WAYS OF WOOD FOLK. 



I. FOX-WAYS. 



ID you ever meet a fox face to face, sur- 

 prising him quite as much as yourself? 

 If so, you were deeply impressed, no 

 doubt, by his perfect dignity and self- 

 possession. Here is how the meeting 

 generally comes about. 

 It is a late winter afternoon. You are swinging 

 rapidly over the upland pastures, or loitering along 

 the winding old road through the woods. The color 

 deepens in the west ; the pines grow black against it ; 

 the rich brown of the oak leaves seems to glow every- 

 where in the last soft light ; and the mystery that 

 never sleeps long in the woods begins to rustle 

 again in the thickets. You are busy \\'ith your own 

 thoughts, seeing nothing, till a flash of yellow jaasses 

 before your eyes, and a fox stands in the path before 

 you, one foot uplifted, the fluffy brush swept aside in 

 graceful curve, the bright eyes looking straight into 



