THE VARYING HARE 



halo of feathery flakes as if he himself 

 were dissolving into white vapor. 



Happy he, if he might so elude all 

 foes ; but alas for him, if the swift- 

 winged owl had been as close above 

 him or the agile fox within leap. Then 

 instead of this glimpse of beautiful wild 

 life to treasure in your memory, you 

 would only have read the story of 

 a brief tragedy, briefly written, with a 

 smirch of blood and a tuft of rumpled 

 fur. 



223 



