THE WOODCHUCK 



journey in pursuit of summer, while the 

 starved fox prowled in the desolate woods 

 and barren fields, the owl hunted beneath 

 the cold stars, and the squirrel delved in 

 the snow for his meagre fare. 



By and by the ethereal but potent spirit 

 of spring stole in where the frost-elves 

 could not enter, and awakening the earth 

 awakened him. Not by a slow and often 

 impeded invasion of the senses, but as by 

 the sudden opening of a door, he sees the 

 naked earth again warming herself in the 

 sun, and hears running water and singing 

 birds. No wonder that with such surprise 

 the querulous tremolo of his whistle is 

 sharply mingled with these softer voices. 



Day by day as he sees the sun-loved 

 banks blushing greener, he ventures fur- 

 ther forth to visit neighbors or watch his 

 clover, or dig a new home in a more fa- 

 vored bank, or fortify himself in some 

 rocky stronghold where boys and dogs 

 may not enter. Now, the family may 

 be seen moving, with no burden of furni- 

 ture or provision, but only the mother 

 with her gray cubs, carried as a cat car- 

 ries her kittens, one by one to the new 

 home among the fresher clover. 

 35 



