THE SCARCITY OF SKUNKS 101 



ing them before they were hatched), all in one 

 night. 



I hitched up the horse and drove thoughtfully 

 to the village, where I bought six skunk-traps. 



" Goin' skunkin' some, this spring," the store 

 man remarked, as he got me the traps, adding, 

 " Well, they 's some on 'em. I 've seen a scaac'ty 

 of a good many commodities, but I never yet see 

 a scaac'ty o' skunks." 



I did n't stop to discuss the matter, being a 

 trifle uncertain just then as to my own mind, but 

 hurried home with my six traps. Six, I thought, 

 would do to begin with, though I really had no 

 conception of the number of cats (or skunks) it 

 had taken to dispose of the three and one third 

 dozens of eggs (at three dollars a dozen!) in a 

 single night. 



Early that afternoon I covered each sitting hen 

 so that even a mouse could not get at her, and 

 fixing the traps, I distributed them about the 

 brooding-house floor; then, as evening came on, 

 I pushed a shell into each barrel of the gun, took 

 a comfortable perch upon a keg in the corner of 

 the house, and waited. 



I had come to stay. Something was going to 



