250 



THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR. 



If; 



and we found ourselves charging the reeds and 

 forcing a passage through them. With .the way 

 we had on the boat, and the wind dead aft, it 

 seemed as if we should succeed in our endeavour ; 

 and as we passed along, the reeds parted in front 

 of us, and bowed down right and left witli a steady 

 rushing sound ; but one of us was an ornithologist, 

 and as we passed a small hillock, a bird like a 

 landrail, but smaller, flew up. The lover of birds 

 rushed frantically to the mast, and, loosing the 

 halyard, let the sail down with a run, careless 

 whether it went into the water, or the yard hit 

 us on the head. 



" It was a water-rail," was his excuse ; " and there 

 is its nest." 



Sure enough, there its nest was, like a water- 

 hen's in build, and containing four or five eggs, 

 smaller and lighter in colour than a landrail's. 



" There, that is a prize. Never mind the wet 

 sail ; and 111 push you out with the oars, if you 

 Avill hoist the sail." 



That was all very well, but it took us a good 

 half-hour ere we reached the blue water of the 

 open Broad. 



An hour afterwards we were moored in a bay of 

 the river. There were four of us, so there was not 

 much room for movement in the boat- We had a 

 sack of grains as ground-bait, and we threw plenty 

 of it in. Then we set to work, two of us with the 

 old-fashioned red-worm, and the other two with a 



