54 THE FOX. 



unseen. For a few paces he swims, and then, only 

 his nose above the surface, he drifts. The friendly 

 waters close about him, soothe his burning skin, and 

 bear him on. The hounds, red-eyed with blood-lust, 

 surge to the river-bank, and cross. No scent ! 



Is that a fox drifting down the river, far out in 

 the central race that limp, waving object, looking 

 like an old cast-off garment as it moves with the 

 tide ? If so, no one sees it, or, having seen it, gives 

 it a second thought. 



Far down the river Reynard drifts, till the 

 hideous sounds of death are left behind ; then, 

 refreshed and rested, he climbs ashore. All is 

 very peaceful and quiet here. Just up the hedge 

 an old cock-pheasant is scratching in the leaves, 

 but Reynard, hardly seeing it, heads wearily for 

 some distant spot whither no hound will follow. 

 He heads for home, a wiser fox than before, and 

 free ! 



VOCAL POWERS. 



Just as foxes are clever and original in deceiving 

 the hunter, so are they clever and original in their 

 own hunting. Reynard possesses remarkable vocal 

 powers, and can imitate exactly the bleat of a 

 lamb, the squeal of a hare or a rabbit, and numerous 

 other sounds belonging rightly to the creatures he 

 is out to kill. One night, when driving home along 

 a country lane in Dorsetshire at the time of the 

 year when young lambs are about, I heard what 

 I took to be the bleating of a lost lamb coming 

 down the hedgerow towards me. On my making 

 some commonplace remark concerning the sound 

 to the farmer who was driving me, he replied, 

 ' That isn't a lamb, sir ; it 's a fox. You can hear 

 them bleating any night this time of year.' 



