A FOX TALE 51 



came to him very suddenly one night when he was out 

 foraging with his father. They were creeping along 

 together, keeping as much under cover of the long grass 

 as possible, when Mr. Fox struck on a hare's trail, and 

 off the two set with their noiseless gliding motion, their 

 noses well to the ground, and their ears alive to every 

 sound under the moon. All at once, when Mr. Fox was 

 slinking under a gate, he began to back and wriggle as 

 if trying to escape from some unseen power. Young 

 Eenard pulled up, watched the old fox anxiously for a 

 moment, and then, seeing a dark form approach, he fled, 

 thinking only of the safety of his own red skin. 



Truth to tell, it was a poacher's net into which the old 

 fox had fallen, and the more he struggled to free himself 

 the tighter he became entangled. Instinctively feeling 

 this, and hearing the poacher himself approaching, the 

 cunning creature lay perfectly still in the hope, no doubt, 

 of escape by feigning death. But the wary old netter was 

 quite up to Eenard's tricks ; and seeing that his nets would 

 be torn to pieces if he did not free the animal at once, he 

 tried to loosen one end off the gate. Mr. Fox, however, 

 thought the trap had been set for him, and was determined 

 not to be taken in that way ; so he snarled and bit at the 

 man every time he came near the gate. Again and again 

 the poacher tried, but at last, losing patience, he seized 

 some heavy stones off a dyke close by, and pelted Mr. 

 Fox till he died. ' And,' said the poacher afterwards, 

 when telling the tale to his friend, 'it went sore against me 

 killing that animal, for never a sound did it make from 

 first to last.' 



Young Eenard had witnessed his father's fate from 

 a safe distance, and ran off as soon as all was over to tell 

 his mother. He found her busily scratching up their 

 morning meal from the various larders round about : for 

 foxes, you know, always bury their prey, and never keep 

 more than one ' joint ' (be it of bird or beast) in the same 

 larder at the same time ; they have game safes scattered 



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