VIXEN 

 THE SPRINGFIELD FOX 



THE hens had been mysteriously disa{>- 

 pearing for over a month ; and when I 

 came home to Springfield for the sum- 

 mer holidays it was my duty to find the cause. 

 This was soon done. The fowls were carried 

 away bodily one at a time, before going to 

 roost, or else after leaving, which put tramps 

 and neighbors out of court; they were not 

 taken from the high perches, which cleared all 

 coons and owls; or left partly eaten, so that 

 weasels, skunks, or minks were not the guilty 

 ones, and the blame, therefore, was surely left 

 at Reynard's door. 



The great pine wood of Erindale was on the 

 other bank of the river, and on looking care- 

 fully about the lower ford I saw a few fox- 

 tracks and a barred feather from one of our 

 Plymouth Rock chickens. On climbing the 

 farther bank in search of more clews, I heard a 



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