The Master and the Deputy- Master. 9^ 



about." You are apt to find that he has left the 

 district in which the tongue of rumour has busied 

 itself with his exploits, and gone to some place " out 

 of the draw " where garrulity and fiction are less 

 rife. 



Seriously, I have found that where there is much 

 talk of Otters having been seen, and especially when 

 they are reported to have done abnormal things, all 

 is not well in the locality; and a little further 

 enquiry will usually elicit more authentic informa- 

 tion of Otters having been trapped or shot — facts 

 which these elaborate inventions have been contrived 

 to conceal. 



This trapping or shooting of Otters is one of the 

 worst of the annoyances with which the Master will 

 have to deal. In some cases the syndicate of un- 

 sporting stockbrokers or linendrapers who have taken 

 and stocked a stretch of water are the culprits ; and 

 he will have his work cut out to teach these ignora- 

 muses that Otters in moderation are their best 

 friends, owing to their destruction of the enemies of 

 fish spawn and fish food, and that his hounds are 

 sufficient to ensure the '' moderation." At the same 

 time he should endeavour to impress them with the 

 fact that the passage of hounds along a stream need 

 not necessarily cause them to abandon angling for 

 the rest of the day and retire to the nearest inn 

 to drink confusion to Otter-hunting. I remember 



