water. These furrows were' fanned clean 

 with tails and fins, and then his mate set- 

 tling upon the nest began depositing her 

 eggs, thousands and thousands of them; so 

 many that, had they all hatched and grown, 

 the river must have been full of salmon. 



That was a busy time for the old male 

 with the hooked jaw. As the eggs were laid 

 he covered them hurriedly with gravel to 

 keep the current from washing them away, 

 and to hide them from the little trout and 

 parrs that flashed about like sunbeams, and 

 that, spite of his fierce snaps and rushes, 

 would dart in to grab a mouthful and scud 

 away to eat it under the banks or stones 

 where he could not follow them. At times 

 the little bandits seemed to hunt in packs, 

 like wolves ; and while the big salmon was 

 chasing one of their number, the others 

 would flash in and gobble up all the uncov- ; 

 ered tidbits. They would even steal un 

 the mother salmon and snatch away 

 eggs as they were laid, till the old male 

 came surging back and scattered them 

 a puff of smoke into their unseen dens. 



347 



77}e 3/ory 

 ofKopseep 



V 



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mf. 



