the juicy mouthfuls were few and far be- 

 tween. Fox cubs roamed abroad away from 

 their mothers, self-willed and reveling in 

 the abundance ; and it was now easy for 

 two of the young wolves to drive a fox out 

 of his daytime cover and catch him as he 

 stole away. 



After the plover came the ducks in 

 myriads, filling the ponds and flashets of 

 the vast barrens with tumultuous quacking; 

 and the young wolves learned, like the foxes, 

 to decoy the silly birds by rousing their 

 curiosity. They would hide in the grass, 

 while one played and rolled about on the 

 open shore, till the ducks saw him and began 

 to stretch their necks and gabble their amaze- 

 ment at the strange thing, which they had 

 never seen before. Shy and wild as he nat- 

 urally is, a duck, like a caribou or a turkey, 

 must take a peek at every new thing. Now 

 silent, now gabbling all together, the flock 

 would veer and scatter and draw together 

 again, and finally swing in toward the shore, 

 every neck drawn straight as a string the 

 better to see what was going on. Nearer 



87 



ThelUayof 



