THE WEASEL 79 



nearer the weasel and his store of mice than 

 when I began. 



Then I regretted that I had broken into his 

 castle at all; that I had not contented myself 

 with coming day after day and counting his 

 mice as he carried them in, and continued my ob- 

 servation upon him each succeeding year. Now 

 the rent in his fortress could not be repaired, 

 and he would doubtless move away, as he most 

 certainly did, for his doors, which I had closed 

 with soil, remained unopened after winter had set 

 in. 



But little seems known about the intimate pri- 

 vate lives of any of our lesser wild creatures. It 

 was news to me that any of the weasels lived in 

 dens in this way, and that they stored up provi- 

 sion against a day of need. This species was 

 probably the little ermine, eight or nine inches 

 long, with tail about five inches. It was still in 

 its summer dress of dark chestnut-brown above 

 and whitish below. 



It was a mystery where the creature had put 

 the earth which it must have removed in digging 

 its den ; not a grain was to be seen anywhere, 

 and yet a bushel or more must have been taken 

 out. Externally, there was not the slightest sign 

 of that curious habitation there under the ground. 

 The entrance was hidden beneath dry leaves, and 



