124 



RECREA T/OJST. 



crest of the Basin ridge, a»' then I heard 

 Hunter's long-drawn ' bo-o-o,' as he sud- 

 denly gave voice; followed by Tige, which 

 told that the game was started. 



" The fox quit the orchard and headed 

 straight for 'the Basin. I knew by the way 

 'he was off .he was an old one, and so I kep' 

 a purty sharp lookout; for I more'n half 

 suspected there might be a litter round. I 

 had waited some 5 minutes, when I saw a 

 fox pop out of the thick spruce across a 

 little holler, and stop and turn his head to 

 hear the hounds. I was jest over the ridge 

 and out of sight, but too far away to shoot. 

 I soon discovered Hunter and Tige were 

 pullin' straight for the big mountain, an' 

 then it flashed on me this was not their 

 game. 



" As I couldn't kill him where he stood, 

 I thought I would try callin' him. I 

 crouched low an' then squeaked once or 

 twice, like a mouse. At first he didn't hear 

 me; but next time it was louder, and you 

 oughter seen that fox prick up his ears and 

 listen! I squeaked again, an' he started. 

 Down the hill he came, like a cat after a 

 bird. I pulled back the hammer of the old 

 gun 'thout makin' a sound. I expected to 

 see his nose come up over the grass any 

 minute, an' I had my eye right along the 

 bar'l, waitin'. 



" He didn't show up, so by-'n-by I riz, 

 easy like, and there he was, in the hard- 

 hacks, steppin' soft, an' cockin' his head 

 this way an' that, lookin' an' listenin' for 

 the mouse. I jest let out a little squeak, 

 an' 't would done you good to seen him 

 start. 



" ' Now he's my fox/ says I, an' I once 

 more dropped to my knee and waited. I 

 was beginnin' to think he had scented me 

 and made off, when suddenly I spied his 

 left ear, one eye and the tip of his nose, 

 poked around the edge of a bowlder, not 12 

 feet from the muzzle of my gun. I could 

 see his eye turn, as he peeked and looked 

 under the edge of the rock, for the mouse. 

 I brought the gun round, slow and careful, 

 till I could see the white of his eye along 

 the bar'l, an' let her go. 



" I riz up quick, so's to see past the 

 smoke. That fox jumped clear out from 

 behind the rock an' started almost straight 

 for me. Then he angled off through the 

 grass; passin' less'n 5 feet from where I 

 stood wonderin' if he was't goin' to drop 

 at the next step. When he had gone about 

 15 feet and reached the top of the knoll he 

 stopped, turned round and round, as you've 

 seen a cat do afore she's goin' to lie down, 

 an' I fairly held my breath as he cuddled 

 beside an old log, and tucked his paws un- 

 der him as slick as anythin' you ever seen. 

 I couldn't make out that he was hurt. He 

 didn't limp, an' there wa'n't no blood. 



" I heerd Sol's gun go twice, sharp an' 

 quick, on the other side of the Basin ridge. 



A minute later, the dogs stopped, an' I 

 knew he'd got the other fox. 



" I crep' over the ridge, an' got into a 

 little run, twixt my fox an' the spruces, an' 

 begun loadin'. I got the powder into the 

 bar'l 'thout makin' a sound. Then I 

 peeped over the ridge. The fox was there, 

 an' 'peared sound asleep. 



" I pushed a wad of paper into the muz- 

 zle and forced it down, an inch at a time, 

 until it was home. I peeped over ag'in. 

 The fox hadn't moved. Next come the 

 shot, and I knew I 'd got to work shrewd 

 on them, or he would hear me sure. I took 

 the pouch under my jacket an' gently 

 worked 20 BB's into my hand; then I 

 dropped the muzzle 'most to the ground 

 and let 'em run in slow, one at a time. 



" Now I looked for my game. The old 

 fellow lay there, purty as a picture. Then 

 I knew well 'nough he was mine. I got 

 the wad down on top of the shot 'thout 

 makin' any noise, an' jest laid the ramrod 

 on the grass and went into my vest for a 

 cap. 



" I softly raised the hammer of the old 

 gun an' tucked the cap onto the nipple, 

 pressed it home solid, cocked the gun full 

 an' stepped to the top of the ridge, jest a 

 second after Tige opened up in a thick- 

 et, less'n 20 rods below, hot on my fox's 

 trail. 



" I raised my gun, fully expectin' to see 

 the old chap right in the air. Then I 

 lowered ag'in and took a look around. 

 That fox had disappeared as completely as 

 though he had evaporated! 



I jumped toward the top of the ridge, 

 where I could see every rod of the open 

 land for more'n a quarter of a mile. There 

 was no fox in sight. Down the hill I went, 

 thinkin' he had possibly reached a bunch 

 of spruce in the pasture; but to git my eyes 

 on him I couldn't. 



" Tige sang half a dozen times an' came 

 out into the clearin', right on the track. 

 Before I reached the top of the hill again 

 the dog was where the fox had made his 

 nest. Then he gave one long-drawn ' Boo- 

 00/ an' he never went another foot on that 

 trail! 



" Sol came up an' I told him all about it. 

 He only laughed at me. We circled the 

 hill with both dogs for half an hour, but 

 they never struck a track to show where 

 the fox had left the top of the ridge. We 

 looked everywhere for a hole or burrow, 

 but there wa'n't a single break in the 

 ground that we could discover. So we had 

 to give it up an' leave the whole thing a 

 mystery." 



The old man paused and tilted back in 

 his chair, while a jovial smile played over 

 his sunburned face. Lon was a man whose 

 word was unimpeachable, and his listeners 

 looked at one another with various expres- 



