56 EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 



the other, which accounted for the last set of marks 

 perpendicular to those in front. A line of tracks 

 which came from a pile of stones, and paralleled 

 the rabbit's trail, told the whole story. The paw- 

 marks were small and dainty, but beyond each 

 pad-print were the marks of fierce claws. No wonder 

 the rabbit ran wild when it first scented its enemy, 

 and then saw its long slim body bounding along be- 

 hind, white as snow except for the black tip of its tail. 



It was the weasel, whose long body moves like the 

 uncoiling of a steel spring. A weasel running looks 

 like a gigantic inch-worm that bounds instead of 

 crawls. Speed, however, is not what the little white 

 killer depends on for its prey. It can follow a trail 

 by scent better than any hound, climb trees nearly 

 as well as a squirrel; and if the animal it is chasing 

 goes into a burrow, it has gone to certain death. 

 The rabbit's only chance would have been a straight- 

 away run at full speed for miles and hours. In this 

 way it could probably have tired out the weasel, 

 which is a killer, not a runner, by profession. A 

 rabbit, however, like the fox, never runs straight. 

 Round and round in great circles it runs about its 

 feeding-ground, of which it knows all the paths and 

 runways and burrows. Against a dog or fox these 

 are safer tactics than exploring new territory. 

 Against a weasel they are usually fatal. 



It was easy to see on the snow what had happened. 

 At first, when the rabbit saw the weasel looping 

 along its trail like a hunting snake, it had started off 

 with a sprint that in a minute carried it out of sight. 



