Kagax the Bloodthirsty. 53 



of the weasel blazed into view. So it went on for 

 a half hour, through brush and brake and swamp, 

 till the hare had lost all his wits and began to run 

 wildly in small circles. Then Kagax turned, ran the 

 back track a little way, and crouched flat on the 

 ground. 



In a moment the hare came tearing along on his 

 own trail straight towards the yellow-brown ball 

 under a fern tip. Kagax waited till he was almost 

 run over; then he sprang up and screeched. That 

 ended the chase. The hare just dropped on his fore 

 paws. Kagax jumped for his head ; his teeth met ; 

 the hunger began to gnaw, and he drank his fill 

 greedily. 



For a time the madness of the chase seemed to be 

 in the blood he drank. Keener than ever to kill, he 

 darted away on a fresh trail. But soon his feast 

 began to tell ; his feet grew heavy. Angry at him- 

 self, he lay down to sleep their weight away. 



Far behind him, under the pine by the partridge's 

 nest, a long dark shadow seemed to glide over the 

 ground. A pointed nose touched the leaves here and 

 there ; over the nose a pair of fierce little eyes glowed 

 deep red as Kagax's own. So the shadow came to 

 the partridge's nest, passed over it, minding not the 

 scent of broken eggs nor of the dead bird, but only 



