The Fox and his Ways 207 



way in which they will afterward fool some silly old 

 goose whose curiosity gets the better of her judgment. Then 

 they will chase each other. The leader, springing to one 

 side, lies flat until the other, unprepared for the dodge, 

 rushes past, and the pursued rushes back to the earth. This 

 is their trump trick, and the one that more than any other 

 saves their lives when pressed by hounds. As the cubs get 

 a little older, Madame Fox takes one or two at a time with 

 her on a hunting expedition. She seems to think her years 

 of practical experience are necessary to the young things, 

 and doubtless they are of great value." 



In such ways the cubs grow more and more wily and 

 schooled in all the tricks and craft in which as a family no 

 other quadruped is their equal. It would require pages to 

 record all their cunning in pursuit of their game. Later 

 we shall attempt to show other examples of their clever- 

 ness in the tricks they play upon the hounds and the strata- 

 gem of the huntsmen in circumventing them. Like chess, 

 hunting the fox is a deep game, and it requires a clear head 

 and years of experience in woodcraft to play it well. 



Discoursing of the fox and his ways, Mr. Kirkham and I 

 returned to the house late to dinner. Upon my host's 

 apologising and madame's learning what had detained us, I 

 was amused by the good-natured sparring match that 

 sprang up between them on the same old subject. 



"Well," began Mrs. Kirkham, "if I wasted as much 

 time as you do looking after that vixen and her cubs, I 

 should never expect to get any dinner. Here 's dinner 

 now, nearly spoiled." 



Her husband turned to me with a sly look in his eyes. 



