72 HARE AND OTTER 



water, and, holding the prey firmly between her 

 fore paws, proceeded to devour it. Her wet 

 coat gleamed when the sun rose across the 

 level waste marking moor and pool with the 

 shadows of the turf-stacks, yet the otter took 

 no notice of the unfriendly rays ; she was too 

 much engrossed with her prey. Once she looked 

 up, but no noise had attracted her ; the slicing 

 and champing of the flesh by her sharp white 

 teeth was the only sound of that hushed hour. 

 When she had eaten part of the fish, she 

 dropped the remainder, advanced a few inches 

 into the water and washed her muzzle with her 

 great splayed foot, interrupting her ablutions 

 to listen momentarily to the faint echo raised 

 by a train of pack-mules. Then she returned 

 to the islet and rolled on the fern. Now this 

 way, now that, the long sleek creature turned 

 and twisted, approaching dangerously near 

 the little knoll against which the hare was 

 pressed so close as to look scarcely more than 

 half his size. At last, having dried her coat, 

 she sought a clump of osmunda some five 

 lengths from the hare, coiled herself up, and 

 fell asleep. 



Now again there was an opportunity for the 

 hare to steal away : surely he would take 

 advantage of it. But no ; rather than run the 



