Redruff 



passed. But not for all — Nature, the old 

 nurse, had come too late for two of them. The 

 weakest, by inexorable law, dropped out. En- 

 feebled by the disease, the remedy was too se- 

 vere for them. They drank and drank by the 

 stream, and next morning did not move when 

 the others followed the mother. Strange ven- 

 geance was theirs now, for a skunk, the same 

 that could have told where Runtie went, found 

 and devoured their bodies and died of the poi- 

 son they had eaten. 



Seven little partridges now obeyed the 

 mother's call. Their individual characters 

 were early shown and now developed fast. The 

 weaklings were gone, but there were still a fool 

 and a lazy one. The mother could not help 

 caring for some more than for others, and her 

 favorite was the biggest, he who once sat on the 

 yellow chip for concealment. He was not only 

 the biggest, strongest, and handsomest of the 

 brood, but best of all, the most obedient. His 

 mother's warning ' rrrrr ' (danger) did not 

 always keep the others from a risky path or a 

 doubtful food, but obedience seemed natural to 

 him, and he never failed to respond to her soft 



3i8 



