CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE 



197 



to generalize or to "think thoughts," but to see 

 what was going on. 



Ah, there at my feet was a hole in the ground, 

 its doorway worn smooth by who knows what 

 kind of little feet ! If the creature would only 

 just show itself I should have a story to tell. It 

 wouldn't do to sit down and watch, so I stood. 

 The snow was deep and cold and I couldn't wait, 

 but looked about for a more promising lead. I 

 had some trouble making my way among the 

 young thorn trees, the brier bushes and weeds. A 

 well-grown burdock found me, and requested me 

 to carry a bundle into the next field for it. This 

 I flatly refused to do, emphasizing my refusal by 

 snatching the prickly mass from my skirt and 

 flinging it far from me. The burdock seemed quite 

 as well satisfied, for it 

 made no complaint of 

 my discourtesy. 



Surely some forag- 

 ing crows had visited 

 that slope before me, 

 for their tracks were 

 fresh and clear in the 

 snow. The crust was 

 too thin to bear up 

 even a crow. I fol- 

 lowed one which had 

 evidently retired alone to the very top of the knoll. 

 There he seemed to have stopped and, after danc- 

 ing a few steps, had gone down again in another 

 direction. I could see just where he had made the 



'THE CAPS TORN OFF, THE CONTENTS 

 RIFLED " 



