Some dived as deep as possible;
but others lost their wits and swam on the surface. A moment more, and
Dagger Bill, who had sunk at once, darted up again, and this time his
terrible beak pierced right through a little swimmer's body, severing
the backbone."
"Oh-h-h!" murmured the Babe, drawing in his breath sharply.
"I can't help it," said Uncle Andy. "But that's the way things go.
Well, now, Dagger Bill rose right out on top of the water, as a bird
should, and swam toward shore with the victim hanging limply from his
beak. But every old muskrat, along the bank or around the waterhouse,
had seen and had understood. Those folks that think muskrats and other
wild creatures have sense, would have said it was all planned out
ahead--it happened so quick. Every muskrat dived like a flash into the
water and disappeared.
"Dagger Bill was coolly making for shore, not dreaming that anybody
would dare interfere with him, when suddenly his black head went up in
the air, his great beak opened with a hoarse squawk, and he dropped the
dead Water Baby. His dark wings flopped, and his tail was drawn under
so violently that he nearly turned over backward. It seemed to him
that nothing less than the Great Sturgeon, which lived far down the
river, must have grabbed him by the feet.
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