28 A TICKLISH MOMENT 



and hopeless though he thought the stalk, re- 

 solved to attempt it. Instantly he slipped from 

 the rock and stole forward, taking advantage of 

 the meanest tuft to conceal his approach. Yet 

 for all his cleverness he was a conspicuous object, 

 and had the hare been alert she could not 

 have failed to see him. Once, indeed, she did 

 seem uneasy, as if vaguely conscious of danger ; 

 the fox, whose eyes never left her, was quick 

 to see that, and when she looked his way he 

 was rigid in his stride and escaped observa- 

 tion. But immediately she turned he resumed 

 his advance, and soon it seemed he might suc- 

 ceed in his murderous design. Noiseless as a 

 phantom, he drew nearer and nearer till, with 

 ears flat and body crouching to the ground, he 

 reached the stunted rushes on the margin of 

 the pool. 



Now he was so near the hares that when they 

 shook themselves the spray all but reached him. 

 Again and again with his cruel eyes he measured 

 the distance, and as often refrained from launch- 

 ing himself: he would not spoil the stalk by a 

 rash step, for at any moment the hares might 

 approach within reach of his spring, or they 

 might re-enter the pool and be at his mercy. 

 And it looked as if his patience would be re- 

 warded, for in a second or two, seconds which 



