THE MARSHMAN UNNERVED 177 



come pouring over the brow and enter the brake 

 full in his view. 



* You're tremblin', granfer.' 



' Iss, cheeld, all of a quake, like the yallow 

 furze where the hounds are forcin' a way. The 

 moosic is 'most too much for me.' 



' Mary,' said he, and the child raised her won- 

 dering eyes to the excited face, ' 'tes the line of 

 the King Oter they're spakin' to, and — who can 

 tell ?— maybe the sun will shut down on a great 

 day. But, lor me ! what am I doin' here on this 

 rick, with hounds about to take the water ? My 

 place is in the Mary Jane' With that he 

 scrambled down the rude ladder and bustled 

 towards the spot where he had left the boat in 

 the early morning. 



As soon as he stepped in, the pack, which had 

 been almost mute since entering the mere, broke 

 out into a babel of music, proclaiming a find. 

 The uproar so unnerved him that he w r as long in 

 getting the oars between the thole-pins ; but 

 when he did, he pulled with might and main till, 

 drawing near the hounds, he stopped rowing and 

 kept a sharp lookout for the quarry repeating 

 as he scanned the water : ■ Ef 'tes only he, only 

 he.' But not a sign of otter, big or small, met 

 his eyes, either in the mere or in the creek, to 



23 



