Redruff 



nard, the Swift-foot, had not caught her in five 

 minutes' racing. It was really shameful. But 

 the partridge seemed to gain strength as the fox 

 put forth his, and after a quarter of a mile race, 

 racing that was somehow all away from Taylor's 

 Hill, the bird got unaccountably quite well, and, 

 rising with a derisive whirr, flew off through the 

 woods leaving the fox utterly dumfounded to 

 realize that he had been made a fool of, and, 

 worst of all, he now remembered that this was 

 not the first time he had been served this very 

 trick, though he never knew the reason for it. 



Meanwhile Mother Partridge skimmed in a 

 great circle and came by a roundabout way 

 back to the little fuzz-balls she had left hidden 

 in the woods. 



With a wild bird's keen memory for places, 

 she went to the very grass-blade she last 

 trod on, and stood for a moment fondly to ad- 

 mire the perfect stillness of her children. Even 

 at her step not one had stirred, and the little 

 fellow on the chip, not so very badly concealed 

 after all, had not budged, nor did he now ; he 

 only closed his eyes a tiny little bit harder, till 

 the mother said : 



310 



