"Never mind, we will get some to-morrow," said Frank, looking guilty. "There are no shops about here, and there are no salt-mines in the marsh," said Jimmy, who refused to be comforted. "Talking about salt-mines, have you ever been down one?" said Frank, who was eager to turn the subject. "No; have you?" "Yes, and a jolly sort of place it is." "Then tell us all about it as a punishment." "It was at Northwich, in Cheshire, last year, when I was on a visit to my uncle. We drove over one day to look at the mines. They get an enormous quantity of salt from that district, and it is of two kinds, the white table salt and that dark lumpy salt they put in fields for cattle. They get the white salt from brine-pits, which are full of salt water. The water is pumped up and put into basins until it evaporates, and the white salt is left behind. There must be big holes in the earth filled with salt water, for as it is pumped away the surface of the earth caves in, and the houses lean against each other in a very tumble-down sort of fashion. The brown or rock-salt is dug out of mines, and we went down one of these. My cousin and I went down in a tub hardly large enough to hold us, and a workman clung to the rope above our heads. The shaft was dirty, narrow, and crooked, and we bumped finely against the sides. I didn't like it at all, I assure you; and when we cleared the shaft and hung suspended over a vast cavern, at the bottom of which were some dim lights, I felt rather in a funk. The man below reached up to us with a long pole, and pulled us away from the end of the shaft for fear of falling stones, and then we were lowered to the ground, and stepped out of the bucket and looked about us. We were in a very large cave, the roof of which was supported by immense square pillars of the salt rock. It was brown, of course, but it was quite translucent, and the light gleamed from it very prettily. Our guide lit a piece of magnesium-wire, and I never saw anything so magnificent in my life. The whole place seemed set with precious stones, and the dirty, half-naked men, leaning on their tools, looked as picturesque as you could well imagine. Then one of the men had finished boring a blast hole, and we waited while he filled it with powder and fired a shot. We all huddled in one corner of the cave, and then there was such a roar and smoke! The rock under our feet heaved and shook, and pieces of rock and stone flew about far too near for my liking." "I never knew how salt was got before," said Dick. "Nor I," said Jimmy; "and as Frank has told us so well we will forgive him for forgetting the salt." CHAPTER VIII. An Eerie Night.--A Ghostly Apparition.--The Barn Owl.-- A Will-o'-the Wisp.--The Ruff and Reeve.--Snaring Ruffs.-- A Nest.--Wroxham Broad.--Mud-boards and Leaping-pole.-- Wild Duck's Nest in a Tree.