ALONG FOUR-FOOTED TRAILS 



sharp claws scratched my arm when he endea- 

 vored to noiselessly climb down from my shoul- 

 der. On reaching the ground, which he did in 

 a half tumble, he put his pointed nose to the 

 surface and sniffed about in an interested man- 

 ner. I knew he had scented some other animal. 

 As he ran along he pushed the grass aside 

 showing many tiny, well trodden paths crossing 

 and recrossing one another until they formed a 

 net-work of avenues and tiny streets, shaded by 

 the grass and the brown arches of the over- 

 hanging plants that had been left by the sharp 

 teeth of the interesting little road-makers. 

 Aunt told me they were the runways of a fam- 

 ily of field mice. Presently Mongola stopped 

 and began to dig into the ground. He had 

 discovered the entrance to one of the tun- 

 nels and it led to the underground home and 

 storehouses of the dainty little creatures. The 

 skunk with his long claws laid open first one 

 tunnel and then another for there were quite as 

 many tunnels and entrances as there were streets 

 and avenues in their surface system of engineer- 

 ing. They were, however, somewhat more 

 complicated and the entrance to the nest and 



