ALWAYS ON THE MOVE 107 



like that for an old fish, did 'ee? I thought 



somebody was drow ' Before he could finish 



the word he saw and, understanding, added in a 

 changed tone : ' Well, well, they prents beat all 

 I ever did see. I'd give a sack of bests to clap 

 eyes on the varmint as left 'em. Where's a lyin', 

 wonder. Anywheres handy, do 'ee think V 



'It's a safe offer you're making, William 

 Richard. You'll nae see the canny vagabond 

 the day. He's no couching near the kill, I'm 

 thinking, but miles and miles awa' — at Lone 

 Tarrn, maybe, or by the Leeddens. That print ' 

 — and he pointed to a footmark half in and half 

 out of the water — ■ seems to say he was travel- 

 ling up- water.' 



The bailiff was right in supposing that the 

 otter had sought a distant couch, but wrong as 

 to the direction it took and its whereabouts. At 

 that moment the animal was curled up asleep in 

 Rundle's oak coppice overhanging the estuary, 

 ten miles away as the river winds. The next day 

 he was in the bat-cave, but he had not come to 

 stay. At night he was off again, nor did he arrest 

 his steps save to fish and call along the lonely 

 reaches which led to the swamp he was bound for, 

 a good league beyond the bridge. Indeed, he was 

 always on the move, seeming to think it unsafe 



14—2 



