of it he goes away, knowing it is of no 

 use to bark there ; but when he finds an 

 opening into which a trail is leading, he 

 thinks of course that his game is inside, and 

 proceeds to howl and to dig without ever a 

 thought in his foolish head that there may 

 be another way out. Meanwhile, as he digs 

 and raises an unpardonable row in the quiet 

 woods, Mooweesuk will either wait just 

 inside the entrance till she gets a chance to 

 nip the dog's nose or crush his paw, or else 

 will slip quietly out of the back door with 

 her little ones and take them off to a hollow 

 tree where they can sleep in peace and have 

 no fear till the dog goes away. 



By the time the first snows blow the little 

 coons are well grown and strong enough to 

 take good care of themselves ; and then, like 

 the bear again, they escape the cold and the 

 hunger of winter by going to sleep for four 

 or five months in a warm den that they have 

 selected carefully during their summer wan- 

 derings. They are fat as butter when they 

 curl themselves up for their long sleep ; their 

 ringed tails cover their sensitive 



* oear 



