Occasionally, spite of his lightning dash, a 

 little trout would spy him and dart between _ „„ 

 him and his sheltering root ; and then Kop- w_r 



seep would make use of a trick which every H^S^'Coi* 

 little salmon seems to know by instinct. He 

 would dart away, with the troutlet after him, 

 to where the bottom was softest and whirl up 

 a muddy cloud into which his enemy dashed 

 headlong. Then, before the troutlet could 

 find him, Kopseep was hidden under an inch 

 of soft mud ; or else, fearing the big eels, he 

 would scoot back under cover of the muddy 

 screen to his own root, whither no enemy 

 ever followed him. 



As for the troutlet, he had speedily his 

 own troubles to attend to. Besides the larger 

 fish, which always chased all smaller ones 

 that dared show themselves in open water, 

 the mink was gliding in and out like a 

 shadow. Kingfishers dropped in like plum- 

 mets, getting a fish at almost every plunge; 

 and the sheldrakes, that had a nest just above, 

 were frightfully destructive, eating scores of 

 trout in every day's fishing. So the troutlet, 

 after one confused instant in the mud cloud, 



