206 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



" ' I have it ! ' lie said to himself. That night there 

 was a full moon. The Fox went down to the river 

 where the light came in beautiful silver stripes between 

 the trees. He pulled several bunches of old, worn fur 

 from his tail, and made them into a ball which he held 

 between his front teeth, so that the fur rested against 

 the end of his nose, then he walked slowly and care- 

 fully into the water and began swimming up and down. 



" Soon the fleas collected on top of his head, as usual. 

 Then he let himself sink lower and lower until only the 

 tip of his nose and the ball of hair remained dry ; the 

 fleas crawled to his very nose tip. When he drew that 

 under water also, they took refuge in the bail of fur. 

 Quick as a flasli the Fox let go the ball, and, diving, 

 swam back to shore, wliere he stood laughing as the ball 

 became water soaked and the fleas were drowned I '' 



*' Oh, daddy, is that a real true story ? Did your 

 Wolf friend tell it to you?" 



" I don't remember that he did, but until we meet 

 the clever Fox who drowned the fleas, and hear Avhat 

 he has to say about it, no one can prove the story 



untrue." 



***** 



" If you reckon on tryin' these snow-shoes, you had 

 better come down in the holler before it gits any 

 softer," said Nez, bringing out the shoes. This par- 

 ticular pair was very simple, made of a hickory strip, 

 bent in an oblong until the ends met. These ends were 

 fastened firmly together, and bridged in the centre by 

 a cross-piece. This frame, whicli really looked some- 

 thing between a lacrosse bat and a tennis racquet, was 

 latticed with strips of rawhide cut thinner than shoe 



