154 GRIMALKIN THE CAT 
lilting across a clearing in the starlight, or feeding 
with a wary eye fixed on covert ; but this rabbit's 
remarkable appearance was only equalled by his 
cunning, as indeed Grimalkin soon saw for himself. 
One crisp January day Grimalkin was taking 
a sun-bath in the fork of a large beech tree, when 
a sudden ' bang-bang ' apprised him that men were 
in the wood, and that they were there with intent 
to slay. Grimalkin regarded men with more 
hatred and less fear than did the Fur Folk themselves, 
for his early days by the fireside had made an 
indelible impression upon him ; but he was aware 
of the limitations of human discernment, and knew 
that if he remained where he was he would be 
reasonably safe. The reports of the guns came 
nearer, and presently a pair of jays flew overhead, 
squawking to all the birds within earshot that 
it was time to move on. In front of the beech tree 
the trees grew more sparsely, and the ground was 
encumbered with a low growth of fern and bramble. 
By and by the shooting party came out of the 
covert and advanced slowly up the glade. Grimalkin, 
blinking down from his coign of vantage, saw rabbit 
after rabbit bolt from its ' form ' only to turn a 
somersault and collapse into a palpitating heap. 
Just below the beech tree there was a thick patch 
of briars, broken up by numerous passages and 
