Redruff 



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behind, and seeming so fragile they made the 

 very chicadees look big and coarse. There 

 were twelve of them, but Mother Grouse 

 watched them all, and she watched every bush 

 and tree and thicket, and the whole woods and 

 the sky itself. Always for enemies she seemed 

 seeking — friends were too scarce to be looked 

 for — and an enemy she found. Away across 

 the level beaver meadow was a great brute of a 

 fox. He was coming their way, and in a few 

 moments would surely wind them or strike their 

 trail. There was no time to lose. 



'Krrrf Krrr /' (Hide! Hide!) cried the 

 mother in a low firm voice, and the little bits 

 of things, scarcely bigger than acorns and but a 

 day old, scattered far (a few inches) apart to 

 hide. One dived under a leaf, another between 

 two roots, a third crawled into a curl of birch- 

 bark, a fourth into a hole, and so on, till all 

 were hidden but one who could find no cover, 

 so squatted on a broad yellow chip and lay very 

 flat, and closed his eyes very tight, sure that 

 now he was safe from being seen. They ceased 

 their frightened peeping and all was still. 



Mother Partridge flew straight toward the 



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