i44 



PASTORAL DAYS. 



■/ 



haired thief hez knabbed every tarnal pattridge 'n 

 Bob White they iz." 



And so he went on for half an hour, telling 



.,^""" Ik me all the various stratagems by which Reynard 

 had outwitted him. 



" I set it thar in the pine woods in a 

 bed of pine needles, with the ded rabbit 

 hangin' over it, 'n the next day I see by 

 the scratched up dirt haow the feller hed 

 jumped clean over the trap at a lick, 'n 

 taken his rabbit on a fly. Yeu kin laff; 

 but what I'm tellin' ye is az true az 

 preachin'. So yest'd'y I lit aout on a 

 new idee, 'n set the trap on top a stump 

 cluss teu a tree 'n covered it with leaves. 

 I hung the bait on the tree higher up, 

 'n sez I, old feller, I've got ye naow, sez 

 I. I left it thar. I went daown thar 

 agin this mornin', 'n I've jest cum 

 i .. from thar. No more fox fer me; 



*\J* t /| s'elp me gosh !" 



" Why," I ask, " what was the 



matter clown there, Nathan ?" 



" Why, blame my stogy s, 



ef the feller hadn't 



gone 'n highsted 



the clog-stick on 



" "Ml 



iiff IV 



yt- 



>. 



"> 



v \ the end o' the chain, 



'n shoved it agin 

 the pan, 'n sprung the trap on't, 'n then step- 

 ped up and knabbed the bait. An' I say thet 

 enny feller what's got brains enuff fer thet, I swaiou 

 he'd oughter live off 'n um ; 'n he kin fer all me /" 



It was too bad to have fooled old Nathan so ; but 

 then, you see, he had a big farm, and was awfully 

 stingy with us boys, and never would let us set a rab- 

 bit snare on his place. He said it was "pesky cruel" 

 and seemed to prefer the more humane way of wounding them with 



WINTER BROWSING. 



