THE OTTER. 119 



pool being frozen over except at the point where 

 the water, with the metallic ring of extreme cold, 

 tumbled into it. Accordingly the otter was com- 

 pelled to travel along the bank, but every now and 

 then he had dived into a pool, and invariably re- 

 turned with a fish. If there was no fish in the 

 pool or 'dub,' as it would more expressively be 

 termed in that locality then he had passed it by 

 with only a casual glance, and many of the most 

 promising pools he had treated in this way, taking 

 his fish from the least likely and least noticeable 

 places of harbourage. Evidently the animal was 

 able to tell in some mysterious manner whether or 

 not the tiny bay contained a lurking trout and 

 this with the water covered with ice, upon which 

 rested a layer of snow, rendering it entirely opaque. 

 One can only judge that an angler's ' sixth sense ' 

 guided him in his hunting not an unlikely state 

 of affairs considering to what extent man himself, 

 who is but a casual visitor to the water at the best 

 (or worst) of times, and in no way dependent upon 

 it for his next meal, cultivates an instinctive know- 

 ledge as to the whereabouts of fish. Probably if 

 we thought less deeply and followed our instinctive 

 promptings without question, as the otter does, we 

 should be more successful in our angling. 



For well over two miles the otter had followed 

 the burn, which then became so precipitous and 

 narrow as to bar the ascent of fish, and here the 

 animal had set out across the heather in the direc- 

 tion of the Nidd valley, evidently being intent on 

 striking some tributary of that river. The tracks 

 appeared very fresh, so out of curiosity the boy 

 still followed. What was his surprise when, cap- 

 ping the next ridge, he came right upon the otter 

 descending to the next burn ! 



