FEBRUARY. 33 



wide apart, 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 when 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 



