THE OTTER IN THE LYD. 125 



the low water of the stream, was quietly making 

 good his escape by land to the shelter of the mill- 

 pond, when Mr Surtees espied him, and forgetting 

 all else in his excitement, pursued him armed with 

 his walking-stick. The fray among the dogs was 

 not stopped till one of the unfortunate little terriers 

 had been killed, and the proceedings ended prema- 

 turely and sadly, the two sportsmen declaring their 

 conviction that terriers were too quarrelsome to 

 work together. 



In spite of this, however, it was not long before 

 my two old friends Mr Connop and Mr Surtees 

 suggested that I should try my terriers at otter- 

 hunting, and the scene I have described was there- 

 fore the cause of my first taking to this branch 

 of sport with my pack. None of my terriers had 

 been entered to otter, but the waters had not been 

 hunted for a good many years, and I determined 

 to try what we could do. The great dread that 

 the originators of the idea had was that the 

 terriers would fight, but of this I assured them 

 there was no danger. It seemed, however, that 

 their fears were to be realised, for among the seven 

 and a half couple I took out was a new dog, a 

 black -and-tan called Tim, who immediately fell on 

 another terrier as they were leaving the cart. 

 ** There," exclaimed the former sufferers in chorus, 

 "at it again ! I told you so." But Tim was soon 

 caught and quieted, and the rest of the pack 

 showed that my confidence in them had not been 

 misplaced. 



