434 Reminiscences of 



dive down beneath again and appear upon the other 

 side, then hesitate on top apparently for reflection, and 

 then in the most active manner commence his journey 

 around and about the box again. He paid no attention 

 to me whatever, as I remained perfectly quiet. He fi- 

 nally dived into the water and disappeared. Interested 

 to know how he would act in taking the trout, I took ad- 

 vantage of his absence to go to the box and remove the 

 cover, and returned to my previous sitting place. In a 

 few moments I saw him appear at the box again; he 

 swam about several times before mounting. On top 

 he immediately discovered the opening, down which he 

 disappeared. At first I thought I would run up and 

 replace the cover, but then it occurred to me that I 

 should perhaps catch a tartar ; and besides I wished to 

 see how the work was done, as I had been the victim of 

 several losses of this character. The splashing in the 

 car indicated his entrance, and in half a minute he 

 appeared at the top dragging out a struggling i-lb. 

 trout. But the struggles were comparatively faint, 

 as the mink had evidently given the fish a distinctive 

 quietus. Down into the water he slid and disappeared. 

 I saw him soon appear along the shore above, when 

 I lost sight of him. In less than three minutes he ap- 

 peared again at the box and repeated his first act with 

 a second trout, which he disappeared with as before, and 

 returned after about the same lapse of time. The 

 third act was more prolonged, as he attacked the 

 largest trout in the car, heavier than himself, but finally 

 dragged it out and carried it off. I concluded it time 

 to put the cover on the box and end the play, well 

 satisfied that otherwise all the trout would soon 

 disappear. 



