CHAPTER VII 



THE CLOWN OF THE PRAIRIES 



NINE healthy coyote puppies were play- 

 ing in the sunshine with all their 

 might. After days of searching I had 

 at last discovered their den. The puppies had 

 not noticed me and I enjoyed watching their 

 training for the game of life. They wrestled, 

 played at fighting, rolled over and over, bit at 

 one another's feet and tails, and occasionally 

 all mixed in one merry heap. 



Their mother came along the hillside above 

 the den. She walked back and forth on the 

 skyline where I could not miss seeing her. 

 Then she came nearer and passed within thirty 

 or forty feet of me. I kept my eyes upon the 

 puppies and pretended not to see their mother. 

 She turned and passed still closer to me. This 

 time she was limping badly on one forefoot and 

 holding up one hind foot. She was making 

 every effort to have me follow her to lure me 

 away from her home and her puppies. 



A moving object down the slope caught the 

 attention of the puppies. As soon as they made 



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