26 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



" Can Squirrels fly ? I thought only birds coukl do 

 that," whispered Dodo, awe-struck. 



" Look yonder, hut keep very still," said j\Jr. Blake, 

 holding back some branches that hid the view of tlie 

 spring. 



"It is a little dog drinking," said Nat. "What a 

 bushy tail he has. See, he is going over toward the 

 barns ; perhaps he is a friend of Quick, or Mr. Wolf." 



" No, it is a Fox, and he is going to see where the 

 chickens live." 



" A Fox ! " screamed Dodo, forgetting the need for 

 silence. " A real wild animal ! Oh, uncle, do let us 

 catch it ! " 



" I very much wish you would,'' said the Doctor, 

 as the Fox raised one paw, sniifed the air, and disap- 

 peared like magic between some low bushes. 



" He is the most cunning of our beasts, and if the 

 wind had been the other way, lie Avould not have given 

 us even this peep at him." 



" AVhat difference does the wind make ? " asked Nat. 

 " Is he afraid of it ? " 



" I know,'' said Rap ; " for liefore my leg was hurt 

 I went often witli the miller and his dog to hunt Foxes 

 that stole his turkeys. Little Avild beasts look for 

 food mostly at night, or late in the afternoon, or early 

 in the morning, when it isn't so easy to see, so they use 

 their smeller to tell them a great many things that 

 they can't see with their eyes. They can smell so well 

 that if the wind was Ijlowing from us to them they 

 would know we are here and would run away." 



" That is right, my lad," said the Doctor. " The 

 wild beasts have a mucli keener sense of smell and 



