54 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
spread over his face, he listened sharply a mo- 
ment, sniffed, went back to the rear, and sprang 
on the roof. A second later he landed with all 
fours on a fat Rhode Island Red, got his teeth 
into its neck while the rest of the fowls flapped 
wildly about and set up an alarmed cackling, and 
with a yank of his head flung the body over his 
shoulder and went up a broken ladder which 
leaned against the hen-house, left there by the 
farmer after he patched the shingles in the au- 
tumn. Reddy was down on the snow again and 
well away toward the woods when he heard the 
farmer behind him, shouting in the pen. He laid 
the hen down and bit its neck again, softly, to 
make sure it was dead. Looking back, he saw 
the farmer coming on his tracks now, followed by 
a boy with a gun. Reddy slung the heavy fowl 
over his shoulder once more and started rapidly 
off. He had cover for a few feet, but then had 
to make a break across the open. There came a 
cry, a report, the ping of shot near him, but he 
was untouched, and a second later the woods 
wrapped him. Up and up he went, over rocks 
and through dense laurel, till he came at last to a 
