50 THE LIFE STORY OF AN OTTER 



time the sun was dipping below the pines near 

 the homestead ; it was almost time to be afoot, 

 and as soon as the stars were bright, the otters 

 took to the water and began the descent of the 

 estuary. 



The river, in spate after the rains, bore them 

 swiftly along, now between long spits of sand, 

 now close to the shadowed banks, dotted here 

 and there with glow-worms. The surroundings 

 were as peaceful as the drifting was easy ; yet 

 safe as the way seemed there was danger ahead, 

 and a mile or so down they came on one of the 

 worst enemies of their kind. They saw him the 

 instant they rounded the bend ; and little wonder, 

 for the burly figure was clearly outlined against 

 the latticed window of the keeper's cottage. 

 Had he moved, they would merely have sunk 

 out of sight ; had he coughed or sneezed, they 

 would have dived, to reappear a furlong below. 

 But to scare them was the last thing he wished, 

 and, excited though he was, he never moved a 

 muscle. He had set a trap for the otters, which 

 he knew would follow the peel ; and since dusk 

 he had been all ears for the rattle of the chain 

 that would tell of a capture. As soon as they 

 were gone by, he rose and tiptoed along the 

 bank, wondering, as he picked his way, what 



