IV THE HOUND OF THE PLAINS 105 



opened like a fan, while the whelps sank far into 

 the rear. Scarcely had the last dog vanished in 

 the undergrowth, nose and tail to earth, when a 

 short challenge rang out. There was a moment's 

 pause, while the old dogs verified the fact, I sup- 

 pose. A bolder cry proclaimed that all was well, 

 and the pups, which had been standing still as 

 statues in their place, dashed off into the wood. 

 Then the music of the pack broke out again ; they 

 swept away under the mysterious trees and I saw 

 them no more. 



" Certainly," exclaimed the narrator, at the con- 

 clusion of this brilliant and instructive story, " no 

 training could have bettered that day's run. To 

 drive a grown buck back to his starting-place ; to 

 send on a portion of the pack to that point where 

 he would strive to break cover ; to head him again 

 and again into the covert, where his speed could 

 not be exerted to the full, were facts which might 

 puzzle all the best dogs in England, and the human 

 intelligence which directs them." 



His game and its getting are not always so noble 

 as this, however, and the coyote knows well the 

 pinch of famine, especially in winter. It has been 

 remarked that the main object of his life seems 

 to be the satisfying of a hunger which is always 

 craving; and to this aim all his cunning, impu- 

 dence, and audacity are mainly directed. Noth- 

 ing comes amiss. Though by no means the 

 swiftest-footed quadruped upon the plains, he runs 



