152 THE LIFE STORY OF AN OTTER 



soon, through the plentiful supply of food, the 

 otters regained their good condition, whilst the 

 cubs lost their emaciated appearance and throve 

 apace. From that time the ties that bound the 

 otter to his mate grew looser and looser, and a 

 week after the young had learnt to swim he left 

 her altogether, to resume his solitary life. 



For a while he kept to the headland and the 

 cliffs near the Gull Rock : then, tiring of these 

 haunts, he crossed to the wild coast opposite, 

 where he lingered week after week, until the 

 breath of spring quickened his roving instincts 

 and set him longing for the old trails. So he re- 

 traced his steps from the point of the promontory 

 to which he had penetrated, and on the night of 

 the full moon drifted up the estuary to Tide End. 

 There, after fishing, he sought the shelter of a 

 pile of faggots before the villagers were astir. 

 He slept soundly, despite the near neighbourhood 

 of man, and when dusk fell swam past the 

 lighted cottages towards the wood. Landing 

 there and striking straight through the trees, he 

 held on without a stop till he reached the rude 

 wall at the upper end, on which he stood to listen 

 to the croakings proceeding from the marshy flat 

 beyond. Presently he stole towards the biggest 

 of the pools that silvered the rushy waste ; but 



