10 THE LIFE OF A FOX 



dressed in every imaginable way, by the best French 

 cook." 



The thought pleased me, and resolving to gratify 

 my own curiosity, I invited all of my friends who 

 had at any time beaten some pack of repute. 



It was a fine moonhght night, in the middle of 

 summer, when ten of my guests, besides an inter- 

 loper, a stranger to us all, arrived at the place 

 appointed, beneath an old oak tree in the New 

 Forest. 



For the foundation of my feast, nothing could 

 be better than the bill of fare projected by the 

 hospitable hunter ; but as I knew that my friends 

 would prefer everything au naturel, I dispensed 

 with the services of M. Soyer, and merely added, 

 for the sake of variety, some fine rats and mice, a 

 profusion of beetles, and a bird or two for the few 

 whose taste might be depraved enough to choose 

 them. Our repast being over, it was agreed, that 

 for our mutual instruction and entertainment, each 

 in his turn should with scrupulous fidehty relate by 

 what arts and stratagems, or by what effort of 

 strength and courage, he had eluded and baffled 

 those ruthless disturbers of our repose, the hunts- 

 man and his hounds. I was first called on to tell 

 the story of my life, and thus began. 



