54 NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN 



except to keep the point of his lance ever 

 toward the foe. And presently the hawk, 

 seeing the futility of his assaults, winged off 

 sullenly to hunt for some unwary duck or 

 gosling. 



As he went the heron stretched himself to 

 his full gaunt height and stared after him in 

 triumph. Then, turning his head slowly, he 

 scanned the whole expanse of windless grass 

 and sunlit water. One sight fixed his atten- 

 tion. Far up the windings of the lesser 

 stream he marked a man in a boat. The 

 man was not rowing, but sitting in the stern 

 and propelling the boat noiselessly with an 

 Indian paddle. From time to time he halted 

 and examined the shore minutely. Once in 

 a while, after such an examination, he would 

 get out, kneel down, and be occupied for 

 several minutes among the weeds of the 

 shallows along the stream's edge. He was 

 looking at the musquash holes in the bank, 

 and setting traps before those which showed 

 signs of present occupancy. The heron 

 watched the process, unstirring as a dead 

 stump, till he thought the man was coming 

 too near. Then, spreading a vast, dark pair 

 of wings, he arose indignantly and flapped 

 heavily away up river, trailing his length of 

 black legs just over the sedge tops. 



