i 4 FOREST TITHES 
1 Up I gets, lights my lantern, takes the prong, an' 
goes out. Massy, oh ! the old hen wus hollerin' like 
mad, an' the fox wusbangin' about in thet 'ere trap 
the way he flew about, an' bit, wus a sight to see. I 
settled un with the prong, an' the old hen too, to stop 
her hollerin' ; an' I buried the pair on 'em, in one 
hole, a goodish bit away from the house ; but 'twus 
a long time afore we felt easy like ; fur 'twas a 
most 'menjous row to be heerd in the dead o' the 
night : ef anybody hed bin about they must ha' 
heerd it.' 
If very stringent measures had not been taken for 
his preservation, the fcx would have long ago shared 
the fate of others of our wild creatures more vir- 
tuous but less fortunate than himself. Foxhunters 
to the manor born have, of course, their own views on 
the matter, and these are very properly universally 
respected. Besides this, it is not pleasant for some 
others belonging to a certain class who have 
struggled up into Society with a big S and wish 
to keep there, to be cut dead because they have 
given their keepers orders to kill foxes. So Master 
Reynard goes on taking his tithes, especially when 
he has got cubs, for whom it is his duty to pro- 
vide. And his foragings round the lonely moor 
.farms are not by any means a dead loss to those 
