to the white tip of the floating' plume before , 

 him ; and worst of it all, Eleemos seems to 

 be making no effort, but looks back over his 

 shoulder as he capers along. Pequam turns 

 back at last, only to hurl himself headlong 

 through the snow far faster than he came ; 

 for the other foxes are already on his kill, 

 tearing it away and bolting it in big, hungry 

 mouthfuls. He scatters them like chaff and 

 hunts one away into the swamp ; whereupon 

 the first fox slips in and gets a mouthful with 

 the others. Then Pequam comes flying back 

 and sits on his deer and spits impotently at 

 his uninvited guests. 



He does not chase them again, but eats 

 his fill, while the foxes sit around and yawn 

 hugely. With a mouthful now to stay their 

 stomachs they can wait a little longer. They 

 are never still a minute, but move around and 

 sit on all sides of the table. When he has 

 eaten enough Pequam cannot quite make up 

 his mind what to do. He is sleepy already 

 and lies down on the deer; but the old habit 

 of hiding away is strong upon him, and he 

 wants to find a hollow log. He cannot sleep 



TfieTra/fof/fie 

 Cunning One 



