MICE AND MEN 189 



They soon grow familiar with those who are their 

 friends. 



There are many pretty animal pictures known to all 

 who watch wild life pictures of the squirrel sitting 

 on his haunches to nibble a nut held in his fore-paws ; 

 of little furry fox-cubs gambolling round and round a 

 tree-trunk ; of a mother stoat carrying her young 

 by the scrufi of the neck ; of rabbits sitting bolt 

 upright at attention ; of hares engaged in a boxing 

 match, or crouching motionless in their forms, ears 

 laid back and pressed flat, beneath one's very feet. 



But this picture of a mouse, dormouse or any other, 

 sitting up to wash its face, ranks among the prettiest 

 of all. 



It is always a triumph of woodcraft to be able to 

 stay so still that mice, who take alarm so quickly, 

 have no fear at the sight of you, but go rustling all 

 about you as you lie quiet in a wood, or run towards 

 you as you stand, as still as a statue, on a road by a 

 cornfield. 



So it is a triumph when an inquisitive squirrel comes 

 slowly, head first, down a tree-trunk, and hops towards 

 you, as if he cannot make out whether you are alive 

 or (lead. 



And you can never afterwards forget the first time 

 when, sitting still by the verge of a river, in the gloam- 

 ing, you catch sight of an otter fishing, diving, or 

 teaching its young to swim. 



It is not unusual for a field-mouse to come creeping 

 close up to a man who has mastered the art of standing 

 perfectly motionless ; the mouse will perhaps run 

 over the man's boots. 



Let the slightest movement be made, and away 

 darts the little thing ever on the alert to save its skin. 



But a field-mouse is easily captured, and, like other 



