MAROONED 133 



the snow was so penetrable. She had quite 

 obliterated the door of this particular run- 

 way, but she went on and crouched beside 

 another. Here she had to wait a long time 

 before an adventurous mouse came to peer 

 out. But this time she showed that she had 

 grasped her lesson effectively. It was straight 

 at the side of the entrance that she pounced, 

 where instinct told her that the body of the 

 mouse would be. One out-stretched paw 

 thus cut off the quarry's retreat. Her tactics 

 were completely successful, and as her head 

 went plunging into the fluffly whiteness, she 

 felt the prize between her paws. 



Her hunger now fairly appeased, she found 

 herself immensely excited over this new 

 fashion of hunting. Often before had she 

 waited at mouse-holes, but never had she 

 found it possible to break down the walls 

 and invade the holes themselves. It was a 

 thrilling idea. As she crept toward another 

 hole, a mouse scurried swiftly up the sand 

 and darted into it. The cat, too late to 

 catch him before he disappeared, tried to 

 follow him. Scratching clumsily but hope- 

 fully, she succeeded in penetrating the full 

 length of her body into the snow. Of course 

 she found no sign of the fugitive, which was 

 by this time racing in safety down some dim 



