THE "CALL OF THE WILD" 125 



When it was too big the little thing took the milk 

 too fast, either being choked by the rapid stream, 

 or, if able to swallow it, getting violent indigestion 

 from having taken it so quickly. Try as I would 

 I could not get one that was quite right, and had 

 to resort to all sorts of expedients to prevent the 

 cub from getting the milk more rapidly than she 

 should. 



When Toby's eyes first opened they were a dull 

 grey-blue like those of a small kitten, and it was 

 a long time before the irides assumed the amber 

 hue of the adult fox, the tint altering at about 

 the same rate her coat changed. At twenty-two 

 days old she was just beginning to turn from 

 mouse-grey to brown, especially about the face 

 and muzzle, at which time her nose, which had 

 been flesh-coloured, began to darken, turning 

 first grey, and at last black. In a sketchy manner 

 she began to acquire the markings of an old fox, 

 but it still required a great deal of imagination 

 to make a fox of this blunt-nosed roly-poly little 

 creature, with her woolly grey coat, and short 

 feeble legs. She was nearly five weeks old before 

 she could toddle at all, but having once begun 

 to " feel her legs/' as they say of babies, she 

 soon got strong upon them, and became quite 

 active. At this stage I had to leave home for 

 a week, during which time my mother was good 

 enough to take charge of the cub, and when I 

 came back I was astonished at the change. In 

 seven days she had altered wonderfully, and had 

 become quite the little fox, The amount she 



