THE DESPOILERS 67 



The hellgramite came back. Swift flew 

 at it, and retaining it by a sucking move- 

 ment of the mouth bore it away and spat it 

 far. Again it reappeared, only to be as 

 speedily removed. 



Then came a frog, a striped pickerel frog 

 of alluring color. It floated and kicked on 

 the surface for full three minutes, then sank 

 slowly down. It dropped to the nest and 

 struggled there. The movements stirred 

 hot anger and resentment in Swift, for they 

 were displacing her eggs. 



Again she darted down. She got the frog 

 and was bearing it away when a strange 

 thing happened. The amphibian was 

 cleverly fastened to an ingenious spring 

 hook, which suddenly snapped apart and 

 caught in her mouth. With the spring, the 

 line tightened. The bass was jerked over 

 backward, but rushed wildly while being 

 reeled in. On the shore the angler took her 

 from the hook and slipped her in a pocket 

 of his hunting coat. Chuckling to himself, 

 he moved on up the lake. 



The nest Swift left behind would thence- 

 forth remain unguarded ; and this meant the 

 death of the life she had placed there. She 



