72 



THE SNOW-WALKERS. 



it as soon as beside it, relying implicitly for defense 

 against all forms of danger upon the unsavory punish- 

 ment he is capable of inflicting. He is quite indiffer- 

 ent to both man and beast, and will not hurry himself 

 to get out of the way of either. Walking through the 

 summer fields at twilight, I have come near stepping 

 upon him, and was much the more disturbed of the 

 two. When attacked in the open fields he confounds 

 the plans of his enemies by the unheard-of tactics of 

 exposing his rear rather than his front. " Come if you 

 dare," he says, and his attitude makes even the farm- 

 dog pause. After a few encounters of this kind, and 

 if you entertain the usual hostility towards him , your 

 mode of attack will speedily resolve itself into moving 

 about him in a circle, the radius of which will be the 

 exact distance at which you can hurl a stone with ac- 

 curacy and effect. 



He has a secret to keep, and knows it, and is careful 

 not to betray himself until he can do so with the most 

 telling effect. I have known him to preserve his se- 

 renity even when caught in a steel trap, and look the 

 very picture of injured innocence, maneuvering care- 

 fully and deliberately to extricate his foot from the 

 grasp of the naughty jaws. Do not by any means take 

 pity on him, and lend a helping hand ! 



How pretty his face and head ! How fine and deli- 

 cate his teeth, like a weasel's or cat's ! When about a 

 third grown, he looks so well that one covets him for a 

 pet. He is quite precocious, however, and capable, 



