124 SNOW 



ing as they did between the dull day and the 

 dark nicrht when he wandered far and wide 

 after pasture. Yet widely as he roamed he never 

 came across the packs of stoats which the host 

 of birds had attracted, nor — a thing that 

 excited his surprise — once encountered Grey 

 Fox. 



Nevertheless he often thought of him, wonder- 

 ing what had befallen him : whether he had 

 met his death from the lurcher or been expelled 

 from the earth by the badgers and betaken him- 

 self elsewhere. Neither supposition was right. 

 Like the stoat-packs, Grey Fox harboured in 

 the valleys, attracted by the easily captured 

 prey and making the most of his opportunity. 

 It was well for him that he did. In the middle 

 of December snow fell, shutting off food from 

 the birds and causing all but the hardiest to 

 perish of hunger. 



It would seem that the wind had delayed the 

 fall, for no sooner did it die away than the 

 flakes began to descend, lightly at first, then 

 close enough to hide all but the nearest objects, 

 so that when at last they ceased, the land was 

 covered to a depth of several inches. Spray 

 and frond did not submit more passively to 

 the fall than did the hare ; in the end he was 

 as completely hidden as a sheep in a drift. 



