144 THE UPPER YUKON 



nized in the snow. He had a large, bushy tail 

 which, trailing on the snow, left its imprint 

 as he had cautiously and silently crawled up 

 the mountain side. 



The solution of the problem thus presented 

 was easily made. The big bird was a hawk 

 probably a goshawk, who had swooped 

 down on the unsuspecting ptarmigan, and, 

 striking his cruel talons into the toothsome 

 bird, had sailed up to the mountain top, the 

 prisoner in the meantime making a hard 

 struggle to escape. 



Mr. Reynard, the fox, had heard the cry 

 of the captured bird, looked up, had seen its 

 struggles as the hawk flew away with it, and 

 at once made for the top. His tracks showed 

 that until he neared the summit he had gone 

 up with good-sized jumps. Before the sum- 

 mit was reached he had crawled a portion of 

 the way; then, getting close behind the hawk, 

 he had made his usual spring, catching the 

 big bird by the wing. The hawk probably 

 dropped his prey, and, tearing himself from 

 the fox's mouth by leaving his wing feathers 

 behind him, he had sailed away, leaving Rey- 

 nard in full possession and with freedom to 

 finish the ptarmigan. 



At first we thought the fox had devoured 



