NO INSCRIPTION ON THE CASE 185 



preserved for ourselves and others to look at in 

 the years to come. Now, if any man has got 

 anything to say, let him speak out.' 



' Say, sir,' replied the parish clerk, after casting 

 his quick eyes round the circle of approving faces, 

 ' why, that we're one and all of the same way of 

 thinkin' as yoursel' ! What's a pad here or a pad 

 there ? To say nawthin' as to who's to have 'em. 

 By all manner o' means let the otter be set up, 

 and let un be given pride of place again' the 

 wainscot ; for if ever wild crittur deserved the 

 honour, this one do, if only for the good he's done 

 the landlord.' 



So the otter was set up in the hall in a hand- 

 some case, with a picture of the marsh for back- 

 ground. Of the many trophies that adorn the 

 walls there is not one the squire was so proud of, 

 none whose story he liked so well to relate. It 

 alone bears no inscription ; for, as he always said, 

 ' There is no need ; my people will never let the 

 record die !' His words have proved true. 



Though the wild promontory is steeped in 

 legend and romance, though tales of giants, fairies, 

 smugglers and shipwrecked sailors, abound, there 

 is no story the crofters so often repeat by the 

 firelight as the story of the otter, none the 

 children listen to with closer attention. Mary's 



24 



