To 



hours at a time, just his nose and eye visible, 

 looking out on the new, bright, rustling 

 world of woods, and blinking sleepily in the 

 flickering sunshine. Then come the long 

 excursions with his mother, at first by day 

 when savage beasts are quiet, then at twi- 

 light, and then at last the long night rambles, 

 in which, following his leader, he learns a 

 hundred things that a coon must know: to 

 follow the same paths till he comprehends 

 the woods ; to poke his inquisitive nose into 

 every crack and cranny, for the best morsels 

 on his bill of fare hide themselves in such 

 places; to sleep for a little nap when he is 

 tired, resting on his forehead so as to hide 

 his brightly marked face and make himself 

 inconspicuous, like a rock or a lichen-covered 

 stump; to leap down from the tallest tree 

 without hurting himself ; and when he uses 

 a den in the earth or rocks, to have an exit 

 some distance away from the entrance, and 

 never under any circumstances to enter his 

 den save by his front door. There is great 

 wisdom in this last teaching. When a dog 

 finds a hole with a trail that always leads out 



