THE REDWING 
his pursuer. The blackbirds in the branches 
overhead " chink-chinked " lustily, and now 
and then one bolder than the rest dashed down 
upon the cat, and won for the fugitive a 
moment's breathing space. Suddenly the ground 
fell away before him, and, with a last effort, he 
struggled across the ditch into the hedge. 
Here he was comparatively safe, for he could 
slip mouse-like through thorns which the cat 
could not pass. The latter realized this, and 
licking her chops, retired into the wood, chatter 
of blackbird and clamour of finch marking her 
retreat. 
That was how Shacaim learned that although 
manifold perils beset the ways of the birds, 
they are as nothing compared to those which 
lurk round the earth-bound paths of the Fur 
Folk, whose vicissitudes he was henceforward to 
share. This lesson was brought home to him 
at noon, when a stoat came hunting through 
the bramble bushes, and drove him palpitating 
into the temporary security of the hedge : and 
he learned it again in the evening when he re- 
encountered the cat watching the privet bushes 
where the chaffinches go to roost. As for the 
Fur Folk themselves, they take in this lesson 
with their mother's milk. 
4t 4> 4t 4* 41 
On the third day, Shacaim found himself in 
149 
