1 30 Vixen 



course of mice, the easiest of all game. Iq 

 teaching, the main thing was example, aided by 

 a deep-set instinct. The old fox, also, had one 

 or two signs meaning "lie still and watch," 

 " come, do as I do," and so on, that were much 

 used. 



So the merry lot went to this hollow one 

 calm evening and Mother Fox made them lie 

 still in the grass. Presently a faint squeak 

 showed that the game was astir. Vix rose up 

 and went on tip-toe into the grass — not crouch- 

 ing, but as high as she could stand, sometimes 

 on her hind legs so as to get a better view. 

 The runs that the mice follow are hidden under 

 the grass tangle, and the only way to know the 

 whereabouts of a mouse is by seeing the slight 

 shaking of the grass, which is the reason why 

 mice are hunted only on calm days. 



And the trick is to locate the mouse and 

 seize him first and see him afterward. Vix 

 soon made a spring, and in the middle of the 

 bunch of dead grass that she grabbed was a 

 field-mouse squeaking his last squeak. 



He was soon gobbled, and the four awkward 

 little foxes tried to do the same as their mother, 

 and when at length the eldest for the first time 

 in his life caught game, he quivered with ex- 

 citement and ground his pearly little milk-teeth 



