38 THE SWAN AND HER CREW. 



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. 



