TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 165 



content Cecily but an attempt to bag another of these 

 animals, since, she declared, a second one was needed 

 to make a collar arrangement to match the muff she 

 hoped to make out of the skin she had procured on 

 Kodiak Island. In vain we tried to dissuade her from 

 such murderous attempts, because I knew that at this 

 season the. foxes change their coats, and the skins 

 are worthless. 



But alas ! 'tis ever thus with women. 

 Cecily said it was a case of " seeing is believing," 

 and off she went, rifle in hand, to stalk the nearest 

 fox. It was a curious thing that these foxes did not 

 seem to fear the sight of human beings, and they ran 

 about outside their earths in full view of us, just like 

 rabbits playing outside some big bury in a warren. 

 And with our glasses we could see that the whole hill 

 was honeycombed with earths. 



There must have been between forty and fifty foxes 

 moving at one time on the hillsides, and many of 

 them permitted Cecily to approach within about a 

 hundred yards before darting into earths. At last 

 she singled out one more inquisitive than the rest, 

 and raised her rifle. Slowly, very slowly and re- 

 luctantly she brought it down again. Finally she 

 returned to us looking very cross. In answer to a 

 query from Ralph as to what the fox was like, she 

 replied, " Rather like a mangy rat, and hardly a hair 

 on it." It was needless to say, " We told you so "; 

 in any case this was a situation in which silence was 

 golden. 



Henceforth, although we saw many foxes at close 



