252 TWAE CAN PLAY AT THAT. 



no boat could swim. He was thus out of the reach of 

 being speared in the usual manner ; but Charlie Purdie 

 had a go at him by flinging his leister from a dis- 

 tance — 



" Nequicquam patrias tentasti lubricus artes, 

 Vane Ligur." 



It was a complete failure. Charlie followed up the 

 thing, however, by leaping out of the boat ; nothing 

 could be fairer or more honourable, as he thus gave the 

 amphibious animal the advantage of element. The men 

 were all eager and in commotion; so what with boat 

 and lights, to say nothing of the dreadful tridents, the 

 beast was fairly confused, and almost surrounded. 

 Purdie, who had sent away his leister upon a vain 

 errand, albeit unarmed, continued the chase on foot, 

 and at length gripped the brute by the tail ; there was 

 pulling and splashing, till at last he held the otter up 

 aloft triumphantly. Now as this position, though not 

 precisely vertical, did not happen to suit the brute's 

 convenience, the subtle animal managed to twist round, 

 and to fix his teeth on the captor's arm. This was 

 rather disagreeable to Charlie, as the teeth of the otter 

 abound in practical experiments. The posture of 

 affairs then, you see, was as follows : — the tenacious 

 Purdie had hold of the vermin with his dexter, and was 

 loth to relinquish his grip; the foe, nothing behind 

 in tenacity, fixed his teeth' in Charlie's sinister with 

 equal perseverance; thus both his arms were fully 

 occupied. Nothing daunted, Charlie cried out with 

 Spartan endurance, " Hey, lad, but twae can play at 

 that ! " So, extending his jaws, he fixed his grinders in 



