WILY^S STORY 13 



been watching outside, for immediately after this 

 we were alarmed by a sound hitherto unheard by 

 us. It was the voice of a man crying out, " Eloo 

 in, Viper ! fetch 'em out ! hie in there, hie in ! " 

 The Mght was instantly shut out by the intrusion 

 of a dog in a low and narrow part of the passage, 

 which compelled him to crawl along with his head 

 to the bottom. Our mother waited for him, where 

 she had the advantage of higher space, and as he 

 approached with his head thus low, she fixed her 

 teeth across the upper part of his nose and pinned 

 him to the bottom of the passage, where she held 

 him so that he could not bite her, which he would 

 have done had she attacked him after he had got 

 beyond the lower part, when he might have raised 

 his head up.^ ^Vliilst bleeding and howUng with 

 agony, he drew her backwards to the opening, 

 where she let him go. It was in vain that the man 

 tried to make him go in again, and so he left the 



^ If this were attended to in making artificial earths^ it would be an 

 advantage to the fox, who might then defend himself better from dogs 

 of every sort; the great point is to have the entrance only Just suffi- 

 ciently high for him to get in. 



They should be so arranged that the breeding places are situated 

 higher than the entrances, so that water may run away ; and when it is 

 necessary to make the earth on level ground, the breeding places should 

 be on the surface, and covered over with earth, so as to form a mound. 



The places for breeding should be formed in a circle, in order that 



