QO THE SWAN AND HER CREW. 



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 stal- 

 wart 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 



