GREY LYNX'S LAST HUNTING 27 



himself that he had helped at the hunting of 

 this quarry, demanded a share, and seized one 

 of the weasel's hind legs in his teeth. But 

 with a snarl the female struck at him, clawing 

 viciously the side of his head. He was in no 

 anxiety to force matters with so redoubtable 

 an adversary, so, spitting indignantly, he 

 drew off and sat down on his haunches to 

 watch the feast. 



The feast was brief. For, though the 

 weasel was a fairly large one, it was by no 

 means so large as the lynx's hunger. Still, 

 when she had finished, and passed her great 

 paw over her face and licked her chest clean 

 of blood, she might have felt fairly comfort- 

 able but for that inexorable anguish in her 

 nose. 



Not long after this another rabbit bounded 

 forth from a thicket just ahead, and darted 

 straight between them. Both sprang at it, 

 simultaneously, but each baulked the other ; 

 and the rabbit, stretched out into a tense, 

 white line of flying fur, shot unscathed from 

 under their claws. Grey Lynx, as it chanced, 

 had been the nearest to the quarry. Choosing 

 to think that he would have made a kill had 

 his mate's interference not thwarted him, he 

 gave vent to his wrath in a buffet, which 

 caught her on the flank and sent her rolling 



