snows, leading them to the best feeding 

 places, guarding them from danger, teach- 

 ing them from her own example the things 

 which a deer must know; and it is one of 

 the sad things of hunting that, if a doe be 

 killed in the autumn, her fawn will have 

 small chance to live through a severe winter, 

 unless, as is sometimes the case, the fawn 

 joins himself to another doe and follows her 

 about. Even Upweekis the lynx often keeps 

 her big, round-eyed, savage young cubs with 

 her, teaching them to hunt and beat the 

 bush together in the long winter when food 

 is scarce. But Pequam, like all the tribe of 

 weasels, which have scant affection for their 

 young, seems to turn her cubs adrift when 

 she has led them about for a little while in the 

 autumn ; after which their instincts and quick 

 wits enable them to shift for themselves. 



In the hungry days, however, the fisher 

 cubs let native cunning take the place of 

 affection. The mother may cast them off, 

 but they know her trail, and follow it at a 

 distance whenever they need food. In the 

 early winter they do very well by themselves, 



259 



7fie7tef/ofMe 

 Cunning One 



