PRIVATION TELLS 133 



On reaching the bleak spot, he went from 

 tree to tree gnawing the bark on the windward 

 side, so that while he fed, his back was to the 

 gale and his face in a measure protected from 

 the driven snow. He seemed to prefer the rind 

 on the upper part of the stem, for at each of 

 the three bushes he stood on his hind feet and 

 reached as high as he could, despite the sway- 

 ing of the bushes under the gusts that shook 

 them. The creaking noise they made formed a 

 weird harmony with the moan of the wind, 

 which was quite in keeping with the spirit of 

 the haggard upland. 



Soon the hare, unable to endure the bitter 

 cold, forsook the down for the lowland and 

 made for home. Home! Can it be said that 

 he had ever had a home ? The hill had perhaps 

 the best claim, then there was the Fairies' 

 Green, and the moor, but all of them too ex- 

 posed for him now, hardiest of earth's children 

 though he was. Privation, besides, had begun 

 to tell on him, and In his weakened condi- 

 tion he turned from the wild to seek the pro- 

 tection afforded by man ; so he was making for 

 the homestead of whose daily life he had been 

 so close an observer, striking through the blind- 

 ing storm over field and waste as unfalteringly 

 as though guided by some visible beacon. 



