Fox -Ways. 3 



enters the path behind you and disappears over the 

 hill. Somehow a queer feehng, half wonder, half 

 rebuke, steals over you, as if you had been outdone 

 in courtesy, or had passed a gentleman without suf- 

 ficiently recognizing him. 



Ah, but you did n't watch sharply enough ! You 

 didn't see, as he circled past, that cunning side gleam 

 of his yellow eyes, which understood your attitude 

 perfectly. Had you stirred, he would have vanished 

 like a flash. You did n't run to the top of the hill 

 where he disappeared, to see that burst of speed the 

 instant he was out of your sight. You did n't see 

 the capers, the tail-chasing, the high jumps, the quick 

 turns and plays ; and then the straight, nervous gallop, 

 which told more plainly than words his exultation 

 that he had outwitted you and shown his superiority. 



Reynard, wherever you meet him, whether on the 

 old road at twilight, or on the runway before the 

 hounds, impresses you as an animal of dignity and 

 calculation. He never seems surprised, much less 

 frightened ; never loses his head ; never does things 

 hurriedly, or on the spur of the moment, as a scatter- 

 brained rabbit or meddling squirrel might do. You 

 meet him, perhaps as he leaves the warm rock on the 

 south slope of the old oak woods, where he has been 

 curled up asleep all the sunny afternoon. (It is easy 

 to find him there in winter.) Now he is off on his 



