156 NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN 



and there rising above the water it was 

 all very curious, but it did not seem in any way 

 hostile. He eyed it scornfully. For what 

 was neither dangerous nor useful he had a 

 highly practical contempt. Having satisfied 

 his curiosity, and allayed a certain uneasiness 

 with which he had always regarded the great 

 set-net, he turned to swim out again. But 

 at this moment he chanced to look down. 



The sight that met his eyes was one to stir 

 the blood of any fisherman. He was just 

 over the " purse " that fatal chamber 

 whence so few who enter it ever find the exit. 

 The narrow space was crowded with every 

 kind of fish that frequented the lake, except for 

 the slim eels and the small fry who could swim 

 through the meshes. It was the chance of 

 a loon's lifetime. Flashing downward, he 

 darted his way and that ecstatically among 

 the frantic prisoners, transfixing half a dozen 

 in succession, to make sure of them, before he 

 seized a big trout for his immediate meal. 

 Gripping the victim savagely in his bill, he 

 slanted towards the surface and plunged into 

 a slack bight of the net. 



Luckily for him, he was within a foot of 

 the air before he struck the deceitful meshes. 

 Carried on by the impetus of his rush, he 

 bore the net upwards with him, and emerged 



