NEZ LONG'S MENAGERIE 177 



''There's a jNIink, a Weasel, and, as luck turns, an 

 Otter. We don't get many of them here, though tliey 

 rove about so I'm never surprised to see a few. I've 

 only found one of their coasts by the u[)per pond." 



" Coasts ! what do you mean ? " asked Rap. 



" Why, Otters are as fond of sliding down hill as you 

 are, and mud makes as good a coast for them as snow. 

 No, I'm not jokin', am I, Doctor ? " 



" What Nez saj's is perfectly true. Letj me show- 

 that Otter to the boys and I will explain." 



Nez picked up an animal that must have weighed 

 twenty pounds, with handsome rich, shaded brown fur, 

 and laid it on the floor by the Doctor. It was about 

 two feet and a half loug from its blunt nose to the root 

 of its stout tapering tail. Its head Avas catlike, with 

 small round ears and bristly mustaches, its legs were 

 short and ended in furry, webbed feet with stout 

 claws. 



, " What lovely soft under-fur," said Rap, parting the 

 long glossy outer hairs gently with one hand, " and it's 

 all over him, too, even on his tail." 



" This Otter has the most desirable, also the finest, 

 under-fur of almost any of our fourfoots," said the Doc- 

 tor, " and like the Beaver and IMuskrat he spends a 

 great deal of his time in and about the water." 



" Does living near the water have anything to do 

 with making his under-fur so thick ? " asked Rap. 



" Very probably it does, the soft close fur being made 

 to protect the body from becoming water soaked ; for 

 the Seal, who spends the greater part of his life in the 

 water, has the same wonderful, close under-coat, and the 

 rare Sea Otter also." 



