Oulton Broad.--Lateeners.--Lowestoft.--Ringed-Plover's Nest.--
Oyster-catcher.--Shore Fishing.--A Perilous Sail.
[Illustration: LATEEN SAIL.]
They sailed quietly down the river again, and excited much attention
from the many yachts they met. They turned off along Oulton Dyke, and on
to Oulton Broad. The lake was full of craft of all rigs and sizes. There
had been a regatta there the day before, and the major part of the
yachts still remained. There was a stately schooner, moving with
dignity; a smart cutter, heeling well over, but dashing along at a great
pace; a heavy lugger; and, most graceful of all, the lateeners. These
are a class of boats peculiar to the Norfolk waters and to the
Mediterranean. The shape of them will be familiar to all who have ever
looked at a picture of the Bay of Naples. They carry immense yards, the
yard of a boat thirty feet long being about sixty feet in length. Such a
yard, of course, carries a very large sail. In addition to this large
sail they have a fore and aft mizen astern. They sail wonderfully close
to the wind, but in running before it they sometimes take it into their
heads to duck under, because the weight of the sail is all thrown on the
fore-part of the boat, and sometimes proves too much for it.
A boat which attracted our boys' attention was a lugger, with her sails
crossed by strips of bamboo, so that they looked something like Venetian
blinds. These made the sails stand very flat and firm, and the boat so
rigged seemed to sail very fast. The sun-lit waters of the broad,
covered as they were with rapidly-moving yachts, whose white sails
contrasted with the blue water and sky and the green fringe of tall
reeds which encircled the lake, presented a very pretty spectacle, and
one that called forth the admiration of our young yachtsmen. As they
threaded their way through the numerous vessels, they saw that they
themselves were an object of curiosity, and as sound travels far on the
water, and people seldom think of that when they speak on it, the boys
overheard many comments upon themselves. Those upon their boat were
sometimes not flattering, but those upon their skill in handling her
upon that crowded water were very appreciative, and at length Frank
said, with something like a blush--
"Look here, this is getting too warm. I vote we moor her, and go to
Lowestoft to have a dip in the sea."
The others agreed to this, and having moored the yacht in a safe place,
they took their departure. At the lower end of Oulton Broad is a lock,
by which vessels can be raised or lowered, as the case may be, to or
from Lake Lothing, a tidal piece of water, communicating with the sea
through Lowestoft harbour. A brigantine collier was in the lock when our
boys came up, and they stood and watched it come through, going out upon
a floating raft of wood, so as to see it better entering the broad.
"Why, look at her bows. They are carved all over like an old-fashioned
mantel-piece."
As it came through the lock, it knocked against their raft, and
threatened their safety, so seizing hold of the chains that hung over
its bows, they climbed on board and entered into a conversation with her
skipper. He told them that his ship was 100 years old, and he considered
her still stronger than many a ship of more recent build. He had on
board some beautiful little dogs of the Spanish breed, pure white and
curly-haired, with sharp noses, and bright black eyes. Dick insisted on
buying one.
"We cannot have it on board with the hawks," said Frank.
"But I shall send it home by the carrier from Lowestoft," answered Dick.
[Illustration: RINGED-PLOVER.]
They walked along the shores of Lake Lothing to Lowestoft, and went and
had a bathe. Then they walked along the cliffs towards Pakefield, and
while crossing a sandy spot Dick discovered a ringed plover's nest.
There were three eggs, cream-coloured, and blotched with brown. They
were simply laid in a hole in the sand. They saw the old birds running
along the shore before the wind, as is their habit, and looking very
pretty with their grey beaks, and white stomachs, and black collars. On
the shore they also saw some oyster catchers, with their plumage nearly
all black, except a white belt, and white bars on their wings; and also
a pair of redshanks, with their long red legs and bills, and French grey
plumage; but although their nests are common enough in Suffolk (in which
county our boys now were), they failed to find their eggs. The redshanks
nest on the ground in marshy places, and lay eggs of a great family
likeness to those of other birds which lay in similar positions.
On the shore men and boys were fishing in the following manner:--
They had long lines with a number of hooks on at regular intervals,
which were baited with mussels. One end of the line was pegged into the
sand; the other was heavily weighted with lead. They had a
throwing-stick with a slit at one end. Into this slit the line next the
weight was introduced. With the aid of the stick the line was thrown out
a considerable distance. After being allowed to rest some time it was
hauled in, and the fish taken off. In this way they caught flat-fish and
small codlings, and some of them had accumulated a large heap of fish.
[Illustration: OYSTER-CATCHER.]
Two boatmen came up to the boys, and asked them if they would like a
sail. "We'll take you for an hour for sixpence each."
"Well, it's reasonable enough," said Frank; "I vote we go." So they
stepped on board and were soon tacking merrily about, a mile or two from
land.
"Did you ever see two uglier fellows than our boatmen?" said Dick in a
whisper to Frank.
"No--but what are they staring at that steamer so hard for?" A large
yacht was making direct for Lowestoft harbour.
"I say," said Frank, "is not that steamer standing too close in shore?
There is a bank of sand somewhere about there. I remember seeing remains
of a wreck there not long ago."
"Hush! hold your tongue," answered the steersman.
"What do you mean, sir? If she goes on in that course she'll strike."
The man looked savagely at him, and replied,
"Look here, young man, if she strikes there will be no harm done. The
sea is too smooth, and we shall be the first on the spot to help them
off, and we shall get a good long sum of money for salvage. If you hold
your tongue and say nothing you shall go shares. If you don't, I'll
crack your head for you, so mind you don't give her any signal."
"You unfeeling fellow!" said Frank. "Shout, Jimmy and Dick, with all
your might. I will settle this blackguard."
Jimmy and Dick obeyed and waved their hats to the advancing yacht. The
man at the helm could not let go the tiller, but his mate made the sheet
fast, and rose to strike Frank. Frank seized the stretcher from the
bottom of the boat and raised it in the air.
"Touch me, if you dare!" he said.
The brute struck at him, enraged at the prospect of losing so large a
sum of money as his share of the salvage would amount to. Frank avoided
the blow, and with all the strength of his lithe young body, brought the
stretcher down on the fellow's skull. He dropped to the bottom of the
boat, and lay there as still as a log.
"Now we are three to one," he said to the steersman, "so you must do as
we tell you."
The man was a coward at heart, though a bully by nature, so he dared
make no objection.
Meanwhile the yacht sheered off, but not soon enough to avoid just
touching the end of the shoal, and getting a bump, which threw the
people on her deck down, and gave 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: "There, that's for plaster!"