EYE-BEAMS 117 



mice and moles. I took out two or three hand- 

 fuls. In finding this chamber, I had followed 

 one of the tunnels around till it brought me 

 within a foot of the original entrance. A few 

 inches to one side of this cavity there was 

 what I took to be a back alley where the weasel 

 threw his waste; there Avere large masses of 

 wet, decaying fur here, and fur pellets such as 

 are regurgitated by hawks and owls. In the 

 nest there was the tail of a flying squirrel, 

 showing that the weasel sometimes had a flying 

 squirrel for supper or dinner. 



I continued my digging with renewed en- 

 ergy ; I should yet find the grand depot where 

 all these passages centred; but the farther I 

 excavated, the more complex and bafiiing the 

 problem became ; the ground was honeycombed 

 with passages. What enemy has this weasel, 

 I said to myself, that he should provide so 

 many ways of escape, that he should have a 

 back door at every turn? To corner him 

 would be impossible ; to be lost in his fortress 

 were like being lost in Mammoth Cave. How 

 he could bewilder his pursuer by appearing 

 now at this door, now at that; now mocking 

 him from the attic, now defying him from the 

 cellar. So far, I had discovered but one en- 

 trance ; but some of the chambers were so near 

 the surface that it looked as if the planner had 

 calculated upon an emergency when he might 

 want to reach daylight quickly in a new place. 



Finally I paused, rested upon my shovel 

 awhile, eased my aching back upon the ground, 



