

rs 



The Springfield Fox 



the yard. No one knew just why he was kept 

 alive, but in all a change of feeling had set 

 in, and the idea of killing him was without a 

 supporter. 



^J&JP Ke was a P rett y little fellow ' like a cross be " 



■'"*'%-- Vgf tween a fox and a lamb. His woolly visage 



% A 0^ and form were stran § el y ^mb-like and inno- 



>>f / / W"\m\ cent, but one could find in his yellow eyes a 



(f ^* k 4/ ^-sfc. gleam of cunning and savageness as unlamb-like 



as it possibly could be. 



As long as anyone was near he crouched 

 sullen and cowed in his shelter-box, and it was 

 a full hour after being left alone before he vent- 

 ured to look out. 



My window now took the place of the hol- 

 low basswood. A number of hens of the breed 

 he knew so well were about the cub in the 

 the yard. Late that afternoon as they strayed 

 near the captive there was a sudden rattle of 

 the chain, and the youngster dashed at the near- 

 est one and would have caught him but for the 

 chain which brought him up with a jerk. He 

 got on his feet and slunk back to his box, and 

 though he afterward made several rushes he so 

 gauged his leap as to win or fail within the 



214 



