"But _what_ could he know
about _cake_, Uncle Andy?"
"Oh, come on! You know what I mean!" protested Uncle Andy, aggrieved
at the Babe's lack of a sense of humor. "You're too particular, you
are! _You_ know bread meant fish with Dagger Bill--and cake meant
things like winkles and frogs, and watermice, and--Water Babies, of
course!
"Well, you know, it was no joke hunting the Water Babies, for the old
muskrats could fight, and would, and did! And after Dagger Bill and
his family had breakfasted on two or three Water Babies, there was
great excitement in all the muskrat homes.
"Dagger Bill was a new enemy, and they were not quite sure how to
manage him. The mink they knew, the fox they knew, and the noiseless,
terrible eagle owl, and the swooping hawk. All these they had their
tricks for evading. And the savage pike they would sometimes fight in
his own element.
"But Dagger Bill, swimming under water like a fish, and spearing them
from beneath with the deadly javelin of his beak, this was a new and
dreadfully upsetting danger. Furry heads got close together, and there
was a terrible lot of squeaking and squealing before anyone could make
up his mind what to do. And meanwhile Dagger Bill was feeling quite
pleased, because he had found out that Water Babies were good--and
safe!--to eat.
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