THE VIXEN'S SEARCH 7 



watched with eyes starting from her head, 

 anxious to learn whether the murderous creature 

 would hit the line she had left at early dawn. 

 Once she crossed it without checking ; she 

 flashed over it again near the Giant's Bowl, 

 and then the hare knew that the trail would 

 not betray her ; the hot sun had evaporated 

 every particle of what little scent she had left.-^ 

 The hunter moved at an unusually quick pace, 

 as if she had set herself the task of examining 

 the whole hillside during the short time that 

 man remained within doors. Now she threaded 

 the bushes, now she leapt them ; once she was 

 lost to view in a patch of tall furze gorgeous 

 with blossom, but in a few seconds she re- 

 appeared at the far end to continue the quest 

 in the open. At last near the black shadow 

 cast by a boulder she stopped, assumed a 

 listening attitude, then plunged her long nose 

 into a bush after a mouse, but apparently 

 without getting it, for she did not lick her 

 chops. Nothing disconcerted, however, on she 

 went again, ranging to and fro without a pause 

 till, half-way up the slope, she stood suddenly 

 still and looked towards the homestead as if 

 all at once alive to the risk she was running. 

 A glance satisfied her that man was still 



1 The doe hare leaves little scent whilst her young are helpless. 



