FOLLOWING THE SALMON 165 



come up ; and I hope and trust he will, and that 

 the hounds will find and kill un, or what '11 become 

 of the parish I don't know. From the squire to 

 Tom Burn-the-Reed we're gettin' in a poor way, 

 and you the one man gettin' any good out of it.' 

 When the flood began to fall the otter did 

 come up, and the first night spent hour after hour, 

 to no purpose, chasing salmon in the pool below 

 the rapids. At dawn he climbed to the ivy- 

 covered branch of a tree overhanging the river, 

 to sleep as well as his uncomfortable quarters 

 allowed. That night he killed in the Kieve ; 

 early in the morning the moorman disturbed a 

 pair of buzzards from the remains of his feast, 

 and tried to cross to look for tracks ; but the 

 current was dangerous, and after being nearly 

 washed off his feet he turned back. The river 

 had not yet fallen to hunting level ; but as soon 

 as it had, the bailiff, the miller and all the others 

 were out again, confident that the otter was up 

 and, despite previous failures, hopeful that they 

 would come on his track on one of the many new 

 sand-spits left by the receding waters. 



