226 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



And yet with all its innocence the water-vole 

 leads a persecuted life. It might say, with 

 Stevenson's pirate, " I never knew good come out 

 o' goodness." When it sallies forth for its blame- 

 less supper worthy of an anchorite, a supper of 

 herbs and water, it steps into the trap set for its 

 feet. When it sits up in conscious rectitude on 

 the bank in broad daylight to do its back hair the 

 passing ploughman or fisher heaves a rock at it, 

 and it succumbs to a touch which would hardly 

 inconvenience the tougher sinner who has cursed 

 it with its name. The prime mistake of its evolu- 

 tion was in the adoption of its shape. Perhaps 

 it made an honest effort to achieve distinction 

 when it adopted a short tail. But, alas I it hides 

 this testifying feature away, and it is rarely seen 

 by the enemy till the owner is dead. In these 

 days, when the real black rat has all but dis- 

 appeared from the land, the colour of the water- 

 vole, a jet and glossy black, or sometimes a very 

 dark brown, might save it ; but it doesn't. It 

 merely makes it a black rat to the majority. 



