Kagax the Bloodthirsty. 49 



sibly stand. His eyes fairly snapped as he began dig- 

 ging furiously. Below, he could hear a chorus of 

 faint squeaks, the clamor of young wood mice for their 

 supper. But a few inches down, and the hole doubled 

 under a round stone, then vanished between two 

 roots close together. Try as he would, Kagax could 

 only wear his claws out, without making any progress. 

 He tried to force his shoulders through ; for a weasel 

 thinks he can go anywhere. But the hole was too 

 small. Kagax cried out in rage and took up the trail. 

 A dozen times he ran it from the hole to the torn 

 moss, where Tookhees had been digging roots, and 

 back again; then, sure that all the wood mice were 

 inside, he tried to tear his way between the obstinate 

 roots. As well try to claw down the tree itself. 



All the while Tookhees, who always has just such 

 a turn in his tunnel, and who knows perfectly when 

 he is safe, crouched just below the roots, looking up 

 with steady little eyes, like two black beads, at his 

 savage pursuer, and listening in a kind of dumb 

 terror to his snarls of rage. 



Kagax gave it up at last and took to running in 

 circles. Wider and wider he went, running swift and 

 silent, his nose to the ground, seeking other mice on 

 whom to wreak his vengeance. Suddenly he struck 

 a fresh trail and ran it straight to the clearing where 



