SOBAPSQUA 97 



ran across nearly to the woods and divided the 

 pasture from a meadow. The desired point was 

 scarcely reached when I saw the fox break cover, a 

 tawny dot in the woodside, now growing and grow- 

 ing into distinctive form as it rapidly drew nearer 

 along a cowpath that ran close beside the fence. 

 Now he was not more than two gunshots from me, 

 the butt of the gun was at my shoulder, my finger 

 touching the trigger, and I could almost feel this 

 fellow's pelt in my right pocket comfortably bal- 

 ancing the one in my left, when a herd of young 

 cattle discovered him and charging in a mad 

 stampede drove him through the fence into the 

 meadow, across which he took a diagonal course, 

 well out of my range. I fired with a forlorn hope 

 of cripphng him, but only increased the velocity 

 of the ruddy streak which vanished in an instant 

 and left the world a blank. 



Presently the leaden, sky came closer to the earth, 

 and then became one with it in a dense snowfall, 

 and muffled in its thick veil Gabriel's trumpet notes 

 sounded faintly far away, as he pottered over the 

 blotted scent. The six miles' tramp home was leg- 

 wearying, as all can testify who have taken so long 

 a walk in the first snow, but my luck had been good 

 enough and I should have been satisfied, yet the 

 vanishing form of that fox stood forth then as it 

 stands even now in unpleasant distinctness, clearer 

 than aught else in the day's events. 



