SWIMMERS 



salt marshes, half-hidden among the brambles 

 and tall grass, I caught the merest glimpse of a 

 mink slipping along between the bottom rails. 

 As he was evidently unaware of my presence, 

 I determined to see more of him, and began 

 squeaking in imitation of a mouse, and quickly 

 had the satisfaction of seeing him make his 

 appearance on a projecting stake much nearer 

 than when I had first seen him. 



Stretching himself along a projecting stake, 

 he appeared to listen and look in my direction ; 

 but although I was standing in plain sight on 

 the edge of the marsh hardly a rod away, the fact 

 that he was obliged to look directly into the 

 sun evidently made it quite impossible for him 

 to distinguish clearly what he saw. 



At the end of a few moments he dropped into 

 the grass and started in my direction, the trem- 

 bling grass-blades clearly indicating his progress 

 as he approached nearer and nearer until, almost 

 at my feet, he vanished, and, in spite of the most 



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