192 BROADLAND SPORT 



Now and again these visits will be returned and many 

 a shout of laughter with revelry by night will break the 

 usual stillness around, disturb the waterfowl in their 

 nocturnal repast, and astonish the peaceful water-voles 

 which may have taken up a summer residence upon the 

 islands. 



Whenever it was our good fortune to be able to entice any 

 of the local residents on board the Warrior, after they had 

 been entertained with the best on board the conversation was 

 certain to lead up to local anecdote, strange experiences and 

 queer reminiscences, in the hope that the visitor or visitors 

 would unfold some of their own. In fact, our crew per- 

 sistently plotted, by cunningly-devised stratagem, to 

 endeavour to "trot our visitors out," so to speak and it 

 seldom failed. 



One night when the stars were twinkling over the wastes 

 of Hickling Water, and not a breath stirred the slender reed 

 stems, the crew were reclining on the hatchway-deck taking 

 coffee after dinner, at which a local divine, whose keenness for 

 sport was only equalled by his love for old port and Havannah 

 cigars, had been entertained. He was a real good sporting 

 parson, one of those whom everyone would respect and be 

 only too proud to remember. There were many such to be 

 found in the precincts of Broadland in years gone by, but 

 nowadays they seem to be few and far between. 



We had laughed immoderately at dinner over his tales, his 

 anecdotes, and his illustrations of " broad Norfolk dialect " ; 

 now that we were in the presence of the beauty of the night 

 we were inclined to be indolent and romantic. But the 

 reverend gentleman was one of those who are quite irre- 

 pressible. " By Jove," he exclaimed after a silence of some 

 minutes, " why, you are moored at the exact spot where poor 

 Tom found out to his cost that a water-kennel could not be 

 looked upon as a gigantic success." 



Naturally he was questioned further on such a remark, 

 and after making himself comfortable against the sail of the 

 wherry he proceeded to spin the following yarn : 



