84 



THE FOX. 



citement. Perchance one turkey is minus her tail, the 

 fox having succeeded in getting only a mouthful of quills. 



As the brood grows and their wings develop, they 

 wander far from the house in quest of grasshoppers. 

 At such times they are all watchfulness and suspicion. 

 Crossing the fields one day, attended by a dog that 

 much resembled a fox, I came suddenly upon a brood 

 about one third grown, which were feeding in a pasture 

 just beyond a wood. It so happened that they caught 

 sight of the dog without seeing me, when instantly, 

 with the celerity of wild game, they launched into the 

 air, and, while the old one perched upon a tree-top as 

 if to keep an eye on the supposed enemy, the young 

 went sailing over the trees towards home. 



The two hounds above referred to, accompanied by 

 a cur-dog, whose business it was to mind the farm, but 

 who took as much delight in running away from prosy 

 duty as if he had been a school-boy, would frequently 

 steal off and have a good hunt all by themselves, just for 

 the fun of the thing, I suppose. I more than half sus- 

 pect that it was as a kind of taunt or retaliation, that 

 . Reynard came and took the geese from under their very 

 noses. One morning they went off and stayed till the 

 afternoon of the next day ; they ran the fox all day 

 and all night, the hounds baying at every jump, the 

 cur-dog silent and tenacious. When the trio returned 

 they came dragging themselves along, stiff, foot-sore, 

 gaunt, and hungry. For a day or two afterward they 

 lay about the kennels, seeming to dread nothing so 



