78 FOXES AT HOME. 



being utterly unable to account for their 

 mysterious and unaccountable disappearance. 



One evening, shortly after, I went to see how 

 the \\n\d litter was progressing, and, to my 

 astonishment and delight, at dusk out from the 

 <^arth came the three little absentees, and lay 

 down a few yards away, looking rather shy, I 

 thought ; presently the five large cubs appeared 

 and seemed to take the greatest interest in the 

 strangers, frisking round them and trying to 

 coax them to play, which, however, the others 

 declined to do. There they were at any rate, 

 safe and sound, and after a few days became 

 part of the family. Evidently the vixen had 

 come past the earth where the cubs were and 

 they had followed her home. She reared them 

 up with her own lot and saved me all further 

 trouble. 



The following year 1 had four small cubs sent 

 to me to look after, and this year there were two 

 wild litters ; something, however, had happened 

 to one lot, as there were only two cubs in it and 

 four in the other. 



A few nights after the cubs had been put 

 down, and before the wire had been removed, 

 the food was found untouched and the cubs 



