162 THE MOOSE 



Everywhere some beast or bird had its nursery 

 concealed as carefully as possible from the vigilant 

 eyes of the next-door neighbour. 



The wolverine took her walks abroad, followed 

 by two frizzy cubs, covered with soft, cream- 

 coloured hair, replicas, in all but their coats, of 

 their ungainly mother. The ermine, hunting by 

 scent in the runways and galleries of the water- 

 rat, disciplined a dexterous family, who could no 

 more keep together than loose quicksilver. A 

 little striped skunk, in possession of a fox's earth, 

 made its presence known by an acrid smell, that 

 made the porcupine over the way long to evict the 

 nuisance. But he dared not 1 The skunk's weapon 

 was too deadly. Porcupine quills counted as 

 nothing beside it. Sometimes o' nights the skunk 

 took all eight kittens out at once, and taught them 

 the mincing gait and the calm audacity character- 

 istic of the tribe. 



But it was the two otter pups, whose holt was at 

 the bend just beyond his favourite wallowing place, 

 whom Moosewa liked best. They had a water 

 entrance and a land entrance, and the mud slide 

 otters love ; and every day the furry things gam- 

 bolled together on ridiculously short legs, utterly 



