FRIENDSHIP IN ANIMALS 69 



his ears and open his mighty mouth to look at his 

 fangs. It is true that the wolf is next door to the dog, 

 but the fox is not quite so near a neighbour although 

 he lives not far off; he is specialised in a different 

 direction, and on account of this specialisation, of 

 his nature, his genius, one would hardly suppose him 

 capable of a very close friendship with a human 

 master. Let me relate here the story of Peter the fox, 

 for the truth of which I vouch although I am not at 

 liberty to give the name and address of its owner. 



Peter's mistress is a lady living in a Shropshire 

 village, and the lady and fox are so much to one 

 another that they are not happy when apart. When 

 she goes for a walk or to make a call she takes the 

 fox, just as Mary took her little lamb, and she laughs 

 at those who say warningly that a fox makes a 

 dangerous pet; that his temper is uncertain and his 

 teeth sharp ; also that he has an ineradicable weakness 

 for certain things — things with feathers, for example. 

 Peter, she affirms, never did and never will do any- 

 thing he ought not to do, and is moreover the sweetest- 

 tempered and most affectionate pet that any person 

 ever possessed. 



After having had Peter for about a year he vanished 

 and his loss was a great grief to her, and it was no 

 consolation to be told by her friends that it was just 

 what they had thought would happen, that sooner or 

 later the call of the wild would come and prove 

 irresistible. 



One afternoon, when Peter had been gone several 

 days, she remembered him and was heavy at heart, 



