Ji6 



unwieldy comes almost to the surface, then 

 sinks like lead, and takes with it the plump- 

 est, downiest of all the yellow darlings. In- 

 side a minute another is dragged down, and 

 another, and still another. The snapping- 

 turtle, which, once he has taken hold, " nev- 

 er lets go until it thunders," is greedy to- 

 day. Anyway, he has a weakness for duck- 

 lings. He would eat the whole dozen of 

 them if the distracted parents did not hurry 

 them ashore. 



There they will not be in very much bet- 

 ter case. Foxes live in the caves all along 



O 



the bluffs. Minks, too, and weasels, and 

 coons. Any night you may hear them 

 splashing about in the water for mussels, 

 crayfish, and such small deer. Master Fox 

 is no fisherman, but in many ways an antic 

 fellow. It delights him no little to find a 

 safe, sunny rock overhanging a glassy pool, 

 where he can bask in broad daylight or 

 stand on tiptoe and play with his tail, nod 

 his head, and seem to laugh outright when 

 his image in the water repeats each motion. 

 He is dainty in his drinking will cross the 

 creek a dozen times to lap and lave him in 

 its coolest spring. As each lake has its bluff, 

 each bluff has its spring. If its waters gath- 

 er in plough-land they are apt to be warm 



