62 THE LIFE STORY OF AN OTTER 



riding-path just beyond the firelight, and gained 

 it without attracting the dog's attention. The 

 moment, however, the herbage rustled with their 

 movements his head was raised and pointed 

 towards the very spot where they stood con- 

 ceax^J. 3till as death, they regarded the lurcher 

 through the fronds, nor did they advance a single 

 step till the drooping of the pricked ears and the 

 resettling of the long head on the fore-legs showed 

 that suspicion was lulled. Then, with a stealth 

 that cheated the prating ferns, they left their 

 shelter, stole noiselessly as shadows past the 

 gipsy's bivouac and the side road by which the 

 human nomads had come, and escaped into 

 the safe darkness beyond, where the murmur of 

 the sea far below reached their ears. 



After passing the haunted house to which the 

 long avenue led, they came to a cairn with a 

 roofless lookout, so placed as to survey the wild 

 coast-line. Here the wanderers again struck 

 inland until they came to a high wall that 

 threatened to bar their advance. But the otter 

 knew the way and, threading the nettles border- 

 ing the stubble, reached the drain that gives easy 

 access to the park. As if glad to be clear of the 

 prickly harvest-field, the little band made down 

 the slope at a gallop, passing between groups of 



