I I I 



Tito 



warmth of tenderness that was as much a new 



epoch in her life as in theirs. 



But the pleasure of loving them was measured IWMfAW'Wv 



in the same measure as anxiety for their safety. tz/~-^^~^ 



In bygone days her care had been mainly for J\J\ 



herself. All she had learned in her strange ' ~ 



puppyhood, all she had picked up since, was 

 bent to the main idea of self-preservation. 

 Now she was ousted from her own affections 

 by her brood. Her chief care was to keep 

 their home concealed, and this was not very 

 hard at first, for she left them only when she 

 must, to supply her own wants. 



She came and went with great care, and only 

 after spying well the land so that none should 

 see and find the place of her treasure. If it 

 were possible for the little ones' idea of their 

 mother and the cow-boys' idea to be set side by 

 side they would be found to have nothing in 

 common, though both were right in their point 

 of view. The ranchmen knew the Coyote only 

 as a pair of despicable, cruel jaws, borne around 

 on tireless legs, steered by incredible cunning, 

 and leaving behind a track of destruction. The 

 little ones knew her as a loving, gentle, all- 



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