THE SEVEN SLEEPERS 191, 



He is one of the best friends of the farmer and the 

 worst treated. Given a fair chance, every week he 

 will eat several times his weight in mice and insects. 

 Moreover, with the muskrat he contributes divers 

 furs to the market, whose high-sounding names 

 disguise their lowly origin. During the coldest part 

 of the winter he retires to his burrow and sleeps 

 fitfully. He is the last to go to bed and the first to 

 get up ; and on any warm day in late winter you may 

 see his close-set, alternate, stitch-like tracks in the 

 snow. The black-and-white banner of skunk-kind is 

 a huge bushy resplendent tail, sometimes as wide as 

 it is long. At the very tip is set a tuft like the white 

 plume of Henry of Navarre. When it stands straight 

 up, the battle is on, and wise wild-folk remove 

 themselves elsewhere with exceeding swiftness. As 

 for the simple they wish they had. 



The armament of this Seventh Sleeper is simple 

 but effective. It consists of two scent glands located 

 near the base of the tail, which empty into a movable 

 duct or pipe which can be protruded some distance. 

 Through this duct, by means of large contractile 

 muscles, a stream of liquid musk can be propelled 

 with incredible accuracy, and with a range of from 

 six to ten feet. Moreover the skunk's accurate 

 breech-loading and repeating weapon has one de- 

 vice not yet found in any man-made artillery. Each 

 gland, besides the hole for long-range purposes, is 

 pierced with a circle of smaller holes through which 

 the deadly gas can be sprayed in a cloud for work at 

 close quarters. The skunk 's battery can be operated 



