110 THE LIFE STORY OF AN OTTER 



the curl of the wave, came up in the rough water 

 beyond, made straight for the fishing -ground 

 some two furlongs from the shore, dived, and 

 began scouring the sand and the rocks that 

 chequered it. He looked more like a conger 

 than a beast of prey ; yet the fish were quick to 

 recognize their dreaded enemy, and darted from 

 his path. Of sand-eels and flat-fish he took no 

 heed, but gave chase to a bass, pursuing it till it 

 was lost to sight in the depths beyond ; then, his 

 lungs being exhausted, he shot up through the 

 seven fathoms of water and lay awhile on the 

 surface, now in the trough, now in the crest of 

 the wave, with his face towards the moon, which 

 had risen clear of the headland. He seemed to 

 be listening, perhaps to the booming in the caves 

 or to the tolling of the bell on the Shark's Fin, 

 but more probably to the surf about the Seal 

 Rock, for presently he swam towards this 

 favourite landing-place. Within a stone's throw 

 of it, however, he dived, and made his way in 

 a spiral down and down until he reached the 

 mouth of a cave in the base of the great pyramid 

 of which the rock is the peak. 



He knew the place well, for he had been 

 worsted there by a conger some months before, 

 and he had come now in quest of the same fish. 



