The Springfield Fox 



That evening I went with Ranger, my hound, 

 across the river into the Erindale woods. As 

 soon as the hound began to circle, we heard 

 the short, sharp bark of a fox from a thickly 

 wooded ravine close by. Ranger dashed in at 

 once, struck a hot scent and went off on a lively 

 straight-away till his voice was lost in the dis- 

 tance away over the upland. 



After nearly an hour he came back, panting 

 and warm, for it was baking August weather, 

 and lay down at my feet. 



But almost immediately the same foxy ' Yap 

 yurrr ' was heard close at hand and off dashed 

 the dog on another chase. 



Away he went in the darkness, baying like a 

 foghorn, straight away to the north. And the 

 loud ' Boo, boo, ' became a low ' oo, oo,' 

 and that a feeble ' o-o ' and then was lost. 

 They must have gone some miles away, for even 

 with ear to the ground I heard nothing of them 

 though a mile was easy distance for Ranger's 

 brazen voice. 



As I waited in the black woods I heard a 

 sweet sound of dripping water : ' Tink tank 

 tenk tink, Ta tink tank tenk tonk.' 



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