ANIMALS WHICH NEVER DIE. 97 



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 : u 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 excep- 

 tions 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 



H 



