Part 2

THE OTTER.

THE HOLT AMONG THE ALDERS.

PAGE

Late fishing--A summer night--River voices--A master-fisher-- The old mansion--Lingering beauty--The otters' "oven"--Observant youngsters--Careful motherhood--The meadow playground--Falling leaves--A swollen river--Dabchick's oar-like wings--Mysterious proceedings--Migrating salmon--Hoar-fringed river-banks--An adventure with a sheep-dog--Slip-shod builders--Signs of spring--A change of diet--Fattening trout--The capture of a "kelt"--"The otter's bite"--Lone wanderings. 1-23

II.

THE POOL BENEATH THE FARMSTEAD.

A song of autumn--The salmon pool--Angling difficulties--Bullying a sportive fish--An absent-minded fisherman--At dawn and nightfall--A deserted home--Practical joking--A moorhen's fate--Playfulness of youth--The torrent below the fall--The garden ponds--Feasting on frogs--A watcher of the night--Hounds and hunters--Lutra's discretion--The spell of fear 24-40

III.

THE GORGE OF ALLTYCAFN.

The Hunt again--Fury of despair--A "strong place"--The terrier's discomfiture--Lutra's widowhood--Summer drought--Life at the estuary--Returning to the river--Scarce provender--A rare and unexpected sight--The blacksmith's baited trap--The Rock of Gwion--Peace 41-50

THE WATER-VOLE.

OUR VILLAGE HOUNDS.

Quiet life--Leisure hours--A winter pastime--A miscellaneous pack--The bobtail, and his fight with an otter--The terrier, and his friendship with fishermen--A family party--Expert diving--Hunt membership, and the landlord as huntsman--Fast and furious fun--A rival Hunt--The bobtail's death--The terrier's eccentricities--A pleasant study begins--Brown rats--Yellow ants--Brighteye's peculiarities--Evening sport 51-67

II.

THE BURROW IN THE RIVER BANK.

At dusk--A picturesque home--Main roads and lanes of the riverside people--A heron's alertness--A rabbit's danger signal--The reed-bed--The vole in fear--The wildest of the wild--Tell-tale footprints--The significance of a blood-stain--A weasel's ferocity--Maternal warnings--A rat-hunting spaniel--An invaded sanctuary--The terrier's opportunity--The water-vole chatters and sings--A gladsome life--Dangers sharpen intellect 68-82

III.

WILD HUNTING.

An otter-hunt--Fading afterglow--Spiritual influence of night--Lutra and Brighteye--Brighteye's song--Chill waters--A beacon in the gloom--A squirrel's derision--A silvery phantom--An old, lean trout--Restless salmon--Change of quarters--Brighteye's encounter with a "red" fish 83-98

IV.

SAVED BY AN ENEMY.

The "redd" in the gravel--In company with a water-shrew--Ravenous trout--The salmon's attack--An otter appears--Brighteye's bewilderment--Increasing vigilance--Playful minnows--A new water-entrance--The winter granary--Careful harvesting--The dipper's winter carol--The robin and the wren at vespers--Unsafe quarters--Rats on the move--A sequestered pool--Icebound haunts 99-115

THE COURAGE OF FEAR.

The dawn--Restlessness of spring--A bold adventurer--A sharp fight--Cleared pathways--Differences of opinion--A tight snuggery--In defence of home--A monster rat--Temporary refuge--The voles and the cannibal trout--Family troubles--A winter evening in the village 116-129

THE FIELD-VOLE.

HIDDEN PATHWAYS IN THE GRASS.

A pleasant wilderness--Pitying Nature--Hedgerow sentinels--The story of the day--Familiar signs--An unknown scent--The agony of fear--A change of mood--The weasel's raid--A place of slaughter--Autumn preparations--A general panic--Hibernation--Winter sunshine--The red bank-voles--Owls and hawks 131-150

II.