THE SKUNK 



making amends for poultry stealing, 

 and you are inclined to regard him with 

 more favor. But when you come upon 

 the empty shells of a raided partridge 

 nest, your sportsman's wrath is enkin- 

 dled against him for forestalling your 

 gun. Yet who shall say that you had a 

 better right to the partridges than he to 

 the eggs ? 



If you are so favored, you can but ad- 

 mire the pretty sight of the mother with 

 her cubs basking in a sunny nook or 

 leading them* afield in single file, a black 

 and white procession. 



If by another name the rose would 

 smell as sweet, our old acquaintance is 

 in far better odor for change of appella- 

 tion from that so suggestive of his rank 

 offenses. What beauty of fair faces 

 would be spoiled with scorn by a hint of 

 the vulgar name which in unadorned 

 truth belongs to the handsome glossy 

 black muff and boa that keep warm those 

 dainty fingers and swan-like neck. Yet 

 through the furrier's art and cunning 

 they undergo a magic transformation 

 into something to be worn with pride, 

 and the every-day wear of the despised 

 156 



