THE THEFT 249 



straw. The sight scattered all her caution 

 to the winds. Scrambling up to the window- 

 sill, she dashed her head and shoulders 

 through the glass. That the jagged frag- 

 ments cut her mouth and muzzle severely, 

 she never heeded at all. Forcing her whole 

 body through, her powerful haunches caught 

 the window frame, and carried it with them 

 to the floor. Writhing herself free of this 

 encumbrance, she darted to the box of rags, 

 snatched up one of the cubs by the loose 

 skin of its neck, sprang through the window 

 with it, and bore it off into a growth of tall 

 rank grass behind the barn. Returning at 

 once to the cabin, she rescued the other cub 

 in the same way, and brought it triumphantly 

 to its brother in the long grass. 



About this time she heard the man and 

 the woman coming back. Instead of trying 

 to get away, she coiled herself flat in the grass 

 and began to suckle the cubs to keep them 

 quiet. Her hiding-place was the most 

 secure that she could have found within miles 

 of the cabin, the man having never any occa- 

 sion to go behind the barn as she had seen 

 by the absence of tracks and the rank 

 growth furnishing a very complete conceal- 

 ment. Crafty woodman though the man 

 was held to be, it never entered his mind 



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