30 THE LIFE STORY OF AN OTTER 



found than the otter and her cubs, quite unsus- 

 picious of danger, though they were running 

 straight into its jaws. At a sudden turn of the 

 mossy track where rocks contract the way they 

 came face to face with Venom, the woodman's 

 terrier. Venom was returning from a badgers' 

 sett which he visited whenever he could slip away 

 unobserved, and his begrimed and bloodstained 

 condition told how severe had been the fray 

 between him and one of the badgers. He looked 

 a woebegone mongrel as he limped along on 

 three legs ; but the instant he found himself face 

 to face with the strangers he forgot his fatigue 

 and flew at the otter's throat with a fury that 

 threatened to make short work of her. He soon 

 discovered, however, that he had caught a 

 Tartar. The shaking he gave her had little 

 other result than further to exhaust himself, 

 while the otter began punishing him about the 

 face and shoulders, making her teeth meet at 

 every bite. Besides inflicting severe wounds, she 

 was actually pushing the dog back, and after a 

 prolonged tussle was clear of the rocks and close 

 to a fallen tree from which the terrified cubs 

 were watching the fray. Another scrimmage 

 here took place, even longer and fiercer than 

 the first : then the dog hesitated to renew the 



