2 6 REDPAD THE FOX 
' Ye may go afther the rest, ye divil/ said John 
Skehan to this survivor bitterly, and dismissed her 
with a kick. His words were fulfilled more literally 
than he expected. She alighted cackling beyond 
the farmyard wall a red shadow sprang up silently, 
and John Skehan had a glimpse of a white-tagged 
brush heading towards Knockdane along a path 
strewn with feathers. This was more than flesh 
and blood could stand, and Skehan set his dog after 
the thief. At first the dog gained on Redpad, who 
was weighted with the fowl, but presently the fox 
dropped his burden, and John Skehan chuckled at the 
thought that the robber would not profit by his raid. 
But Redpad increased his lead again, and then picked 
up another hen from behind a hedge. This happened 
twice, and every time he had to leave his booty to 
escape from his pursuer; but the third time he 
succeeded in carrying it in triumph to Knockdane. 
Afterwards it was found that those hens which he 
could not carry away he had deposited in caches 
along the path between Knockdane and the farm, 
in order to remove them at his leisure. 
This misdeed hurried on the day of reckoning. 
John Skehan laid the tattered remains of his poultry 
before the proper authorities, and in consequence 
one day early in the year the hounds came to 
Knockdane. The best hound in the dog-pack that 
