The Family of Bob- White 99 



fled, eager, alert, and watchful, often stop- 

 ping to test the air and poke his inquisitive 

 nose under a log or flat stone. 



Soon a fresh puff of night wind brought 

 him a most exciting scent. He knew it quite 

 well. It was that of a bevy of quail in hiding. 

 The old raccoon knew just how they stood in 

 that circular bunch with their tails all to- 

 gether and their heads looking outward, that 

 they might face in every direction. 



He flattened himself to the ground and 

 crept forward on his belly almost as still as a 

 cat. He was no longer the clumsy little bear 

 but the cautious hunter. Once he heard the 

 bevy stirring uneasily in their sleep as though 

 they had knowledge of coming danger. Then 

 he lay very still and waited until the mother 

 bird's " erects " and the soft peeps of the 

 chickens had ceased. He now crept forward 

 again. Nearer and nearer he drew, going 

 more cautiously with each succeeding step, 

 until at last he was within springing distance. 

 He then flattened himself out on the ground, 

 intensified all his muscles until they were like 



