Skull of a Hare. 9 



from an elevation, and if you remain quiet will rarely 

 discover your presence while you are above them. 

 They keep a sharp look-out all round, but never think 

 of glancing upwards, unless, of course, some unusual 

 noise attracts attention. 



Looking away from the brow of the hill here over 

 the rampart, see, yonder in the narrow hollow a flock 

 is feeding : you can tell even so far off that it is 

 feeding, because the sheep are scattered about, dot- 

 ted hither and thither over the surface. It is their 

 habit the moment they are driven to run together. 

 Farther away, slowly travelling up a distant down, 

 another flock, packed close, rises towards the ridge, 

 like a thick white mist stealthily ascending the slope. 



Just outside the trench, almost within reach, there 

 lies a small white something, half hidden by the grass. 

 It is the skull of a hare, bleached by the winds and 

 the dew and the heat of the summer sun. The skel- 

 eton has disappeared, nothing but the bony casing 

 of the head remains, with its dim suggestiveness of 

 life, polished and smooth from the friction of the 

 elements. Holding it in the hand, the shadow falls 

 into and darkens the cavities once filled by the wist- 

 ful eyes which whilom glanced down from the summit 

 here upon the sweet clover fields beneath. Beasts 

 of prey and wandering dogs have carried away the 

 bones of the skeleton, dropping them far apart ; the- 

 crows and the ants doubtless had their share of 

 the carcass. Perhaps a wound caused by shot that 

 did not immediately check his speed, or wasting 

 disease depriving him of strength to obtain food, 

 brought him low ; mayhap an insidious enemy crept 

 on him in his form. 



