Next time he was _all_ the way across; but, being very
cunning indeed, he came up under a grassy bank, where his black bill
was hidden among the stems.
"He was not more than twenty paces now from the place where the Water
Babies were splashing and racing and squeaking, and having such a good
time on the smooth, sunny water, under the blue, blue sky. They were
very happy. Dagger Bill sank back into the deep water so noiselessly,
you would have said it was a shadow sinking. Then he rushed forward
like a swordfish, down there in the brown glow, and darted up right
into the game of tag.
"He had aimed his cruel thrust at the Water Baby who, at that
particular moment, was IT. But, in that same second, as luck would
have it, IT caught the one he was pursuing, nipped his tail, and
doubled back like lightning to escape getting nipped in return. So,
you see, Dagger Bill missed his aim. That javelin of his beak just
grazed the brown tip of IT'S nose, scaring him to death, but nothing
more."
"Ah-h!' breathed the Babe, relieved in his feelings.
"In a wink, of course," went on Uncle Andy, "all the Water Babies, with
a wild slapping of tails on the water to warn each other, were
scurrying desperately for the nest.
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