THE GIPSIES' BIVOUAC 61 



from which the otters could hear the startled 

 creatures stamping with excitement, until first 

 the otter, then the cubs one after the other, got 

 over the wall and dropped into a neglected road. 

 This led to a stately gateway with big iron gates, 

 and beneath them the animals crept to the moss- 

 grown drive, flecked by the moonlight which 

 filtered through the arching crowns of the oaks. 

 They passed a mole-heap or two and numerous 

 little pits scratched by rabbits, but the way was 

 innocent of rut or hoof-mark or any evidence of 

 man's proximity. Yet they had not long been 

 following its windings before they all at once 

 found themselves face to face with a scene that 

 filled them with consternation. At a spot where 

 the road makes a sharp bend about an angle of 

 the cliff lay a heap of ruddy embers, and near 

 them a dog. The animal was not asleep, but 

 stretched to his full length and, as his restless 

 ears showed, alert to the slightest sound. His 

 every movement was visible against the dying 

 fire, the glow of which fell on the curtained 

 window of a caravan and dimly revealed the 

 gnarled branches above it. The otters, thoroughly 

 alive to the danger of attack, stood ready to 

 defend themselves ; but, seeing that the enemy 

 gave no sign, they sidled towards the overgrown 



