afternoon on top of a stump in the center of 

 the thicket. 



The old mothers eyes began to blaze as 

 Eleemos drew near. There was a rush, swift 

 and sudden as the swoop of an eagle ; a sharp 

 call to follow as the mothers long jaws closed 

 over the small of the back, just as the fox 

 turned to leap away. Then she flung the par- 

 alyzed animal back like a flash ; the young 

 wolves tumbled in upon him ; and before he 

 knew what had happened Eleemos the Sly 

 One, was stretched out straight, with one cub 

 at his tail and another at his throat, tug- 

 ging and worrying and grumbling deep in 

 their chests as the lust of their first fighting 

 swept over them. Then in vague, vanishing 

 glimpses the old he-wolf appeared, quarter- 

 ing swiftly, silently, back and forth through 

 the thicket, driving every living thing down- 

 wind to where the cubs and the mother were 

 waiting to receive it. 



That one lesson was enough for the cubs, 

 though years would pass before they could 

 learn all the fine points of this beating the 

 bush : to know almost at a glance where the 



