ALONG THE HIGHWAY OF THE FOX 15 



nd does it so neatly sometimes so very thrillingly y$p 

 - f Jn three occasions I have seen him do the trick,N^ 

 ' each time by a little different dodge, 

 t) One day, as I was climbing the wooded ridge 

 0hind the farm, I heard a single foxhound yelping 

 v > at intervals in the hollow beyond. Coming cautiously 

 to the top, I saw the hound below me beating slowly 

 (along through the bare sprout-land, half a mile away, 

 *and having a hard time holding to the trail. Every 

 r '. few minutes he would solemnly throw his big black 

 ~>head into the air, stop stock-still, and yelp a long 

 ;dolef ul yelp, as if begging the fox to stop its fooling 

 ' s -and try to leave a reasonable trail. 



The hound was walking, not running ; and roun 

 - ? and round he would go, off this way, off that, then 

 v n Jback when, catching the scent again, he would up 

 with his muzzle and howl for all the woods to hear. 

 J ^But I think it was for the fox to hear. 

 ^ I was watching the curious and solemn perform- 

 ance, and wondering if the fox really did hear and 

 ( understand, when, not far from me, on the crown of 

 / 3 the ridge, something stirred. 



Without moving so much as my eyes, I saw the 

 }fox, a big beauty, going slowly and cautiously round 

 '^and round in a small circle among the bushes, then 

 straight off for a few steps, then back in the same 

 tracks; off again in another direction and back 

 again; then in and out, round and round, until, 

 springing lightly away from the top of a big stum 



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