The Fox 



may be almost a mile from their sleeping-ground. 

 The Fox keeps closely to its shelter. The whirr of a 

 disturbed curlew sets his ears tighter, or the snort of a 

 dozing deer may cause him to crouch just for a 

 moment ; but on he goes directly towards the pastures, 

 the bleating of a lamb guiding him directly towards his 

 quarry. Once he gains the border of the pastures he 

 stays to listen and reconnoitre. Dotted over the 

 sloping meadows are the ewes and lambs peacefully 

 slumbering. Furtively, Reynard draws his body over 

 the edge of the corrie, and lies silently upon the mossy 

 bank. The landscape looks bare, cold, and still. He 

 moves forward to a clump of heather, and halts. 

 Figures are moving out upon the hill-side, and an owl 

 screeches as it wings its way across the meadows. 

 Crouching and silent rests the Fox, with head laid close 

 upon its outstretched paws. Here the cunning creature 

 lies while the moving figures draw nearer and nearer. 

 Then they pass on, and are lost to view in the dark- 

 ness. 



A ewe and lamb rise from the hillock not fifty 

 yards out from the heather-bed, and with a muscular 

 movement of its limbs the Fox narrows the distance 

 down to ten. The bleat of the lamb appears to 

 intensify the hunter's desire to slay, and with a crafty 

 leap, the Fox strikes down the frail lambkin, while its 

 mother rushes frantically around to defend its innocent 

 offspring. There is a stampede upon the meadow, and 

 every ewe is alert and bleating. 



23 



