"What on earth was that?" cried Rod.
But there was nothing further to be seen. A few bubbles came struggling up through the water, but the creature had gone, and so had the fish.
"It couldn't have been that fisher-cat," said Rod.
"No, indeed! Who ever heard of a fisher-cat, or any other cat, swimming ten rods under water!"
"But he is gone from the stump."
"Well, let him go. That wasn't him."
"What was it, then?"
That was a question easier asked than answered. We were fairly "stuck," as Rod expressed it, and stood staring into the hole. Suddenly there was a wavy motion, deep down, below the surface, and we saw the creature shoot back, by the hole, with the fish in his mouth. We had just a dim, refractive glimpse, and he had passed, going toward the shore. We looked in that direction, and a few seconds after, saw a flat, black head pop up a moment into sight from the open water, and, then it disappeared. We watched for some minutes, but it did not come up again.
"Rather a strange performance, anyhow," muttered Rod.
"But let's go round to the shore, and see if we can find the fisher."