70 WINTER SUNSHINE 



is minus her tail, the fox having succeeded in get- 

 ting only a mouthful of quills. 



As the brood grows and their wings develop, they 

 wander far from the house in quest of grasshoppers. 

 At such times they are all watchfulness and suspi- 

 cion. Crossing the fields one day, attended by a 

 dog that much resembled a fox, I came suddenly 

 upon a brood about one third grown, which were 

 feeding in a pasture just beyond a wood. It so 

 happened that they caught sight of the dog without 

 seeing me, when instantly, with the celerity of wild 

 game, they launched into the air, and, while the 

 old one perched upon a treetop, as if to keep an 

 eye on the supposed enemy, the young went sailing 

 over the trees toward home. 



The two hounds above referred to, accompanied 

 by a cur-dog, whose business it was to mind the 

 farm, but who took as much delight in running away 

 from prosy duty as if he had been a schoolboy, 

 would frequently steal off and have a good hunt all 

 by themselves, just for the fun of the thing, I sup- 

 pose. I more than half suspect that it was as a 

 kind of taunt or retaliation, that Eeynard came and 

 took the geese from under their very noses. One 

 morning they went off and stayed till the afternoon 

 of the next day; they ran the fox all day and all 

 night, the hounds bkying at every jump, the cur- 

 dog silent and tenacious. When the trio returned 

 they came dragging themselves along, stiff, foot- 

 sore, gaunt, and hungry. Eor a day or two after- 

 ward they lay about the kennels, seeming to dread 



