34 The Fox 



of the young foxes. For several nights the barking 

 of foxes was heard not far away, and sometimes the 

 little captive made bold to answer. Through worry 

 and confinement, and perhaps improper food, the 

 little fox quickly lost his plumpness and the glossi- 

 ness of fur. One morning a dead partridge was 

 found beside his prison door, probably killed and 

 brought there by the mother fox. Purposely, on the 

 following evening the collar of the- imprisoned fox 

 was gently loosened, and the door of his house left 

 ajar. In the morning the collar lay beside the door, 

 and I imagined that the little fellow was safe with his 

 mother among the hills. 



I learned in the following autumn that two more 

 of the young foxes escaped. I hoped that they would 

 Journey back to the valley in which they were bom, 

 never again to be trammelled by collar and chain. 



