Chapter III 

 Weasels 



Ermine Weasel — American Sable — Least Weasel 



WHY is it that while popular fancy has 

 attributed all sorts of uncanny and 

 supernatural qualities to owls and cats, and no 

 ghost story or tale of horrid murder has been 

 considered quite complete without its rat peering 

 from some dark corner, or spider with expanded 

 legs suddenly spinning down from among the 

 rafters, no such grewsome association has ever 

 attached itself to the weasels, creatures whose 

 every habit and characteristic would seem to sug- 

 gest something of the sort ? Now, fond as I am 

 of cats, I should never think of denying that they 

 are uncanny creatures, to say the least. But, 

 suppose it was the custom of our domestic tabbies 

 to vanish abruptly, or even gradually on occasion, 

 like the Cheshire cat after its interview with Alice; 

 5 6s 



