40 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLAY 



covered with ice ; and the nice, warm, dry straw 

 was pushed partly into its house, while part of the 

 bundle lay on the bridge, and some in the water. 

 In order to make itself comfortable, all the otter 

 had to do was to step out of its house on to 

 the bridge and pull the dry straw in. There was 

 plenty for a bed without meddling with that in the 

 water at all. But it is not permitted by otter 

 etiquette to do any work on dry ground which can 

 possibly be done in the water. Like most of the 

 etiquette of labour, this is based, partly on prejudice, 

 but partly on sound principles. A waterman, for 

 instance, prefers to push a plank into the water, 

 make it fast to his boat, and tow it, rather than 

 carry it on his shoulder, even if the way by land is 

 shorter than that by water. In the first place, it 

 would be unprofessional, just like a 'docker's job,' 

 to carry it ; and in the next, the water supports the 

 plank, and he really incurs less labour in towing it. 

 So has an otter less labour in transporting material 

 it can drag when floating. Unfortunately, in this 

 case the material was one in which weight made no 

 matter, and in which dryness was essential for it to 

 be of any use, that is, for a bed on a frosty night. 

 This did not weigh with the otter in the least. In- 

 stead of pulling the straw in dry, it plunged into 

 the icy water, dived and came up on the side of the 



