THE WEASEL 



rat-infested premises, he becomes one of 

 the worst enemies of the poultry -wife 

 when he is tempted to fall upon her 

 broods of chicks. He seems possessed 

 of a murderous frenzy, and slays as ruth- 

 lessly and needlessly as a wolf or a human 

 game- butcher or the insatiate angler. 

 Neither is he the friend of the sports- 

 man, for he makes havoc among the 

 young grouse and quail and the callow 

 woodcock. 



The trapper reviles him when he finds 

 him in his mink trap, for all the beauty 

 of his ermine a worthless prize drawn in 

 this chanceful lottery. When every one 

 carried his money in a purse, the wea- 

 sel's slender white skin was in favor with 

 country folk. This use survives only in 

 the command or exhortation to "draw 

 your weasel." When the purse was 

 empty, it gave the spendthrift an un- 

 timely hint by creeping out of his 

 pocket. In the primest condition of his 

 fur he neither keeps nor puts money in 

 your pocket now. He is worth more to 

 look at, with his lithe body quick with 

 life, than to possess in death. 

 262 



