FEBRUARY. 33 



wide apartj and now and then there is a little sweep from 

 his brush of a tail. 



C. — Oh ! the rogue ! see^ he has come direct from the 

 barn ; I warrant with some grains of wheat in his mouth, 

 to be deposited in his hole beneath the gnarled root of some 

 tree, 



F. — The squirrel is particularly assiduous in his atten- 

 tions to the barn as long as the wheat remains in it ; nor 

 does he altogether treat the oats with contempt. But if we 

 want tracks, let us seek the woods. We will go a little 



way into the swamp. What do you suppose are 



these ? 



C. — A fox's tracks. 



F, — Oh, no ! they are much too large : a wolf has passed 

 here since last evening. 



C. — Had we not better return ? I hardly like to be so 

 near him. 



F. — You need not fear : he is before this time snugly 

 concealed in some hollow log, far in the gloomiest and densest 

 part of the swamp : he would not trust himself abroad by 

 daylight. 



C. — Would he not attack a man, however, if he met 

 him abroad ? 



F. — I think not, even under any circumstances, except 

 when so hemmed up as to render escape difficult, or made 

 desperate by hunger. 



C — I suppose they are dangerous w^hen they do attack 

 a man. 



F. — Yes : they are stronger than a dog of the same size, 

 and their mode of biting is very different from that of a dog : 

 instead of retaining his hold as a dog does, when he seizes 

 his enemy, the wolf bites by repeated snaps, given, however, 

 with great force. As illustrative of this habit, I may men- 

 tion a farmer in New Hampshire, not very far from this 



