126 Vixen 



little foxes ; they looked curiously like little 

 lambs, with their woolly coats, their long, thick 

 legs and innocent expressions, and yet a second 

 glance at their broad, sharp-nosed, sharp-eyed 

 visages showed that each of these innocents 

 was the makings of a crafty old fox. 



They played about, basking in the sun, or 

 wrestling with each other till a slight sound 

 made them skurry under ground. But their 

 alarm was needless, for the cause of it was their 

 mother ; she stepped from the bushes bringing 

 another hen — number seventeen as I remember. 

 \ low call from her and the little fellows came 

 tumbling out. Then began a scene that I 

 thought charming, but which my uncle would 

 not have enjoyed at all. 



They rushed on the hen, and tussled and 

 fought with it, and each other, while the 

 mother, keeping a sharp eye for enemies, 

 looked on with fond delight. The expression 

 on her face was remarkable. It was first a 

 grinning of delight, but her usual look of wild- 

 ness and cunning was there, nor were cruelty 

 and nervousness lacking, but over all was the 

 unmistakable look of the mother's pride and 

 love. 



The base of my tree was hidden in bushes 

 and much lower than the knoll where the den 



