How Animals Talk 



Nip once and finding nothing more exciting than 

 a hole in the ground, with the familiar smell of 

 woodchuck about it, he had left the terrier to his 

 own amusement. 



When speed failed, or wind, it was vastly amus- 

 ing to watch Nip try to adopt cat-strategy, hiding, 

 creeping, scheming to cut off the enemy's retreat. 

 Almost every day he would have another go at the 

 impossible; but he was too fat, too slow, too 

 clumsy, and also too impatient after his doggy 

 kind. By a great effort he could hold still when 

 his game poked a cautious head out of the burrow 

 for a look all around ; but no sooner did the chuck 

 begin to move away from his doorway than the 

 little dog began to fidget in his hiding-place, and 

 his tail (the one part of a dog that cannot lie) 

 would wildly betray his emotions. Invariably he 

 made his rush too soon, and the woodchuck whis- 

 tled into his den with time to spare. 



On this summer afternoon, however, Nip had 

 better luck or used better tactics. Whether he 

 went round the hill and came over the top from 

 an unexpected quarter, or lay in wait in his accus- 

 tomed place with more than his accustomed pa- 

 tience, I have no means of knowing. By some new 

 device or turn of luck he certainly came between 

 the game and its stronghold; whereupon the 

 chuck scuttled down the hill and took refuge among 



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