpuscles to go
+under the skin have the greatest analogy to vaso-constrictor nerves.
+They follow the mixed nerves of the limbs, and the great sympathetic of
+the neck, and do not cross in the spinal marrow. The nerves which bring
+the corpuscles upwards resemble in like manner the vaso-dilator nerves.
+Luminous rays belonging to the blue-violet part of the spectrum act
+directly on the contractile matter of the corpuscles, and cause them to
+move towards the surface of the skin."
+
+[Illustration: CHAMELEON.]
+
+"Now, can you tell me the plain English of that?"
+
+"Read it again, Jimmy," said Frank.
+
+Jimmy did so.
+
+"Well, I am no wiser. Read it again more slowly."
+
+Jimmy did so again.
+
+"I give it up," said Frank. "What a thing it is to be a scientific man!"
+
+"I take it," said Dick, rolling himself along the cabin roof towards
+them, "that it means that different coloured rays of light have
+corresponding effects upon coloured atoms in the skin of the chameleon.
+The rays of light will be affected by the colour of the place where the
+chameleon is, and the chameleon will be affected by the changed colour
+of the rays of light, so that if the beast were on a green lawn his
+colour would be green, and if on a brown tree-trunk his colour would be
+brown."
+
+"That is my idea," said Jimmy; "but what is the good of using such
+stilted language, when the same thing might have been said in simple
+English?"
+
+"I wonder why that water-hen keeps dodging about us in such a fussy
+manner," said Frank.
+
+"I don't," replied Dick, "for there is her nest not a yard from our
+bows."
+
+The mooring rope had parted the reeds, and discovered her nest, and
+Dick, on going to the bows had seen it. It contained twelve eggs, one of
+which was so light in colour as to be almost white, and one so small
+that it was only half the size of the others. Dick asked if it were
+because it was laid last, and if the pale one was so for a similar
+reason. Frank replied,--
+
+"It may be so in this case, but it does not always happen so. Last year
+I tried an experiment with a robin's nest. I took out an egg each day,
+as it was laid, and still the bird went on laying until I let her lay
+her proper number, five. She laid fifteen eggs altogether, but they were
+all the same colour and size. So I expect that it is only an accident
+when the eggs are like these."
+
+"Bell told me the other day that sitting birds have no scent," said
+Dick. "Is that true?"
+
+"I am not quite sure, but I am inclined to think that they have not so
+strong a scent as at other times. This same robin which I have just been
+telling you about built in a hedge-bank close by a house, and cats were
+always prowling about, and I have seen puss walk right above the nest
+while the old bird was on. If birds would only have the sense to shut
+their eyes, we would often pass them over, but it is easy to see them
+with their eyes twinkling like diamonds."
+
+"How pretty that clump of forget-me-nots is on the opposite bank! They
+seem to smile at you with their blue eyes," said Dick, who was keenly
+alive to all that was beautiful. "But what is that flower a little lower
+down, right in the water, with thick juicy stems and blue flowers. Is
+that a forget-me-not?"
+
+"No, it is a brooklime, but it is one of the speedwells. There are more
+than a dozen sorts of speedwells, but the forget-me-not is the
+prettiest. Another name for the forget-me-not is water-scorpion, but it
+is too ugly a name for so pretty a plant," said Jimmy, full of his
+recent learning.
+
+[Illustration: REDBREAST AND EGG.]
+
+"Here comes a breeze at last," cried Frank, as their blue flag
+fluttered, and the reeds in the surrounding marsh bent their heads
+together and sighed. "Shall we explore Ranworth Broad?"
+
+"Yes, but let us take Hoveton Great Broad first, and then we can go to
+Ranworth as we come back," answered Jimmy.
+
+So they hoisted sail, and glided up stream with a freshening breeze,
+while swallows dipped in the river and whirled about them as they
+passed. While they were sailing steadily along with a breeze on their
+starboard beam, the flag became fouled in the block through which the
+halyard of the mainmast was rove, and Jimmy was sent up to put matters
+right. He clambered up the mast as nimbly as a monkey, and shook loose
+the flag from its ignominious position. When he had finished this he
+looked about him, and from his greater height he could see much further
+than his companions, whose view was limited by the tall reeds which shut
+in almost every portion of the rivers and broads. The boys did not know
+that they were near any of the latter, but Jimmy saw on their left hand
+a sheet of water sparkling in the sun and studded with many reedy
+islands. He cried out,--
+
+"There is such a jolly broad to leeward! It looks so quiet and still,
+and there are no end of water-fowl swimming about in it. A little
+further on I can see a channel leading to it just wide enough for our
+yacht. What do you say to paying it a visit?"
+
+His friends had not the least objection. Its being unknown to them was
+an additional reason for their including it in their voyage of
+discovery. Jimmy said he should stay on his lofty perch for a time and
+take the bearings of the country, but as they neared the entrance to the
+broad and turned off before going down the narrow channel, the boom
+swung further out, and the jerk dislodged Jimmy, who was only saved from
+falling by clutching at the shrouds, down which he came with a run. They
+surged along through the dyke with the reeds brushing their bulwarks,
+and tossing and swaying in the eddies which followed their wake, and
+after several twistings and windings they emerged upon the broad.
+
+At the entrance to it was a pole with a notice-board upon it, which
+stated that the broad belonged to Mr. ----, and that any persons found
+trespassing upon it would be prosecuted.
+
+"Hallo! do you see that?" said Dick.
+
+"Yes, I see it," replied Frank, "but we could not turn back in that
+narrow channel, and now that we are on the broad we may as well sail
+about a bit. What a number of water-fowl there are!"
+
+"I know Mr. ---- by sight," said Jimmy. "He has a big blue yacht."
+
+The little lake was so picturesque with its islands and "ronds" and
+broad floating lily-leaves, that the boys sailed about for some time
+before they thought of leaving it, and when they turned their faces
+again towards the river, what was their surprise to see a large yacht
+creeping along the connecting canal between them and the river. The
+reeds hid the body of the yacht from them, but its sails betokened that
+it was one of considerable size.
+
+The boys wondered who it could be who had thought of paying the
+sequestered little broad a visit, never for a moment thinking of the
+owner, when the yacht shot out into the open water, and lo! it was a
+'_big blue yacht_.'
+
+[Illustration: YACHT.]
+
+"It is Mr. ----," said Jimmy.
+
+"Now we shall get into a row for trespassing," said Dick.
+
+"They have got to catch us first. If we can only dodge them, and get on
+to the river again, we can show them a clean pair of heels," said
+Frank, taking a pull at the sheet and trying to creep up to windward of
+the dyke. The blue yacht, however, stood by so as to meet them, and
+Frank saw, by the way she went through the water, even when her sails
+were hauled almost flat, that she could beat the Swan in sailing to
+windward. A gentleman stood up in the strange yacht and called out,--
+
+"Bear, up alongside, you young rascals, and give me your names and
+addresses. I shall summon you for trespassing."
+
+"Not if I know it," said Frank, bringing the _Swan_ sharply round on her
+heel, and scudding away before the wind, followed by the other in full
+chase.
+
+"Now, Jimmy and Dick, stand by the sheets, and when we get opposite the
+bottom of that long island, we will bring her sharp round the other
+side, and then they can't get across and meet us, and then we'll cut and
+run for the dyke."
+
+They executed this manoeuvre very neatly, but the other was too quick
+for them, and instead of following them round the island, they turned
+back and made for the mouth of the dyke to intercept them, and at a much
+better angle of the wind than that at which the _Swan_ had to sail.
+
+"We shall come into collision," said Jimmy, as he took a hearty pull at
+the mizen sheet. "We cannot both get through the dyke."
+
+"Never mind. We'll cram her at it. Stand by with the boat-hook to push
+the blue 'un off, Dick!" but as Dick stood ready with the boat-hook to
+push off, a man stood in the other yacht with his boat-hook to pull them
+in, and as Dick pushed, his adversary pulled. The two boats ran
+alongside for a few yards, and then were jammed together at the mouth of
+the creek, and Mr. ---- stepped on board.
+
+"Now what is the meaning of this?" he exclaimed angrily.
+
+"We came into the broad out of curiosity, sir," said Frank; "and we
+could not see the notice-board until we were in the broad, and then we
+thought we might as well take a turn round before going out, but we are
+sorry you have caught us."
+
+"Oh, are you really! Well, I want to preserve the broad for wild-fowl,
+so I don't like it to be disturbed; but where did you get this strange
+boat built?"
+
+"We built it ourselves," answered the boys,--and then in reply to the
+inquiries, they told him all about it, and their object, and by the time
+all was explained to him they found that he was a very jolly sort of
+fellow, and he found that they were very pleasant, unaffected lads, and
+the end of it was that they lunched with him on board his yacht, and had
+full permission to go on the broad whenever they liked.
+
+Frank's attention was arrested by a pretty, light grey duck swimming
+about in the centre of the broad.
+
+"Is that a pintail duck?" he inquired of Mr. ----.
+
+"Yes, and the only one on the broad, I am sorry to say. Its mate has
+been killed, and my man found the deserted nest with four eggs in it,
+among the reeds on the other side of the broad. If he has not taken it
+you may have it."
+
+His man had not taken it, and in a few minutes the boys were the
+possessors of the eggs of this rare duck. The nest and eggs were of the
+usual duck type, and did not correspond in any degree with the extreme
+prettiness of the duck, which, with its mottled grey back and red-brown
+head and neck, is as fair to look at as it is good to eat.
+
+The yachts were disengaged from their position without any damage, and
+the boys took leave of their entertainer with a cheer, and made for the
+river again.
+
+"I hope all our adventures will end as nicely as that one," said Dick.
+
+The wish was echoed by the others; but that very day they had an
+adventure which startled them considerably, and might have had very
+serious and fatal consequences. But of this anon.
+
+Presently Dick said,--"I have noticed whenever we see a mud-bank that it
+is almost sure to be perforated by a number of small holes. What is the
+reason of that?"
+
+"Oh, that is done by the snipes, when boring in search of food.
+Woodcocks will do it as well, and the woodcock's upper bill is so long
+and flexible that it can twist and turn it about in the mud with the
+greatest ease," answered Frank, who was always ready with an answer on
+ornithological subjects.
+
+By and by Dick was observed to be looking all about with a very puzzled
+and curious air, peeping into the cabin, and scrutinizing the deck and
+the banks with the utmost attention.
+
+"What is the matter, Dick?" said Jimmy at length.
+
+"What on earth is that buzzing noise? It seems to be close to us, and I
+can't find out the cause of it. I did not like to ask before--it seemed
+so simple. Is it a big bee, or wasp, or what?"
+
+Frank and Jimmy laughed heartily, and the former said,--
+
+"Look up in the air, Dick."
+
+Dick did so, and saw a bird which he knew to be a snipe, hovering
+somewhat after the manner of a kestrel, or windhover, as the country
+people sometimes call it. It was evident now that the noise came from
+it, but how was it produced, and why?
+
+Frank could not answer either of these questions. It was a habit of the
+snipes in breeding time to rise and 'drum' in that way.
+
+[Illustration: COMMON SNIPE.]
+
+"No doubt he does it for a lark, and no doubt he thinks he does it as
+well as a lark, but no one seems to be sure how the noise is produced.
+The general opinion seems to be that it is caused by a vibration of the
+tail-feathers."
+
+"Look!" cried Dick excitedly, diving into the cabin for his butterfly
+net. Over the marsh there fluttered one of the grandest of English
+butterflies, the swallow-tail. Large in size, being about four inches
+across the wings, which are of a pale creamy-yellow, barred and margined
+with blue and black, velvety in its appearance, and with a well-defined
+'tail' to each of its under wings, above which is a red spot, the
+swallow-tail butterfly is one of the most beautiful of all butterflies.
+It is rare save in its head-quarters, which are the fens of Norfolk and
+Cambridge, and is justly considered a prize by a young collector. Frank
+immediately ran the yacht ashore, and Dick jumped out and rushed at the
+gorgeous insect with his net. Alas! he struck too wildly and missed it,
+and it rose in the air and flew far away, leaving Dick lamenting. Frank
+laughed and said,--
+
+"Ah, you went at it too rashly. You should have given it him with more
+of the _suaviter in modo_ and less of the _fortiter in re_. Here comes
+another. Let me have a try!"
+
+[Illustration: SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY.]
+
+Dick yielded up possession of the net to him, and he advanced slowly and
+cautiously to where the swallow-tail was sunning himself on an early
+tuft of meadow-sweet, which the warm weather had tempted to bloom
+earlier than usual, and to perfume the air with its strong fragrance on
+the last day of May.
+
+Frank's approach had too much of the _suaviter in modo_, for the
+butterfly flew away long before he reached it. Frank forgot all about
+the _suaviter in modo_ then. He dashed after it at the top of his speed,
+making frantic dashes at it with his net, and jumping over soft ground,
+with utter disregard to all dangerous places. He followed it for some
+distance, and then he suddenly disappeared, and to their dismay they
+heard him shouting loudly for help.
+
+"He has got into a bog-hole," said Jimmy, "come along as fast as you
+can."
+
+They ran with breathless speed to where he had disappeared, and so
+deceptive are distances on flat surfaces, that they were surprised to
+see how far he had gone. When they reached him they saw him up to his
+waist in the soft bog, whose bright vivid green would have shown its
+danger had he not been too eager in his pursuit of the butterfly to
+notice it. He was rapidly sinking deeper into the mud, which held him
+fast with cruel tenacity, and sucked him further into its horrid embrace
+the more he struggled to get out of it. He had taken a big jump right
+into the very middle of it, and he was too far from them to reach their
+hands. His face was pale, but he was cool and collected.
+
+"All right," he said, "don't be frightened. I've got the butterfly, and
+if you will do what I tell you, I will soon get out of this fix. Dick,
+do you run to the yacht and get a rope, and you, Jimmy, get some reeds,
+and pitch them to me to put under my arms, and keep me from sinking
+further into this fearful mess."
+
+Dick sped off like an arrow, and Jimmy tore up a bundle of reeds and
+threw them to his friend, who had now sunk up to his shoulders, and as
+the reeds broke beneath his weight he sunk deeper still.
+
+"I hope Dick won't be long, or it will be all up with me, Jimmy," he
+said, and brave as he was, he could not keep his lips from quivering.
+Jimmy was in an agony of excitement. He took off his coat, and threw one
+end of it to Frank, but he could not reach him. Then he did what even
+raised a smile on Frank's face, imminent as was his danger. He took off
+his trousers and threw one leg to Frank, retaining the other in his
+hand. Pulling hard at this improvised rope, he held Frank up until Dick
+came tearing up with the rope trailing behind him.
+
+"Thank God!" said Frank, and Jimmy then knew by his fervent tone how
+great he knew the danger had been. Clinging to the rope, he was hauled
+out by his companions, and so tightly did the mud hold him, that it took
+all their strength to drag him out. They walked slowly and quietly back
+to the yacht, and Frank changed his clothes, and lay down and was very
+quiet for some time, and they none of them recovered their usual spirits
+for some time after this occurrence.
+
+The butterfly was set, and ever afterwards kept apart in Dick's
+collection as a memento of this time.
+
+Before they went home again they had got several specimens of this
+handsome butterfly, and still better, they discovered numbers of the
+bright green caterpillars and chrysalides on the meadow-sweet and wild
+carrot, which grew in the marsh, and so were able to breed several fine
+specimens, enough for their own collection and for exchange.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+ Moonlight.--Instinct and Reason.--Death's Head Moth.--
+ Bittern.--Water-rail.--Quail.--Golden Plover.--
+ Hen-Harrier and Weasel.--Preserving Bird-skins.
+
+
+They anchored that night just inside Hoveton Great Broad. The moon rose
+large and round, and lake and marsh slept still in her mellow light. The
+boys sat on deck watching the reflection of the moon in the water, and
+listening to the cries of the night-birds around them and the splash of
+the fish in the shallow margins. Dick said,--
+
+"Is it not wonderful that the butterfly knows on which plant she is to
+lay her eggs? How does the swallow-tail know that she must lay them on
+the wild carrot or on the meadow-sweet; the death's-head moth on the
+potato; and the white butterfly on the cabbage? How is it that they
+select these plants, seeing that it is all strange and new to them? It
+is very wonderful!"
+
+"Yes," said Jimmy, "and it cannot be reason, because they can have no
+facts to reason from, so it must be instinct."
+
+"Well, I don't like talking anything like cant, and you won't accuse me
+of that if I say that it seems to me that instinct is a personal
+prompting and direction of God to the lower animals for their good, and
+I don't believe we think of that enough," said Dick.
+
+[Illustration: MOONLIGHT SCENE.]
+
+Frank replied,--"You are right, Dick, and while man has only reason,
+animals have instinct and reason too. At least I believe that the larger
+kind of animals have some share of reason. I have never told you about
+our colley bitch. Last year she had pups, and she was very much annoyed
+by a cat which would go prowling about the building where the bitch was
+kept; so the bitch took the opportunity of one day killing the cat. Now
+the cat had just had kittens, and all were drowned but one. When the
+mother was killed, its kitten cried most piteously, and had to be fed
+with milk by the servants. The bitch had not known that the cat had
+kittens, until she heard the kitten scream, and then she showed as
+plainly as possible that she was sorry for what she had done, and took
+the kitten to her own young ones, and seemed quite fond of it. Whenever
+it was taken away she would go for it and take it back again, and the
+kitten grew up with the pups, and was inseparable from them. Now I call
+that reason on the part of the bitch, and the desire to make amends for
+the injury she had done--But hark! what is that?"
+
+A low booming sound not unlike the lowing of a bull, but more continued,
+resounded through the marsh and then ceased. Again the strange note was
+heard, and the boys looked at one another.
+
+"What can it be?" said Jimmy, as the noise again quivered on the moonlit
+air.
+
+[Illustration: DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH.]
+
+"I know," said Frank, "it is a bittern. If we can only find its nest we
+shall be lucky. It does not often breed in England now, although it is
+often shot here in winter. Let us listen where the sound comes from."
+
+They listened intently, and after an interval the sound was again
+repeated. They believed that it came from a reed-covered promontory
+which ran out into the broad on its eastern shore.
+
+"Let us take the punt and go over," said Frank; so they rowed in the
+direction of the sound. They rowed round the promontory, and penetrated
+it as far as they could, and all was still and silent, and they
+discovered nothing.
+
+Early the next morning they renewed their search, and while they were
+crashing through the very middle of the reed bed, the bittern rose with
+a hoarse cry, and flew away with a dull, heavy flight. And there, as
+good luck would have it, was its nest, a large structure of sticks,
+reeds and rushes, and in it were four eggs, large, round, and pale brown
+in colour. It was not in human nature (or at least in boy nature) to
+resist taking all the eggs.
+
+[Illustration: BITTERN.]
+
+The bittern is a singular bird both in shape and habits. Take a heron
+and shorten its legs, neck, and beak, and thicken it generally, and then
+deepen its plumage to a partridge-like brown, and you will have a pretty
+good idea of the bittern. At one time it was common enough in England,
+but the spread of cultivation, the drainage of the marshes, and the
+pursuit of the collector have rendered it rare; and while at some
+seasons it is pretty common all over the country where there are places
+fit for its breeding-ground, in other years scarcely a specimen can be
+seen, and its nest is now but rarely found. Its curious note has often
+puzzled the country people. It has been said to put its head under water
+or into a hollow reed, and then to blow, and so make a noise something
+like that produced by the famous blowing stone in the Vale of the White
+Horse.
+
+The fact, however, appears to be that the noise is produced in the usual
+manner, and Morris says that the bittern "commonly booms when soaring
+high in the air with a spiral flight."
+
+When suddenly surprised, its flight is more like that of a carrion crow
+when shot at in the air. If wounded, the bittern can defend itself
+remarkably well, turning itself on its back, and fighting with beak and
+claws. It cannot run well among the reeds, so when surprised it takes
+refuge in flight, although it is not by any means a good flier; and as
+the reeds grow too closely together for it to use its wings among them,
+it clambers up them with its feet, until it can make play with its
+wings. It is essentially nocturnal in its habits, hiding close among the
+reeds and flags by day.
+
+Leaving Hoveton Broad, the boys sailed quietly down the river to
+Ranworth Broad, without adventure. They turned from the river along the
+dyke which led to the broad, and with their usual enterprise they tried
+to take a short cut through a thin corner of reeds growing in about two
+feet of water, which alone divided them from the broad. They stuck fast,
+of course; but their usual good fortune attended them, and turned their
+misfortune into a source of profit. A bird like a landrail, but smaller,
+flew from a thick clump of vegetation near them.
+
+"Hallo, that is not a corn-crake, is it?" said Dick.
+
+"No, but it is a water-crake, or water-rail rather, and I expect its
+nest is in that clump," said Frank, and his shoes and stockings were off
+in a moment, and he was wading to the place whence the bird had flown.
+
+"Yes, here it is, and there are eight eggs in it, very like a
+landrail's, but much lighter in colour and a little smaller. I say, if
+we hadn't seen the bird fly away we should never have found the nest, it
+is so carefully hidden. I shall take four eggs. They are not sat upon,
+and she will lay some more until she makes up her full number, so it is
+not a robbery."
+
+The water-rail is one of the shyest of water-birds. It creeps among the
+herbage like a rat, and is very difficult to put to flight. When it does
+fly, its legs hang down as if it had not strength to hold them up, and
+it flies but slowly, yet during the winter time it migrates long
+distances.
+
+The boys spent but little time on the broad, for they were anxious to
+get further away from home; so, as there was a strong breeze from the
+west, they ran before it as far as Acle, where they had to lower their
+mast in order to pass under the old grey stone bridge.
+
+[Illustration: WATER-RAIL.]
+
+Leaving the yacht moored by the Hermitage Staithe, they walked to Filby
+and Ormesby Broads, an immense straggling sheet of water with many arms
+about three miles from the river. They hired a boat, and rowed about for
+some time, seeing plenty of wild-fowl, but meeting with no adventure
+worth recording. The broad is connected with the river by a long dyke
+called by the euphonious name of Muck Fleet, but it is not navigable,
+being so filled with mud and weeds. The growing obstruction of this dyke
+is an illustration of the process which is going on all over the Broad
+district day by day. Formerly a much larger portion of it must have been
+water, but as the reeds grew they decayed, and the rotten matter formed
+soil. This process was repeated year after year and is going on now. The
+reeds extend each year and form fresh soil each winter, and so the parts
+which were always very shallow become filled up, and the extent of marsh
+increases; and then, as the extent of marsh increases, it is drained and
+becomes firm, and then is finally cultivated, and waving corn-fields
+take the place of what was once a lake, and then a marsh, and instead of
+pike and wild-fowl there are partridges and pheasants.
+
+On the way back to Filby the boys took it into their heads to have a
+game of 'follow my leader.' Frank was chosen as leader, and he led them
+straight across-country, scorning roads and paths, and choosing the
+hardest leaps over dykes and fences. Across a meadow Frank saw a very
+stiff thorn fence on the other side of which was a stubble-field.
+Collecting all his strength, he made a rush at it, but failing to clear
+it, his foot caught near the top, and he fell headlong into the next
+field. Dick followed his leader with commendable imitation, and sprawled
+on the top of him; but Jimmy could only breast the hedge, and sat down
+on the spot whence he had taken his spring. Dick was up again in a
+moment, but Frank remained kneeling on the ground with something between
+his hands.
+
+[Illustration: AFRICAN BUSH QUAIL.]
+
+"What is it, Frank?" said Dick.
+
+"A bird. I fell upon it. It was on its nest, and I have smashed three of
+the eggs, but there are five left."
+
+Jimmy joined them, and asked what kind of a bird it was. It was a bird
+of about eight inches in length, grey in colour, plump, and with a shape
+which reminded them of the guinea-fowl. They looked at the poor
+trembling bird, and at its eggs, and came to the conclusion that it was
+a quail, a supposition which turned out to be right. Quails, though rare
+generally, were very common that year in Norfolk and Suffolk, and many
+nests were found, two more by the boys themselves. The nest is simply a
+collection of dry grass in a hollow in the ground.
+
+Morris says of the quail:--
+
+"Quails migrate north and south in spring and autumn, and vast numbers
+are taken by bird-catchers. As many as one hundred thousand are said to
+have been taken in one day in the kingdom of Naples. Three thousand
+dozen are reported to have been purchased in one year by the London
+dealers alone. They migrate in flocks, and the males are said to precede
+the females. They are believed to travel at night. They arrive here at
+the end of April or beginning of May, and depart again early in
+September. Not being strong on the wing, yet obliged to cross the sea to
+seek a warmer climate in the winter, thousands are picked up by the
+shores on their arrival in an exhausted state; many are drowned on the
+passage, and some are frequently captured on board of vessels met with
+_in transitu_."
+
+I have seen them in poulterers' shops kept in large cages, until they
+are wanted for the table, and they seemed to be quite unconcerned at
+their captivity, feeding away busily.
+
+Frank said,
+
+"What shall we do with the bird? I've broken her wing, but I don't think
+she's much hurt anywhere else."
+
+"Here's some thin twine," said Dick. "Let us tie the bone to a splint of
+wood with it, and the wing may heal."
+
+They carried the suggestion out with great care, and the quail, on being
+allowed to go, ran away with a drooping wing, but otherwise little the
+worse.
+
+"I suppose we must take all the eggs," said Frank, "for she will not
+come back to her nest now, as it is all wet with squashed egg."
+
+"Those are not lapwings flying above us, are they?" said Dick.
+
+"No, they are golden plovers. They are not half so pretty as the
+lapwings. They have no crest, and are much plainer in plumage, and they
+have more black on them. Look out for their nests in this marshy spot."
+
+"Here is one," said Dick.
+
+[Illustration: NEST OF GOLDEN PLOVER.]
+
+"No, that is only a lapwing's, and in a very clever place too; the nest
+is made, or rather the eggs are placed on the top of a mud-hill, so that
+when the water rises the eggs will be kept dry."
+
+"Here is a golden plover's, then," said Jimmy, pointing to a depression
+in the ground, in which were four eggs of the usual plover type, about
+the same size as the lapwing's, but more blunt in outline, and lighter
+in ground colour.
+
+"Yes, those are they. Take two of them."
+
+It must not be supposed that I mention all the nests and eggs the boys
+found in their rambles. Space forbids me to notice more than those which
+are rare or unusual. For the nest of one rare or uncommon bird they
+found a dozen of the commoner sorts, for they were very quick observers.
+
+The wind had fallen, and the water was as smooth as glass. While
+prowling about the margin, "seeking what they might devour," Dick
+stooped to pick a flower which grew by the water-side, and saw the head
+of a large eel protruding from the mud on the bank, about two or three
+feet below the surface. He called his companions' attention to it, and
+on looking more closely they saw at intervals the heads of several more,
+which poked two or three inches out of the mud. If the water had not
+been so still and clear, they would not have been able to see them.
+
+"What are they in that peculiar position for?" said Dick.
+
+"Oh, it is a habit of theirs. They are taking it easy, and watching for
+any little nice morsel to float by them. When the evening comes they
+will come out altogether. I will show you how to sniggle them."
+
+"Do what?" said Dick.
+
+"Wait and see, old man."
+
+They went back to the Hermitage, and Frank borrowed a stocking-needle
+from a woman at the house. He next got some fishing-line from the yacht
+and whipped one end of it to the needle from the eye to the middle. He
+next got a long pea-stick from the garden, and dug up some lob-worms,
+and then went to the mud-bank where the eels were.
+
+Frank baited his tackle by running the head of the needle quite up into
+the head of the worm, letting the point come out about the middle. Then
+he lightly stuck the point of the needle into the end of the stick, and
+with the stick in one hand and the loose line in the other, he went
+quietly to the side, and selecting an eel, he presented the worm to its
+nose. The eel opened its mouth and took the worm in. Frank gently pulled
+the stick away and slackened the line, and the eel swallowed the worm
+head first. When it had disappeared down the eel's throat, Frank struck,
+and the needle, of course, stuck across the eel's gullet. Frank kept a
+steady hold upon him, and drew him out of his fastness inch by inch,
+until he was clear of the mud, and then he lifted him out of the water.
+It was a fine eel of two pounds in weight.
+
+"Why, what grand fun that is!" said Dick. "Let me try," and so
+enthusiastically did he set to work, that in an hour's time he had got
+eight large eels.
+
+They now went on board to make their fourth meal that day, it being then
+half-past four o'clock. Afterwards they all wrote their letters home.
+
+The next morning about nine o'clock they hoisted sail, and started,
+intending to reach Yarmouth that day. A strong breeze, almost amounting
+to a gale, blew from the west, and they were obliged to take in reefs in
+both the main-sail and the mizen, and then they spun along at a very
+good rate, the water foaming at their bows and surging in their wake.
+Above them and to the eastward the sky was blue and without a cloud, but
+in the west a huge black cloud was slowly rising. Against its gloom, the
+sunlit marsh, the windmills, and the white sails of the yachts stood out
+brilliantly clear, and a number of gulls which were flying over the
+marsh shone out dazzlingly white against it.
+
+"What bird is that? It is a hawk no doubt, but it looks so blue in this
+light," said Jimmy, pointing over the marsh to where a large hawk was
+flying in circles uttering screams, and every now and then swooping to
+the ground.
+
+Frank got out his glass and took a long look at it.
+
+"It must be a hen-harrier," he said. "I can see it quite clearly. It
+seems to be very angry with something on the ground. Run the yacht up in
+the wind, Jimmy, and let us watch it."
+
+"There is another harrier flying to join it as swift as the wind. It is
+larger and browner, and must be the female," said Frank, describing
+their movements as he saw them through the glass.
+
+[Illustration: HEN-HARRIER.]
+
+The second comer swooped down to the ground and rose with some long
+struggling object in its talons which seemed to be a weasel or stoat.
+Frank then through his glass distinctly saw the weasel seize the hawk by
+the throat, and the hawk, screaming wildly, rose high into the
+air--"towering," as a sportsman would say--until it was almost a speck,
+and its mate accompanied it, circling round it, and also uttering savage
+screams. Then the hawk and weasel fell through the air, turning over and
+over, and came plump upon the marsh. The boys landed and went to the
+spot, while the other hawk slowly circled far out of sight. On reaching
+the spot they found the hawk dead, and the weasel still alive but
+stunned. It was soon despatched, and they examined the beautiful hawk
+which had fallen a victim to its bravery. The weasel's jaws were stained
+with egg-juice, and not far off they found the hen-harrier's nest which
+the weasel had been rifling when the hawk attacked it. The nest was
+built on the ground, and was something like a coot's nest, large and
+strong in structure. It contained four bluish eggs, two of which were
+broken.
+
+[Illustration: WEASEL.]
+
+"I tell you what, Frank," said Jimmy, "we must stuff the hawk and
+weasel, and mount them just as they appeared in the air. It will make a
+grand group. I am sorry for the hawk, but it is a lucky find for us and
+our museum nevertheless."
+
+In the meantime they skinned the hawk and weasel, and simply stuffed
+their skins with cotton-wool and laid them by in the locker. It is not
+necessary to stuff birds in their natural attitude to preserve them for
+a cabinet. They may be loosely stuffed with cotton-wool and laid side by
+side in drawers and labelled, just like eggs, and if at any time
+afterwards it is desired to set them up in life-like positions, the
+skins can be softened by letting them lie for a few days in a damp
+place.
+
+They sailed at a great rate down to Yarmouth, and brought up just
+outside a row of wherries which were moored to the quay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+ To the Rescue.--A Long-tailed Tit's Nest.--A Shower of Feathers.
+
+
+When they had made all snug, they set out for a walk through the town,
+and as the quay-side was not so pleasant as the open country, they
+determined not to sleep on board the yacht this night, but to sleep at
+an hotel. They therefore went to one by the beach and engaged beds. They
+then ordered and ate an uncommonly good dinner, at the close of which
+the waiter intimated to them that he had never seen any young gentlemen
+before who had such good appetites. After a due amount of rest they set
+out for a stroll. Presently they met a boy with a nest in his hand,
+which was evidently that of a long-tailed tit. They watched the boy
+join a gang of other boys, and after some conversation they took a
+number of tiny white eggs out of the nest, and arranged them on the
+ground in a row.
+
+"By Jove, they are going to play 'hookey smash' with them. What
+heathens!" said Frank. The boy who had brought the eggs now took a stick
+and made a shot at one of the eggs, and smash it went. Another boy took
+a stick and prepared to have his turn.
+
+"I say, I can't stand this," said Frank. "Let us make a rush and rescue
+the eggs," and suiting the action to the word, he ran forward, and with
+a well-applied shove of his foot to the inviting target which a stooping
+boy presented to him, he sent him rolling into the gutter. Jimmy picked
+up the nest and eggs, and then the three found themselves like Horatius
+and his two companions when they kept the bridge against Lars Porsena
+and his host, "facing fearful odds" in the shape of a dozen yelling
+street-boys.
+
+Frank was a big lad for his age, and he stood in such an excellent
+boxing position, his blue eyes gleaming with such a Berserker rage, and
+Jimmy and Dick backed him so manfully, that their opponents quailed, and
+dared not attack them save with foul language, of which they had a
+plentiful supply at command. Seeing that their enemies deemed discretion
+the better part of valour, our three heroes linked themselves arm in
+arm, and marched home with their heads very high in air, and with a
+conscious feeling of superiority.
+
+"What are you laughing at, Dick?" said Frank.
+
+"At the cool way in which you robbed those fellows of their eggs. You
+had no right to do so. They _will_ wonder why you did it."
+
+"Let them wonder. I was so savage at their spoiling those beautiful eggs
+in such a brutal manner. At the same time I acknowledge that it wasn't
+my business, no more than if it were their own ha'pence they were
+smashing, but all the same I feel that we have done a very meritorious
+action."
+
+They now found themselves at the quay-side, and they stopped there some
+time, being much struck by the scene which presented itself to them as
+they gazed out over Breydon Water. The tide was flowing in rapidly, and
+Breydon was one vast lake, at the further end of which, five miles away,
+the rivers Waveney and Yare joined it, and, at the end near Yarmouth,
+the Bure, down which they had just sailed. The breeze had risen to a
+gale, and as it met the incoming tide it raised a sharp popply sea. The
+sun was setting red and splendid over the far end behind a mass of black
+fiery-edged cloud, through rents in which the brilliant light fell upon
+the tossing waste of waters, and tipped each wave-crest with crimson.
+Above the cloud the sky was of a delicate pale green, in which floated
+cloudlets or bars of gold, which were scarcely more ethereal-looking
+than the birds which breasted the gale with wavering flight. Out of the
+sunset light there came a gallant array of vessels making for the
+shelter of Yarmouth. Dark-sailed wherries with their peaks lowered and
+their sails half mast high, and yachts with every possible reef taken
+in, all dashing along at a great pace, notwithstanding the opposing
+tide, and each with a white lump of foam at its bows. The parallel rows
+of posts which marked the sailing course stood out gaunt and grim, like
+warders of the sunset gates, and the whole scene was wild and
+impressive. It so moved Dick, that when they got back to their hotel he
+sat down, and tried his hand at making some verses descriptive of it.
+They are not good enough to quote, but Frank and Jimmy both thought them
+very good, only they were not impartial critics.
+
+As they were sitting in the coffee-room that evening, Jimmy said that he
+should like to see how many feathers the long-tailed tit's nest
+contained. It looked a regular hatful, and he wondered how the tiny bird
+could have had the patience to collect so many. So he drew a small table
+aside, and sat himself down at it with the nest before him, and then set
+to work to count the feathers, putting them in a pile at his right side
+as he did so. Dick joined him, and the two worked away for a long time
+at the monotonous task of counting. The feathers as they were piled up
+loosely on the table formed a big feather-heap.
+
+Frank grew tired of watching them, and a wicked idea entered his head.
+The window near which they sat encountered the whole force of the wind.
+Frank lounged up to it, and, under cover of a question, undid the latch.
+
+"How many are there?" he asked.
+
+"We have counted 2,000, and there are about 300 more. We shall soon
+finish."
+
+"Shall you, indeed," said Frank, as he opened the window. The wind
+rushed in, and catching the light feathers scattered them all over the
+room, which was full of people, some reading, some eating, and some
+enjoying a nightcap of toddy. The feathers stuck everywhere--on the
+food, in the glasses, sticking on hair and clothes, and tickling noses,
+and causing universal consternation.
+
+[Illustration: LONG-TAILED TIT AND EGG.]
+
+"Here's a pretty kettle of fish!" said Jimmy, looking up in dismay. "How
+could you, Frank?"
+
+But Frank had vanished out of the window laughing incontinently, and
+Dick and Jimmy were left alone to bear the storm of expostulations and
+reproaches with which they were favoured by the company, who thought the
+whole affair was premeditated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+ Yarmouth.--The "Rows".--A Stiff Breeze.--An Exciting Sail.--
+ Sparrow-hawk's Nest.--A Nasty Fall.--Long-eared Owl.--
+ Partridge.--Sandpiper.
+
+
+Yarmouth is a queer old semi-Dutch town, and is often compared in shape
+to a gridiron, the bars of that article corresponding to the "Rows"
+which are such a peculiar feature of Yarmouth. These rows stretching
+across from the quay-side to the principal street are very narrow, yet
+contain the houses and shops of a great portion of the population. Many
+are only wide enough for foot passengers but along others, carts of a
+peculiar construction can pass. These carts are very long and narrow,
+and have only two wheels, and a stranger seeing them for the first time
+would wonder what they were for.
+
+Below Breydon Water the river narrows very much, and flows past numerous
+fish-wharves and quays to the sea. The tide rises up this narrow neck
+with great force, and were it not for the safety-valve which is afforded
+by the vast expanse of Breydon Water, where the tide can expand and
+waste its force, it would rush on and flood the low-lying marshes for
+miles up the river.
+
+The boys had resolved to start on their voyage up Breydon Water at ten
+o'clock in the morning, when the tide would be making and would help
+them on their way, but when they had staggered down to their boat in the
+teeth of a fierce north-wester, and saw Breydon white with foam, torn
+off short snappy waves caused by the meeting of wind and tide, they were
+rather dismayed, and held a council of war as to what should be done.
+Not a sail could be seen on the wide expanse of Breydon Water. The sky
+was of a hard and pitiless blue, and clearly foretold a continuance of
+the gale.
+
+"Shall we venture or not?" said Frank.
+
+"What do you feel inclined to do yourself?" asked Jimmy.
+
+"Well, I don't think there is any great risk. We will take every reef
+in, and the tide will be in our favour. It will be a good trial for the
+yacht too. If we can get to the top of Breydon against this gale we
+shall have every reason to be satisfied with her. I am game to try."
+
+"So am I," said Jimmy.
+
+"Then if you are, I am," said Dick.
+
+"That's right. Then do you make all snug on board, while I run back to
+the town. I have something to buy," and off he went.
+
+In a short time he returned with a small life-belt in his hand.
+
+"Here, this is for you, Dick. Jimmy and I swim so well that there is no
+danger for us, but you cannot swim so very far yet, so you had better
+wear this in case of a capsize, though I don't expect one. Now, are you
+ready?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then, Jimmy, do you take the main-sheet, and you, Dick, take the
+mizen-sheet, and I will cast off."
+
+The sails were hoisted, and everything made taut and trim. Frank undid
+the moorings, and jumped on board, seizing the tiller just as the
+yacht's head turned from the shore, and she heeled over before the wind.
+No sooner was she free from the quay than she seemed to be at the
+opposite side of the river, at such a pace did the wind impel her.
+Although her raft-like frame gave her so much stability, yet she heeled
+over until her deck to leeward was in the water. She came back on the
+opposite tack with the speed of a racehorse. Frank said,--
+
+"I say, she fairly seems to run away from us. Quick, loose the sheet,
+Jimmy! Here's a squall!" and the yacht ran up into the wind, and her
+sails fluttered as Frank kept her so until the gust had passed. They
+were soon out in the open water of Breydon, and were able to take longer
+tacks. This gave them some ease, but they found that the _Swan_ was not a
+"dry" boat. Her lowness and flat shape caused her to "ship" the short
+curling seas. They, of course, passed over her deck harmlessly, but
+nevertheless they made her wet and uncomfortable. As long, however, as
+she was safe and sailed well, the boys did not mind this at all, and
+they stuck to their work bravely, handling their yacht with great skill
+and courage.
+
+Large portions of Breydon are dry at low tide, and are there called
+"muds," or "flats." On these muds flocks of sea-fowl congregate.
+
+"These are capital places in the winter for wild-fowl shooting," said
+Frank, "we must have a day's sport here in the next hard frost. Bell
+will come with us, and show us some good fun, I am sure."
+
+"My father has a big swivel duck-gun somewhere about. If that will be of
+any use I will look it up," said Dick.
+
+"Of course it will be of use, old man. Just the thing we want. Haul in
+her sheet, Jimmy. We can sail a point nearer to the wind, if we choose.
+I say, this is fine! What muffs we were to think that there was any
+danger, or that the yacht could not do it. See how well she behaves! But
+there, I am putting her too full, and she was very nearly capsized. The
+man at the wheel must not speak, so don't talk to me."
+
+"This may be fine fun for you, Frank, but my hands have nearly all the
+skin taken off them by the rope. It is jolly hard work holding on to
+this, I can tell you," said Jimmy, who, indeed, had got his work cut out
+for him.
+
+"Same here," said Dick; "I don't care how soon it is over, for my hands
+are awfully flayed. I wish we could make the sheet fast."
+
+"Ah, you must not do that, or we shall be upset at the next gust," said
+Frank.
+
+After an hour and a half of very exciting sailing, they had sailed the
+five miles of Breydon Water, and ran into the smoother current of the
+Waveney. Here, also, they got the wind more aslant, and skimmed along at
+a great pace with very little labour. In this way, they sailed some
+fifteen miles, and at length came to anchor in a sheltered spot under a
+wood-crowned bank not far from Beccles. After making all snug and eating
+their dinner, the most natural thing to do was to explore the wood near
+them. They left the yacht, and crossing a meadow they entered the wood.
+It was a thick fir-plantation and promised well for nests.
+
+"What is that one?" said Jimmy, pointing to a nest in a tall fir-tree.
+"Is it a crow's, or an old wood-pigeon's, or a hawk's? Who will go up
+and see?"
+
+"I will," said Frank, and up he went hand over hand among the thick
+boughs. As he neared the top, he was obliged to proceed more
+cautiously, for the branches were thin, and the tree swayed in the wind.
+All doubts as to the kind of nest were speedily dissolved, for with a
+cry of rage, a sparrow-hawk came dashing up, and flew in circles around
+the tree, screaming angrily, and making fierce attacks at the invader of
+its home. Frank, nothing daunted, continued his upward way, and soon was
+able to see into the nest.
+
+"There are four young ones," he cried.
+
+[Illustration: SPARROW-HAWK.]
+
+"What a pity," said Jimmy. "If they had only been eggs! Look sharp and
+come down, Frank, you are swinging about so much that it does not seem
+safe up there."
+
+But Frank answered nothing, and remained on his perch.
+
+"What is the matter, Frank?"
+
+"I am thinking about something."
+
+"A tree-top is a funny place to think. Here is the other hawk coming to
+pay you a visit, and it is the female. She will be more savage than the
+other, and may attack you."
+
+"No fear," said Frank, but at that moment both hawks made a sudden
+onslaught upon him, and the female struck him so savagely, that she tore
+a big gash in his cheek. He was so startled at this unexpected and
+hostile measure that he lost his hold and fell. When Dick and Jimmy saw
+their leader crashing through the branches, and turning over and over as
+he fell, they could not repress a shriek, and closed their eyes to shut
+out the horrible accident that must happen. They waited in fearful
+suspense for the expected thud, but not hearing it, they ventured to
+look up again, and saw Frank lying on a thickly spreading branch not far
+below the nest. He was lying quite still, but clutching hold of the
+boughs with his hands. Both Dick and Jimmy flew to the tree, and
+commenced to climb it. With a speed that seemed wonderful to them
+afterwards they reached Frank.
+
+"Are you hurt, old man?"
+
+"Not at all, only all the wind is knocked out of me. I shall be all
+right in a minute. I say, if my mater saw that tumble, she would not let
+me go out alone any more, would she? That hawk was a plucky bird. I am
+going up to the nest again."
+
+"What for? I should think you have had enough of hawks' nests for a long
+time."
+
+"Yes, but I want to take two of the young ones. Two of them are much
+larger than the others, so they must be females. Now I'll tell you what
+struck me before the bird knocked me off my perch. Suppose we take these
+young hawks, and train them up in the way they should go--that is, let
+us use them for hawking."
+
+"It is a good idea and no mistake--but can we do that?"
+
+"Easily," answered Frank, gathering himself together, and resuming his
+ascent.
+
+"What a cool fellow he is," said Dick to Jimmy. "He does not seem to
+know what danger is."
+
+"He does not choose to show it, if he does. But let us go up and help
+him with the hawks."
+
+The young hawks were fully fledged and nearly ready to fly. They were
+fierce enough now, but Frank said he would undertake to tame them, and
+fit them for hawking before the winter, if the other boys would help
+him. The idea of reviving that famous old sport was a very fascinating
+one, and they determined to do their best to carry it out, with what
+result will afterwards be seen. In the meantime it was a difficult
+matter to dispose of the birds. They tied strings to their legs, and
+kept them in the cabin, feeding them, and taking as much care of them as
+if they were babies, until they came to Norwich, when they sent them to
+Bell, who took care of them until their return.
+
+After taking the hawks to the boat, the boys went back to the wood and
+separated, so that they might cover more ground. Suddenly peals of
+laughter were heard coming from the corner of the wood. Frank, pushing
+aside the branches to get a clearer view, was surprised to see Dick
+staring at a thick Scotch fir, holding his sides, and laughing until the
+tears ran down his cheeks. Frank hastened up to him to see where the fun
+was. Dick could only point, for he was too far gone for speech. Frank
+looked in the direction he pointed, and immediately burst into a fit of
+laughter far more uproarious than Dick's. Jimmy, running up as fast as
+he could, saw both his friends laughing and capering like mad.
+
+"What on earth is the matter? Have you both gone crazy?" They pointed to
+the Scotch fir. Jimmy looked, and immediately fell a roaring with
+laughter as hard as the others.
+
+[Illustration: LONG-EARED OWL.]
+
+This is the explanation. On a horizontal bough of the tree were seated
+six young long-eared owls. They were fully fledged, but unable to fly,
+and according to their custom they had left their nest and were perched
+together on this branch waiting for their parents to feed them. They
+looked most extremely absurd and ridiculous as they sat, each on one
+foot swaying to and fro after their manner on the bough, and gravely
+winking their large brown eyes at the intruders. It is impossible to
+give any idea of the comicality of the scene any more than it is
+possible to give a true description in words of the grotesque gestures
+of a clown. Of this owl Morris says,--
+
+"It is readily tamed, and affords much amusement by the many grotesque
+attitudes it assumes, to which its ears and eyes give piquancy. It may
+often be detected that a small orifice is left through which it is
+peeping when its eyes would seem to be shut, and it has the singular
+faculty of being able to close one eye while the other is not shut, so
+that it may appear wide awake on one side while apparently asleep on the
+other, or if asleep, may be so literally with one eye open. The ears are
+raised by excitement; at other times they are depressed."
+
+[Illustration: COMMON PARTRIDGE.]
+
+On its head this owl has two tufts of feathers which look like donkey's
+ears, and give it its name. It is common in many parts of England, and
+frequents thick fir-woods, where it builds in old nests of crows and
+hawks, or even squirrels, which it lines with wool, and in which it lays
+two or three round white eggs.
+
+Jimmy sadly wanted to take one of the young ones home, but the hawks
+were as much as they could manage in the yacht, and after all, the owl
+would be of no use to them, and it might die, so they reluctantly left
+the birds on their perch to snore in peace.
+
+[Illustration: EGG OF COMMON PARTRIDGE.]
+
+"What is that partridge calling for?" said Frank.
+
+"I can't think," answered Jimmy. "It seems to come from the top of that
+haystack, but that is a very unlikely place for a partridge in the
+breeding season."
+
+"I will go up and see," said Dick, "if you will give me a back." They
+soon lifted him up, and as they did so, a French or red-legged partridge
+flew off.
+
+"Here is her nest with ten eggs in it," cried Dick, "what an
+extraordinary spot for a nest." And so it was, but not altogether
+singular, for the partridge has been known to build in a hollow tree,
+and in other unlikely situations.
+
+Leaving the wood, they proceeded up a small stream which empties itself
+into the Waveney. As they advanced, a sandpiper took short flights in
+front of them. It was presently joined by another, and the two seemed so
+uneasy, that the boys concluded that their nest could not be far off.
+They therefore set to work to examine every likely spot with great care.
+Dick was the one who found it, in fact he very nearly trod upon it. Four
+cream-coloured eggs with brown spots, very much pointed and very large
+for the size of the bird, lay in a hollow in a gravelly bank, upon a few
+pieces of dry grass and leaves, the birds' apology for a nest. The
+sandpipers flew over head, uttering their cry of "weet, weet, weet,"
+with great anxiety, and they looked so pretty, that the boys felt sorry
+for them, and only took two of their eggs.
+
+The summer snipe, as this bird is also called, is well known to everyone
+who wanders by the side of streams or lakes. Its white stomach contrasts
+so prettily with its dusky back, and it walks so merrily about the
+water-edge, trotting over the lily leaves, and taking short flights
+before the angler, that it is one of my favourite birds, the kingfisher
+and the water-ouzel being the other two.
+
+Jimmy had gone off up a small ravine thickly covered with underwood, in
+search of a fern or two which he expected to find there. He had not been
+gone long before they heard him give a loud shout, and turning towards
+the spot, they saw a woodcock float out of a covert with that owl-like
+flight which it sometimes affect.
+
+"Here is its nest," shouted Jimmy.
+
+This news was sufficient to make the boys rush at once to the place
+where Jimmy stood.
+
+On the ground under a holly-bush was the nest, with four eggs in it, of
+a dirty yellowish white, spotted with pale brown.
+
+[Illustration: COMMON SANDPIPER.]
+
+"Well," said Frank, "I think we have had an uncommonly good day."
+
+"So do I," replied Jimmy, "and I feel uncommonly hungry. Don't you?"
+
+"It seems to me that we do nothing but eat," observed Dick.
+
+"I should like to go to bed soon. I am tired, and my ribs ache from my
+tumble," said Frank.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ A Grizzly Bear.--Gossamers.--Strike only on the Box.
+
+
+After Frank's cuts and bruises were plastered up, the boys turned into
+their berths and were soon fast asleep. Now the hawks had been placed in
+a corner at the foot of Jimmy's berth, and crouched together quiet and
+sullen. The foot of Jimmy's bed was only about six inches from them, and
+as he turned and twisted in his sleep, he pushed his foot out of the
+bottom of the bed, exposing his toes within tempting reach of the young
+hawks' talons. The natural consequence followed. One of the birds seeing
+this capital chance of avenging himself on his enemies, seized fast hold
+of Jimmy's big toe with his sharp beak. Jimmy jumped up with a loud
+yell, and hitting his forehead against the roof of the cabin fell down
+again on the floor. Frank, hearing a noise, started up not more than
+half awake, and fell out of his hammock on to the top of Jimmy, whom he
+seized by the throat. Dick awoke from a dream of Arctic exploration, and
+cried out,--
+
+"Is that a grizzly bear?"
+
+"Grizzly bear!" said Jimmy, whom Frank had released. "Something ten
+times worse than a bear has seized my toe and bitten it off, or nearly
+so, and then I hit my head against the roof, and Frank half choked me. I
+think it is a great deal too bad."
+
+"You must have been dreaming, Jimmy," said Frank; "there is nothing here
+that could bite your toe."
+
+"But I can feel that it is bleeding!" answered Jimmy, in a very injured
+tone of voice.
+
+At that moment a noise in the corner of his berth attracted their
+attention.
+
+"Oh, it must have been the hawks!" said Dick, and he and Frank went off
+into fits of laughter, which only grew more boisterous as Jimmy
+proceeded to light a candle, and bind his toe up with a piece of
+sticking-plaster, grumbling all the time, and casting savage glances at
+the offending birds.
+
+The light was put out, and they once more went to bed, Jimmy taking care
+to tuck his feet well under him. Every now and then a smothered burst of
+laughter from the other berths told him that his friends were still
+enjoying the joke, and then, as his toe began to pain him less, his
+sense of the ludicrous overcame his sense of outraged dignity, and just
+as Dick and Frank were dropping off to sleep, they were again startled
+by a peal of laughter from Jimmy.
+
+"Oh dear!" said Frank, "you will be the death of us, Jimmy. Have you
+only now discovered the joke?"
+
+"Oh, don't make me laugh any more. My sides are aching so," said Dick.
+
+Once more composed, they went to sleep, and awoke early in the morning
+to find that the gale had spent itself, and that a soft air from the
+south blew warmly over the land. The sun shone his brightest, and the
+birds sang their merriest. They had a bathe in the clear river water,
+and dressed leisurely on the top of their cabin, while the sun, which
+had not risen very long, threw their shadows, gigantic in size, over the
+green meadows, which were covered with silvery gossamers--and then they
+were witnesses of a curious phenomenon. Their shadows had halos of light
+around them, extending about eighteen inches from each figure, all
+around it. The strong light from behind them, shining on the wet and
+gleaming gossamers, was no doubt the cause of this singular appearance.
+The same sight has been seen when the grass was wet with dew.
+
+"The fields are quite silvery with the gossamer," said Dick. "Is it not
+pretty!"
+
+"Yes, what a number of spiders there must be to cause such an
+appearance," answered Frank. "It always puzzles me how those spiders
+move about--and how is it that on some mornings they appear in such
+immense quantities, while on the next morning, perhaps, not one will be
+seen?"
+
+"I think they are always there," replied Dick, "but they are only
+visible when the dew is falling heavily, and wetting them so that they
+become visible. In the clear air, too, the sun will dry them so that we
+shall not be able to see them; but they will be there all the same. Let
+us gather a bunch of rushes with a lot of them on and examine them."
+
+He did so, and they saw great numbers of tiny spiders gliding about
+their tiny webs. By and by, as they watched them, the little spiders
+shot out long silvery threads, which floated out to leeward, and then
+the spiders let go their hold and launched themselves into the air, and
+were borne away by the faint south wind.
+
+"Oh, so that is the secret of their wandering, is it? Don't you wish you
+could send a long floating thread from your stomach, Jimmy, and sail
+away over the marshes? It would be as good as having wings."
+
+"Don't be so absurd, Frank."
+
+A wherry was being pushed up the stream by its two stalwart boatmen, by
+the process known in Norfolk as quanting. The men placed their long
+poles or quants into the river at the bow of the wherry, and, placing
+their shoulders against them, walked to the stern, propelling the boat
+along with their feet. By this laborious method, when the wind fails
+them, do the wherrymen work their craft to their destination. As they
+passed the yacht, one of them cried out--
+
+"We have got no matches, guv'nor. Can you give us some?"
+
+"Certainly," replied Frank; and diving into the cabin, he returned with
+a handful. These he handed to the wherryman, who thanked him and passed
+on. The man stopped quanting and tried to strike a match by rubbing it
+on the sole of his shoe. It failed to ignite, and he threw it down.
+Another met with the same fate, and another also. Then he tried striking
+them on wood, then on iron, then on his rough jacket, but all to no
+purpose, and they could see him trying one after another, and throwing
+them down with every symptom of disgust.
+
+"Why, Frank, those matches strike only on the box," said Dick.
+
+"I know that," replied Frank, laughing quietly.
+
+"Oh, that's too bad. Fancy the fellow's disgust!"
+
+They sailed up to the pretty little town of Beccles, where they took in
+provisions, and Frank bought some more sticking-plaster in case of any
+further accident. They then had a good dinner at the principal inn, and
+afterwards called upon a friend, who took them over the large
+printing-works near the town, where many books published in London are
+printed. They began with the compositors' room, where, with marvellous
+rapidity, the workmen were selecting the letters from their respective
+boxes in the case of type, and arranging them in their proper order. The
+extraordinary illegibility of some of the MSS. from which the
+compositors were reading with apparent ease astonished our boys, who
+could make nothing of them. They then paid a visit to the reader, who
+has the wearisome and eye-tiring task of reading over and correcting the
+proofs. When the proofs have been corrected and the "revise" submitted
+to the author, and his corrections made, the process of stereotyping
+comes in. The sheet of type is covered with a layer of plaster-of-paris,
+which takes a perfect impression of the words on the sheet of type. From
+this plaster-of-paris cast another cast is taken in metal, and this
+forms the stereotype plate from which the book is printed. The type,
+which is very valuable, can then be distributed to its proper places,
+and used again. The stereotype plates are always kept stored in stacks,
+like bottles in a wine-bin.
+
+Jimmy, being of a mechanical turn of mind, was very much interested in
+the stereotyping process, and more particularly in the account they
+received of the way in which many daily papers are printed. The
+impression is in the first instance taken by means of a soft wet paper
+of sufficient thickness. This is dried, and the molten metal is poured
+upon it, and takes a perfect impression, without in any way spoiling the
+paper mould, or "matrix," which can be used again, while a plaster one
+cannot. Jimmy asked to be shown some wooden blocks from which wood
+engravings are printed, and the boys examined them curiously.
+
+They received an invitation to spend the evening at their friend's
+house, and after returning to the boat to feed the hawks with some
+"lights" bought at a butcher's shop, they had a very pleasant evening,
+and slept that night on shore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ Oulton Broad.--Lateeners.--Lowestoft.--Ringed-Plover's Nest.--
+ Oyster-catcher.--Shore Fishing.--A Perilous Sail.
+
+
+[Illustration: LATEEN SAIL.]
+
+They sailed quietly down the river again, and excited much attention
+from the many yachts they met. They turned off along Oulton Dyke, and on
+to Oulton Broad. The lake was full of craft of all rigs and sizes. There
+had been a regatta there the day before, and the major part of the
+yachts still remained. There was a stately schooner, moving with
+dignity; a smart cutter, heeling well over, but dashing along at a great
+pace; a heavy lugger; and, most graceful of all, the lateeners. These
+are a class of boats peculiar to the Norfolk waters and to the
+Mediterranean. The shape of them will be familiar to all who have ever
+looked at a picture of the Bay of Naples. They carry immense yards, the
+yard of a boat thirty feet long being about sixty feet in length. Such a
+yard, of course, carries a very large sail. In addition to this large
+sail they have a fore and aft mizen astern. They sail wonderfully close
+to the wind, but in running before it they sometimes take it into their
+heads to duck under, because the weight of the sail is all thrown on the
+fore-part of the boat, and sometimes proves too much for it.
+
+A boat which attracted our boys' attention was a lugger, with her sails
+crossed by strips of bamboo, so that they looked something like Venetian
+blinds. These made the sails stand very flat and firm, and the boat so
+rigged seemed to sail very fast. The sun-lit waters of the broad,
+covered as they were with rapidly-moving yachts, whose white sails
+contrasted with the blue water and sky and the green fringe of tall
+reeds which encircled the lake, presented a very pretty spectacle, and
+one that called forth the admiration of our young yachtsmen. As they
+threaded their way through the numerous vessels, they saw that they
+themselves were an object of curiosity, and as sound travels far on the
+water, and people seldom think of that when they speak on it, the boys
+overheard many comments upon themselves. Those upon their boat were
+sometimes not flattering, but those upon their skill in handling her
+upon that crowded water were very appreciative, and at length Frank
+said, with something like a blush--
+
+"Look here, this is getting too warm. I vote we moor her, and go to
+Lowestoft to have a dip in the sea."
+
+The others agreed to this, and having moored the yacht in a safe place,
+they took their departure. At the lower end of Oulton Broad is a lock,
+by which vessels can be raised or lowered, as the case may be, to or
+from Lake Lothing, a tidal piece of water, communicating with the sea
+through Lowestoft harbour. A brigantine collier was in the lock when our
+boys came up, and they stood and watched it come through, going out upon
+a floating raft of wood, so as to see it better entering the broad.
+
+"Why, look at her bows. They are carved all over like an old-fashioned
+mantel-piece."
+
+As it came through the lock, it knocked against their raft, and
+threatened their safety, so seizing hold of the chains that hung over
+its bows, they climbed on board and entered into a conversation with her
+skipper. He told them that his ship was 100 years old, and he considered
+her still stronger than many a ship of more recent build. He had on
+board some beautiful little dogs of the Spanish breed, pure white and
+curly-haired, with sharp noses, and bright black eyes. Dick insisted on
+buying one.
+
+"We cannot have it on board with the hawks," said Frank.
+
+"But I shall send it home by the carrier from Lowestoft," answered Dick.
+
+[Illustration: RINGED-PLOVER.]
+
+They walked along the shores of Lake Lothing to Lowestoft, and went and
+had a bathe. Then they walked along the cliffs towards Pakefield, and
+while crossing a sandy spot Dick discovered a ringed plover's nest.
+There were three eggs, cream-coloured, and blotched with brown. They
+were simply laid in a hole in the sand. They saw the old birds running
+along the shore before the wind, as is their habit, and looking very
+pretty with their grey beaks, and white stomachs, and black collars. On
+the shore they also saw some oyster catchers, with their plumage nearly
+all black, except a white belt, and white bars on their wings; and also
+a pair of redshanks, with their long red legs and bills, and French grey
+plumage; but although their nests are common enough in Suffolk (in which
+county our boys now were), they failed to find their eggs. The redshanks
+nest on the ground in marshy places, and lay eggs of a great family
+likeness to those of other birds which lay in similar positions.
+
+On the shore men and boys were fishing in the following manner:--
+
+They had long lines with a number of hooks on at regular intervals,
+which were baited with mussels. One end of the line was pegged into the
+sand; the other was heavily weighted with lead. They had a
+throwing-stick with a slit at one end. Into this slit the line next the
+weight was introduced. With the aid of the stick the line was thrown out
+a considerable distance. After being allowed to rest some time it was
+hauled in, and the fish taken off. In this way they caught flat-fish and
+small codlings, and some of them had accumulated a large heap of fish.
+
+[Illustration: OYSTER-CATCHER.]
+
+Two boatmen came up to the boys, and asked them if they would like a
+sail. "We'll take you for an hour for sixpence each."
+
+"Well, it's reasonable enough," said Frank; "I vote we go." So they
+stepped on board and were soon tacking merrily about, a mile or two from
+land.
+
+"Did you ever see two uglier fellows than our boatmen?" said Dick in a
+whisper to Frank.
+
+"No--but what are they staring at that steamer so hard for?" A large
+yacht was making direct for Lowestoft harbour.
+
+"I say," said Frank, "is not that steamer standing too close in shore?
+There is a bank of sand somewhere about there. I remember seeing remains
+of a wreck there not long ago."
+
+"Hush! hold your tongue," answered the steersman.
+
+"What do you mean, sir? If she goes on in that course she'll strike."
+
+The man looked savagely at him, and replied,
+
+"Look here, young man, if she strikes there will be no harm done. The
+sea is too smooth, and we shall be the first on the spot to help them
+off, and we shall get a good long sum of money for salvage. If you hold
+your tongue and say nothing you shall go shares. If you don't, I'll
+crack your head for you, so mind you don't give her any signal."
+
+"You unfeeling fellow!" said Frank. "Shout, Jimmy and Dick, with all
+your might. I will settle this blackguard."
+
+Jimmy and Dick obeyed and waved their hats to the advancing yacht. The
+man at the helm could not let go the tiller, but his mate made the sheet
+fast, and rose to strike Frank. Frank seized the stretcher from the
+bottom of the boat and raised it in the air.
+
+"Touch me, if you dare!" he said.
+
+The brute struck at him, enraged at the prospect of losing so large a
+sum of money as his share of the salvage would amount to. Frank avoided
+the blow, and with all the strength of his lithe young body, brought the
+stretcher down on the fellow's skull. He dropped to the bottom of the
+boat, and lay there as still as a log.
+
+"Now we are three to one," he said to the steersman, "so you must do as
+we tell you."
+
+The man was a coward at heart, though a bully by nature, so he dared
+make no objection.
+
+Meanwhile the yacht sheered off, but not soon enough to avoid just
+touching the end of the shoal, and getting a bump, which threw the
+people on her deck down, and gave them a fright. They passed on without
+so much as shouting "thank you."
+
+They now steered for the shore, Frank retaining the stretcher in his
+hand, in case of an attack. The man whom he had stunned soon came to
+himself, and growled and swore horribly, but dared not do more. When
+they landed Frank said, "Now you are a pair of blackguards, and I shall
+not pay you anything;" and followed by his companions he turned away.
+Before he had gone many steps, however, he turned back and said, while
+he pitched them half-a-crown: "There, that's for plaster!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+ Animals which never die.--A Wonderful Tip to his Tail.--
+ Thunderstorm.--Swan's Nest.--Bearded Tit.--Reed-wrens and Cuckoo.
+
+
+The next day they sailed down the Waveney, until they came to Haddiscoe,
+and then, instead of continuing down to Breydon Water, they went along
+the New Cut, a wide channel which unites the Waveney with the Yare,
+joining the latter at Reedham. They found the channel of the Yare very
+much broader than the Bure or the Waveney; and as they had a favourable
+breeze for the greater part of the way, and there was plenty of room to
+tack in the reaches where it was against them, they made rapid progress.
+
+As they sailed quietly along, Dick lay on the roof of the cabin reading
+a number of _Science Gossip_ which they had bought at Lowestoft.
+Presently he cried out,--
+
+"Do you know that there are animals which never die?"
+
+The others laughed at the idea, but Dick proceeded to read out as
+follows:--
+
+"Will the reader be astonished to hear that there are exceptions to the
+universal law of death, that there are animals, or at any rate portions
+of animals, which are practically immortal. Such, however, is really the
+case. I allude to a species of the genera Nais and Syllis, marine worms
+of no special interest to the ordinary observer, but those who have
+watched their habits closely, tell us of the almost extraordinary power
+of spontaneous division which they enjoy. Self-division, as a means of
+propagation, is common enough among the lower members of both animal and
+vegetable kingdoms, but the particular kind to which I refer now, is, I
+believe, peculiar to these singular worms. At certain periods the
+posterior portion of the body begins to alter its shape materially, it
+swells and grows larger, and the transverse segments become more
+strongly marked. At the last joint, at the point where it joins the
+first segment of the body, a true head is formed, furnished with
+antennæ, jaws, and whatever else goes to make a marine worm "perfect
+after its kind," and forthwith the whole drops off, a complete animal,
+capable of maintaining a separate existence. Whether the process goes on
+for ever--that is to say, throughout all generations--of course, no one
+can tell; but if it does--and there is no reason to suppose the
+contrary--then it is self-evident that the posterior portion of one of
+these worms is, as I observed before, practically never dying. It is
+simply fitted every now and then with a new head! In fact, the tail of
+the first Syllis ever formed, provided it has had the good luck to
+escape external accident, must still be in existence--a truly venerable
+animal, and without controversy the 'oldest inhabitant' of the seas."
+
+"It strikes me," said Frank, "that that animal would be something like
+the Irishman's stocking, which he had worn for a score of years. It had
+been re-footed and re-legged several times, yet he always asserted that
+it was the original stocking, although there was not a particle of the
+old stuff in it."
+
+"What a wonderful tip to his tail some animal has got then, if that is
+true," said Jimmy.
+
+I cannot say whether the statement of the writer in _Science Gossip_ is
+strictly accurate, for who can decide when doctors disagree; but it
+seems plain enough that the process of generation by sub-division is far
+nearer the longed-for perpetual life, than anybody has been able to get
+to the coveted solution of the problem of perpetual motion.
+
+"Do you know that the water we are sailing on is higher than the marshes
+around us?" said Frank.
+
+"Yes, and all those windmills are to pump the water up from the drains.
+They look very funny twirling away all by themselves."
+
+Early in the day they reached a public-house surrounded by a little
+grove of trees, which gave an agreeable variety to the landscape. This
+was Coldham Hall, and as the sky was clouding over and the wind sighing
+fitfully through the reeds and the trees, and there was every symptom of
+a violent storm, the boys decided to remain there until the morrow, and
+then sail up to Norwich.
+
+During the afternoon they amused themselves by fishing for eels, which
+were biting very freely. The heavens grew black, and the thunder
+muttered at intervals, but the storm held off until the evening, and
+then as it was getting dark it came on most violently. The rain came
+down in torrents. The lightning lit up the marsh for miles most vividly,
+and each flash was succeeded by an intenser blackness, while the
+bellowing of the thunder made the very earth shake. The boys stood at
+the door of the inn, gazing at the storm and awe-struck by its mighty
+power.
+
+"I don't like the idea of sleeping on the river to-night," said Jimmy.
+"The landlord has a bedroom vacant, and I vote we sleep here instead of
+going on board."
+
+The others willingly consented, and Dick and Jimmy had a double-bedded
+room between them, while Frank slept in a small attic. As the night wore
+on the storm passed away, but its mutterings could still be heard. Jimmy
+did not like thunder, and felt very nervous while it was about, as many
+otherwise brave people will. He could not for the life of him go to
+sleep, and lay tossing about in a most uncomfortable state for half the
+night, while Dick was slumbering peacefully. Jimmy could stand it no
+longer, and got out of bed with the intention of arousing Dick, and
+getting him to talk to him. He stole across the room, and by the faint
+starlight which came from the sky, which had partially cleared after the
+storm, he saw that Dick had kicked all the bed-clothes off, and lay very
+deep in slumber. He touched him lightly on the foot to awake him gently.
+To his amazement Dick lifted his leg and began to wave it slowly
+backwards in the air, at the same time whistling softly. Jimmy was so
+struck with the oddity of this procedure in a sleeping man that he burst
+into a peal of laughter. Even this did not wake Dick; and Jimmy, having
+now something to occupy his mind, went back to bed and laughed himself
+to sleep. When he detailed the incident to the others in the morning
+they would not believe him, but said that he must have been dreaming.
+
+[Illustration: SWAN'S NEST.]
+
+The morning broke sunny and with a wonderful freshness in the air, which
+put the boys into the highest spirits. They sailed a little way up the
+river to Surlingham Broad, which they wished to explore. They sailed
+past the main entrance to the broad, thinking there was a wider passage
+further on. Finding they were mistaken, they attempted to take the punt
+through a narrow and sinuous dyke which appeared to lead into the
+broad. They pushed their way along this for some distance until it
+became so narrow and shallow that they could scarcely get on. Just then
+they came round a corner of reeds, and to their dismay found that they
+had come suddenly upon a swan's nest. The female swan was sitting upon a
+huge pile of sticks placed on a small reedy island. Round this island
+the male swan was swimming in a very stately fashion, and when he saw
+the boys coming so near his beloved, he swam towards them, with his
+wings and tail raised and set out in a way that unmistakably told them
+he meant war. They hastily pushed back, but the punt stuck in the mud,
+and Frank had to take an oar and keep the swan at bay with it, while the
+others pushed the punt off and back again.
+
+[Illustration: SWAN.]
+
+"Pray, look sharp," said Frank, "I cannot keep him at bay much longer
+without my hurting him or his hurting me."
+
+"We're doing our best," said Jimmy, and missing his footing as he spoke
+he fell into the mud and water.
+
+"That's no help," said Frank, giving the swan a sharp poke with the oar.
+Jimmy scrambled into the boat, and the swan, satisfied that they were in
+full retreat, gave up the pursuit.
+
+They went back to the yacht, where Jimmy changed his clothes, and then
+went on to the broad by the proper channel.
+
+Their object in visiting this broad was to find the nest of the bearded
+tit, which Bell had told them bred there in great numbers. This
+beautiful little bird is now becoming very rare. Its home is among the
+reed-beds of Norfolk and Suffolk, but it has been so shot down wholesale
+by bird-stuffers, and its eggs collected for sale, that it has become
+exceedingly rare. It is a very pretty bird, having a long tail,
+fawn-coloured back, and white belly, but its distinguishing feature is
+that it has a pair of moustaches in the shape of black tufts of feathers
+depending from either side of its mouth. Very properly, too, it is only
+the males which have this appearance. In Norfolk it is called the reed
+pheasant. It is very interesting to see a flock of them flitting about
+the reeds. Like all the tit family, they are very lively, jerking up and
+down the reed-stems in all sorts of positions, and as often as not with
+their heads down and their tails up.
+
+Apart from the open water of the broad, there were numerous channels
+among the reeds which latter rose to the height of seven or eight feet
+above the water. Along these channels the boys made their way, listening
+attentively to the chirping of the birds, which they could hear but not
+see. By keeping very still they could at length distinguish two or three
+of the birds they sought, flitting about the reeds, and by the aid of
+their glass they could perceive the birds with great distinctness. The
+movements of one bird led them to its nest, and pushing their way with
+some difficulty they were fortunate enough to find it. It was built of
+dry stems of grass and sedges, and was placed about a foot from the
+ground (or water, for it was a compound of both), in the midst of a
+thick clump of reeds. It contained five eggs as large as those of a
+great tit, pinkish-white in colour, spotted and streaked with reddish
+brown, something like those of a yellow-hammer. While they were debating
+how many of the eggs they should take, Frank saw a tit fly from a tuft
+of reeds a few yards off, and on going there they found another nest
+with four eggs in it. This was lucky, for it enabled them to take two
+eggs from each nest without feeling any compunction.
+
+[Illustration: CUCKOO AND EGG.]
+
+They found several of the beautiful purse-like nests of the reed wrens
+attached midway up the tall reed-stems. In one of them there was a young
+cuckoo, the sole occupant of the nest. What had become of the little
+reed-wrens was plainly to be seen by the bodies which strewed the ground
+beneath. The poor little fledglings had been ousted from their home by
+the broad-backed cuckoo. I suppose we ought not to call him cruel,
+because it is the instinct of self-preservation which makes him behave
+so badly. If the young birds, the legitimate owners of the nest, had
+been allowed to remain, the old birds could not have fed them all, and
+the young cuckoo must have starved. The boys watched the nest for some
+time to see the old birds feed it, and they were greatly delighted to
+see the way in which the reed-wrens managed it. _They perched on the
+young cuckoo's back_ while they placed the food in its broad mouth. It
+was the only standing room there was, for the cuckoo more than covered
+the whole of the nest.
+
+"Who wouldn't be a naturalist!" said Frank, "when he can see such things
+as that?"
+
+Dick replied, "I did not know that life could possibly be so jolly,
+until I learnt something of natural history. I do wonder that so few
+fellows take to it. I suppose it is because books make it appear so dry.
+Books don't seem to me to go into the _sport_ of the thing. They only
+show you the surface of it, and not the life. I will try to write a book
+some day when--" and he hesitated.
+
+"When you get more conceited, eh, Dick?" said Frank laughingly.
+
+Then they sailed up to Bramerton, and when they brought up at the
+Wood's-end public-house they found a number of old school-fellows there,
+and the racing four-oar belonging to the school club.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ Old School fellows.--Tom-tit's Nest in Boot.--Nuthatch.--
+ Wryneck.--Ant-hill.--Marsh-Tit.--A Comical Fix.
+
+
+As the _Swan_ was brought up to her moorings at the Staithe the boys who
+were assembled on the green before the front of the house rushed down to
+inspect the strange boat and then to claim acquaintanceship with Frank
+and Jimmy. They were their old school-fellows, and were glad to see
+their old companions again. They swarmed over the yacht, criticising
+her, and asking questions about her and the cruise of the boys.
+
+Marston, a great big fellow, dived into the cabin exclaiming, "What a
+jolly little box!" and sat down on a berth to see how it felt. No
+sooner, however, had he sat down than he jumped up and out on deck, as
+quickly as a Jack in a box does when the spring is touched, at the same
+time uttering a howl of pain.
+
+"What is the matter?" said Frank.
+
+"I do not know," answered Marston, poking his head into the cabin again
+to see what was there, while he rubbed his back disconsolately. The fact
+of the matter was that he had sat down in the corner where the hawks
+were, and they, seeing an inviting bit of bare flesh between the
+waistband of his breeches and his jersey, had saluted him with a _one_,
+_two_, of very remarkable poignancy.
+
+Jimmy's delight at this incident was unbounded. He felt now that he was
+amply repaid for the damage to his own big toe. When the general laugh
+at this incident had subsided, Marston said:--
+
+"I say, Frank, we are going to row a race with the Norwich Rowing Club.
+A four-oared race; it comes off the day after to-morrow; and most
+unfortunately our No. 3 has sprained his wrist and cannot row, and we
+did not know what to do. We have no other man big enough to take his
+place who is in condition. We were discussing the matter as you came up.
+Now, you are a good rower; will you row for us?"
+
+Frank was pleased at the invitation, especially as it was backed up by
+the others most cordially; but he said--
+
+"I have not rowed for so long a time that I am quite out of condition."
+
+"Oh, nonsense, you look in perfect condition. If you have been out for a
+week's yachting you must be in capital condition. Do row, or we shall
+lose the race to a certainty."
+
+"You had better row, Frank," said both Jim and Dick together, but he
+still hesitated.
+
+"Come, Dick," said Jim, "let us go and birds'-nest in the wood while
+Frank listens to the voice of the charmer."
+
+So off they went, leaving Frank and the others to settle the question
+between them.
+
+Behind the inn there rose a steep wood-crowned bank, and it was to this
+that the two boys directed their steps. On their way they passed a
+skittle-alley, and Dick said to the man in charge--
+
+"Can you show us any birds' nests?"
+
+"Yes, I can show you one in a very rum place. Look into that old pair of
+boots hanging against the wall."
+
+They did so, and to their surprise a tom-tit flew out, and upon closer
+inspection they found its nest in one of the boots, and in the nest
+twelve tiny white eggs.
+
+"These are master's marsh-boots, but when he found that the birds had
+begun to build in them, he gave orders that no one was to touch them
+until the birds had hatched off their young ones."
+
+[Illustration: TOM-TIT AND EGG.]
+
+Tom-tits have a knack of building their nests in strange places. Inside
+a pillar letter-box, where letters were being tossed every day; in a
+hole in a door-post, which was closed when the door was shut, so that
+the birds were shut up during the night; in the pocket of a gardener's
+coat hanging on a nail. Such are the places in which master tom-tit
+sometimes builds his nest. Even more curious, however, was a nest I read
+of which was built by a fly-catcher in the spring of a bell, which
+vibrated twenty times a day when the bell was rung.
+
+When they reached the wood, Dick's attention was attracted by the
+movements of a bird with a slaty blue back and fawn-coloured belly,
+which was flitting about the trunk of a large beech-tree.
+
+"What bird is that, Jimmy?" he asked.
+
+"It is a nuthatch. Let us watch it, and perhaps we may see its nest."
+
+[Illustration: NUTHATCH.]
+
+After a little while they saw it disappear into a hole in a neighbouring
+tree. Going up to this, they found that it was its nest, and that it was
+made after a fashion peculiar to these pretty birds. The nest was built
+in a hole in a tree, but the hole being larger than was required by the
+birds, they had built up the entrance with mud, like that which forms a
+swallow's nest, leaving an aperture only just large enough for the old
+birds to get in and out. Dick got on Jimmy's shoulders, and broke away a
+piece of mud, so that he could get his hand in.
+
+"There are five eggs, white with brown spots, and I have caught the old
+bird on."
+
+"Let her go, and take two of the eggs; I know Frank hasn't got any."
+
+Dick did so, and then moistening the piece of mud which he had removed,
+in a little pool which was near, he fixed it very neatly in its proper
+place again.
+
+Proceeding a little further, they saw a bird about as big as a nuthatch,
+but very different in appearance. It had a curiously mottled and
+brown-lined back. Every now and then it descended to the ground, and
+flew back again to a hole in a decayed poplar, varying the journey with
+wanderings up and down the trunk of that and adjacent trees. As it did
+so, it stretched forth its head and twisted its neck about in a very
+peculiar fashion.
+
+[Illustration: WRYNECK.]
+
+"That can be nothing else but a wryneck," said Jimmy, noticing its
+movement. "Its nest must be in that hole; but what is it picking from
+the ground?"
+
+[Illustration: WORKING ANT AND PORTION OF ANT-HILL.]
+
+Underneath a large fir-tree was a big conical heap of straw and leaves.
+Upon examination it was found to be swarming with large
+chestnut-coloured ants. It was a nest of the wood-ant, and thousands of
+the tiny creatures were busy dragging straws and sticks to build up the
+nest, or grains of wheat or other food. It was a grand feast for the
+wryneck, which had been picking up the ants' eggs, and carrying them to
+its young ones. The boys stood for some time looking at the busy heap,
+until from looking at the whole together they came to selecting
+particular ants and speculating on their destination, for every ant had
+a purpose in going and coming. One about a foot from the hill was
+tugging a piece of straw which was evidently too large for him to pull
+along unassisted, so he left it, and presently returned with a
+companion, and the two together managed to take the straw along
+capitally. Dick was much struck with this incident, which looked more
+like reason than instinct. And he would have stayed longer watching the
+ants, had not Jimmy been in a hurry to climb up to the wryneck's nest,
+and he could not do without Dick's help, who had to give him a back.
+When he got up he very nearly came down again, so startled was he to
+hear a loud hissing in the hole like that of a snake. The wryneck flew
+off, and as there could not be a bird and a snake together in the hole,
+he concluded that the bird had made the noise with intention to
+frighten him, and he boldly put his hand into the hole and popped his
+fingers into the gaping mouths of some young wrynecks. He nevertheless
+felt carefully about, in hope of finding an addled egg, and he was not
+disappointed. There were two addled eggs, which he brought down in
+safety. They were pure white, about the size of a swift's.
+
+[Illustration: EGG OF WRYNECK.]
+
+They now came to something in Dick's line. On a tall nettle-top sat a
+small tortoiseshell butterfly opening and shutting its wings with the
+fanning motion peculiar to its tribe. The rays of sunlight falling
+through the foliage of the trees overhead lit up the beauty of its red
+and black wings. Dick had not his net with him, so taking off his cap,
+he made after the butterfly, which launched into strong flight, and
+sailed away out of the wood and over the meadows with Dick in hot
+pursuit.
+
+Jimmy went on rambling through the wood, and presently saw a small tree
+which divided into two branches about a dozen feet from the ground. At
+this fork of the tree it was split some distance down, and, in this
+split, some moss betokened a nest of some kind. Jimmy threw a stone up,
+and as it clattered against the tree, a bird like a tom-tit, but with a
+black head, flew out. Jimmy watched it as it fluttered about the
+branches of the tree a few yards off, and soon came to the conclusion
+that it was a marsh-tit, and that its eggs were worth having.
+
+[Illustration: MARSH TIT AND EGG.]
+
+He accordingly climbed up the tree, and found that he could not reach
+the nest, which was too far down in the slit. By dint, however, of
+sitting on one of the forks, and pushing with all his might at the
+other, he succeeded in opening the crack wide enough for him to insert
+his hand and reach the nest. It contained eight eggs, white spotted
+with red. He took four of them, and sitting in the fork of the tree, he
+blew them and put them in his box. Then he thought of descending, and
+attempted to jump to the ground. To his astonishment he found himself
+brought up sharp, and then he saw that his trousers had caught in the
+slit, and that a large portion of the slack of them behind was firmly
+wedged in; and there he hung with his legs dangling in the air with
+ludicrous helplessness. He tried to haul himself up again, but he was in
+such an awkward position that he could not do it. He tried to open the
+crack with his hands, but with the weight of his body on the one side
+instead of in the middle, this could not be done. In despair he let go
+with his hands, in the hope that his trousers would tear and that he
+would fall to the ground; but they were too stout for that, and he only
+narrowly escaped turning topsy turvy and hanging in a worse position.
+Then he fell to laughing vigorously at the comical scrape he had got
+into. He did not laugh long, however, for he was very uncomfortable, and
+kick and struggle as he would, he could not get free. Then he felt more
+inclined to cry than he ever had done in his life before. It was so very
+humiliating to be hung up there like a cockchafer at the end of a pin.
+When he found he could not get down by himself he began to shout for
+help.
+
+"Dick, Dick, Dick!" but no Dick came. The fact was that Dick who had
+been unsuccessful in his chase after the butterfly, had returned to the
+spot from whence he started, and then not seeing Jimmy about, he
+concluded that he had gone back to the others--and all the time Jimmy
+was still up in the tree shouting lustily. Dick heard an inarticulate
+shouting, but never for one moment imagined it came from Jimmy. When,
+however, he saw that Jimmy was not with the others, he thought of the
+shouting; and they all went in search of the missing one, and when they
+found him they went into such fits of laughter that for some time no one
+could help him.
+
+"Oh dear, Jimmy, you will be the death of me! This is worse than the big
+toe affair," said Frank.
+
+"I say," said Jimmy, "don't tell anyone at home about this, there's a
+good fellow."
+
+"All right, I won't."
+
+Frank had agreed to row in the race, and while Jimmy and Dick sailed the
+yacht up to Norwich, he went for a racing spin in the four-oar, and
+found that he was in much better condition than he had thought.
+
+When they reached Norwich they found some letters awaiting them. Frank
+after reading his, said,--
+
+"Hallo, Master Dick, you never said that you were going to send that dog
+you bought at Mutford to my sister Mary."
+
+"Didn't I?" answered Dick blushing.
+
+"No, of course you didn't. Well, here is a message for you from her; she
+says, 'Tell Dick that I am very much obliged to him for the pretty
+little dog. He is a sweet little dear, but he soon got into a scrape. He
+went into the laundry and ate up the blue-bag, flannel and all, and he
+isn't a bit the worse, although Florrie says she is sure his white coat
+will turn blue.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+ The Boat-race.--Winning.--Mr. Marston.--Nightingale and Nest.--
+ The noise of the Nightingales.
+
+
+The next morning Frank had another row in the four-oar, and in the
+afternoon they practised starts. The boat went very well indeed,
+notwithstanding the importation of new blood into it at the last hour.
+The day of the race came, a beautiful summer day with a gentle breeze,
+and the glare of the sun subdued by light clouds.
+
+The race was at three o'clock, and a goodly company had assembled at
+Whitlingham to witness it. The course was from below Postwick Grove to
+Whitlingham, a distance of two miles, the latter part of which was a
+long straight course, where for nearly a mile the boats could be seen by
+all the spectators.
+
+"How do you feel, old man?" said Jimmy to Frank as he was in the
+boat-house dressing.
+
+"Oh, all right; we mean to win."
+
+"I don't know that you will though. I have seen the other crew rowing
+past on their way to the course. They have got such a splendid long
+stroke and swing so evenly."
+
+"Yes, they row well," said Marston, who was the stroke of Frank's boat,
+"but they have not got enough of 'go' in them. They take it too easily,
+and so don't get a good grip of the water; and I think they have
+over-trained. Still we shall have a hard job to beat them, but we all
+mean to try. Now look here, you fellows. This is what I mean to do. We
+will put on a spurt at first, and get ahead of them, and then settle
+down into a steady stroke."
+
+This was very good advice, for it is a well-known fact that boys row
+with all the more _esprit_ if they can only get a start at the
+beginning. They are not so good at rowing a 'waiting' race as men are,
+but if they can but get ahead at first they always have a very good
+chance against men who are much stronger than themselves.
+
+Dick and Jimmy went to their yacht, and as the wind, although light,
+was dead aft, they sailed down to Whitlingham before the racing-boats
+arrived there. There was a goodly number of spectators on the fair green
+meadow which lies between the river and the wood, for the race had
+excited some interest. The gay dresses of the ladies made the scene very
+lively and pretty. Dick gallantly made it known that the yacht, which
+they had moored by the winning-post, was at the service of the ladies,
+and his offer was taken advantage of, and the _Swan's_ deck was soon
+crowded with the fair sex.
+
+The Norwich boat was the first to appear on the scene. On they came with
+a long swinging stroke on their way to the starting-point. Nothing could
+be prettier to look at than their style of going. The crew rowed a long
+stroke which had every appearance of strength. They bent to and fro with
+the regularity of machines. The oars were pulled well home to the
+breast, the wrists dropped, and the oars feathered cleverly; the arms
+shot out, quickly followed by the body until the breast came well
+between the wide-open knees, but there was just one fault noticeable.
+The oars were put too gingerly into the water. There was no 'grip.' The
+men looked as if their boat were too light for them, and they were
+afraid of making her roll by too great an exertion of force. The men,
+too, looked pale and over-trained.
+
+A few minutes after they had passed, the boys came by with a quick,
+lively stroke, such a quick dash in it, and a firm grip of the water at
+the commencement of the stroke, that promised to do them good service.
+They did not go nearly so smoothly as their opponents; nor was this to
+be wondered at, seeing the change which had been effected so late in the
+day.
+
+Dick and Jimmy ran down the bank of the river to the starting-point,
+accompanied by many more.
+
+And now the boats were side by side, waiting for the signal to start. As
+the wind was light there was not much drifting, and a few strokes of the
+oars of bow and stroke kept them in position.
+
+Frank settled himself well on his seat, and waited for the word. The
+starter said, "I shall ask if you are ready and then say Go!"
+
+"Now mind," said Marston, "one short stroke to get her away, and then
+row with all your might to get her ahead."
+
+"Are you ready?"
+
+Frank grasped his oar firmly, and drew in his breath.
+
+"_Go!_"
+
+The oars flashed in the water, and then it seemed to Frank as if the
+other crew were fast drawing away from them. He clenched his teeth and
+threw all his power into the stroke, pulling with every muscle of his
+body from his scalp to his toes. The river was white with the foam
+churned by the oars. There seemed to be a deafening noise of rushing
+water and rattle of oars in the rowlocks. Marston's jersey had been hung
+on a nail, and this had caused a projection in it at the back of the
+neck. On this Frank fixed his eyes, neither looking to right or left of
+him for fear he should make the boat roll and lose time. Then out of the
+corner of his eye he saw that he was opposite number two in the rival
+boat, and he knew that they were gaining. Another dozen strokes and they
+were clear. Then Marston eased a bit, and the boys got into a little
+better time. Their coxswain tried to take the water of the other boat,
+and thus nearly caused a foul at the bend in the river, but Marston
+shook his head at him and he steered his own course.
+
+Frank had now lost his nervousness, and felt pretty comfortable and able
+to take a little notice of what was passing on the banks, where a small
+crowd was running at the top of its speed abreast of them; a noise which
+had been humming in his ears resolving itself into the eager shouts of
+the partisans of the rival crews.
+
+Dick was well in advance, saying, "Well rowed, number three; splendidly
+rowed, Frank;" and Jimmy was a little way behind him shouting as
+excitedly. Frank for a time fell into the error of thinking that he was
+doing the real work of the boat, and began to row somewhat too
+violently, when a warning voice from the bank cried out--"Steady, steady
+number three!" and that recalled him to himself.
+
+They were now in the straight reach, and in sight of the winning-post,
+and their opponents were steadily gaining on them. "Why doesn't Marston
+quicken?" thought Frank impatiently; but his stroke knew what he was
+about, and he kept on steadily until the boats were level once more.
+Frank's hands were becoming numbed, for he was so afraid of slipping his
+oar that he grasped it more firmly than was needful. His wind was going
+too, and his tongue seemed swollen and clove to the roof of his mouth.
+He ventured a side glance at number three in the other boat, and was
+relieved to find that he seemed in quite as bad a plight as himself. An
+unlucky swan got in the way, and Frank struck it violently with his oar,
+and very nearly caught a crab in consequence. A sudden puff of wind blew
+somebody's hat off, and Frank smiled as he saw it float past and knew
+that it was Dick's.
+
+The oars flashed with increasing quickness, the shouts on the bank grew
+louder, and still the long slim boats swept over the water side by side,
+their opponents drawing slightly ahead.
+
+[Illustration: PAIR-OARED BOAT.]
+
+"Now!" gasped Marston; and Frank knew that the time for the final spurt
+had come, and if the stroke had been quick before it was doubly so now.
+Frank felt that each stroke must be his last, but he struggled on; and
+just as he felt faint (for his want of training had told) and he lost
+sight of the other boat in a mist, he heard the sound of a pistol and
+knew that the winning post was reached.
+
+"Who's won?" he managed to ask.
+
+"We have, by half a length," answered the coxswain.
+
+[Illustration: MR. MARSTON'S HOUSE.]
+
+They drew close up to the bank amid the cheers of the people, and they
+staggered ashore; and Frank went away a little distance and leaned
+against a tree with his face to the wind, trying to regain his breath
+again. Who does not know the agony of thus fighting for breath after a
+severe struggle! Even the excitement of victory does not atone at the
+moment for the penalty of over-exertion. Dick and Jimmy fanned him with
+their hats--or rather Dick used his handkerchief, for his hat had gone
+to the bottom by this time.
+
+As soon as he had got his wind back Frank turned to the others, and was
+at once seized by his companions and raised on their shoulders, and then
+carried in triumph to a carriage where some ladies sat. A tall clergyman
+approached, and he said,--
+
+"You rowed splendidly, number three; wonderful, considering, as I am
+told, you had no training for the race. I hope you will be none the
+worse for it. Will you have some champagne?"
+
+[Illustration: NIGHTINGALE.]
+
+Frank could not resist a mighty draught of the cool wine, although it is
+anything but a good thing to take at such a time. An orange is the best
+thing,--it slakes the thirst, and does no injury to the stomach. The
+clergyman turned out to be Marston's father, and his mother and sisters
+were in the carriage. They invited our three boys to dine with them that
+evening; and after the yacht had been taken to her moorings near the
+railway bridge, the boys walked a mile out of the town to Mr. Marston's
+house, and there spent a very pleasant evening. After dinner they played
+croquet, and once, when it was Frank's turn to play it was found that he
+was totally oblivious of the game, and had his eyes fixed on an elegant
+brown bird which was flitting about the shrubs in the garden.
+
+"Now then, Frank," said Marston, "it is your turn." Frank played and
+then asked,
+
+"Is not that bird a nightingale?"
+
+"Yes, her nest is at the bottom of that bush. Watch how she goes to it."
+
+[Illustration: NIGHTINGALE'S NEST.]
+
+The bird hopped about in a promiscuous sort of way, just as if there
+were no nest there, and then, when she got near it, she hopped upon it
+in quite an accidental manner.
+
+"She knows that we know her nest is there, because we look at it every
+day, but she always pretends she is only there by accident."
+
+Frank went to look at the nest. It was untidy in make, built of straw
+and twigs, and lined with leaves. It contained five olive-brown eggs
+which were near to hatching.
+
+"You must not take any of these, Mr. Merivale," said Miss Marston.
+
+"No, I do not wish to do so," said Frank, but his looks so belied his
+words that they all laughed at him.
+
+"There are two more nests about the grounds," said Marston, "and I have
+some eggs in the house which you can have."
+
+Frank thanked him, and asked if there were any more nightingales about.
+
+"There are so many about that many times I cannot go to sleep for the
+noise they make."
+
+"Noise!" said his sister reproachfully.
+
+"Yes, when it is dinned into one's ears so much, any singing becomes
+noisy."
+
+Frank thought his friend was joking, but about ten o'clock they were
+strolling about the grounds in the bright moonlight, and then they heard
+nightingales singing all round them. The boys thought they had never
+heard such sweet sounds. First the song would commence with an intensely
+sweet, low, single note or pipe. Then would follow a strong clear flood
+of melody which was entrancing in its richness. Then the bird would
+cease, and in a few seconds another bird would answer from a little
+distance. Then the first one would reply, and a third would take up the
+strain from a different quarter. The moonlight silence of the night, the
+ravishing strains of bird music which made the grove vocal, and the
+heavy fragrance of the flowers which floated on the dewy air, made the
+evening most perfect and beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+ A queer Umbrella.--Visit to Scoulton Gullery.--Driving Tandem.--
+ Running away.--Black-headed Gulls.--Collecting the Eggs.--Carp.--
+ Wood Argus Butterfly.--Scarlet Pimpernel.--Grasshopper Warbler.--
+ Chiff-Chaff.--Gall-Fly.--Robins' Pincushions.
+
+
+The boys slept at the Royal Hotel that night, and to their surprise
+found Sir Richard's groom there. He had brought the brougham to town for
+repairs, and had orders to wait until it was finished, which would not
+be until the next day but one. In the meantime his two ponies were in
+the stables with nothing to do. Here was a good opportunity for a long
+drive. Frank at once suggested that they should drive to Scoulton and
+see the breeding-place of the black-headed gulls. This was agreed to
+without hesitation. Then Frank said that as he had a pair of horses they
+might as well drive tandem, and he undertook to drive. Mason, the groom,
+objected to this, because he was afraid that Master Frank could not
+drive well enough; but Frank was positive that he could, although he had
+never driven tandem before. He said he knew the theory, and he was
+certain the practice was easy. At last it was agreed that the horses
+should be harnessed tandem, and that if Frank could not manage them he
+was to give the reins up to Mason.
+
+"Why do the black-headed gulls breed at Hingham, which is an inland
+place? I always thought they bred by the sea," said Dick.
+
+"The black-headed gulls don't. Every year as the breeding season
+approaches, they leave the sea and go to certain lakes or rivers, where
+from 'time immemorial' they have bred. Scoulton Mere near Hingham is one
+of these places, and they breed there in countless numbers, going there
+in March and leaving in July or August. It is a sight worth seeing, I
+can assure you. There are not many places in England now where they
+breed in such numbers as they do at Scoulton," answered Frank.
+
+"What a curious instinct it is which leads them there. And how funny
+that for half a year they should live on salt food by the sea, and then
+for the other half on fresh-water food," said Dick.
+
+Frank and Jimmy were standing in the archway of the Royal Hotel the next
+morning wondering where Dick was. It was raining heavily, and they had
+had to put off starting to Hingham. Presently Dick was seen running up
+the Walk with his coat collar turned up, evidently pretty well drenched.
+Under his arm however he had a very nice-looking umbrella.
+
+"Oh, Dick," said Frank as he joined them, "whatever have you been buying
+an umbrella for, and why, having bought one, do you not put it up when
+it rains?"
+
+"I believe every person I passed all the way from the top of St. Giles's
+Street would have liked to ask me that question. They plainly thought
+that I was a fool," Dick answered rather crossly.
+
+"Well, no wonder. Why didn't you put it up?"
+
+"It is not an umbrella at all, but a butterfly-net;" and he unfolded the
+supposed umbrella and opened it out into a good-sized butterfly-net.
+
+"I did not much like to be seen carrying a great butterfly-net through
+the town, so I thought this a good dodge to save appearances, and lo and
+behold it serves me this trick the first time I carry it."
+
+"Well, it could not help the rain, Dick," said Frank laughing.
+
+These umbrella-nets are capital things, although they are useless in a
+shower. The reader may easily make one for himself in this way: Get an
+old umbrella-stick and place the catch which holds the umbrella open,
+lower down, so as to increase the diameter of your net; then get two
+slips of strong crinoline steel, make the ends red hot, and bend them
+with a pliers into little loops. Then fasten one end of each to the top
+of the stick with a piece of wire, and the other ends to the sliding
+ferrule. When this ferrule is pushed up to the catch the steels form a
+circle, to which the net can be attached. Slip the ferrule back, and the
+net can be rolled up round the stick just like an ordinary umbrella, and
+a case put over it. A very handy and useful net is thus formed, and one
+which is very portable. If you do not care to make it, it may be bought
+from a dealer for a small sum, but I should advise every boy to make
+himself all the things he can. He will thus not only save his money to
+buy those things which he cannot make, but he will (which is far more
+important) learn how to turn his hand to useful purposes, and encourage
+habits of self-reliance which will be very useful to him in after life.
+In addition to this, one gets far more pleasure from using a thing one
+has made oneself, than one which has been bought.
+
+About twelve o'clock the rain cleared away and they decided to start. So
+the horses were harnessed in a dog-cart belonging to the inn, which also
+supplied them with the tandem harness, and the turn-out, which looked
+very creditable, was brought to the front of the inn, and the boys took
+their seats. Frank and Dick sat in front, and Jimmy and the groom
+behind. Frank felt nervous as he took hold of the reins, but pretended
+to feel quite at his ease. To his astonishment their steeds started off
+very quietly; and as the streets were very clear of traffic, they got
+out of the town without any accident. As soon, however, as they got
+into the open roads the leader evinced a strong desire to look about
+him, and presently his movements grew so erratic that Dick said he was
+sure he would turn round and look at them before long. Frank resented
+this imputation on his skill in driving by giving the leader a cut with
+the whip, whereupon he attempted to bolt, and it was as much as Frank
+could do to hold him in. Then sometimes he would hang back, so that the
+traces were loose, and the wheeler did all the pulling; and then he
+would start forward and nearly break the traces. After this sort of
+thing had gone on for some two or three miles, the wheeler, which had
+been going very steadily, began to imitate the bad example of his
+leader; and Frank and his companions began to wish they had let
+tandem-driving alone.
+
+They came to a turnpike gate and, on Frank attempting to pull in the
+horses in order to pay the toll, he found that they were beyond his
+control, and after cannoning rather severely against the gate-post, they
+fairly bolted, and tore away at a great pace along the road, which was
+fortunately pretty straight and free from vehicles.
+
+"Sit still," said Frank, "don't jump out, or you will come to grief. As
+long as there is nothing in the way they shall go as fast as they like.
+They will get tired of it sooner than I shall."
+
+Away they went like the wind, the dog-cart bounding over the ruts and
+small stones in the roadway so that the boys had to hold on as tightly
+as they could. A large waggon now appeared in sight, and they rapidly
+came up with it. Frank tried to turn his horses a little, but they had
+the bits in their teeth and would not swerve out of their course. The
+waggoner, seeing the state of affairs, promptly drew his horses and
+waggon close up to the side of the road in time for the runaways to pass
+them safely, but the wheels were within an inch of coming into
+collision. On they went until they came to a rise in the road, and here
+the horses, seeing that a long hill stretched before them, began to draw
+in.
+
+"Now," said Frank, "you have come at this pace so far for your own
+satisfaction, you shall go to the top of the hill at the same pace for
+mine." And he lashed them up and made them gallop right to the top of
+the hill, which was half a mile long, and then they were glad enough to
+be pulled up.
+
+"You will have no more trouble with them now, sir," said Mason, and he
+was right. The horses went as steadily as possible the rest of the way,
+and Frank's opinion of himself as a driver, which had been going down,
+again rose. Their way led through a fine and well-wooded country; and
+after the rain, the trees, the long stretches of corn-fields, and the
+meadows, shone out with their brightest emerald; and in the shady parts,
+where the sun had not dried up the rain-drops, it seemed as if a sheeny
+silk mantle had been cast over the fields. About two o'clock they
+reached Scoulton Mere, which lay by the road side, separated from it by
+a belt of trees. A keeper was entering the gate into the wood as they
+drove up, and Frank at once called out to him, and asked if they might
+go and see the gulls' nests.
+
+"Oh yes, sir, I am going to collect the eggs now, and you can come with
+me. Bring your horses in here. There is a shed where we can put them
+up."
+
+"Hurrah, we are in luck!" said Frank to his companions.
+
+They drove into the woodland glade over the softest moss and between
+great masses of rhododendrons which were still in flower.
+
+Leaving the horses in charge of Mason, they accompanied the keeper to
+the pool. It was about eighty acres in extent with a large island in the
+centre. As they reached the banks the air became filled with a
+thundering noise of wings, and as white as a snowstorm with the numbers
+of gulls which rose in the air at their approach.
+
+"Oh, there are thousands and thousands of them!" said Dick in amazement.
+
+"And if you look, there are as many on the water as in the air,"
+answered the keeper.
+
+Floating with the peculiar lightness which distinguishes the gull tribe,
+the birds seemed to occupy almost every yard of water.
+
+"You spoke of collecting the eggs," said Dick to the keeper; "what do
+you do with them?"
+
+"Oh, we sell them for eating. They are as good as plovers' eggs. I can
+get one shilling and sixpence or two shillings a score here for them,
+and the men who buy them of me get a good profit in Norwich market."
+
+"How many eggs do you get?"
+
+"Oh, that depends upon whether it is a good year or a bad one. In a good
+year we take 12,000 eggs or more. This year we have had one take
+already of 2,500 in one day, and I expect to get about 1,500 to-day. You
+see my men are collecting already. We only take the first laying of each
+bird if we can help it, but nests are so close together that it is hard
+to remember which we have taken and which we have not. If you would like
+to come on the Hearth, as we call the island in the middle, you can do
+so, but you must put these mud boards on your feet, for it is very soft
+and dangerous walking."
+
+[Illustration: COMMON GULL.]
+
+They crossed to the island in a heavy tub of a boat, and were surprised
+to see the number of eggs and nests. The nests were not more than one
+yard apart, built on the ground like water-hens', but not so cup-shaped.
+The number of eggs seemed to be about three in each nest, and their
+colour was generally olive brown, blotched and spotted with darker
+brown, but there was a very great variety in their colour. Some were
+very light, some were very dark, and others were all blue like a heron's
+egg. The business of collecting the eggs went on very quietly and
+expeditiously, but the boys were almost made dizzy with the constant
+swooping of the gulls about their heads, and almost deafened by their
+cries. One part of the marshy island was so soft that no one could walk
+upon it, and the gulls which bred there never had their nests disturbed
+except by the rats and weasels, which naturally abound in such places.
+
+[Illustration: YOUNG GULLS COVERED WITH DOWN.]
+
+The black-headed gull derives its name from the black patch on its head,
+which, however only appears during the breeding season.
+
+"When do the gulls arrive?" the boys asked.
+
+"Well, sir, a lot of them come in March and stay for a day or two, as if
+to see that everything is right; and then they go away, and in a few
+days afterwards the whole of them come and begin to lay directly. There
+was some very stormy weather in March this year and they were late in
+coming, or most of the eggs would have been hatched by now."
+
+"And when do they leave?"
+
+"In July and August they begin to go away, and leave in the night; and
+by the end of August very few are left."
+
+"One would think that this small lake would scarcely afford sufficient
+food for them," said Jimmy.
+
+"Oh they scour the country around, sir. They follow the plough and
+spread over the fields like rooks. They catch moths and other insects.
+They eat mice, and if a young bird (not their own) came in the way they
+would make a meal of it."
+
+They bought a score of the eggs for the purpose of exchange, and then
+rowed round the pool watching the wonderful scene. There were plenty of
+other birds beside gulls there. Coots, water-hens, water-rails, grebes
+and dabchicks were in plenty.
+
+[Illustration: CARP.]
+
+"I should think that there cannot be many fish here where the gulls
+would eat up all the spawn," said Frank; but as he spoke Dick pointed
+out the backs of a couple of immense carp which were basking on the top
+of the water, and a little further on they saw the body of a huge eel,
+and they were told by the keeper that there were any number of eels
+there.
+
+They were invited by the keeper to take tea at his cottage, and they had
+some of the gulls' eggs boiled, and very good they were. After tea they
+went for a birds'-nesting ramble through the wood.
+
+"Oh, look here!" said Jimmy; "when we came this afternoon all this place
+was covered with the scarlet pimpernel, and now there is not one to be
+seen. They have all closed up."
+
+"Yes," answered the keeper, "they always do that about four o'clock, and
+all day long when the day is dull. We call them wink-a-peep, and
+sometimes shepherd's weather-glass."
+
+"How different to these dingy meadow brown butterflies which are
+fluttering all about us. I have seen them fly on the most damp and
+cheerless of days, when not another butterfly could be seen. I like
+them, although they are so dingy and ugly, because they are so hardy and
+homely."
+
+"What butterfly is that?" said Jimmy, pointing to one that flitted past.
+Dick's net was ready in a moment, and off he went in chase. Bringing
+back his prize, they examined it and pronounced it to be the speckled
+wood butterfly or wood argus. It is a common insect nearly everywhere.
+It has wings of a deep-brown spotted with buff, and on the wings are
+pure white eyes with glossy black circles around them. It may be seen in
+every woodland glade, and is not at all shy.
+
+"Hush!" said Frank; "is that a shrew-mouse or a grasshopper which is
+making that chirruping noise?"
+
+"It is neither, sir," replied the keeper; "it is a bird, and there it is
+creeping about the bottom of that hedge like a mouse."
+
+"Oh, I know what it is, it is a grasshopper warbler. Let us look for its
+nest."
+
+They searched for quite a quarter of an hour before they found it. It
+was placed on the ground in the middle of a tuft of grass and at the
+foot of a bush. It was cup-shaped, made of grass and moss, and contained
+six eggs which were pinkish-white in colour, spotted all over with
+reddish-brown.
+
+The note of this little bird seems to be of a ventriloquial character
+like that of the landrail or corncrake. I have searched many a time in
+the exact spot where the sound appeared to come from, and then perhaps
+discovered that the bird was on the other side of the lane.
+
+Jimmy next found a nest on the ground. It was arched over like a wren's,
+and was very beautifully constructed out of moss, hair, and feathers. It
+contained five round white eggs spotted with red. In order to identify
+it more positively as that of the chiff-chaff, which they suspected it
+was, they watched for some time, and saw the bird, a little pale-brown
+thing, creep up to it and enter it.
+
+I would particularly impress on my boy readers the necessity of
+thoroughly identifying the nest and eggs which they find. It is often
+impossible to tell accurately without seeing the old bird, and as the
+value of a collection depends upon the accuracy of its named specimens,
+no trouble should be spared in ensuring thorough identification. This
+remark applies to collections of every kind. "What is worth doing at all
+is worth doing well."
+
+[Illustration: CHIFF-CHAFF.]
+
+The keeper said, pointing to some red, hairy masses on a bramble bush,
+"We call these robins' pincushions; can you tell me what causes them?"
+
+"Oh yes," said Dick, "they are galls caused by a little grub which
+afterwards turns into a fly."
+
+"They are very pretty things to be caused by a dirty little grub," said
+Jimmy; "and pray what causes this cuckoo-spit?" pointing to one of the
+little lumps of water foam which are so common on plants and grasses in
+the summer.
+
+Dick said they were caused by the larvæ of a fly like the galls, but as
+they were puzzled to know how it produced this casing of spit, when they
+got back to Norwich they went into the library and found, in a number of
+_Science Gossip_, the following information about it:--
+
+"The larvæ, as soon as it is hatched commences operations on some juicy
+stem or leaf, no matter what, so it be sappy enough; thrusts in its long
+proboscis; pumps up the sap; blows it off in small bubbles through a
+pipe in its tail, and so speedily constructs for itself a cool, moist,
+translucent home. By and by the sap dries up, and the insect changes its
+form and becomes winged."
+
+[Illustration: OAK-GALL-FLY.]
+
+It was now getting dusk, and the gulls were flying low over the meadows,
+hawking about like swallows. The boys went to see what they were
+catching, and saw that they were feeding on the ghost-moths which were
+hovering over the grass-tops with that vibrating and ghost-like flight
+which is so peculiar to them. Every country boy must know the
+ghost-moths which, large and small, white and yellow, hover over the
+hay-fields in the month of June. Their size alone makes them
+conspicuous, and they have a weird look as they flit about in the warm,
+still twilight.
+
+Dick got several for his collection, and then it was time to be
+returning; and after making due acknowledgment to the friendly keeper
+they drove back through the quiet night, while nightingales sang around
+them, and the great red moon rose over the eastern woods, and quenched
+the pale light of the stars. The horses went well together, and they had
+no trouble with them; and when they got back to the hotel they went to
+bed, declaring they had spent a very jolly day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ Back again.--Taken in Tow.--Bobbing for Eels.--Glow-worms.--
+ Home.--Urticating Caterpillars.
+
+
+It will be seen that our boys had great capacities for enjoying
+themselves, and so oblivious had they been of the flight of time, that
+they had only left themselves two days in which to get home, for they
+felt bound not to ask for any extension of their holiday. Two days was a
+very short time to sail all the way down the Yare and up the Bure again;
+and to add to their dilemma, the wind had settled in the east, and blew
+light and fitfully all day until five or six, when it would drop. They
+could have gone back by road and left the yacht to be sent after them,
+but this would have been _infra dig._, and was not to be thought of
+while the chance remained of reaching home in a legitimate way. So they
+started, and with infinite labour and much tacking and clever sailing,
+they succeeded in reaching Brundall, about six miles down the river, by
+the middle of the day.
+
+"This won't do," said Frank. "Here comes a steam-wherry. I wonder if
+they will take us in tow."
+
+The wherry was hailed, and for a small consideration her crew consented
+to tow them to Yarmouth. Their sails were accordingly lowered, and a
+rope was made fast to the wherry; and in a few minutes' time they were
+being pulled along at a good pace by their great, black, ugly friend.
+
+"Now we can enjoy our _otium cum dignitate_," said Dick, throwing
+himself at full length on the roof of the cabin with the furled mainsail
+as a pillow; "and however light the breeze is to-morrow, it will take us
+home in time; so I shall write a note home and post it at Yarmouth."
+
+Between the waving reed-beds, through the long miles of marsh, acres of
+which were white with the silky globes of the cotton-grasses, by
+whirling wind-mills and groups of red and white cattle browsing on the
+reclaimed marshes, past sailing wherries that surged along before the
+light breeze with a lazy motion, past white-sailed yachts with
+gay-coloured pennants at their mast-heads and laughter-loving pleasure
+parties on board, underneath a bright blue sky streaked with filmy
+cloudlets and dotted with uprising larks, over a stream that murmured
+and rippled with a summer gladness, they clove their steady way. With
+every nerve instinct with healthy life, and hearts which had the great
+gift of understanding and appreciating the true and the beautiful around
+them, what wonder if they felt as happy as they could wish to feel, and
+were full of contentment with the pleasant time it was their lot to
+pass.
+
+They crossed Breydon Water under widely different circumstances to those
+in which they first crossed it. Then it was wild and stormy; now it was
+fair and placid.
+
+They reached Yarmouth about five, and as the wind still held they turned
+up the Bure with the flowing tide, and sailed on and on in that quiet
+peaceful evening, with lessening speed as the wind fell, until at last
+they barely crept through the water. Even when there was not a breath of
+air perceptible to the upheld hand, and the surface of the river was as
+smooth as glass, and the reeds were silent from their whispering, yet a
+magic wind seemed to fill their large sails, and still they crept on
+with a dream-like motion. At last that motion ceased, but then they were
+so close to Acle bridge that they set to work and poled the yacht along
+with the quants, and in another half hour they were moored by the
+Staithe.
+
+It was then half-past nine o'clock, but still very light; and there was
+a whiteness in the sky to the north-east, which told them the sun was
+not very far over the horizon, and that at midnight it would be but
+little darker than it was then.
+
+After they had had supper Frank said,
+
+"Do you remember those men whom we saw near Norwich, who sat in small
+boats all the night long, and with a line in each hand, bobbed for
+eels?"
+
+"Yes; what of them?"
+
+"Why should we not bob for eels to-night? I don't feel inclined to go to
+bed."
+
+"Very well," said Jimmy; "but can we get the worsted?"
+
+"I will go and ask for some at the Hermitage."
+
+"What do you want worsted for?" said Dick.
+
+"To catch the eels with; but wait a bit and you shall see. Bring the
+lantern and come with me."
+
+Frank marched up to the house and knocked, and when the door was opened
+by a woman, said,
+
+"Please can you let us have a hank of worsted? I will give you double
+its value." The woman looked at him in surprise, and he repeated his
+question. Then she went indoors, and reappeared with a hank of worsted
+in her hand. This she threw out to them with a frightened look, and
+slammed the door in their faces.
+
+"Wait, my good woman, we have not paid you," said Frank. But there was
+no answer.
+
+"We seem to have frightened her," said Dick.
+
+Frank put a shilling under the door, and they went away laughing
+heartily. Their next proceeding was to look about the damp grass and
+pick up the lob-worms, which were about in great numbers. When they had
+each collected a large number they returned to the yacht, and by Frank's
+directions threaded the worms on to the worsted, lengthways, with the
+needle they had used for sniggling. In this way they made three large
+bunches of worm-covered worsted. These bunches they weighted with a
+stone, and tied strong lengths of cord to them.
+
+"Now," said Frank, "we can begin to bob. This is the way, Dick:--let the
+bunch sink to the bottom and then keep the line taut. Let it lie there
+for some time, and when you feel some sharp quick tugs, it is the eels
+biting at it. Then haul it quietly on board and shake the eels off.
+There, I can feel them on my line now."
+
+"And I at mine," said Jimmy.
+
+"And I too," said Dick.
+
+"Then wait five minutes, and haul on board."
+
+At the end of five minutes they each hauled their lines quietly on
+board, and on Frank's were no less than six eels, their teeth entangled
+in the worsted. On Jimmy's there were two, and on Dick's three. They
+shook the eels on to the deck. Jimmy's two at once wriggled themselves
+off back into the water, and Frank and Dick had hard work to keep theirs
+from doing the same, until Jimmy got out the bucket they used for
+washing the deck, and in this they safely deposited their captives.
+
+"This is not bad fun," said Dick, as he brought up three more eels, one
+of them a large one.
+
+"No, is it?" answered Jimmy, as he followed Dick's example.
+
+So they went on laughing and talking and pulling in eels until two
+o'clock in the morning, when their bucket was so full of eels that it
+would not hold any more.
+
+"Now it is time to turn in," said Frank; "take up the bucket, Jimmy, and
+put it by the foremast with something over it to keep the eels from
+crawling out, while I do up the lines."
+
+Jimmy took up the bucket, and was walking aft with it, when his foot
+slipped on an eel that had made its escape, and was wriggling about the
+deck. In an instant, Jimmy, the bucket, and the eels all went into the
+water. Jimmy rose to the surface and swam to the yacht, and climbed on
+board, with the bucket still in his hands, but all the eels had of
+course disappeared.
+
+"What an extraordinary thing!" spluttered Jimmy, as he rose to the
+surface.
+
+"Very," said Frank, as soon as he could speak for laughing; "but hadn't
+you better dive after the eels?"
+
+"Do you mind my losing them, Frank?" said Jimmy, rather ruefully.
+
+"Not at all, old man. We don't want the eels, and a good laugh is better
+for us."
+
+While they were undressing, Dick was peering through one of the side
+lights and at length said,
+
+"I suppose it is impossible for any one to have been smoking here
+lately, yet there are two or three things which are like cigar-ends
+gleaming on the bank. Is it possible that they are glow-worms?"
+
+"Yes, of course they are," said Jimmy; "I will go and get them;" and
+presently he came back with the little, soft, brown things, which shed a
+circle of phosphorescent light for two or three inches around them.
+
+"Put them into that empty jar with some grass, and we will take them
+home with us."
+
+[Illustration: GLOW-WORM.]
+
+The glow-worm is the wingless female of a winged beetle. The male has a
+dim light, but nothing to be compared to that of his wife. The light
+issues from the three last segments of her body, and is of a bright
+yellow in colour. In general she shines from ten to twelve o'clock, but
+often much later, as on this occasion. Why such a brown, ugly little
+beetle should have such a beautiful light I do not know. Perhaps it is
+to guide the male to her. This beetle with the wonderful light has
+plebeian tastes, for she eats the flesh of snails, and, unlike our
+Gallic neighbours, she does not wait for the snails' decease first.
+
+The morning soon shone brightly, and again the fair east wind blew;
+
+ "The sun was warm; and the wind was cool,"
+
+and the _Swan_ spread her white wings to the favouring breeze and glided
+between the narrowing banks, where the meadow-sweet in full luxuriance
+waved its cloudy clusters, the forget-me-not gleamed in turquoise blue,
+the tall iris or white flag reared its flowers of gold over its green
+sword-shaped leaves, and the modest ragged-robin showed its thin red
+petals amid the dew-wet grass.
+
+Through Heigham Sounds and into Hickling Broad, and there at the farther
+end was a group of people, waving their handkerchiefs in greeting.
+
+"There they are," said Frank; "give them three cheers;" and a "Hip! hip!
+hurrah!" rang over the water with a hearty good will.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Merivale, Sir Richard Carleton, and Mary, were all there to
+meet them.
+
+Frank brought the yacht up to her moorings in his best manner, and in a
+few minutes they were ashore.
+
+"Dick," said Sir Richard, "I can scarcely believe my eyes. I am
+delighted."
+
+There was some cause for his surprise. Dick was as brown as a berry. His
+form was upright and full of vigour, and his handsome face was bright
+with the smile of health. A greater contrast to the pale-faced delicate
+boy, who some months before had aroused his father's anxiety, could not
+well be seen.
+
+"I am glad you have enjoyed yourself, dear," said Mrs. Merivale to
+Frank, "but I have been very anxious about you, and it has seemed a long
+time."
+
+Frank laughed merrily, as he put his arm round his mother, and kissed
+her with all a lover's devotion.
+
+"You are like Martha, mother, who troubled herself about many things.
+But where is Florrie?"
+
+"Oh," said Mary, "she can't leave her room. She got a little black hairy
+caterpillar for you, and it has stung her. At least she has a rash all
+over her, and nasty little red lumps, and she suffers so much."
+
+"That must be a mistake, Mary, about the caterpillar," said Frank.
+
+"No, it is not, Frank," said Dick; "I was reading the other day about
+urticating caterpillars. The caterpillars of some moths will affect some
+people like that."
+
+"We have the creature in a glass, and you can see it, and try it, if you
+like, Frank," said Mary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+ Golden Oriole.--Landrail.--House-martins in trouble.--Siskin.--
+ Peacock and Red Admiral Butterflies.--Winchat's Nest.--
+ Bitten by a Viper.--Viper and Snake.--Slow-worm.
+
+
+"Frank," said Mary at breakfast the next morning, "I have seen the most
+beautiful bird about the orchard and the wood next to it. It is about as
+big as a thrush, and is a bright yellow all over, except the wings,
+which are black. What can it be?"
+
+"By Jove," said Frank, "there is only one bird that is like that; but
+it is so very rare that very few specimens have been seen in this
+country, and that is the golden oriole. Come and show me where it was at
+once, before I go to Mr. Meredith's."
+
+[Illustration: ORIOLE.]
+
+Mary was nothing loath, and they hastily finished their breakfast and
+went out together. Scarcely had they got to the orchard when the
+gardener came towards them with a gun in one hand, and a dead oriole in
+the other. "I thought you would like to have him to stuff, Master
+Frank," said the man, and Frank took the bird and thanked him, and when
+they turned away Frank said,
+
+"I am awfully sorry this has happened, Mary. The idea of shooting a rare
+bird like this at the breeding season. It must have been nesting here,
+and in a few weeks perhaps, there would have been a brood of young ones
+about. Let us go into the wood and look for its nest."
+
+In a short time they saw its mate flying about from tree to tree,
+calling piteously; and after a little hunting Frank found a nest, which
+was like a missel thrush's, and placed in the fork of an oak branch. It
+contained four eggs, white in colour, covered with claret-coloured
+spots. Frank did not touch it, hoping that the remaining bird would sit
+and hatch the eggs; but she soon deserted it and left the neighbourhood,
+most probably to be shot, and the boys then took the eggs to add to
+their collection.
+
+[Illustration: NEST OF AMERICAN SPECIES OF ORIOLE.]
+
+With the same vigour which characterised their out-door sports, the boys
+betook themselves again to their books. In Mr. Meredith's study at the
+Rectory the three boys sat busily engaged in making Latin verse, an
+exercise which suited Dick far better than it did the others. Their
+brown faces and their hands, hacked and roughened as only boys' hands
+can become, were in great contrast to their studious occupations. Mr.
+Meredith looked at them with keen interest, and resolved that he would
+do all in his power to turn out of his workshop (as he called it) three
+good specimens of God's handiwork and his own, and as far as in him lay
+he kept his vow.
+
+Saturday was a whole holiday, and as the boys met at the boat-house to
+be ready for anything which might turn up, Bell came to them and said,
+that while cutting the hay in a small meadow which he rented, he had
+come upon a landrail or corncrake, sitting on her eggs, and so close did
+she sit that he had cut off her head with his scythe. The boys went to
+see the nest and found eleven eggs in it, like those of the water-rail
+but larger. They were hard sat, which accounted for the old bird
+remaining on her nest until the last; but the boys knew how to blow
+hard-sat eggs, and took possession of them.
+
+[Illustration: LANDRAIL OR CORNCRAKE.]
+
+Passing by Mrs. Brett's cottage they saw the old lady beckoning to them.
+When they went to her she explained that she wanted them to aid her
+swallows. A pair of house-martins were flying about their nest in the
+eaves, uttering cries of distress.
+
+"What is the matter? Have the sparrows taken possession of it?" said
+Frank.
+
+"No, dear, but it seems breaking away from the wall. There are young
+ones in it, and I suppose the old birds did not make it strong enough to
+hold their weight. I am afraid it will fall down every minute."
+
+[Illustration: HOUSE-MARTIN.]
+
+The boys undertook to put matters right, and with the aid of a ladder
+they climbed up to the nest, and with a hammer and nails they nailed up
+the nest in a broad piece of flannel. While they were engaged in doing
+this, the martins ceased their cries, as if they knew that a friendly
+act was being done for them; and when the boys left the nest the birds
+returned to it, and by their busy twitterings and short excited flights
+seemed to wish to express their gratitude.
+
+Leaving the cottage, they went for a long aimless ramble through the
+fields and woods, trespassing with impunity, for they were well known
+everywhere, and visiting every hedgerow and copse on the look-out for
+nests.
+
+[Illustration: SISKIN.]
+
+They came to a field round which there were hedges unusually high and
+thick for Norfolk, which is a county of trim hedges and clean farming.
+Almost the first nest they came to was that of a siskin. The old birds
+to which it belonged were hopping about the hedge. They were pretty
+lemon-coloured birds with a black patch on their heads and black on
+their wings. The boys watched them for some time, in order to make sure
+that they were indeed the siskin, for they are so very rare, especially
+during the breeding season, that very few nests have been found.
+
+"Well, there can be no doubt about that," said Frank. "They are siskins
+sure enough. What a very lucky find! Now let us have a look at the
+nest."
+
+Both nest and eggs were like those of a goldfinch, but the latter were
+much smaller than a goldfinch's eggs. The eggs were hard sat, but they
+took three of them and blew them safely; and as they were still doubting
+the reality of their good luck, when they went home they consulted their
+books, and Mr. Meredith, and all came to the conclusion that there could
+be no mistake about the birds.
+
+[Illustration: CHRYSALIS. PEACOCK BUTTERFLY. CATERPILLAR.]
+
+They found many more nests in that hedge. Most of them had young ones,
+for the season was now very far advanced.
+
+Dick soon found something after his own heart, and this was a large bed
+of nettles. Every stem was covered with large, black, hairy
+caterpillars. These were the caterpillars of the peacock
+butterfly,--that splendid insect, which with its crimson and black, and
+the gorgeous peacock eyes which adorn its wings, is so conspicuous an
+object in the country in the summer. It is a great pleasure to me to see
+it as it sits on its favourite perch, the top of a nettle or a bramble,
+and opens and shuts its wings with the fanning motion peculiar to its
+tribe. Dick marked this spot, and in a short time he came to gather the
+gilded chrysalides which on every plant shone brightly in the sunshine.
+These he gathered and put in a safe place, and during the summer it was
+a great pleasure to him to watch the outcoming of these resplendent
+insects. Just before they were ready to emerge, the colours of their
+wings could be seen through the thin case which covered them, and with
+this warning he was often able to catch the insect at the instant of
+their appearance. Not long afterwards he found a colony of the
+caterpillars of the red admiral butterfly, a large black insect with
+crimson bands round its wings, and the under surface marbled with the
+most delicate tracery of brown and grey. As far as size and beauty go,
+these two butterflies may be said to be the gems of the entomologist's
+cabinet. They are common enough in the south, and the young entomologist
+may look forward to catching or breeding them his first year.
+
+[Illustration: RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY.]
+
+The afternoon was exceedingly hot, and the sun blazed from a cloudless
+sky, and birds'-nesting and butterfly-hunting was tiring work. The scent
+of the hay made the air fragrant, and the sharp whisk of the scythes of
+the mowers in those meadows which were not yet cut, was the only sound
+which disturbed the evening stillness.
+
+Crossing one of the commons which are to be met with everywhere in the
+enclosed districts of Norfolk, they saw a little brown bird fly out of a
+hole in a low hedge bank. Very cleverly hidden there, in a hole covered
+with a clump of primrose flowers, was a winchat's nest. It contained
+five blue eggs spotted with rusty red at the large end. Taking two of
+these they went on their way, and presently entered a thick and tangled
+wood, where the underwood was so close that they could with difficulty
+make their way through it. The brambles and briars were breast high, and
+the ground was ankle deep in half rotten leaves of the previous year.
+In a bush through which Jimmy was trying to force his way he saw a nest,
+which he took to be a thrush's or blackbird's. He put in his hand just
+to see if there were any eggs in, and to his surprise he felt something
+cold and slimy. Before he could withdraw his hand he felt a sharp blow
+and a prick on his finger, and he drew back with a cry of dismay as he
+saw a viper uncoiling itself from the nest and wriggle down to the
+ground, where it was soon lost in the thick vegetation. Frank and Dick
+hurried up to him, and he held out his finger, in which were two small
+blue punctures.
+
+[Illustration: WINCHAT AND EGG.]
+
+"An adder has bitten me," he said, with blanched cheeks.
+
+Frank at once whipped out his penknife, and seizing Jimmy's hand, he
+made a deep cross cut over the bites, and as the blood began to flow, he
+put the finger to his mouth and tried to suck the poison out with all
+the force of his strong young lungs, only just waiting to say to Dick--
+
+"Go at once to the village and get a bottle of olive-oil at the
+chemist's, and come back to the cottage at the edge of the wood. Be as
+quick as you can."
+
+Dick burst out of the wood and set off for the village, which was a mile
+away as the crow flies. As straight as an arrow and as fleet as a deer,
+Dick sped on his friendly errand, and in six minutes he had reached the
+chemist's. The chemist gave him what he asked for, saying, that if
+rubbed in before the fire it was the best remedy.
+
+"Are snake-bites fatal?" said Dick.
+
+"No, sir, not in England, unless the person bitten is very delicate; but
+they are very painful, and I should advise you to be quick back."
+
+[Illustration: VIPER.]
+
+Dick was off again at the top of his speed, and reached the cottage a
+quarter of an hour after he had left Frank and Jimmy.
+
+"Well done, Dick!" said Frank; "but go outside and face the wind a bit.
+You are dead beat."
+
+Jimmy was pale, but collected. His arm had swelled up to a great size
+already, and was very painful. Frank held his hand as near the fire as
+he could bear it, and rubbed the olive-oil in for half an hour; and then
+Dick and Frank walked him home between them. Mrs. Brett was naturally
+much alarmed, but Frank soothed her fears, and Jimmy was put to bed.
+
+"Thank you, Frank," he said, "I am awfully much obliged to you."
+
+"Then prove it by going quietly to sleep if you can. You will be all
+right in a day or two."
+
+"How did you know about the olive-oil being a cure, Frank?"
+
+"I was reading about it not a week ago, and as we were walking along
+this afternoon I was, strange to say, thinking about it, and imagining
+that I was bitten and curing myself, like one does make up pictures and
+rehearse scenes to oneself, when one has nothing better to do. It was a
+very strange coincidence."[1]
+
+ [1] The best remedy for viper-bite is the injection of ammonia into
+ the veins.
+
+[Illustration: COMMON RINGED SNAKE.]
+
+Frank went home with Dick, and they took a short cut through the copse.
+Dick was looking about him very suspiciously, seeing the coils of an
+adder in every twisted root. Suddenly his eye caught sight of a snake
+lying across the path.
+
+"There is another viper!" he exclaimed.
+
+"No, it is only a snake," said Frank, coolly stooping down and taking
+the snake in his hand, while it coiled about his arm. Dick looked
+horrified.
+
+"Won't it bite?" he said.
+
+"No, Dick. Don't you know the difference between a snake and a viper?
+Then I'll tell you. The viper is ash-brown in colour. Its neck is
+narrower and its head broader in proportion. The viper has a couple of
+fangs, or long hollow teeth, which lie flat along the back of its mouth,
+but when it is angry it opens its mouth, erects its teeth and strikes
+with them. They are hollow, and down through the tubes the poison comes
+from a bag at their roots. The snake has no such teeth, and it is
+harmless, for it cannot sting, as many country people think it can, with
+its long forked tongue which it is now shooting out. Then the snake lays
+eggs. I dare say if we were to dig in the manure-heaps in the farm-yard,
+we should find a lot of white eggs covered with a tough, soft skin and
+joined together with a sort of glue. The viper's eggs are hatched inside
+it, and the young ones are born alive."
+
+"I have read that the young ones of the viper will run down their
+parent's throat when alarmed for safety. Is that true?"
+
+"It seems so strange that I can scarcely think it to be true, but so
+many respectable people say they have seen it that one does not like to
+say that it is not so; and it is, of course, difficult to prove a
+negative. I suppose the question will be settled some day."
+
+The snake Frank held in his hand was a large and handsome one. It was
+olive-grey in colour, with rows of black spots on its back and sides,
+and greenish-yellow beneath, tinged with black. The snake changes its
+skin just like a caterpillar, but the skin preserves the shape of the
+snake, and is a very pretty object. Often have I seen a sunny corner in
+a quiet wood covered with many of these cast-off skins all glittering in
+the sunlight; and they are so very like real snakes as easily to deceive
+the casual observer.
+
+During the winter both vipers and snakes hybernate in holes, or under
+tree-roots, and require no food.
+
+The slow-worm or blind-worm is often mistaken for the snake. It is about
+twelve inches long, with a smooth skin, and is dull brown in colour. It
+possesses a curious faculty of parting with its tail when it chooses.
+If it is seized by the hand or otherwise annoyed, the tail separates
+from the body and commences a series of war-dances on its own account.
+While you are occupied in observing this, the body quietly and
+expeditiously moves away out of danger. Snakes and vipers live on frogs,
+small birds, &c., when they can catch them. The slow-worm lives almost
+entirely upon the white garden-slug.
+
+[Illustration: SLOW-WORM.]
+
+Jimmy's arm and side were very much swollen and inflamed, and it was
+quite a week before he was free from pain. The doctor said that if the
+olive-oil had not been used he would have suffered very much more from
+the bite, and the consequences might have been serious, for Jimmy had
+not a strong constitution. He was very careful after that of putting his
+hand into a bird's nest without getting a look into it first.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+ Fishing.--Jimmy's Dodge.--Bream-fishing.--Good Sport.--
+ Fecundity of Fish.--Balance Float.--Fish-hatching.--
+ Edith Rose.--A Night Sail.
+
+
+It must not be supposed that the boys neglected that most fascinating of
+all sports, fishing. They fished in the broads and rivers whenever they
+had an opportunity. Pike, perch, bream, and eels--all were fish that
+came to their net; and now that birds' nesting was over they devoted
+some special days to the pursuit of the gentle art.
+
+Some years ago, and at the time of my story, the broads were as full as
+they could be of coarse fish, especially pike; but by the indiscriminate
+use of the net and the destruction of spawning fish, the poachers have
+so thinned the water of pike and perch, that the proprietors are
+preserving them, and the public are agitating for a close time at
+certain seasons of the year, so as to protect the breeding fish. Even at
+the present time, however, the bream is so abundant as to afford plenty
+of sport to every fisher, however poor he may be. In shape this fish is
+something like a pair of bellows and it is commonly met with from one to
+five pounds in weight. It swarms in vast shoals and when it is in the
+mood for biting, you may catch as many as you like--and more sometimes,
+for the bream is not a nice fish to handle; it is covered with thick
+glutinous slime, which sticks to and dries on the hands and clothes.
+Bream-fishers provide themselves with a cloth, with which to handle the
+fish and wipe off the slime.
+
+One morning Frank, while dressing at his open window, looked at the
+broad and was surprised to see it dotted with round, bright coloured
+objects.
+
+"What can they be?" he said to himself in surprise. "They cannot be
+trimmers. They look like bladders, but who would paint bladders red,
+blue, green, and yellow? I am going to see."
+
+He dressed rapidly and ran towards the water. Standing on the margin was
+Jimmy, his hands in his pockets and a self-satisfied smile on his face.
+
+"What have you been doing Jimmy?" said Frank.
+
+"Oh! I thought you would be astonished. I bought the whole stock of one
+of those fellows who sell India-rubber balloons, and I thought I would
+have a great haul of fish; so I fastened a line and hook to each balloon
+and set them floating before the wind. Don't you think it a grand
+dodge?"
+
+"Well, you are a funny fellow. I call it a poaching trick, of which you
+ought to be ashamed, Master Jimmy but I suppose you are not. I expect
+these balloons will burst directly a big fish pulls them a little under
+the water. There goes one now; I saw it disappear,--and there's another,
+with a pop you can hear at this distance."
+
+[Illustration: BREAM.]
+
+Jimmy began to look rather blue, and said, "Hadn't we better go off
+after them in a boat, or we shall lose all our lines? All we had are
+fastened to them."
+
+"Oh, you sinner! you don't mean to say that you have used our
+joint-stock lines?"
+
+"Yes, I have."
+
+"Then we had better go out at once."
+
+They got into the punt and rowed off after the toy balloons, which were
+floating swiftly before the breeze. The first they came up to had a
+small perch on. The next burst just as they reached it, and they saw the
+glimmer of a big fish in the water. There were twenty balloons set on
+the water, and it took them a long hour's work before they could recover
+all that were to be recovered. Out of twenty they only brought in ten.
+The rest had burst, and the lines were lost. Of the ten which they
+recovered five had small perch on, which were not worth having. So
+Jimmy's grand scheme turned out a failure, as so many grand schemes do.
+The others chaffed him very much about it, as a punishment for losing
+the lines, and for doing anything on his own hook without consulting the
+others.
+
+After a wet week in July it was resolved to have a good day's bream
+fishing. The broad itself was more adapted for perch and pike, for it
+had a clear gravel bottom; and the river was always considered the best
+for bream, because its bottom was more muddy, and bream like soft muddy
+ground. The boys collected an immense quantity of worms, and taking on
+board a bag of grains for ground-bait, they sailed one Friday evening
+down to Ranworth and selected a likely spot in the river on the outside
+of a curve. They proceeded to bait the place well with grains and worms,
+and then went to sleep, with a comfortable certainty of sport on the
+morrow.
+
+The white morning dawned and made visible a grey dappled sky, the silent
+marsh and the smooth river, off which the mists were slowly creeping.
+Small circles marked where the small fish were rising, but all about
+where the ground-bait had been put the water was as still as death. The
+fish were at the bottom, picking up the last crumbs and greedily wishing
+for more.
+
+Frank was the first to rise. "Now then, you lazy fellows, it is time to
+begin. There is a soft south wind and the fish are waiting. We will just
+run along the bank to have a dip away from our fishing-ground, and then
+we will begin."
+
+After their bathe their rods were soon put together. Dick fished with
+paste made of new bread and coloured with vermilion. Jimmy had some wasp
+grubs, and Frank used worms. They tossed up for stations, and Dick was
+posted at the bows, Jimmy, amidships, and Frank at the stern. The hooks
+were baited, and the floats were soon floating quietly down the stream.
+Frank had a float which gave him a longer swim than his companions. It
+was made as follows. The stem of the float was of quill (two joined
+together) eight inches long, and was thrust through a small round cork
+which was fixed in the middle of it. The upper end of the float was
+weighted with shots, so that it lay flat on the water. The weight at the
+hook end was so placed, that when a bite took place the float sprang
+upright and remained so, this calling attention to the fact of a bite at
+a great distance. Frank was thus able to let his float swim down the
+river much farther than he could have done with an ordinary one, because
+he could distinguish a bite farther off.
+
+Before the floats had completed their first swim, Dick cried "I have a
+bite."
+
+"So have I," said Frank.
+
+"And so have I," added Jimmy.
+
+"How absurd," said Frank, as they were all engaged with a fish at the
+same time. All three fishes were too large to land without a
+landing-net, and Dick held Frank's rod while he helped to land Jimmy's
+fish, and then Jimmy helped to land the others.
+
+The fishes were as nearly as possible three pounds each, great
+slab-sided things, which gave a few vigorous rushes and then succumbed
+quietly to the angler.
+
+And so the sport went on. At every swim one or the other of them had a
+bite, and as they did not choose to lose time by using the cloth to
+every fish, they were soon covered with the slime off them, which dried
+on their white flannels and made them in a pretty mess.
+
+"In what immense numbers these fish must breed," said Dick.
+
+[Illustration: ANGLING.]
+
+"Yes," answered Frank, "fish of this kind lay more eggs than those of
+the more bold and rapacious kind, such as the perch and pike. I have
+read that 620,000 eggs have been counted in the spawn of a big carp. You
+see that so many of the young are destroyed by other fish that this is a
+necessary provision of nature. I once saw the artificial breeding of
+trout by a way which I have never told you of, and it was most
+interesting. It was in Cheshire, where some gentlemen had preserved a
+trout-stream and wished to keep up the stock. Into the large stream a
+small rivulet ran down a cleft in the bank like a small ravine, and in
+this cleft they had built their sheds. The trout-spawn was placed in
+troughs which had bottoms made of glass rods side by side, close
+enough together to prevent the eggs falling through, but wide enough to
+let the water pass through freely. Over these troughs a continual stream
+of water was directed. The eggs were pale yellow in colour when alive,
+but if one of them became addled or dead it turned white, and it was
+then picked off by means of a glass tube, up which it was sucked by the
+force of capillary attraction without disturbing the other eggs. By and
+by you could see a little dot in the eggs. This got larger and larger
+until the covering burst, and the fish came out, with a little
+transparent bag bigger than themselves attached to their stomachs. They
+ate nothing until this dried up, and they lived upon what they absorbed
+out of it. When the fish were about an inch long they were put into
+small pools up the brook, where they were watched very carefully by the
+keeper, who set traps for rats and herons. Then as they got bigger they
+were put into larger pools, and finally into the river."
+
+[Illustration: TROUT.]
+
+"I did not know that water-rats ate fish," said Jimmy.
+
+"No, water-rats don't, although many people think they do. They live
+only on vegetable food, and it is a pity to kill them; but the common
+rat, which is as often seen by the river side as the other, will eat
+fish, or whatever it can get."
+
+It would be tedious to recount the capture of every fish, since one was
+so like another. The sport far exceeded their expectations, or anything
+they had previously experienced; and before six o'clock in the evening
+they had caught over three hundred fishes, big and little, the largest
+about five pounds in weight. The total weight was about twelve stone.
+Norfolk bream fishers will know that I am not exaggerating.
+
+"I am thoroughly tired of this," said Dick at length; "this is not
+sport, it is butchery, especially as we do not know what to do with them
+now we have caught them, except to give them to some farmer for manure."
+
+"No," said Frank; "that is why I do not care much for bream fishing, or
+any sport where one cannot use the things one kills; but we will give
+the best of these fish to old Matthew Cox and his wife, who have nothing
+but the parish allowance to live on. I dare say they will be glad enough
+of them."
+
+Cox, who was a poor old man scarce able to keep body and soul together,
+was glad indeed to have them, but their number puzzled him, until Mrs.
+Brett suggested that he should pickle them, and gave him some vinegar
+for the purpose.
+
+Contrary to Frank's expectation, the wind had not risen, but towards the
+afternoon died away, and with the exception of a shower, so summerlike
+that the gnats danced between the rain-drops, the day had been very fine
+and calm. When the boys left off fishing the water was as calm as at
+five o'clock in the morning, and there was not the slightest chance of
+their reaching home that night. This was awkward, as the next day was
+Sunday, and they had no change of raiment with them. They made the best
+of it, sending a note home by post to explain their absence. In the
+morning there was a debate as to whether they should go to church or
+not.
+
+"Let us go," said Frank. "No one will know us, so it does not matter
+what we have on."
+
+So to church they went, in their dirty white flannels. It was their
+intention to sit near the door and try to escape observation, but they
+found the back seats of the little church full of children, and a
+churchwarden ushered them all the way up the church to the front pew,
+which they took. Just before the service began, a lady and gentleman,
+and a young lady who was apparently their daughter, came into the large
+square pew in which our boys sat, whereupon the tanned cheeks of our
+heroes blushed vehemently. The young lady sat opposite Frank, and every
+now and then gazed at him curiously. When Frank mustered up courage to
+look back at her, he thought he knew the face, and as the sermon
+advanced he recollected that it was that of a friend of his sister
+Mary's, who had once stayed at his father's house. When they left the
+church he went up to her, and taking off his cap, said,
+
+"I beg your pardon, but are you not Miss Rose?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Merivale, but I thought you would not have remembered me.
+Papa, this is Mary Merivale's brother."
+
+Mr. Rose looked rather curiously at Frank and his friends, and Frank at
+once answered the unspoken question by saying,
+
+"We are yachting, sir, and we are windbound, without any change of
+clothes. We should have been ashamed to come to church if we had thought
+we should meet anyone we knew."
+
+"I am very glad to have met you. You and your friends must come and dine
+with me," was Mr. Rose's reply.
+
+So, in spite of their slimy-covered clothes and fishy smell, they were
+welcomed, and had a pleasant day. Edith Rose was so very pretty and
+nice, that Frank began to think Dick was not quite such a goose for
+being spoons on his sister, as he had previously thought him.
+
+About ten they returned to the yacht, and found that the wind had risen,
+and was blowing tolerably hard. As they were anxious to get back in time
+to be with Mr. Meredith on Monday morning, they resolved to sit up until
+twelve o'clock and then start homeward. The night was starlight, and
+light enough for them to see their way on the water; and as the hands on
+their watches pointed to twelve they hoisted sail and glided away
+through the grey stillness of the night, beneath the starlit blue of the
+midnight sky, with no sound audible save the hissing of the water
+curling against their bows, the flapping of the sails as they tacked,
+and the occasional cry of a bird in the reeds; and about five o'clock
+they arrived home, and turned in on board the yacht for a couple of
+hours' sleep before breakfast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ Calling for Landrails.--Landrail Shamming Death.--
+ Yellow Under-wing Moth and Wasp.--Dragon-Fly and Butterfly.--
+ Stink-horn Fungus.--Sundew.
+
+
+On a stile under the shade of a chestnut Frank sat, calling for
+landrails. Every now and then he rubbed an instrument on his thigh,
+which made a noise so like the cry of the corncrake that one could not
+have distinguished it. This instrument was very simple, and he had made
+it himself. It was a piece of hard wood, with a stock to it like the
+letter _y_. Between the prongs of the _y_ was a wooden wheel, with its
+circumference cut into cogs. A slip of wood was screwed to the stock,
+and pressed against the cogs. When the wheel was turned by being pressed
+against the leg, a grating noise was produced, which answered the
+purpose admirably. Frank sat with his gun upon his lap and called away
+most patiently, but not hurriedly. A landrail was answering him from the
+further side of the field, and was approaching nearer. At last, just as
+its note seemed further off, he caught sight of its long neck and head
+peering above the grass, which, although it was only the aftermath, had
+grown a good height. Frank gave another creak, and the bird ran on a few
+yards nearer. Frank raised his gun to his shoulder and took aim, and as
+the bird took fright and began to run away a report rang through the
+summer stillness. The corncrake ran on with one wing trailing. The
+distance had been too great, or Frank would not have done so little
+damage. Just as it seemed that the bird would get away, Dick and Jimmy
+appeared over the opposite hedge. The corncrake seeing them, immediately
+fell down and lay apparently dead. They picked it up and brought it to
+Frank, who laid it on the ground by his side, and went on with his
+calling, while the others lay on the grass and talked.
+
+A heap of hay had been left by the side of the hedge, and Dick lazily
+stirred it with his foot. A large yellow under-winged moth (a moth with
+grey upper-wings and bright yellow under-wings bordered with black and
+very common in our hay-fields) arose, and Dick ran after it with his
+hat. Another entomologist, however, was before him. A wasp pounced upon
+the moth, and the two fell fluttering to the ground, and Dick caught
+them both, and afterwards mounted them in the attitude in which he
+caught them.
+
+"It was a pity to kill the wasp," said Jimmy. "It was doing just the
+same as Frank here. I dare say that corncrake would like to see him
+killed."
+
+[Illustration: DRAGON-FLY.]
+
+"It is the law of nature," said Frank; "and see, there is a dragon-fly
+following the wasp's example."
+
+A large dragon-fly had seized a white butterfly, and then as it flew in
+the air, it was depriving it of its wings, which fell fluttering to the
+ground.
+
+Jimmy happening to cast his eyes upon the corncrake, saw it cautiously
+lift its head, then gather itself together, looking about, and evidently
+preparing for flight.
+
+"Look, Frank," he said, "the corncrake was only shamming death!" The
+corncrake was on its legs and running away by this time, but Frank fired
+and killed it.
+
+"I would have let it go for its cunning," he said, "but it would only
+die with a broken wing. It could not live the winter here, and of course
+it could not migrate. I have known the water-hen sham death in the same
+way, and many insects do it. I wonder if that is instinct or reason. How
+does it know that if it seems dead you will not touch it, and therefore
+it may get an opportunity to escape?"
+
+"It is very wonderful," said Jimmy; "but you will get no more birds
+to-day after two shots. They will be too wary. Come with me, and I will
+show you something equally wonderful."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I will not tell you. Wait and see."
+
+They followed him to the shrubbery of Mr. Meredith's garden, and he led
+them to a laurel-bush, and pointed out to them an upright fungus, creamy
+white in colour, but not by any means handsome. Dick and Frank bent
+forward to examine it, when suddenly they clasped their noses between
+their fingers, and ran away, followed by Jimmy exulting.
+
+"How terrible," said Dick, blowing his nose.
+
+"That is the vilest smell I have ever smelt," said Frank, doing
+likewise. "What is it?"
+
+"The common stink-horn fungus," answered Jimmy; "I thought you would
+like to see it."
+
+"We might have liked to see it, but not to smell it. Have not you a
+nose, Jimmy?"
+
+"Yes; but I wanted you to share my pleasure."
+
+"It was uncommonly kind of you, I must say."
+
+Mr. Meredith came up smiling and said,
+
+"Now, if you will come with me, I will show you a plant much more
+interesting, and a plant which is like Dick, in that it catches flies."
+
+In a small marsh near the end of the garden were some plants of the
+sundew. It is some years since I gathered one, and I have not one before
+me to describe, so I quote from a little book called _Old English Wild
+Flowers_:--
+
+"Of all the interesting plants which grow on marsh-lands, the most
+singular is the sundew. Those who have never seen its white blossoms
+growing, can form but little idea of its singular appearance. Round the
+root it has a circle of leaves, and each leaf has a number of red hairs
+tipped with pellucid glands which exude a clear liquid, giving the
+leaves a dew-besprinkled appearance as it glistens in the sunshine.
+These have proved a fatal trap to numbers of insects. The foliage and
+stem are much tinted with crimson, and the plant is small."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+ Setting Night-lines.--An Encounter with Poachers.
+
+
+Old Cox met Frank one day, and said to him in his broad Norfolk, which
+would be unintelligible to you were I to render it faithfully,--
+
+"I wish you would give me some more fish, Mr. Merivale. You catch
+plenty, and if you would give me some that you doesn't want, I would
+take them to Norwich market and sell them. I sorely want to buy a pair
+of blankets for the old woman and me afore the winter comes."
+
+"Well, Cox, you shall have all we catch and don't want," said Frank; and
+when he saw his friends he said,--
+
+"Let us make a mighty night-line, and set it like the long lines the
+Cromer fishermen set for cods, and lay it in the broad for eels, and
+give all we catch to Cox. Two or three nights' haul will set him up for
+the winter."
+
+So they made a long night-line. They bought a quarter of a mile of stout
+cord, and at distances of a yard from each other they fastened eel-hooks
+by means of short lengths of fine water-cord. Cox himself got them the
+worms, and then one fine night they rowed the punt to the middle of the
+broad, and set the night-line in the deep water of the channel.
+
+"Well," said Dick, "this is the longest and most wearisome job I have
+ever done, and old Cox ought to be infinitely obliged to us. We have
+been two hours and a half setting this line."
+
+Early in the morning they went out, and took up the night-line, but to
+their great surprise they found but very few eels on it, and plenty of
+bream, which they did not want. They were much disappointed at this, and
+went to Bell, and asked him the reason, for there were plenty of eels in
+the broad.
+
+"Where did you set the line?" he asked.
+
+"In the deep water of the channel."
+
+"Then that is just the place where you ought not to have set it. At
+night the eels make for the shallow water to feed, and if the grass is
+wet they will even wriggle out among it. I have seen them myself many a
+time. You must set your line along the edge where the water is about a
+foot or two feet deep, and you will have as many eels as you can carry."
+
+They tried again, and set the line as Bell had directed them, and the
+next morning they began to haul it in. The first hook came up bare. So
+did the second, and the third. As they hauled in the line their faces
+looked very blank, for every hook was bare.
+
+"We are not the first," said Frank savagely, "some other fellows have
+been here before us, and have taken up the line, and robbed it. They
+must have watched us laying it. Now I'll tell you what we will do. We
+will set it again to-night, and watch in the yacht, and if we see any
+fellows touching it we will give them a drubbing. Are you game?"
+
+"Yes," answered both Dick and Jimmy readily, "we are."
+
+So the third time they set the line, and then as soon as it got dark
+they crept quietly on board the yacht. They had set the line within 150
+yards of the _Swan_, and as there was a glitter on the water from the
+reflection of the stars, they could see if anyone approached it.
+
+"What shall we do if they do touch it?" said Dick. "How shall we get at
+them?"
+
+"I did intend to take the boat, and row after them," answered Frank;
+"but see, we are to windward of them, and there is a good breeze, so
+that if we let the yacht drift towards them until they take the alarm,
+and then run the sails up, we shall overtake them."
+
+"And what shall we do then?" said Jimmy, who was becoming a little
+nervous.
+
+"Run them down--the water is not deep enough to drown them--and take
+away their boat if we can, and then make them come and beg our pardon
+before we give it up to them. If they attempt to board us, knock them
+over again."
+
+Frank spoke decidedly and hotly, for he was much put out at the theft of
+the fish. His family had so befriended the poor people around, that it
+was very ungrateful of some of them to rob their line. His spirits rose,
+too, with a force he could not resist, at the thought of a midnight
+engagement, and the chance of outwitting those who had thought to outwit
+him. Dick and Jimmy were ready to follow their dux at any instant, and
+anywhere.
+
+"They won't come till about midnight," said Frank, "so we may as well
+take a little sleep."
+
+About two o'clock they were broad awake, and lying flat on the deck of
+the yacht, peering into the darkness in the direction of the night-line.
+
+"Hush," said Dick; "I heard a noise like that of oars."
+
+They listened, and sure enough they heard the noise of oars splashing in
+the water, and grating in the rowlocks.
+
+"Here they are," whispered Frank. "We shall soon be in the thick of it."
+
+Dick had been trembling for some time in his nervousness, and he thought
+somewhat bitterly, "What is the matter with me? Am I a coward?" and he
+felt ashamed at the thought. It was not cowardice, however, but pure
+nervousness, and the moment he heard the sound of the approaching voices
+his nervousness departed, and he felt as cool and collected as Frank.
+
+A black patch soon became visible on the water, and they could just
+distinguish the outline of the boat. A splash in the water told them
+that the mooring stone had been thrown out, and that the robbers were at
+work. Frank quietly slipped his mooring, and the yacht drifted quickly
+towards the men. They were soon near enough to see that there were two
+men in the boat, and they heard one of them say in a startled tone,--
+
+"I say, Jack, that yacht's adrift."
+
+"Is there any one on board, did you see?" said the other.
+
+"No, I don't think so."
+
+"Yes, there is though. Pull up that stone and row off as fast as you
+can," answered his companion.
+
+"Up with the sail!" shouted Frank, as he flew to the helm. Dick and
+Jimmy threw themselves on the halyard, and the great sail rose with
+surprising quickness against the dark night. The men in the boat were
+now pulling away at the top of their speed, but with the wind dead aft
+the yacht bore swiftly down upon them. The water was only about two feet
+deep, and began to shallow. The yacht's centre boards were up, but still
+she could not go much further, and they could tell that they were
+continually touching the mud.
+
+"They will escape us," said Dick.
+
+"No, there is a deep bay just where they are rowing," said Jimmy.
+
+As the water deepened the yacht started forwards, and in another minute
+they were on the runaways. Crash went their bows against the boat: she
+was at once capsized, and her occupants were struggling in the water.
+One of them scrambled on board the _Swan_, and rushed aft with an oar
+upraised to strike, but Frank laid the helm over as he put the yacht
+about, and the boom struck the fellow on the head and knocked him
+overboard.
+
+Meanwhile Dick had with the boat-hook tried to catch hold of the boat.
+In this he failed, but he got hold of something far more important, and
+that was a large fine-mesh net, which the poachers had no doubt intended
+to use after robbing the night-line. With such nets the damage done to
+fishing is enormous. Shoals of fishes as small as minnows, and useless
+for anything except manure, are massacred with them, and it is by the
+constant use of such nets that the fishing on the broads falls now so
+far short of what it used to be. Night-lines set for eels are not
+poaching or destructive. The quantity of eels is so great, that, as long
+as the young ones are spared, either night-lines or nets of the proper
+kind may be used.
+
+The yacht swept on, leaving the men up to their waists in the water, and
+swearing horribly. Frank felt a wild impulse to return and fight them,
+for he was of a fighting blood, such as a soldier should have, but he
+thought, "If we go back there are sure to be some hard blows, and I have
+no right to take Dick or Jimmy into a scrimmage and perhaps get them
+severely hurt, for they are not so strong as I am," so he refrained, and
+they sailed back to the boat-house, and waited until the dawn. Their
+adversaries dared not attack them, but went off out of sight and
+hearing.
+
+In the morning they took up the line, and were well-rewarded for their
+previous trouble. The eels they took pretty well loaded the donkey-cart
+which old Cox had borrowed, and he took them to Norwich and made a good
+profit out of them.
+
+Having amused themselves once with the night-lines the boys did not care
+to use them again, for it was _infra dig._ to catch fish for profit.
+However the profits were good to other people, so they gave the line to
+old Cox, and told him that he must get some one to set it, and go shares
+with him.
+
+The next day Frank walked down to the village public-house and stuck up
+the following notice in the bar,--
+
+"If the person to whom the nets I have belong, will call at my house and
+claim them, he shall have the nets and a good thrashing."
+
+Frank was five feet eleven inches high, and well built in addition, and
+he had always a look on his face which said "I mean what I say;" and the
+nets were never claimed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ Water Insects.--Aquaria.
+
+
+One July afternoon the boys had been fishing, and to seek some shade and
+coolness while eating their lunch, they had driven the yacht into a
+quiet pool among the reeds, which almost met over them. The water below
+them was very clear and still, and as it was only about two feet deep
+they could see the bottom quite plainly, and they soon found that it was
+well worth a close inspection. The pool was teeming with insect life.
+The surface of the water was covered with tiny whirligig beetles, which
+were skimming about in mazy, coruscating evolutions.
+
+"Those whirligig beetles," said Dick, "have their eyes made with two
+faces--one to look down into the water, and the other to look into the
+sky."
+
+"What a lot you have learnt about insects, Dick, in the course of a few
+months," said Frank.
+
+[Illustration: METAMORPHOSES OF FLESH-FLY.]
+
+"It is a grand study," said Dick enthusiastically; "and I have worked my
+best at it. When one goes hard at a thing it is astonishing how soon one
+picks up a lot of knowledge about it. I have read over and over again
+about the common insects, or those that are the most noticeable."
+
+"Well, tell us about all those insects we see now."
+
+[Illustration: WATER-BEETLE.]
+
+"Look at those long-legged narrow-bodied flies which are sliding along
+over the surface. These are called water-measurers. That oval beetle
+which is swimming on its back, and using two legs like oars, is the
+water boatman. It fastens on to the head of small fish, and soon kills
+them. It lives in the water, but if put on land it can fly. Look at that
+brute crawling over the mud, with its lobster-like head. It has sharp
+claws and a hollow snout. It lies in wait for its victims, and when it
+seizes them it sucks the juice out of them with its beak. It looks only
+of a dull brown now, but when its wings are expanded its body is of a
+blood red colour, and its tail is forked. It sometimes comes out for a
+fly at night."
+
+"And what is the fearfully ugly thing climbing up that reed-stem just
+out of the water?"
+
+[Illustration: PUPA OF DRAGON-FLY.]
+
+[Illustration: COMPOUND EYE OF DRAGON-FLY (SECTION).]
+
+"Oh, that is the larva of the dragon-fly. The fly is about to come out
+of the case. Just watch it for a while."
+
+[Illustration: LARVA OF GNAT.]
+
+[Illustration: ESCAPE OF GNAT FROM ITS PUPA-CASE.]
+
+The larva of the dragon-fly is one of the ugliest of creatures. It has a
+long light-brown body and six legs. It has a fierce wide mouth and
+projecting eyes. Attached to its head are two claws, which with a
+pincer-like movement, catch up anything eatable and pass it to the
+mouth. In its larva and pupa state it has just the same appearance, and
+when it is about to change into a perfect dragon-fly it climbs up out of
+the water and emerges out of its case, just like the butterfly, and
+sails away a perfect and gorgeous insect, leaving its case a transparent
+brown shell, still clinging to the reed or grass-stem on which it
+contracted its last change.
+
+"Bother the gnats!" said Jimmy brushing some off his face. "There is
+nothing interesting about them."
+
+"Oh yes, there is," said Dick. "They lay their eggs on the surface of
+the water, making a raft of them, and the larvæ escape through the
+bottom of each egg into the water; and I have read that it is a very
+pretty sight to watch the perfect insect coming out."
+
+[Illustration: METAMORPHOSES OF PLUMED GNAT.]
+
+"I would prefer their staying down below; they bite me," answered Jimmy.
+
+Crawling along the bottom were numbers of caddis-worms in tube-like
+cases made of sticks and stones. Inside these cases are the plump white
+grubs which turn into flies.
+
+"Where the bottom is gravelly these caddis-worms make their cases of
+little stones," said Frank.
+
+"Yes, and I read the other day that an experiment had been tried by some
+one, who took some out of their nests and put them into an aquarium with
+some finely-broken glass of different colours, and the caddis-worms made
+their cases of this broken coloured glass, and very pretty they looked."
+
+"Their own bodies must supply the glue which fastens the pieces of
+gravel or glass together?"
+
+"Yes, it does."
+
+As the fish were biting very badly the boys left the broad early and
+went for a stroll. While passing through the village they saw a sale of
+stock going on in the open space round which the houses were ranged.
+They stopped to look on. The goods which were being sold were the stock
+in trade of a chemist, and among them were three large glass bowls, such
+as are used for aquaria. These were put up by the auctioneer in one lot,
+but there was no bid for them. They were articles not in request in that
+rural district.
+
+[Illustration: PUPA-CASE, LARVA, AND FLY OF CADDIS-WORM.]
+
+"Will no one make me a bid? Everything is to be sold without
+reservation," cried the auctioneer.
+
+"Five shillings," said Frank.
+
+"Going at five shillings!--going! going!--gone!"--and the lot was
+knocked down to Frank.
+
+"What are you going to do with them?" asked Jimmy.
+
+"Make them into aquaria, of course. Don't you see they are just the
+thing. The idea came into my head as soon as I saw them."
+
+"Then we can put some water insects in," said Dick.
+
+The glass reservoirs were placed on a shelf in the boat-house, and the
+next morning before breakfast they were fitted up. They got a quantity
+of fine gravel and sand, and thoroughly washed it in water, so as to
+cleanse it from all mud and impurity. This was placed to the depth of a
+couple of inches in each vessel, and a rock-work of worn flints was
+built upon it. Water was poured in to within a few inches of the top,
+and pieces of anacharis were planted in the gravel, their roots kept
+down by the stones. In a day or two the water had got clear, and the
+plants had taken root, and the boys proceeded to stock the aquaria. The
+small brook near afforded minnows and sticklebacks in plenty. In a
+stagnant pool they got some newts and water-insects. From the broad they
+obtained a few small perch, roach, and bream, and an eel about six
+inches long. They at first put these all together without any attempt at
+sorting them, and then the following consequences ensued. The
+water-boatmen fastened on the heads of the small fish and speedily
+killed them, and ate them up. The sticklebacks made themselves at home
+at once, and proved very pugnacious, fighting each other, dashing at a
+stick or finger, if put into the water, but, worst of all, annoying the
+minnows. Each male stickleback took up a position of his own, and
+resented any approach to within a few inches of it. With his glaring
+green eyes, and scarlet breast, he would wage war against any intruder;
+and when an unsuspecting minnow came within his ken he would sidle up to
+it, till within striking distance, then dash at it, and strike it with
+his snout in the stomach. The perch swallowed the minnows, and when they
+had vanished, attempted to swallow the sticklebacks, but the spines of
+the latter stuck in the perches' gullets and choked them. The eel, too,
+would writhe and poke through the gravel and stir it up, displacing the
+weeds and doing a lot of mischief.
+
+[Illustration: MINNOW.]
+
+This led to a general reconstruction of the aquaria. The perch were
+taken out and restored to the broad, together with the eel. The roach,
+bream, and minnows, were put into two of the aquaria by themselves, and
+the sticklebacks and water-insects into the other. Many a fight took
+place among the sticklebacks and the water-boatmen, in which sometimes
+the one and sometimes the other came off victorious.
+
+[Illustration: SMOOTH NEWT.]
+
+The boys then got some caddis-worms, pulled them from their cases, and
+put them into a glass vessel filled with water, and having at the bottom
+some glass of different colours broken into small pieces. In a short
+time the caddis-worms had made themselves new, parti-coloured cases of
+glass, which were quite transparent, and through which the white bodies
+of the grubs could be plainly seen. Frank put these in among the minnows
+one day, and it was amusing to see the fish darting at the caddis-worms,
+thinking they would be soft, succulent morsels, and to watch their
+evident astonishment at being foiled by the hard cases. This suggested
+an idea to Frank which he afterwards carried out.
+
+None of the sticklebacks kept by the boys built nests or bred, so that
+they missed seeing a very pretty and interesting sight. "Fishes building
+nests!" I hear some of my readers exclaiming. Yes, sticklebacks do build
+nests, and in the number for January 1866 of _Science Gossip_ is an
+interesting account of this habit, which I take the liberty of quoting.
+When I have observed any fact in natural history myself, I describe it
+in my own words; but when I take it from the observation of others, it
+is fairer to them to use their own words, and far better in the
+interests of truth:--
+
+"Two pair of sticklebacks were procured about the middle of April,--the
+males having already put on their spring dress of scarlet and green, and
+the females being full of spawn.
+
+[Illustration: METAMORPHOSES OF NEWT.]
+
+"After a few days a small hole was observed in the sand near a large
+stone. To this hole one of the males was paying the most assiduous and
+extraordinary attention. He was poising himself at an angle of
+forty-five degrees or thereabouts; he commenced a tremendous motion of
+his whole body, making the sand a pivot, and at the same time beating
+the water with his fins. This motion increased regularly in rapidity for
+a minute or so, when it ceased abruptly, and the fish darted off, either
+in pursuit of some trespasser whom he chastised (the females not even
+being exempt), or to obtain materials to increase his nest. These
+consisted of pieces of stick or moss, which being saturated with water,
+were of such gravity as to prevent their rising. He deposited these with
+great care, leaving a perfectly round hole in the middle, and then
+having procured a mouthful of sand, laid it over the looser materials to
+cement them together.
+
+"When completed, the nest resembled a flattened haycock.
+
+"For about a week after this completion it seemed deserted. But one
+morning it was found that some eggs had been laid. These for the size of
+the fish are very large, being about the size of a middling-sized shot.
+They hatched in about from ten days to a fortnight,--the young fish
+remaining in the nest until the yolk-bag was absorbed, when, being large
+enough to look after themselves, they went their way. The parent who had
+so tenderly guarded them took no further heed of them, and himself
+died--such being the case in both instances which came under notice,
+both parents sickening and dying from the effects of spawning and
+watching, or perhaps from the aquarium not being fitted for their
+recovery."
+
+[Illustration: WATER-FLEAS.]
+
+[Illustration: ANIMALCULÆ IN DROP OF WATER, AS SEEN UNDER THE
+MICROSCOPE.]
+
+Those who keep aquaria in an intelligent manner and study the habits of
+the creatures they imprison, will find it both interesting work, and a
+never-failing source of amusement. It is very little trouble. When the
+water is put in, and the plants begin to grow, the water need not be
+changed. The oxygen produced by the plants will keep the water pure,
+and will supply it with air.
+
+[Illustration: FRESH-WATER AQUARIUM.]
+
+The green confervoid growth which rapidly forms on the sides of the
+aquarium must not be all wiped off, for it assists greatly in keeping
+the water pure and healthy. Tie a piece of sponge to a stick, and with
+this you can wipe it off from that side where it obstructs the view,
+without disturbing the rest of the aquarium. If you have no cover, and
+dust accumulates on the surface of the water, it may easily be removed
+by means of a piece of paper laid on the surface of the water for a few
+minutes. The dust will adhere to this, and be taken away with it when
+it is removed. The confervoid growth is best kept down by the common
+water-snail, several of which should be kept in the aquarium.
+
+You must of course feed the fish occasionally with worms, insects, and
+bread; but give them very little at a time, or you will foul the water
+and render it muddy, and the fish will sicken and die. Keep these few
+hints in mind, and you will have no trouble in managing your aquarium.
+
+[Illustration: METAMORPHOSES OF FROG.]
+
+From aquaria to flowers is a sudden transition, but a bunch of violets
+has just been held to my nose to smell, and their sweet fragrance has
+borne me in thought from my study, where I am burning the midnight oil,
+to the green woods and fields of my boyhood, and then a sudden review of
+events which have happened since in my life, makes me more thankful than
+ever that that boyhood was, as far as natural history is concerned, a
+prototype to the boys of whom I am now writing, and makes me wish to
+urge the more strongly upon you the almost boundless advantages which
+follow the study to all. You will of course clearly see that my aim in
+writing this book is not merely to amuse, but to teach you some of the
+wonders which lie ready for you to explore, and the delight of seeking
+and discovering those wonders. I do not, however, want to moralize,
+because if I do you will skip my moralising, so I will pull up in time
+and get on with my story.
+
+[Illustration: SEA-WATER AQUARIUM.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+ Making a Fern Case.--Ferns.--Harvest Mouse.--
+ Mole.--Ladybird.--Grasses.
+
+
+[Illustration: WALL SPLEENWORT.]
+
+From ten till four the boys were engaged with Mr. Meredith, but they had
+a holiday on Saturday, and by rising early they could gain so many of
+the fairest and most beautiful hours of the day that lessons seemed but
+an interval between a long morning and a long afternoon. They thus made
+plenty of time for their numerous occupations.
+
+[Illustration: FORKED SPLEENWORT.]
+
+Mary said to Jimmy one day, "Will you make me a fern-case? Frank has so
+many things to do. I have been promised a lot of ferns from Devonshire.
+A friend of mine will send them to me by post, and I should so like to
+have a nice little fernery for my bedroom window."
+
+[Illustration: GREEN SPLEENWORT.]
+
+Jimmy gladly promised to make one for her, and Dick, who would have
+liked to have had the commission himself, volunteered to help him. They
+first of all made a strong deal box, about two feet six inches long, and
+one foot six inches broad, and six inches deep. This was lined carefully
+with sheet lead, which was to make it perfectly water-tight. They then
+made a wooden framework, with a pointed roof, to fit on the top of it.
+This they glazed with ordinary window-glass, and painted all the
+wood-work black. It was now ready for the soil. First they put a layer,
+about two inches deep, of broken sandstone, in order to ensure perfect
+drainage, and mixed with this were some lumps of charcoal to keep it
+pure. Then they filled up the box with earth, mixed in the proportions
+following:--one-third part of garden mould, one-third part of sand, and
+one-third part of peaty earth, with an admixture of dead leaves. In the
+centre of the rockery they built up a framework of curiously water-worn
+flints, and then they carried the affair in triumph to Mary's room,
+where they planted the ferns she had received from her friend--glossy,
+whole-leaved hart's-tongues, delicate, black-stemmed maiden-hair,
+ladder-like polypodies and blechnums, feathery lady-ferns, light green
+and branching oak-ferns, and many another species, which,
+notwithstanding their removal from the Devonshire lanes, grew and
+flourished in Mary's fern-case, and soon became a sight most pleasant to
+the eye.
+
+[Illustration: OAK FERN.]
+
+[Illustration: FRUCTIFICATION OF FERNS.
+ 1. Asplenium. 2. Scolopendrium. 3. Cystopteris. 4. Blechnum.
+ 5. Hymenophyllum. 6. Pteris. 7. Adiantum. 8. Trichomanes. 9. Woodsia.]
+
+To anyone fond of ferns nothing can be more interesting than a
+fern-case. Nearly all ferns grow well in them, if they are properly
+attended to. Whenever the soil becomes dry on the surface, they should
+be well watered, and this should not be done too often, or it will
+encourage the growth of mould. The moisture will evaporate and condense
+on the side of the glass, and run down again to the earth, so that there
+is very little waste. The plants thus create an atmosphere of their own,
+and will thrive in it wonderfully.
+
+[Illustration: WALL RUE. JERSEY FERN. MARSH FERN.]
+
+One day it was so intensely hot that it was impossible to do anything
+but lie in the shade. The boys had bathed twice, and the deck planks of
+the yacht were so burning hot that they could with difficulty stand upon
+them. They sought a shady corner of the paddock, and there underneath a
+tall hedge and the shade of an oak they lay, and talked, and read. Frank
+was teasing Dick with a piece of grass, and to escape him, Dick got up
+and sat on a rail in the hedge which separated them from the next field,
+which was a corn-field. This quietly gave way, and Dick rolled into the
+next field, and lay among the corn quite happy and contented. Suddenly
+he called out--
+
+"Come and look at this nest in the corn-stalks! It can't be a bird's.
+What is it?"
+
+Frank and Jimmy went through the gap and examined it.
+
+[Illustration: HARVEST MOUSE AND NEST.]
+
+"It is the nest of a harvest mouse," said Frank, "and there are half a
+dozen naked little mice inside."
+
+The harvest mouse is the smallest of British animals. Unlike its
+relatives, it builds its nest in the stalks of grass or corn at a little
+distance from the ground. The nest is globular in shape, made of woven
+grass, and has a small entrance like that of a wren's.
+
+[Illustration: MOLE.]
+
+"And here is a mole-trap," said Jimmy, "with a mole in it. What smooth
+glossy fur it has! It will set whichever way you rub it."
+
+"Yes; and don't you see the use of that. It can run backwards or
+forwards along its narrow burrows with the greatest ease. It could not
+do that if the fur had a right and a wrong way."
+
+"Can it see?" asked Jimmy, pointing to the tiny black specks which
+represented its eyes.
+
+"Oh yes. Not very well, I dare say; but well enough for its own
+purposes. It can run along its passages at a great speed, as people have
+found out by putting straws at intervals along them, and then startling
+the mole at one end and watching the straws as they were thrown down."
+
+During the autumn and winter the mole resides in a fortress, often at
+short distances from the burrow where it nests. This fortress is always
+placed in a position of safety, and is of a most complex construction.
+It is a hillock, containing two or three tiers of galleries with
+connecting passages, and from the central chamber it has passages, or
+rows, extending in different directions.
+
+[Illustration: LADYBIRD AND ITS STAGES.]
+
+The boys returned to their couches in the long grass in the shade, and
+Frank was soon too sleepy to tease, but lay on the broad of his back,
+looking up at the blue sky through the interstices of the oak branches.
+Dick was studying the movements of a ladybird with red back and black
+spots, which was crawling up a grass-stem, and wondering how such a
+pretty creature could eat a green juicy aphis, as it has a habit of
+doing. Jimmy was turning over the pages of his book, and looking out the
+plates of flowers, and comparing them with some he had gathered. He was
+rather bewildered and somewhat discouraged at the immensity of the study
+he had undertaken. No sooner did he learn the name of a flower than it
+was driven from his head by that of another, and having attempted to do
+too much in the beginning, he had got into a pretty state of confusion.
+He had given up the idea of keeping pace with naming all the beautiful
+flowers he had found. He gathered and dried them, and left to the winter
+evenings the task of arranging and naming them.
+
+"I say," called out Frank, "around my face there are at least seven
+different kinds of grasses. Can you name them, Jimmy?--and how many
+different kinds of grasses are there?"
+
+"I can name nothing," said Jimmy dolefully, "but I will look it up in my
+book and tell you. Here it is, but their name seems legion. You must
+look at them for yourself. The plates are very beautiful, but the
+quaking grass, of which there is any quantity just by your head, is the
+prettiest."
+
+"They seem as pretty as ferns," said Frank. "I must learn something more
+about them."
+
+A day or two after this Mr. Meredith said to them, when they had
+assembled at his house in the morning:
+
+"Now, boys, from something a little bird has whispered to me, I think
+you stand in need of a little punishment, and I therefore mean to give
+you a lesson. You are by far too desultory in your study of natural
+history. You attempt to do too much, and so you only obtain a
+superficial knowledge, instead of the thorough and practical one you
+ought to have. You are trying to reach a goal before you have fairly
+started from the toe-line. I allude more especially now to botanical
+matters, because I know most about them, and that is all I can help you
+in. Therefore you will be kind enough to translate into Latin this Essay
+which I have written on the Life of a Fern."
+
+"That is anything but a punishment, sir," said Frank, laughing.
+
+The boys set to work with great zest at their novel lesson. I set the
+English of it out in the next chapter, and I particularly request my
+young readers to read every word of it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ The Life of a Fern.[1]
+
+ [1] For this Chapter I am indebted to my friend Mr. William Whitwell,
+ of Oxford.
+
+
+One of the most marvellous of "the fairy tales of science" has now to
+engage our attention for a time. The growth and fertilization of the
+seeds--more properly called spores--of ferns, present phenomena of
+remarkable singularity and interest. Growth is advisedly named first, as
+in the present instance it really does occur before fertilization, which
+is not the primary event in the life-history of a fern.
+
+But a few words must be devoted to the preliminary question: What is a
+fern?
+
+The vegetable kingdom is divided into two great provinces, allotted
+respectively to the flowering and the flowerless tribes. The flowering
+plants have several distinct and visible organs for the formation and
+fertilization of their seed, to each of which is assigned a special and
+necessary office. In the flowerless section, on the contrary, there are
+none of these visibly separate agencies in reproduction, and what are
+usually termed the seeds do not show any parts representative of the
+developed product. In the true seeds, which belong to flowering plants
+alone, are contained the rudiments of a stem, leaves, and root, but in
+the spores of the flowerless plants nothing of the kind is found. The
+spores, again, are microscopic, while the smallest of true seeds can be
+not only seen but easily picked up. You have, doubtless, met with the
+peculiar fungus called a puff-ball, and amused yourselves by watching the
+little clouds of impalpable dust which are shaken from it on the
+slightest motion. Those fine clouds, not nearly so visible as a film of
+candle smoke, are composed of innumerable spores, and such are the
+representatives of seeds in every member of the great section of the
+flowerless plants.
+
+Now it is peculiar to ferns, that the cases in which these spores are
+enclosed grow directly from the veins of what is usually called the
+leaf, but is more correctly termed the frond, and always appear upon the
+back or at the margin.
+
+Ferns, then, are flowerless plants which bear their spores in cases
+growing upon the back or margin of the leaves.
+
+In order that the phenomena of growth and fertilization in ferns may be
+clearly understood, it is necessary to refer to the process as taking
+place in flowering plants. The tulip is most appropriate for an
+illustration, inasmuch as its various parts will be recognised with
+ease.
+
+At the bottom of the blossom is a thick green oval body called the
+ovary, which afterwards becomes the seed-vessel. At the top, this
+narrows into a short column, surmounted by a three-cleft knob. Between
+the ovary and the gorgeously painted flower-leaves are six curious
+organs, termed stamens, consisting each of a long and rather slender
+stalk, and a head formed somewhat like a hammer.
+
+If the green oval ovary in the centre is cut in two, it will be found
+divided into three chambers, in one or another of which, not usually in
+all, will be seen a row of little knobs or buttons attached to the
+partition in the middle. These little buttons are ovules, or seed-germs,
+and the special office of the ovary is to produce these germs, and to
+contain them until their full development and complete ripening into
+seeds. But if the knobs are left just as they are, unfertilized, they
+can never become seeds, and the plant will fail to reproduce its kind.
+
+Turn we now to the stamens. Each of their hammer-like heads has two
+chambers, full of beautiful little grains which are called the pollen.
+Each grain is tastefully and delicately marked, and holds a transparent
+watery fluid, in which a number of extremely small solid particles are
+floating. What is required for the fertilization of the seed-germs
+is--that this fluid should be conveyed to and taken up by them. But they
+are in the centre of the thick green ovary--this in the chambers of the
+stamens!
+
+A simple arrangement brings all about. At a certain time we may see the
+black heads of the stamens covered with a fine flour, which adheres to
+whatever touches them. This flour is made up solely of pollen-grains,
+escaping in unimaginable numbers from the chambers where they are
+produced. At the same time the knob which crowns the seed-vessel puts
+forth a thick and gummy ooze. The stamens are just long enough for their
+heads to rise a little above this knob, upon which the pollen, when
+escaping as I have stated, falls in great quantity, and is there held
+fast.
+
+Each grain then begins to swell, and to sprout (as the Rev. J. G. Wood
+has it) something like potatoes in a cellar. All the sprouts, however,
+pierce the knob, and push downwards until they reach the seed-germs
+underneath. Each sprout is a tube of extreme minuteness, and when it
+reaches a germ, attaches itself thereto, and, through the channel so
+formed, the fluid is drawn out of the pollen-grain and absorbed by the
+embryo seed. Fertilization is thus effected, and the growth and
+development of the germ proceeds until it becomes a seed fully able,
+when planted, to reproduce a tulip.
+
+[Illustration: FERN SPORES.]
+
+In ferns, the spores ripen and are ready for dispersion and partial
+growth without any process of the kind. But, in truth, fertilization is
+as necessary to the continuance of ferns as to the perpetuation of other
+plants. The main difference lies in this: that the means of
+fertilization, and the real germs of new plants, are produced from the
+spores after they begin to grow.
+
+When a spore falls upon a proper place for its development, a portion
+of the outer membrane begins to swell, and a tongue-shaped projection is
+formed, which becomes a sort of root. The one chamber of the spore
+gradually subdivides, and becomes two, four, and so on, until for the
+simple spore we have a tiny leaf-like expansion, now known as the
+_prothallium_, or representative of a leaf.
+
+Further than this the spore alone has no power to go, and the
+prothallium is not truly the germ of the future plant. True germs,
+needing fertilization, are produced upon it, and also the means whereby
+they can be fertilized. These can be distinguished only by use of the
+higher microscopic powers. If a portion of the prothallium is examined,
+it will be found studded with little bladders, containing round
+semi-transparent bodies of a greenish hue.
+
+There may also be seen, though in fewer numbers, pellucid cells of an
+entirely different character, consisting apparently only of a fine
+membrane, forming an angular chamber, shaped in some instances like a
+lantern of extreme delicacy and elegance. From the top of this chamber a
+funnel-like shaft descends to a little germ which is situated at the
+bottom. This germ is the real original of the future plant, and the
+round bodies in their little cells, just before described, are the means
+whereby it is to be fertilized and receive energy to develope into the
+perfect fern.
+
+But how can the needful contact between the germs and the fertilizing
+bodies be brought about? Observation and experiment supply a strange
+answer to this question.
+
+The round bodies in the tiny bladders acquire a spiral or shell-like
+form when they become mature. If a drop of water is then placed in
+contact with the bladders, their contents will suddenly escape,
+retaining for a moment the coiled appearance, but quickly lengthening
+and partially unrolling.
+
+By means of hairs with which they are furnished, and which at once
+commence a ceaseless jerking motion, they forthwith launch out into the
+water, and conduct themselves therein more like creatures endowed with
+conscious life than mere organs of a settled and sedate member of the
+vegetable kingdom.
+
+These bodies, drawing near the germ-cells in the course of their travels
+through the, to them, vast ocean of the water-drop, have been seen
+arrested in their progress and passing down the funnel-shafts to the
+germs below--so fulfilling the purpose for which they were designed and
+their curious swimming powers were given.
+
+The germs, so fertilized, become the underground stems of which I have
+yet to speak, putting forth roots and producing the tender, rolled-up
+buds which finally expand into the fronds whose grace and beauty we so
+much admire.
+
+These germs, appearing on the prothallium or leaf-like expansion of the
+spore, are the true representatives of seeds, and the swimming bodies
+correspond to the pollen or fertilizing dust of flowers.
+
+Thus we see that germs and means of fertilization are produced in the
+fern as truly as in higher plants, and that the simple agency whereby
+the one may reach and exert the needful action upon the other, is the
+_dew-drop_ resting on the prothallium from which they are developed.
+Without the dew-drop or the rain-drop as a means of communication both
+must perish with their mission unfulfilled. This is, perhaps, one of the
+most singular instances ever to be found, of the mutual dependency of
+created things, or, to give different expression to the same idea, of
+the mode in which each link of the great network of existence is
+connected with every other.
+
+Returning to the fern, whose "strange eventful history" we have traced
+so far,--the germ enlarges and becomes what is usually called the root,
+but is really an underground stem. The true roots are the little
+fibres--often black and wiry, looking more dead than alive--which
+descend from this.
+
+The stem may be of two kinds--long, thin, and creeping, as in the common
+polypody, or short, stout, and upright, as in the common male fern.
+
+At intervals along the creeping stem, or arranged more or less regularly
+around the crown of the erect stem, little buds appear, which eventually
+form the fronds which are the really conspicuous portion of the plant,
+and whose aspect is familiar to us all. The buds present a character of
+great interest and singularity. Instead of being simply folded together,
+as leaves generally are,--in all but two of our British kinds the fronds
+are rolled up after the fashion of a crosier or shepherd's crook. In
+divided fronds, the sections are rolled up first, and singly, and then
+the whole are rolled up again, as if forming but a single piece. The
+aspect of some of these young fronds--in the common bracken, for
+instance--with their many divisions all partially unrolled, is often
+highly curious.
+
+But in this I am proceeding too far. The first crop of fronds, even in
+those kinds which when mature are most deeply cut, are usually very
+simple in form--almost or wholly undivided.
+
+This fact is often a source of great confusion to beginners. I well
+remember two perplexities of the kind in which I was involved during the
+earlier season of my attention to this subject.
+
+Growing upon a rock by the roadside, I found a small fern, more
+exquisitely beautiful than any I had seen before. I gathered and
+preserved it, but for many months was wholly puzzled as to its nature.
+Fancies arose that I was the happy discoverer of a new species,--and
+what if Professor Lindley or Sir William Hooker were to name it after
+me--Asplenium, or Polystichum, or something else, Meredithii? That would
+be better than a peerage.
+
+These were but fancies, and I was well pleased when further
+experience--for books helped me not at all--showed that it was a young
+plant of the common lady-fern. It was divided once only--into simple
+leaflets--while the fully-developed frond of the matured plant is one of
+the most highly subdivided our islands can produce.
+
+When I began collecting ferns, I had not seen a specimen of the rare
+holly-fern, and it was pardonable in me on finding some fronds which
+evidently belonged to the shield fern genus, and were divided into spiny
+leaflets only, to refer them to this species and tell a friend that I
+had made a great discovery. But on going to the same plant a year later,
+my mistake was made plain, as the new fronds were much more divided, and
+showed the plant to be of the common kind, the prickly shield-fern.
+
+On the rocky sides of little Welsh and Highland rivers, in glens where
+the sunlight seldom enters, complete series of this fern in all its
+stages--from the tiny simple leaf to the deeply-cut and boldly-outlined
+frond of nearly three feet in length--may easily be obtained, and will
+beautifully illustrate its varied and increasingly-divided forms.
+
+Some fronds of course, as those of the graceful hart's-tongue, are
+undivided even at maturity, except in occasional instances in which,
+like creatures endowed with more sentient life, they become erratic,
+and show a disposition to pass beyond the ordinary limitations. Curious
+examples of tendency to a greater than even their proper large amount of
+subdivision are occasionally shown in specimens of the lady-fern, which
+become forked at the extremities not only of the fronds but of the
+leaflets also.
+
+The manner in which the fronds divide into lobes, segments, leaflets,
+and so on, is of course largely dependent upon the character of the
+veining, which differs widely from that of the flowering plants. In
+these, the veins are either netted or parallel, but in ferns they are
+forked, each branch again forking, and so on outward to the margin. This
+is only partially true of the scale-fern, and not true at all of the
+adder's-tongue; but it is the case with all other of our native kinds.
+
+[Illustration: SCALY SPLEENWORT OR "RUSTY BACK."]
+
+Passing now to the production of the spores, and so completing the cycle
+of a fern's existence,--these appear in cases which spring in some
+instances from leafless veins or central ribs, but mostly from the veins
+as they usually occur, and at the back or, in the bristle-fern and
+filmy-ferns, at the margin of the fronds. The cases grow in clusters
+which are termed sori, each of which is generally protected by a
+covering, though in the genus of the polypodies this is entirely absent,
+the clusters being fully exposed to the diversities of wind and weather.
+In the protected kinds, the cover assumes various forms. The filmy-ferns
+have it as a tiny cup, enclosing the spore-cases. In the bladder-fern it
+is like a fairy helmet. The shield-ferns, as their name implies, produce
+it as a little shield, fastened by its centre. In the buckler-ferns it
+is kidney-shaped, in the spleenworts long and narrow, and so on. Some
+kinds can scarcely be credited with the formation of a real cover, but
+their sori are protected by the turned-down margins of the fronds. In a
+few sorts, separate fronds are provided for the production of the
+spores, and these mostly differ in shape from the ordinary or barren
+fronds.
+
+The spore-cases are generally almost microscopic, flask-like in shape,
+and encircled by an elastic ring of peculiar structure, which passes
+either from top to bottom like a parallel of longitude, or round the
+sides like the equator round the earth. The exact nature of this
+band,--whether its elasticity be due to the mechanical arrangement of
+its cells, which are narrower on the inner than on the outer side, and
+apparently filled with solid matter, or to a quality of its
+substance,--I am unable to determine.
+
+[Illustration: WILSON'S FILMY-FERN.]
+
+[Illustration: TUNBRIDGE FILMY-FERN.]
+
+When the spores are fully ripe, and ready for dispersion, the band,
+which has hitherto been bent around them, springs open with great
+suddenness and force, tearing the enclosing membrane and casting them
+forth upon the breeze, to undergo in their turn all the changes we have
+traced, or, as must be the case with multitudes, such are the countless
+numbers in which they are produced, to perish, humanly speaking, with
+all the beautiful possibilities of their nature for ever lost.
+
+The botanist is led away from care, not merely into holes and corners--
+
+ "Brimful dykes and marshes dank"--
+
+but to glorious vales and to mountain tops, where fresh health-laden
+breezes play around him, and he can delight in scenes of grandeur and
+loveliness to a degree which only a true lover of nature knows.
+
+A poet I have read gave sweet expression to thoughts and feelings which
+I have often shared, when he wrote thus:--
+
+ "Oh! God be praised for a home
+ Begirt with beauty rare,
+ A perfect home, where gentle thoughts
+ Are trained 'mid scenes so fair;
+
+ "And where (God grant it so) the heart
+ That loves a beauteous view,
+ The while it grows in truth and taste
+ May grow in goodness too.
+
+ "For 'tis my creed that part to part
+ So clingeth in the soul,
+ That whatsoe'er doth better one,
+ That bettereth the whole.
+
+ "And whoso readeth nature's book,
+ Widespread throughout the earth,
+ Will something add unto his love
+ Of wisdom and of worth."
+
+Happy are those who can find relief from the worry and turmoil of
+business in the observation and study of the myriad forms of life which
+flourish upon the earth, or whose record is laid up within its rocks.
+But blessed is he who, from the contemplation of objects so varied,
+wonderful, and beautiful, can with a full heart look upward to a God
+reconciled in Christ, and in reverential and loving worship exclaim, "My
+_Father_ made them all!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+ On the "War-path."--Rabbit-shooting.--Flapper-shooting.--
+ Duck-shooting.--Wood-pigeons.--Life in an Oak-tree.--
+ Burying-beetles.--Lace-wing Fly.--Stag-beetle.--Hair-worm.
+
+
+It was a curious sight to see the boys on the "war-path." Frank
+generally led the way, with his eyes fixed on the hedge or tree-tops.
+Jimmy followed closely at his heels, and Dick brought up the rear. As
+their eyes were generally too much occupied in looking out for objects
+of interest, to take care of their feet, they lifted the latter up from
+the ground with an action like that of a thorough-bred colt, so as to
+avoid any obstacles in their path. While going along one day in this
+style, Frank said,
+
+"I tell you what we have nearly forgotten, and that is to go
+flapper-shooting."
+
+Flappers are young ducks only just able to fly, and in July it is great
+fun following them along the side of a dyke, the short flights of the
+young ones making them easy shots for a beginner.
+
+"Let us go to-morrow," said Jimmy.
+
+"You two shoot, and I will look on," said Dick, who cared very little
+for shooting.
+
+Dick was not by any means an enthusiastic gunner, as the following
+anecdote will show.
+
+He had taken the gun, saying that he was going to shoot rabbits by the
+Home Copse, a wood which belonged to Mr. Merivale. In a convenient spot
+the boys had fixed a hurdle close by a hedge-bank, and twined some
+brushwood through the bars. Between this and the hedge they used to take
+their seat, and watch for the rabbits coming out of their burrows in the
+evening. On a warm July evening Dick went to this spot alone, with a
+parting injunction from Frank not to shoot at the young ones, but to
+pick out the old bucks. Frank was busy with something or other, and
+Jimmy was away at Norwich. When Frank had finished what he was about he
+went in search of Dick. When he came to the edge of the field at the
+foot of which lay the wood, he saw numbers of rabbits skipping about
+close by Dick's shelter, and after waiting for some time he grew
+impatient, and wondered why Dick did not fire.
+
+[Illustration: WILD RABBITS.]
+
+"He must have fallen asleep," he thought; and so with infinite care and
+cunning he crawled down the hedge-side, and came upon Dick from behind.
+
+"Dick, why don't you shoot?" he said in a whisper.
+
+"Hush!" said Dick, "they look so pretty, I don't like to disturb them.
+Look at the young ones frisking about."
+
+"Give me the gun," said Frank.
+
+Dick passed it to him through the hedge, and Frank, taking aim at two
+fine rabbits which happened to be in a line, shot them dead.
+
+"I have had more pleasure in watching them than you have had in shooting
+them, Frank," said Dick.
+
+It must not be thought that Dick was mawkishly sentimental, but he had
+not the organ of destructiveness that Frank had, and it was, as he said,
+quite as much sport to him to see and watch birds and animals as to
+shoot them. Therefore, when the others went flapper-shooting their order
+of going ranged in this wise:--
+
+Frank, armed with his double-barrelled muzzle-loader (for breech-loaders
+had not yet come into general use), took one side of the dyke, and
+Jimmy, with a single-barrel he had bought second-hand, took the other
+side, while Dick took the punt along the dyke ready to act the part of a
+retriever.
+
+It was one of those still, hot days when the distant woods lie brooding
+in a blue haze. The labours of the breeding-season over, the birds were
+resting silently, and there was no sound but the monotonous hum of
+insect-life. On the wide marshes all objects were distorted by the
+quivering of the evaporating moisture, and the long straight dykes and
+drains gleamed back defiantly at the sun. Frank and Jimmy trudged
+valiantly through the rustling flags and reeds by the water-side, and
+Dick pulled the punt along a little behind them.
+
+"Shooting is no fun this weather," said Frank, stopping to wipe the
+perspiration from his brow.
+
+Just then a wild-duck rose from the reeds, followed by half-a-dozen
+young ones. They rose on Frank's side of the dyke, so it was his turn to
+shoot. He dropped his hat and handkerchief and fired, but in his hurry
+he missed with the first barrel, and Jimmy, fearing they might escape,
+let off his big single, and one of the young ducks fell to the ground
+with a flop which told how fat he was. Frank winged another with his
+second barrel, and it fell into the water, where it was despatched by a
+third shot from Jimmy, who had hastily loaded. The old duck flew far
+away, but the young ones only flew short distances, and then settled on
+the dyke and hid in the reeds, one here and another there; and then for
+an hour or so they had good sport beating about the dykes, and flushing
+them one by one until they had disposed of the whole brood.
+
+"There," said Frank, as he handed the last of them to Dick in the punt,
+"it is too hot to shoot any more to-day. We have done enough to be able
+to say that we have been flapper-shooting, and that is all I care for
+this hot weather."
+
+"I am glad you are leaving off;" said Dick, "that villanous saltpetre
+smoke hangs in the air so that one can see nothing."
+
+"Then let us have a bathe, and leave the ducks until the winter-time,"
+said Jimmy.
+
+"Yes, but we won't leave them quite yet. We must shoot them when they
+come to the corn-fields in August."
+
+[Illustration: WOOD-PIGEON.]
+
+And as we are now writing about wild-duck shooting we will just advance
+a short time in our story, and take a glance at the boys shooting wild
+ducks when the fields are yellow with harvest.
+
+Frank and Jimmy are perched in an oak-tree, which after many years of
+wrestling with the winds and storms, has assumed a very quaint and
+picturesque shape. Its mighty stem is riven and has great hollows in it,
+and its low, wide spreading branches shade more of the field than the
+Norfolk farmer likes. It stands in a hedge which separates the
+corn-field, where the stems are bowing with the weight of the ears and
+are ready for the scythe, from a meadow which slopes down to the marsh
+and the broad.
+
+Frank and Jimmy both have their guns, and Dick has been sent to the
+other side of the field with an old pistol, which he has been charged to
+let off.
+
+"Cock your gun, Dick is raising his pistol," said Frank.
+
+A puff of smoke from out the shadow of the hedge, and a few seconds
+after, a report, show that Dick has fulfilled his mission; and as the
+report reaches them, first come a number of wild-pigeons, which fly past
+with whistling wings. Jimmy fires and brings one to the ground. Frank
+has reserved his fire, and wisely, for with slow and heavy flight come
+four wild ducks right towards the tree. Frank gets two of them in a line
+and fires his first barrel. Two of them fall, and with his second barrel
+he wings another, which Jimmy despatches.
+
+[Illustration: SUSPENDED LEAF-TENTS.]
+
+"Come back to the tree, Dick," shouted Frank, and Dick came back. "Now
+if we wait here a little while, the wild-pigeons will come back, and
+some more ducks may come from the marsh." And so, having loaded their
+guns, they laid them in a hollow and made themselves comfortable, and
+began to chat.
+
+"Did you ever notice how much insect-life there is in an oak-tree?"
+said Dick. "Just watch this branch while I tap it."
+
+He struck the branch as he spoke, and immediately there fell from it
+scores of caterpillars, which let themselves fall by a silken thread,
+and descended, some nearly to the ground, others only a little distance.
+
+"I was reading the other day," said Dick, "of the immense quantity of
+moths which lay their eggs on the oak. There are caterpillars which
+build little houses of bark to live in. Others roll up the leaves and so
+make tents for themselves. Others eat the surface of the leaves, and so
+leave white tracks on their march. Others, when they are frightened,
+will put themselves into such queer postures: they will stretch
+themselves out as stiff as a twig, holding on by one end only, and you
+would think they were twigs; and these, when they walk, loop themselves
+up. They don't crawl like other caterpillars, but have feet only at each
+end, and so they loop up their bodies in the middle till they form the
+letter omega, and then stretch out their heads again and bring up their
+tails with another loop. And then there are cannibal caterpillars, which
+eat other caterpillars. Look at these little spots of bright green. See,
+if I make them fly, they are seen to be pretty little moths with green
+wings. They are called the green oak-moth."
+
+"An oak-tree seems to be a regular city," said Frank.
+
+"Look at this marvellously beautiful fly, with lace-like wings," said
+Jimmy. "What is that?"
+
+"That is a lace-wing fly," answered Dick. "Just put your nose as close
+as you can to it and smell it."
+
+Jimmy did so, and said,--
+
+"Why it is nearly as bad as a stink-horn fungus."
+
+No more ducks came back that day, but three more wood-pigeons fell
+victims to their love of corn, and the boys descended, by and by, and
+walked home.
+
+As they were sitting on a stile, Dick pointed to the carcase of a mole
+which lay on the path, and to two little black beetles with yellow bands
+on their wing-cases, which were crawling over it.
+
+"I think those are burying beetles. Let us watch them. They lay their
+eggs in dead bodies of beasts or birds and then bury them, and the grub
+of the beetle lives on the carcase in its babyhood."
+
+They lay down on the ground by the beetles, watching them. The process
+of egg-laying by the female was just about being completed, and the two
+soon buried themselves in the earth beneath the carcase, and presently
+appeared at one side with a little mound of earth which they had
+excavated from under it. This process was repeated again and again, and
+very slowly the mole began to sink into the ground. The boys watched it
+for nearly an hour, and in that time the mole was about half-buried. One
+observer once kept four of these beetles in a place where he could
+observe them, and supplied them with carcases of small animals and
+birds, and in twelve days they had buried no less than fifty!
+
+[Illustration: LACE-WINGED FLY. (Manner of depositing Eggs.)]
+
+"Have you ever seen those huge stag-beetles with long horny mandibles
+like stag's horns?" said Frank.
+
+"Yes," replied Dick, "I caught one yesterday, and looked up all about
+it in my books. Its caterpillar takes four years to arrive at maturity,
+and it burrows in the wood of oak and willow trees. I showed the beetle
+I caught to our housekeeper, and she nearly went into hysterics over it.
+I tried to make her take it into her hand, and she said she would not
+have done so for 'worlds untold.'"
+
+[Illustration: STAG-HORNED PRIONUS AND DIAMOND BEETLE.]
+
+Frank stooped down to wash his hands in a small pool of water by the
+road-side, and he cried--
+
+"I say, do look here. Here is a living horsehair. Look at it swimming
+about. It ties itself into ever so many knots in a minute, and unties
+them again. Is it a hair-worm?"
+
+"Yes, I have no doubt it is," said Jimmy. "Do you know that I expect
+that the common notion of eels being bred from horsehairs has arisen
+from country people seeing these long worms, and thinking they were
+horsehairs just come to life."
+
+The hair-worm in the first stage of its existence passes its life in the
+body of some tiny animal or insect. Although it lives afterwards in the
+water, yet it will, if put into a dry and hot place, dry up to nothing
+as it were; and then after a long exposure to the heat, if it is put
+into water again, it will swell out and resume its old proportions, and,
+live seeming none the worse for being baked.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+ Purple Emperor.--His Taste for Carrion.--Wood-pecker.--
+ Blue and Small Copper Butterflies.--Buff-tip Moth.--
+ Moths at Ivy.--Strange-looking Caterpillars.
+
+
+One hot August day Frank and his faithful follower Jimmy were strolling
+arm-in-arm along the lanes to call for Dick. Presently they came upon
+him engaged in no very pleasant occupation. Holding his nose with one
+hand, with the other he was drawing along a dead dog by means of a long
+bramble twisted round it. The dog was highly odoriferous, and Frank and
+Jimmy kept at a distance while they asked him what he was doing that
+for.
+
+"I saw a purple emperor butterfly flying round the top of one of the
+oaks in the park. It is impossible to catch it with a net, but I have
+read that these butterflies have a taste for carrion, and will come down
+to it; so I just fished about until I found this dead dog, which I mean
+to lay under the tree as a bait."
+
+"Are you sure it was a purple emperor? They are very rare here," said
+Frank.
+
+"Oh yes, I saw the purple of its wings shining in the sun, and it was so
+large, and it flew about the tops of the oaks, and then flew higher
+still out of sight."
+
+The purple emperor is looked upon as the king of English butterflies. It
+is a large insect, with wings of dark purple bordered with white, which
+vary in colour like the material known as shot silk, and in the sunlight
+gleam most beautifully. The males only have this splendid purple gloss
+on their wings. The females, though larger in size, have wings of a
+dull brown. The purple emperor takes its station at the top of the
+tallest oak and rarely descends to earth. The female is more
+stay-at-home than the male, and is very rarely caught. The insect would
+be far oftener seen than caught if it were not for its habit of
+alighting upon carrion, and collectors take advantage of this low taste,
+and lie in wait for it, and catch it in the act. The caterpillar is a
+plump creature, with a tail running to a point, and a pair of horns or
+tentacles on its head. It is bright green in colour, striped with yellow
+down each side, and it feeds upon the willow. In the south of England
+this butterfly is not uncommon, but as you go north it becomes rarer.
+
+Frank and Jimmy accompanied Dick to the park where the oak-trees were,
+keeping at a respectable distance to windward of him. The carcase was
+deposited beneath the tree where Dick had seen the purple emperor, and
+they sat down behind another tree to wait the course of events. Two
+hours passed away without any sign of the butterfly, but time was no
+object with the boys, who found it pleasant enough to lie on the cool
+grass in the shadow of the oaks, and listen to the murmur of woodland
+sounds. Squirrels and rabbits played about them, and birds fluttered in
+the trees overhead. The cushat uttered her sleepy moan, and then woke up
+and flew away on lazy wing to the corn-fields, whence came the sound of
+the sharpening of scythes. The rattle of the woodpecker tapping the
+hollow trees was the loudest sound which disturbed the silent, broiling
+afternoon. The three friends were stretched on the ground talking
+quietly, and half disposed to doze, every now and then casting glances
+at the dead dog. Suddenly down a lane of sunlight there fluttered a
+shimmering purple thing which settled on the carcase, and stayed there,
+opening and shutting its wings, and sending scintillations of purple
+light through the green shadows.
+
+"There it is!" said Dick excitedly, and he got hold of his net.
+
+"Don't be in a hurry, Dick; wait until it feels secure and gorges itself
+a bit," said Frank.
+
+Dick listened to his sound counsel, and waited as patiently as he could
+for a few minutes, and then he raised his net, and with a single leap
+reached the spot where the carcase lay, and brought the net down over
+dog and butterfly together.
+
+[Illustration: GREEN WOODPECKER.]
+
+"I have got it!" he exclaimed.
+
+"That's right; and you have got a lot of maggots in your net as well,
+and stirred up the stench most tremendously. Make haste and kill the
+butterfly and come away, or you will catch a fever," said Jimmy.
+
+[Illustration: BLUE BUTTERFLY.]
+
+The gorgeous insect having been secured in Dick's collecting box, they
+went off in search of other prey. On a common just beside the wood they
+found abundance of the beautiful blue butterflies, which shone like
+flakes of summer sky, and also the small copper butterfly, which rivals
+the most brightly burnished copper in its sheen. These were playing
+about in the greatest abundance, the small coppers settling on a blue
+flower, or a blue butterfly on a red flower, forming most artistic
+contrasts of colour.
+
+[Illustration: THE HAUNT OF THE PURPLE EMPEROR.]
+
+From its throne on the top of a tall nettle, where it sat fanning the
+air with its black, crimson-barred wings, Dick captured a magnificent
+red admiral, and shortly after another of the same species. Gorgeous as
+the upper surface of the wings of this butterfly is, the under side is
+quite as beautiful in a quieter way, with its delicate tracery of brown
+and grey.
+
+While Dick was setting the butterfly in his box, Frank leaned against
+the trunk of an oak-tree, and as he did so he caught sight of a moth
+which was resting upon it. It was a large thick-bodied moth, and Dick on
+being appealed to said it must be a buff-tip moth, from the large
+patches of pale buff colour at the ends of its wings. Frank said,--
+
+"I should not have seen that moth if my face had not almost touched it.
+Its colour suits the tree-trunk so admirably that it looks just like a
+piece of the rough bark. I suppose it knows that, and rests on the
+oak-tree for safety."
+
+"Yes," said Dick; "I have read that many moths and butterflies are so
+like the substances on which they rest by day, that they can scarcely be
+distinguished from them, and of course there must be a meaning in it.
+The lappet-moth looks exactly like two or three oak-leaves stuck
+together, and its wings are folded in a peculiar manner, so as to keep
+up the delusion. There are caterpillars too which can stiffen themselves
+and stand out on end, so as to look like sticks."
+
+"It is the same with birds'-eggs," said Frank. "Those which are laid on
+the ground without any attempt at concealment are of such a colour that
+you can hardly see them. For instance, take a partridge or pheasant. How
+like their eggs are in colour to the dead leaves of the ditch where they
+nest. The same with the lapwings, and all the plover tribe. Coots and
+water-hens' eggs are so like their nests, that at a little distance you
+cannot tell whether there are eggs in or not."
+
+"I wonder," said Dick, "if birds take any pleasure in the prettiness of
+their eggs. If so (and I don't see why they shouldn't), there is a
+reason why birds which build in bushes and branches of trees should have
+pretty coloured eggs, as they have, and why birds which build in dark
+holes should have white or light-coloured eggs, otherwise they would not
+see them at all."
+
+"That is a very ingenious theory, Dick, and it may have something of
+truth in it," answered Frank.
+
+That night was a still, warm night, and the moths were out in abundance.
+As soon as it became dark they all went out with a dark lantern to hunt
+them, and they were very successful. As they were returning home they
+passed by an old wall covered with huge masses of ivy. Dick going close
+to it said,
+
+"Do look here. There are hundreds of tiny sparkles. What can they be?
+Why, they are the eyes of moths. The ivy is covered with the moths,
+feeding on the flowers. Look how their eyes gleam." And truly it was a
+marvellous sight. When they turned the light of their lantern on them
+they saw that the moths were busy with a curious silent activity, flying
+from flower to flower, sipping their sweets.
+
+"There are so many that I hardly know how to set about catching them,"
+said Dick. "Many of these must be rare and many common."
+
+"Sweep the face of the ivy all over with your net as rapidly as you can,
+and keep them in your net until we get home, and then we can kill and
+pick out all that you want," counselled Frank.
+
+Dick followed his advice, and with a dozen rapid sweeps of his net he
+seemed to have filled it. Closing the net by turning the gauze over the
+ring, they walked quickly back to the boat-house, and carefully closing
+the door and window, they opened the net and let them all out into the
+room, and then caught them singly. In a couple of hours they found that
+they had secured about fifty specimens, comprising twenty different
+species.
+
+During the summer a strange creature which fed on the potato plants had
+much frightened the country people, who thought it a sign of a coming
+plague. It was a large caterpillar, of a lemon-yellow colour, with seven
+slanting violet stripes on each side and a horn on its tail. The people
+in the neighbourhood of Hickling, knowing that Frank and his companions
+were fond of collecting such things, brought some to them, and by this
+means they became possessed of more than thirty specimens. They were the
+larvæ of the death's-head moth, the largest of all our British moths. It
+is remarkable not only for its size, but for two other things, each of
+which is very curious. On its thorax it has a perfect delineation in
+white of a skull, or death's head, with a pair of cross-bones below it.
+In addition to this singular mark, it--and it alone of all our moths and
+butterflies--has the power of making a squeaking noise, which it does
+when it is touched or annoyed. How it makes this noise no one seems to
+know. At least there are so many conflicting opinions that the matter
+may be said to be still in doubt.
+
+The boys fed the larvæ on potato-leaves put in a box in which there was
+placed about six inches of earth. When the larvæ had finished their
+eating, they dived into this earth and turned into the pupæ state. In
+the autumn the perfect moths came out, but only about half of the number
+reached the final stage. The others died in the pupæ state. However,
+Dick had plenty of specimens for his cabinet and for exchange.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+ How to Attract Perch.--Perch-fishing.--Pike.--Good Sport.--
+ Plaster Casts.--Model Eggs.
+
+
+"I say," said Frank, "you remember when the minnows ran at the
+caddis-worms in their transparent cases, but could not eat them?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you know what shoals of perch there are about the broad, and how
+difficult it is to drop upon them, because the water is so shallow and
+clear?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then what would you say to putting a quantity of minnows in glass
+bottles, and sinking them in the broad, in a good place, for two or
+three days? I think a lot of perch would collect together and prowl
+about trying to get at them, and then we could go and catch any quantity
+of them, live baiting with minnows."
+
+This project was agreed to unanimously, and after a day or two, the boys
+were busily engaged in collecting wide glass bottles, or wide-mouthed
+jars, and in fishing for minnows, of which they got a considerable
+number by diverting the current of a brook, and baling the water out of
+a pool in it.
+
+They had managed to obtain about a dozen large glass bottles or jars.
+They filled these with water and put a number of minnows in each, and
+then corked them up, making holes through the corks to admit fresh water
+and air to the prisoners. These bottles and jars were conveyed to a spot
+where perch were in the habit of congregating,--near an island of reeds,
+where the water was about five feet deep, with a fine gravelly bottom
+such as perch delight in. The large shoals of perch which roamed about
+the broad were very often to be met with here, and it was a favourite
+fishing place of the boys.
+
+One Friday night they took the yacht to this spot and moored her there
+in a convenient position, sinking the bottles and jars from six to
+twelve feet distance from her, so as just to be within easy reach of
+their rods. Leaving the yacht there they rowed back in the punt. The
+yacht was pleasanter to fish from than a small boat, and they took her
+there overnight to avoid making a disturbance in the morning.
+
+On the Saturday morning they rowed to the spot in the punt, armed with
+their rods and bait-cans filled with minnows. Getting quietly on board
+the yacht, so as to avoid any concussion of the water, they peered into
+the clear depths. Two of the jars were easily to be seen, and round each
+of them was a circle of perch, or rather several circles, for next to
+the jar were some very large ones with their noses placed against the
+glass. Behind these large perch were others, in circles of gradually
+lessening size, until they came to the very small ones, which were
+there, not so much attracted by the minnows as hanging on of necessity
+to the tails of their elders.
+
+The boys laughed quietly to each other at the success of their
+experiment. They had certainly succeeded in drawing the fish together.
+
+Dick was the first ready. He had baited his hook with a live minnow, the
+hook being run through the skin of its back near the back-fin. As the
+minnow sank through the water, and before the float touched the surface,
+there was a general rush of the perch up towards it. Dick pulled his
+bait out of the way of some small ones which were rushing at it, and
+then the largest of the shoal, a patriarch of about four pounds in
+weight, came hurtling at it, dashing the others to right and left of
+him. The poor minnow made a futile attempt to escape the wide open
+jaws, but it was of no use, and they closed upon it and the hook
+together. Dick struck and hooked the perch, which immediately made a
+spirited rush straight away. On being hooked it had blown the minnow out
+of its mouth, and it was eagerly snapped up by another perch. Dick's
+perch fought very gamely, and Frank and Jimmy forbore to put their lines
+in until it was secured, for fear of fouling. After a very sharp
+struggle Dick drew the perch within reach of a landing-net, which Frank
+slipped under it and lifted it out. It was a beauty, in splendid
+condition, its black bars being strongly marked across its golden
+scales.
+
+[Illustration: PERCH AND GUDGEON.]
+
+Frank and Jimmy now put their lines in, while Dick was rebaiting. In
+less time than you can say "Jack Robinson" they each had a fish on, both
+of them good ones. And now the sport was fast and furious. As fast as
+they put in they had a bite, the perch even following their struggling
+companions to the top of the water as they were being drawn out. The
+very large ones soon grew wary, but the smaller ones, fellows of about
+half to three-quarters of a pound, seemed not to have the slightest
+shyness, and rushed to their fate with the greatest eagerness. The
+floats lay for a very short time on the water before they went under
+with that quick dash which characterizes a perch's bite.
+
+"Here's a gudgeon in the bait-can," said Jimmy. "I will put it on my
+hook and try for a big one. It may be tempting."
+
+He did so and threw it in. Immediately the float went under water with
+such swiftness that he knew he had hold of a big one and he struck, to
+find his rod bending double and his line running rapidly off the reel
+with the rush of a large fish.
+
+"You have got a big one," said Frank. "Let him have line."
+
+Jimmy did so, until the line was nearly off the reel, and then he was
+compelled to give him the butt. The line stood the strain, and the fish
+was turned and came back slowly and sullenly, while Jimmy wound in his
+line. The fish allowed himself to be drawn up close to the yacht, and
+they saw it was a large pike, and then it went off again. This time the
+rush was not so long or strong, and after two or three rushes of
+lessening power, the pike was drawn within reach. Frank unscrewed the
+net and fixed the gaff-head on the stick, hooked Mr. Pike through, and
+hauled him in. It weighed nine pounds. Jimmy was proud of having
+conquered it with a light rod and line not very well adapted for
+pike-fishing.
+
+[Illustration: PIKE.]
+
+Towards noon the wind began to rise, and as the clearness of the water
+was then destroyed by the ripple, the big perch lost their caution in
+consequence. The small ones now left off biting, possibly beginning to
+see that it was not a profitable occupation. Presently the sport
+altogether grew slack, and as it was then three o'clock, and the boys
+had been too busy to eat anything, they left off for lunch. After lunch
+Frank said,--
+
+"I am sated with slaughter; and as there is such a nice breeze, let us
+sail about the broad."
+
+"Frank would give up anything for sailing," said Dick laughing, as he
+put away his tackle.
+
+I forget how many fish they really got that day, but I know that both
+number and weight were very great indeed.
+
+They took up the jars and bottles the next morning when the water was
+clear and still, and released the prisoners which had done them such
+good service.
+
+It was worth while preserving a memento of a four-pound perch, and as it
+was a pity to spoil it for eating by skinning, it was resolved to make a
+plaster-cast of it, and this was done in the following manner:--
+
+They bought some plaster-of-paris and mixed it with water until it
+became a thin paste. This they poured into a box, and when it began to
+set they laid the fish on its side in it, so that exactly one half of it
+was covered by the plaster. The fish had first been well oiled, so that
+the scales should not adhere to the mould. When the plaster was set and
+hard the fish was taken carefully out. Several holes about an inch deep
+were then bored in the plaster round the imprint of the fish. The
+plaster-cast was then well oiled, the fish laid in it, and more plaster
+poured in, until the fish was covered. When this in its turn had become
+hard it was taken off, and both sides of the fish were now represented
+in the mould. The holes which had been bored in the first mould, now had
+corresponding projections in the second mould. This was to insure
+accuracy of fit when the pieces were put together for the final cast. A
+hole was then bored through one side of the mould. The interior of it
+was well oiled, the pieces fitted together, and liquid plaster poured in
+through the hole. In a couple of hours the moulds were separated, and a
+perfect cast of the fish was the result. This Mary painted in
+water-colour to imitate the natural fish, and the final result was very
+creditable to all concerned.
+
+While upon the subject of plaster casts, I must mention an occupation
+which the boys resorted to in the winter-time. Their collection of
+birds' eggs was almost as perfect as they could hope to make it for many
+years to come, but at Frank's suggestion they added to it, for
+additional perfection, a representation of the egg of every British
+bird. They made these eggs of plaster and coloured them very carefully,
+and varnished them with white of egg. These artificial eggs could not
+have been distinguished from real ones as they lay in the cabinet, but
+each egg was marked with a label, signifying that it was only a model. I
+recommend this plan to all students of ornithology.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+ Eel-fishing.--Setting the Nets.--Elvers.--The Merivale Float.
+
+
+One autumn day, when the ground was red with fallen leaves and the
+landscape was sodden with wet, the boys were busy in the boat-house with
+some of their numerous occupations, when the conversation turned upon
+eels and eel-fishing,--how that eels bred in the sea, and in the spring
+myriads of tiny eels came up the rivers; when the river was wide,
+ascending it in two columns, one by each bank, so thick together that
+you might scoop them out in bucketfuls,--and how, when they met with any
+obstruction, such as a weir or flood-gate, they will wriggle themselves
+over it; and it often happens that where it is dry they stick fast to
+it, and their companions make their way over them, and leave them to
+perish. In the autumn, too, the eels migrate to the sea in vast numbers,
+and are caught by means of nets placed across the river. Jimmy said,--
+
+"I say, Frank, do you remember all those eel-nets we saw by Horning?
+They will be in full work now. I vote we sail down next Friday night and
+see them in operation."
+
+"Very well," said Frank, "I don't think we could do better. We will get
+a half-holiday on Friday, so as to be there in good time."
+
+Friday was wet and stormy, and the boys consulted as to the advisability
+of going. Frank said,--
+
+"Let us go, as we have fixed to go. It may clear up, and if it does not,
+it doesn't much matter. We are used to getting wet, and it won't hurt
+us."
+
+The others agreed; so taking in all the reefs in their sails, they
+started across the broad, while the wind howled, and the rain beat with
+blinding force against their faces. The sky was murky with driving
+masses of black cloud, and the lake was lashed into angry waves.
+
+"This is a nice sort of day for a pleasure excursion," said Dick, as he
+placed his hat more firmly upon his head and turned his back to the
+wind.
+
+"Yes," said Frank. "Do you go into the cabin. I can manage the tiller
+and mizen, and Jimmy will take his turn at the main-sheet, and then you
+can have a spell by and by."
+
+"Oh no, I am not going to shirk it," replied Dick.
+
+They struggled across the broad, and into the Hundred Stream, and before
+very long they reached its junction with the Bure, and brought up under
+the lee of a sort of rough cabin which was built there. There was a bare
+spot among the reeds and there, upon a wooden framework, hung the
+eel-nets, which two or three men were busy putting in order. When the
+yacht was made snug, Frank went up to them and said,--
+
+"We have come, hoping you will let us see how the eel-nets are worked;
+but I am afraid we have chosen a very bad night."
+
+"No, you have come the very best night you could have picked, sir,"
+answered one of the men. "There is no moon, and the water is rising. The
+eels always run more freely when the night is dark and stormy."
+
+"Oh, then we are in luck's way after all," said Frank to his companions.
+
+"We shall be setting the nets directly, sir, and you had better come
+with us in your punt."
+
+"All right, we will."
+
+The eel-nets were like huge bags, large at one end, and narrowing
+rapidly. The mesh at the large end was about two inches in diameter, but
+it quickly lessened until it was so small that a minnow could not have
+got through it. The mouth of the net was made sufficiently wide to
+stretch across the river, and, in order to keep the body of it
+distended, wooden hoops were placed at intervals down it. To each hoop
+inside the net was attached an inner circle of net, which narrowed to a
+small opening, like the principle on which some mouse-traps are
+constructed, so that the eels having passed through the narrow inlet
+could not find the way back again. The end portion of the net,
+comprising the last four hoops, is made in a separate piece or pocket,
+and is only fastened to the net when it is fishing. The juncture is
+marked with a rope and buoy.
+
+The men now fastened a heavy chain along one half of the lower side of
+the mouth of the net. This was the side which was to lie along the
+bottom of the river, and the chain was to keep it down. The net was now
+taken on board the boat, and the men rowed a little way down the river,
+followed by the crew of the _Swan_. The net was put out so that the base
+rested on the bottom. Heavy weights were fixed at the two bottom corners
+of the net, and the two top corners were tied to posts fixed by the side
+of the river. The men now sounded with a pole, to see that the chain lay
+across along the bottom. While they did so the boat heeled over so much
+that Dick said,--
+
+"Another inch and the stream would be over the gunwale, and those
+fellows would be pitched into the net and drowned."
+
+The net was now pulled out far down the river, and the pocket tied on,
+and then it was left to itself.
+
+"Don't the wherries ever do any damage to the nets?" asked Jimmy.
+
+"Sometimes, sir; but they know where they are set, and they takes care
+where they put their quants if they be quanting; and if they be sailing
+they pass over the nets without doing them any harm."
+
+After this they set another net lower down, and then they returned to
+the hut, and, sitting by the peat fire, they had some hot tea, and
+waited for an hour, knowing that the eels were rushing down stream, and
+into the nets.
+
+The wind howled dismally over the marshes, and the rain hissed on the
+water.
+
+"It's lonesome work, sir," said one of the men to Frank, who had drawn
+nearer the fire with a shudder.
+
+"Yes; does it pay?"
+
+"Pretty well at times, sir. This is what we should call a very fine
+night for our work, as the eels run so much better than they do on a
+calm night. It will make some pounds difference to us."
+
+"What do you do with the eels?"
+
+"Some we sells at Norwich and Yarmouth, but the most part goes to London
+or Birmingham. The Black Country men are very fond of a nice rich eel;
+but come, sir, it is time to take up the first net now."
+
+They went down the black river again, until they came to the buoy which
+marked the pocket, or "cod," as it is technically termed, of the net.
+This was hauled up and detached from the rest of the net. It was very
+heavy and full of eels, which were wriggling about in a black slimy
+mass. They put the mouth of the cod over a basket which was smaller at
+the top than at the bottom, so that the eels could not crawl out, and
+poured them into it.
+
+There were about thirty pounds weight of eels, the major part being
+about a pound weight each, but some were two or three pounds in weight.
+The cod was then tied on to the net again and lowered, and the next net
+was visited in the same way, and found to contain about the same
+quantity of eels.
+
+The nets were first laid about seven o'clock, and first taken up about
+eight, and at intervals of an hour through the night the nets were
+visited, and about the same quantity of eels taken from them each time.
+This lasted up to half-past one o'clock, and then there was a great
+falling off.
+
+"They have pretty well stopped coming down now, sir. We can leave the
+nets and go and have some sleep. The nets will hold all the eels which
+will get into them by the morning."
+
+"Did you ever meet with any accident while eel-fishing?" asked Dick.
+
+"I have only seen one, sir; but that was a bad one. It was the year
+before last, and my mate had had a drop too much, and he overbalanced
+himself and fell overboard into the net, and the stream carried him down
+it before I could catch hold of him. There was no one to help me, and
+before I could get the heavy net ashore he was dead. It was a fearful
+thing, and I have thought of it many a time since. I used to be fond of
+a glass myself at that time, but I have never touched a drop since."
+
+"Did you ever see the little eels coming up the river in the spring?"
+asked Jimmy, to change the subject.
+
+"Oh, you mean the elvers. Ay, and more's the pity! the people catch tons
+of them to feed the pigs with. If they would let them alone, they would
+be worth a good many pounds to some one in the autumn," answered the
+man.
+
+[Illustration: EELS.]
+
+"If the eels breed in the sea, Frank," said Dick, "what do the eels do
+which cannot get to the sea,--those which live in ponds?"
+
+"Make the best of it, I suppose, like sensible beings," answered Frank.
+
+"Do you often have such a good night as this?" asked Jimmy.
+
+"No, not very often. You see, we want so many things together--wind,
+rain, rising water, and no moon."
+
+After the morning dawned the nets were taken up for the day. Besides
+eels they contained a quantity of miscellaneous matter, such as a dead
+dog, sticks, weeds, old boots, a bottle or two, and various other refuse
+which the stream had brought down.
+
+The eels had been put overnight in the well of the boat, and now the men
+proceeded to sort them, separating the big ones (for which they received
+a larger price) from the small ones.
+
+In order to do this they constantly dipped their hands in sand, for the
+eels were slippery customers.
+
+The rain had ceased, but the day was dull and dreary, and the _Swan_
+sailed home early, her crew satisfied with the glimpse they had had of
+how eels were caught for profit.
+
+In the afternoon they sailed about the broad in order to try a new float
+which Frank had invented for pike-fishing. They had been accustomed to
+trail their spinning baits after the yacht as they sailed about, but the
+wake left by the yacht generally disturbed the fish, so that they had to
+let out a very long line before they could catch anything, and the line
+then became fouled in the weeds. Now Frank had invented a float which
+did away with this drawback. You may have noticed how, when towing a
+boat with the tow-rope fastened a few feet from the bows, she will sheer
+out from you. It occurred to Frank to adapt the same principle to a
+float, so he cut a piece of deal a quarter of an inch thick, eight
+inches long, and four wide, pointed at both ends. To one side of this he
+attached a keel four inches deep, leaded along the bottom. This side was
+painted green, and the other white. To a point about one-third of the
+way from one end of this float was attached a rough line. To the other
+was fastened a shorter length of line with a spinning trace attached.
+When this float was laid in the water with the keel side undermost, and
+set in motion, it sheered out, and as the yacht sailed along and the
+reel line was payed out, the float swam along in a parallel course with
+the yacht, and as far out as they chose to let out line. It then passed
+over undisturbed water, and a great change was soon observed in the
+increased number of pike taken by the help of this float. They
+christened it the "Merivale float," and they were so pleased with its
+success as to have a dim idea of taking out a patent for it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+ Hawking.
+
+
+The training of the hawks was a source of great amusement to the boys.
+They obtained Stonehenge's _British Rural Sports_ from Sir Richard
+Carleton's library, and studied the article on hawking. They found a
+sparrow-hawk was called a short-winged hawk, because its wings do not
+reach so far as the end of its tail, while a kestrel is a long-winged
+hawk, its wings reaching as far as the end of its tail. As a general
+rule, long-winged hawks are much better than short-winged ones for
+hawking purposes, but the sparrow-hawk is braver and better than the
+kestrel. Their hawks being from the nest, and not caught by a trap, were
+_eyasses_. Before they could fly they were _branchers_, and being reared
+at liberty they were _hack-hawks_. The training of a hawk is called its
+_reclaiming_, Fig. 3 _a_ and _b_, when it sleeps it _jouks_, its prey is
+its _quarry_, when it strikes it is said to _bind_. When it soars and
+then descends upon its quarry it _swoops_, when it flies straight after
+it it _rakes_. It is sent off by a _whistle_, and brought back by a
+_lure_.
+
+These are only a few of the technical terms peculiar to hawking.
+
+The hood, Fig. 1 and 2, which one sees so conspicuously on the heads of
+hawks in pictures of the sport in the olden time is not necessary in the
+case of the short-winged hawks, and the great object was to make the
+hawks as tame as possible. This the boys accomplished by continually
+handling them and being with them, especially at feeding-time. Around
+each foot of the bird they tied a soft strap of leather to correspond to
+a _jesse_, Fig. 4 _a b_. To these were attached some little bells _e e_,
+which they took off some children's toys. The jesses had also a loop
+_b_, to which was fastened when required a _leash_, Fig. 5, or long
+cord, which prevented the birds from flying away while training. They
+had perches with cross-bars made for the hawks, and set up at one end of
+the boat-house, and underneath it a tray containing a quantity of sand
+and a bowl of water. In a couple of months the hawks were quite tame,
+and then the boys proceeded to train them for sport. Every time they
+were fed the meat was attached to a lure, Fig. 6, which was a lump of
+cork with a bunch of cock's feathers attached to it. This was thrown up
+into the air at gradually increasing distances, and at the same time one
+of the boys, having the hawk ready perched on his wrist (which was
+protected by strong gloves such as hedgers and ditchers use), let her
+loose with a shrill whistle, and she was allowed to fly the length of
+her leash and seize the lure and the food. In a remarkably short time
+the birds would not only fly to the lure with alacrity, but wait until
+the boys came up and took them away again. When they had attained this
+pitch of perfection the rest was easy, and the leash was dispensed with.
+Then a dead bird or rabbit was fixed to the lure, and at last, one fine
+October day, it was resolved to try the hawks at real game.
+
+[Illustration: APPARATUS USED IN HAWKING.]
+
+"What shall we try them at first?" said Dick.
+
+"I was thinking that the best way would be to take the yacht and coast
+about the reeds, and try them first at the water-hens and coots. I am so
+afraid of someone shooting them if we take them into the meadows. If we
+cannot manage them with the yacht on the water, we will take them on the
+drained marshes," answered Frank.
+
+"I hope they will not disappoint us," said Jimmy, "for they have given
+us a great deal of trouble to train."
+
+"They have had very little to eat this morning, so I think they will fly
+at anything we show them, but it will be a sell if we lose them the very
+first try."
+
+There was just a light breeze on the broad, which enabled them to sail
+quietly about. Frank took the helm, for sailing was to him the greatest
+of all enjoyments, and Dick and Jimmy stood in the bows, Dick with a
+hawk on his wrist, ready to be flown as soon as they caught sight of
+anything worth flying at. Frank steered the _Swan_ so that she just
+brushed along the reeds, which were brown and dry, and had thinned fast
+under the keen October breezes.
+
+"There is a water-hen in the reeds, just before us," said Jimmy. "Drive
+the yacht a little further in."
+
+Frank did so, and the water-hen flew out over the broad, her legs
+dipping in the water.
+
+"Let her have a little law," cried Frank. "Now then!"
+
+With a loud whistle Dick let the hawk slip. She rose rapidly in the air,
+over the water-hen, and then swooped. The water-hen instantly dived. The
+disappointed hawk curved up again, just touching the surface of the
+water with her breast. She rose about twenty feet in the air and swooped
+around in small circles, her head turning this side and that, watching
+for her quarry. The course of the water-hen under water was marked by a
+line of bubbles, and Frank kept close behind her, letting the wind out
+of his sails in order not to overtake her and so cause her to double
+back. Soon she rose again to the surface, but ere the hawk, quick as she
+was, could reach her, she had dived again. In this manner, the water-hen
+rising to the surface to breathe and the hawk swooping unsuccessfully,
+they ran across the broad to a reed-bed, where the pursued bird remained
+under water so long that they knew she was holding on to the weed by her
+claws, with only her beak above water, as is the habit of these birds.
+After a little searching about they saw her yellow beak protruding above
+a mass of weeds. Seeing that she was discovered, she flew up uttering a
+despairing croak. Down came the sparrow-hawk with lightning swiftness,
+and struck her in the air, and they both fell into the reeds. The boys
+forced their way to them and the hawk allowed Dick to approach and take
+her in his hand. He cut off the head of the water-hen, and gave it to
+her to eat in the cabin, while they brought the other hawk for the next
+flight.
+
+"Well," said Frank, "that was as successful a flight as we could desire.
+There goes a water-rail. Let the hawk go."
+
+With a sharp scream the hawk dashed off in pursuit of it, and without
+troubling itself to soar, it struck the water-rail, and, bearing it away
+in its talons, it flew off to a dyke where a wherry was moored, her crew
+having gone ashore, and perched on the top of the mast, where it began
+to pick at and tear the bird.
+
+"What's to be done now?" said Jimmy.
+
+"We must try the lure," answered Frank, and taking it up he whistled and
+threw it in the air. The hawk dropped the water-rail and flew down to
+the lure and suffered herself to be taken. As a reward, she was allowed
+to have its head, and the other hawk was again taken out.
+
+"There is a coot swimming along yonder. Let her fly at it," cried Jimmy.
+
+As the hawk launched into the air, however, a sandpiper flew out from
+among the reeds, and the hawk instantly followed it. It was a very
+pretty sight to see the twistings and turnings of the two birds as they
+dashed across the broad with equal speed. Frank took a pull at the sheet
+so as to catch the wind, and followed them as fast as he could. The hawk
+had risen above the sandpiper, and was about to swoop down upon it, when
+the latter, to the surprise of the boys, dashed into the water and
+dived.
+
+"Only fancy a bird with no webs to its feet diving," said Frank.
+
+The sandpiper remained under water some time, and when it arose, which
+it did with great apparent ease, the sail of the yacht hid it from the
+hawk's sight, and it flew away unmolested. As they sailed along on the
+look-out for other prey, the hawk hung in the air above them, and
+followed, or, as it is technically called, "waited on," them in the most
+beautiful manner.
+
+The birds on the broad now seemed to be aware that a hawk was about, and
+kept close to the shelter of the reeds, so that the broad seemed quite
+deserted. At last, however, a coot swam out, and the hawk made a feint
+at it but did not strike it, and the coot swam coolly away.
+
+"Why the hawk is a coward," said Jimmy.
+
+"No, she is only cautious. You see, if she were to strike it on the
+water it would dive, and as it is a strong bird it would carry her
+under. That is the difficulty we shall meet with if we hawk on the
+water," said Frank, "and if we go on the land someone is sure to shoot
+the hawks."
+
+They called the hawk in by means of the lure, and sailed up a dyke,
+meaning to land and try the marshes and the low drained ground in their
+vicinity. They landed, and, Dick taking one hawk and Frank the other,
+they proceeded along a narrow drain in the hope of flushing some more
+water-hens.
+
+"Quick," cried Frank, "and crouch down behind these reeds. I can see a
+couple of wild-ducks coming towards us."
+
+They threw themselves on the ground, and soon the whirring of wings in
+the air told them that the ducks were coming straight towards them. On
+they came, within ten feet of the ground, and when they perceived the
+boys they turned off at a tangent with a loud quack. Both hawks were let
+go, and rising well in the air, one of them made a swoop on the hindmost
+duck and struck it, but did not lay hold. The duck swerved under the
+blow, but held on its course. Then while the one hawk mounted, the
+other, in its turn, swooped and struck the duck, so that it fell nearly
+to the ground. The boys ran along after the hawks and their quarry, and
+shouted to encourage the former. Then both hawks made a simultaneous
+swoop, and struck the duck to the ground.
+
+As the hawks were taken from the duck, they showed some impatience and
+signs of anger, so Frank said,--
+
+"I say, they have done enough for to-day. We had better feed them, and
+tie them up."
+
+They accordingly gave them the head of the duck and the entrails of all
+the birds they had killed, and put them in the cabin, and then commenced
+to fish for pike. In the course of the day they caught seven, none of
+them over six pounds in weight; and then, when the western sky was
+agleam with the pink and green of sunset, they ran the yacht into the
+reeds while they put up their tackle. The wind had fallen to the
+faintest of zephyrs, which was only indicated by sudden shoots of light
+across the broad. The air was still, with a mellow October stillness,
+and flocks of starlings were wheeling in the air with unbroken
+regularity of rank and file, now on edge and nearly invisible; and then
+broadside on, and seeming as if suddenly nearer; and then settling in
+the reeds, where during the night they roost in vast numbers.
+
+The boys stood there talking until the gloaming was spreading rapidly
+over the broad, and then they made preparations for going.
+
+They had not secured the hawks, and the cabin-door had swung open.
+
+"There goes one of our hawks," cried Jimmy, as it floated out with a
+triumphant scream over the marsh.
+
+"Quick! get out the lure!" said Frank.
+
+But the lure was not needed. A twittering commenced among the reeds, and
+grew louder and more clamorous; and soon, with a noise like thunder, a
+crowd of starlings rose from their resting-places, and after a
+preliminary circle in the air they closed upon the hawk and began to mob
+her, screaming the while most vociferously. The hawk struck three of
+them down in succession, but her assailants were too many for her, and
+she turned tail and flew back to the yacht, where she allowed Frank to
+capture her, while the starlings whirled away and settled in the reeds
+once more.
+
+As they sailed back, Frank said,--
+
+"Now that our hawks are trained so beautifully we shall have good sport
+with them."
+
+But he was doomed to be disappointed. Two days after they took them into
+the open country, and a rabbit darting out of a tuft of grass, they flew
+one of the hawks at it. It struck the rabbit, and clung to it while it
+ran into its burrow, and the noble bird was killed by the shock. The
+boys were very much grieved at this, and resolved not to fly the other
+hawk at four-footed game. While they were crossing Sir Richard
+Carleton's land they flushed a solitary partridge, which appeared to
+have been wounded, and flew slowly. It had doubtless been left behind by
+its more active companions. They let the hawk fly, and it followed the
+partridge around the corner of a plantation. The report of a gun
+followed, and, running up, they found their worst apprehensions
+realized. The hawk had been shot dead by one of two gentlemen, who, with
+a couple of dogs, were out shooting. They were guests of Sir Richard's,
+and when they found the hawk was a tame one they were very profuse in
+their apologies. The boys did not care to make very civil replies, but
+walked quietly and sadly away.
+
+Their cup of bitterness was for the time full.
+
+"So ends our hawking," said Frank as they separated.
+
+"Yes; this is the unluckiest day we have had yet," answered Jimmy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+ Heron-hawking.--Great Bustard.--Stock-dove in Rabbit-hole.--
+ "Dowe" Dogs.--Search for Bustards' Eggs.
+
+
+The boys were to see a little more hawking. One of the gentlemen who
+shot their hawk was kind enough to give them an invitation to spend a
+few days at his house near Thetford, with the promise that he would show
+them some hawking carried on in the good old fashion, and with splendid
+hawks brought from Iceland. A neighbour of his cultivated hawking, and
+spared no expense in the noble pastime.
+
+The boys debated some time whether they should accept this invitation or
+not. Frank was still sore about the loss of his hawks, and hardly cared
+to see others more successful than himself, but Dick said,--
+
+"Don't be selfish, Frank. When you see the sport you will forget all
+about our loss; and besides, the invitation is meant kindly, and we
+ought not to refuse it out of pique."
+
+Frank saw the wisdom of this, and so one fine November day they found
+themselves in company with their host, walking across the immense tract
+of common, or warren, which lies between Thetford and Brandon. They were
+on their way to "the meet." On a knoll where a single fir-tree raised
+its red stem in the wintry sunlight were assembled a number of ladies
+and gentlemen, some on horseback, and some on foot. Two men came up
+bearing square frames, on which were the hawks, large falcons, which had
+been brought at great expense from Holland and Iceland. They were
+hooded, and the hoods were gaily decorated with tassels and feathers.
+
+"What are they going to fly the hawks at?" asked Dick. "They won't waste
+the energy of such magnificent birds as those on rabbits and plovers,
+and I see nothing else about."
+
+"They expect some herons will pass over on their way from their
+feeding-grounds to the heronry," said Frank.
+
+[Illustration: COMMON HERON.]
+
+Presently the company moved forwards, as a speck on the distant horizon
+told of the probable approach of their quarry. As it came nearer it
+proved to be a heron, and its flight was directed straight towards them,
+and at no great distance from the ground. When the advancing bird came
+within one hundred yards of the group, it seemed to think there might be
+some danger awaiting it, and it swerved aside continuing its course so
+as to pass them on one side. Two of the hawks were unhooded, and the
+noble birds, catching sight of their quarry, launched into the air in
+pursuit of it. When the heron saw the hawks it uttered a cry, and
+immediately rose in the air and soared to a great height. The meaning of
+this was apparent when the hawks, instead of attacking it on a level
+with themselves, circled up with great swiftness, and tried to rise
+above the heron, so that they might swoop down upon it. The heron rose
+with outstretched neck, and wings which moved with great swiftness, in
+spite of their size; but the hawks still soared and soared in wide
+circles, and the party below rode and ran keeping as nearly as possible
+under the birds. The hawks had now risen above the heron, but still they
+went on circling higher and higher, until they were mere specks in the
+sky. Then they suddenly grew large as they swooped down, and the heron
+gave another cry, and half turned on his back as they struck him almost
+simultaneously, and hawks and heron fluttered down a struggling mass to
+the ground. The hawks were taken off and hooded, and after a short
+interval another heron came in sight, and the other two hawks were flown
+at it.
+
+When the sport was over, Frank got hold of one of the warreners who had
+come to see it and asked him if he had ever seen any great bustards
+about the warren, or the adjacent fens.
+
+"Oh, ay, sir, when I was a lad many and many a one have I seen, but now
+I have not seen one for more than three years. They be almost killed out
+of the land now. One is to be seen every two or three years, but it is
+always shot or trapped."
+
+"What sort of a bird is a great bustard?" asked Dick.
+
+"It is a game bird as large as a full-sized turkey, and far better
+eating. There used to be droves of them on the fens and the warrens, but
+they were shot and trapped right and left. I mind when I was a boy I
+have seen as many as twenty together on a warren, and then the warreners
+used to set a battery of guns, and have a long string fastened to all
+the triggers. Maybe the string was half a mile long, and then the men at
+work on the warrens, or the marshes, had orders to pull the string when
+they saw the bustards within reach of the guns. They used to stalk them
+by walking on the off-side of a horse, and, keeping it between them and
+the bustards, walk round and round until they came within shot."
+
+The warrener was a very intelligent man, and he told them much about the
+habits of this noble bird, which is now nearly extinct in England.
+
+"Have you ever found its nest?" asked Jimmy.
+
+"Yes, when I was a lad I found two or three. The eggs were good eating,
+so we took them, and as they were big eggs and laid on the ground, it
+was easy enough to find their nests if you knew where to look."
+
+"I suppose you haven't got any of their eggs now?" said Frank.
+
+"No, sir, I haven't; but I have a notion that two or three years ago I
+saw two or three of their eggs in a cottage somewhere over yonder."
+
+[Illustration: GREAT BUSTARD.]
+
+He pointed to the western sky, but to the boys' eyes no cottages were
+visible; and upon their asking him for further information, he told them
+that beyond a ridge of trees which crested a warren were some half-dozen
+cottages, and he thought it was in one of those that he had seen
+bustards' eggs, but he was not at all sure.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?" asked Dick, pointing to the mouth of a
+rabbit-hole which was barred in with sticks like a cage. Inside the
+sticks were the feathers and part of the skeleton of a stock-dove.
+
+The warrener replied,--
+
+"The doves breed in the rabbit-holes, and we warreners keep a 'dowe'
+dog, which will tell us at once what holes have nests in them; and then,
+when the young ones are almost ready to fly, we fasten them in the
+burrow with sticks, just like that, and the old ones feed the young ones
+through the bars, and when the young ones are fit to eat we kill them. I
+suppose the man who fastened that burrow in forgot where it was, or the
+young one died before it was worth eating."
+
+[Illustration: DOVES.]
+
+The boys now had to go back with their host, who, by the way, made them
+so comfortable that they forgave him for shooting their hawk.
+
+The next day found the boys approaching the cottages where the warrener
+told them the bustards' eggs might be found.
+
+"Now," said Frank, as they stopped under the lee of the wood, "let us
+have a consultation. How had we better go to work? If we show them that
+we have come specially for the eggs they will ask too great a price for
+them. I vote we go and ask for a drink of water, and then praise the
+children, if any, and so get into conversation; and then ask in an
+incidental way about the bustards."
+
+This seemed the proper way of going to work, so they appointed Frank
+spokesman, and then marched up to the nearest cottage. A woman opened
+the door to them, and peeping in, they saw behind her half-a-dozen
+children, all young.
+
+"Can you give us a drink of water, ma'am?" said Frank, in his politest
+tone.
+
+"Oh yes, sir," answered the woman with a curtsey. "Won't you step
+indoors. But wouldn't you like a cup of milk better than water?"
+
+"Thank you, very much," replied Frank. "But what nice little children
+you have got," and he patted one on the head.
+
+"Lovely," said Jimmy enthusiastically, and picking out the cleanest he
+kissed it.
+
+"Well, sir," answered the woman with a smile, "they be as healthy as
+most, and as fine I dare say, but they are a great deal of trouble."
+
+"Ah, I have no doubt they are," replied Frank sympathizingly; and as he
+spoke his eyes were wandering about, looking at the ornaments on the
+chimney-piece to see if any eggs were there; but nothing of the kind was
+to be seen.
+
+"This is a fine open country, ma'am."
+
+"It is that, sir," she said.
+
+"And plenty of rabbits and plovers about."
+
+"There are that, sir."
+
+"Have you ever seen any bustards about?"
+
+"No, I have heard tell of them, but it was before my time."
+
+"And I suppose you have never seen any nests or eggs?"
+
+"No, sir, never; but my little boy has some throstle's eggs, if so be as
+you would like to have them."
+
+"No, thank you," said Frank; and thanking her for the milk, and
+bestowing a small coin on one of the children, the boys made their exit.
+
+"It is your turn to do the next kissing, Dick," said Jimmy.
+
+"All right," replied Dick cheerfully.
+
+The cottages lay at some little distance apart, and they visited them
+all in turn, but with the like ill success. Then, as they were thinking
+of giving it up as a bad job, they espied another small cottage in a
+little hollow, by a well.
+
+"Let us try this, for the last one," said Frank.
+
+"Very well," said Jimmy "but pray, don't ask for any more to drink. I
+have the best intentions in the world, but I really cannot find room for
+any more."
+
+Beside the cottage was a silvery-haired old man, mending a broken
+paling. Frank went straight at it this time.
+
+"Good morning."
+
+"Good morning, sir," replied the man, touching his hat.
+
+"Have you ever seen any bustards' eggs?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I have two in the house. Would you like to see them?"
+
+"We should."
+
+"Then step in, sirs. I can give 'ee a glass of good nettle beer."
+
+Jimmy groaned inwardly at the mention of the beer, but the sight of the
+eggs upheld him.
+
+"Here they be, sir," said the old man, taking down two brown eggs with
+rusty spots on them, off the chimney-piece. "I took them myself out of
+the nest in yon fen when I was a lad."
+
+"Will you sell them?"
+
+"Ay, sure. It be a wonder how they come not to be broken, for I have
+taken no particular heed of them."
+
+"What will you take for them?"
+
+"What you likes to give, sir."
+
+"I would rather you would fix your own price."
+
+"Well, then, if you give me a shilling, I shall be fain."
+
+"No, no, they are worth more than a shilling. We cannot afford to give
+you what you would get in London for them, and it is only fair to tell
+you so, but we will give you half-a-crown apiece for them."
+
+"I shall be very glad to have that much for them, sir, if you think they
+are worth it to you."
+
+So the bargain was concluded, and the boys became the happy possessors
+of these rare eggs.
+
+I have just been reading, in the _Field_ a very interesting account of
+the appearance of a great bustard in Norfolk. A gentleman there was told
+by one of his men that he had seen a "wonderful cur'us bird like a
+pelican," in a wild part of the fen. The gentleman at once went to look
+at it, and being a naturalist, he was much delighted to find that it was
+a bustard, and observation through a telescope told him that it was a
+cock bird. He gave strict orders that it was not to be shot, and that
+any prowling gunner found on his land was to be consigned without
+ceremony to the bottom of the nearest dyke. Then he sent for well-known
+naturalists from Cambridge and elsewhere, to come and watch the motions
+of the bird. It was feeding in a lonely part of the fen, in a patch of
+cole seed, and, each man being armed with a telescope of some sort or
+other, they had good views of it, both flying and walking. The news soon
+spread among the naturalists of the county, and one of them, who had
+some tame bustards in confinement, generously offered to give one of
+them to be let loose to pair with the wild cock. A female bustard was
+accordingly turned out into the fen as near to the wild bird as they
+dared to venture without frightening him away, and after a short time,
+they had the pleasure of seeing the two walking about together. In a day
+or two more the hen was found dead in a dyke. Her wings having been
+clipped she could not fly far enough. Another female was procured, but
+while seeking for an opportunity of turning it out where the wild one
+could see it, the wild one flew away. It was heard of afterwards in a
+different part of the county, and it does not appear yet to have been
+killed, and the landowners have given orders that it shall not be
+destroyed. I am looking forward with interest for further accounts of
+it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+ Water-hen Swallowed by Pike.--Casting Net.--
+ Trapping Water-hen for Bait.--A Monster Pike.
+
+
+Frank and Jimmy were punting through one of the reedy pools adjoining
+the broad, shooting wild-fowl, and had not been very successful, so they
+were disposed to shoot coots and water-hens, as well as ducks. They saw
+a water-hen swimming across a small pool into which they had just pushed
+their way, and Jimmy raised his gun to fire at it, but before he could
+pull the trigger there was an immense splash and swirl in the water, and
+the water-hen disappeared down the jaws of an immense pike. The boys
+stared in amazement.
+
+"That fellow must have been forty pounds in weight at the least," said
+Frank, as soon as he had recovered himself.
+
+"Let us row home at once and get our tackle, and fish for him."
+
+They rowed quickly back, and upon reaching the boat-house they found
+that Dick was there, and had just put the finishing touch to a casting
+net which they had been occupied in making for some time.
+
+"Bravo! that is capital!" said Frank. "We can now catch some bait with
+it."
+
+Before casting the net into the water they practised some time with it,
+for it is very difficult to throw a casting-net properly. After a little
+practice the boys were able to throw the net so that it described
+something like a circle on the ground, and then they took it to the
+shallow parts of the broad, and in a dozen throws they obtained a
+quantity of small roach and bream, as well as some large ones. Putting
+some of the roach into a bait-can, they rowed to the pool where the big
+pike lay, and first of all tried him with a live bait. But the float was
+undisturbed, save by the movements of the bait. Then they tried trolling
+with a dead gorge-bait, then spinning, and then a spoon, but with the
+like ill success.
+
+"I tell you what," said Frank, at length, "a big fish like that requires
+something out of the common to induce him to bite. Let us put a big
+bream on, and try and tempt him by size." So they put a bream a pound and
+a half in weight on the gorge-hook, and worked the heavy bait up and
+down every part of the pool, but still without success, and the autumn
+night came on and put a stop to their fishing.
+
+"We must catch him somehow," said Frank.
+
+"Let us set trimmers for him," suggested Jimmy in despair.
+
+"No, no; we will catch him by fair means if we can."
+
+The big pike, the biggest which they had ever seen, occupied their
+thoughts all that evening. As Frank was dressing the next morning a
+happy thought occurred to him, and when he met his friends after
+breakfast he said,--
+
+"I have got an idea how we may catch that pike. You remember how he took
+the water-hen under? He decidedly prefers flesh to fish. What do you say
+to catching a water-hen and baiting our hook with it?"
+
+"The very thing," said Jimmy.
+
+"But how are we to catch the water-hen?" asked Dick.
+
+"I don't quite know. We must get it alive, you see."
+
+They talked it over, but could not hit upon any plan of capturing one
+alive, so at luncheon-time they went to Bell, and asked him if he could
+help them.
+
+"Well, sirs, the water-hens come to my back garden to feed with the hens
+and sparrows. If you could lay some sort of a trap for them like a
+riddle-trap for sparrows it would be an easy matter to entice one into
+it."
+
+"The very thing," said Jimmy. "We will put the casting-net round a
+wooden hoop and prop it up on a stick, and put bread-crumbs under it."
+
+So the casting-net was called into requisition, and a trap was
+constructed, and set in Bell's back yard, which was close to a dyke
+leading to the broad. The boys hid themselves in an outhouse, having a
+long string fastened to the stick which supported the net at an angle of
+forty degrees. First the hens came under it and then the sparrows, and
+the two began to eat up all the bread put there. At last a water-hen was
+seen swimming across the dyke, and with slow and cautious steps creeping
+up the bank towards the net. Frank took the end of the string in his
+hand, and peeped cautiously through a chink in the door while the
+others looked through a little window. The water-hen fed for some time
+on the outskirts of the throng of hens and sparrows, and at last
+ventured within the circle of the net.
+
+"Now," said Dick.
+
+"No, wait until it is further under," said Jimmy.
+
+Frank waited until the bird was fairly under the net, and then pulled
+the string. The trap descended upon three hens, half-a-dozen sparrows,
+and the water-hen.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried the boys, rushing out. It was a matter of some
+difficulty to secure the bird they wanted from among the struggling mass
+of hens and sparrows, but they did so at last without hurting any of the
+others, and at once pinioned it by cutting off its wing feathers.
+
+The next morning as soon as it was light they rowed to the place where
+the big pike lay. Everything was very still and quiet, and shrouded in a
+light grey mist, as they pushed their way along a narrow channel to the
+pool. They had brought with them their strongest rod and their stoutest
+line, and they carefully tried every knot and fastening of their tackle
+before commencing to fish. The next most important thing was to bait the
+water-hen or arm her with hooks properly. This was done by tying a
+number of hooks lightly to her with thread, and ruffling the feathers so
+as to conceal them.
+
+"Poor thing," said Dick, as Frank took up the rod and swung her into the
+pool.
+
+By keeping a slight pull on the line the bird was induced to turn in the
+opposite direction, and to swim towards the middle of the pool.
+
+"Another minute or two will show if our plan is successful," said Frank,
+"and if not, the bird shall be let loose."
+
+"I don't feel much faith in it now," said Jimmy.
+
+When the bird reached the centre of the pool she dived.
+
+"Oh dear, I did not expect that," said Frank. "What shall we do now?"
+
+"She must come up again presently. The pool is twelve feet deep, and she
+cannot cling to the bottom."
+
+"I felt her give such a pull just now. She is struggling hard to
+escape," said Frank, who was still letting out line.
+
+Two or three minutes passed away, and still the bird did not make her
+appearance.
+
+"Pull in the line a bit, Frank."
+
+Frank did so, and said,--
+
+"She must be clinging to the bottom. I cannot move her," and he pulled a
+little harder.
+
+"I say," he cried, "I felt such a sharp tug. I do believe the big pike
+has got hold of her."
+
+"Nonsense!" said the others.
+
+"But it isn't nonsense," said Frank, and he held the rod bent so that
+they could see the top twitching violently.
+
+"It is the pike!" Frank exclaimed excitedly, and he immediately let the
+line run loose, so that the pike might have room to gorge his prey.
+
+"He must have seized the water-hen as she dived," said Dick.
+
+"Yes, and won't we give him plenty of time to gorge. I don't want to
+miss him now we have got such a chance," said Frank.
+
+And in spite of their impatience they gave the pike half-an-hour to
+swallow the bird, and then, at the end of that time, there were sundry
+twitchings of the point of the rod, and the line was taken out by jerks
+of a foot or two at a time.
+
+"He is moving about," said Jimmy. "It is time to strike."
+
+Frank raised his rod amid a hush of expectation. As the line tightened
+he struck lightly, and immediately the rod bent double with a mighty
+rush from the pike as he went straight across the little pool, which was
+about thirty yards in diameter. After this first rush the pike began to
+swim slowly about, keeping deep down and never showing himself. Round
+and round and across the pool he swam, now resting for a few minutes
+like a log, and from a twitching of the line apparently giving angry
+shakes of his head. Frank kept a steady, even strain upon him, and as
+the space was so circumscribed there was no danger of a breakage by any
+sudden rush.
+
+This sort of thing went on for half-an-hour, the line slowly cutting
+through the still, dark water; and Jimmy and Dick urged Frank to pull
+harder, and make the fish show himself. But Frank was too wise to give
+way, and he still kept on in a steady, cautious fashion.
+
+"If we go on much longer we shall be late for Mr. Meredith," said Dick.
+
+"Never mind," replied Frank, "he will forgive us on such an occasion as
+this."
+
+"Here he comes," shouted Frank, as he wound in his line. The pike came
+rolling up to the surface a few yards from the boat, and they caught
+sight of him. His proportions were gigantic, and his fierce eyes glared
+savagely at them. He gave a flounder on the top of the water, then sank
+down again into the depths.
+
+"What a monster!"
+
+In a few minutes the pike came up again, and this time more on his side,
+and plainly much exhausted. Three times more did he thus rise and sink
+again, and each time he seemed more helpless. The fourth time he
+remained on the surface lying on his side. Dick got hold of the gaff and
+held it in the water with outstretched arm, while Frank slowly drew the
+conquered giant towards it. Dick put the gaff under him and sharply
+drove it into his side, and then Jimmy and he uniting their forces,
+hauled the pike into the punt, almost upsetting it in their eagerness,
+and then threw themselves on the fish to prevent it flopping out again.
+
+They rowed home in great triumph, and on weighing the pike it was found
+to be 34¼ lbs. in weight, and the largest which had been caught in
+Hickling Broad for many years. The time it took to land it from the time
+it was struck was fifty-five minutes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+ Fishing on Stilts.--A Capsize.--Wild-fowl-Shooting.--
+ A Flare-up.
+
+
+December was ushered in with a week of storm and wet, and as the boys
+were shut out from outdoor pursuits they had more leisure for indoor
+studies; and one day a bright idea occurred to Jimmy, by the carrying
+out of which he said he could fish the broad without the trouble of
+rowing a boat. So on a Saturday afternoon, when the clouds had broken,
+and the rain ceased, and the still water reflected the pale blue of the
+December sky, Frank and Dick sat at the boat-house window watching Jimmy
+put his plan into execution.
+
+He had turned a couple of leaping-poles into stilts. His feet rested
+upon foot-rests, but were not fastened to them, so that if he fell into
+the water his feet would be free and he could keep himself right-end
+uppermost; but the crutches of the stilts which came up under his arms
+were lightly tied around his shoulders, to leave his arms at liberty to
+use a rod. And now, having been fairly started by the aid of his
+friends, he was stalking along like a huge heron in about five feet of
+water, and was spinning for pike, casting his bait to right and left of
+him and oftentimes behind him,--for his movements were rather uncertain
+and erratic; and as making a cast disturbed his equilibrium, he was
+obliged to execute a sort of waltz-step to recover himself. Frank and
+Dick were in ecstasies of laughter at his involuntary antics.
+
+"He will never catch any fish in that way," observed Dick.
+
+In a little while, however, they saw his rod bend double, and it was
+evident that a good-sized pike had seized his bait. Then Jimmy made a
+stumble, and a violent effort to recover himself, and in so doing turned
+his back to the pike, which resented the insult by making a savage rush,
+pulling Jimmy backwards.
+
+There was a violent sort of war-dance on Jimmy's part, during which one
+of the stilts seemed to be pointing upwards, and then Jimmy, with a last
+wild flourish of a stilt in the air, descended from his lofty height and
+disappeared beneath the waters of the broad.
+
+Frank and Dick hastened, as fast as their laughter would allow them, to
+the punt, and rowed to meet Jimmy, who was half wading half swimming
+towards them, the two long stilts trailing behind him from his
+shoulders, and his rod following Mr. Pike on a different course.
+
+"Swim after your rod, Jimmy," cried Frank.
+
+"Whoo, hoo! it is so cold," spluttered Jimmy.
+
+He scrambled into the punt, and, just staying to recover the rod, and
+with it a pike of about six pounds in weight, they rowed back, and Jimmy
+ran home to change.
+
+Frank afterwards said to Jimmy,--
+
+"That stilt dodge of yours is a capital idea. You see you caught a pike
+directly with it. Won't you try it again?"
+
+"No, thank you," said Jimmy, "once ducked, twice shy."
+
+After a few days' fine weather a hard frost and deep snow set in. A
+stiff breeze prevented the broad from being frozen over, and swept the
+snow into drifts wherever there was anything to arrest its progress.
+When the snow had ceased, the wind and frost still continued, and
+wild-fowl in large numbers visited the broad. Dick did not care
+sufficiently about the shooting to make him willing to face the cold;
+but Jimmy and Frank had capital sport among the wild-ducks. They killed
+the greatest number when the ducks took their morning or evening flight
+across a reedy spit of land which ran out into the broad. Here the boys
+had sunk a large cask in the earth, and when they were both hidden in
+this, packed in with dry straw and a retriever with them, they were warm
+and comfortable. The whistle of wings cleaving the air, or a cry of
+wild-fowl in the starlit silence of the night, would arouse them, and,
+with their heads peering over the top of the cask, they had their guns
+in readiness to salute the dark objects passing over with a shower of
+shot.
+
+In the morning the retriever searched for and picked up the dead birds,
+and the young gunners finished off the wounded. For four successive
+nights they enjoyed good sport in this manner, and then it was put an
+end to by a singular accident. Frank lit a match to see what time it
+was, and a lighted splinter fell among the dry straw, which instantly
+blazed up.
+
+"Look out for the powder!" shouted Frank; and he and Jimmy and the dog
+scrambled out of the cask pell-mell, tumbling over each other in their
+eagerness to be away from the dangerous proximity of the fire. Frank had
+the powder-flask in his pocket, and fortunately no fire came near it.
+The boys too escaped without injury, except that their hair was pretty
+well singed by the rapid rise of the flame. The retriever was so
+frightened that he turned tail and bolted, never stopping until he
+reached his kennel.
+
+"This is a pretty go," exclaimed Jimmy, as with their guns under their
+arms they watched the tall, roaring column of flame and smoke which
+ascended from the burning tub.
+
+"The people all about will wonder what it is. What a pity we have
+nothing to hold water in, so that we could try and put it out! The tub
+has caught, and will be burnt up."
+
+The sound of oars was now audible across the water, and presently Dick's
+voice shouted,--
+
+"What's the matter? Are you all right?" and a boat was run ashore, and
+Dick and Mary, well wrapped up, stepped out.
+
+Dick had been spending the evening at Mr. Merivale's, and just as he was
+leaving the house, the bright tongue of flame on the opposite side of
+the broad alarmed him, and Mary insisted upon coming with him to see
+what mischief her brother had been perpetrating.
+
+They rowed back, followed by the fitful glare of the fire, which shone
+in their eddying wake, amid the clamour of wild-fowl startled into
+flight by the unusual apparition. Then as Mary was silently admiring the
+strange weird scene, there was a blinding flash, followed by two loud
+reports, which made her start and scream, and then two splashes in the
+water, as two ducks out of a number which had been passing over the
+boats fell to the aim of Frank and Jimmy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+ Punt-shooting on Breydon.--A Narrow Escape.
+
+
+The Christmas holidays had commenced for the boys. Frank had a
+consultation with Bell, which ended in Bell's borrowing a duck-shooting
+punt from a neighbour, and Dick's looking up the big duck-gun from his
+father's lumber-room. The punt was a flat-bottomed one, pointed at both
+ends and covered fore and aft, so as to form two watertight
+compartments. In the bows was a rest for the gun to lie upon. As the gun
+took a pound of shot at a load, Frank was rather nervous about firing it
+off, for the recoil, if not broken by mechanical appliances, would have
+dislocated his shoulder. So he bought some india-rubber door-springs,
+and with them constructed an apparatus to take off the recoil of the
+gun, and, lest it should by any chance hit his shoulder, he got Mary to
+make a stout cushion, which he fixed to the butt.
+
+Reports came that Breydon Water was swarming with wild-fowl, so, taking
+Bell with them as a guide and instructor, and with the shooting-punt in
+tow instead of their own, they set sail for Yarmouth, and sailing up
+Breydon Water they moored the yacht by the Berney Arms, a public-house
+situate where the Yare debouches into Breydon.
+
+As the night fell they could see and hear wild-fowl of various kinds
+flying to and settling on the muds. Dick preferred staying on board the
+yacht, for his frame was not yet so inured to winter cold as it had been
+to summer heat, and the other two, with Bell, set out in the punt about
+eight o'clock. They rowed down Breydon Water with the last of the ebb,
+and then floated and paddled up again as the tide rose. Bell crouched in
+the stern and worked the two short paddles by which the punt was
+propelled when approaching the birds. Frank lay in the bows, with the
+big gun in position in front of him, and Jimmy cuddled up in the middle,
+armed with Frank's light double-barrel, ready to knock over any of the
+wounded birds which might try to escape. The night was rather light with
+the brightness from the stars, which shone resplendently from the deep,
+dark blue, and in the east the moon lifted a faint curved horn above the
+trees.
+
+"There are a lot of birds on that mud-bank; I can hear them quite
+plainly," whispered Frank to Bell.
+
+"Hush! Don't you speak or fire until I whistle, and then pull the
+trigger; but have the gun ready covering the birds. They are too
+scattered now. Wait until the tide rises a little higher, and covers
+most part of the bank, and then they will huddle together, when you will
+kill twice as many."
+
+They waited for a quarter of an hour, gradually drawing nearer the
+birds, which were now collected together on a large dark patch on the
+mud which was still uncovered by the rippling waves. Frank had his eye
+on them, the gun covering them and his finger on the trigger, waiting
+breathlessly for the signal.
+
+A low whistle sounded behind him. A sudden silence took the place of the
+chattering and gobbling sounds which had before proceeded from the
+birds. Frank pressed the trigger. The mighty gun flashed forth its
+deadly contents with a tremendous roar, and Frank found himself hurled
+back upon Jimmy. He had incautiously put his shoulder to the gun. He was
+not hurt, however, for the cushion had saved his shoulder. The birds
+which were unhurt swept away with a great clamour, but the mud was
+covered with dead and dying. Two of the winged ones were swimming away,
+when Jimmy fired and killed them. They landed on the mud, taking care to
+put on the mud-boards. They picked up the dead ones, and had many a
+lively chase after the wounded ones on the mud and in the shallow water.
+They recovered five-and-twenty birds. Half of them were wild-ducks, and
+the rest dunlins and other shore birds.
+
+[Illustration: WILD DUCK SHOOTING.]
+
+They passed on up Breydon, but they could not get another shot of such
+magnitude. Another punt was on the water, and the noise of its firing
+and oars disturbed the birds, so that they were difficult to approach.
+They got, however, two more long shots, and killed six ducks at one and
+three at another.
+
+The tide had now covered most of the flats, and the birds had either
+left the water or were floating on the surface, and could not easily be
+seen because of the waves. Bell then said he knew of a spot where the
+mud had been artificially raised, so as to form a sort of island, for
+the express purpose of enticing the wild-fowl to gather on it as the
+tide rose. He therefore paddled them towards it. Some clouds had
+obscured much of the starlight, and the night was darker. Frank became
+aware of one dark patch on the water in front of them, and another to
+the left. He thought they were both flocks of birds, and selected the
+left hand one, as being the nearer. He covered it with his gun, and
+waited somewhat impatiently for Bell to give the signal.
+
+"Surely we are near enough;" he thought, when Jimmy crept up behind him
+and whispered, "Bell says that is another punt, they must be making for
+the mud we are, that patch in front."
+
+"By Jove," exclaimed Frank, "I was aiming at the boat, and about to
+fire. Perhaps they are aiming at us."
+
+"Don't shoot," cried out Bell to the other boat, and Frank immediately
+twisted his gun around and fired at the birds which rose from the
+mud-bank.
+
+"I say, you there!" cried out a man in the other boat, "that was a
+narrow escape for you. I was on the point of firing at you. You should
+give me half the birds you shot then."
+
+"All right, you shall have them, if you will help to pick them up," sang
+out Frank. Only a dozen, half of them dunlins, were secured and
+divided.
+
+"That was a danger in punt-shooting which I hadn't foreseen," said Frank
+to the stranger. "It was a close shave for you as well as for us. Will
+you come on board our yacht and have some supper?"
+
+The stranger assented, and proved to be a sporting lawyer from Yarmouth,
+and a very pleasant fellow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+ Drifted to Sea.--A Perilous Position.--Rescue.
+
+
+The next day Bell went off to Yarmouth to sell some of the fowl in the
+market, and unfortunately got fuddled, so that when the evening came he
+was unable to accompany the shooters. Frank and Jimmy resolved to go out
+by themselves. Making a mistake as to the time of the tide, they found
+themselves carried swiftly down Breydon Water on a tide which had yet
+four hours to ebb. The night was clear, cold, and starlit, with a
+stinging north-easter sweeping over the broad water, and whisking the
+snow on the land into fantastic drifts. The new moon had not yet risen,
+but every star was blazing brightly, and glimmering reflections shone in
+the water. As they listened they found that the night was full of
+strange noises, of quackings and whistlings, and that the air was cleft
+by the sweep of wings. It was a night of nights for a wild-fowl shooter,
+and the boys resolved to stop at Yarmouth until the tide turned. As they
+neared the twinkling lights of the town a flock of wild geese took wing,
+out of shot, and made for the estuary.
+
+"Oh, do let us follow them, they are sure to alight before they reach
+the bar," said Frank.
+
+"Very well; but we must take care not to drift out to sea."
+
+"There is no danger of that, we can always run ashore."
+
+So they passed by the quays and fish-wharves, and one by one the lights
+opened out, and passed behind them, resolving themselves into a cluster
+in the distance. Ghostly vessels lifted their tall spars against the
+sky, the water became more 'lumpy,' and prudence suggested that they
+should turn back; but the love of sport urged them on, and triumphed.
+Further still: yet the geese were nowhere to be seen, and not very far
+off was the white water on the bar. They were fast drifting out to sea,
+and thought it time to turn. They did so, but could make no headway
+against the wind and tide, and the shores were so white with surf that
+it would have been folly to have attempted to land.
+
+"I say, Frank, we've done it now," said Jimmy, as they drifted nearer
+and nearer to the bar.
+
+"Don't be alarmed: we are all right," said Frank,--but privately he
+thought they were in a very awkward fix. All the outward-bound vessels,
+which, had it been earlier, might have picked them up, had left at the
+commencement of the ebb. The punt was now in the midst of the rougher
+waves which broke over the banks of sand at the mouth of the estuary,
+and they were expecting every moment to be swamped, when Frank uttered a
+cry of joy, and seizing the paddle, made for a black spot which was
+dancing about in the foam. It was a buoy, and Jimmy seized the
+'painter,' and stood up. As they neared it, a wave bore them on its
+summit within reach. Jimmy succeeded in slipping the rope through the
+ring on the top of the buoy, and in another moment they had swung under
+its lee. They were now safe from drifting farther out to sea, but in
+imminent danger of being swamped, and the time seemed very long while
+waiting for the tide to turn. The curling waves continually broke over
+them, and had it not been for the decked portions of the punt they would
+have been sunk by the first two or three duckings. As it was, they were
+kept hard at work baling with a tin scoop belonging to the punt, and
+fending off from the buoy.
+
+Forwards and backwards, up and down and sideways, they were tossed. A
+great black wall of water, with a thin crest through which the glimmer
+of a star could occasionally be seen, would come surging along, making
+their hearts sink with apprehension, and then would sometimes break and
+die away close by, sometimes dash them against the buoy, and sometimes
+with a side chop nearly fill the punt. There was a dash of excitement
+about it all which made it not absolutely unpleasant, as long as the sky
+remained clear and they could see the stars, which seemed to laugh at
+their puny battle with the elements. But by and by the stars began to
+disappear in the direction of the wind, and finally were blotted out
+over the whole heavens by a huge pall of cloud, and the darkness became
+awfully oppressive. The wind dropped, and its roar subsided into a low
+moaning sound. They felt the cold intensely as the snow came down
+quickly and silently, covering them with a white coating. A black
+cormorant suddenly appeared hovering over them, to be driven away with
+the paddle, and they could hear the swoop of gulls about them.
+
+"We are not quite food for the birds yet; but I can't stand this much
+longer," said Jimmy, his teeth chattering with the cold.
+
+"Hold up, old man. The tide will turn in half an hour."
+
+There was the sound of a sudden snap. The rope had parted, and a
+receding wave bore them away, leaving a rapidly widening distance
+between them and the buoy.
+
+"Keep her head to the waves," said Frank, "or we shall be upset."
+
+At this critical moment the sky cleared in one patch, and against it
+they saw the outlines of the dark, square sails of a schooner. The boys
+hailed her long and loud, and in answer came the hoarse cry, "Where
+away?"
+
+"Here, on your weather bow. Fling us a rope!"
+
+In a few minutes they and their punt were safe on board, and in another
+hour they were in an hotel at Yarmouth, dressed in borrowed suits of
+clothes, and enjoying a hot supper.
+
+After this, and when their own clothes were dried by the kitchen fire,
+they walked back to the Berney Arms by road, reached the yacht about
+three o'clock in the morning, to the great relief of Dick, who had been
+very anxious at their protracted absence.
+
+The next day they sailed down to Yarmouth in the _Swan_, picked up the
+punt, and went up the Bure with sheets eased out and a following wind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+ The Bread Frozen.--Skating.--Fish Frozen in Ice.--
+ Birds Frozen to the Ice.--Ice-Ships.
+
+
+It was dark when they sailed up the dyke leading to the broad, and the
+wind had fallen, so that their progress was slow. As they moved out of
+the dyke, where there was a gentle current, into the open broad, there
+was a sound of crashing and splintering at their bows, and the way of
+the yacht was stopped. Jimmy and Dick rushed out of the cabin, where
+they had been preparing supper, and said to Frank, who was at the
+helm,--
+
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"Why the broad is frozen over, and we can't get any further."
+
+"Can't we break a passage through?" said Dick.
+
+"We might, but it would be a pity to spoil so much ice for skating. Let
+us stay here until the morning, and then we can walk across for our
+skates. The yacht will be as safe here as by the boat-house."
+
+They were already sufficiently wedged in by the ice to be able to
+dispense with the lowering of their anchor, and after supper--(which by
+the way consisted of, first broiled bacon, next tinned salmon, then some
+gooseberry-jam, followed by cheese, and finally a tin of American
+preserved strawberries, which they had bought at Yarmouth, the whole
+washed down by coffee and beer)--they turned in for a snooze. The
+silence of the night was broken by continual sharp, tinkling noises. It
+was some little time before they discovered that these arose from the
+ice crystals as they formed along the surface of the water, shooting out
+in long needles and crossing each other, until every inch of the water
+was covered.
+
+In the morning the ice was strong enough to bear their weight, although
+it bent in long waves beneath them as they hurried over it.
+
+The frost continued. The ice was smooth, and black, and hard, and
+perfectly free from snow. Early and late, the boys sped lightly over it
+on their skates, enjoying to the full this most invigorating and healthy
+exercise.
+
+Frank and Jimmy practised threes and eights and the spread-eagle, and
+the other now old-fashioned figures, with great assiduity; and Dick,
+having soon mastered the inside edge, tumbled about most indefatigably
+in his efforts to master the outside edge.
+
+The frost continued with unabated severity, and soon the ice was two
+feet thick, and the shallower portions of the broad were frozen to the
+bottom. One day Dick was skating at a good pace before the wind, when
+something beneath his feet in the transparent ice attracted his
+attention, and in his haste to stop he came down very heavily. He
+shouted to Frank and Jimmy to come up, and when they did so, he pointed
+to the ice at his feet. Midway in the water, where it was about two feet
+deep, was a shoal of a dozen perch, most of them good sized ones, frozen
+into the ice in various attitudes, betokening their last struggle to
+escape. The reason of their being so caught was explained by the fact
+that they were in a slight depression surrounded by shallower and weedy
+water, which had frozen so as to shut them in, and give them no means of
+escape before the water in which they swam became solid.
+
+"That fellow is fully two pounds weight. I wonder if they are dead,"
+said Frank.
+
+"Of course they must be," answered Jimmy; "they cannot be frozen stiff
+like that and live."
+
+"I am not so sure about that," observed Dick; "caterpillars have been
+known to be frozen quite stiff, and to all appearance lifeless, yet they
+revive when they are warmed."
+
+"Well," said Frank, "I tell you what we will do. We will dig them out,
+and put them into water in the house, and give them a chance."
+
+They did so, and five of the perch, including the biggest and the
+smallest, came to life, and were subsequently restored to the broad.
+
+One day a rapid thaw set in, and the ice was covered with a thin layer
+of water. During the night, however, the wind suddenly changed, and this
+layer of water froze so quickly, that it held fast by the feet many
+water-fowl which had been resting on the ice.
+
+When the boys went down to the ice in the morning, they saw here and
+there a dead or dying water-hen or coot thus made captive, and
+surrounded by a group of the hooded crows, those grey-backed crows which
+in the winter-time are so common in Norfolk, and the rapacious birds
+were attacking and eating the poor held-fast water-fowl.
+
+The crowning achievement of the winter was this: They broke the _Swan_
+free, and got her on to the ice; then they supported her on some
+runners, like large skate irons, made by the village blacksmith, and put
+on ordinary skates on each rudder to get steerage power, and so
+constructed with great ease an ice-ship after the fashion of those used
+in some parts of Canada. With this they sped over the ice at a far
+quicker rate than they had ever sailed upon the water, and they could
+steer her tolerably close to the wind. This amusement superseded the
+skating until the ice melted away, and the _Swan_ once more floated on
+the water and sailed in her legitimate manner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+ The Thaw.--Cromer.--Prehistoric Remains.
+
+
+The thaw was accompanied by torrents of rain for more than a week. At
+the end of that time the boys were sitting in the boat-house making up
+their Note-book, when Mr. Meredith entered and said to them,--
+
+"Will you drive with me to Cromer? I hear that a large portion of the
+cliff has fallen away and exposed a bed containing the bones and remains
+of prehistoric elephants and other mammalia, and all the geologists of
+the country are going there. I thought we might as well see these
+wonderful relics of the past. What do you say?"
+
+"We should like it above all things," said Frank for the others; and Mr.
+Merivale's horses were forthwith harnessed to the waggonette, and they
+started. The rain had ceased, and a cold, white sun shone out of a white
+space in the leaden sky.
+
+The town of Cromer is the easternmost part of England, and it is built
+on the summit of a gravel-hill, which the sidelong sweeping tides eat
+away little by little and year by year. It is said that the church of
+old Cromer lies buried under the sea half a mile from the present shore.
+Immediately in front of the village the cliff is plated and faced with
+flints and protected by breakwaters, but on either side the soft earth
+is loosened by the frosts and rains, and undermined by the tidal
+currents, which, running nearly north and south, sweep the débris away
+instead of piling it at the foot of the cliff.
+
+Putting the horses up at the principal inn, they walked to the cliff
+below the lighthouse, where a portion of the high cliff had slid into
+the sea. In one place a recent storm had swept the fallen mass of gravel
+away and exposed at the bottom a portion of the "forest bed." Here three
+or four gentlemen, presumably geologists, were freely engaged in poking
+and digging. One man was tugging hard at a huge bone which projected out
+of the cliff; another was carefully unveiling the stump of a fossil
+tree. Here and there were the stumps of trees--oaks and firs, and
+others, with their spreading roots intact, just as ages ago they had
+stood and flourished; and between these ancient stumps were the bones
+and the teeth of elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros, deer of ten
+different sorts, bears, tigers, and many another animal, the like, or
+the prototype of which, are now found in tropical regions alone. The
+boys were very much struck with the sight of these remains of the
+animals which lived before the Flood, and as they wandered about,
+finding here a tooth and there a bone, and then the stem of a strange
+tree, they amused themselves by reconstructing in imagination the
+luxuriant woods teeming with savage monsters which once stood on a level
+with the shore, and speculating upon the causes which led to the piling
+up of the gravel strata which now cover them to such a depth.
+
+"Are these animal deposits peculiar to Cromer, Mr. Meredith?" asked
+Dick.
+
+"No. You can scarcely dig anywhere in Norfolk in similar deposits
+without coming upon these remains; this is the case in Holland and
+Belgium also, so that there is positive evidence that the German Ocean
+is of comparatively recent origin, the two countries having once been
+connected by a great plain, a portion of which is now covered with
+water. From the bottom of the sea the fishermen often dredge up bones
+and fragments of trees similar to those in the base of this cliff."
+
+The short winter day soon drew on to dusk, and they strolled on to the
+pier to see the sun set in the sea on this the east coast of England.
+The land so juts out, and to the northward the water so bites into the
+land, that not only does the sun rise from the sea, but it also sets in
+it.
+
+The surf-crested waves which broke heavily against the black breakwater
+were red and lurid with the sunset light, and in fantastic masses,
+flooded with red and orange, the clouds gathering about the descending
+sun. And then, as the strange glare faded away and the grey dusk settled
+over the chafing sea, a white light shot out from the lighthouse tower,
+and traced a gleaming pathway over sea, pier, houses, and woods, as it
+revolved with steady purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+ The Boys' Note-Book.
+
+
+A Note-book was incidentally mentioned in the last chapter. Properly
+speaking, it should have been mentioned long before.
+
+On the table in the boat-house lay a large folio manuscript book, in
+which the boys noted down whatever, in their reading or observation,
+struck them as noticeable or worth remembering, or of which they wished
+to be reminded at some future time, when they should have leisure to
+look up what they wished to know concerning the matter noted. Before
+therefore I close this "strange eventful history," I shall quote a few
+pages at random out of their Note-book, just to show how it was kept
+up.
+
+In the left-hand margin of each sheet the date of the entry was written
+opposite each note, and each jotting was signed by the one making it. So
+that the book ran after this fashion:--
+
+"They have a novel mode of netting shore birds at Lynn. They have long
+nets stretched on poles about six feet high, on the sands towards dusk,
+one line below high water mark and the other upon the ridge."--F. M.
+
+"All grain-eating birds feed their young on insects--as a matter of
+course because there is no grain in the spring--so they make up for the
+damage they may do to the grain. I shall write a letter to this effect
+to the Secretary of the Sparrow Club here. The fellows in that club are
+as proud of their sparrow heads as a red Indian of his scalps."--F. M.
+
+[Illustration: MOLE CRICKET.]
+
+"Crickets are the thirstiest of all thirsty creatures."
+
+"Mem. How do flies walk with their heads downwards, and how do they
+buzz?"--R. C.
+
+"Caught a lizard in the garden to-day, and when I touched it, its tail
+dropped off. Curious habit some reptiles have of parting with their
+tails. It is done to divert attention from the body, which makes its
+escape."--J. B.
+
+"Our keeper set some trimmers on our little lake in the park last
+night, and this morning he found on one of them a great crested grebe
+which had swallowed the bait, and on the other an eel of four pounds
+weight with a kitten in its inside."--R. C.
+
+"Frank's head has a permanent set to one side, from always looking into
+the hedges for nests. I noticed it in church."--J. B.
+
+"You'll get a licking, young 'un."--Frank.
+
+[Illustration: COMMON LIZARD.]
+
+"Bell says that he has seen an osprey resting on one of the posts in
+Hickling Broad, and it was so gorged after a meal of fish that he rowed
+quite close to it."--F. M.
+
+"I saw a squirrel eating some toad-stools which grew at the foot of a
+tree near Sir Richard's house. I thought they fed only on nuts."--J.
+Brett.
+
+"They say that hedgehogs will go into an orchard and roll themselves on
+the fallen fruit, so that it sticks to their spines, and then they walk
+off with it. Should like to see them do it, and I wonder how they get it
+off again."--J. B.
+
+[Illustration: OSPREY.]
+
+[Illustration: CRESTED GREBE.]
+
+"Saw a robin kill a sparrow in fair fight this morning, and it
+afterwards _ate_ a portion of him! Also saw two rooks fighting like
+anything, and a third perched on a branch just above them, as if to see
+fair play."--F. M.
+
+[Illustration: 1. Nest of White Ant. 2. Suspended Wasp's Nest. 3. Common
+Wasp. 4. Demoiselle Dragon-fly. 5, 6. Soldiers of White Ant. 7. Hornet.
+8. Worker of White Ant. 9. Wood Ant. 10. Red Ant.]
+
+"What a curious instinct it is which leads moths and butterflies, while
+you are killing them, to lay their eggs. It is their last will and
+testament!"
+
+[Illustration: HEDGEHOG.]
+
+[Illustration: HONEY-BUZZARD.]
+
+"I found a brood of caterpillars on a hawthorn-bush; they were the
+caterpillars of the small oak-eggar. They make a silken nest in the
+branches, and they come out to feed and go in to sleep. There were at
+the least five hundred of them. The moth, I see, is a small, dingy brown
+thing, with white spots on the wings."--R. C.
+
+"Bell's son took a hornet's nest the other day. He was stung by one of
+them, and was ill for some days, the inflammation was so bad. Bell says
+that hornets are much rarer now than they used to be, and a good thing
+too.
+
+"While going to take a wasp's nest to-day, we disturbed a large
+hawk-like bird, which had been digging it up and apparently eating the
+grubs. The wasps were flying all about it and settling on it, but it did
+not seem to mind them. Upon looking at our books we have decided that
+the bird was the honey-buzzard, one of the short-winged hawks."--F. M.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+ A Regatta.--The "Waterlog's" Victory.
+
+
+The waters of the broad once more blazed beneath the summer sun. The
+_Swan_ lay at anchor in a reedy bay, and the three boys were sitting on
+deck, busily engaged in discussing some project which seemed to interest
+them very much.
+
+For some years past a large yacht had been a prominent object on the
+Norfolk and Suffolk waters, not on account of her speed or her beauty,
+but because of her great ugliness of form, and her exceeding slowness of
+sailing. Cram on as much sail as you could, and yet the clumsiest wherry
+could beat her in sailing. Her owner entered her for many a race, and
+she was invariably so badly beaten that she became a laughing-stock. Her
+name was the _Waterlily_, but she was facetiously christened and
+universally called the "Waterlog." Her end was tragic. One time when the
+waters were very high after great floods, her owner sailed her into a
+small broad, and, not taking her off in time, the waters fell, and there
+was not depth enough to float her out, and she became fixed in a trap,
+out of which she could not be removed. She was offered for sale, but no
+one would buy her; so her owner, in a fit of disgust, first dismantled
+her and then set fire to her, and so she perished. Her nickname survived
+her, however, and, to the great indignation of the boys, descended upon
+the _Swan_, whose stiff and stately motion and peculiar appearance had
+made her the mark for it.
+
+They were now holding an "indignation meeting" upon the subject, and a
+way had just been mooted by which they hoped to sustain the dignity of
+their boat.
+
+"Wroxham Regatta is on the 20th of next month," said Frank, "and there
+is a race open to all classes of yachts except the winners of the
+previous races. Those will clear off the crack ships, and I don't think
+we need fear any of the others. I vote we enter the _Swan_ for it, and
+show them how she can sail. The prize is a very handsome cup."
+
+"Do you really think she will have any chance, Frank?" asked Jimmy.
+
+"Not with her present rig; but we will add a big top-sail to both
+main-sail and mizen. Her double shape will enable her to stand any
+amount of sail, and if we have a good side wind and plenty of it we
+shall stand a very good chance."
+
+So it was decided that the yacht should be entered for the race, and
+they set to work to prepare two immense yards and top-sails, and to
+practise sailing the yacht with them up. Mary Merivale and Edith Rose
+were invited to be on board during the race; the elders were to be
+present on board a friend's yacht to witness the regatta.
+
+The day of the regatta arrived, and a strong north-wester was raising
+mimic waves on the broad. The boys had taken the yacht overnight to
+Wroxham, and in the morning they met Mary and Edith at Wroxham Bridge,
+and took them on board.
+
+"Is it not dreadfully windy?" asked Edith Rose, as the wind blew her
+curls back from her pretty face.
+
+"It is just what we want, Miss Rose," answered Frank.
+
+"Wouldn't it be safer if we were not to be on board during the race? I
+am afraid you are going to be too venturesome. I heard you were going to
+put some more sails up, and I am sure these are large enough," said
+Edith.
+
+"Pray don't desert us now," said Frank, so piteously, that Edith made no
+more objection for fear of vexing him.
+
+Over the fence of tall reeds which now separated them from the broad
+they could see scores of white sails and gay pennants, and it was
+evident that there was a large assemblage.
+
+"Why, Frank," said Mary, "I declare you are quite nervous; I can feel
+your arm tremble."
+
+Frank indignantly repelled the accusation, but Jimmy, who was sitting on
+the roof of the cabin kicking his heels, said:--
+
+"I am awfully, miserably nervous, and I believe we are going to make a
+tremendous mull of it, and we've done all we can to make ourselves
+conspicuous."
+
+They had entered the yacht, out of a spirit of bravado, under the name
+of "The Waterlog," and they had painted the name on slips of stout
+paper, and tacked it over the legitimate name of their yacht.
+
+"Nonsense!" was Frank's somewhat angry commentary on Jimmy's speech.
+
+They now entered the broad, which presented a lively scene. Yachts of
+all rigs and sizes were skimming about, with gunwales under, to the
+stiff breeze. When the signal for the first race was given, those yachts
+not engaged in it came to an anchor, and the _Swan_, on whom all eyes
+were turned, took up her station next to the yacht in which were Mr.
+Merivale and his friends.
+
+The wind continued to freshen and grow more gusty, so that of those
+yachts which started with their top-sails, two had them carried away in
+the first round, and the others had to take them down, and the yacht
+which won had a single reef in her huge main-sail.
+
+There were three races before the open race for which the _Swan_ was
+entered under her assumed name. I have not space to dwell upon the
+incidents of these, nor to dilate upon the glorious life and movement of
+the broad, with its crowd of white sails, and its waves sparkling in the
+sunlight. Three of the best yachts were, through being winners in the
+races, prohibited from sailing in the open race, but there were
+nevertheless a sufficient number of entries on the card of the races to
+make our boys dubious as to the result of their somewhat bold
+experiment. There were six named as to start. Two were lateeners, one a
+schooner, two cutters, and the sixth was the "Waterlog."
+
+The course was three times round the lake, outside of certain
+mark-boats; and, as the wind blew, the yachts would catch it abeam for
+two-thirds the course, dead aft for a sixth, and dead ahead for the
+remainder. As Frank said, it was a wind in every respect suitable for
+the raft-like _Swan_.
+
+The race excited a great amount of interest. The _Swan_ was now well
+known to all the yachtsmen, and her change of name provoked curiosity
+and interest, and as the signal came for the yachts to take their
+station all eyes were upon the "Waterlog" (as we will call her during
+the race). As the boys ran up her sails and sailed away to the
+starting-point, a decided manifestation of admiration arose as the great
+top-sails slowly ascended under the strenuous efforts of Dick and Jimmy.
+As they fluttered in the wind, Mary threw all her little weight on to
+the halyard to assist in hauling them tight and flat.
+
+Mary and Edith took up their places in the bows, where they were out of
+the way, as there is no jib in a lugger rig.
+
+"Now, Dick," whispered Frank, "if any accident _should_ happen--although
+it isn't likely--do you see to Mary, and I'll take Edith."
+
+"All right, old man."
+
+The yachts started from slip anchors, with the canvas set; and at the
+flash of the starting-gun, sheets were hauled in, and the six yachts
+which came to the starting-point bounded away almost simultaneously, the
+white water flashing away from their bows, and boiling and eddying in
+their wake. The wind was now blowing very fresh indeed, the other yachts
+were not only gunwales under, but the water swept all over the leeward
+half of their decks, and even the "Waterlog," in spite of the width of
+her beam and double shape, had her leeward pontoon completely submerged.
+
+On they surged, the two girls clinging to the forestay, heedless of wet
+feet, and breathless with the swift excitement: Frank firmly grasping
+the tiller, his teeth set and his blue eyes gleaming; Dick at the
+main-sheet, and Jimmy standing on the counter with the mizen-sheet in
+his grasp, both watching their captain, to be instant at his commands.
+
+The first round was quickly over, and then the position of the competing
+yachts was this:--The schooner was ahead, then at a little distance came
+the "Waterlog," and close behind her the rest of the yachts in a body.
+As they passed Mr. Merivale he cried out, "Well done, boys! you'll get
+a good place."
+
+Next they passed a small boat, in which they saw Bell, who
+shouted,--"Haul in your sheets a bit more,--your top-sails will hold
+more wind."
+
+Frank saw the wisdom of this advice, and as he followed it, the
+"Waterlog" shot forward and gained a little upon the schooner.
+
+"If the wind were to freshen a little we should come in second," said
+Frank.
+
+But as they commenced the third round the wind dropped most
+unexpectedly. The schooner in front rose nearer the perpendicular and
+her speed increased; the "Waterlog" fell back, and a large lateener
+behind fast overhauled her.
+
+"How dreadfully annoying," said Frank; and he hated that lateener with a
+very vigorous hate. They passed Bell's boat again, and the old man
+shouted--
+
+"Look out, Master Frank, a squall will be on you in a minute."
+
+The sudden lull was but the precursor of a tremendously violent gust. As
+the yachts were beating up to round the last mark-boat before getting a
+straight run in to the goal, the boys saw the trees on the land bow
+their heads with a sudden jerk, and then the squall was upon them. It
+did not affect them so much when they were close hauled, but as the
+leading schooner rounded the boat and presented her broadside to the
+wind there was a great crash, and her cloud of white canvas descended
+upon the water. Her foremast had broken close by the deck, and in
+falling had snapped the remaining mast half way up, and she lay like a
+log on the water. The lateener, close upon her heels, heeled over so
+much, that she began to fill through the hatchway, and to save her from
+an upset her sheets were let go, and with her sails wildly fluttering
+she drifted on to the disabled wreck. All this was the work of a few
+seconds, but there was time for Frank to unloose the halyards of the
+top-sails, which were purposely made fast just in front of him, and to
+give a warning shout of "heads!" and then, to the great alarm of the
+girls, the sails came clattering down to leeward, and they rounded the
+boat in safety, though cannoning violently against the wreck as they did
+so. And now they were _first_! The cutter next behind them, in shooting
+up into the wind to save herself, lost way, and was no longer a
+dangerous enemy, and although the other yachts rounded the boat, yet
+they were far astern, and the victory of the "Waterlog" was secure. At a
+word from Frank the two girls, one on each side, stripped off the
+assumed name, and let the papers float away on the wind, and, amid
+vociferous cheering and clapping of hands and waving of handkerchiefs,
+the _Swan_ shot past the winning-post, and so gained the prize.
+
+Although gained partly by accident it was a great triumph for the boys,
+and the girls were quite as proud and delighted as they were.
+
+"You are a dear good boy, and I'll give you a kiss," said merry Mary
+Merivale to her brother, "although you would rather have one from
+somebody else than from me, I know."
+
+"I say, Molly, I wish you'd get her to give me one."
+
+"You will have to wait a very long time for that, Mr. Frank."
+
+"If you would give Dick one, she would give me one."
+
+"That's all you know about it, sir," said Mary, making him a saucy
+curtsey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+ The Conclusion.
+
+
+Now this chronicle of the doings of my three boys must come to an end. I
+have grown very fond of them, and I hope you have too.
+
+We will take a big jump from the doings recorded in the last chapter,
+and look in upon them at a time fraught with importance to each of them.
+Their pleasant school with Mr. Meredith is broken up. Frank and Dick are
+going to college, and Jimmy is about to be articled to a Norwich
+solicitor. They will always remain the best of friends, but still the
+new times will never again be like the old. New interests, new
+companions, new ambitions, all will leave their mark and have their
+influence, although this I am sure of, that the memory of this glorious
+partnership of three will always remain green and fresh with them, and
+have the greatest of all influences on their future lives.
+
+Mr. Meredith had invited all three of them to dinner, and when Mrs.
+Meredith had retired the conversation grew more personal and
+confidential. They looked upon Mr. Meredith as an intimate friend and
+counsellor, as well as a tutor and schoolmaster, and they told him their
+plans and hopes, just as if he were one of themselves.
+
+Presently a silence fell upon the table. Frank looked at Dick, and Dick
+looked at Frank, and Jimmy kicked him under the table, and at last Frank
+cleared his throat with a preparatory "ahem" and said,--
+
+"I am not good at making speeches, Mr. Meredith, but we wish to express
+how very much obliged we have been to you for the kindness and the--in
+fact the--the--well, what we mean to say is--that you are a brick of a
+good fellow, sir."
+
+"What an awful muddle you have made of it, Frank," said Dick, in a
+reproachful whisper, and Jimmy launched a vicious kick at him under the
+table.
+
+There was a twinkle in Mr. Meredith's eye as he drank off his wine,
+which was partly due to mirth, and partly to a deeper feeling. He
+said,--
+
+"I know what you mean, Frank, and in return I may say, that I am both
+glad and sorry that the hour has come for us to part for a time. I am
+sorry, because I have much enjoyed your companionship for the last three
+years, and I believe you have done me as much good as I have done you. I
+am glad, because you have become such fine young fellows, and I have had
+a hand in the making of you, and you must do us all credit. Jimmy will
+make a good lawyer, I think; and he must remember that the law is an
+honourable profession, and that lawyers take the place of the knights of
+old; they must do all they can to succour the widows and fatherless, and
+never allow themselves to be made instruments of oppression. I will give
+Jimmy just one piece of advice: Go straight, and never attempt to
+finesse. I believe that this clever finessing, and attempting to outdo
+other lawyers in cleverness, has been the cause of the moral ruin of
+many an able lawyer. Dick, I am sorry to say, will have no need to be of
+any occupation, but he must try to get plenty of voluntary work,
+nevertheless, for no man's life can be noble unless he does some of the
+world's work. And Frank, what are you going to be?"
+
+"I don't know yet, sir," replied Frank, "I should like to be a soldier,
+if I could be sure of active service pretty often."
+
+"I wish you would be a soldier in a purer army, my boy. We want some
+more men of your strength and energy to fight the devil with. We want
+men who will not only do what they have to do with all their might, but
+who have plenty of might to use."
+
+"I haven't the gift of the gab, sir," said Frank modestly.
+
+"That would come with practice and study, and, 'out of the fulness of
+the heart the mouth speaketh.' But come, we must not leave Mrs. Meredith
+so long alone on this your last night here."
+
+So they went into the drawing-room and had a quietly pleasant evening.
+
+When they left, they walked together down by the broad, talking of many
+things. It was bright moonlight, and the _Swan_ lay still and distinct
+on the water. It was warm, being in the middle of summer, and it was not
+late; and as they stood looking at the boat which they had built, and
+which had served them so well, they saw Mary and Edith Rose, who was
+staying with her, coming towards them, and Mr. and Mrs. Merivale not far
+behind.
+
+"Good night," said Jimmy, "I shall see you both in the morning;" and off
+he went.
+
+"Poor Jimmy," said Frank, "he does not like both of us going away, and
+he to be left behind alone."
+
+The two girls joined them, and Frank and Edith walked off together, and
+Dick and Mary did the same in another direction.
+
+"Mary," said Dick, "Mr. Meredith said that I ought to do some work in
+the world."
+
+"So you ought, Dick," she replied; "both Frank and Jimmy are going to be
+busy, and I did so hope you would do something too."
+
+"I mean to do something," he replied, with a quiet smile, "but I shall
+not tell you what it is yet. But if I do something which will show that
+I am of some use in the world, and not a mere drone, will you marry me?"
+
+It was not light enough to see if she blushed, but I am sure she did so
+very sweetly. What she said, very naively, was this:--
+
+"I thought you would ask me some time, Dick, but I did not want you to
+_quite_ ask me until you came from college. We are only boy and girl,
+you know."
+
+"I am quite satisfied, Mary," he said, in that quiet, gentle voice of
+his which made you like him so much,--and so a compact was made, which
+both of them faithfully kept.
+
+Frank had not dared to say half so much to Edith; but the next morning,
+when he was saying good bye to them all, and it came to her turn, he
+looked her steadily in the face as she took his hand, and, moved by a
+sudden impulse, she put up her face to be kissed as Mary had done, and
+as he gravely kissed her, he said in a low tone, designed for her ear
+alone,--
+
+"I am going to do my very best, Edith, and what I do will be for your
+sake."
+
+These were sweet words to the little maiden; but Frank received by the
+next morning's post a little Testament from her, with these words
+written on the fly-leaf--
+
+"Not altogether for MY sake, Frank," and the half rebuke was of great
+service to Frank.
+
+And so, God be with them!
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+ LONDON:
+ R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
+ BREAD STREET HILL,
+ QUEEN VICTORIA STREET.
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Italics are indicated by _underscores_. Small caps are indicated by ALL
+CAPS.
+
+Archaic spelling, and variations in hyphenation, punctuation, and use of
+accents appear as in the original. Several words appear both with and
+without hyphenation. End-of-line hyphenations in the original are
+rejoined here.
+
+Obvious typographical errors have been changed.
+
+ Page 4: added comma ("Yes, Frank, he is)
+ Page 26: "loth" to "loath" (were loath to destroy)
+ Page 51: added full stop (The Owner.--)
+ Page 54: added opening quote mark ("What a thing)
+ Page 54: comma to full stop (said Dick. "Is that)
+ Page 57: added comma (Mr. ----," said Jimmy)
+ Page 80: italicized "Swan" (found that the _Swan_)
+ Page 81: added full stop (fir-tree.)
+ Page 81: capitalized "Is" ("Is it a crow's)
+ Page 86: "affect" to "affects" (it sometimes affects)
+ Page 87: removed opening quote mark (On the ground)
+ Page 92: added full stop (sixty feet in length.)
+ Page 93: removed comma (to or from Lake)
+ Page 96: added comma (said Frank, "is not)
+ Page 98: added comma (external accident,)
+ Page 113: added comma (Frank's boat, "but)
+ Page 122: full stop to comma (I was a fool,")
+ Page 127: added opening quote mark ("Well, sir, a lot)
+ Page 142: added full stop (about the birds.)
+ Page 152: added comma ("So have I," said Frank.)
+ Page 159: added comma (law of nature,")
+ Page 160: removed closing quote mark (_Wild Flowers_:--)
+ Page 164: single to double opening quote mark ("Up with the)
+ Page 168: removed closing quote mark (its last change)
+ Page 199: greek character to "omega" (the letter omega,)
+ Page 227: "Heron.--Hawking." to "Heron-hawking." (chapter heading)
+ Page 236: added closing quote mark (tempt him by size.")
+ Page 250: "perfectlv" to "perfectly" (perfectly free from snow.)
+ Page 253: "fastastic" to "fantastic" (in fantastic masses,)
+ Page 258: added closing quote mark (last will and testament!")
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Swan and Her Crew, by George Christopher Davies
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40214 ***
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