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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:39:43 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:39:43 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/44347-0.txt b/44347-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c1742c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/44347-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2534 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44347 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 44347-h.htm or 44347-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44347/44347-h/44347-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44347/44347-h.zip) + + + + + +[Illustration] + + +MASTER REYNARD + +The History of a Fox + +From Animal Autobiographies by J. C. Tregarthen + +Revised by + +JANE FIELDING + + + + + + + +New York +A. L. Chatterton Co. + +Copyright, 1913 +A. L. Chatterton Co. + + + + +MASTER REYNARD + + +The earth where I was born was far down the face of a steep cliff +and opened on a sloping shelf of turf, from the edge of which the +undercliff fell sheer to the sea. The entrance we used most was +slightly above the level of the springy sward and led by a small +tunnel to a roomy chamber where daylight never penetrated. + +There on the bare dry ground the vixen laid us--my two sisters and me. +If I was like the baby cubs I have since seen, I was born blind, my +muzzle was blunt and rounded, and my coat as black as a crow, the only +white about me being a few hairs in the tag of my tiny brush. Even at +the time when I first remember what I was like my fur was still a very +dark color and bore no resemblance to the russet hue of a full-grown +fox. + +This was a few weeks after my eyes were opened, when, after awaking +from our first sleep, we were in the habit of sunning ourselves just +inside the mouth of the earth. It was there, with my muzzle resting on +the vixen's flank, that I got my earliest glimpse of the world. The +turf was then almost hidden by pink flowers, over the heads of which +I could see, between two of the pinnacles that bordered the ledge, +the sea breaking on a reef where the cormorants used to gather at low +water and stand with folded or outstretched wings until the rising +tide drove them to the big white rock beyond. + +So few things moved within our field of vision that every creature we +saw afforded us the keenest interest. Sometimes during days together +nothing stirred but the stems of the thrift and the surf about the +reef, for the sky was cloudless when the hot weather set in. Now and +again a red-legged crow came and perched on one of the pinnacles, +crying "Daw, daw!" until its mate joined it, and then, all too soon, +they took wing and flew away; at times a hawk or a peregrine would +glide by and break the monotony of our life. + +Our narrow green was dotted by five boulders, and one of these we +could see from the earth. On this our most frequent visitor alighted. +It was an old raven, who presently dropped to the ground, walked up +to the remains of any fowl or rabbit lying near the heap of sandy soil +which my mother had scratched out when making the earth, and pecked, +pecked, pecked, until only the bones were left. Then, uttering his +curious "Cawpse, cawpse!" he would hop along the ground, flap his +big black wings, and pass out of sight. I feel sure that he saw us +watching him, for his eyes often turned our way. + +One afternoon, to our astonishment, a half-grown rabbit came lopping +along, and stopped to nibble the turf at a spot barely a good spring +from the vixen. She, usually very drowsy, half opened her eyes and +turned her face towards the intruder, but she did not rise to her +feet. We youngsters were beside ourselves with excitement, but were +not allowed to scramble over her side to drive away this audacious +trespasser on our private domain. This, I think, was owing to my +mother's great anxiety on our account. + +I have never known a vixen so determined that her cubs should lie +hidden by day; but then we were her first litter. She would constantly +warn us against venturing out whilst the sun was up. So particular +was she that we were not permitted to expose as much as our muzzles +outside the earth, though birds and rabbits moved about there freely. +We could not understand the restriction, and I fear that we thought it +unkind of her to confine us to a cramped, stuffy hole the summer day +through, when we longed to be gambolling about the sward or basking +in those warm corners under the boulders which retained some of their +heat even after the sun went down. + +It is true that I tried hard to get my liberty. Time after time, when +I thought she had dozed off, I endeavored to squeeze between her and +the low roof. It was of no use, though I used the utmost stealth and +trod as lightly as a feather. Never once did I catch her napping. On +the few occasions when I was on the point of succeeding she seized me +between her velvety lips and put me back in my place between my two +little sisters. + +Thus, by the kindest of mothers, I was disciplined in the ways of the +wild creatures, learning, by constant correction and example, that the +world outside the earth is denied to us by day, and is ours to move +and play and seek our prey in only by night. + +And how short those nights were! What a weary, weary time it was, +awaiting their approach! How impatiently we watched their slow +advent! how we tingled with delight in every limb on seeing the shadow +of the high boulder creep and creep across the turf until it reached +the pinnacle that had a patch of golden lichen on it! Then, as the sun +sank behind the headland, the nearer sea became sombre, the bright +expanse beyond darkened, and at last the stars would begin to show in +the sky. By this my mother had shaken off her drowsiness, the glow +had come back into her green eyes, and, rising to her feet, she would +leave the earth. If she detected no danger, she would call us to her. +What a moment that was! the pent-up energy of hours of restraint +breaking out in such rompings and runnings after our own brushes as +I have never seen in any other young creatures. Wearying at last of +these antics and of jumping over the back of the vixen, who watched +us with loving eyes, we settled down to the game of lurk and pounce +amongst the boulders. To our great delight, the vixen often joined in +this before setting out in search of food. Her nimbleness and skill in +dodging filled us with amazement. Like a flash she was on us; there +was no avoiding her rushes, though she always avoided ours, and her +movements were as silent as the passing of a shadow when a swift cloud +crosses the sun. + +I shall never forget those frolics in which she shared; they not only +were useful training for the life before us, as I afterwards realized, +but also induced in us a fondness for her so great that we could not +bear to have her out of our sight when she left us to seek the food we +needed. We would watch her as she followed the narrow track that wound +up the cliff, till from the rocks near the top she looked down to +assure herself of our safety before going inland. And that was not the +last we saw of her. Times and times I have caught sight of her bright +eyes glittering like twin stars on the summit of the ivy-covered scarp +where the magpies built. + +A more affectionate mother cubs never had; but for the life of me I +could not understand why she was so anxious about our safety: I had +neither seen nor heard anything in our little world to alarm me. +Whether she had or not I do not know, but she was haunted by the +dread of something, as I could tell by the way she used to look about +her and listen when watching our gambols, and by her starting at the +slightest unusual sound. Her nervousness made me nervous, and, thus +infected by my mother's fears, I got to be afraid without in the least +knowing what there was to be afraid of. + +These vague fears were on two occasions the cause of false alarms. +Once, somewhere along the cliff a dry stick snapped. That was enough. +My sisters and I fled in terror to our den, where we were joined a +minute later by the anxious vixen who had just left us for a foraging +expedition. There was no danger: it was merely a lumbering badger +which crossed our playground later on; but I have learnt since that no +wild thing can hear the snap of a twig without alarm. The badger was a +strange-looking creature: his face was white, with black stripes from +ear to muzzle; his gray hair all but swept the ground; and he walked +not lightly on his toes as we do but heavily on the soles of his feet. + +At another time the whistling of harvest curlews frightened us almost +out of our lives. These were both needless terrors; but soon I was +brought face to face with evidence of a real enemy, the one, no doubt, +of whom my mother lived in such dread. It was not many days after the +coming of the whimbrels--for the moon, a mere sickle then, had not +waxed to half its full size--when two incidents occurred which proved +to me, a raw, heedless cub, that there was serious ground for fear. +Both happened in broad daylight, one close on the heels of the other. + +One drowsy noon we were watching from our usual place the old raven +pecking at the hind-quarters of a rabbit, when with an awful thud +a big stone struck the turf close to him, bounded off, and rolled +towards the corner of our playground. In a twinkling, before it had +stopped rolling, we had retreated to the very end of the earth and +there lay trembling, and wondering, even in our consternation, whether +the mischievous magpies, who had set up a sudden clamor, were not the +cause of our discomfiture. When we stole out in the quiet and dusk, +my mother walked straight to the stone and smelt it, and I, being +curious, must needs follow her example. What an awesome smell it had! +The scent was unlike anything I had sniffed before, and surely not the +scent of any beast of the field! The vixen, who stood there watching +me, noted the cold shiver it sent through my young limbs and seemed by +her expressive face to say: "The creature that tainted that stone is +the cause of all my fears," and, further, if I read aright the sad +look that rose to her eyes: "He will prove your scourge as he has +proved mine." My story will tell whether it has been so. + +In our games that night I avoided the corner where the stone lay, and +so did my sisters. I noticed, too, that the vixen was away in quest +of food a shorter time than usual, and did not go out a second time +as she had generally done since our appetites had grown. We had, +therefore, to satisfy our hunger on the gosling she had brought. +This we broke up ourselves with our sharp milk teeth, chattering and +quarrelling as was our wont whilst the meagre feast lasted. The vixen +contented herself with a few old bones. + +The other incident was graver, causing injury to my mother. It +happened thus. She had gone out one night shortly after--for the moon +was still not quite full--but, though absent till nearly dawn, she +failed to procure any food. I remember our impatience at her long +absence and our disappointment on seeing her issue from the furze +without even a few mice in her mouth. However, there was no help for +it. The sun was reddening the sky near the horizon, so, supperless and +sullen, we curled ourselves up and fell asleep. On awakening, as we +did before our usual time, we began to cry pitifully for food, and +at length, driven to desperation by our complaints, the vixen stole +out at noon, not under cover of mist or fog but with the sun shining +in the bluest of skies. Ravenous with hunger, we crowded the mouth of +the earth, listening for the sound of her returning steps. Long, long +we harkened without catching any whisper of her approach. At last we +heard a muffled, double report, and after an interval the faint patter +of her pads. In my anxiety to see what she had brought I put my head +out and kept my eyes fixed on the run in the yellow furze through +which she always came. Never shall I forget my horror at what I saw. +Instead of her russet face with its black and white marking, her mask +below the eyes was all blood and dreadful to behold. I am ashamed to +say it, but her appearance terrified me, though I loved her as I loved +my life. She staggered into the earth, and took no more notice of us +than, if we had been strange cubs, which alarmed me more than her +dazed look. The reason of her plight was a puzzle to me, and though +the stone, with its horrid association, forced itself upon my notice +as a possible cause, I dismissed the idea that it could have done the +injury, inasmuch as it was lying where it had rolled. No; in a vague +way I attributed her state to the daylight, so great had my fear of it +became. Ah me, how ignorant I was in those far-away days! + +We were free now to go and come as we listed, but, famished though we +were, not one of us attempted to leave the earth except to get a drink +of water, and we lay huddled together, looking out of the corners of +our eyes at our poor mother, as miserable and forlorn a litter of +foxes as could anywhere be found. In the depth of the night, however, +the pangs of hunger compelling us, we left the vixen, who seemed to +be asleep, and crept out. Being bigger than my sisters, I felt called +upon to take the lead, and neither of them showed any inclination to +dispute it with me. But where to take them, or how to get a supper, I +had not an idea. + +I am not going to cast one word of blame on my mother for delaying +to teach us to shift for ourselves. It was out of affection that +she kept us so long to the nursery; and how could she possibly have +foreseen the calamity that had so unexpectedly disabled her and thrown +us on our own resources? And, lest a suspicion of neglect towards +us should attach to her memory, I must here say what I have not yet +mentioned--that by the death of the dog-fox, my father, the burden +of our upbringing from the day of our birth fell wholly on my little +mother. What labor and sacrifice this must have meant! After we were +weaned, how often have I seen her go without her share of the prey +that we greedy cubs might suffer no sint! When has cliff or moor +witnessed greater devotion, greater unselfishness? And now she lay +in the earth so sorely wounded as to be indifferent to our helpless +plight. I will not dwell on my feelings, but they made it difficult to +focus my thoughts on the undertaking before me. + +For a minute or two I sat on my haunches near the big boulder, +considering gravely where I should go, my sisters the while +cruising restlessly up and down the turf with all the impatience of +irresponsibility, awaiting development. This to-and-fro movement of +theirs added to my bewilderment, and even the bats flitting about were +a trifle disconcerting to a cub with three routes to choose from, each +in its turn more inviting than the others. + +There was the patch leading to the upper cliff; there was, I assumed, +a way down the undercliff; and there was, I knew, a track between the +two which the badger had worn. I have never been up the cliff, and +after the vixen's recent experience dared not go, though it was night, +and nothing stirred but the reeds about our drinking-place and the +leaves of the gnarled tree where the magpies built. + +In the end I decided, if I could find a way, to go down the cliff. +There was a sandy cove below that I had often longed to reach in +my mother's absence, but my strength was unequal to the descent. I +determined to try to go there now. So, leading the others past the +little basin where we quenched our thirst, I brought them along the +cliff to a place where the sheer precipice changed into a succession +of ledges, down which we leaped until brought to a standstill above a +wall of nearly perpendicular rock. It was impossible to reach the flat +shelf below by leaping: we should have broken our bones; and there +we stood staring over the brink at the smooth rock beneath us, and +wondering how we could pass it. + +Again my sisters looked to me to take the lead, so, putting forth all +the power of my untried claws, I began, brush first, to crawl down +a fissure that lay aslant the precipitous face of the great slab. +This I followed, partly by feeling with my hind claws where foothold +permitted a firm grip, partly by turning my face and seeing where +the easiest line of descent lay. At last I succeeded in reaching the +bottom without mishap. My sisters imitated me, coming down more easily +than I had done, probably on account of their greater skill and lesser +weight. + +A creek, too wide to jump, now separated us from the sand, but, taking +to the water, we waded until we lost bottom, and then, for the first +time in our lives, by swimming crossed deep water. More bedraggled +creatures than we looked on landing it would be difficult to imagine; +but we shook ourselves from muzzle to tag, making the spray fly from +our wet coats, and set about searching for something to eat. Where +the beach met the cliff was a cave that ran a long way in and had two +lesser caves opening out of it. We explored these without finding in +either of them anything except dry seaweed and pieces of cork, so we +retraced our steps and made for the other side of the cove. There, +just beyond the ribs of a wreck that projected from the sand, we +came on a big jelly-fish. Though we should have turned up our noses +at such food in ordinary times, it was a windfall in our famished +condition, and we swallowed the quivering mass with gusto, sand and +all. Good food or bad, it filled our stomachs and stopped the gnawing +pangs of hunger. + +We then clambered to the top of some rocks that stood out above the +sand, and found there a small pool of water, temptingly clear. Being +thirsty after our meal, we began to lap it. Ugh! it was nasty to the +taste, but, what was worse, the mistake was a blow to my conceit, for +I was humiliated by the reproachful glances my sisters shot at me. +To avoid them I raised my eyes, and, as I did so, caught sight of +the vixen on the cliff at the spot where we had taken to the ledges. +Then it came home to me that I had done wrong to leave the earth +without her, and, fearing she would be angry, I hid myself amongst +the rocks, as did my sisters. The vixen, usually quick as lightning +in her movements, came but very slowly down the cliff on the line +we had taken, and as slowly crossed the sand to the cave. This she +entered, and for a time was lost to view. My inclination nearly led me +to quit my hiding-place and go after her; but again fear checked me, +and I remained where I was. On leaving the cave, she with difficulty +followed our trail to the spot where we had eaten the jelly-fish, and, +not seeing us, seemed to lose heart, for she sank to the ground and +called us with a most piteous cry, which at once drew us to her side. +I can see even now the delight on her poor face as we bounded towards +her across the sand that separated us. After licking us with her +swollen tongue, she led us up the cliff by a much easier path than the +one we had followed in descending, and we soon reached the level of +our earth. We proceeded towards it in single file by the narrowest of +paths, passing our usual drinking-place, where for a reason I am going +to explain, the supply was so scanty that we found barely enough water +to quench our thirst. The vixen was curled up at the mouth of the den +when we reached it, and we had to climb over her back to get to our +sleeping-places. + +A short period free from troubles followed, during which my mother +rapidly recovered. Nevertheless, the wounds on her face were barely +healed when there befell one of the greatest calamities of my eventful +life--a calamity that was near putting an end to us all. + +Before attempting to describe it, I must mention the sufferings we +endured in the days following our adventure down the cliff, through +the gradual drying up of the water that supplied our drinking-place. +Night after night, when we repaired to the basin that the falling +water had hollowed in the rock, I had noticed that the stream, which +came from some hidden source beneath a pile of boulders, got smaller +and smaller, and, after the very hot weather set in, dwindled to +a mere trickle. To such a thin thread did it shrink that from the +mouth of the earth, which was not many yards away, we could no longer +hear it splashing into the basin. Now and then, especially when some +animal, generally the badger, had been there before us, we were driven +to such an extremity as to be compelled to lick the dew off the turf +to cool our tongues until the water had collected again. + +It was a terrible time. To this day we speak of the year of my birth +as the Dry Year, and indeed I, who was a May fox, was nearly three +moons old before I saw rain, which fell on the afternoon of the day +when the curlews' whistling scared us. I remember, though not as +vividly as the rainbow seen that day, the embrowned turf of our +playground being dotted with slugs which the downpour had enticed out +of the sunless crevices of the rocks. + +The rain had ceased before nightfall, and the following day the sky, +which had been black and lowering, became as cloudless as before, +whilst the heat, previously intense, became well-nigh unbearable. +Hour after hour we lay in the deep shade of the bracken fronds at +the entrance, panting for breath and longing for the water we were +not allowed to get before dusk. At the first sign of twilight, +and even whilst the after-glow suffused the sky, we rushed to the +drinking-place, our three masks completely filling the basin, which +we soon lapped dry. Almost as refreshing as the water we swallowed +was the cool spray--despite the rain it was no more--that fell on our +heads from the lip of the rock above. + +For several days from dawn to dusk we thus endured the agony of +parching thirst, till at last, when our tongues lolled out, and one of +my sisters showed signs of utter exhaustion, the vixen so far yielded +to our entreaties as to permit us to slink out, one by one, to drink. + +Unfortunately we could not reach the reeds about the water without +exposing ourselves to the eyes of the magpies overhead. On spying +us they set up such a clamor that every bird and beast for a great +distance along the cliffs must have known that a fox was moving, and +rejoiced at our misfortune. + +[Illustration: "THESE BLACK AND WHITE PESTS."] + +We have many enemies, but none whom we despise so much as magpies, +crows, and jays. Their treatment of us is as unprovoked as it is +insulting. We have never injured them, and yet, as I shall tell later, +the pariahs of the wild, that gorge on our unburied kills, seek every +opportunity of betraying us. + +Those cliff magpies, at whose tongues we suffered such indignities, +must have spent their days in watching our movements. After my sisters +had had their drink, it took hours for the basin to refill, yet as +soon as my muzzle projected beyond the bracken when I went to take my +turn, the hateful wretches would cry out, "There he is!" + +I never grew indifferent to this daily annoyance, and in a rage I used +to lap up what water there was in choking haste, so as to escape the +mobbing of these black and white pests who flew just beyond my reach, +and at times even brushed with their wings the tops of the tall reeds +about the basin. + +We were not the only sufferers from the drought. Indeed everything +suffered, and most of all perhaps the herbage. The thrift and white +campion that covered the ledges, the ferns that found root-hold in the +crannies and crevices of the rocks, and the stone-crop and lichens +growing on the rocks themselves, drooped and withered; and at last +the boggy ground above the drinking-place caked and dried, so that +the reeds turned yellow, and rattled rather than swished when the +night wind stirred them. Under the scorching sun the thread of water +shrank and shrank until it dripped drop by drop, and finally dried up +altogether. At my last visit to the drinking-place the smooth basin +was hot with the fierce rays, and the moss about the edge of the +rock above was nearly as moistureless as the crinkled lichen on the +pinnacles. + +In these conditions it was impossible to remain where we were, and +that night my mother reluctantly decided to abandon our home and to +lead us up the cliff. Would that she had taken us the moment the stars +showed, instead of waiting until deep night; for the delay nearly +proved fatal to us all. A fox's life is so short that he cannot forget +even the groundless scares his fears make him the victim of, so it +is not to be wondered at that the events of the night I am about to +describe are almost as vivid to me still as at the time they happened. + +My sisters had returned once more from the dried-up basin to which +they had been some five or six times since sunset, and joined me where +I lay near the mouth of the earth, waiting for the dew to fall and +listening for the footsteps of the vixen who had gone to get ready the +new lair. It was a beautiful night--the sea calm, and the surf about +the reef alight with phosphorescence, whilst the furze-bushes and the +clump of brambles near the reeds were dotted with glow-worms. There +was even a solitary one on the drooping bracken above the entrance. +A wind of summer strength stirred the withered herbage and murmured +around the precipitous crags above our heads, but, save the boom from +the great cave below when the tide rose, all was still. Suddenly, +without warning of any kind, there came a flash of light from the +cliffs above the sandy cove where we had eaten the jelly-fish. It died +away and then returned, more brightly than before. It was not nearly +so fierce as the lines of fire I had seen zigzagging the black sky +on the afternoon of the heavy rain, nor was there any thunder with +it as then, but there was a strange, crackling noise, as of animals +crunching bones. + +Immediately flames leapt in great tongues from the brambly thicket +beyond the reeds. These drove us to the den; and there we crouched +listening to the awful sound, which grew louder and louder. Soon a +faint glare lit up a part of the earth as far in as the spot where two +rocks narrowed the tunnel. Before this I was on the point of bolting; +but now fear seized my limbs and I could not rise, could only crouch +closer and closer to the earth like my sisters. Whilst we lay there +huddled together and crying out for the vixen she returned, darkening +the tunnel as she came towards us. Scarcely had she joined us when an +evil-smelling fog rolled in, causing us to keep our muzzles close to +the ground. Then the fire swept past the earth, lighting it up to the +end where we lay. Panic-stricken though I was, I remember noticing how +the smooth floor gleamed, and how curiously the light glowed on the +vixen's fur. Suddenly the heat became less intense, and a current of +fresh air entering the earth revived us as we lay panting at the point +of suffocation. + +The crackling and roar of the flames had long died away before we +dared to quit our sanctuary, and when at last we ventured to the mouth +of the earth, what a sight met our gaze! Our playground was charred, +except for a narrow strip near its edge, and towards this a thin line +of fire moved slowly, blotting out the criss-cross tracks we had worn +between the boulders. A ring of sparks encircled the raven's perch, +and crept higher and higher, consuming the lichen, and leaving bare +rock in its train; where the brambles had stood was a heap of glowing +ash; grasses and reeds had disappeared; in short, the place which had +been our little world and of which we knew every blade and spray, was +as nearly past recognition as a corn-field after harvest. Away towards +the west great ruddy flames leapt from the furze brake and lit up sky +and sea and headland with such a lurid light as I had never seen; +whilst on the near slopes a hundred smaller fires flickered and died, +to blaze again and re-illuminate the great piles of bared rock. Sparks +falling from above showed that the ivy round the home of the magpies +had not escaped; and as the birds had mobbed me most unmercifully that +very day, I rejoiced in their misfortune. + +The vixen, satisfied at last that she might venture forth, took up +my puny sister, who was then unable to stand, and set out for the +steep path by which she usually reached the top of the cliff. My other +sister and I trod closely on her heels as she picked her way over the +heated ground and skirted the glowing remains of the furze-bushes. In +the ascent my pads were rather badly burnt and my fore-legs singed +by a fire which suddenly broke out in some smouldering heather into +which they sank. The glimpse I got of the face of the precipice showed +that the ivy had lost all its leaves, the bared stems standing out +plainly against the black fissures that seamed the great wall of rock +besprinkled with sparks which in their fall resembled shooting stars. + +When we reached the summit we could hear the magpies calling out, +but, to do them justice, they were not mobbing us then. Once beyond +the blackened ground we ranged up one on each side of the vixen, and +after crossing fields of stubble and turnips and getting far beyond +the reek of the burning, we caught the scene of the brook for which +she was making. We struck it where it wound through marshy ground on +the outskirts of a furze brake, and in a trice were up to our bellies +in the delicious cool stream with our tongues hard at work. The water +was cold and sweet; there was plenty of it, and we lapped and lapped +as long as we could take in a drop. In all my life I never again +enjoyed a drink like that, and the mud that stuck to my legs seemed to +soothe the pain of the burns. + +My little sister was able to follow us now without assistance, but the +vixen, who was exhausted with carrying her so far, went at a walking +pace between the stems of the furze and kept looking back to see that +she was keeping up with us, though she took no notice whatever of my +other sister who was going on three legs, or of myself whose poor feet +were so tender that I hardly dared touch the ground. + +Emerging from the furze we came upon a circle of turf, where we +caught sight of at least a dozen rabbits scurrying to the holes that +honey-combed the ground at the foot of a high cairn. One of these had +been enlarged, as the heap of fresh earth showed, and into it the +vixen led us to a dry and sweet-smelling den, where she left us, to +procure food. In there it seemed as still as death to us who had had +the roar of the sea in our ears all our lives, but the lair was very +comfortable, and roomy enough for us to stand side by side whilst +the vixen distributed the rabbit she presently brought us. We found, +too, on curling ourselves up, that, big as we were, we could lie close +together without trespassing on the tunnel as we had latterly done in +the cliff earth. So, as we were thoroughly weary, we soon forgot the +dangers we had passed and fell asleep, our mother lying between us and +the opening, as was her invariable custom. + +I was startled out of my sleep by a stamping overhead, caused by the +rabbits in the heart of whose burrow we were lying. The noise, which +broke out again and again just as I was on the point of dropping +off, irritated me so much that at last I got on my hind-legs, thrust +my muzzle into the hole in the roof, and breathed loudly through +my nostrils. This snorting was not without result, for after the +stampede that followed there was quiet for a long time. Nevertheless +the tiresome creatures had spoilt my day's rest and, try as I might, +I could not doze off again. My sisters slept through it all, and the +vixen showed no sign of being disturbed, except that she half opened +her eyes when the rabbits scampered over the spot where she lay. +It was very early, as I could tell by the scent of the furze that +stole along the tunnel and almost overpowered the flavor of rabbit, +from which the den was never quite free. To pass the weary hours I +licked the mud off my legs, which still smarted, and, whilst I did +so, thought of our narrow escape, and wondered in a vague way whether +fires were to be numbered amongst the regular troubles of a fox's life. + +At length the vixen roused herself, and when the coolness and smell of +the air warned her that the sun had set, she rose and led us forth, +not for our usual gambols, but, as it proved, for our first lesson +in hunting. I suspected something unusual was afoot the moment she +ordered us to follow her across the stream, whither she had taken us +to drink; and the further we got from the earth, the more excited +I grew at the prospect of the adventures before us. It was most +exhilarating to be wandering over the broad, high country, which, in +comparison with our ledge at the foot of the precipice, seemed like +the roof of the world. For nights and nights past I had yearned to +accompany my mother on her rounds, and the unexpected gratification of +my intense longing thrilled every fibre of my being. So great was my +excitement that I quite forgot not only a loose milk tooth that had +been worrying me, but even the tenderness of my poor pads, on which I +had with difficulty limped to the drinking-place. + +The vixen ran steadily some dozen paces in front, and side by side +we cubs followed in her train, noiselessly as shadows. It fascinated +me to watch her lissom movements as she stole along, and to note the +ripples that ruffled her smooth coat when she crossed the broken +ground. We had passed over one hill and were breasting the next beyond +before I began to wonder what we were going to see and how soon, and +then, without warning, she reared on her hind-legs, listened with ears +erect, and pounced on something in a patch of rushes, in which she +buried her long muzzle. The next instant she came trotting back to my +little sister, and gave her the mouse she held between her lips. Her +quick hearing had detected its movements in the undergrowth. + +But mousing was apparently not the chief business of the night, for, +without dwelling, she stepped across the dried-up runnel which the +rushes fringed, and headed for the craggy ridge above. In her progress +up the steep slope she kept scanning the ground to right and left of +the trail as if she expected at any moment to see the prey she was in +search of, and when near the crest, she crouched and crawled forward +with the utmost caution. With breathless excitement we wormed our +bodies along in her wake, as though we had been trained to it. But we +had not; we were imitating her instinctively, and kept our distance as +faithfully as the shadow of her brush that darkened the moonlit ground +in front of us. + +On reaching the ridge I could not help shifting my gaze to glance +at the wide marshland below us, so strikingly unlike any scene my +young eyes had looked on. Here and there on the level expanse sheets +of water and a winding stream shone like silver, and from the great +reed-beds about them came a soft voice like the murmur of waves on a +distant beach. This was the expression of a stolen instant, and no +sooner were my eyes back on the vixen than she sank to the ground as +though she had suddenly lost the use of her legs. We did the same. +This pleased her, as I could tell by the expression of satisfaction +in the eager face which she turned slowly towards us and as slowly +withdrew, brushing aside as she did so the dry bents that rose a good +way up her long ears. + +At first I wondered what she had found, as the only living +things visible to me were some rabbits far below on the lip of a +funnel-shaped warren. But presently over her head I saw the tips of +the ears of a rabbit quite close to us, and my heart began to thump +as it had perhaps never done before. The sight of the living prey had +awoke in me the dormant spirit of the hunter that has hardly slumbered +since; and not in me only--my sisters were evidently as excited as I +was, for their brushes were lashing mine as wildly as mine did theirs. + +The rabbit meanwhile winded danger and, as its nostrils showed, kept +sniffing the air to try and locate it. When it succeeded, its eyes +fell, not on a stealthy enemy thirsting for its blood but--so sudden +was the vixen's change of attitude and demeanor--on a harmless, +playful fox rolling on her back as I had seen her roll in utter +guilelessness a hundred times. The rabbit started, as well it might, +and I expected to see it dive into its hole; but, marvellous to +relate, instead of seeking safety it regained its composure and +resumed its nibbling on an almost bare patch, towards which the +assumed frolics of the vixen and the slant of the ground were leading +her. Then, with one of the lightning-like rushes which made her look +a blurred mass even to our quick eyes, she was on it, and when she +faced us the rabbit's head and hind-quarters hung limp as she held it +across her mouth. + +On witnessing the kill we cubs jumped to our feet, eager to partake of +the first course of our supper. But when we attempted to take it from +her mouth, to our amazement the vixen snarled at us as she had never +done before. My little sister, to whom she had always been so tender, +was the last to try, and, incredible as it may seem, the vixen turned +on her like a fury. + +Nothing but my desire to record faithfully the impressions of that +time would make one own that I considered my mother unnatural and +cruel in denying food to the weakling among her cubs. If the water +which had cooled our parched throats the night before scalded us +we should not have been so taken aback as by this sudden change of +conduct on her part. It was simply incomprehensible. Had something +outside our knowledge caused her to turn against us? If not, what did +she mean by her harshness? + +It did occur to me that this unaccountable behavior might be feigned, +and that presently she would drop the rabbit at our feet and be again +the affectionate mother she had always been. Indeed, I watched her +out of the corners of my eyes from the spot to which I had retired, +expecting to see her snarl relax into a grin. But in this I was +disappointed, for, on reaching a ledge below, to which we followed +her at a respectful distance, she devoured every bit of the luscious +morsel before our eyes, though she knew well enough that we were +ravenously hungry. The delicious smell of the hot entrails which the +wind brought us put the keenest edge on my appetite--already sharp +set by the previous night's shortness--and with the strong craving to +satisfy it came the novel thought of satisfying it with a rabbit of +my own catching. The bunnies were still playing about on the edge of +the warren, and whilst the vixen kept shifting her gaze from them to +me, licking her blood-stained lips, the lesson she wished to teach +suddenly flashed upon me, and the explanation of her conduct was +complete. She was saying as plainly as could be: "There is your prey. +I have shown you how to catch it. Go and get your own supper." I +required no further prompting. Then and there I began my first stalk +under the eyes of all I loved in the world. + +Summoning my untried powers, I wormed myself over the ground towards +a single bush that screened me from the observation of most of the +rabbits. Its shelter gained, I looked back and up to where three pairs +of green eyes regarded my every movement, and then peeped with the +utmost caution round the corner of the furze towards my prey. The +bunnies were all there and thoroughly alert, and so disconcerting did +I find their united gaze that I drew my head back to consider the +situation. When I peeped again half their number showed their white +scuts and went to ground, and the other half seemed prepared to follow +their example. + +Satisfied that direct approach was out of the question, I walked +aslant the slope towards a piece of flat ground on a level with the +warren, as though I were engaged on some engrossing pursuit in that +direction. As I went I did not even squint at the rabbits, though it +cost me an effort to look straight before my muzzle. My simulated +detachment from my prey must, I felt sure, have excited the admiration +of my dear mother, and so must the thoroughness with which I gave +myself over to the antics that took me at first farther and farther +away and then nearer and nearer to the few remaining rabbits, whose +curiosity had got the better of their fears. The silly creatures were +quite taken in by the capers I cut, and one at least realized his +danger too late, for ere he could reach his hole I snapped him up and +bore him up the hill towards the vixen. + +Insignificant as the incident appears to me now, it was one of the +greatest events of my life. Every fox is proud of his first skill, +and I was no little elated by mine. Indeed, I felt I must make some +sort of demonstration in honor of the occasion. Imagine me, then, a +handsome young dog-fox, head erect, ears pricked, brush on end and +well fluffed out, trotting along on the very tips of my toes with +my first rabbit between my jaws, and you have a picture of me as I +swaggered over the bare turf in the moonlight, before the eyes of my +admiring mother and jealous sisters. I shall never forget the pride I +felt nor the inner voice that kept whispering, "You are able to get +your own living now, my boy, but don't be too highly elated!" + +I got on rapidly after this my first experience. How could I do +otherwise, with such a clever and painstaking little mother as I had +to instruct me in the wiles and ways of our craft? In a short time I +became expert not only in catching young rabbits, rats, moles, and +mice, but in picking up the feathered prey that frequented fen and +hillside. + +Of course I met with many disappointments; pheasants, partridges and +wild-duck often escaped my clutches when I already considered them +mine. My failures were due chiefly to inexperience, but in a measure +also to the intrusion of other foragers, who turned up at critical +moments and ended for me the work of hours. On one occasion a hunted +hare passed between me and a covey of partridges I was drawing up to; +but the birds, who squatted in a circle with their heads outwards, +as their custom is, did not rise until a pack of stoats came along +on his line, and with their noisy yelpings broke the silence of the +roosting-place. On another, the sudden appearance of a poaching cat +defrauded me of a pheasant on the edge of the pine-wood; but that +night I killed before the darkness faded, and had buried what I could +not eat before the vixen raised the "dawn" cry. + +After good hunting we used to romp home together over the furze-dotted +land or across the fen, and from sheer high spirits vixen and cubs +alike used to bound over the bushes or clumps of rushes and sags +across our path. Week after week nothing happened to disturb our peace +or excite our fears, but, for all our apparent security, we were never +abroad at sunrise unless a thick fog lay over the land. + +In those expeditions I used latterly to separate myself from the vixen +on reaching the hunting-ground and seek my prey alone, rejoining her +when she sounded the call to leave the trail or ambuscade. In this way +I became more and more independent, and at times would turn a deaf +ear to her summons. Twice I was so belated that the pools by the way +reflected the rosy fore-glow of the dreaded sun as I scurried past +them. + +I may have spent a month in the vixen's company before I could make +up my mind to shake off her authority and forage where I pleased. She +was conscious that I chafed at the restraint which she considered +necessary, and was no doubt prepared for the serious step I had +resolved on. Nevertheless, when the night came, it was not without a +sense of shame at breaking away from one who had been so tender and +forbearing that I sidled past her where she sat outside the earth +playing with my sisters. I had rather expected she would exercise +her authority and call me back. Though she stopped her gambols and +looked wistfully at me, she made no protest, and I passed on my way +unchallenged; but I was glad when the bushes hid me from her sight +and from the questioning eyes of my sisters, who seemed very much +astounded at my going off alone. + +Soon after crossing the stream I began to rehearse the plan I had +surreptitiously formed in the earth. As it promised success, I decided +to go through with it, though a darker night would have suited my +purpose better. Clouds indeed there were, but white and fleecy, only +slightly veiling the light of the full moon, which shone very brightly +as it crossed the deep blue spaces between. The self-confidence I +felt in the earth had been oozing out of me as I threaded my lonely +way through brake and reed-bed, but it returned when, after trotting +across the quaking bog that trembled under my light steps like a +jelly-fish, I came at last in sight of the pool where I intended to +lie in wait for wild-fowl. + +Although I had taken a short cut over the treacherous morass to +forestall the duck, I feared that they might have settled in the water +before I reached my ambush, and it was with eager eyes that I scanned +the surface from a clump of rushes on a finger of land that jutted a +little way into the pool. All was well! Not a bird floated on the open +water between the beds of lilies or in the lanes between the floating +grasses. The only things that caught my eye were a moorhen and the +trail of light she left behind her as she swam the gloomy water, which +was shadowed by some alders. + +Crossing the baked and cracked mud left exposed by the sunken pool, +I entered the water, swam over to the islet, and secreted myself on +the margin of a tiny creek just above a line of stranded feathers. +There, screened from the keen eyes of flighting wild-fowl, I began my +vigil with all the hope that waits on inexperience. Crouching beneath +my ambush, I heard a few distant cries, which came, I should think, +from birds feeding on the edge of the tide. So faint were they as to +be audible only when the fitful breeze lulled and the tall, feathery +reeds about the pool ceased rustling. + +Presently, from the water between two lily-beds a silvery fish jumped +thrice in quick succession, as if pursued by some invisible foe; of +the latter I saw no sign, unless its presence was indicated by a swirl +in the water near where the fish fell. The long silence which followed +was broken at last by a swish of wings--an inspiriting sound after +the tedious wait--and some wild-fowl wheeled in a wide circle above +my head before settling on one of the many pools that glistened on +the wide marshland below them. As I lost the sound, I feared that the +birds had dropped in elsewhere, but round they came again, and, with a +splash that made me tingle with excitement, a mallard and three ducks +alighted on the water midway between the islet and the reeds. They +were evidently ill at ease, though they seemed to me so secure that I +could not imagine what they could be so suspicious of--certainly not +of the peregrine that harassed them at sunrise; and at the time I knew +nothing of the monster pike that tenanted the pool, and took toll of +feather as well as of fin. Could it be that they had got some inkling +of my presence? I crouched absolutely motionless whilst their restless +eyes searched the tangle on the island, and when they stared at the +patch where I was hiding I scarcely dared to breathe. + +Before settling down to feed they cruised restlessly up and down, +and even whilst they gobbled the green weed they kept looking so +persistently my way that I began to think they could scent me, though +they had only bills for noses. I had marked the mallard for my prey. +He was a plump bird, and I had to keep my tongue from licking my +lips at the prospect of the feast; for he was very tempting to an +appetitie sated of rabbit, and by this time I knew every feather of +the plumage that covered his juicy flesh. Just then it vexed me to +hear the vixen's call, far off though it was, as I feared she might +hit my trail, follow it, and spoil my hunting. Her yapping caused all +four birds to raise their heads and listen, but they showed no further +sign of alarm, as every creature of the wild knows that dead silence +precedes the kill and that it need have no dread of a noisy fox. + +The ducks were near enough now for me to see the least movement of +the mallard's eyes, the white of which, even when his head was down, +showed that he was in deadly fear of something. "Fool!" thought I, +"eat your supper in peace; but when you land on the mud of the creek, +where lie yesternight's imprints of your webbed feet, then look about +you." + +[Illustration: "HIS BEADY EYES GLEAMED."] + +And yet I was mistaken; at that instant an enemy was within a few +yards of him. I had warning of its approach, for I saw the moonlight +catch a heave of the water, just as from the cliff I had seen it +catch the glassy surface of the curling wave; but in my inexperience +I never dreamt that the glint could be caused by a rival for the +bird. I was now to learn better, as with a great flapping of wings and +a loud quack the mallard disappeared below the surface. I remember +nothing about the three ducks for I nearly jumped out of my skin; and +my stupefaction was complete when I saw a big animal appear at the +surface and leave the water with the mallard in his mouth. + +The sight of this brute with my bird enraged me so much that at +first I was on the point of springing across the creek and taking +it from him. I would have done so had he been only half his size, +but I was afraid of the strong, queer-looking creature. His body was +very long, his legs short but massive, and his tail, which tapered +to a point, stretched across the mud and just touched the water. He +had no ears--at least, nothing worth the name; his eyes were small, +his whiskers very long and white, and his jaws so heavy that they +frightened me. How he enjoyed the mallard, the rascal! How his beady +eyes gleamed until he saw me back out of my ambush; and then what +an evil look rose to them! That was enough to scare me without the +frightful grimace and hissing that accompanied it. + +I lost no time in getting out of sight of such a horror. I crossed +the pool, dreading at every stroke that the fearsome beast would +seize me from beneath, as he had seized the mallard, pull me under, +and--disgusting thought!--perhaps eat me. I looked back on landing, +and again when I reached the reeds; then, as I saw no trace of him and +had dry land in front, I cursed him to my heart's content. I had been +deprived of my supper in the last watch of the night, and it would +take me all my time to reach the earth before dawn, even by way of the +quaking bog. I gnashed my strong teeth as I hurried across the fen, +swearing that I would be avenged on that thief if chance threw me in +his way again; and though a fox may not be able to choose place and +time, he generally gets his wrongs righted in the end. I own that for +the moment the sight of the strong, fierce brute must have unnerved +me; why else should the rustling of a vole on the bank of our own +stream scare me so and cause me to run home in breathless haste? + +When I reached the earth the vixen and my sisters were lying near the +entrance, looking as happy and contented as mother and whelps can +look. With misfortune written on my crestfallen face, I stood before +them bedraggled and panting, as complete a picture of misery as can +well be imagined. My mother looked me up and down with sympathetic +eyes that told her thoughts, and though she never said a word I read +in their varying expressions: "You are miserable and discomfited, my +cub; you are evidently paying dear for your freedom. Nevertheless I +admire your independence and, for all your wayward spirit, I am proud +of you." + +Crimson streaks marked the low sky to the east before I followed the +others to the den for, rather than retire supperless, I stayed outside +to crunch a few dry bones. It had been a most unsatisfactory night's +hunting, and, though I tried hard to get the evil-looking brute with +the webbed feet out of my mind, I seemed, even till I fell asleep, to +be watching that rascally otter lying his full length and holding in +his fore-paws the fattest mallard I had ever seen. + +Despite my disappointment and fear, I resolved to visit the fen again +a few nights later, and it vexed me greatly when the vixen objected +and insisted that I should join her and my sisters in an expedition +to the hill beyond it. I was sulky at the start, and lagged behind +the others all the way across the marshland, but I closed up when +we breasted the hill, and shook off the last traces of ill-temper on +seeing the vixen steal towards an enclosed field some little distance +down from the crest. I watched her closely whilst she reconnoitered at +a gap in the rude stone wall, and, from the fixity of her gaze, felt +almost sure that she espied game. All doubt was dispelled when, with +the stealthiest of movements, she came back to me and, as if I was the +most amiable cub in the world and worthy of the post of honor, led me +round to the meuse through which the game had entered the field, and +left me to watch it. + +As I lay there, within a spring of the scent-tainted run that recalled +a trail I had once followed on the fen, I became uncontrollably +curious to see the animal that had but shortly before passed along +it. I felt sure the creature was in the field, and no sooner had the +vixen disappeared round the corner of the long wall than I left my +hiding-place, crawled up the face of the enclosure as quietly as a +fly, and peeped through a break in the top whence a stone had fallen. +Ah! there he was, for all the world like an immense rabbit, nibbling +the clover right out in the middle of the square field. Of course I +ought to have returned to my ambush at once, but curiosity held me to +the spot, and whilst I was taking a last look, I caught sight of the +vixen stealing over the wall on the further side into the tangle that +filled the corner and, in fact, grew all round the field at the foot +of the wall. In this she was lost to view, till presently her mask +appeared again between some seeding thistles about thirty yards from +the unsuspicious hare. + +Now began one of the most thrilling stalks I ever witnessed, though, +owing to the astonishing way the vixen hid herself, I could see little +of her but her ears. To have rendered herself so inconspicuous she +must have grovelled along on her belly in some slight hollow of the +ground not visible to me; for the clover was not more than an inch +high and of itself afforded very little concealment. The nearer she +got the more excited I became; and for the life of me I could not +understand--even now I cannot understand--why the hare, of all animals +the timidest and most watchful, neither saw, heard, nor scented her. +Inch by inch the clever little stalker wound her way until nearer +approach without discovery must have been impossible. I was wondering +why she delayed making one of her lightning-like rushes, when, with +a tremendous bound, the hare started off in a direction wide of my +station. The vixen, who was in swift pursuit, made a desperate effort +to turn him; but in this she would have failed, despite her wonderful +fleetness, had not my little sister, whether by accident or design I +do not know, suddenly showed herself at the gate for which the hare +was heading. This had the effect of sending him towards the meuse I +had been set to watch and of reminding me of my duty. + +The hare was yet some thirty yards down the hill but coming like the +wind, when I dropped quietly into my ambush and gathered my legs +under me. What a row he made as he dashed through the brambles and +came through the hole at the foot of the wall! Never shall I forget +the excitement of the moment when, with his ears thrown back on his +shoulders, he came in sight. I made my spring as he flashed by, and +though I only knocked him over, I was on him and bore him down before +he could recover himself. The vixen, who came up the next moment, was +delighted to find me standing over my first hare; and when in response +to her call my sisters joined us, she distributed the portions into +which she had broken it up. There was much chattering over the +feast--the contented chattering that attends good hunting. + +Thus did our mother teach us to act in concert--the method sometimes +employed by dog and vixen if hares are scarce and wild, but more +commonly adopted when driving rabbits from a brake where there are no +holes in which they can get to ground. + +Our supper over, the vixen led us along the crest of the hill to a +small clump of wind-clipt pines, which are still standing, whence can +be obtained a view of the fen on the one side and of the sand-hills +on the other. This was my first sight of the dunes and of the +farm-buildings on the edge of them. Whilst we stood there a loud bark, +thrice repeated, came from within the trees about the buildings. + +"What is that?" I asked, somewhat alarmed. + +"That is the voice of a dog--the voice of an enemy." + +Then she warned us never under any circumstances to go near the place, +"for," said she, "danger lurks there, and perhaps death." + +Wise little mother, if I had only heeded thy warning, what anguish and +degradation I might have been spared! + +Day was already dawning, and I wondered that she so long delayed +returning to the earth. To jog her memory I kept glancing first at her +and at the eastern sky, but to my surprise she took no notice. Her +face was very sad, and she seemed lost in thought. I believe she was +thinking of the time, now close at hand, when we must separate from +her and face the dangers of life alone. + +But it was not her intention to go back to the cairn, for on reaching +the foot of the hill she turned aside and brought us to another earth, +before which lay an enormous heap of yellowish soil. This, as it +proved, was to be our new home; and from the fresh trail that led to +it, I judged that at least one animal would share it with us. + +A little way inside the entrance, which was a large one, the tunnel +divided; and when the vixen and my sisters disappeared in the branch +leading to the left, I, curious to see our new neighbor, followed +the trail along the other. On and on I stole through a low winding +passage, which penetrated so far that I thought I should never reach +the object of my search. + +At last I came on his lair at a spot where the tunnel suddenly +widened, and the sight of it made me stand agape. Instead of the +bare ground, which is a fox's couch, and on which I expected to see +the creature curled up, before me rose a great heap of dried grass +that filled the chamber from side to side, and reached almost to the +roof. So effectually did it conceal its occupant that not a hair of +him could I see. The slight rustling of the bed would have told me +he was there, even had my nostrils not given undeniable proof of his +presence; and as my curiosity, now thoroughly aroused, would not let +me retire before I had had at least a glimpse of the creature, I drew +near with the utmost caution, craned my neck over the broad edge, and +looked down on him. + +My eye! he was a monster. It surprised me to see how big he was; but +what really took me aback was his very pale color, which showed even +in the darkness of the den. I had expected to see a gray creature, +like the badger on the cliffs, and not a white one nearly twice his +size. My first impulse was to retreat, but on regaining my composure, +I resolved to stay and have a good look at him. + +His broad side rose and fell with his slow, heavy breathing; his +eye--I could see but one--was closed, and there was no sign of +vigilance about the small limp ears. To all appearance he was in a +deep sleep, which I believed, as well I might, that had done nothing +to disturb. For if my approach had been as noiseless as the incoming +of the fresh air that sweetens the close atmosphere of our dens, not +less so was my examination of the formidable creature, though it was +made with breathless wonderment. + +Yet before I could bark in his ear and run away, as I was tempted to +do, he sprang suddenly to his feet with a loud snarl, which nearly +frightened me out of my skin. Fortunately, he did not snap at me as I +drew back, or pursue me as I bolted at full speed along the tunnel; +indeed, judging from his subsequent conduct, I should say that his +venerable face was one grin from ear to ear when he discovered it was +a chit of a fox cub that had scared him. + +My mother, whom the loud snarl had brought in hot haste to my side, +was very angry with me for trespassing on the badger's private +quarters instead of following her into the part of the sett she had +appropriated. No doubt it was a foolish thing to intrude on the +privacy of so powerful an animal; but I had no occasion to regret my +misconduct, for the badger, far from resenting it, became my best +friend. Every morning after that I used to peep at him; but instead +of creeping in stealthily, as I had done at first, I walked in as if +I were going to my own den, and to apprise him of my approach gave a +stifled bark on reaching the turn by the rock, beyond which a short +length of straight tunnel led to his lair. Though I seldom neglected +to warn him of my coming I believe it was unnecessary, as he got +to know my light footstep so well that he did not take the trouble +to raise his head on the rare occasions when I forgot to signal my +approach. Sleepy though he always was after his night's round, he +never failed to wink at me with the eye that was uppermost. Sometimes +he would wink twice; but beyond that he never got. + +He must have been a good fellow, this distinguished member of the +oldest family amongst animals, to put up with these dawn visits of a +fox who was still under the partial tutelage of his mother. I have +often wondered why he did so, but never been quite sure. If I may +give my reason--and be it understood that it involves no slur on the +badger's fame--I should say it was because of his friendless state. +I say, "friendless," inasmuch as he was never seen in company with +the only other badger in the countryside, the one that dwelt on the +cliffs; and he kept quite aloof from the other creatures of the wild. + +I have always felt proud that he should have thought me worthy of the +least consideration; but this did not make me blind to his faults. I +don't refer to his living on beetles and wasp-grubs, nor do I mean +the trick of sleeping with one paw in his mouth, or the queer way he +had of running back-wards into the earth, at which little game I once +surprised him; no, I am thinking of a bad habit from which we suffered +much annoyance, and which I am very loth to mention, much less dwell +on. But it must be stated, and at some length, on account of my story; +it was this: he could not keep his claws from digging. + +What made his offence ten times worse in our ears was that as far +as our vulpine wits could enlighten us--and we discussed the matter +again and again--there was no necessity for his self-imposed labor. +Any reasonable creature would have thought the sett was more than +complete, inasmuch as the part of the hill it tunnelled in all +directions was like a vast honey-comb. It held quarters for a whole +swarm of badgers; and yet the old fellow must needs keep burrowing +farther and farther in, opening out more chambers and galleries, as +if it were not commodious enough for his individual requirements. Of +course he was free to add to the accommodation of the sett, whether +he really did feel cramped for room or only imagined that he did; +nevertheless we foxes accounted it a grievance to have to put up with +the din he made in digging, which, as it reverberated along the hollow +ways, resembled the rumbling of thunder more than any other sound, and +prevented us from getting a wink of sleep in the long, dragging hours +during which it lasted. + +This was only the first stage of the annoyance. A more serious trouble +was the way the great heap kept on increasing with the excavated +soil that he fetched out by the barrow-load about once a week on the +average, generally in the small hours of the morning when we were away +foraging. The enormous mound made us hang our heads in shame every +time we passed in and out. And as if this were not enough to betray us +to our enemies, on our return home one morning we found his great bed +lying atop of the pile, which now looked like a haycock in the midst +of the brake. At the sight of this my mother lost her temper, and +heaped such unrestrained abuse on the badger that I could not keep my +jaws closed. It pains me to this day to remember that I dared reply to +her; but how, when my old friend was attacked in such bitter terms, +could I honorably keep silence? That day I had to be content with the +draughty corner of the den, apart from my mother and sisters, who +edged away from me as if I were mangy. I spent miserable hours lying +there; but about noon the vixen walked over to me, licked my face with +her hot tongue, and curled up by my side. These tender attentions +soothed my injured feelings, and I soon fell into a peaceful sleep. + +I do not reproach the badger for changing his bed, I cannot reproach +him for his cleanliness, and I have no wish to disparage his great +industry; my object is to set down the truth, and I think that this +corpulent creature had to make work to keep his fat down and, even in +times of famine, to dig willy-nilly to prevent his claws growing into +his flesh. + +Of course, had the matter of digging by day, in which lay the sting +of the underground annoyance, been brought to an issue, we foxes had +not a shadow of right on our side; because we knew that the earth +belonged to the badger by right of excavation, and that we were there +on sufferance only as long as he found us tolerant and agreeable. +We did well to endure what we could not cure, for, had it come to a +quarrel, to a conflict with tooth and claw, the badger could have +made mincemeat of our whole party without sustaining a scratch. So we +prudently refrained from making any comment in his hearing, and, as he +could read nothing from my looks, he had not the faintest suspicion of +the grumbling to which I had to listen, or of the difficult part I had +to play to keep on good terms with my family. + +So things went on until a common trouble befell both the badger and +ourselves, and immediately following it, calamities so dire as almost +to dwarf into nothingness the annoyances of which so much had been +made. + +We had frequented the sett for perhaps a month, when, on returning +early one morning from hunting on the moors, we found, to our +astonishment, the entrances to the earth blocked and the badger shut +out. Thought I, "This misfortune to himself and to us is the result +of his misdoings," and I fully expected to see the vixen pour out the +vials of her wrath; but, to my surprise, all she did was to cruise up +and down in a fever of anxiety, with a watchful eye on the desperate +efforts the badger was making to remove the faggots jammed into the +hole. Failing to remove them by tugging, he began to bite through the +thick, tough stems as though they were reeds; and in my inexperience +I thought he would soon succeed in chopping a way in. But whoever had +placed the faggots there had done his work too well for the entry to +be hurriedly effected, so that gray dawn found the badger but little +advanced with his stubborn task and us cubs roaming restlessly about, +eyeing him at his work. + +The only time I got in his way he turned his nervous face and snarled +at me as though I were a stranger. Seeing what deadly earnest he was +in, I gave him a wide berth, and sat on the top of the heap with my +brush to him, blinking at the sky that was now all read as if the +cliffs were a-fire far, far away beyond the fen. Every now and again, +when the vixen came my way, I caught her casting uneasy glances +towards the east, and the instant the glaring rim of the sun showed, +she stole away and we in her train, leaving my old friend biting and +pounding in his apparently hopeless toil. + +If his efforts looked hopeless, the journey before us was certainly +disagreeable. I shall not soon forget that crossing of the fen, which, +as bad luck would have it, was as free from mist as the gilded crests +of the tor that seemed to stare at us belated creatures of the night, +abroad at such an uncanny hour. The vixen took advantage of every bit +of cover within easy reach of the bee-line to the cairn earth, for +which she was making; but for all that, there were many exposed places +that could not be avoided, and there the cruel sun had us at his +mercy, and blinded us with his naked rays. Nor were we alone in our +misfortune. Half-way over, at a spot where the glittering pools lay +thickest, we met a vixen and four cubs heading straight for our sett. +She, too, was all anxiety; and seeing this, I began to wonder why the +stopping of an earth should occasion such widespread consternation. + +My mother traversed the mossy spaces between the pools at the utmost +speed of the weakly cub by her side, whilst my sister and I followed +a little to one side, so as to avoid treading on the long, terrifying +shadows they cast. On coming within sight of the earth she stopped +suddenly in her stride, and as she did so my astonished eyes lighted +on the object which had arrested her steps. It was the enemy--it was +man. I recognized him at first sight, unlike though he was to the +being I had vaguely imagined. There is no reason for surprise that I +did. For what beast of the field or wild stands erect with such ease +on his hind-feet, or has face, fore-paws and ears as bare of fur as +is the skin of a mangy fox? Moreover, I caught his scent; and it was +the same scent as had tainted the stone on the cliff, that tainted the +faggots--evidence hardly less convincing than the steady gaze of his +eyes and the shout he raised. At the awful sound we turned tail and +melted into the brake. + +Round and round the great furze cover we stole, until I thought that +the vixen would never come to a standstill; but at last she chose for +sanctuary a tangled corner near a runnel, and there, amidst the russet +bracken, my weary sisters curled themselves up and fell asleep. + +Whether the vixen slept at all I cannot say, but I do not think +she did, for she was wide awake when I dropped off, and she was +all eyes and ears when I was startled out of my sleep by three +noisy wood-pigeons overhead. As we looked at one another across the +tiny stream, a strange sound reached me from the direction of the +wood below the tor, or, it might be, from the tor itself. It was a +high-pitched note, very penetrating, and a little like a cock's crow, +though differing from it even more than a curlew's whistle does from +an otter's. The instant I heard it I knew that it came from no bird's +throat, but whence it came I could not tell. + +What a simpleton I was at that time! The toot of the horn is as +familiar to me now as the clatter of shod horses. I know, too, now +what it portends; but at that moment, though fear was mingled with my +curiosity, I should not have been very uneasy, save for the obvious +anxiety of my mother. Not that she fussed about as if flurried, but +I could see her alarm in her unusual alertness. When a cock-pheasant +flew past and skimmed the brake that mantled the steep slope below us, +her eyes followed it with an eagerness that seemed to demand from it +the secret of its startled flight. + +Again the horn sounded, this time from the neighborhood of the +withered oak between us and the tor. Then I heard a horse galloping +and saw a flash of scarlet at the foot of the slope where the pheasant +had dropped in. What did it all mean? Were we foxes in any way +concerned in the unwonted proceedings that were disturbing the great +silence that had till then brooded over the cover? The suspense, the +uncertainty, which the vixen's evident distress intensified, the vague +sense of danger, were painful; but all doubts were soon dispelled, +"Eloo in! Hi, Forester! Eloo in!" The rasping yell with which this was +uttered betokened some sinister happening, though we looked in vain to +the vixen, round whom my sisters gathered, to enlighten us as to its +nature. + +At this point my recollection is blurred, save for two things, the +crashing noise in the brake and the flight of the vixen and my sisters +along the watercourse, with the pack in pursuit. I shall always hear +the one and see the other. If ever I was terrified in my life it was +then; and between the clamor of the hounds and the thundering tread +of a hundred galloping horses I was so bewildered that I knew not +where to turn. But as the noise died away my nerves steadied, and, +rising from my crouching attitude, I peeped through the furze to try +to discover what was happening. For a long time I could see nothing in +the deserted valley below; but, continuing my watch, I perceived the +vixen and my little sister coming along the open bank of the stream, +with the leading hounds in close pursuit and apparently gaining at +every stride. + +I am too old now to feel strongly as I did then, but still I am +affected at the recollection of the vixen striving to save my sister +by devices such as a partridge will employ to divert an enemy from its +young. How the chase ended I could not see; but the sudden ceasing of +the clamor made me fear the worst. + +In the silence that succeeded I made for the cairn earth, expecting to +get in there; but that, too, was stopped. Whilst I was debating what +to do, I heard the huntsman's voice, and had scarcely regained my old +station by the watercourse when the hounds opened on my line. They +were coming towards me at a great pace. Without an instant's delay I +was off, and, stealing down the long slope, reached the edge of the +cover, where I checked my steps to look out and see that the coast was +clear. Except the blazing sunlight, there was nothing in the bottom or +on the bare slope beyond to scare me, and as the hounds were half-way +down the hill, I committed myself to the open. + +I had not got far when there was a scream, a human scream, fit to +wake the dead. It startled me horribly, but did not cause me to +deviate a hair's-breadth from the direction in which I had set my +head. Near the brow I stopped and looked back at the crowd of dogs +and horsemen. It puzzled me then, it puzzles me yet, to know why they +should wish to kill me, but I had not a doubt that was their object. +The clamor did not greatly terrify me at that stage of the chase, as I +felt sure I should be able to elude my pursuers in the fen for which I +was making. + +I held about the same lead across the next valley and up the hill +beyond, but the heat of the sun was beginning to tell on me before +I reached the wide belt of rushes near the mere. When I had crossed +it the hounds had greatly reduced the distance between us; I was +beginning to flag, and the sanctuary I sought was nearly two miles +away. The going was heavy over the marshland, where never a breath +stirred, but I struggled on as best I could towards the islet of my +favorite pool, spreading terror amongst grebe and hern along the +silent ways I threaded. + +At length I gained the pool, and as I left the finger of land jutting +towards the islet and took to the water, I felt I was near an asylum +at last. Vain hope! When I was barely half-way across an accursed +magpie espied me, and came and hovered just over my head, making +a loud chattering noise that the hounds must have heard. I looked +straight before my muzzle, pretending to take no notice of the +plague, and as soon as I landed, lay down in my old ambush that half +concealed me from the exasperating bird. "The pest will surely hold +his tongue now that I am in lair," thought I. But no; he chattered +louder than ever, as if it delighted him to betray me to the pack, +whose whimpering I could now hear. In my exhausted condition I was +very loth to move, but, seeing that to remain there was certain death, +I left my hiding-place and plunged into the water on the further side +of the islet. My tormentor came with me, and never shall I forget his +harsh, jeering cries whilst I swam to the nearest alders, and even +whilst I made my slow way through the sparse thorns that ran up to +the furze about the earth. Under the close brake I was free from the +traitor, and it cheered me to be so near the sett and a safe refuge. +As I followed the beaten track leading to it I was indifferent to my +pursuers, for I felt sure that the badger must long ere this have +opened a way in. + +Alas! it had proved beyond his powers. The ground about the faggots +was littered with the bits he had chopped off, but he had failed to +effect an entry. Realizing my desperate position, I almost gave myself +up for lost. Fortunately, in my extremity--and a fox's brain is never +clearer than then--I wondered where the badger had bestowed himself. +Where he could get I could get, and if I could only trace him I might, +despite the stiffness of my limbs and the nearness of the hounds, even +yet escape with my life. + +Picking up his trail, I followed it along the base of the hill to +a thicket, dense and matted as bramble, blackthorn and furze could +make it. Through this I passed until I reached a small cave at the +foot of a sheer wall of rock. The trail led inwards, and at the very +back I came on my friend. He looked most vicious at first; but when +he recognized the bedraggled cub before him, the expression of his +venerable face quickly changed to one of compassion, and then again +to hate as he heard the hounds, now running mute, crash through the +undergrowth. It was an awful moment. It behoved me to find, and that +instantly, some secure position out of reach of the infuriated pack. +The leading hounds were at the mouth of the cave when, by a last +effort, I gained a scanty ledge, almost too narrow for foothold, a +little way above the badger's head. I was never in a more desperate +position, but fear glued me to the spot; and better vantage-ground for +viewing the fight that followed could not have been. "Keep cool," I +shouted to my old friend as well as I could for panting; and before I +could repeat my warning, the hounds were on him. + +There are things which seem incredible unless witnessed; and I +would not now submit the evidence of my own eyes did I not feel it +my bounden duty to record the facts which redound to the fame of +the badger and to the glory of the wild. But how is it possible to +describe what happened so the picture presented may approach in +vividness the savage scene I looked upon? I have seen the waves dash +and dash again into a cavern, only to be as often rolled back till the +tide had spent its force and left the cave as silent as at first. The +inrush of the pack was like the on-coming of an irresistible wave; but +the badger, with his back to the low arch, was not to be overwhelmed +whilst he could keep his feet and ply jaw and claw. Only three hounds +could get at him at a time; and when it came to deadly fang work, +what were these soft creatures of the kennel to the most formidable +beast of the brake? As fast as the badger could deal with them, hound +after hound withdrew howling, till there was scarcely one of the +twenty couple composing the pack on whom his terrible jaws had not +closed. + +While the fray was at its height the badger was at times partly hidden +under his assailants, and thus arose no small danger to myself. One +big brute of a hound there was who espied me where I stood, still as +if carved in stone, save for my heaving flank and lolling tongue. This +must have caught his eye, and time after time he leapt at me from the +backs of the writhing mass below; but for want of steady foothold, +he failed as often to reach me. The last time he fell he slipped +between two hounds, and the badger had him at his mercy. It did my +ears good to hear him howl; and no sooner did the badger let him go +than he retreated over the backs of the hounds behind with a celerity +which did credit even to his long legs. Through the creeper that half +curtained the mouth of the cave I saw him take up his station amongst +the rearmost ranks of those hounds who were baying their loudest from +the brambles. + +Shortly after this, one of two mounted men, whose progress was +arrested by the thicket, jumped from his horse and plunged into the +tangle. Only his hot face and bald head showed above the brake as he +came slowly along, cracking his whip as best he could for the briers +that reached to his neck and clung to his red sleeve. Whilst he fought +his way through, the other kept screaming at the top of his voice: +"Whip 'em off! The brute'll murder my best hounds!" The huntsmen had +no difficulty in whipping off the crew of howlers outside; but it was +no easy task to call off the staunch hounds that, despite the terrible +punishment they were receiving, would have carried on the fight until +they dropped from exhaustion. At last he succeeded, remounted his +horse, and rode away with the other. + +In the silence that ensued my position appeared to me still most +unenviable. Would the badger, on whom I had brought all this trouble, +avenge himself on me for the wrong I had done him? I tried to read his +intentions, but he gave no sign. Presently he looked up at me, and in +fear and trembling I returned his gaze. A wild light blazed in his +black eyes, but no trace of rage against myself. Then I took courage, +though obliged to look away from his blood-stained face, so horrible +was the sight it presented. His must have been a noble nature to bear +such punishment without resentment, and I am glad he never guessed my +fears. + +How I wronged this chivalrous old aristocrat in thinking it possible +he could use his giant strength to crush the life out of a helpless +cub! The old fellow was as friendly as though nothing had happened +when, at last, falling rather than leaping, I came down from my perch +to try to find relief from the cramp that was knotting my muscles. +His awful panting had by that time somewhat subsided; but I was truly +sorry to see him in such a deplorable state, and I suppose I showed it +in my face, for he said: "Do not grieve on my account, little brother. +I shall soon recover from my scratches." + +My legs were too stiff to let me lie down, so I stood by his side +whilst he licked his wounds and smoothed his ruffled coat, and at +nightfall, when he left, I staggered after him as best I could. After +drinking at a spring on the way, we came to the earth, from the mouth +of which, as I rejoiced to see, the faggots had been removed. There +the badger left me and went up the hill toward the farm-land over +which he wandered nearly every night in search of food. At what time +he returned I do not know, as I did not awake till late the following +afternoon, when I was aroused from my deep sleep by the noise he made +on resuming his excavations. + +There are some things which I would gladly be silent about, but which +are necessary to the completeness of my story. + +Chief of these are the grievous losses on that day's cub hunting. +My little sister and--sadder still--my dear mother were killed by +the hounds. It was best they should die together, for the cub was so +dependent on the vixen, and the vixen so inseparable from the cub, +that I am sure they could not have lived happily apart. Our common +trouble drew my surviving sister and myself closer to each other, and +for a few weeks we lived together in the earth, though we went our +several ways at night, and very seldom hunted in concert. + +The close of this period is marked by an event of great moment to +myself, which, though it does not redound to my credit, must be told +in some detail. + +It is necessary first to state that for some reason the hounds gave +up coming to our country, and that in their place a murderous +gang of ruffians infested the district, and by traps, by poisoned +carcasses, by terriers, by digging and by filling the earths with +smoke, succeeded in destroying nearly every fox in the countryside. +Fortunately our earth proved impregnable to the spade and proof +against smoke; whilst the badger made such havoc with the dogs that +were sent against us that, after two determined but futile assaults, +we were left in peace. For a time we had to exercise the utmost +caution in avoiding the numerous traps, which were artfully concealed +in the runs leading from the earth; but afterwards these were removed, +and we might roam without molestation over our desolate wilds. + +Hares had been all but exterminated, and rabbits and wild-fowl so +shot down and thinned that it was hard to get a living, and at last +my necessities tempted me to that most perilous of undertakings, a +raid on the poultry of the neighboring farm. Besides the everlasting +crowing of the cocks, I had heard the noise made by the flocks of +housed turkeys, geese, and ducks, as I returned at dawn from the empty +warren on the dunes; and this had set me longing for them. + +I did not enter lightly on this my first foray, which I knew to be +fraught with danger. My plans were laid with the fullest deliberation, +and in the deep silence of my den I carefully thought out every step +in my expedition. One of the strong points of a fox is attention to +details. We go over and over every turn, we weigh every chance, and +try to foresee every contingency. Indecision and flurry are not in our +nature; we know what we are going to do, and we go coolly through with +it. Our best-laid schemes may and do miscarry at times; nevertheless, +with the overconfidence of cubhood, I really thought that the +precautions I meant to take excluded all risks to my skin. Why, I had +mapped out in my brain every inch of the incursion; I had selected the +best way of approach; I was prepared with the safest line of retreat; +and, what is of no small moment, I had arranged for the disposal of +the kill, which was likely to be a big one. + +Eager as I was to realize my sanguine expectations, I twice postponed +my visit, hoping for the cover of a storm that threatened; but on +the third night, though the weather had cleared, I resolved to defer +the raid no longer. The crescent moon was just above the hill when +I stretched myself at the mouth of the earth and set out to put +well-matured plans into execution. I walked up the rugged hillside +with all the circumspection and gravity becoming a great undertaking, +and stayed awhile on the crest to reconnoitre the scene of my +operations. The farm-house, the outbuildings, the yards, were all +silent. No foot stirred, no bark of dog broke the stillness which +brooded over the rugged slope, the smooth fields, and the endless +waste of sand beyond. + +Satisfied that the coast was clear, I made my way down the hill +by a path my pads had laid--for I was on my trail leading to the +dunes--and, keeping to the shelter of a hedge of blackthorns, reached +the wall under the elms. Over it I crawled to the lower yard where +the big pool is. Its muddy edge was white with stranded feathers, and +so was the track leading past the mowhay, where rats were rustling in +the straw. But I left them behind, and with stealthy stride reached +the scene of action. A cock, unsuspicious of my presence, crowed in +the first house I came to, but the door was a new one, and a weasel +could not have got under it; so I passed in disgust to the next shed, +which contained the turkeys. But if the hen-house was effectually +closed, the turkey-house was hermetically sealed, and I thought that +the farmer must be a cruel brute not to give the poor birds better +ventilation. + +"They would be but dry eating, even if I could get them," said I, as +I crossed the deeply-rutted road to the big house where my nose told +me the geese were shut up. This building boasted a tall chimney, which +made it look quite lofty; but it was on a small hole in the bottom of +the door, from which came the goodliest of smells, that I fixed my +attention, and without a moment's delay I set about enlarging it. The +wood round it was very rotten, but I could not make the opening as big +as I wished, on account of a piece of iron which was fastened across +the door on the inside, some five or six inches above the level of +the ground. Whilst I was at work the cackling inside was deafening; +and when, by a furious effort, I squeezed my way in, I found myself +in a veritable pandemonium. I really think that geese take their +troubles more noisily than any birds in the world, except, perhaps, +guinea-fowls; and I, who love quiet, would have left them severely +alone if I could have got at the fowls or the turkeys. Their clumsy +wings, too, can make you see stars if they catch you fairly across +the eyes, as theirs caught me more than once before my work was done. + +Now it is one thing to slay in hot blood, another to tell at your +ease what happened. I will merely say that the lust for slaughter was +strong in me, and that in a short time all the flock but one lay dead +on the stone floor. + +Not an instant did I waste before setting about the next step in my +projected night's work, the removal of the biggest bird to the dune I +had chosen for my cache. I hoped to take all--it could be done--but +I would make sure of the best. My grandest victim was the gander. I +had pulled him out from under two geese, and was bearing him over the +bodies of the flock towards the door, when, to my horror, I saw that +the hole had been stopped from the outside. + +While the killing went on I had been deaf to everything, and I believe +that a wagon might have passed through the yard without my noticing +it. But now I became alive to every sound. I dropped the gander and +listened. At first I could hear nothing but the thumping of my own +heart, still affected by the speed of the kill; but presently the +silence was broken by the sound of a man's footsteps on the stones at +the back of the house. A few minutes later I heard the heavy tread on +the roof, whereat I fell into a state of abject terror, which caused +me to run round the walls like a rat in a trap. + +My enemy did not remain long, and when he came down he made for the +farm-house, muttering as he went. Now, thought I, is the moment to +regain my freedom. Escape by the door seemed out of the question; a +small paneless window through which I could see a single star was +hopelessly beyond my reach; but a third outlet, the chimney, remained, +and by it I might find deliverance. + +Here I met with an unexpected, but not insuperable, difficulty; for a +foot or so up, the flue was choked with old nests. I closed my eyes +whilst I pulled them down; but the suffocating dust, which there was +no draught to carry away, compelled me to return every now and again +to the floor to breathe. This inconvenience, however, was a mere +trifle, and after drawing a few breaths I returned to my work. It +cheered me to hear the debris falling, and to know that every stroke +of my fore-paws brought me nearer to my liberty. Imagine my dismay, +then, on discovering, after all my toil, that a flat stone capped the +chimney and prevented my escape. Though it smelt abominably, I made +frantic efforts to remove it. I pawed it, I bit it, I tried to raise +it with the top of my poll, with my arched back, but place myself +as I might, I could not find a position that enabled me to get good +purchase owing to the width of the chimney. Had it been half an inch +narrower, I might have managed to dislodge the stone, heavy though it +was, for I had felt it yield a little when I made my greatest effort. +But there was no result from what force I could use, and seeing that I +was only wasting time and strength, I scrambled down the flue to the +heap of fallen rubbish, which gave way under me and spread out over +the floor. + +The geese lay as I had left them. It was a big kill, and no mistake. +The floor was white with birds, and in places they were two deep. As +became a dog-fox I had done my work well, and the birds were all dead +except one, which raised its head now and again in the far corner +under the window. I had not the least inclination to touch it again, +and though I must have been very hungry, I did not think of eating. +I was in a trap; I knew it, so did my enemy, and I knew that he knew +it. That he would return at daybreak I felt sure, and that he would +kill me I had little doubt. At the very thought I grovelled with +fear among the bodies of my victims, until the determination to live +aroused me to fresh exertions. In my desperation I tried to bite away +the nails that studded the sound wood about the hole by which I had +entered; I tried to dig my way under the door, but I did not succeed +in dislodging a single stone. Oh for half an hour of my friend the +badger! I made frantic, unavailing leaps at the open window; I cruised +round and round the walls until I must have travelled miles; time +after time I scrambled up the chimney, only in the end to resume my +aimless rounds. At length, weary with my endeavors, continued through +many hours, I lay down again, panting, amongst the geese. + +The stillness of that dead-house was profound. Outside, too, all was +still, save for the soughing of the wind in the leafless elms. This +was the voice of an old friend, and it soothed me somewhat till it +brought back to my mind the picture of the reeds bending over the +rippled surface of my favorite pool. At the thought of my freedom +in the fen I jumped to my feet and tried again and again, without +success, each possible outlet, and then once more lay down with +heaving side and lolling tongue to wait for the end. + +Presently a cock crowed; and at last dawn peeped through the window, +and found me a more pitiable object than the old goose who squinted +at me every time she raised her blood-stained head. It would be day +soon, but as yet the light was gray. It was the hour that had ofttimes +surprised me in the midst of my hunting, and hurried me across the +misty fen to my kennel in the brake; the hour when every carnivorous +creature of the night steals by hidden ways to his retreat, and +conceals himself from the cruel eye of day. + +As the light grew stronger I found myself rising involuntarily to my +feet to return to the earth, but the strong walls compelled me to +stay and await my fate. Soon a pale, rosy light suffused the sky, and +presently the first beam of sunshine came in at my window and fell on +an old spider's web stretched over a hole in the wall of the chimney. +I envied the owner of the web: I envied the dead geese: I would at +that moment have been even the broken starling's egg lying there on +the waste-heap, or the skeleton of a fly dangling at the end of the +gossamer. + +I heard a door slammed and the noise of footsteps. They were +deliberate, heavy, merciless, and they were approaching the door +behind which I stood listening. Just when I expected to see it +slightly opened, and was on the point of shamming dead, there was +a loud kick against it which upset my plan and made me rush up the +chimney. + +Then the door was unbarred and opened. + +"All dead, are 'ee?" + +"Aye, all dead." + +After a pause the newcomer added: + +"You're as putty a lot ever I reared; in another month you'd have been +ready for market, and I looked to 'ee to pay part of the rent." + +Then in a voice like thunder he bawled out: + +"Where art thee, Master Reynard? Ah, thee scoundrel, thee needn't try +to get out by the chimbley! thee'rt wastin' thy precious time. I'll +help thy lordship through the front door in a minute. An'rew, bring +the sack here." + +Presently I heard two men below, and the door closed behind them. + +"He's up the chimbley and safe enuf. You hold the sack whilst I stir +him up with this eer pole." + +Two awful thumps I endured without flinching, but the third knocked +my hind-legs from under me, and I fell all of a heap into the bag. + +"So far, so good. Now we'll tie a stone to the sack and drop the lot +into the deep corner of the goslin' pool. The varmint must die. I'll +go and fetch a bit of rope." + +Whilst the farmer was gone the man opened the mouth of the sack and +looked down on me. Not satisfied, apparently, with the half light +of the outhouse, he took me into the open and peered at me again. I +thought I recognized him the first time he inspected me; but now, with +the morning sun on his ruddy cheeks I was quite sure. He was the first +man I had seen, the man who was on the cairn the morning my mother was +killed by the pack; he was the man who, I felt certain, had stopped +the earths. I was calm now. I had gone through the agony of death, but +still I did not want to die. Life was sweet, very sweet. I was not +like a mangy old fox; I was in the pride of my cub-hood. + +"What a beauty!" said the earth-stopper, as he continued to gaze at +me. "What a grand fox, to be sure! If An'rew can save 'ee, then thee +shan't die, now there." Saying this he let go his hold on the sack and +turned away. You can depend upon it I made a quick exit and sped off. +I hope no serious harm came to Andrew. + +I sought a new home, looking therefor on the great moors. For a time +I had a life comparatively free from care, but though few of the +changes in the autumn life of the wild escaped me, I was slow to +interpret those signs that foretold the severe weather that was to +suddenly set in. It is, however, hardly matter for wonder that I was +blind to the warnings they conveyed, for the frosts of our peninsula +are, as a rule, so slight as to relax their feeble grip by noon-day; +even the smallest birds suffer little discomfort. Indeed, I have +sometimes thought that migratory birds flock to our shores because of +the mildness of the climate and the hospitality its feeding grounds +offer; but this is only the view of a fox, who welcomes these aliens, +and takes heavy toll of their number. Whatever the cause may be, +there is no doubt about the fact. This year, however, the flocks of +fieldfares, always the first to arrive, were earlier than was their +wont. I noted, too, that despite the normal mildness of the weather, +our few hibernating creatures suddenly withdrew into their winter +quarters; the hedge-hogs to the drifts of leaves and hollow holes of +dead trees, and the dormice to their nests in the low bushes. These +incidents did not seem to concern me; though I was surprised at the +abandonment of the fen by the otters, till presently I learnt that the +late salmon had already passed up the river. That seemed to explain +it; for the otters always follow the salmon, as every fox knows who +has had the luck to find a half-eaten fish on the bank. + +I am convinced that all these creatures were conscious of approaching +hard weather; and when I discovered that the squirrels with which the +wood abounded, had sought their nests in the top-most branches of the +red pines, a sense of the evil times before us came to me, too. + +I noticed while I lay from dawn to sunset amongst the undergrowth +that a strange calm, presaging sudden change of weather, brooded over +the solemn wood. The silence was unbroken until twilight, when the +starlings settled in and mingled their vespers with the soughing of +the rising wind. Then when I left my lair, threaded the boles of the +pines and came to the beeches, the leaves crackled under foot, a sign +of cold, dry weather; but I did not feel the keen wind until I gained +the shoulder of the ridge to the north, which is crowned by the tor. +At midnight on the moors the cold became intense; when, near dawn, +I crossed the upland road which since some heavy rains had been a +quagmire, I found it hard as rock, and the backwater of the pool above +the ford was frozen to the edge of the current. On the marshy ground +below, the cracking of the ice under my tread disturbed several snipe; +and between the alders and my own lair two woodcock got up, which, +from their weary flight, I should say had only just arrived. + +My snug kennel under the furze looked doubly snug that cold, hard +dawn; and whatever privations the future might have in store, there +was at least every token of present abundance. + +"The long-bills are pretty plentiful," thought I, as I curled up on my +dry couch. "Hungry times are over; there will be food galore now." + +I slept through the day and sought the fen at nightfall, to find +the pool and the mere, or rather those parts of them that remained +unfrozen, crowded with wild-fowl. Strangers though we were to one +another, they proved very wary and difficult of approach, despite the +curiosity my appearance aroused in them. + +So matters stood for some time, during which I cared to remain out +only part of the night; but when my coat got thick enough to resist +the piercing cold I hunted far and late, seldom reaching my kennel +before the sun showed red above the sea. + +During the period of dry frost I fared well enough; but a snow-storm +which occurred at the time of the new moon and lasted for two days and +two nights, rendered foraging difficult, and made me feel a stranger +in my own country. Except in rudest outline, it was no longer like +itself. The fen was a great white plain, broken by a big and a small +pool and the winding stream that fed them. In place of the sombre +array of pines under the tor, usually as marked a feature in our +landscape as were the great reed-beds themselves, a vast slope of snow +met the eye; and the tor might have been a fleecy cloud in the leaden +sky. Strangest of all was the aspect of the dunes, which looked like +great waves of pure foam arrested in their roll. + +Many a time I scanned this white undulating waste for the hare that +frequented the sand-hills, hoping to mark him in a position where it +would be possible to stalk him. I say, "possible" because of the great +powdery drifts that rose like new dunes across my hidden trails and +barred my progress in every direction. Moreover, each fall of snow +caused me fresh trouble; for it stultified the knowledge I had gained, +and compelled me to find new ways to my hunting grounds. + +To add to my difficulties, soon only a few landmarks were left, and +these hard to recognize--horseshoe of thatch about the short chimney +was all there was to show the position of the cottage, and it was hard +to believe that the snow-laden elms were the same trees whose golden +leafage but a month before had cast so deep a shadow on the farmyard +where the cock pheasant had been feeding with the fowls. On the edge +of the ploughed field next the mowhay were the tracks made by the two +wary rabbits whose home was under the big rick, and the few partridges +which had escaped our jaws kept near the rubbing post in the middle of +the field. + +But I recall that fallow best by the course I had across it after the +little jack-hare, who led me such a round as I have seldom gone. I +lost sight of him in the field beyond the orchard, where the turnips +lay in heaps, but followed his line up and down the hill to the head +of the fen, across which he went almost in the teeth of a raging +blizzard. He had ringed the bulrushes in the heart of the bog before +making one of his baffling sidelong leaps, and then set his face for +the foot-hills under my lair. The scent was hot amongst the scattered +furze-bushes through which he led me, and so heavily clogged were +his feet with snow that I felt sure I should overtake him before he +reached the tamarisks on the other side of the hill; but I underrated +his endurance. I followed him to the waste of sand-hills, only to find +that he had disappeared in a drift at the foot of the highest dune. In +his desperation--for I was all but on him--he must have plunged into +this and worked his way far in, as I could not find him, though I dug +and dug into the smothering mass in every direction. Nothing remained +but to make my weary way home through the blinding, driving storm. +There are more blanks than prizes in the life of even a clever fox. + +The scent lay wonderfully that night, and I followed it as easily +as I had shortly before followed the scent of a bittern across the +snow between the reed-bed and the bulrushes. It was in this isolated +clump that the otters so often laid up before the frost hardened the +trembling mass environing it; but now I noticed that some of these +wily creatures had beaten a deep track across the narrow neck of the +big bend of the river, though I did not once get a glimpse of them. + +I must pass over much detail of the varying fortunes of that eventful +time to speak of the mis-adventures that befell me on an expedition +when I unwittingly exposed myself to a great danger, and was lucky to +escape with my life. I had risen from my kennel, stretched myself, +sniffed the biting wind, listened, shaken my thick coat, and then, as +was my wont since giving up my journeys to the hills, first visited +the few remaining bits of boggy ground in sheltered places of the +brake, with the hope of picking up one of the woodcock that resorted +there to feed. I approached one spot after another against the wind +and with the utmost stealth; but, despite my extreme caution, I +succeeded only in flushing the birds, so wary had they become through +being harassed--chiefly, I believe, by young cubs. + +After lapping some water below a cascade hung with icicles, I left +the soft margin of the rapid runnel which had been riddled by the +bills of the woodcock and, emerging from the furze, stole down to the +thicket of blackthorns. But my nose told me a fox had been there +already; so I at once made for my favorite pool, whence the cries of +various wild-fowl reached my ears. I knew that they consisted of duck, +widgeon, and teal; but from the noise they made, I judged them to be +more numerous than usual, and so they proved. + +Through a gap in the reeds I gazed once and again at the tantalizing +sight. What more maddening spectacle for a hungry fox than that of +game beyond reach? I ransacked my brain to discover a way to get at +them. It was beyond my powers. The edge of the acre of water that +remained open was a score of yards from the reeds and scarcely less +from the island. There was only one course practicable, to disturb the +birds and to take up a hidden position from which I should be within +striking distance of the pool. The snowy surface which ringed them in +denied concealment save at one point, and that was much too far from +the water to suit my methods, for the scanty bit of cover was too long +springs from the brink of the ice. Any attempt to rush the birds from +there seemed vain. Many a time since the frost set in I had stood and +weighed the chances it offered, only to scorn the idea of using it +for an ambuscade. To-night, somehow--was it because of my ravenous +hunger?--the clump of sags, though weighed down by the snow, did not +look quite so hopeless as before the last fall; and I decided to +accept its hard conditions and give it a trial. It was an exasperating +thing to be obliged to scare the birds; but there was no help for it, +and so forward I went. + +My forefoot was hardly through the fringe of reeds when a mallard saw +me and gave the alarm. In an instant a hundred pairs of eyes were +turned on me; and, as if fascinated by the sight of so fine a fox, +their owners did not take wing until I was nearly half-way across +the snow. Then, with a loud "quar, quar, quar" from the ducks, all +the birds rose in a confused company, the noise of their wing-beats +drowning for a moment the loud rustling of the swaying reeds. I +watched them divide into their several skeins, which then wheeled +above my head and flew seawards, the widgeon in the van. + +Before seeking my ambush, I crossed the ice to the other side of the +pool, in the hope of finding a disabled bird in the thick cover, but +saw nothing save a few dead starlings that had fallen from their +roosting perches on the reeds. The flesh of starlings is nearly as +loathsome to me as the flesh of carrion-feeding birds; so I left +their stark bodies lying there, and trotted over the wide stretch of +snow to the island. When crossing, I noticed a small hole in the ice. +It had been made and kept open by otters that they might come there +to breathe whilst fishing; but I did not know this at the time. The +island, though it reeked with the smell of duck, was blank; so I made +for the sags again, and crawled under them carefully in order not to +disturb their white coating. Gently as I pushed my pointed muzzle +between the stems the frozen snow rattled down in a shower, and this +caused me much misgiving, for I feared that the exposed blades, black +with decay, would be sure to excite the suspicion of the quick-eyed +fowl, and warn them off the water. + +When ensconced, I found that my ambush barely screened me, and, what +was more serious, it seemed much farther from the pool than in the +bloodthirsty moment when I had decided to use it. However, being in, +I meant to stay, and so, the tip of my muzzle between two bent blades +that grew a few inches in front of the clump, and nothing but the tag +of my brush projecting at the rear, I began my vigil. It was bitter +work watching with the gale in your teeth, but I might have noticed +it less had the ambush been a little nearer the water. Nevertheless, +being of a sanguine temperament, I threw sense and sinew into my work +as if success were assured. My ears were spread their widest, to catch +any sound that reached them above the lapping of the water and the +swish of the encompassing reeds; my eyes, if not fixed on the pool, +scanned the snowy space between; and my legs were gathered under me +ready to spring. One by one some feathers the ducks had left, drifted +to the nearer side and were lost to sight; once I caught the faint +wing-beats of passing wild-fowl and, raising my eyes, saw the long +wedge of them black against the bright stars; but not a bird settled +on the water. + +Hour after hour passed in this manner, and my patience was just giving +out when an incident occurred that dispelled all thought of trying +my luck elsewhere. It was not the fish that jumped clear of the +surface, which induced me to stay, but the great boil in the water +near where it fell. I believed this had been caused by an otter, and +quite expected to see the creature land on a small jagged point of +ice hard by, where the snow had been much trampled. Nor did mere +curiosity keep me an interested spectator: I was expecting to get fish +for supper after my wasteful friend had taken one or two bites of +his prey. Whilst I watched for his appearance, and watched in vain, +a rather larger fish leapt out--once--twice; and the third time it +was hardly above the surface when the open jaws of a huge pike showed +close behind it, and I could see the bristling array of teeth before +a tremendous swirl hid them again. In all my experiences I have only +once witnessed anything that took me more by surprise; and from that +night I have never swum across to the island without fear of being +seized by the grim monster which I now knew tenanted the pool. + +The pike had scarcely disappeared before three teal, whose flight I +had not heard, settled in the middle of the water and set my brush +waving with excitement. Totally unsuspicious of my presence they swam +towards me, and approached so close to the ice as to be completely +hidden by the bank of snow near its edge. Judging their position as +well as I could by the delicious scent that reached me, I made two +tremendous leaps, which landed me amongst them before they could take +wing. But on account of the spray and the shock of the icy-cold water +I missed all three; though my jaws snapped close over the spot where +one of them dived. He came up yards away from where I was awaiting +him, rose as only a teal can rise, and flew off in company with his +mates, who were wheeling about overhead. + +With a rankling sense of failure I scrambled with some difficulty on +to the ice, shook my coat and, turning my back on my ambush, trotted +off as briskly as I could in the direction of the mere. Through the +long wait on the snow and the coldness of the water into which I had +plunged, my feet were so benumbed that I could scarcely feel them +under me when crossing the bog. Nevertheless, I stumbled on until +warmth came back to them, and then hunted the waste beyond, working +across the wind on the margin of the laid reed-beds in the hope of +scenting moorhens or water-rail to break my long fast. Most carefully +did I try the patches of sedgy cover in the loops of the stream where +I had seldom failed; but even there I met with disappointment, the +few birds I winded evading me by diving under the ice which in places +covered the strong current. + +I must have trotted miles along the zigzag course I took, before I +reached the expanse of windswept snow under which lay the frozen mere. +From inside the fringe of reeds I could hear the honking of the geese +on the open water, and at times a sound that was new to me, a wild +trumpeting which seemed to come from where the sea was thundering on +the bar. For a fox naturally prompt in decision, I stood there long, +considering whether to make a journey that offered but poor prospect +of success. In the wild-fowl's feeding-ground I had come from there +was at least makeshift for an ambush; on the level ice-field before +me there was not cover enough to hide a mouse, and the chance of a +kill was very, very small. Choice of supper, however, lay between +cold starling, bitter and dry, and hot goose, sweet and juicy--if I +could get it--and goose or nothing was my resolve. I set my face for +the spot where the scarcely discernible specks on the snow showed +the game to be thickest; and if my coat turned white in winter like +that of a stoat I had seen a few nights before, I might have stolen +at least part of the way unobserved. As it was, my reddish-brown fur, +though lighter than in the summer, made me as conspicuous as a crow on +a stubble to the noisy sentinels overhead, which at once spread the +cry of "Fox afoot!" far and wide over the great mere. The only method +possible, then, in this wild-goose chase, was to keep going with the +most nonchalant air at my command, as if my sole object in approaching +the pool was to wash down a heavy supper; and it was lucky for my plan +that my thick coat hid my prominent ribs and concealed my half-starved +condition. + +Presently I could see that the wild-fowl lining the margin of the ice +were nearly all geese; but what riveted my gaze was a small group of +big white birds beyond, whose heads towered high above the mass of +insignificant-looking duck that crowded the water. + +"Halloo! something new in the feather line," thought I. "What monsters +are these?" + +And then it occurred to me that, as I had never cast eyes on their +kind before, it might be that these strangers had never set eyes on a +fox, and would entertain no fear of such an innocent-looking creature +come to quench his thirst. This line of reasoning seemed so plausible +that I licked my dry chops at the prospect of a lordly feast, and +for a moment felt inclined to despise such small birds as geese. +These latter had for some time held their heads turned my way; so, +to show that concealment was not dreamt of, I stood still, raised +my mask to the moon, just risen above the headland, and, though it +cost me a great effort, barked as joyously as only a full-fed fox can +bark. Rarely in my chequered life have I given utterance to notes so +expressive of content; and as the geese seemed greatly taken by the +music, I continued to indulge them, at the same time lessening the +distance that separated us. + +We were getting on quite good terms with one another--at least, so I +thought--until I was within--well, it is difficult to judge distance +over snow--perhaps fifty yards of them. Then I saw unmistakable +signs of restlessness. To lull suspicion I waved my brush in my most +fascinating manner; I rolled on my back, hoping to prove to them that, +murderer though I might be by repute, I was really a playful creature, +even on that wild winter's night; and in order to reassure the more +timorous, including a fine gander, who had retired from the front to +the rear rank, I began to cut capers, running after my brush in small +circles, or rather in a spiral which would bring me, as I could see +out of the corner of my eye, within rushing distance of two of the +most curious of my admirers. + +It was all in vain; my back was to the cowardly crew when they rose; +but even then I should have seized a laggard had I sprung a few hairs +higher, for the tip of my muzzle actually touched his cold webbed +foot. In my fall on the edge of the ice I all but lost my balance and +toppled into the water. Was I enraged when I recovered myself? I need +not enlarge on that. + +The flight of the geese alarmed the duck, which rose in a big cloud +from the mere, with a noise that would, I am sure, have bewildered any +animal except a fox, or perhaps an otter. But I ignored it, and amidst +their silly clamor and the loud whirr of their wings that momentarily +drowned the gale, fixed my eyes on the three swans--for such they +were--who did not take flight like the others, but swam up and down +the rough water in a manner which, if not expressive of contempt, was +at least aggressive and provocative. Their attitude was a revelation +to me; no bird had ever dared challenge me before; and if they see as +foxes do, these black-billed strangers who stared so hard must have +read blank amazement on my innocent face as I read defiance on theirs. +Nor was I free from irritation at the bravado conspicuous in their +puffed-out breasts and beruffled plumage. + +Suddenly my demeanor changed from amazement to rage. This certainly +they must have known from my flaming eyes, bristling fur, and +fluffed-out brush lashing from side to side; but up and down they +swam, hissing out their summons to come and do battle, if I dared. A +fox shrink from combat with feathered foes? Never! I jumped into the +water, and swam across the strong current for the spot they had chosen +for the contest. All three preserved their determined front until I +was close enough to see the yellow on their bills and the snake-like +look in their evil eyes, but at my next stroke two of them beat the +water with their great wings, rose in the air, and with loud-creaking +pinions flew over my head. + +"Cowards!" said I. "Why did you not stand your ground?" + +Whilst I wondered that the remaining bird did not follow their +example, a streak of blood on his white plumage told me he was +wounded; and the instant it caught my eye I felt he was mine. I never +doubted I should kill him as soon as I could close my jaws on his long +white neck; the only thing that troubled me was how I should manage +to land him on the ice with such a strong stream running. He was the +biggest of the three, a magnificent bird, and, except for his bill, +as white as the snow. To my astonishment, wounded though he was, he +actually swam to meet me and struck the first blow. Before I could +close with him he stretched his head over mine, caught me by the left +ear, and pressed me under water. For all my frantic struggles, I was +half drowned when I succeeded by a desperate effort in disengaging +myself from his grip. Rising close to him, I seized his neck through +the thick coat of feathers that protected it, and hung on. The +commotion that followed baffles description. With one wing--for the +other lay helpless--he lashed the water and spun around in circles, +taking me with him. It would have been better to let go than be +carried by the strong current I knew not whither; but in such a case a +fox can never resolve to relinquish his hold, and it was fortunate for +me that, before I had been taken out into the middle of the mere, my +teeth slipped off the smooth oily feathers. + +I had had enough. Exhausted and benumbed, I made for the ice, now a +long way off, and fighting the current with all my strength, had got +at length within a few yards of the jagged edge when, to my horror, +I heard the swan coming up, and gaining on me at every stroke. I did +my very utmost to reach the ice, but in vain; he was on me before +I could land. Again I was immersed; twice I planted my feet on the +edge, only to be pulled back. I had caught a Tartar, and escape seemed +impossible; even if he did not drown me, I feared I should be sucked +under the ice. The thought of losing my life roused me to a supreme +effort. With gnashing teeth I turned on my persecutor. My onset must +have terrified him, for he quailed before it and retreated a few yards +into the mere. With the help of my brush I whipped round, gained the +rough edge, and, putting forth my last bit of strength, dragged myself +on to the ice, and fell, utterly spent, just beyond his reach. + +For a time I lay there motionless, but by-and-by fear moved me to +turn my head and look for my enemy. There he was, proudly swimming up +and down before me with blood-stained breast and drooping wing, still +defiant. It was the most humiliating moment of my life. Presently +I rose and shook myself, but to no purpose. My bedraggled coat had +frozen, and hung stiffly on me. I exchanged looks of vengeance with +my terrible foe and slunk away. + +What a weary journey it was over the snow! How I floundered through +the deep drift that separated me from my cover, and how glad I was to +reach the friendly shelter of the brake! It was good to be screened +from the eyes of the countless wild-fowl who had watched the fight, +and whose cries had sounded like jeers as I tottered across the wide +ice-field. There is little bark left in a fox when the quacking of +ducks disconcerts him and makes his brake a welcome refuge. + +I sat down under the furze, brushed the bloody feather from my muzzle +and licked my paws, which had been cut by the sharp-edged ice in my +mad struggles to get out of the water. Though dawn was some two hours +off, I had no heart for any more hunting; so I made for my lair, which +I reached by way of the brambly thicket above the quarry, and, after +shaking my coat again, crept to where my snug kennel lay under its +double roof of gorse and snow. There, hidden from all eyes and from +the bright lights of the frosty sky, I curled up in the cup of dry +spines with my brush about my nose, and heedless of the gale that +raged above but could not reach me, forgot my troubles in sleep. + +The hounds drew the tor wood once, and only once, after the thaw, and +did not pay a single visit to our brake, though the earth was stopped +three times before the end of the season. The explanation is probably +to be found in the heavy rains which flooded the fen and made the +country unfit for hunting; big pools were found where none were seen +before, and the springs which broke out in many new places, together +with the surface-drainage of rain and melted snow, not only kept them +full, but seemed to turn every bit of spongy ground into a quagmire. + +Left to myself, I was as happy as a fox can be, and, forgetting the +hardships I had passed through, looked forward with pleasurable +anticipation--as, indeed, every wilding does--to the golden days of +summer, when troubles are few and delights many. Yet the tamarisks had +hardly begun to feather before there was brought into the countryside +a hound which proved the most terrible enemy that ever shadowed my +life. + +That the farmer had need of a more watchful guardian for the poultry +yard than old Shep I knew well enough from the serious losses he had +sustained. Besides fowls and ducks, even geese and turkeys had been +carried off, some by day under cover of mist and drizzling rain, but +mostly at night. I had seen foxes returning from that direction with +birds in their mouths; I had actually come on the caches, both inside +and outside our brake, where they had buried what they could not take +away; and this wholesale plundering caused me great anxiety, because +I knew it would lead to reprisals. But I never dreamt in my most +troubled moments of the scourge that was being prepared. Even had I +known that old Shep was to be superseded and another farm-dog put in +his place the news would not have alarmed me in the least, because of +the contempt I felt for the few specimens I had seen. But I was now to +learn that there are farm-dogs and farm-dogs. + +As soon as the new dog was led home I came on evidence of his work. +I found the body of a fox near the gap of a reclaimed field that had +recently been filched from our cover, and could see by the fang-marks +in his chest that he had been murdered. Now it was impossible that +old Shep should be the culprit. He was always asleep at midnight, +and bore a good character amongst us for utter harmlessness; yet +everything pointed to his guilt. A double trail led from the warm +carcass towards the farm buildings, and one was the trail of a dog. +I walked slowly up the hill, trying to unravel the mystery, and had +scarcely passed over the crest when a loud bay, very different from +old Shep's, broke the stillness of the night and explained everything. +Whilst I listened it was repeated again and again, and its meaning was +unmistakable. It was a warning to the fox from the new guardian of +the farmyard that the days of robbery without punishment were past, +and that a new régime had begun. I yapped no reply, for it was best +to let this dangerous customer believe that the fox he had killed was +a stranger to the district, and that none frequented the wild within +reach of his voice. + +I was very miserable now. Putting all together, I was convinced that +the newcomer would prove a dangerous enemy; and yet I felt that I +ought to see him, for I recollected my mother's story of the fox who, +like the otter in the quaking bog, judged the jackass by his bray, and +suffered agonies until he cast eyes on him. + +The opportunity offered a few days later without my seeking it. On a +lovely spring morning such as Nature often lavishes on her wildlings, +I lay stretched out amongst the scattered furze-bushes enjoying the +warmth of the sun, without a thought of any intrusion on the peaceful +scene. The lambs were bleating in the field next the dunes, the rooks +cawing in the leafing elms, and the farm-boy, whom I could not see for +the thicket of blackthorns at the foot of the croft, was singing the +drowsy song he sang always at his work. A magpie on the tallest of the +blackthorns seemed unusually interested in either the boy or his work; +but I thought nothing of that. Presently, however, to my surprise, it +began mobbing some creature. Then I rose to my feet, almost expecting +to view a fox, when, to my amazement, I saw a huge dog leave the +thicket and come into the open. It was the new hound, and the sight +of him made me catch my breath. What struck me most--for without it, +size and strength of jaw signify nothing--was the speed I read in his +long muscular limbs. He moved with an ease I had never seen in any +other dog. Had his hind-quarters sloped like mine, I should, like +the magpie, have taken him for a denizen of the wild; but the defect +betrayed him as the servant of man. + +My curiosity was excited, and I would not steal away to the near +brake until I had discovered what his business was. It was of the +simplest. He stopped about half-way up the hill at a spot full in +the hot sun, turned round two or three times as I do to make my bed, +and laid himself down amongst the tussocks of grass. I watched his +bloodshot eyes blink in the blazing light; noted his restlessness, +the twitching of his cropped ears, and the quivering of his great +nostrils, even whilst he seemed to doze; studied his huge bull-terrier +head, raised when a yellowhammer settled on the golden bush behind +him; shuddered at the array of crowded teeth when he yawned. + +He may have lain an hour amid the bright new herbage before the boy +whistled. His ears showed that he heard, but he took no further +notice. When the whistle was repeated he growled. Then the boy +screamed, as I have heard the huntsman scream after me; and the great +brindled brute leapt to his feet and bounded down the hill at a pace I +had not thought any creature capable of. I knew then that no fox could +get away from him in the open, or escape with his life when overtaken. + +"No more stealing of old gobblers," said I under my breath as I slunk +away to the earth. + +For some days I scarcely slept on account of the worry; and the more +I thought it over in the quiet of my kennel, the surer I felt that +this great restless hound would render life unbearable by invading my +cover. Was it likely that a creature pricked by pride of limb and of +fang would be content to wander within the narrow confines of a dozen +fields criss-crossed with trails, and never trespass on the environing +wilds to which the trails led? Impossible! Is there not an eternal +feud between the tame and the wild canine? This half-wild protege +of man, free to wander at will and wreak his vengeance on us hated +dwellers in the brake, able too by speed and strength to carry out his +fell designs, was certain, sooner or later, to follow the cursed scent +that lingers where we tread, and track me to my hidden lair. + +The days went by, however, and I was not molested; though night after +night, as I heard his threatening bay, I asked myself, How long shall +I be left in peace? When a fortnight passed without a sign, I began to +think that this sharer of man's hearth might, after all, be nothing +more than a noisy farmyard braggart, brave enough, perhaps, on grass +or plough-land, but afraid to trespass on the waste. Rudely was my +mistake brought home to me. + +Now what I am going to tell is not something I have heard: I saw it +with my own eyes on the moor which rises from the head of the fen. I +was trotting along at the time, planning how best to work the ground +on such a still night, when a fox--a stranger to me--came over the +brow on my left, and dashed across my front at a gallop. At first +I thought he must have some game in sight; but as neither hare nor +leveret was to be seen, I could not help, in the absence of any +apparent reason for his conduct, imagining that he must be mad, like +a fox I once saw crossing the bar. Strange fancy, perhaps; but then, +what sane animal, and, above all, what fox, would waste his speed +after nothing? And what in the world was there for the fugitive to fly +from? Suddenly I thought of the hound, and as suddenly, just when the +fox had disappeared where the land dipped, I heard the thud of heavy +feet. Peeping between two boulders that concealed me from view, I saw +him come over the crest at the spot where I first caught sight of the +fox. He was running by scent, but at so tremendous a pace that I +feared the fox could not live before him. + +His silence chilled me more than his loud bay; but though I could not +detect the faintest whimper, every moment there was a strange clicking +sound--a noise foreign to the moorland. When he came abreast of me +I saw it was caused by the broken chain that hung from his neck and +struck the steel collar he wore. In a twinkling the dusky fiend had +disappeared in the gloom, his head set for the tor. I listened. After +a time I heard him crash through a long bramble thicket. Then a long +interval. Then the owls, which had been very noisy, suddenly ceased +their midnight chorus. They were watching the tragic chase between +the boles of the pines. How it ended I never knew; but I am inclined +to think that the fox reached the rocks and escaped. If he had been +killed, the foxes which lodged on the western slope of the tor would +have forsaken their coverts, at least for a time; and this they did +not do. + +That night it was useless to try to hunt, as I kept looking back every +dozen strides for fear the hound might be following me. At last I gave +it up; but I did not return along my usual trail, laid when the night +had no fear for me. I avoided open ground as much as possible, to +steal along tangled dips and gullies. Before crossing a ridge I halted +to peer through the darkness, fearful of seeing the sinister green +eyes that would apprise me of the hound's approach. + +On reaching the double trail, I cleared it at a bound, as though it +had been a line of fire, and made for the river at the spot where it +spreads over the marshes; for I hoped by swimming it at its widest +part to add to the difficulties of the hound if he should follow me. +Although the precautions I took proved unnecessary, I mention a few of +them to show the fear the creature had inspired in me. After that I +used to foil the runs in the brake for the purpose of puzzling him if +he chanced to strike my night's trail and tried to trace me to my lair. + +But of what avail were all my wiles against a creature so endowed? At +length the marvellous powers he possessed enabled him not only to find +my kennel, but to approach it so noiselessly as almost to surprise me +in my sleep. Had it not been for the slight rustling of the furze, +caused by his grim protruding muzzle, he must have taken me where I +lay as a fox takes a rabbit in its seat. As it was it was a close +call. Enraged at my escape, he came crashing after me. I led him to +the cover beyond the quarry, where the furze was close and stunted, +and where the runs were so small that he had to force a way along +them. In these unfavorable conditions I thought he would soon tire of +pursuit; but to my surprise he persisted hour after hour, despite the +stifling atmosphere of the brake on such a close, hot day. Could he +have driven me into the open I should have been at his mercy; I knew +this as well as he, and never gave him the chance he longed for. + +In the end I wearied him out, and none too soon, for I was almost +spent before he relinquished the chase. I had escaped, but my dread of +the fiend was greater than ever--so great, indeed, that I never went +near the brake again as long as he lived. + +The silence of the night at this time was painful. A dog-fox dared +no longer call to his mate for fear of betraying his whereabouts to +the hound, now abroad at all hours. I hardly dared sleep two days +following, in the same place, lest in his wanderings he should have +come upon my couch and be there awaiting me. I lived under a reign of +terror, and the gloom that brooded over brake, tor, and fen spread to +the higher moors, where the hound had once been seen. But, gloom or no +gloom, I had to have food though every journey I made to the fen was +at the risk of my life. + +Generally I was through early enough to enable me, by hurrying, to +be back in my couch in gorse or heather before dawn. One morning, +however, I was so late that I decided to lie up for the day in the fen +rather than risk crossing the moors after daybreak. + +Through the mist that lay over the heart of the bog I could just make +out the tall clump of rushes where I meant to lie up if the slough +should yet prove firm enough to bear my weight. On striking the river, +which was much above the previous summer's level, I waded into the +water, and, to throw the hound out in the event of his following me, +floated some distance with the current before landing on the opposite +side. As I rustled through the flags and the belt of reeds, whose +dew-laden plumes were sparkling in the first rays of day, a heron rose +lazily and, skimming a reed bed, flew away towards the half-risen sun, +leaving me, as far as I could see, the sole tenant of the silent +marshland. Only the bare, flat quagmire now lay between me and my +harborage, and, anxious to be hidden from sight, I lost no time in +setting out across the treacherous surface. + +I selected a line which seemed to promise the firmest footing, and +stepped with all possible lightness. Yet, in spite of every care, I +sank deep in places, and midway the crust was so thin that for a while +I was in great danger of foundering. However, by putting forth all my +strength, I was able, at last, to free myself from the clutches of the +more liquid mire and reach the drier, sounder surface between it and +the rushes. I was indeed glad to feel the solid ground under my feet +once more. + +Had I realized the peril before setting out I should not have +attempted to cross. I ought, perhaps, to have turned back on striking +the dangerous zone; but, once embarked on an undertaking, it is not in +my nature to retreat, for there is that in a fox which makes him go +through with his purpose at all hazards, though it may compel him to +pass between the legs of the huntsman's horse or traverse a bog that +threatens to swallow him up. + +At last, exhausted and bemired, I entered the clump, whose shadow lay +like a wide road across that part of the quagmire where it fell, and +chose for my couch a tall heap of dead reeds just inside the wall of +pale green stems. It seemed to have served for a nest of the captive +wild swan, and had probably been floated to the spot by the subsiding +flood. + +To reach my bed I had to cross the stream which drained the pool +within the dense ring of bulrushes; and as I waded through it a +well-known scent reached my nostrils, and told me that the wiliest +creature of the night had also sought this isolated retreat to hover +in. I watched the sedgy islet whence the scent proceeded, expecting to +get a glimpse of the otter couching there; but he lay low and did not +expose a hair, despite the crackling of the reeds as I made my bed. + +I was free now to attend to my toilet and prepare for the rest I so +much needed. With my pads dirty as they were, sleep was out of the +question; so I licked them and my legs as clean as I could, and, thus +refreshed, soon dozed off, with a sense of security to which I had +long been a stranger. + +I slept soundly, without the horrid dreams of the previous weeks, +and was awakened at last by the hum of insects. A year before, when +I often lay in the fen, my ears would not have noticed this loud +undertone of noonday life; but latterly I had, for the most part, +kennelled in the moors, where were only noiseless butterflies and +lizards, silent as sphinxes. I was not really sorry to be disturbed, +for it was delightful to lie there, vaguely conscious of the warmth +of the sun and looking about me in a drowsy way. I turned my blinking +eyes now to the distant mere, sparkling at the end of a vista in the +reeds, now to the hoary summit of the tor seen against the blue sky, +and again to the water-insects at sport on a small pool just beyond +the black shadow which had crept up well-nigh to the foot of the +bulrushes. + +Presently, tiring of the view, I was about to drop asleep again, when +I heard a noise which, if it had been less violent, I should have +thought to be caused by an animal shaking itself. It was followed by a +commotion on the river-bank, and then, to my horror, the hound burst +through the reeds. He had followed my trail to that point, and guessed +where I was, for he kept looking at the clump, and even at the part of +it where I was crouching. He threw up his nose and sniffed the air, +as I could see by the working of his gleaming nostrils; but there was +no wind to carry the scent across the morass--not enough, indeed, to +stir he light feathery tops of the reeds behind him. + +Soon he advanced to the very edge of the bog and looked longingly at +the clump, as if he were eager to reach it but dared not risk the +crossing. At last, after running up and down the edge several times, +apparently in search of a hard place, he decided to brave the danger, +and with cat-like steps, ludicrous to watch in such a monster, began +the perilous passage. He was soon up to his knees, and the deeper he +went the greater my excitement grew. Every instant I expected to see +him sink out of sight. So sure of it did I feel that I almost ventured +to show myself and fling at the fiend the reproaches that crowded to +my tongue. But though his progress was very slow, he was inch by inch +reducing the distance that separated us. + +Before long he was near enough for me to hear the sucking noise made +by the slough as it reluctantly released its grip on the long muscular +legs. He did not pick and chose his way, or deviate by a reed's +breadth from the straight course that would bring him to the gap +in the belt of rushes made by the overflow. Now he was on the most +treacherous part of the quagmire, which shook with the struggle he +made to keep his head above the surface. With dilated pupils I watched +what must be his last efforts. I noted the rise of the mire on his +collar, till at last it rose no farther, but still he came on; and +then I noticed the liquid mud raised in front of him like the ripple +in front of a swan. Wading he must have been, though he looked exactly +as though he were swimming; and his great red tongue lolled out with +the frantic exertions. + +When he got nearer his feet must have found the bottom, for his +shoulders rose free of the surface; and I saw his hair bristle as +though something had suddenly angered him. He had scented me or the +otter, or both; and in his haste to add to the number of his victims, +he ploughed through the last score yards of mud like a mad creature. +Along the muddy bed of the overflow he toiled step by step; and the +instant he entered the pool, I rose to my feet, doubtful whether to +stay or retreat, and paused to listen before committing myself. + +At that moment I heard a sullen plunge, then another, as two otters +dived into the pool. Thinking there was safety in numbers, I decided +to remain in hiding rather than trust to my slight chance of escape +across the bog. The wild struggles of the hound told me he had viewed +the otters; but he must have lost them again for presently all was +very quiet, though I could hear him at times nosing the rushes and +ferns round the pool, as if in search of them. My eyes were as alert +as my ears, and soon caught a heave on the surface of the overflow and +the gleam of an otter's back as the creature rounded the shallow bend +leading to the river. A few seconds later I saw the other otter glide +noiselessly away, and then a great fear seized me as I realized that I +was left alone with the hound. + +Scarcely were my eyes back on the pool before he landed on the islet, +where he stood with the water dripping from his brindled coat, whilst +with nostrils raised he sniffed the air. As I watched him through the +stems, I became aware that he winded me; and when I saw him take to +the water and head straight; for my hiding-place, I stole silently but +swiftly away and, fearful of trusting to the muddy bed of the stream, +committed myself to the bog. + +I trod its treacherous surface as lightly as I could, but because of +the smallness of my feet I kept breaking through the crust, and made +only slow progress. Nevertheless I succeeded in getting farther than +I expected before the hound sighted me. As soon as he did he burst +through the rushes and, making a tremendous spring, landed within a +few yards of where I was struggling with the mire. + +This wild leap of his saved me. Had he been content to follow at his +best pace, the chances are that he would have caught me before I +could reach the bank of the river; but now, through the violence of +his fall, he was so deeply embedded that I gained many yards before +he could extricate himself. Indeed, by the time he had done so I +had reached the more liquid part of the morass where I had all but +foundered at sunrise. With the double danger threatening me, I exerted +myself even more than then; but, madly as I struggled, my progress +was not nearly as fast as that of the hound, now overhauling me. It +was horrible to hear this murderous fiend whimpering and whining in +his eagerness to get at me, and to feel that I was scarcely advancing +at all. I was like a fox in a nightmare, only I was never more wide +awake in my life. Fright however kept urging me on, and to my joy I at +last felt firmer ground under my feet. + +The bank gained, I turned my head for an instant, and saw my pursuer +seemingly stuck in the treacherous mud-belt; but I did not waste +precious time watching him. That he still reckoned me his I felt sure; +that I should escape I had little hope; nevertheless, I meant to do my +utmost to save my life. I galloped down-stream close to the water's +edge, took the otter's path across the neck of the bend, swam the +river, and on landing plunged into the great reed-brakes. + +On, on I went at my full speed, driven by mortal fear. I knew I was +not yet out of danger. Here a wild-duck rose in affright, there a +moorhen scurried out of my way; but I kept straight on past clumps of +osmunda ferns and flags, and across backwaters till at last, after +swimming a maze of water-ways, I came to the grassy promontory that +flanks the inflow of the river into the mere. + +For a moment I stood there irresolute. Should I take to the water or +trust to the bordering reeds? Whilst I hesitated, I thought I heard +the hound coming, and the next instant dropped into the stream. +Partly by swimming, but chiefly by the aid of the current, I succeeded +in reaching the nearest islet of the little archipelago that studded +the rippled expanse. There I hoped to find refuge from my relentless +pursuer. + +I had arrived only just in time, for, peeping through the sedgy growth +that covered my hiding-place, I saw the hound gallop to the end of the +promontory and stand gazing over the wide surface. Then he withdrew to +the brake that rose like a lofty wall about the mere. I could trace +his progress by the rising of the wild-fowl whose sanctuaries he +invaded, and later by the glimpse I got of the angered swan swimming +defiantly across the narrow opening of a big creek about which the +array of reeds was densest. I saw no further sign of the brute that +had so rudely violated the summer peace of the fenland, but wisdom +seemed to dictate that I should look elsewhere for a more peaceful +home. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Page 12: Changed "night" to "nights." + (Orig: And how short those night were!) + +Page 20: Changed "crusing" to "cruising." + (Orig: crusing restlessly up and down the turf) + +Page 23: Changed "noes" to "noses." + (Orig: turned up our noes at such food) + +Page 37: Changed "exhilirating" to "exhilarating." + (Orig: It was most exhilirating to be wandering) + +Page 40: Changed "thristing" to "thirsting." + (Orig: stealthy enemy thristing for its blood) + +Page 42: Changed "lucious" to "luscious." + (Orig: every bit of the lucious morsel) + +Page 53: Changed "malard" to "mallard." + (Orig: a loud quack the malard disappeared) + +Page 53: Changed "mallord" to "mallard." + (Orig: How he enjoyed the mallord,) + +Page 67: Changed "nothinginess" to "nothingness." + (Orig: dwarf into nothinginess the annoyances) + +Page 71: Changed "manteled" to "mantled." + (Orig: skimmed the brake that manteled the steep slope) + +Page 74: Changed "pursurers" to "pursuers." + (Orig: I should be able to elude my pursurers) + +Page 76: Changed "rocognized" to "recognized." + (Orig: he rocognized the bedraggled cub) + +Page 81: Changed "grievious" to "grievous." + (Orig: Chief of these are the grievious losses) + +Page 92: Changed "be" to "he." + (Orig: killed by the pack; be was the man who,) + +Page 103: Changed "waching" to "watching." + (Orig: It was bitter work waching with the gale in your teeth,) + +Page 132: Changed "pursurer" to "pursuer." + (Orig: and saw my pursurer seemingly stuck) + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44347 *** diff --git a/44347-h/44347-h.htm b/44347-h/44347-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e4fef5b --- /dev/null +++ b/44347-h/44347-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2657 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Master Reynard, by Jane Fielding</title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +.ph2, .ph3, .ph4, .ph6{ text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } +.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } +.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } +.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } +.ph6 { font-size: x-small; margin: 1.12em auto; } + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%; + margin-left: 27.5%; + margin-right: 27.5%;} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; + margin-left: 17.5%; + margin-right: 17.5%;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44347 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Master Reynard, by Jane Fielding</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 633px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="633" height="800" alt="cover" /> +</div> +<hr class="tb" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="431" height="600" alt="" /> +</div> + + + + +<h1>Master Reynard</h1> + +<p class="ph2"><i>The History of a Fox</i></p> + +<p class="ph4"><i>From Animal Autobiographies by J. C. Tregarthen</i></p> + +<p class="ph4">REVISED BY<br /> +<span class="ph3">JANE FIELDING</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="ph4">NEW YORK<br /> +<span class="ph3">A. L. CHATTERTON CO.</span> +</p> + + + +<p class="ph6"> +Copyright, 1913<br /> +A. L. CHATTERTON CO. +</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MASTER_REYNARD" id="MASTER_REYNARD">MASTER REYNARD</a></h2> + + +<p>The earth where I was born was far down the face of a steep cliff +and opened on a sloping shelf of turf, from the edge of which the +undercliff fell sheer to the sea. The entrance we used most was +slightly above the level of the springy sward and led by a small +tunnel to a roomy chamber where daylight never penetrated.</p> + +<p>There on the bare dry ground the vixen laid us—my two sisters and me. +If I was like the baby cubs I have since seen, I was born blind, my +muzzle was blunt and rounded, and my coat as black as a crow, the only +white about me being a few hairs in the tag of my tiny brush. Even at +the time when I first remember what I was like my fur was still a very +dark color and bore no resemblance to the russet hue of a full-grown +fox.</p> + +<p>This was a few weeks after my eyes were opened, when, after awaking +from our first sleep, we were in the habit of sunning ourselves just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +inside the mouth of the earth. It was there, with my muzzle resting on +the vixen's flank, that I got my earliest glimpse of the world. The +turf was then almost hidden by pink flowers, over the heads of which +I could see, between two of the pinnacles that bordered the ledge, +the sea breaking on a reef where the cormorants used to gather at low +water and stand with folded or outstretched wings until the rising +tide drove them to the big white rock beyond.</p> + +<p>So few things moved within our field of vision that every creature we +saw afforded us the keenest interest. Sometimes during days together +nothing stirred but the stems of the thrift and the surf about the +reef, for the sky was cloudless when the hot weather set in. Now and +again a red-legged crow came and perched on one of the pinnacles, +crying "Daw, daw!" until its mate joined it, and then, all too soon, +they took wing and flew away; at times a hawk or a peregrine would +glide by and break the monotony of our life.</p> + +<p>Our narrow green was dotted by five boulders, and one of these we +could see from the earth. On this our most frequent visitor alighted. +It was an old raven, who presently dropped to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> ground, walked up +to the remains of any fowl or rabbit lying near the heap of sandy soil +which my mother had scratched out when making the earth, and pecked, +pecked, pecked, until only the bones were left. Then, uttering his +curious "Cawpse, cawpse!" he would hop along the ground, flap his +big black wings, and pass out of sight. I feel sure that he saw us +watching him, for his eyes often turned our way.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, to our astonishment, a half-grown rabbit came lopping +along, and stopped to nibble the turf at a spot barely a good spring +from the vixen. She, usually very drowsy, half opened her eyes and +turned her face towards the intruder, but she did not rise to her +feet. We youngsters were beside ourselves with excitement, but were +not allowed to scramble over her side to drive away this audacious +trespasser on our private domain. This, I think, was owing to my +mother's great anxiety on our account.</p> + +<p>I have never known a vixen so determined that her cubs should lie +hidden by day; but then we were her first litter. She would constantly +warn us against venturing out whilst the sun was up. So particular +was she that we were not permitted to expose as much as our muzzles +outside the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> earth, though birds and rabbits moved about there freely. +We could not understand the restriction, and I fear that we thought it +unkind of her to confine us to a cramped, stuffy hole the summer day +through, when we longed to be gambolling about the sward or basking +in those warm corners under the boulders which retained some of their +heat even after the sun went down.</p> + +<p>It is true that I tried hard to get my liberty. Time after time, when +I thought she had dozed off, I endeavored to squeeze between her and +the low roof. It was of no use, though I used the utmost stealth and +trod as lightly as a feather. Never once did I catch her napping. On +the few occasions when I was on the point of succeeding she seized me +between her velvety lips and put me back in my place between my two +little sisters.</p> + +<p>Thus, by the kindest of mothers, I was disciplined in the ways of the +wild creatures, learning, by constant correction and example, that the +world outside the earth is denied to us by day, and is ours to move +and play and seek our prey in only by night.</p> + +<p>And how short those nights were! What a weary, weary time it was, +awaiting their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> approach! How impatiently we watched their slow +advent! how we tingled with delight in every limb on seeing the shadow +of the high boulder creep and creep across the turf until it reached +the pinnacle that had a patch of golden lichen on it! Then, as the sun +sank behind the headland, the nearer sea became sombre, the bright +expanse beyond darkened, and at last the stars would begin to show in +the sky. By this my mother had shaken off her drowsiness, the glow +had come back into her green eyes, and, rising to her feet, she would +leave the earth. If she detected no danger, she would call us to her. +What a moment that was! the pent-up energy of hours of restraint +breaking out in such rompings and runnings after our own brushes as +I have never seen in any other young creatures. Wearying at last of +these antics and of jumping over the back of the vixen, who watched +us with loving eyes, we settled down to the game of lurk and pounce +amongst the boulders. To our great delight, the vixen often joined in +this before setting out in search of food. Her nimbleness and skill in +dodging filled us with amazement. Like a flash she was on us; there +was no avoiding her rushes, though she always avoided ours,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> and her +movements were as silent as the passing of a shadow when a swift cloud +crosses the sun.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget those frolics in which she shared; they not only +were useful training for the life before us, as I afterwards realized, +but also induced in us a fondness for her so great that we could not +bear to have her out of our sight when she left us to seek the food we +needed. We would watch her as she followed the narrow track that wound +up the cliff, till from the rocks near the top she looked down to +assure herself of our safety before going inland. And that was not the +last we saw of her. Times and times I have caught sight of her bright +eyes glittering like twin stars on the summit of the ivy-covered scarp +where the magpies built.</p> + +<p>A more affectionate mother cubs never had; but for the life of me I +could not understand why she was so anxious about our safety: I had +neither seen nor heard anything in our little world to alarm me. +Whether she had or not I do not know, but she was haunted by the +dread of something, as I could tell by the way she used to look about +her and listen when watching our gambols, and by her starting at the +slightest unusual sound. Her nervousness made me nervous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> and, thus +infected by my mother's fears, I got to be afraid without in the least +knowing what there was to be afraid of.</p> + +<p>These vague fears were on two occasions the cause of false alarms. +Once, somewhere along the cliff a dry stick snapped. That was enough. +My sisters and I fled in terror to our den, where we were joined a +minute later by the anxious vixen who had just left us for a foraging +expedition. There was no danger: it was merely a lumbering badger +which crossed our playground later on; but I have learnt since that no +wild thing can hear the snap of a twig without alarm. The badger was a +strange-looking creature: his face was white, with black stripes from +ear to muzzle; his gray hair all but swept the ground; and he walked +not lightly on his toes as we do but heavily on the soles of his feet.</p> + +<p>At another time the whistling of harvest curlews frightened us almost +out of our lives. These were both needless terrors; but soon I was +brought face to face with evidence of a real enemy, the one, no doubt, +of whom my mother lived in such dread. It was not many days after the +coming of the whimbrels—for the moon, a mere sickle then, had not +waxed to half its full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> size—when two incidents occurred which proved +to me, a raw, heedless cub, that there was serious ground for fear. +Both happened in broad daylight, one close on the heels of the other.</p> + +<p>One drowsy noon we were watching from our usual place the old raven +pecking at the hind-quarters of a rabbit, when with an awful thud +a big stone struck the turf close to him, bounded off, and rolled +towards the corner of our playground. In a twinkling, before it had +stopped rolling, we had retreated to the very end of the earth and +there lay trembling, and wondering, even in our consternation, whether +the mischievous magpies, who had set up a sudden clamor, were not the +cause of our discomfiture. When we stole out in the quiet and dusk, +my mother walked straight to the stone and smelt it, and I, being +curious, must needs follow her example. What an awesome smell it had! +The scent was unlike anything I had sniffed before, and surely not the +scent of any beast of the field! The vixen, who stood there watching +me, noted the cold shiver it sent through my young limbs and seemed by +her expressive face to say: "The creature that tainted that stone is +the cause of all my fears," and, further, if I read aright the sad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +look that rose to her eyes: "He will prove your scourge as he has +proved mine." My story will tell whether it has been so.</p> + +<p>In our games that night I avoided the corner where the stone lay, and +so did my sisters. I noticed, too, that the vixen was away in quest +of food a shorter time than usual, and did not go out a second time +as she had generally done since our appetites had grown. We had, +therefore, to satisfy our hunger on the gosling she had brought. +This we broke up ourselves with our sharp milk teeth, chattering and +quarrelling as was our wont whilst the meagre feast lasted. The vixen +contented herself with a few old bones.</p> + +<p>The other incident was graver, causing injury to my mother. It +happened thus. She had gone out one night shortly after—for the moon +was still not quite full—but, though absent till nearly dawn, she +failed to procure any food. I remember our impatience at her long +absence and our disappointment on seeing her issue from the furze +without even a few mice in her mouth. However, there was no help for +it. The sun was reddening the sky near the horizon, so, supperless and +sullen, we curled ourselves up and fell asleep. On awakening, as we +did before our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> usual time, we began to cry pitifully for food, and +at length, driven to desperation by our complaints, the vixen stole +out at noon, not under cover of mist or fog but with the sun shining +in the bluest of skies. Ravenous with hunger, we crowded the mouth of +the earth, listening for the sound of her returning steps. Long, long +we harkened without catching any whisper of her approach. At last we +heard a muffled, double report, and after an interval the faint patter +of her pads. In my anxiety to see what she had brought I put my head +out and kept my eyes fixed on the run in the yellow furze through +which she always came. Never shall I forget my horror at what I saw. +Instead of her russet face with its black and white marking, her mask +below the eyes was all blood and dreadful to behold. I am ashamed to +say it, but her appearance terrified me, though I loved her as I loved +my life. She staggered into the earth, and took no more notice of us +than, if we had been strange cubs, which alarmed me more than her +dazed look. The reason of her plight was a puzzle to me, and though +the stone, with its horrid association, forced itself upon my notice +as a possible cause, I dismissed the idea that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> could have done the +injury, inasmuch as it was lying where it had rolled. No; in a vague +way I attributed her state to the daylight, so great had my fear of it +became. Ah me, how ignorant I was in those far-away days!</p> + +<p>We were free now to go and come as we listed, but, famished though we +were, not one of us attempted to leave the earth except to get a drink +of water, and we lay huddled together, looking out of the corners of +our eyes at our poor mother, as miserable and forlorn a litter of +foxes as could anywhere be found. In the depth of the night, however, +the pangs of hunger compelling us, we left the vixen, who seemed to +be asleep, and crept out. Being bigger than my sisters, I felt called +upon to take the lead, and neither of them showed any inclination to +dispute it with me. But where to take them, or how to get a supper, I +had not an idea.</p> + +<p>I am not going to cast one word of blame on my mother for delaying +to teach us to shift for ourselves. It was out of affection that +she kept us so long to the nursery; and how could she possibly have +foreseen the calamity that had so unexpectedly disabled her and thrown +us on our own resources? And, lest a suspicion of neglect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> towards +us should attach to her memory, I must here say what I have not yet +mentioned—that by the death of the dog-fox, my father, the burden +of our upbringing from the day of our birth fell wholly on my little +mother. What labor and sacrifice this must have meant! After we were +weaned, how often have I seen her go without her share of the prey +that we greedy cubs might suffer no sint! When has cliff or moor +witnessed greater devotion, greater unselfishness? And now she lay +in the earth so sorely wounded as to be indifferent to our helpless +plight. I will not dwell on my feelings, but they made it difficult to +focus my thoughts on the undertaking before me.</p> + +<p>For a minute or two I sat on my haunches near the big boulder, +considering gravely where I should go, my sisters the while +cruising restlessly up and down the turf with all the impatience of +irresponsibility, awaiting development. This to-and-fro movement of +theirs added to my bewilderment, and even the bats flitting about were +a trifle disconcerting to a cub with three routes to choose from, each +in its turn more inviting than the others.</p> + +<p>There was the patch leading to the upper cliff;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> there was, I assumed, +a way down the undercliff; and there was, I knew, a track between the +two which the badger had worn. I have never been up the cliff, and +after the vixen's recent experience dared not go, though it was night, +and nothing stirred but the reeds about our drinking-place and the +leaves of the gnarled tree where the magpies built.</p> + +<p>In the end I decided, if I could find a way, to go down the cliff. +There was a sandy cove below that I had often longed to reach in +my mother's absence, but my strength was unequal to the descent. I +determined to try to go there now. So, leading the others past the +little basin where we quenched our thirst, I brought them along the +cliff to a place where the sheer precipice changed into a succession +of ledges, down which we leaped until brought to a standstill above a +wall of nearly perpendicular rock. It was impossible to reach the flat +shelf below by leaping: we should have broken our bones; and there +we stood staring over the brink at the smooth rock beneath us, and +wondering how we could pass it.</p> + +<p>Again my sisters looked to me to take the lead, so, putting forth all +the power of my untried claws, I began, brush first, to crawl down +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> fissure that lay aslant the precipitous face of the great slab. +This I followed, partly by feeling with my hind claws where foothold +permitted a firm grip, partly by turning my face and seeing where +the easiest line of descent lay. At last I succeeded in reaching the +bottom without mishap. My sisters imitated me, coming down more easily +than I had done, probably on account of their greater skill and lesser +weight.</p> + +<p>A creek, too wide to jump, now separated us from the sand, but, taking +to the water, we waded until we lost bottom, and then, for the first +time in our lives, by swimming crossed deep water. More bedraggled +creatures than we looked on landing it would be difficult to imagine; +but we shook ourselves from muzzle to tag, making the spray fly from +our wet coats, and set about searching for something to eat. Where +the beach met the cliff was a cave that ran a long way in and had two +lesser caves opening out of it. We explored these without finding in +either of them anything except dry seaweed and pieces of cork, so we +retraced our steps and made for the other side of the cove. There, +just beyond the ribs of a wreck that projected from the sand, we +came on a big jelly-fish. Though we should have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> turned up our noses +at such food in ordinary times, it was a windfall in our famished +condition, and we swallowed the quivering mass with gusto, sand and +all. Good food or bad, it filled our stomachs and stopped the gnawing +pangs of hunger.</p> + +<p>We then clambered to the top of some rocks that stood out above the +sand, and found there a small pool of water, temptingly clear. Being +thirsty after our meal, we began to lap it. Ugh! it was nasty to the +taste, but, what was worse, the mistake was a blow to my conceit, for +I was humiliated by the reproachful glances my sisters shot at me. +To avoid them I raised my eyes, and, as I did so, caught sight of +the vixen on the cliff at the spot where we had taken to the ledges. +Then it came home to me that I had done wrong to leave the earth +without her, and, fearing she would be angry, I hid myself amongst +the rocks, as did my sisters. The vixen, usually quick as lightning +in her movements, came but very slowly down the cliff on the line +we had taken, and as slowly crossed the sand to the cave. This she +entered, and for a time was lost to view. My inclination nearly led me +to quit my hiding-place and go after her; but again fear checked me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +and I remained where I was. On leaving the cave, she with difficulty +followed our trail to the spot where we had eaten the jelly-fish, and, +not seeing us, seemed to lose heart, for she sank to the ground and +called us with a most piteous cry, which at once drew us to her side. +I can see even now the delight on her poor face as we bounded towards +her across the sand that separated us. After licking us with her +swollen tongue, she led us up the cliff by a much easier path than the +one we had followed in descending, and we soon reached the level of +our earth. We proceeded towards it in single file by the narrowest of +paths, passing our usual drinking-place, where for a reason I am going +to explain, the supply was so scanty that we found barely enough water +to quench our thirst. The vixen was curled up at the mouth of the den +when we reached it, and we had to climb over her back to get to our +sleeping-places.</p> + +<p>A short period free from troubles followed, during which my mother +rapidly recovered. Nevertheless, the wounds on her face were barely +healed when there befell one of the greatest calamities of my eventful +life—a calamity that was near putting an end to us all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>Before attempting to describe it, I must mention the sufferings we +endured in the days following our adventure down the cliff, through +the gradual drying up of the water that supplied our drinking-place. +Night after night, when we repaired to the basin that the falling +water had hollowed in the rock, I had noticed that the stream, which +came from some hidden source beneath a pile of boulders, got smaller +and smaller, and, after the very hot weather set in, dwindled to +a mere trickle. To such a thin thread did it shrink that from the +mouth of the earth, which was not many yards away, we could no longer +hear it splashing into the basin. Now and then, especially when some +animal, generally the badger, had been there before us, we were driven +to such an extremity as to be compelled to lick the dew off the turf +to cool our tongues until the water had collected again.</p> + +<p>It was a terrible time. To this day we speak of the year of my birth +as the Dry Year, and indeed I, who was a May fox, was nearly three +moons old before I saw rain, which fell on the afternoon of the day +when the curlews' whistling scared us. I remember, though not as +vividly as the rainbow seen that day, the embrowned turf<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> of our +playground being dotted with slugs which the downpour had enticed out +of the sunless crevices of the rocks.</p> + +<p>The rain had ceased before nightfall, and the following day the sky, +which had been black and lowering, became as cloudless as before, +whilst the heat, previously intense, became well-nigh unbearable. +Hour after hour we lay in the deep shade of the bracken fronds at +the entrance, panting for breath and longing for the water we were +not allowed to get before dusk. At the first sign of twilight, +and even whilst the after-glow suffused the sky, we rushed to the +drinking-place, our three masks completely filling the basin, which +we soon lapped dry. Almost as refreshing as the water we swallowed +was the cool spray—despite the rain it was no more—that fell on our +heads from the lip of the rock above.</p> + +<p>For several days from dawn to dusk we thus endured the agony of +parching thirst, till at last, when our tongues lolled out, and one of +my sisters showed signs of utter exhaustion, the vixen so far yielded +to our entreaties as to permit us to slink out, one by one, to drink.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately we could not reach the reeds about the water without +exposing ourselves to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> eyes of the magpies overhead. On spying +us they set up such a clamor that every bird and beast for a great +distance along the cliffs must have known that a fox was moving, and +rejoiced at our misfortune.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;"> +<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="427" height="600" alt="THESE BLACK AND WHITE PESTS." /> +<div class="caption">"THESE BLACK AND WHITE PESTS."</div> +</div> + +<p>We have many enemies, but none whom we despise so much as magpies, +crows, and jays. Their treatment of us is as unprovoked as it is +insulting. We have never injured them, and yet, as I shall tell later, +the pariahs of the wild, that gorge on our unburied kills, seek every +opportunity of betraying us.</p> + +<p>Those cliff magpies, at whose tongues we suffered such indignities, +must have spent their days in watching our movements. After my sisters +had had their drink, it took hours for the basin to refill, yet as +soon as my muzzle projected beyond the bracken when I went to take my +turn, the hateful wretches would cry out, "There he is!"</p> + +<p>I never grew indifferent to this daily annoyance, and in a rage I used +to lap up what water there was in choking haste, so as to escape the +mobbing of these black and white pests who flew just beyond my reach, +and at times even brushed with their wings the tops of the tall reeds +about the basin.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>We were not the only sufferers from the drought. Indeed everything +suffered, and most of all perhaps the herbage. The thrift and white +campion that covered the ledges, the ferns that found root-hold in the +crannies and crevices of the rocks, and the stone-crop and lichens +growing on the rocks themselves, drooped and withered; and at last +the boggy ground above the drinking-place caked and dried, so that +the reeds turned yellow, and rattled rather than swished when the +night wind stirred them. Under the scorching sun the thread of water +shrank and shrank until it dripped drop by drop, and finally dried up +altogether. At my last visit to the drinking-place the smooth basin +was hot with the fierce rays, and the moss about the edge of the +rock above was nearly as moistureless as the crinkled lichen on the +pinnacles.</p> + +<p>In these conditions it was impossible to remain where we were, and +that night my mother reluctantly decided to abandon our home and to +lead us up the cliff. Would that she had taken us the moment the stars +showed, instead of waiting until deep night; for the delay nearly +proved fatal to us all. A fox's life is so short that he cannot forget +even the groundless scares his fears make him the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> victim of, so it +is not to be wondered at that the events of the night I am about to +describe are almost as vivid to me still as at the time they happened.</p> + +<p>My sisters had returned once more from the dried-up basin to which +they had been some five or six times since sunset, and joined me where +I lay near the mouth of the earth, waiting for the dew to fall and +listening for the footsteps of the vixen who had gone to get ready the +new lair. It was a beautiful night—the sea calm, and the surf about +the reef alight with phosphorescence, whilst the furze-bushes and the +clump of brambles near the reeds were dotted with glow-worms. There +was even a solitary one on the drooping bracken above the entrance. +A wind of summer strength stirred the withered herbage and murmured +around the precipitous crags above our heads, but, save the boom from +the great cave below when the tide rose, all was still. Suddenly, +without warning of any kind, there came a flash of light from the +cliffs above the sandy cove where we had eaten the jelly-fish. It died +away and then returned, more brightly than before. It was not nearly +so fierce as the lines of fire I had seen zigzagging the black sky +on the afternoon of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> heavy rain, nor was there any thunder with +it as then, but there was a strange, crackling noise, as of animals +crunching bones.</p> + +<p>Immediately flames leapt in great tongues from the brambly thicket +beyond the reeds. These drove us to the den; and there we crouched +listening to the awful sound, which grew louder and louder. Soon a +faint glare lit up a part of the earth as far in as the spot where two +rocks narrowed the tunnel. Before this I was on the point of bolting; +but now fear seized my limbs and I could not rise, could only crouch +closer and closer to the earth like my sisters. Whilst we lay there +huddled together and crying out for the vixen she returned, darkening +the tunnel as she came towards us. Scarcely had she joined us when an +evil-smelling fog rolled in, causing us to keep our muzzles close to +the ground. Then the fire swept past the earth, lighting it up to the +end where we lay. Panic-stricken though I was, I remember noticing how +the smooth floor gleamed, and how curiously the light glowed on the +vixen's fur. Suddenly the heat became less intense, and a current of +fresh air entering the earth revived us as we lay panting at the point +of suffocation.</p> + +<p>The crackling and roar of the flames had long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> died away before we +dared to quit our sanctuary, and when at last we ventured to the mouth +of the earth, what a sight met our gaze! Our playground was charred, +except for a narrow strip near its edge, and towards this a thin line +of fire moved slowly, blotting out the criss-cross tracks we had worn +between the boulders. A ring of sparks encircled the raven's perch, +and crept higher and higher, consuming the lichen, and leaving bare +rock in its train; where the brambles had stood was a heap of glowing +ash; grasses and reeds had disappeared; in short, the place which had +been our little world and of which we knew every blade and spray, was +as nearly past recognition as a corn-field after harvest. Away towards +the west great ruddy flames leapt from the furze brake and lit up sky +and sea and headland with such a lurid light as I had never seen; +whilst on the near slopes a hundred smaller fires flickered and died, +to blaze again and re-illuminate the great piles of bared rock. Sparks +falling from above showed that the ivy round the home of the magpies +had not escaped; and as the birds had mobbed me most unmercifully that +very day, I rejoiced in their misfortune.</p> + +<p>The vixen, satisfied at last that she might venture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> forth, took up +my puny sister, who was then unable to stand, and set out for the +steep path by which she usually reached the top of the cliff. My other +sister and I trod closely on her heels as she picked her way over the +heated ground and skirted the glowing remains of the furze-bushes. In +the ascent my pads were rather badly burnt and my fore-legs singed +by a fire which suddenly broke out in some smouldering heather into +which they sank. The glimpse I got of the face of the precipice showed +that the ivy had lost all its leaves, the bared stems standing out +plainly against the black fissures that seamed the great wall of rock +besprinkled with sparks which in their fall resembled shooting stars.</p> + +<p>When we reached the summit we could hear the magpies calling out, +but, to do them justice, they were not mobbing us then. Once beyond +the blackened ground we ranged up one on each side of the vixen, and +after crossing fields of stubble and turnips and getting far beyond +the reek of the burning, we caught the scene of the brook for which +she was making. We struck it where it wound through marshy ground on +the outskirts of a furze brake, and in a trice were up to our bellies +in the delicious cool stream with our tongues hard at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> work. The water +was cold and sweet; there was plenty of it, and we lapped and lapped +as long as we could take in a drop. In all my life I never again +enjoyed a drink like that, and the mud that stuck to my legs seemed to +soothe the pain of the burns.</p> + +<p>My little sister was able to follow us now without assistance, but the +vixen, who was exhausted with carrying her so far, went at a walking +pace between the stems of the furze and kept looking back to see that +she was keeping up with us, though she took no notice whatever of my +other sister who was going on three legs, or of myself whose poor feet +were so tender that I hardly dared touch the ground.</p> + +<p>Emerging from the furze we came upon a circle of turf, where we +caught sight of at least a dozen rabbits scurrying to the holes that +honey-combed the ground at the foot of a high cairn. One of these had +been enlarged, as the heap of fresh earth showed, and into it the +vixen led us to a dry and sweet-smelling den, where she left us, to +procure food. In there it seemed as still as death to us who had had +the roar of the sea in our ears all our lives, but the lair was very +comfortable, and roomy enough for us to stand side by side whilst<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +the vixen distributed the rabbit she presently brought us. We found, +too, on curling ourselves up, that, big as we were, we could lie close +together without trespassing on the tunnel as we had latterly done in +the cliff earth. So, as we were thoroughly weary, we soon forgot the +dangers we had passed and fell asleep, our mother lying between us and +the opening, as was her invariable custom.</p> + +<p>I was startled out of my sleep by a stamping overhead, caused by the +rabbits in the heart of whose burrow we were lying. The noise, which +broke out again and again just as I was on the point of dropping +off, irritated me so much that at last I got on my hind-legs, thrust +my muzzle into the hole in the roof, and breathed loudly through +my nostrils. This snorting was not without result, for after the +stampede that followed there was quiet for a long time. Nevertheless +the tiresome creatures had spoilt my day's rest and, try as I might, +I could not doze off again. My sisters slept through it all, and the +vixen showed no sign of being disturbed, except that she half opened +her eyes when the rabbits scampered over the spot where she lay. +It was very early, as I could tell by the scent of the furze that +stole along the tunnel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> and almost overpowered the flavor of rabbit, +from which the den was never quite free. To pass the weary hours I +licked the mud off my legs, which still smarted, and, whilst I did +so, thought of our narrow escape, and wondered in a vague way whether +fires were to be numbered amongst the regular troubles of a fox's life.</p> + +<p>At length the vixen roused herself, and when the coolness and smell of +the air warned her that the sun had set, she rose and led us forth, +not for our usual gambols, but, as it proved, for our first lesson +in hunting. I suspected something unusual was afoot the moment she +ordered us to follow her across the stream, whither she had taken us +to drink; and the further we got from the earth, the more excited +I grew at the prospect of the adventures before us. It was most +exhilarating to be wandering over the broad, high country, which, in +comparison with our ledge at the foot of the precipice, seemed like +the roof of the world. For nights and nights past I had yearned to +accompany my mother on her rounds, and the unexpected gratification of +my intense longing thrilled every fibre of my being. So great was my +excitement that I quite forgot not only a loose milk tooth that had +been worrying me, but even the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> tenderness of my poor pads, on which I +had with difficulty limped to the drinking-place.</p> + +<p>The vixen ran steadily some dozen paces in front, and side by side +we cubs followed in her train, noiselessly as shadows. It fascinated +me to watch her lissom movements as she stole along, and to note the +ripples that ruffled her smooth coat when she crossed the broken +ground. We had passed over one hill and were breasting the next beyond +before I began to wonder what we were going to see and how soon, and +then, without warning, she reared on her hind-legs, listened with ears +erect, and pounced on something in a patch of rushes, in which she +buried her long muzzle. The next instant she came trotting back to my +little sister, and gave her the mouse she held between her lips. Her +quick hearing had detected its movements in the undergrowth.</p> + +<p>But mousing was apparently not the chief business of the night, for, +without dwelling, she stepped across the dried-up runnel which the +rushes fringed, and headed for the craggy ridge above. In her progress +up the steep slope she kept scanning the ground to right and left of +the trail as if she expected at any moment to see the prey she was in +search of, and when near the crest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> she crouched and crawled forward +with the utmost caution. With breathless excitement we wormed our +bodies along in her wake, as though we had been trained to it. But we +had not; we were imitating her instinctively, and kept our distance as +faithfully as the shadow of her brush that darkened the moonlit ground +in front of us.</p> + +<p>On reaching the ridge I could not help shifting my gaze to glance +at the wide marshland below us, so strikingly unlike any scene my +young eyes had looked on. Here and there on the level expanse sheets +of water and a winding stream shone like silver, and from the great +reed-beds about them came a soft voice like the murmur of waves on a +distant beach. This was the expression of a stolen instant, and no +sooner were my eyes back on the vixen than she sank to the ground as +though she had suddenly lost the use of her legs. We did the same. +This pleased her, as I could tell by the expression of satisfaction +in the eager face which she turned slowly towards us and as slowly +withdrew, brushing aside as she did so the dry bents that rose a good +way up her long ears.</p> + +<p>At first I wondered what she had found, as the only living +things visible to me were some rabbits far below on the lip of a +funnel-shaped warren.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> But presently over her head I saw the tips of +the ears of a rabbit quite close to us, and my heart began to thump +as it had perhaps never done before. The sight of the living prey had +awoke in me the dormant spirit of the hunter that has hardly slumbered +since; and not in me only—my sisters were evidently as excited as I +was, for their brushes were lashing mine as wildly as mine did theirs.</p> + +<p>The rabbit meanwhile winded danger and, as its nostrils showed, kept +sniffing the air to try and locate it. When it succeeded, its eyes +fell, not on a stealthy enemy thirsting for its blood but—so sudden +was the vixen's change of attitude and demeanor—on a harmless, +playful fox rolling on her back as I had seen her roll in utter +guilelessness a hundred times. The rabbit started, as well it might, +and I expected to see it dive into its hole; but, marvellous to +relate, instead of seeking safety it regained its composure and +resumed its nibbling on an almost bare patch, towards which the +assumed frolics of the vixen and the slant of the ground were leading +her. Then, with one of the lightning-like rushes which made her look +a blurred mass even to our quick eyes, she was on it, and when she +faced us the rabbit's head and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> hind-quarters hung limp as she held it +across her mouth.</p> + +<p>On witnessing the kill we cubs jumped to our feet, eager to partake of +the first course of our supper. But when we attempted to take it from +her mouth, to our amazement the vixen snarled at us as she had never +done before. My little sister, to whom she had always been so tender, +was the last to try, and, incredible as it may seem, the vixen turned +on her like a fury.</p> + +<p>Nothing but my desire to record faithfully the impressions of that +time would make one own that I considered my mother unnatural and +cruel in denying food to the weakling among her cubs. If the water +which had cooled our parched throats the night before scalded us +we should not have been so taken aback as by this sudden change of +conduct on her part. It was simply incomprehensible. Had something +outside our knowledge caused her to turn against us? If not, what did +she mean by her harshness?</p> + +<p>It did occur to me that this unaccountable behavior might be feigned, +and that presently she would drop the rabbit at our feet and be again +the affectionate mother she had always been. Indeed, I watched her +out of the corners of my eyes from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> the spot to which I had retired, +expecting to see her snarl relax into a grin. But in this I was +disappointed, for, on reaching a ledge below, to which we followed +her at a respectful distance, she devoured every bit of the luscious +morsel before our eyes, though she knew well enough that we were +ravenously hungry. The delicious smell of the hot entrails which the +wind brought us put the keenest edge on my appetite—already sharp +set by the previous night's shortness—and with the strong craving to +satisfy it came the novel thought of satisfying it with a rabbit of +my own catching. The bunnies were still playing about on the edge of +the warren, and whilst the vixen kept shifting her gaze from them to +me, licking her blood-stained lips, the lesson she wished to teach +suddenly flashed upon me, and the explanation of her conduct was +complete. She was saying as plainly as could be: "There is your prey. +I have shown you how to catch it. Go and get your own supper." I +required no further prompting. Then and there I began my first stalk +under the eyes of all I loved in the world.</p> + +<p>Summoning my untried powers, I wormed myself over the ground towards +a single bush that screened me from the observation of most of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +rabbits. Its shelter gained, I looked back and up to where three pairs +of green eyes regarded my every movement, and then peeped with the +utmost caution round the corner of the furze towards my prey. The +bunnies were all there and thoroughly alert, and so disconcerting did +I find their united gaze that I drew my head back to consider the +situation. When I peeped again half their number showed their white +scuts and went to ground, and the other half seemed prepared to follow +their example.</p> + +<p>Satisfied that direct approach was out of the question, I walked +aslant the slope towards a piece of flat ground on a level with the +warren, as though I were engaged on some engrossing pursuit in that +direction. As I went I did not even squint at the rabbits, though it +cost me an effort to look straight before my muzzle. My simulated +detachment from my prey must, I felt sure, have excited the admiration +of my dear mother, and so must the thoroughness with which I gave +myself over to the antics that took me at first farther and farther +away and then nearer and nearer to the few remaining rabbits, whose +curiosity had got the better of their fears. The silly creatures were +quite taken in by the capers I cut, and one at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> realized his +danger too late, for ere he could reach his hole I snapped him up and +bore him up the hill towards the vixen.</p> + +<p>Insignificant as the incident appears to me now, it was one of the +greatest events of my life. Every fox is proud of his first skill, +and I was no little elated by mine. Indeed, I felt I must make some +sort of demonstration in honor of the occasion. Imagine me, then, a +handsome young dog-fox, head erect, ears pricked, brush on end and +well fluffed out, trotting along on the very tips of my toes with +my first rabbit between my jaws, and you have a picture of me as I +swaggered over the bare turf in the moonlight, before the eyes of my +admiring mother and jealous sisters. I shall never forget the pride I +felt nor the inner voice that kept whispering, "You are able to get +your own living now, my boy, but don't be too highly elated!"</p> + +<p>I got on rapidly after this my first experience. How could I do +otherwise, with such a clever and painstaking little mother as I had +to instruct me in the wiles and ways of our craft? In a short time I +became expert not only in catching young rabbits, rats, moles, and +mice, but in picking up the feathered prey that frequented fen and +hillside.</p> + +<p>Of course I met with many disappointments;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> pheasants, partridges and +wild-duck often escaped my clutches when I already considered them +mine. My failures were due chiefly to inexperience, but in a measure +also to the intrusion of other foragers, who turned up at critical +moments and ended for me the work of hours. On one occasion a hunted +hare passed between me and a covey of partridges I was drawing up to; +but the birds, who squatted in a circle with their heads outwards, +as their custom is, did not rise until a pack of stoats came along +on his line, and with their noisy yelpings broke the silence of the +roosting-place. On another, the sudden appearance of a poaching cat +defrauded me of a pheasant on the edge of the pine-wood; but that +night I killed before the darkness faded, and had buried what I could +not eat before the vixen raised the "dawn" cry.</p> + +<p>After good hunting we used to romp home together over the furze-dotted +land or across the fen, and from sheer high spirits vixen and cubs +alike used to bound over the bushes or clumps of rushes and sags +across our path. Week after week nothing happened to disturb our peace +or excite our fears, but, for all our apparent security, we were never +abroad at sunrise unless a thick fog lay over the land.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>In those expeditions I used latterly to separate myself from the vixen +on reaching the hunting-ground and seek my prey alone, rejoining her +when she sounded the call to leave the trail or ambuscade. In this way +I became more and more independent, and at times would turn a deaf +ear to her summons. Twice I was so belated that the pools by the way +reflected the rosy fore-glow of the dreaded sun as I scurried past +them.</p> + +<p>I may have spent a month in the vixen's company before I could make +up my mind to shake off her authority and forage where I pleased. She +was conscious that I chafed at the restraint which she considered +necessary, and was no doubt prepared for the serious step I had +resolved on. Nevertheless, when the night came, it was not without a +sense of shame at breaking away from one who had been so tender and +forbearing that I sidled past her where she sat outside the earth +playing with my sisters. I had rather expected she would exercise +her authority and call me back. Though she stopped her gambols and +looked wistfully at me, she made no protest, and I passed on my way +unchallenged; but I was glad when the bushes hid me from her sight +and from the questioning eyes of my sisters, who seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> very much +astounded at my going off alone.</p> + +<p>Soon after crossing the stream I began to rehearse the plan I had +surreptitiously formed in the earth. As it promised success, I decided +to go through with it, though a darker night would have suited my +purpose better. Clouds indeed there were, but white and fleecy, only +slightly veiling the light of the full moon, which shone very brightly +as it crossed the deep blue spaces between. The self-confidence I +felt in the earth had been oozing out of me as I threaded my lonely +way through brake and reed-bed, but it returned when, after trotting +across the quaking bog that trembled under my light steps like a +jelly-fish, I came at last in sight of the pool where I intended to +lie in wait for wild-fowl.</p> + +<p>Although I had taken a short cut over the treacherous morass to +forestall the duck, I feared that they might have settled in the water +before I reached my ambush, and it was with eager eyes that I scanned +the surface from a clump of rushes on a finger of land that jutted a +little way into the pool. All was well! Not a bird floated on the open +water between the beds of lilies or in the lanes between the floating +grasses. The only things that caught my eye were a moorhen and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> the +trail of light she left behind her as she swam the gloomy water, which +was shadowed by some alders.</p> + +<p>Crossing the baked and cracked mud left exposed by the sunken pool, +I entered the water, swam over to the islet, and secreted myself on +the margin of a tiny creek just above a line of stranded feathers. +There, screened from the keen eyes of flighting wild-fowl, I began my +vigil with all the hope that waits on inexperience. Crouching beneath +my ambush, I heard a few distant cries, which came, I should think, +from birds feeding on the edge of the tide. So faint were they as to +be audible only when the fitful breeze lulled and the tall, feathery +reeds about the pool ceased rustling.</p> + +<p>Presently, from the water between two lily-beds a silvery fish jumped +thrice in quick succession, as if pursued by some invisible foe; of +the latter I saw no sign, unless its presence was indicated by a swirl +in the water near where the fish fell. The long silence which followed +was broken at last by a swish of wings—an inspiriting sound after +the tedious wait—and some wild-fowl wheeled in a wide circle above +my head before settling on one of the many pools that glistened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> on +the wide marshland below them. As I lost the sound, I feared that the +birds had dropped in elsewhere, but round they came again, and, with a +splash that made me tingle with excitement, a mallard and three ducks +alighted on the water midway between the islet and the reeds. They +were evidently ill at ease, though they seemed to me so secure that I +could not imagine what they could be so suspicious of—certainly not +of the peregrine that harassed them at sunrise; and at the time I knew +nothing of the monster pike that tenanted the pool, and took toll of +feather as well as of fin. Could it be that they had got some inkling +of my presence? I crouched absolutely motionless whilst their restless +eyes searched the tangle on the island, and when they stared at the +patch where I was hiding I scarcely dared to breathe.</p> + +<p>Before settling down to feed they cruised restlessly up and down, +and even whilst they gobbled the green weed they kept looking so +persistently my way that I began to think they could scent me, though +they had only bills for noses. I had marked the mallard for my prey. +He was a plump bird, and I had to keep my tongue from licking my +lips at the prospect of the feast; for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> he was very tempting to an +appetitie sated of rabbit, and by this time I knew every feather of +the plumage that covered his juicy flesh. Just then it vexed me to +hear the vixen's call, far off though it was, as I feared she might +hit my trail, follow it, and spoil my hunting. Her yapping caused all +four birds to raise their heads and listen, but they showed no further +sign of alarm, as every creature of the wild knows that dead silence +precedes the kill and that it need have no dread of a noisy fox.</p> + +<p>The ducks were near enough now for me to see the least movement of +the mallard's eyes, the white of which, even when his head was down, +showed that he was in deadly fear of something. "Fool!" thought I, +"eat your supper in peace; but when you land on the mud of the creek, +where lie yesternight's imprints of your webbed feet, then look about +you."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 425px;"> +<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="425" height="600" alt="HIS BEADY EYES GLEAMED." /> +<div class="caption">"HIS BEADY EYES GLEAMED."</div> +</div> + +<p>And yet I was mistaken; at that instant an enemy was within a few +yards of him. I had warning of its approach, for I saw the moonlight +catch a heave of the water, just as from the cliff I had seen it +catch the glassy surface of the curling wave; but in my inexperience +I never dreamt that the glint could be caused by a rival<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> for the +bird. I was now to learn better, as with a great flapping of wings and +a loud quack the mallard disappeared below the surface. I remember +nothing about the three ducks for I nearly jumped out of my skin; and +my stupefaction was complete when I saw a big animal appear at the +surface and leave the water with the mallard in his mouth.</p> + +<p>The sight of this brute with my bird enraged me so much that at +first I was on the point of springing across the creek and taking +it from him. I would have done so had he been only half his size, +but I was afraid of the strong, queer-looking creature. His body was +very long, his legs short but massive, and his tail, which tapered +to a point, stretched across the mud and just touched the water. He +had no ears—at least, nothing worth the name; his eyes were small, +his whiskers very long and white, and his jaws so heavy that they +frightened me. How he enjoyed the mallard, the rascal! How his beady +eyes gleamed until he saw me back out of my ambush; and then what +an evil look rose to them! That was enough to scare me without the +frightful grimace and hissing that accompanied it.</p> + +<p>I lost no time in getting out of sight of such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> a horror. I crossed +the pool, dreading at every stroke that the fearsome beast would +seize me from beneath, as he had seized the mallard, pull me under, +and—disgusting thought!—perhaps eat me. I looked back on landing, +and again when I reached the reeds; then, as I saw no trace of him and +had dry land in front, I cursed him to my heart's content. I had been +deprived of my supper in the last watch of the night, and it would +take me all my time to reach the earth before dawn, even by way of the +quaking bog. I gnashed my strong teeth as I hurried across the fen, +swearing that I would be avenged on that thief if chance threw me in +his way again; and though a fox may not be able to choose place and +time, he generally gets his wrongs righted in the end. I own that for +the moment the sight of the strong, fierce brute must have unnerved +me; why else should the rustling of a vole on the bank of our own +stream scare me so and cause me to run home in breathless haste?</p> + +<p>When I reached the earth the vixen and my sisters were lying near the +entrance, looking as happy and contented as mother and whelps can +look. With misfortune written on my crestfallen face, I stood before +them bedraggled and panting,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> as complete a picture of misery as can +well be imagined. My mother looked me up and down with sympathetic +eyes that told her thoughts, and though she never said a word I read +in their varying expressions: "You are miserable and discomfited, my +cub; you are evidently paying dear for your freedom. Nevertheless I +admire your independence and, for all your wayward spirit, I am proud +of you."</p> + +<p>Crimson streaks marked the low sky to the east before I followed the +others to the den for, rather than retire supperless, I stayed outside +to crunch a few dry bones. It had been a most unsatisfactory night's +hunting, and, though I tried hard to get the evil-looking brute with +the webbed feet out of my mind, I seemed, even till I fell asleep, to +be watching that rascally otter lying his full length and holding in +his fore-paws the fattest mallard I had ever seen.</p> + +<p>Despite my disappointment and fear, I resolved to visit the fen again +a few nights later, and it vexed me greatly when the vixen objected +and insisted that I should join her and my sisters in an expedition +to the hill beyond it. I was sulky at the start, and lagged behind +the others all the way across the marshland, but I closed up when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +we breasted the hill, and shook off the last traces of ill-temper on +seeing the vixen steal towards an enclosed field some little distance +down from the crest. I watched her closely whilst she reconnoitered at +a gap in the rude stone wall, and, from the fixity of her gaze, felt +almost sure that she espied game. All doubt was dispelled when, with +the stealthiest of movements, she came back to me and, as if I was the +most amiable cub in the world and worthy of the post of honor, led me +round to the meuse through which the game had entered the field, and +left me to watch it.</p> + +<p>As I lay there, within a spring of the scent-tainted run that recalled +a trail I had once followed on the fen, I became uncontrollably +curious to see the animal that had but shortly before passed along +it. I felt sure the creature was in the field, and no sooner had the +vixen disappeared round the corner of the long wall than I left my +hiding-place, crawled up the face of the enclosure as quietly as a +fly, and peeped through a break in the top whence a stone had fallen. +Ah! there he was, for all the world like an immense rabbit, nibbling +the clover right out in the middle of the square field. Of course I +ought to have returned to my ambush at once, but curiosity held me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +the spot, and whilst I was taking a last look, I caught sight of the +vixen stealing over the wall on the further side into the tangle that +filled the corner and, in fact, grew all round the field at the foot +of the wall. In this she was lost to view, till presently her mask +appeared again between some seeding thistles about thirty yards from +the unsuspicious hare.</p> + +<p>Now began one of the most thrilling stalks I ever witnessed, though, +owing to the astonishing way the vixen hid herself, I could see little +of her but her ears. To have rendered herself so inconspicuous she +must have grovelled along on her belly in some slight hollow of the +ground not visible to me; for the clover was not more than an inch +high and of itself afforded very little concealment. The nearer she +got the more excited I became; and for the life of me I could not +understand—even now I cannot understand—why the hare, of all animals +the timidest and most watchful, neither saw, heard, nor scented her. +Inch by inch the clever little stalker wound her way until nearer +approach without discovery must have been impossible. I was wondering +why she delayed making one of her lightning-like rushes, when, with +a tremendous bound, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> hare started off in a direction wide of my +station. The vixen, who was in swift pursuit, made a desperate effort +to turn him; but in this she would have failed, despite her wonderful +fleetness, had not my little sister, whether by accident or design I +do not know, suddenly showed herself at the gate for which the hare +was heading. This had the effect of sending him towards the meuse I +had been set to watch and of reminding me of my duty.</p> + +<p>The hare was yet some thirty yards down the hill but coming like the +wind, when I dropped quietly into my ambush and gathered my legs +under me. What a row he made as he dashed through the brambles and +came through the hole at the foot of the wall! Never shall I forget +the excitement of the moment when, with his ears thrown back on his +shoulders, he came in sight. I made my spring as he flashed by, and +though I only knocked him over, I was on him and bore him down before +he could recover himself. The vixen, who came up the next moment, was +delighted to find me standing over my first hare; and when in response +to her call my sisters joined us, she distributed the portions into +which she had broken it up. There was much chattering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> over the +feast—the contented chattering that attends good hunting.</p> + +<p>Thus did our mother teach us to act in concert—the method sometimes +employed by dog and vixen if hares are scarce and wild, but more +commonly adopted when driving rabbits from a brake where there are no +holes in which they can get to ground.</p> + +<p>Our supper over, the vixen led us along the crest of the hill to a +small clump of wind-clipt pines, which are still standing, whence can +be obtained a view of the fen on the one side and of the sand-hills +on the other. This was my first sight of the dunes and of the +farm-buildings on the edge of them. Whilst we stood there a loud bark, +thrice repeated, came from within the trees about the buildings.</p> + +<p>"What is that?" I asked, somewhat alarmed.</p> + +<p>"That is the voice of a dog—the voice of an enemy."</p> + +<p>Then she warned us never under any circumstances to go near the place, +"for," said she, "danger lurks there, and perhaps death."</p> + +<p>Wise little mother, if I had only heeded thy warning, what anguish and +degradation I might have been spared!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>Day was already dawning, and I wondered that she so long delayed +returning to the earth. To jog her memory I kept glancing first at her +and at the eastern sky, but to my surprise she took no notice. Her +face was very sad, and she seemed lost in thought. I believe she was +thinking of the time, now close at hand, when we must separate from +her and face the dangers of life alone.</p> + +<p>But it was not her intention to go back to the cairn, for on reaching +the foot of the hill she turned aside and brought us to another earth, +before which lay an enormous heap of yellowish soil. This, as it +proved, was to be our new home; and from the fresh trail that led to +it, I judged that at least one animal would share it with us.</p> + +<p>A little way inside the entrance, which was a large one, the tunnel +divided; and when the vixen and my sisters disappeared in the branch +leading to the left, I, curious to see our new neighbor, followed +the trail along the other. On and on I stole through a low winding +passage, which penetrated so far that I thought I should never reach +the object of my search.</p> + +<p>At last I came on his lair at a spot where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> tunnel suddenly +widened, and the sight of it made me stand agape. Instead of the +bare ground, which is a fox's couch, and on which I expected to see +the creature curled up, before me rose a great heap of dried grass +that filled the chamber from side to side, and reached almost to the +roof. So effectually did it conceal its occupant that not a hair of +him could I see. The slight rustling of the bed would have told me +he was there, even had my nostrils not given undeniable proof of his +presence; and as my curiosity, now thoroughly aroused, would not let +me retire before I had had at least a glimpse of the creature, I drew +near with the utmost caution, craned my neck over the broad edge, and +looked down on him.</p> + +<p>My eye! he was a monster. It surprised me to see how big he was; but +what really took me aback was his very pale color, which showed even +in the darkness of the den. I had expected to see a gray creature, +like the badger on the cliffs, and not a white one nearly twice his +size. My first impulse was to retreat, but on regaining my composure, +I resolved to stay and have a good look at him.</p> + +<p>His broad side rose and fell with his slow, heavy breathing; his +eye—I could see but one—was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> closed, and there was no sign of +vigilance about the small limp ears. To all appearance he was in a +deep sleep, which I believed, as well I might, that had done nothing +to disturb. For if my approach had been as noiseless as the incoming +of the fresh air that sweetens the close atmosphere of our dens, not +less so was my examination of the formidable creature, though it was +made with breathless wonderment.</p> + +<p>Yet before I could bark in his ear and run away, as I was tempted to +do, he sprang suddenly to his feet with a loud snarl, which nearly +frightened me out of my skin. Fortunately, he did not snap at me as I +drew back, or pursue me as I bolted at full speed along the tunnel; +indeed, judging from his subsequent conduct, I should say that his +venerable face was one grin from ear to ear when he discovered it was +a chit of a fox cub that had scared him.</p> + +<p>My mother, whom the loud snarl had brought in hot haste to my side, +was very angry with me for trespassing on the badger's private +quarters instead of following her into the part of the sett she had +appropriated. No doubt it was a foolish thing to intrude on the +privacy of so powerful an animal; but I had no occasion to regret my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +misconduct, for the badger, far from resenting it, became my best +friend. Every morning after that I used to peep at him; but instead +of creeping in stealthily, as I had done at first, I walked in as if +I were going to my own den, and to apprise him of my approach gave a +stifled bark on reaching the turn by the rock, beyond which a short +length of straight tunnel led to his lair. Though I seldom neglected +to warn him of my coming I believe it was unnecessary, as he got +to know my light footstep so well that he did not take the trouble +to raise his head on the rare occasions when I forgot to signal my +approach. Sleepy though he always was after his night's round, he +never failed to wink at me with the eye that was uppermost. Sometimes +he would wink twice; but beyond that he never got.</p> + +<p>He must have been a good fellow, this distinguished member of the +oldest family amongst animals, to put up with these dawn visits of a +fox who was still under the partial tutelage of his mother. I have +often wondered why he did so, but never been quite sure. If I may +give my reason—and be it understood that it involves no slur on the +badger's fame—I should say it was because of his friendless state. +I say, "friendless,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> inasmuch as he was never seen in company with +the only other badger in the countryside, the one that dwelt on the +cliffs; and he kept quite aloof from the other creatures of the wild.</p> + +<p>I have always felt proud that he should have thought me worthy of the +least consideration; but this did not make me blind to his faults. I +don't refer to his living on beetles and wasp-grubs, nor do I mean +the trick of sleeping with one paw in his mouth, or the queer way he +had of running back-wards into the earth, at which little game I once +surprised him; no, I am thinking of a bad habit from which we suffered +much annoyance, and which I am very loth to mention, much less dwell +on. But it must be stated, and at some length, on account of my story; +it was this: he could not keep his claws from digging.</p> + +<p>What made his offence ten times worse in our ears was that as far +as our vulpine wits could enlighten us—and we discussed the matter +again and again—there was no necessity for his self-imposed labor. +Any reasonable creature would have thought the sett was more than +complete, inasmuch as the part of the hill it tunnelled in all +directions was like a vast honey-comb. It held quarters for a whole +swarm of badgers; and yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> the old fellow must needs keep burrowing +farther and farther in, opening out more chambers and galleries, as +if it were not commodious enough for his individual requirements. Of +course he was free to add to the accommodation of the sett, whether +he really did feel cramped for room or only imagined that he did; +nevertheless we foxes accounted it a grievance to have to put up with +the din he made in digging, which, as it reverberated along the hollow +ways, resembled the rumbling of thunder more than any other sound, and +prevented us from getting a wink of sleep in the long, dragging hours +during which it lasted.</p> + +<p>This was only the first stage of the annoyance. A more serious trouble +was the way the great heap kept on increasing with the excavated +soil that he fetched out by the barrow-load about once a week on the +average, generally in the small hours of the morning when we were away +foraging. The enormous mound made us hang our heads in shame every +time we passed in and out. And as if this were not enough to betray us +to our enemies, on our return home one morning we found his great bed +lying atop of the pile, which now looked like a haycock in the midst +of the brake. At the sight of this my mother lost her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> temper, and +heaped such unrestrained abuse on the badger that I could not keep my +jaws closed. It pains me to this day to remember that I dared reply to +her; but how, when my old friend was attacked in such bitter terms, +could I honorably keep silence? That day I had to be content with the +draughty corner of the den, apart from my mother and sisters, who +edged away from me as if I were mangy. I spent miserable hours lying +there; but about noon the vixen walked over to me, licked my face with +her hot tongue, and curled up by my side. These tender attentions +soothed my injured feelings, and I soon fell into a peaceful sleep.</p> + +<p>I do not reproach the badger for changing his bed, I cannot reproach +him for his cleanliness, and I have no wish to disparage his great +industry; my object is to set down the truth, and I think that this +corpulent creature had to make work to keep his fat down and, even in +times of famine, to dig willy-nilly to prevent his claws growing into +his flesh.</p> + +<p>Of course, had the matter of digging by day, in which lay the sting +of the underground annoyance, been brought to an issue, we foxes had +not a shadow of right on our side; because we knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> that the earth +belonged to the badger by right of excavation, and that we were there +on sufferance only as long as he found us tolerant and agreeable. +We did well to endure what we could not cure, for, had it come to a +quarrel, to a conflict with tooth and claw, the badger could have +made mincemeat of our whole party without sustaining a scratch. So we +prudently refrained from making any comment in his hearing, and, as he +could read nothing from my looks, he had not the faintest suspicion of +the grumbling to which I had to listen, or of the difficult part I had +to play to keep on good terms with my family.</p> + +<p>So things went on until a common trouble befell both the badger and +ourselves, and immediately following it, calamities so dire as almost +to dwarf into nothingness the annoyances of which so much had been +made.</p> + +<p>We had frequented the sett for perhaps a month, when, on returning +early one morning from hunting on the moors, we found, to our +astonishment, the entrances to the earth blocked and the badger shut +out. Thought I, "This misfortune to himself and to us is the result +of his misdoings," and I fully expected to see the vixen pour out the +vials of her wrath; but, to my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> surprise, all she did was to cruise up +and down in a fever of anxiety, with a watchful eye on the desperate +efforts the badger was making to remove the faggots jammed into the +hole. Failing to remove them by tugging, he began to bite through the +thick, tough stems as though they were reeds; and in my inexperience +I thought he would soon succeed in chopping a way in. But whoever had +placed the faggots there had done his work too well for the entry to +be hurriedly effected, so that gray dawn found the badger but little +advanced with his stubborn task and us cubs roaming restlessly about, +eyeing him at his work.</p> + +<p>The only time I got in his way he turned his nervous face and snarled +at me as though I were a stranger. Seeing what deadly earnest he was +in, I gave him a wide berth, and sat on the top of the heap with my +brush to him, blinking at the sky that was now all read as if the +cliffs were a-fire far, far away beyond the fen. Every now and again, +when the vixen came my way, I caught her casting uneasy glances +towards the east, and the instant the glaring rim of the sun showed, +she stole away and we in her train, leaving my old friend biting and +pounding in his apparently hopeless toil.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>If his efforts looked hopeless, the journey before us was certainly +disagreeable. I shall not soon forget that crossing of the fen, which, +as bad luck would have it, was as free from mist as the gilded crests +of the tor that seemed to stare at us belated creatures of the night, +abroad at such an uncanny hour. The vixen took advantage of every bit +of cover within easy reach of the bee-line to the cairn earth, for +which she was making; but for all that, there were many exposed places +that could not be avoided, and there the cruel sun had us at his +mercy, and blinded us with his naked rays. Nor were we alone in our +misfortune. Half-way over, at a spot where the glittering pools lay +thickest, we met a vixen and four cubs heading straight for our sett. +She, too, was all anxiety; and seeing this, I began to wonder why the +stopping of an earth should occasion such widespread consternation.</p> + +<p>My mother traversed the mossy spaces between the pools at the utmost +speed of the weakly cub by her side, whilst my sister and I followed +a little to one side, so as to avoid treading on the long, terrifying +shadows they cast. On coming within sight of the earth she stopped +suddenly in her stride, and as she did so my astonished eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> lighted +on the object which had arrested her steps. It was the enemy—it was +man. I recognized him at first sight, unlike though he was to the +being I had vaguely imagined. There is no reason for surprise that I +did. For what beast of the field or wild stands erect with such ease +on his hind-feet, or has face, fore-paws and ears as bare of fur as +is the skin of a mangy fox? Moreover, I caught his scent; and it was +the same scent as had tainted the stone on the cliff, that tainted the +faggots—evidence hardly less convincing than the steady gaze of his +eyes and the shout he raised. At the awful sound we turned tail and +melted into the brake.</p> + +<p>Round and round the great furze cover we stole, until I thought that +the vixen would never come to a standstill; but at last she chose for +sanctuary a tangled corner near a runnel, and there, amidst the russet +bracken, my weary sisters curled themselves up and fell asleep.</p> + +<p>Whether the vixen slept at all I cannot say, but I do not think +she did, for she was wide awake when I dropped off, and she was +all eyes and ears when I was startled out of my sleep by three +noisy wood-pigeons overhead. As we looked at one another across the +tiny stream, a strange<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> sound reached me from the direction of the +wood below the tor, or, it might be, from the tor itself. It was a +high-pitched note, very penetrating, and a little like a cock's crow, +though differing from it even more than a curlew's whistle does from +an otter's. The instant I heard it I knew that it came from no bird's +throat, but whence it came I could not tell.</p> + +<p>What a simpleton I was at that time! The toot of the horn is as +familiar to me now as the clatter of shod horses. I know, too, now +what it portends; but at that moment, though fear was mingled with my +curiosity, I should not have been very uneasy, save for the obvious +anxiety of my mother. Not that she fussed about as if flurried, but +I could see her alarm in her unusual alertness. When a cock-pheasant +flew past and skimmed the brake that mantled the steep slope below us, +her eyes followed it with an eagerness that seemed to demand from it +the secret of its startled flight.</p> + +<p>Again the horn sounded, this time from the neighborhood of the +withered oak between us and the tor. Then I heard a horse galloping +and saw a flash of scarlet at the foot of the slope where the pheasant +had dropped in. What did it all mean?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Were we foxes in any way +concerned in the unwonted proceedings that were disturbing the great +silence that had till then brooded over the cover? The suspense, the +uncertainty, which the vixen's evident distress intensified, the vague +sense of danger, were painful; but all doubts were soon dispelled, +"Eloo in! Hi, Forester! Eloo in!" The rasping yell with which this was +uttered betokened some sinister happening, though we looked in vain to +the vixen, round whom my sisters gathered, to enlighten us as to its +nature.</p> + +<p>At this point my recollection is blurred, save for two things, the +crashing noise in the brake and the flight of the vixen and my sisters +along the watercourse, with the pack in pursuit. I shall always hear +the one and see the other. If ever I was terrified in my life it was +then; and between the clamor of the hounds and the thundering tread +of a hundred galloping horses I was so bewildered that I knew not +where to turn. But as the noise died away my nerves steadied, and, +rising from my crouching attitude, I peeped through the furze to try +to discover what was happening. For a long time I could see nothing in +the deserted valley below; but, continuing my watch, I perceived the +vixen and my little sister coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> along the open bank of the stream, +with the leading hounds in close pursuit and apparently gaining at +every stride.</p> + +<p>I am too old now to feel strongly as I did then, but still I am +affected at the recollection of the vixen striving to save my sister +by devices such as a partridge will employ to divert an enemy from its +young. How the chase ended I could not see; but the sudden ceasing of +the clamor made me fear the worst.</p> + +<p>In the silence that succeeded I made for the cairn earth, expecting to +get in there; but that, too, was stopped. Whilst I was debating what +to do, I heard the huntsman's voice, and had scarcely regained my old +station by the watercourse when the hounds opened on my line. They +were coming towards me at a great pace. Without an instant's delay I +was off, and, stealing down the long slope, reached the edge of the +cover, where I checked my steps to look out and see that the coast was +clear. Except the blazing sunlight, there was nothing in the bottom or +on the bare slope beyond to scare me, and as the hounds were half-way +down the hill, I committed myself to the open.</p> + +<p>I had not got far when there was a scream, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> human scream, fit to +wake the dead. It startled me horribly, but did not cause me to +deviate a hair's-breadth from the direction in which I had set my +head. Near the brow I stopped and looked back at the crowd of dogs +and horsemen. It puzzled me then, it puzzles me yet, to know why they +should wish to kill me, but I had not a doubt that was their object. +The clamor did not greatly terrify me at that stage of the chase, as I +felt sure I should be able to elude my pursuers in the fen for which I +was making.</p> + +<p>I held about the same lead across the next valley and up the hill +beyond, but the heat of the sun was beginning to tell on me before +I reached the wide belt of rushes near the mere. When I had crossed +it the hounds had greatly reduced the distance between us; I was +beginning to flag, and the sanctuary I sought was nearly two miles +away. The going was heavy over the marshland, where never a breath +stirred, but I struggled on as best I could towards the islet of my +favorite pool, spreading terror amongst grebe and hern along the +silent ways I threaded.</p> + +<p>At length I gained the pool, and as I left the finger of land jutting +towards the islet and took to the water, I felt I was near an asylum +at last.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> Vain hope! When I was barely half-way across an accursed +magpie espied me, and came and hovered just over my head, making +a loud chattering noise that the hounds must have heard. I looked +straight before my muzzle, pretending to take no notice of the +plague, and as soon as I landed, lay down in my old ambush that half +concealed me from the exasperating bird. "The pest will surely hold +his tongue now that I am in lair," thought I. But no; he chattered +louder than ever, as if it delighted him to betray me to the pack, +whose whimpering I could now hear. In my exhausted condition I was +very loth to move, but, seeing that to remain there was certain death, +I left my hiding-place and plunged into the water on the further side +of the islet. My tormentor came with me, and never shall I forget his +harsh, jeering cries whilst I swam to the nearest alders, and even +whilst I made my slow way through the sparse thorns that ran up to +the furze about the earth. Under the close brake I was free from the +traitor, and it cheered me to be so near the sett and a safe refuge. +As I followed the beaten track leading to it I was indifferent to my +pursuers, for I felt sure that the badger must long ere this have +opened a way in.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<p>Alas! it had proved beyond his powers. The ground about the faggots +was littered with the bits he had chopped off, but he had failed to +effect an entry. Realizing my desperate position, I almost gave myself +up for lost. Fortunately, in my extremity—and a fox's brain is never +clearer than then—I wondered where the badger had bestowed himself. +Where he could get I could get, and if I could only trace him I might, +despite the stiffness of my limbs and the nearness of the hounds, even +yet escape with my life.</p> + +<p>Picking up his trail, I followed it along the base of the hill to +a thicket, dense and matted as bramble, blackthorn and furze could +make it. Through this I passed until I reached a small cave at the +foot of a sheer wall of rock. The trail led inwards, and at the very +back I came on my friend. He looked most vicious at first; but when +he recognized the bedraggled cub before him, the expression of his +venerable face quickly changed to one of compassion, and then again +to hate as he heard the hounds, now running mute, crash through the +undergrowth. It was an awful moment. It behoved me to find, and that +instantly, some secure position out of reach of the infuriated pack. +The leading hounds were at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> mouth of the cave when, by a last +effort, I gained a scanty ledge, almost too narrow for foothold, a +little way above the badger's head. I was never in a more desperate +position, but fear glued me to the spot; and better vantage-ground for +viewing the fight that followed could not have been. "Keep cool," I +shouted to my old friend as well as I could for panting; and before I +could repeat my warning, the hounds were on him.</p> + +<p>There are things which seem incredible unless witnessed; and I +would not now submit the evidence of my own eyes did I not feel it +my bounden duty to record the facts which redound to the fame of +the badger and to the glory of the wild. But how is it possible to +describe what happened so the picture presented may approach in +vividness the savage scene I looked upon? I have seen the waves dash +and dash again into a cavern, only to be as often rolled back till the +tide had spent its force and left the cave as silent as at first. The +inrush of the pack was like the on-coming of an irresistible wave; but +the badger, with his back to the low arch, was not to be overwhelmed +whilst he could keep his feet and ply jaw and claw. Only three hounds +could get at him at a time; and when it came to deadly fang<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> work, +what were these soft creatures of the kennel to the most formidable +beast of the brake? As fast as the badger could deal with them, hound +after hound withdrew howling, till there was scarcely one of the +twenty couple composing the pack on whom his terrible jaws had not +closed.</p> + +<p>While the fray was at its height the badger was at times partly hidden +under his assailants, and thus arose no small danger to myself. One +big brute of a hound there was who espied me where I stood, still as +if carved in stone, save for my heaving flank and lolling tongue. This +must have caught his eye, and time after time he leapt at me from the +backs of the writhing mass below; but for want of steady foothold, +he failed as often to reach me. The last time he fell he slipped +between two hounds, and the badger had him at his mercy. It did my +ears good to hear him howl; and no sooner did the badger let him go +than he retreated over the backs of the hounds behind with a celerity +which did credit even to his long legs. Through the creeper that half +curtained the mouth of the cave I saw him take up his station amongst +the rearmost ranks of those hounds who were baying their loudest from +the brambles.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this, one of two mounted men,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> whose progress was +arrested by the thicket, jumped from his horse and plunged into the +tangle. Only his hot face and bald head showed above the brake as he +came slowly along, cracking his whip as best he could for the briers +that reached to his neck and clung to his red sleeve. Whilst he fought +his way through, the other kept screaming at the top of his voice: +"Whip 'em off! The brute'll murder my best hounds!" The huntsmen had +no difficulty in whipping off the crew of howlers outside; but it was +no easy task to call off the staunch hounds that, despite the terrible +punishment they were receiving, would have carried on the fight until +they dropped from exhaustion. At last he succeeded, remounted his +horse, and rode away with the other.</p> + +<p>In the silence that ensued my position appeared to me still most +unenviable. Would the badger, on whom I had brought all this trouble, +avenge himself on me for the wrong I had done him? I tried to read his +intentions, but he gave no sign. Presently he looked up at me, and in +fear and trembling I returned his gaze. A wild light blazed in his +black eyes, but no trace of rage against myself. Then I took courage, +though obliged to look away from his blood-stained face,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> so horrible +was the sight it presented. His must have been a noble nature to bear +such punishment without resentment, and I am glad he never guessed my +fears.</p> + +<p>How I wronged this chivalrous old aristocrat in thinking it possible +he could use his giant strength to crush the life out of a helpless +cub! The old fellow was as friendly as though nothing had happened +when, at last, falling rather than leaping, I came down from my perch +to try to find relief from the cramp that was knotting my muscles. +His awful panting had by that time somewhat subsided; but I was truly +sorry to see him in such a deplorable state, and I suppose I showed it +in my face, for he said: "Do not grieve on my account, little brother. +I shall soon recover from my scratches."</p> + +<p>My legs were too stiff to let me lie down, so I stood by his side +whilst he licked his wounds and smoothed his ruffled coat, and at +nightfall, when he left, I staggered after him as best I could. After +drinking at a spring on the way, we came to the earth, from the mouth +of which, as I rejoiced to see, the faggots had been removed. There +the badger left me and went up the hill toward the farm-land over +which he wandered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> nearly every night in search of food. At what time +he returned I do not know, as I did not awake till late the following +afternoon, when I was aroused from my deep sleep by the noise he made +on resuming his excavations.</p> + +<p>There are some things which I would gladly be silent about, but which +are necessary to the completeness of my story.</p> + +<p>Chief of these are the grievous losses on that day's cub hunting. +My little sister and—sadder still—my dear mother were killed by +the hounds. It was best they should die together, for the cub was so +dependent on the vixen, and the vixen so inseparable from the cub, +that I am sure they could not have lived happily apart. Our common +trouble drew my surviving sister and myself closer to each other, and +for a few weeks we lived together in the earth, though we went our +several ways at night, and very seldom hunted in concert.</p> + +<p>The close of this period is marked by an event of great moment to +myself, which, though it does not redound to my credit, must be told +in some detail.</p> + +<p>It is necessary first to state that for some reason the hounds gave +up coming to our country,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> and that in their place a murderous +gang of ruffians infested the district, and by traps, by poisoned +carcasses, by terriers, by digging and by filling the earths with +smoke, succeeded in destroying nearly every fox in the countryside. +Fortunately our earth proved impregnable to the spade and proof +against smoke; whilst the badger made such havoc with the dogs that +were sent against us that, after two determined but futile assaults, +we were left in peace. For a time we had to exercise the utmost +caution in avoiding the numerous traps, which were artfully concealed +in the runs leading from the earth; but afterwards these were removed, +and we might roam without molestation over our desolate wilds.</p> + +<p>Hares had been all but exterminated, and rabbits and wild-fowl so +shot down and thinned that it was hard to get a living, and at last +my necessities tempted me to that most perilous of undertakings, a +raid on the poultry of the neighboring farm. Besides the everlasting +crowing of the cocks, I had heard the noise made by the flocks of +housed turkeys, geese, and ducks, as I returned at dawn from the empty +warren on the dunes; and this had set me longing for them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>I did not enter lightly on this my first foray, which I knew to be +fraught with danger. My plans were laid with the fullest deliberation, +and in the deep silence of my den I carefully thought out every step +in my expedition. One of the strong points of a fox is attention to +details. We go over and over every turn, we weigh every chance, and +try to foresee every contingency. Indecision and flurry are not in our +nature; we know what we are going to do, and we go coolly through with +it. Our best-laid schemes may and do miscarry at times; nevertheless, +with the overconfidence of cubhood, I really thought that the +precautions I meant to take excluded all risks to my skin. Why, I had +mapped out in my brain every inch of the incursion; I had selected the +best way of approach; I was prepared with the safest line of retreat; +and, what is of no small moment, I had arranged for the disposal of +the kill, which was likely to be a big one.</p> + +<p>Eager as I was to realize my sanguine expectations, I twice postponed +my visit, hoping for the cover of a storm that threatened; but on +the third night, though the weather had cleared, I resolved to defer +the raid no longer. The crescent moon was just above the hill when +I stretched myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> at the mouth of the earth and set out to put +well-matured plans into execution. I walked up the rugged hillside +with all the circumspection and gravity becoming a great undertaking, +and stayed awhile on the crest to reconnoitre the scene of my +operations. The farm-house, the outbuildings, the yards, were all +silent. No foot stirred, no bark of dog broke the stillness which +brooded over the rugged slope, the smooth fields, and the endless +waste of sand beyond.</p> + +<p>Satisfied that the coast was clear, I made my way down the hill +by a path my pads had laid—for I was on my trail leading to the +dunes—and, keeping to the shelter of a hedge of blackthorns, reached +the wall under the elms. Over it I crawled to the lower yard where +the big pool is. Its muddy edge was white with stranded feathers, and +so was the track leading past the mowhay, where rats were rustling in +the straw. But I left them behind, and with stealthy stride reached +the scene of action. A cock, unsuspicious of my presence, crowed in +the first house I came to, but the door was a new one, and a weasel +could not have got under it; so I passed in disgust to the next shed, +which contained the turkeys. But if the hen-house was effectually +closed, the turkey-house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> was hermetically sealed, and I thought that +the farmer must be a cruel brute not to give the poor birds better +ventilation.</p> + +<p>"They would be but dry eating, even if I could get them," said I, as +I crossed the deeply-rutted road to the big house where my nose told +me the geese were shut up. This building boasted a tall chimney, which +made it look quite lofty; but it was on a small hole in the bottom of +the door, from which came the goodliest of smells, that I fixed my +attention, and without a moment's delay I set about enlarging it. The +wood round it was very rotten, but I could not make the opening as big +as I wished, on account of a piece of iron which was fastened across +the door on the inside, some five or six inches above the level of +the ground. Whilst I was at work the cackling inside was deafening; +and when, by a furious effort, I squeezed my way in, I found myself +in a veritable pandemonium. I really think that geese take their +troubles more noisily than any birds in the world, except, perhaps, +guinea-fowls; and I, who love quiet, would have left them severely +alone if I could have got at the fowls or the turkeys. Their clumsy +wings, too, can make you see stars if they catch you fairly across +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> eyes, as theirs caught me more than once before my work was done.</p> + +<p>Now it is one thing to slay in hot blood, another to tell at your +ease what happened. I will merely say that the lust for slaughter was +strong in me, and that in a short time all the flock but one lay dead +on the stone floor.</p> + +<p>Not an instant did I waste before setting about the next step in my +projected night's work, the removal of the biggest bird to the dune I +had chosen for my cache. I hoped to take all—it could be done—but +I would make sure of the best. My grandest victim was the gander. I +had pulled him out from under two geese, and was bearing him over the +bodies of the flock towards the door, when, to my horror, I saw that +the hole had been stopped from the outside.</p> + +<p>While the killing went on I had been deaf to everything, and I believe +that a wagon might have passed through the yard without my noticing +it. But now I became alive to every sound. I dropped the gander and +listened. At first I could hear nothing but the thumping of my own +heart, still affected by the speed of the kill; but presently the +silence was broken by the sound of a man's footsteps on the stones at +the back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> of the house. A few minutes later I heard the heavy tread on +the roof, whereat I fell into a state of abject terror, which caused +me to run round the walls like a rat in a trap.</p> + +<p>My enemy did not remain long, and when he came down he made for the +farm-house, muttering as he went. Now, thought I, is the moment to +regain my freedom. Escape by the door seemed out of the question; a +small paneless window through which I could see a single star was +hopelessly beyond my reach; but a third outlet, the chimney, remained, +and by it I might find deliverance.</p> + +<p>Here I met with an unexpected, but not insuperable, difficulty; for a +foot or so up, the flue was choked with old nests. I closed my eyes +whilst I pulled them down; but the suffocating dust, which there was +no draught to carry away, compelled me to return every now and again +to the floor to breathe. This inconvenience, however, was a mere +trifle, and after drawing a few breaths I returned to my work. It +cheered me to hear the debris falling, and to know that every stroke +of my fore-paws brought me nearer to my liberty. Imagine my dismay, +then, on discovering, after all my toil, that a flat stone capped the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +chimney and prevented my escape. Though it smelt abominably, I made +frantic efforts to remove it. I pawed it, I bit it, I tried to raise +it with the top of my poll, with my arched back, but place myself +as I might, I could not find a position that enabled me to get good +purchase owing to the width of the chimney. Had it been half an inch +narrower, I might have managed to dislodge the stone, heavy though it +was, for I had felt it yield a little when I made my greatest effort. +But there was no result from what force I could use, and seeing that I +was only wasting time and strength, I scrambled down the flue to the +heap of fallen rubbish, which gave way under me and spread out over +the floor.</p> + +<p>The geese lay as I had left them. It was a big kill, and no mistake. +The floor was white with birds, and in places they were two deep. As +became a dog-fox I had done my work well, and the birds were all dead +except one, which raised its head now and again in the far corner +under the window. I had not the least inclination to touch it again, +and though I must have been very hungry, I did not think of eating. +I was in a trap; I knew it, so did my enemy, and I knew that he knew +it. That he would return at daybreak I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> felt sure, and that he would +kill me I had little doubt. At the very thought I grovelled with +fear among the bodies of my victims, until the determination to live +aroused me to fresh exertions. In my desperation I tried to bite away +the nails that studded the sound wood about the hole by which I had +entered; I tried to dig my way under the door, but I did not succeed +in dislodging a single stone. Oh for half an hour of my friend the +badger! I made frantic, unavailing leaps at the open window; I cruised +round and round the walls until I must have travelled miles; time +after time I scrambled up the chimney, only in the end to resume my +aimless rounds. At length, weary with my endeavors, continued through +many hours, I lay down again, panting, amongst the geese.</p> + +<p>The stillness of that dead-house was profound. Outside, too, all was +still, save for the soughing of the wind in the leafless elms. This +was the voice of an old friend, and it soothed me somewhat till it +brought back to my mind the picture of the reeds bending over the +rippled surface of my favorite pool. At the thought of my freedom +in the fen I jumped to my feet and tried again and again, without +success, each possible outlet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> and then once more lay down with +heaving side and lolling tongue to wait for the end.</p> + +<p>Presently a cock crowed; and at last dawn peeped through the window, +and found me a more pitiable object than the old goose who squinted +at me every time she raised her blood-stained head. It would be day +soon, but as yet the light was gray. It was the hour that had ofttimes +surprised me in the midst of my hunting, and hurried me across the +misty fen to my kennel in the brake; the hour when every carnivorous +creature of the night steals by hidden ways to his retreat, and +conceals himself from the cruel eye of day.</p> + +<p>As the light grew stronger I found myself rising involuntarily to my +feet to return to the earth, but the strong walls compelled me to +stay and await my fate. Soon a pale, rosy light suffused the sky, and +presently the first beam of sunshine came in at my window and fell on +an old spider's web stretched over a hole in the wall of the chimney. +I envied the owner of the web: I envied the dead geese: I would at +that moment have been even the broken starling's egg lying there on +the waste-heap, or the skeleton of a fly dangling at the end of the +gossamer.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>I heard a door slammed and the noise of footsteps. They were +deliberate, heavy, merciless, and they were approaching the door +behind which I stood listening. Just when I expected to see it +slightly opened, and was on the point of shamming dead, there was +a loud kick against it which upset my plan and made me rush up the +chimney.</p> + +<p>Then the door was unbarred and opened.</p> + +<p>"All dead, are 'ee?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, all dead."</p> + +<p>After a pause the newcomer added:</p> + +<p>"You're as putty a lot ever I reared; in another month you'd have been +ready for market, and I looked to 'ee to pay part of the rent."</p> + +<p>Then in a voice like thunder he bawled out:</p> + +<p>"Where art thee, Master Reynard? Ah, thee scoundrel, thee needn't try +to get out by the chimbley! thee'rt wastin' thy precious time. I'll +help thy lordship through the front door in a minute. An'rew, bring +the sack here."</p> + +<p>Presently I heard two men below, and the door closed behind them.</p> + +<p>"He's up the chimbley and safe enuf. You hold the sack whilst I stir +him up with this eer pole."</p> + +<p>Two awful thumps I endured without flinching,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> but the third knocked +my hind-legs from under me, and I fell all of a heap into the bag.</p> + +<p>"So far, so good. Now we'll tie a stone to the sack and drop the lot +into the deep corner of the goslin' pool. The varmint must die. I'll +go and fetch a bit of rope."</p> + +<p>Whilst the farmer was gone the man opened the mouth of the sack and +looked down on me. Not satisfied, apparently, with the half light +of the outhouse, he took me into the open and peered at me again. I +thought I recognized him the first time he inspected me; but now, with +the morning sun on his ruddy cheeks I was quite sure. He was the first +man I had seen, the man who was on the cairn the morning my mother was +killed by the pack; he was the man who, I felt certain, had stopped +the earths. I was calm now. I had gone through the agony of death, but +still I did not want to die. Life was sweet, very sweet. I was not +like a mangy old fox; I was in the pride of my cub-hood.</p> + +<p>"What a beauty!" said the earth-stopper, as he continued to gaze at +me. "What a grand fox, to be sure! If An'rew can save 'ee, then thee +shan't die, now there." Saying this he let go his hold on the sack and +turned away. You can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> depend upon it I made a quick exit and sped off. +I hope no serious harm came to Andrew.</p> + +<p>I sought a new home, looking therefor on the great moors. For a time +I had a life comparatively free from care, but though few of the +changes in the autumn life of the wild escaped me, I was slow to +interpret those signs that foretold the severe weather that was to +suddenly set in. It is, however, hardly matter for wonder that I was +blind to the warnings they conveyed, for the frosts of our peninsula +are, as a rule, so slight as to relax their feeble grip by noon-day; +even the smallest birds suffer little discomfort. Indeed, I have +sometimes thought that migratory birds flock to our shores because of +the mildness of the climate and the hospitality its feeding grounds +offer; but this is only the view of a fox, who welcomes these aliens, +and takes heavy toll of their number. Whatever the cause may be, +there is no doubt about the fact. This year, however, the flocks of +fieldfares, always the first to arrive, were earlier than was their +wont. I noted, too, that despite the normal mildness of the weather, +our few hibernating creatures suddenly withdrew into their winter +quarters; the hedge-hogs to the drifts of leaves and hollow holes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +dead trees, and the dormice to their nests in the low bushes. These +incidents did not seem to concern me; though I was surprised at the +abandonment of the fen by the otters, till presently I learnt that the +late salmon had already passed up the river. That seemed to explain +it; for the otters always follow the salmon, as every fox knows who +has had the luck to find a half-eaten fish on the bank.</p> + +<p>I am convinced that all these creatures were conscious of approaching +hard weather; and when I discovered that the squirrels with which the +wood abounded, had sought their nests in the top-most branches of the +red pines, a sense of the evil times before us came to me, too.</p> + +<p>I noticed while I lay from dawn to sunset amongst the undergrowth +that a strange calm, presaging sudden change of weather, brooded over +the solemn wood. The silence was unbroken until twilight, when the +starlings settled in and mingled their vespers with the soughing of +the rising wind. Then when I left my lair, threaded the boles of the +pines and came to the beeches, the leaves crackled under foot, a sign +of cold, dry weather; but I did not feel the keen wind until I gained +the shoulder of the ridge to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> the north, which is crowned by the tor. +At midnight on the moors the cold became intense; when, near dawn, +I crossed the upland road which since some heavy rains had been a +quagmire, I found it hard as rock, and the backwater of the pool above +the ford was frozen to the edge of the current. On the marshy ground +below, the cracking of the ice under my tread disturbed several snipe; +and between the alders and my own lair two woodcock got up, which, +from their weary flight, I should say had only just arrived.</p> + +<p>My snug kennel under the furze looked doubly snug that cold, hard +dawn; and whatever privations the future might have in store, there +was at least every token of present abundance.</p> + +<p>"The long-bills are pretty plentiful," thought I, as I curled up on my +dry couch. "Hungry times are over; there will be food galore now."</p> + +<p>I slept through the day and sought the fen at nightfall, to find +the pool and the mere, or rather those parts of them that remained +unfrozen, crowded with wild-fowl. Strangers though we were to one +another, they proved very wary and difficult of approach, despite the +curiosity my appearance aroused in them.</p> + +<p>So matters stood for some time, during which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> I cared to remain out +only part of the night; but when my coat got thick enough to resist +the piercing cold I hunted far and late, seldom reaching my kennel +before the sun showed red above the sea.</p> + +<p>During the period of dry frost I fared well enough; but a snow-storm +which occurred at the time of the new moon and lasted for two days and +two nights, rendered foraging difficult, and made me feel a stranger +in my own country. Except in rudest outline, it was no longer like +itself. The fen was a great white plain, broken by a big and a small +pool and the winding stream that fed them. In place of the sombre +array of pines under the tor, usually as marked a feature in our +landscape as were the great reed-beds themselves, a vast slope of snow +met the eye; and the tor might have been a fleecy cloud in the leaden +sky. Strangest of all was the aspect of the dunes, which looked like +great waves of pure foam arrested in their roll.</p> + +<p>Many a time I scanned this white undulating waste for the hare that +frequented the sand-hills, hoping to mark him in a position where it +would be possible to stalk him. I say, "possible" because of the great +powdery drifts that rose like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> new dunes across my hidden trails and +barred my progress in every direction. Moreover, each fall of snow +caused me fresh trouble; for it stultified the knowledge I had gained, +and compelled me to find new ways to my hunting grounds.</p> + +<p>To add to my difficulties, soon only a few landmarks were left, and +these hard to recognize—horseshoe of thatch about the short chimney +was all there was to show the position of the cottage, and it was hard +to believe that the snow-laden elms were the same trees whose golden +leafage but a month before had cast so deep a shadow on the farmyard +where the cock pheasant had been feeding with the fowls. On the edge +of the ploughed field next the mowhay were the tracks made by the two +wary rabbits whose home was under the big rick, and the few partridges +which had escaped our jaws kept near the rubbing post in the middle of +the field.</p> + +<p>But I recall that fallow best by the course I had across it after the +little jack-hare, who led me such a round as I have seldom gone. I +lost sight of him in the field beyond the orchard, where the turnips +lay in heaps, but followed his line up and down the hill to the head +of the fen, across which he went almost in the teeth of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> raging +blizzard. He had ringed the bulrushes in the heart of the bog before +making one of his baffling sidelong leaps, and then set his face for +the foot-hills under my lair. The scent was hot amongst the scattered +furze-bushes through which he led me, and so heavily clogged were +his feet with snow that I felt sure I should overtake him before he +reached the tamarisks on the other side of the hill; but I underrated +his endurance. I followed him to the waste of sand-hills, only to find +that he had disappeared in a drift at the foot of the highest dune. In +his desperation—for I was all but on him—he must have plunged into +this and worked his way far in, as I could not find him, though I dug +and dug into the smothering mass in every direction. Nothing remained +but to make my weary way home through the blinding, driving storm. +There are more blanks than prizes in the life of even a clever fox.</p> + +<p>The scent lay wonderfully that night, and I followed it as easily +as I had shortly before followed the scent of a bittern across the +snow between the reed-bed and the bulrushes. It was in this isolated +clump that the otters so often laid up before the frost hardened the +trembling mass environing it; but now I noticed that some of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> these +wily creatures had beaten a deep track across the narrow neck of the +big bend of the river, though I did not once get a glimpse of them.</p> + +<p>I must pass over much detail of the varying fortunes of that eventful +time to speak of the mis-adventures that befell me on an expedition +when I unwittingly exposed myself to a great danger, and was lucky to +escape with my life. I had risen from my kennel, stretched myself, +sniffed the biting wind, listened, shaken my thick coat, and then, as +was my wont since giving up my journeys to the hills, first visited +the few remaining bits of boggy ground in sheltered places of the +brake, with the hope of picking up one of the woodcock that resorted +there to feed. I approached one spot after another against the wind +and with the utmost stealth; but, despite my extreme caution, I +succeeded only in flushing the birds, so wary had they become through +being harassed—chiefly, I believe, by young cubs.</p> + +<p>After lapping some water below a cascade hung with icicles, I left +the soft margin of the rapid runnel which had been riddled by the +bills of the woodcock and, emerging from the furze, stole down to the +thicket of blackthorns. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> my nose told me a fox had been there +already; so I at once made for my favorite pool, whence the cries of +various wild-fowl reached my ears. I knew that they consisted of duck, +widgeon, and teal; but from the noise they made, I judged them to be +more numerous than usual, and so they proved.</p> + +<p>Through a gap in the reeds I gazed once and again at the tantalizing +sight. What more maddening spectacle for a hungry fox than that of +game beyond reach? I ransacked my brain to discover a way to get at +them. It was beyond my powers. The edge of the acre of water that +remained open was a score of yards from the reeds and scarcely less +from the island. There was only one course practicable, to disturb the +birds and to take up a hidden position from which I should be within +striking distance of the pool. The snowy surface which ringed them in +denied concealment save at one point, and that was much too far from +the water to suit my methods, for the scanty bit of cover was too long +springs from the brink of the ice. Any attempt to rush the birds from +there seemed vain. Many a time since the frost set in I had stood and +weighed the chances it offered, only to scorn the idea of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> using it +for an ambuscade. To-night, somehow—was it because of my ravenous +hunger?—the clump of sags, though weighed down by the snow, did not +look quite so hopeless as before the last fall; and I decided to +accept its hard conditions and give it a trial. It was an exasperating +thing to be obliged to scare the birds; but there was no help for it, +and so forward I went.</p> + +<p>My forefoot was hardly through the fringe of reeds when a mallard saw +me and gave the alarm. In an instant a hundred pairs of eyes were +turned on me; and, as if fascinated by the sight of so fine a fox, +their owners did not take wing until I was nearly half-way across +the snow. Then, with a loud "quar, quar, quar" from the ducks, all +the birds rose in a confused company, the noise of their wing-beats +drowning for a moment the loud rustling of the swaying reeds. I +watched them divide into their several skeins, which then wheeled +above my head and flew seawards, the widgeon in the van.</p> + +<p>Before seeking my ambush, I crossed the ice to the other side of the +pool, in the hope of finding a disabled bird in the thick cover, but +saw nothing save a few dead starlings that had fallen from their +roosting perches on the reeds. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> flesh of starlings is nearly as +loathsome to me as the flesh of carrion-feeding birds; so I left +their stark bodies lying there, and trotted over the wide stretch of +snow to the island. When crossing, I noticed a small hole in the ice. +It had been made and kept open by otters that they might come there +to breathe whilst fishing; but I did not know this at the time. The +island, though it reeked with the smell of duck, was blank; so I made +for the sags again, and crawled under them carefully in order not to +disturb their white coating. Gently as I pushed my pointed muzzle +between the stems the frozen snow rattled down in a shower, and this +caused me much misgiving, for I feared that the exposed blades, black +with decay, would be sure to excite the suspicion of the quick-eyed +fowl, and warn them off the water.</p> + +<p>When ensconced, I found that my ambush barely screened me, and, what +was more serious, it seemed much farther from the pool than in the +bloodthirsty moment when I had decided to use it. However, being in, +I meant to stay, and so, the tip of my muzzle between two bent blades +that grew a few inches in front of the clump, and nothing but the tag +of my brush projecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> at the rear, I began my vigil. It was bitter +work watching with the gale in your teeth, but I might have noticed +it less had the ambush been a little nearer the water. Nevertheless, +being of a sanguine temperament, I threw sense and sinew into my work +as if success were assured. My ears were spread their widest, to catch +any sound that reached them above the lapping of the water and the +swish of the encompassing reeds; my eyes, if not fixed on the pool, +scanned the snowy space between; and my legs were gathered under me +ready to spring. One by one some feathers the ducks had left, drifted +to the nearer side and were lost to sight; once I caught the faint +wing-beats of passing wild-fowl and, raising my eyes, saw the long +wedge of them black against the bright stars; but not a bird settled +on the water.</p> + +<p>Hour after hour passed in this manner, and my patience was just giving +out when an incident occurred that dispelled all thought of trying +my luck elsewhere. It was not the fish that jumped clear of the +surface, which induced me to stay, but the great boil in the water +near where it fell. I believed this had been caused by an otter, and +quite expected to see the creature land on a small jagged point of +ice hard by, where the snow had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> been much trampled. Nor did mere +curiosity keep me an interested spectator: I was expecting to get fish +for supper after my wasteful friend had taken one or two bites of +his prey. Whilst I watched for his appearance, and watched in vain, +a rather larger fish leapt out—once—twice; and the third time it +was hardly above the surface when the open jaws of a huge pike showed +close behind it, and I could see the bristling array of teeth before +a tremendous swirl hid them again. In all my experiences I have only +once witnessed anything that took me more by surprise; and from that +night I have never swum across to the island without fear of being +seized by the grim monster which I now knew tenanted the pool.</p> + +<p>The pike had scarcely disappeared before three teal, whose flight I +had not heard, settled in the middle of the water and set my brush +waving with excitement. Totally unsuspicious of my presence they swam +towards me, and approached so close to the ice as to be completely +hidden by the bank of snow near its edge. Judging their position as +well as I could by the delicious scent that reached me, I made two +tremendous leaps, which landed me amongst them before they could take +wing. But on account of the spray and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> shock of the icy-cold water +I missed all three; though my jaws snapped close over the spot where +one of them dived. He came up yards away from where I was awaiting +him, rose as only a teal can rise, and flew off in company with his +mates, who were wheeling about overhead.</p> + +<p>With a rankling sense of failure I scrambled with some difficulty on +to the ice, shook my coat and, turning my back on my ambush, trotted +off as briskly as I could in the direction of the mere. Through the +long wait on the snow and the coldness of the water into which I had +plunged, my feet were so benumbed that I could scarcely feel them +under me when crossing the bog. Nevertheless, I stumbled on until +warmth came back to them, and then hunted the waste beyond, working +across the wind on the margin of the laid reed-beds in the hope of +scenting moorhens or water-rail to break my long fast. Most carefully +did I try the patches of sedgy cover in the loops of the stream where +I had seldom failed; but even there I met with disappointment, the +few birds I winded evading me by diving under the ice which in places +covered the strong current.</p> + +<p>I must have trotted miles along the zigzag<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> course I took, before I +reached the expanse of windswept snow under which lay the frozen mere. +From inside the fringe of reeds I could hear the honking of the geese +on the open water, and at times a sound that was new to me, a wild +trumpeting which seemed to come from where the sea was thundering on +the bar. For a fox naturally prompt in decision, I stood there long, +considering whether to make a journey that offered but poor prospect +of success. In the wild-fowl's feeding-ground I had come from there +was at least makeshift for an ambush; on the level ice-field before +me there was not cover enough to hide a mouse, and the chance of a +kill was very, very small. Choice of supper, however, lay between +cold starling, bitter and dry, and hot goose, sweet and juicy—if I +could get it—and goose or nothing was my resolve. I set my face for +the spot where the scarcely discernible specks on the snow showed +the game to be thickest; and if my coat turned white in winter like +that of a stoat I had seen a few nights before, I might have stolen +at least part of the way unobserved. As it was, my reddish-brown fur, +though lighter than in the summer, made me as conspicuous as a crow on +a stubble to the noisy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> sentinels overhead, which at once spread the +cry of "Fox afoot!" far and wide over the great mere. The only method +possible, then, in this wild-goose chase, was to keep going with the +most nonchalant air at my command, as if my sole object in approaching +the pool was to wash down a heavy supper; and it was lucky for my plan +that my thick coat hid my prominent ribs and concealed my half-starved +condition.</p> + +<p>Presently I could see that the wild-fowl lining the margin of the ice +were nearly all geese; but what riveted my gaze was a small group of +big white birds beyond, whose heads towered high above the mass of +insignificant-looking duck that crowded the water.</p> + +<p>"Halloo! something new in the feather line," thought I. "What monsters +are these?"</p> + +<p>And then it occurred to me that, as I had never cast eyes on their +kind before, it might be that these strangers had never set eyes on a +fox, and would entertain no fear of such an innocent-looking creature +come to quench his thirst. This line of reasoning seemed so plausible +that I licked my dry chops at the prospect of a lordly feast, and +for a moment felt inclined to despise such small birds as geese. +These latter had for some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> time held their heads turned my way; so, +to show that concealment was not dreamt of, I stood still, raised +my mask to the moon, just risen above the headland, and, though it +cost me a great effort, barked as joyously as only a full-fed fox can +bark. Rarely in my chequered life have I given utterance to notes so +expressive of content; and as the geese seemed greatly taken by the +music, I continued to indulge them, at the same time lessening the +distance that separated us.</p> + +<p>We were getting on quite good terms with one another—at least, so I +thought—until I was within—well, it is difficult to judge distance +over snow—perhaps fifty yards of them. Then I saw unmistakable +signs of restlessness. To lull suspicion I waved my brush in my most +fascinating manner; I rolled on my back, hoping to prove to them that, +murderer though I might be by repute, I was really a playful creature, +even on that wild winter's night; and in order to reassure the more +timorous, including a fine gander, who had retired from the front to +the rear rank, I began to cut capers, running after my brush in small +circles, or rather in a spiral which would bring me, as I could see +out of the corner of my eye, within rushing distance of two of the +most curious of my admirers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was all in vain; my back was to the cowardly crew when they rose; +but even then I should have seized a laggard had I sprung a few hairs +higher, for the tip of my muzzle actually touched his cold webbed +foot. In my fall on the edge of the ice I all but lost my balance and +toppled into the water. Was I enraged when I recovered myself? I need +not enlarge on that.</p> + +<p>The flight of the geese alarmed the duck, which rose in a big cloud +from the mere, with a noise that would, I am sure, have bewildered any +animal except a fox, or perhaps an otter. But I ignored it, and amidst +their silly clamor and the loud whirr of their wings that momentarily +drowned the gale, fixed my eyes on the three swans—for such they +were—who did not take flight like the others, but swam up and down +the rough water in a manner which, if not expressive of contempt, was +at least aggressive and provocative. Their attitude was a revelation +to me; no bird had ever dared challenge me before; and if they see as +foxes do, these black-billed strangers who stared so hard must have +read blank amazement on my innocent face as I read defiance on theirs. +Nor was I free from irritation at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> bravado conspicuous in their +puffed-out breasts and beruffled plumage.</p> + +<p>Suddenly my demeanor changed from amazement to rage. This certainly +they must have known from my flaming eyes, bristling fur, and +fluffed-out brush lashing from side to side; but up and down they +swam, hissing out their summons to come and do battle, if I dared. A +fox shrink from combat with feathered foes? Never! I jumped into the +water, and swam across the strong current for the spot they had chosen +for the contest. All three preserved their determined front until I +was close enough to see the yellow on their bills and the snake-like +look in their evil eyes, but at my next stroke two of them beat the +water with their great wings, rose in the air, and with loud-creaking +pinions flew over my head.</p> + +<p>"Cowards!" said I. "Why did you not stand your ground?"</p> + +<p>Whilst I wondered that the remaining bird did not follow their +example, a streak of blood on his white plumage told me he was +wounded; and the instant it caught my eye I felt he was mine. I never +doubted I should kill him as soon as I could close my jaws on his long +white neck; the only thing that troubled me was how I should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> manage +to land him on the ice with such a strong stream running. He was the +biggest of the three, a magnificent bird, and, except for his bill, +as white as the snow. To my astonishment, wounded though he was, he +actually swam to meet me and struck the first blow. Before I could +close with him he stretched his head over mine, caught me by the left +ear, and pressed me under water. For all my frantic struggles, I was +half drowned when I succeeded by a desperate effort in disengaging +myself from his grip. Rising close to him, I seized his neck through +the thick coat of feathers that protected it, and hung on. The +commotion that followed baffles description. With one wing—for the +other lay helpless—he lashed the water and spun around in circles, +taking me with him. It would have been better to let go than be +carried by the strong current I knew not whither; but in such a case a +fox can never resolve to relinquish his hold, and it was fortunate for +me that, before I had been taken out into the middle of the mere, my +teeth slipped off the smooth oily feathers.</p> + +<p>I had had enough. Exhausted and benumbed, I made for the ice, now a +long way off, and fighting the current with all my strength, had got +at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> length within a few yards of the jagged edge when, to my horror, +I heard the swan coming up, and gaining on me at every stroke. I did +my very utmost to reach the ice, but in vain; he was on me before +I could land. Again I was immersed; twice I planted my feet on the +edge, only to be pulled back. I had caught a Tartar, and escape seemed +impossible; even if he did not drown me, I feared I should be sucked +under the ice. The thought of losing my life roused me to a supreme +effort. With gnashing teeth I turned on my persecutor. My onset must +have terrified him, for he quailed before it and retreated a few yards +into the mere. With the help of my brush I whipped round, gained the +rough edge, and, putting forth my last bit of strength, dragged myself +on to the ice, and fell, utterly spent, just beyond his reach.</p> + +<p>For a time I lay there motionless, but by-and-by fear moved me to +turn my head and look for my enemy. There he was, proudly swimming up +and down before me with blood-stained breast and drooping wing, still +defiant. It was the most humiliating moment of my life. Presently +I rose and shook myself, but to no purpose. My bedraggled coat had +frozen, and hung stiffly on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> me. I exchanged looks of vengeance with +my terrible foe and slunk away.</p> + +<p>What a weary journey it was over the snow! How I floundered through +the deep drift that separated me from my cover, and how glad I was to +reach the friendly shelter of the brake! It was good to be screened +from the eyes of the countless wild-fowl who had watched the fight, +and whose cries had sounded like jeers as I tottered across the wide +ice-field. There is little bark left in a fox when the quacking of +ducks disconcerts him and makes his brake a welcome refuge.</p> + +<p>I sat down under the furze, brushed the bloody feather from my muzzle +and licked my paws, which had been cut by the sharp-edged ice in my +mad struggles to get out of the water. Though dawn was some two hours +off, I had no heart for any more hunting; so I made for my lair, which +I reached by way of the brambly thicket above the quarry, and, after +shaking my coat again, crept to where my snug kennel lay under its +double roof of gorse and snow. There, hidden from all eyes and from +the bright lights of the frosty sky, I curled up in the cup of dry +spines with my brush about my nose, and heedless of the gale that +raged above but could not reach me, forgot my troubles in sleep.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>The hounds drew the tor wood once, and only once, after the thaw, and +did not pay a single visit to our brake, though the earth was stopped +three times before the end of the season. The explanation is probably +to be found in the heavy rains which flooded the fen and made the +country unfit for hunting; big pools were found where none were seen +before, and the springs which broke out in many new places, together +with the surface-drainage of rain and melted snow, not only kept them +full, but seemed to turn every bit of spongy ground into a quagmire.</p> + +<p>Left to myself, I was as happy as a fox can be, and, forgetting the +hardships I had passed through, looked forward with pleasurable +anticipation—as, indeed, every wilding does—to the golden days of +summer, when troubles are few and delights many. Yet the tamarisks had +hardly begun to feather before there was brought into the countryside +a hound which proved the most terrible enemy that ever shadowed my +life.</p> + +<p>That the farmer had need of a more watchful guardian for the poultry +yard than old Shep I knew well enough from the serious losses he had +sustained. Besides fowls and ducks, even geese<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> and turkeys had been +carried off, some by day under cover of mist and drizzling rain, but +mostly at night. I had seen foxes returning from that direction with +birds in their mouths; I had actually come on the caches, both inside +and outside our brake, where they had buried what they could not take +away; and this wholesale plundering caused me great anxiety, because +I knew it would lead to reprisals. But I never dreamt in my most +troubled moments of the scourge that was being prepared. Even had I +known that old Shep was to be superseded and another farm-dog put in +his place the news would not have alarmed me in the least, because of +the contempt I felt for the few specimens I had seen. But I was now to +learn that there are farm-dogs and farm-dogs.</p> + +<p>As soon as the new dog was led home I came on evidence of his work. +I found the body of a fox near the gap of a reclaimed field that had +recently been filched from our cover, and could see by the fang-marks +in his chest that he had been murdered. Now it was impossible that +old Shep should be the culprit. He was always asleep at midnight, +and bore a good character amongst us for utter harmlessness; yet +everything pointed to his guilt. A double trail led<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> from the warm +carcass towards the farm buildings, and one was the trail of a dog. +I walked slowly up the hill, trying to unravel the mystery, and had +scarcely passed over the crest when a loud bay, very different from +old Shep's, broke the stillness of the night and explained everything. +Whilst I listened it was repeated again and again, and its meaning was +unmistakable. It was a warning to the fox from the new guardian of +the farmyard that the days of robbery without punishment were past, +and that a new régime had begun. I yapped no reply, for it was best +to let this dangerous customer believe that the fox he had killed was +a stranger to the district, and that none frequented the wild within +reach of his voice.</p> + +<p>I was very miserable now. Putting all together, I was convinced that +the newcomer would prove a dangerous enemy; and yet I felt that I +ought to see him, for I recollected my mother's story of the fox who, +like the otter in the quaking bog, judged the jackass by his bray, and +suffered agonies until he cast eyes on him.</p> + +<p>The opportunity offered a few days later without my seeking it. On a +lovely spring morning such as Nature often lavishes on her wildlings, +I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> lay stretched out amongst the scattered furze-bushes enjoying the +warmth of the sun, without a thought of any intrusion on the peaceful +scene. The lambs were bleating in the field next the dunes, the rooks +cawing in the leafing elms, and the farm-boy, whom I could not see for +the thicket of blackthorns at the foot of the croft, was singing the +drowsy song he sang always at his work. A magpie on the tallest of the +blackthorns seemed unusually interested in either the boy or his work; +but I thought nothing of that. Presently, however, to my surprise, it +began mobbing some creature. Then I rose to my feet, almost expecting +to view a fox, when, to my amazement, I saw a huge dog leave the +thicket and come into the open. It was the new hound, and the sight +of him made me catch my breath. What struck me most—for without it, +size and strength of jaw signify nothing—was the speed I read in his +long muscular limbs. He moved with an ease I had never seen in any +other dog. Had his hind-quarters sloped like mine, I should, like +the magpie, have taken him for a denizen of the wild; but the defect +betrayed him as the servant of man.</p> + +<p>My curiosity was excited, and I would not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> steal away to the near +brake until I had discovered what his business was. It was of the +simplest. He stopped about half-way up the hill at a spot full in +the hot sun, turned round two or three times as I do to make my bed, +and laid himself down amongst the tussocks of grass. I watched his +bloodshot eyes blink in the blazing light; noted his restlessness, +the twitching of his cropped ears, and the quivering of his great +nostrils, even whilst he seemed to doze; studied his huge bull-terrier +head, raised when a yellowhammer settled on the golden bush behind +him; shuddered at the array of crowded teeth when he yawned.</p> + +<p>He may have lain an hour amid the bright new herbage before the boy +whistled. His ears showed that he heard, but he took no further +notice. When the whistle was repeated he growled. Then the boy +screamed, as I have heard the huntsman scream after me; and the great +brindled brute leapt to his feet and bounded down the hill at a pace I +had not thought any creature capable of. I knew then that no fox could +get away from him in the open, or escape with his life when overtaken.</p> + +<p>"No more stealing of old gobblers," said I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> under my breath as I slunk +away to the earth.</p> + +<p>For some days I scarcely slept on account of the worry; and the more +I thought it over in the quiet of my kennel, the surer I felt that +this great restless hound would render life unbearable by invading my +cover. Was it likely that a creature pricked by pride of limb and of +fang would be content to wander within the narrow confines of a dozen +fields criss-crossed with trails, and never trespass on the environing +wilds to which the trails led? Impossible! Is there not an eternal +feud between the tame and the wild canine? This half-wild protege +of man, free to wander at will and wreak his vengeance on us hated +dwellers in the brake, able too by speed and strength to carry out his +fell designs, was certain, sooner or later, to follow the cursed scent +that lingers where we tread, and track me to my hidden lair.</p> + +<p>The days went by, however, and I was not molested; though night after +night, as I heard his threatening bay, I asked myself, How long shall +I be left in peace? When a fortnight passed without a sign, I began to +think that this sharer of man's hearth might, after all, be nothing +more than a noisy farmyard braggart, brave enough,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> perhaps, on grass +or plough-land, but afraid to trespass on the waste. Rudely was my +mistake brought home to me.</p> + +<p>Now what I am going to tell is not something I have heard: I saw it +with my own eyes on the moor which rises from the head of the fen. I +was trotting along at the time, planning how best to work the ground +on such a still night, when a fox—a stranger to me—came over the +brow on my left, and dashed across my front at a gallop. At first +I thought he must have some game in sight; but as neither hare nor +leveret was to be seen, I could not help, in the absence of any +apparent reason for his conduct, imagining that he must be mad, like +a fox I once saw crossing the bar. Strange fancy, perhaps; but then, +what sane animal, and, above all, what fox, would waste his speed +after nothing? And what in the world was there for the fugitive to fly +from? Suddenly I thought of the hound, and as suddenly, just when the +fox had disappeared where the land dipped, I heard the thud of heavy +feet. Peeping between two boulders that concealed me from view, I saw +him come over the crest at the spot where I first caught sight of the +fox. He was running by scent, but at so tremendous a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> pace that I +feared the fox could not live before him.</p> + +<p>His silence chilled me more than his loud bay; but though I could not +detect the faintest whimper, every moment there was a strange clicking +sound—a noise foreign to the moorland. When he came abreast of me +I saw it was caused by the broken chain that hung from his neck and +struck the steel collar he wore. In a twinkling the dusky fiend had +disappeared in the gloom, his head set for the tor. I listened. After +a time I heard him crash through a long bramble thicket. Then a long +interval. Then the owls, which had been very noisy, suddenly ceased +their midnight chorus. They were watching the tragic chase between +the boles of the pines. How it ended I never knew; but I am inclined +to think that the fox reached the rocks and escaped. If he had been +killed, the foxes which lodged on the western slope of the tor would +have forsaken their coverts, at least for a time; and this they did +not do.</p> + +<p>That night it was useless to try to hunt, as I kept looking back every +dozen strides for fear the hound might be following me. At last I gave +it up; but I did not return along my usual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> trail, laid when the night +had no fear for me. I avoided open ground as much as possible, to +steal along tangled dips and gullies. Before crossing a ridge I halted +to peer through the darkness, fearful of seeing the sinister green +eyes that would apprise me of the hound's approach.</p> + +<p>On reaching the double trail, I cleared it at a bound, as though it +had been a line of fire, and made for the river at the spot where it +spreads over the marshes; for I hoped by swimming it at its widest +part to add to the difficulties of the hound if he should follow me. +Although the precautions I took proved unnecessary, I mention a few of +them to show the fear the creature had inspired in me. After that I +used to foil the runs in the brake for the purpose of puzzling him if +he chanced to strike my night's trail and tried to trace me to my lair.</p> + +<p>But of what avail were all my wiles against a creature so endowed? At +length the marvellous powers he possessed enabled him not only to find +my kennel, but to approach it so noiselessly as almost to surprise me +in my sleep. Had it not been for the slight rustling of the furze, +caused by his grim protruding muzzle, he must have taken me where I +lay as a fox takes a rabbit in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> its seat. As it was it was a close +call. Enraged at my escape, he came crashing after me. I led him to +the cover beyond the quarry, where the furze was close and stunted, +and where the runs were so small that he had to force a way along +them. In these unfavorable conditions I thought he would soon tire of +pursuit; but to my surprise he persisted hour after hour, despite the +stifling atmosphere of the brake on such a close, hot day. Could he +have driven me into the open I should have been at his mercy; I knew +this as well as he, and never gave him the chance he longed for.</p> + +<p>In the end I wearied him out, and none too soon, for I was almost +spent before he relinquished the chase. I had escaped, but my dread of +the fiend was greater than ever—so great, indeed, that I never went +near the brake again as long as he lived.</p> + +<p>The silence of the night at this time was painful. A dog-fox dared +no longer call to his mate for fear of betraying his whereabouts to +the hound, now abroad at all hours. I hardly dared sleep two days +following, in the same place, lest in his wanderings he should have +come upon my couch and be there awaiting me. I lived under a reign of +terror, and the gloom that brooded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> over brake, tor, and fen spread to +the higher moors, where the hound had once been seen. But, gloom or no +gloom, I had to have food though every journey I made to the fen was +at the risk of my life.</p> + +<p>Generally I was through early enough to enable me, by hurrying, to +be back in my couch in gorse or heather before dawn. One morning, +however, I was so late that I decided to lie up for the day in the fen +rather than risk crossing the moors after daybreak.</p> + +<p>Through the mist that lay over the heart of the bog I could just make +out the tall clump of rushes where I meant to lie up if the slough +should yet prove firm enough to bear my weight. On striking the river, +which was much above the previous summer's level, I waded into the +water, and, to throw the hound out in the event of his following me, +floated some distance with the current before landing on the opposite +side. As I rustled through the flags and the belt of reeds, whose +dew-laden plumes were sparkling in the first rays of day, a heron rose +lazily and, skimming a reed bed, flew away towards the half-risen sun, +leaving me, as far as I could see, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> sole tenant of the silent +marshland. Only the bare, flat quagmire now lay between me and my +harborage, and, anxious to be hidden from sight, I lost no time in +setting out across the treacherous surface.</p> + +<p>I selected a line which seemed to promise the firmest footing, and +stepped with all possible lightness. Yet, in spite of every care, I +sank deep in places, and midway the crust was so thin that for a while +I was in great danger of foundering. However, by putting forth all my +strength, I was able, at last, to free myself from the clutches of the +more liquid mire and reach the drier, sounder surface between it and +the rushes. I was indeed glad to feel the solid ground under my feet +once more.</p> + +<p>Had I realized the peril before setting out I should not have +attempted to cross. I ought, perhaps, to have turned back on striking +the dangerous zone; but, once embarked on an undertaking, it is not in +my nature to retreat, for there is that in a fox which makes him go +through with his purpose at all hazards, though it may compel him to +pass between the legs of the huntsman's horse or traverse a bog that +threatens to swallow him up.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>At last, exhausted and bemired, I entered the clump, whose shadow lay +like a wide road across that part of the quagmire where it fell, and +chose for my couch a tall heap of dead reeds just inside the wall of +pale green stems. It seemed to have served for a nest of the captive +wild swan, and had probably been floated to the spot by the subsiding +flood.</p> + +<p>To reach my bed I had to cross the stream which drained the pool +within the dense ring of bulrushes; and as I waded through it a +well-known scent reached my nostrils, and told me that the wiliest +creature of the night had also sought this isolated retreat to hover +in. I watched the sedgy islet whence the scent proceeded, expecting to +get a glimpse of the otter couching there; but he lay low and did not +expose a hair, despite the crackling of the reeds as I made my bed.</p> + +<p>I was free now to attend to my toilet and prepare for the rest I so +much needed. With my pads dirty as they were, sleep was out of the +question; so I licked them and my legs as clean as I could, and, thus +refreshed, soon dozed off, with a sense of security to which I had +long been a stranger.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>I slept soundly, without the horrid dreams of the previous weeks, +and was awakened at last by the hum of insects. A year before, when +I often lay in the fen, my ears would not have noticed this loud +undertone of noonday life; but latterly I had, for the most part, +kennelled in the moors, where were only noiseless butterflies and +lizards, silent as sphinxes. I was not really sorry to be disturbed, +for it was delightful to lie there, vaguely conscious of the warmth +of the sun and looking about me in a drowsy way. I turned my blinking +eyes now to the distant mere, sparkling at the end of a vista in the +reeds, now to the hoary summit of the tor seen against the blue sky, +and again to the water-insects at sport on a small pool just beyond +the black shadow which had crept up well-nigh to the foot of the +bulrushes.</p> + +<p>Presently, tiring of the view, I was about to drop asleep again, when +I heard a noise which, if it had been less violent, I should have +thought to be caused by an animal shaking itself. It was followed by a +commotion on the river-bank, and then, to my horror, the hound burst +through the reeds. He had followed my trail to that point, and guessed +where I was, for he kept looking at the clump, and even at the part of +it where I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> crouching. He threw up his nose and sniffed the air, +as I could see by the working of his gleaming nostrils; but there was +no wind to carry the scent across the morass—not enough, indeed, to +stir he light feathery tops of the reeds behind him.</p> + +<p>Soon he advanced to the very edge of the bog and looked longingly at +the clump, as if he were eager to reach it but dared not risk the +crossing. At last, after running up and down the edge several times, +apparently in search of a hard place, he decided to brave the danger, +and with cat-like steps, ludicrous to watch in such a monster, began +the perilous passage. He was soon up to his knees, and the deeper he +went the greater my excitement grew. Every instant I expected to see +him sink out of sight. So sure of it did I feel that I almost ventured +to show myself and fling at the fiend the reproaches that crowded to +my tongue. But though his progress was very slow, he was inch by inch +reducing the distance that separated us.</p> + +<p>Before long he was near enough for me to hear the sucking noise made +by the slough as it reluctantly released its grip on the long muscular +legs. He did not pick and chose his way, or deviate by a reed's +breadth from the straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> course that would bring him to the gap +in the belt of rushes made by the overflow. Now he was on the most +treacherous part of the quagmire, which shook with the struggle he +made to keep his head above the surface. With dilated pupils I watched +what must be his last efforts. I noted the rise of the mire on his +collar, till at last it rose no farther, but still he came on; and +then I noticed the liquid mud raised in front of him like the ripple +in front of a swan. Wading he must have been, though he looked exactly +as though he were swimming; and his great red tongue lolled out with +the frantic exertions.</p> + +<p>When he got nearer his feet must have found the bottom, for his +shoulders rose free of the surface; and I saw his hair bristle as +though something had suddenly angered him. He had scented me or the +otter, or both; and in his haste to add to the number of his victims, +he ploughed through the last score yards of mud like a mad creature. +Along the muddy bed of the overflow he toiled step by step; and the +instant he entered the pool, I rose to my feet, doubtful whether to +stay or retreat, and paused to listen before committing myself.</p> + +<p>At that moment I heard a sullen plunge, then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> another, as two otters +dived into the pool. Thinking there was safety in numbers, I decided +to remain in hiding rather than trust to my slight chance of escape +across the bog. The wild struggles of the hound told me he had viewed +the otters; but he must have lost them again for presently all was +very quiet, though I could hear him at times nosing the rushes and +ferns round the pool, as if in search of them. My eyes were as alert +as my ears, and soon caught a heave on the surface of the overflow and +the gleam of an otter's back as the creature rounded the shallow bend +leading to the river. A few seconds later I saw the other otter glide +noiselessly away, and then a great fear seized me as I realized that I +was left alone with the hound.</p> + +<p>Scarcely were my eyes back on the pool before he landed on the islet, +where he stood with the water dripping from his brindled coat, whilst +with nostrils raised he sniffed the air. As I watched him through the +stems, I became aware that he winded me; and when I saw him take to +the water and head straight; for my hiding-place, I stole silently but +swiftly away and, fearful of trusting to the muddy bed of the stream, +committed myself to the bog.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>I trod its treacherous surface as lightly as I could, but because of +the smallness of my feet I kept breaking through the crust, and made +only slow progress. Nevertheless I succeeded in getting farther than +I expected before the hound sighted me. As soon as he did he burst +through the rushes and, making a tremendous spring, landed within a +few yards of where I was struggling with the mire.</p> + +<p>This wild leap of his saved me. Had he been content to follow at his +best pace, the chances are that he would have caught me before I +could reach the bank of the river; but now, through the violence of +his fall, he was so deeply embedded that I gained many yards before +he could extricate himself. Indeed, by the time he had done so I +had reached the more liquid part of the morass where I had all but +foundered at sunrise. With the double danger threatening me, I exerted +myself even more than then; but, madly as I struggled, my progress +was not nearly as fast as that of the hound, now overhauling me. It +was horrible to hear this murderous fiend whimpering and whining in +his eagerness to get at me, and to feel that I was scarcely advancing +at all. I was like a fox in a nightmare, only I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> was never more wide +awake in my life. Fright however kept urging me on, and to my joy I at +last felt firmer ground under my feet.</p> + +<p>The bank gained, I turned my head for an instant, and saw my pursuer +seemingly stuck in the treacherous mud-belt; but I did not waste +precious time watching him. That he still reckoned me his I felt sure; +that I should escape I had little hope; nevertheless, I meant to do my +utmost to save my life. I galloped down-stream close to the water's +edge, took the otter's path across the neck of the bend, swam the +river, and on landing plunged into the great reed-brakes.</p> + +<p>On, on I went at my full speed, driven by mortal fear. I knew I was +not yet out of danger. Here a wild-duck rose in affright, there a +moorhen scurried out of my way; but I kept straight on past clumps of +osmunda ferns and flags, and across backwaters till at last, after +swimming a maze of water-ways, I came to the grassy promontory that +flanks the inflow of the river into the mere.</p> + +<p>For a moment I stood there irresolute. Should I take to the water or +trust to the bordering reeds? Whilst I hesitated, I thought I heard +the hound coming, and the next instant dropped into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> the stream. +Partly by swimming, but chiefly by the aid of the current, I succeeded +in reaching the nearest islet of the little archipelago that studded +the rippled expanse. There I hoped to find refuge from my relentless +pursuer.</p> + +<p>I had arrived only just in time, for, peeping through the sedgy growth +that covered my hiding-place, I saw the hound gallop to the end of the +promontory and stand gazing over the wide surface. Then he withdrew to +the brake that rose like a lofty wall about the mere. I could trace +his progress by the rising of the wild-fowl whose sanctuaries he +invaded, and later by the glimpse I got of the angered swan swimming +defiantly across the narrow opening of a big creek about which the +array of reeds was densest. I saw no further sign of the brute that +had so rudely violated the summer peace of the fenland, but wisdom +seemed to dictate that I should look elsewhere for a more peaceful +home.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<hr class="chap" /> +<p> </p> + +<p class="transnote"><b>Transcriber's Note</b><br /><br /> + +Page <a href="#Page_12">12</a>: Changed "night" to "nights."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: And how short those night were!)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_20">20</a>: Changed "crusing" to "cruising."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: crusing restlessly up and down the turf)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_23">23</a>: Changed "noes" to "noses."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: turned up our noes at such food)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_37">37</a>: Changed "exhilirating" to "exhilarating."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: It was most exhilirating to be wandering)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_40">40</a>: Changed "thristing" to "thirsting."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: stealthy enemy thristing for its blood)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_42">42</a>: Changed "lucious" to "luscious."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: every bit of the lucious morsel)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_53">53</a>: Changed "malard" to "mallard."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: a loud quack the malard disappeared)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_53">53</a>: Changed "mallord" to "mallard."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: How he enjoyed the mallord,)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_67">67</a>: Changed "nothinginess" to "nothingness."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: dwarf into nothinginess the annoyances)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_71">71</a>: Changed "manteled" to "mantled."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: skimmed the brake that manteled the steep slope)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_74">74</a>: Changed "pursurers" to "pursuers."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: I should be able to elude my pursurers)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_76">76</a>: Changed "rocognized" to "recognized."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: he rocognized the bedraggled cub)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_81">81</a>: Changed "grievious" to "grievous."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: Chief of these are the grievious losses)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_92">92</a>: Changed "be" to "he."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: killed by the pack; be was the man who,)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_103">103</a>: Changed "waching" to "watching."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: It was bitter work waching with the gale in your teeth,)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_132">132</a>: Changed "pursurer" to "pursuer."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: and saw my pursurer seemingly stuck)</span><br /> +</p> + +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44347 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/44347-h/images/cover.jpg b/44347-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfefb47 --- /dev/null +++ b/44347-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/44347-h/images/frontis.jpg b/44347-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3538960 --- /dev/null +++ b/44347-h/images/frontis.jpg diff --git a/44347-h/images/i001.jpg b/44347-h/images/i001.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f5b8c4b --- /dev/null +++ b/44347-h/images/i001.jpg diff --git a/44347-h/images/i002.jpg b/44347-h/images/i002.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..91d47e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/44347-h/images/i002.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4bfe2dc --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #44347 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44347) diff --git a/old/44347-8.txt b/old/44347-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55d2394 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44347-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2925 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Master Reynard, by Jane Fielding + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Master Reynard + The History of a Fox + + +Author: Jane Fielding + + + +Release Date: December 4, 2013 [eBook #44347] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER REYNARD*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Diane Monico, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 44347-h.htm or 44347-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44347/44347-h/44347-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44347/44347-h.zip) + + + + + +[Illustration] + + +MASTER REYNARD + +The History of a Fox + +From Animal Autobiographies by J. C. Tregarthen + +Revised by + +JANE FIELDING + + + + + + + +New York +A. L. Chatterton Co. + +Copyright, 1913 +A. L. Chatterton Co. + + + + +MASTER REYNARD + + +The earth where I was born was far down the face of a steep cliff +and opened on a sloping shelf of turf, from the edge of which the +undercliff fell sheer to the sea. The entrance we used most was +slightly above the level of the springy sward and led by a small +tunnel to a roomy chamber where daylight never penetrated. + +There on the bare dry ground the vixen laid us--my two sisters and me. +If I was like the baby cubs I have since seen, I was born blind, my +muzzle was blunt and rounded, and my coat as black as a crow, the only +white about me being a few hairs in the tag of my tiny brush. Even at +the time when I first remember what I was like my fur was still a very +dark color and bore no resemblance to the russet hue of a full-grown +fox. + +This was a few weeks after my eyes were opened, when, after awaking +from our first sleep, we were in the habit of sunning ourselves just +inside the mouth of the earth. It was there, with my muzzle resting on +the vixen's flank, that I got my earliest glimpse of the world. The +turf was then almost hidden by pink flowers, over the heads of which +I could see, between two of the pinnacles that bordered the ledge, +the sea breaking on a reef where the cormorants used to gather at low +water and stand with folded or outstretched wings until the rising +tide drove them to the big white rock beyond. + +So few things moved within our field of vision that every creature we +saw afforded us the keenest interest. Sometimes during days together +nothing stirred but the stems of the thrift and the surf about the +reef, for the sky was cloudless when the hot weather set in. Now and +again a red-legged crow came and perched on one of the pinnacles, +crying "Daw, daw!" until its mate joined it, and then, all too soon, +they took wing and flew away; at times a hawk or a peregrine would +glide by and break the monotony of our life. + +Our narrow green was dotted by five boulders, and one of these we +could see from the earth. On this our most frequent visitor alighted. +It was an old raven, who presently dropped to the ground, walked up +to the remains of any fowl or rabbit lying near the heap of sandy soil +which my mother had scratched out when making the earth, and pecked, +pecked, pecked, until only the bones were left. Then, uttering his +curious "Cawpse, cawpse!" he would hop along the ground, flap his +big black wings, and pass out of sight. I feel sure that he saw us +watching him, for his eyes often turned our way. + +One afternoon, to our astonishment, a half-grown rabbit came lopping +along, and stopped to nibble the turf at a spot barely a good spring +from the vixen. She, usually very drowsy, half opened her eyes and +turned her face towards the intruder, but she did not rise to her +feet. We youngsters were beside ourselves with excitement, but were +not allowed to scramble over her side to drive away this audacious +trespasser on our private domain. This, I think, was owing to my +mother's great anxiety on our account. + +I have never known a vixen so determined that her cubs should lie +hidden by day; but then we were her first litter. She would constantly +warn us against venturing out whilst the sun was up. So particular +was she that we were not permitted to expose as much as our muzzles +outside the earth, though birds and rabbits moved about there freely. +We could not understand the restriction, and I fear that we thought it +unkind of her to confine us to a cramped, stuffy hole the summer day +through, when we longed to be gambolling about the sward or basking +in those warm corners under the boulders which retained some of their +heat even after the sun went down. + +It is true that I tried hard to get my liberty. Time after time, when +I thought she had dozed off, I endeavored to squeeze between her and +the low roof. It was of no use, though I used the utmost stealth and +trod as lightly as a feather. Never once did I catch her napping. On +the few occasions when I was on the point of succeeding she seized me +between her velvety lips and put me back in my place between my two +little sisters. + +Thus, by the kindest of mothers, I was disciplined in the ways of the +wild creatures, learning, by constant correction and example, that the +world outside the earth is denied to us by day, and is ours to move +and play and seek our prey in only by night. + +And how short those nights were! What a weary, weary time it was, +awaiting their approach! How impatiently we watched their slow +advent! how we tingled with delight in every limb on seeing the shadow +of the high boulder creep and creep across the turf until it reached +the pinnacle that had a patch of golden lichen on it! Then, as the sun +sank behind the headland, the nearer sea became sombre, the bright +expanse beyond darkened, and at last the stars would begin to show in +the sky. By this my mother had shaken off her drowsiness, the glow +had come back into her green eyes, and, rising to her feet, she would +leave the earth. If she detected no danger, she would call us to her. +What a moment that was! the pent-up energy of hours of restraint +breaking out in such rompings and runnings after our own brushes as +I have never seen in any other young creatures. Wearying at last of +these antics and of jumping over the back of the vixen, who watched +us with loving eyes, we settled down to the game of lurk and pounce +amongst the boulders. To our great delight, the vixen often joined in +this before setting out in search of food. Her nimbleness and skill in +dodging filled us with amazement. Like a flash she was on us; there +was no avoiding her rushes, though she always avoided ours, and her +movements were as silent as the passing of a shadow when a swift cloud +crosses the sun. + +I shall never forget those frolics in which she shared; they not only +were useful training for the life before us, as I afterwards realized, +but also induced in us a fondness for her so great that we could not +bear to have her out of our sight when she left us to seek the food we +needed. We would watch her as she followed the narrow track that wound +up the cliff, till from the rocks near the top she looked down to +assure herself of our safety before going inland. And that was not the +last we saw of her. Times and times I have caught sight of her bright +eyes glittering like twin stars on the summit of the ivy-covered scarp +where the magpies built. + +A more affectionate mother cubs never had; but for the life of me I +could not understand why she was so anxious about our safety: I had +neither seen nor heard anything in our little world to alarm me. +Whether she had or not I do not know, but she was haunted by the +dread of something, as I could tell by the way she used to look about +her and listen when watching our gambols, and by her starting at the +slightest unusual sound. Her nervousness made me nervous, and, thus +infected by my mother's fears, I got to be afraid without in the least +knowing what there was to be afraid of. + +These vague fears were on two occasions the cause of false alarms. +Once, somewhere along the cliff a dry stick snapped. That was enough. +My sisters and I fled in terror to our den, where we were joined a +minute later by the anxious vixen who had just left us for a foraging +expedition. There was no danger: it was merely a lumbering badger +which crossed our playground later on; but I have learnt since that no +wild thing can hear the snap of a twig without alarm. The badger was a +strange-looking creature: his face was white, with black stripes from +ear to muzzle; his gray hair all but swept the ground; and he walked +not lightly on his toes as we do but heavily on the soles of his feet. + +At another time the whistling of harvest curlews frightened us almost +out of our lives. These were both needless terrors; but soon I was +brought face to face with evidence of a real enemy, the one, no doubt, +of whom my mother lived in such dread. It was not many days after the +coming of the whimbrels--for the moon, a mere sickle then, had not +waxed to half its full size--when two incidents occurred which proved +to me, a raw, heedless cub, that there was serious ground for fear. +Both happened in broad daylight, one close on the heels of the other. + +One drowsy noon we were watching from our usual place the old raven +pecking at the hind-quarters of a rabbit, when with an awful thud +a big stone struck the turf close to him, bounded off, and rolled +towards the corner of our playground. In a twinkling, before it had +stopped rolling, we had retreated to the very end of the earth and +there lay trembling, and wondering, even in our consternation, whether +the mischievous magpies, who had set up a sudden clamor, were not the +cause of our discomfiture. When we stole out in the quiet and dusk, +my mother walked straight to the stone and smelt it, and I, being +curious, must needs follow her example. What an awesome smell it had! +The scent was unlike anything I had sniffed before, and surely not the +scent of any beast of the field! The vixen, who stood there watching +me, noted the cold shiver it sent through my young limbs and seemed by +her expressive face to say: "The creature that tainted that stone is +the cause of all my fears," and, further, if I read aright the sad +look that rose to her eyes: "He will prove your scourge as he has +proved mine." My story will tell whether it has been so. + +In our games that night I avoided the corner where the stone lay, and +so did my sisters. I noticed, too, that the vixen was away in quest +of food a shorter time than usual, and did not go out a second time +as she had generally done since our appetites had grown. We had, +therefore, to satisfy our hunger on the gosling she had brought. +This we broke up ourselves with our sharp milk teeth, chattering and +quarrelling as was our wont whilst the meagre feast lasted. The vixen +contented herself with a few old bones. + +The other incident was graver, causing injury to my mother. It +happened thus. She had gone out one night shortly after--for the moon +was still not quite full--but, though absent till nearly dawn, she +failed to procure any food. I remember our impatience at her long +absence and our disappointment on seeing her issue from the furze +without even a few mice in her mouth. However, there was no help for +it. The sun was reddening the sky near the horizon, so, supperless and +sullen, we curled ourselves up and fell asleep. On awakening, as we +did before our usual time, we began to cry pitifully for food, and +at length, driven to desperation by our complaints, the vixen stole +out at noon, not under cover of mist or fog but with the sun shining +in the bluest of skies. Ravenous with hunger, we crowded the mouth of +the earth, listening for the sound of her returning steps. Long, long +we harkened without catching any whisper of her approach. At last we +heard a muffled, double report, and after an interval the faint patter +of her pads. In my anxiety to see what she had brought I put my head +out and kept my eyes fixed on the run in the yellow furze through +which she always came. Never shall I forget my horror at what I saw. +Instead of her russet face with its black and white marking, her mask +below the eyes was all blood and dreadful to behold. I am ashamed to +say it, but her appearance terrified me, though I loved her as I loved +my life. She staggered into the earth, and took no more notice of us +than, if we had been strange cubs, which alarmed me more than her +dazed look. The reason of her plight was a puzzle to me, and though +the stone, with its horrid association, forced itself upon my notice +as a possible cause, I dismissed the idea that it could have done the +injury, inasmuch as it was lying where it had rolled. No; in a vague +way I attributed her state to the daylight, so great had my fear of it +became. Ah me, how ignorant I was in those far-away days! + +We were free now to go and come as we listed, but, famished though we +were, not one of us attempted to leave the earth except to get a drink +of water, and we lay huddled together, looking out of the corners of +our eyes at our poor mother, as miserable and forlorn a litter of +foxes as could anywhere be found. In the depth of the night, however, +the pangs of hunger compelling us, we left the vixen, who seemed to +be asleep, and crept out. Being bigger than my sisters, I felt called +upon to take the lead, and neither of them showed any inclination to +dispute it with me. But where to take them, or how to get a supper, I +had not an idea. + +I am not going to cast one word of blame on my mother for delaying +to teach us to shift for ourselves. It was out of affection that +she kept us so long to the nursery; and how could she possibly have +foreseen the calamity that had so unexpectedly disabled her and thrown +us on our own resources? And, lest a suspicion of neglect towards +us should attach to her memory, I must here say what I have not yet +mentioned--that by the death of the dog-fox, my father, the burden +of our upbringing from the day of our birth fell wholly on my little +mother. What labor and sacrifice this must have meant! After we were +weaned, how often have I seen her go without her share of the prey +that we greedy cubs might suffer no sint! When has cliff or moor +witnessed greater devotion, greater unselfishness? And now she lay +in the earth so sorely wounded as to be indifferent to our helpless +plight. I will not dwell on my feelings, but they made it difficult to +focus my thoughts on the undertaking before me. + +For a minute or two I sat on my haunches near the big boulder, +considering gravely where I should go, my sisters the while +cruising restlessly up and down the turf with all the impatience of +irresponsibility, awaiting development. This to-and-fro movement of +theirs added to my bewilderment, and even the bats flitting about were +a trifle disconcerting to a cub with three routes to choose from, each +in its turn more inviting than the others. + +There was the patch leading to the upper cliff; there was, I assumed, +a way down the undercliff; and there was, I knew, a track between the +two which the badger had worn. I have never been up the cliff, and +after the vixen's recent experience dared not go, though it was night, +and nothing stirred but the reeds about our drinking-place and the +leaves of the gnarled tree where the magpies built. + +In the end I decided, if I could find a way, to go down the cliff. +There was a sandy cove below that I had often longed to reach in +my mother's absence, but my strength was unequal to the descent. I +determined to try to go there now. So, leading the others past the +little basin where we quenched our thirst, I brought them along the +cliff to a place where the sheer precipice changed into a succession +of ledges, down which we leaped until brought to a standstill above a +wall of nearly perpendicular rock. It was impossible to reach the flat +shelf below by leaping: we should have broken our bones; and there +we stood staring over the brink at the smooth rock beneath us, and +wondering how we could pass it. + +Again my sisters looked to me to take the lead, so, putting forth all +the power of my untried claws, I began, brush first, to crawl down +a fissure that lay aslant the precipitous face of the great slab. +This I followed, partly by feeling with my hind claws where foothold +permitted a firm grip, partly by turning my face and seeing where +the easiest line of descent lay. At last I succeeded in reaching the +bottom without mishap. My sisters imitated me, coming down more easily +than I had done, probably on account of their greater skill and lesser +weight. + +A creek, too wide to jump, now separated us from the sand, but, taking +to the water, we waded until we lost bottom, and then, for the first +time in our lives, by swimming crossed deep water. More bedraggled +creatures than we looked on landing it would be difficult to imagine; +but we shook ourselves from muzzle to tag, making the spray fly from +our wet coats, and set about searching for something to eat. Where +the beach met the cliff was a cave that ran a long way in and had two +lesser caves opening out of it. We explored these without finding in +either of them anything except dry seaweed and pieces of cork, so we +retraced our steps and made for the other side of the cove. There, +just beyond the ribs of a wreck that projected from the sand, we +came on a big jelly-fish. Though we should have turned up our noses +at such food in ordinary times, it was a windfall in our famished +condition, and we swallowed the quivering mass with gusto, sand and +all. Good food or bad, it filled our stomachs and stopped the gnawing +pangs of hunger. + +We then clambered to the top of some rocks that stood out above the +sand, and found there a small pool of water, temptingly clear. Being +thirsty after our meal, we began to lap it. Ugh! it was nasty to the +taste, but, what was worse, the mistake was a blow to my conceit, for +I was humiliated by the reproachful glances my sisters shot at me. +To avoid them I raised my eyes, and, as I did so, caught sight of +the vixen on the cliff at the spot where we had taken to the ledges. +Then it came home to me that I had done wrong to leave the earth +without her, and, fearing she would be angry, I hid myself amongst +the rocks, as did my sisters. The vixen, usually quick as lightning +in her movements, came but very slowly down the cliff on the line +we had taken, and as slowly crossed the sand to the cave. This she +entered, and for a time was lost to view. My inclination nearly led me +to quit my hiding-place and go after her; but again fear checked me, +and I remained where I was. On leaving the cave, she with difficulty +followed our trail to the spot where we had eaten the jelly-fish, and, +not seeing us, seemed to lose heart, for she sank to the ground and +called us with a most piteous cry, which at once drew us to her side. +I can see even now the delight on her poor face as we bounded towards +her across the sand that separated us. After licking us with her +swollen tongue, she led us up the cliff by a much easier path than the +one we had followed in descending, and we soon reached the level of +our earth. We proceeded towards it in single file by the narrowest of +paths, passing our usual drinking-place, where for a reason I am going +to explain, the supply was so scanty that we found barely enough water +to quench our thirst. The vixen was curled up at the mouth of the den +when we reached it, and we had to climb over her back to get to our +sleeping-places. + +A short period free from troubles followed, during which my mother +rapidly recovered. Nevertheless, the wounds on her face were barely +healed when there befell one of the greatest calamities of my eventful +life--a calamity that was near putting an end to us all. + +Before attempting to describe it, I must mention the sufferings we +endured in the days following our adventure down the cliff, through +the gradual drying up of the water that supplied our drinking-place. +Night after night, when we repaired to the basin that the falling +water had hollowed in the rock, I had noticed that the stream, which +came from some hidden source beneath a pile of boulders, got smaller +and smaller, and, after the very hot weather set in, dwindled to +a mere trickle. To such a thin thread did it shrink that from the +mouth of the earth, which was not many yards away, we could no longer +hear it splashing into the basin. Now and then, especially when some +animal, generally the badger, had been there before us, we were driven +to such an extremity as to be compelled to lick the dew off the turf +to cool our tongues until the water had collected again. + +It was a terrible time. To this day we speak of the year of my birth +as the Dry Year, and indeed I, who was a May fox, was nearly three +moons old before I saw rain, which fell on the afternoon of the day +when the curlews' whistling scared us. I remember, though not as +vividly as the rainbow seen that day, the embrowned turf of our +playground being dotted with slugs which the downpour had enticed out +of the sunless crevices of the rocks. + +The rain had ceased before nightfall, and the following day the sky, +which had been black and lowering, became as cloudless as before, +whilst the heat, previously intense, became well-nigh unbearable. +Hour after hour we lay in the deep shade of the bracken fronds at +the entrance, panting for breath and longing for the water we were +not allowed to get before dusk. At the first sign of twilight, +and even whilst the after-glow suffused the sky, we rushed to the +drinking-place, our three masks completely filling the basin, which +we soon lapped dry. Almost as refreshing as the water we swallowed +was the cool spray--despite the rain it was no more--that fell on our +heads from the lip of the rock above. + +For several days from dawn to dusk we thus endured the agony of +parching thirst, till at last, when our tongues lolled out, and one of +my sisters showed signs of utter exhaustion, the vixen so far yielded +to our entreaties as to permit us to slink out, one by one, to drink. + +Unfortunately we could not reach the reeds about the water without +exposing ourselves to the eyes of the magpies overhead. On spying +us they set up such a clamor that every bird and beast for a great +distance along the cliffs must have known that a fox was moving, and +rejoiced at our misfortune. + +[Illustration: "THESE BLACK AND WHITE PESTS."] + +We have many enemies, but none whom we despise so much as magpies, +crows, and jays. Their treatment of us is as unprovoked as it is +insulting. We have never injured them, and yet, as I shall tell later, +the pariahs of the wild, that gorge on our unburied kills, seek every +opportunity of betraying us. + +Those cliff magpies, at whose tongues we suffered such indignities, +must have spent their days in watching our movements. After my sisters +had had their drink, it took hours for the basin to refill, yet as +soon as my muzzle projected beyond the bracken when I went to take my +turn, the hateful wretches would cry out, "There he is!" + +I never grew indifferent to this daily annoyance, and in a rage I used +to lap up what water there was in choking haste, so as to escape the +mobbing of these black and white pests who flew just beyond my reach, +and at times even brushed with their wings the tops of the tall reeds +about the basin. + +We were not the only sufferers from the drought. Indeed everything +suffered, and most of all perhaps the herbage. The thrift and white +campion that covered the ledges, the ferns that found root-hold in the +crannies and crevices of the rocks, and the stone-crop and lichens +growing on the rocks themselves, drooped and withered; and at last +the boggy ground above the drinking-place caked and dried, so that +the reeds turned yellow, and rattled rather than swished when the +night wind stirred them. Under the scorching sun the thread of water +shrank and shrank until it dripped drop by drop, and finally dried up +altogether. At my last visit to the drinking-place the smooth basin +was hot with the fierce rays, and the moss about the edge of the +rock above was nearly as moistureless as the crinkled lichen on the +pinnacles. + +In these conditions it was impossible to remain where we were, and +that night my mother reluctantly decided to abandon our home and to +lead us up the cliff. Would that she had taken us the moment the stars +showed, instead of waiting until deep night; for the delay nearly +proved fatal to us all. A fox's life is so short that he cannot forget +even the groundless scares his fears make him the victim of, so it +is not to be wondered at that the events of the night I am about to +describe are almost as vivid to me still as at the time they happened. + +My sisters had returned once more from the dried-up basin to which +they had been some five or six times since sunset, and joined me where +I lay near the mouth of the earth, waiting for the dew to fall and +listening for the footsteps of the vixen who had gone to get ready the +new lair. It was a beautiful night--the sea calm, and the surf about +the reef alight with phosphorescence, whilst the furze-bushes and the +clump of brambles near the reeds were dotted with glow-worms. There +was even a solitary one on the drooping bracken above the entrance. +A wind of summer strength stirred the withered herbage and murmured +around the precipitous crags above our heads, but, save the boom from +the great cave below when the tide rose, all was still. Suddenly, +without warning of any kind, there came a flash of light from the +cliffs above the sandy cove where we had eaten the jelly-fish. It died +away and then returned, more brightly than before. It was not nearly +so fierce as the lines of fire I had seen zigzagging the black sky +on the afternoon of the heavy rain, nor was there any thunder with +it as then, but there was a strange, crackling noise, as of animals +crunching bones. + +Immediately flames leapt in great tongues from the brambly thicket +beyond the reeds. These drove us to the den; and there we crouched +listening to the awful sound, which grew louder and louder. Soon a +faint glare lit up a part of the earth as far in as the spot where two +rocks narrowed the tunnel. Before this I was on the point of bolting; +but now fear seized my limbs and I could not rise, could only crouch +closer and closer to the earth like my sisters. Whilst we lay there +huddled together and crying out for the vixen she returned, darkening +the tunnel as she came towards us. Scarcely had she joined us when an +evil-smelling fog rolled in, causing us to keep our muzzles close to +the ground. Then the fire swept past the earth, lighting it up to the +end where we lay. Panic-stricken though I was, I remember noticing how +the smooth floor gleamed, and how curiously the light glowed on the +vixen's fur. Suddenly the heat became less intense, and a current of +fresh air entering the earth revived us as we lay panting at the point +of suffocation. + +The crackling and roar of the flames had long died away before we +dared to quit our sanctuary, and when at last we ventured to the mouth +of the earth, what a sight met our gaze! Our playground was charred, +except for a narrow strip near its edge, and towards this a thin line +of fire moved slowly, blotting out the criss-cross tracks we had worn +between the boulders. A ring of sparks encircled the raven's perch, +and crept higher and higher, consuming the lichen, and leaving bare +rock in its train; where the brambles had stood was a heap of glowing +ash; grasses and reeds had disappeared; in short, the place which had +been our little world and of which we knew every blade and spray, was +as nearly past recognition as a corn-field after harvest. Away towards +the west great ruddy flames leapt from the furze brake and lit up sky +and sea and headland with such a lurid light as I had never seen; +whilst on the near slopes a hundred smaller fires flickered and died, +to blaze again and re-illuminate the great piles of bared rock. Sparks +falling from above showed that the ivy round the home of the magpies +had not escaped; and as the birds had mobbed me most unmercifully that +very day, I rejoiced in their misfortune. + +The vixen, satisfied at last that she might venture forth, took up +my puny sister, who was then unable to stand, and set out for the +steep path by which she usually reached the top of the cliff. My other +sister and I trod closely on her heels as she picked her way over the +heated ground and skirted the glowing remains of the furze-bushes. In +the ascent my pads were rather badly burnt and my fore-legs singed +by a fire which suddenly broke out in some smouldering heather into +which they sank. The glimpse I got of the face of the precipice showed +that the ivy had lost all its leaves, the bared stems standing out +plainly against the black fissures that seamed the great wall of rock +besprinkled with sparks which in their fall resembled shooting stars. + +When we reached the summit we could hear the magpies calling out, +but, to do them justice, they were not mobbing us then. Once beyond +the blackened ground we ranged up one on each side of the vixen, and +after crossing fields of stubble and turnips and getting far beyond +the reek of the burning, we caught the scene of the brook for which +she was making. We struck it where it wound through marshy ground on +the outskirts of a furze brake, and in a trice were up to our bellies +in the delicious cool stream with our tongues hard at work. The water +was cold and sweet; there was plenty of it, and we lapped and lapped +as long as we could take in a drop. In all my life I never again +enjoyed a drink like that, and the mud that stuck to my legs seemed to +soothe the pain of the burns. + +My little sister was able to follow us now without assistance, but the +vixen, who was exhausted with carrying her so far, went at a walking +pace between the stems of the furze and kept looking back to see that +she was keeping up with us, though she took no notice whatever of my +other sister who was going on three legs, or of myself whose poor feet +were so tender that I hardly dared touch the ground. + +Emerging from the furze we came upon a circle of turf, where we +caught sight of at least a dozen rabbits scurrying to the holes that +honey-combed the ground at the foot of a high cairn. One of these had +been enlarged, as the heap of fresh earth showed, and into it the +vixen led us to a dry and sweet-smelling den, where she left us, to +procure food. In there it seemed as still as death to us who had had +the roar of the sea in our ears all our lives, but the lair was very +comfortable, and roomy enough for us to stand side by side whilst +the vixen distributed the rabbit she presently brought us. We found, +too, on curling ourselves up, that, big as we were, we could lie close +together without trespassing on the tunnel as we had latterly done in +the cliff earth. So, as we were thoroughly weary, we soon forgot the +dangers we had passed and fell asleep, our mother lying between us and +the opening, as was her invariable custom. + +I was startled out of my sleep by a stamping overhead, caused by the +rabbits in the heart of whose burrow we were lying. The noise, which +broke out again and again just as I was on the point of dropping +off, irritated me so much that at last I got on my hind-legs, thrust +my muzzle into the hole in the roof, and breathed loudly through +my nostrils. This snorting was not without result, for after the +stampede that followed there was quiet for a long time. Nevertheless +the tiresome creatures had spoilt my day's rest and, try as I might, +I could not doze off again. My sisters slept through it all, and the +vixen showed no sign of being disturbed, except that she half opened +her eyes when the rabbits scampered over the spot where she lay. +It was very early, as I could tell by the scent of the furze that +stole along the tunnel and almost overpowered the flavor of rabbit, +from which the den was never quite free. To pass the weary hours I +licked the mud off my legs, which still smarted, and, whilst I did +so, thought of our narrow escape, and wondered in a vague way whether +fires were to be numbered amongst the regular troubles of a fox's life. + +At length the vixen roused herself, and when the coolness and smell of +the air warned her that the sun had set, she rose and led us forth, +not for our usual gambols, but, as it proved, for our first lesson +in hunting. I suspected something unusual was afoot the moment she +ordered us to follow her across the stream, whither she had taken us +to drink; and the further we got from the earth, the more excited +I grew at the prospect of the adventures before us. It was most +exhilarating to be wandering over the broad, high country, which, in +comparison with our ledge at the foot of the precipice, seemed like +the roof of the world. For nights and nights past I had yearned to +accompany my mother on her rounds, and the unexpected gratification of +my intense longing thrilled every fibre of my being. So great was my +excitement that I quite forgot not only a loose milk tooth that had +been worrying me, but even the tenderness of my poor pads, on which I +had with difficulty limped to the drinking-place. + +The vixen ran steadily some dozen paces in front, and side by side +we cubs followed in her train, noiselessly as shadows. It fascinated +me to watch her lissom movements as she stole along, and to note the +ripples that ruffled her smooth coat when she crossed the broken +ground. We had passed over one hill and were breasting the next beyond +before I began to wonder what we were going to see and how soon, and +then, without warning, she reared on her hind-legs, listened with ears +erect, and pounced on something in a patch of rushes, in which she +buried her long muzzle. The next instant she came trotting back to my +little sister, and gave her the mouse she held between her lips. Her +quick hearing had detected its movements in the undergrowth. + +But mousing was apparently not the chief business of the night, for, +without dwelling, she stepped across the dried-up runnel which the +rushes fringed, and headed for the craggy ridge above. In her progress +up the steep slope she kept scanning the ground to right and left of +the trail as if she expected at any moment to see the prey she was in +search of, and when near the crest, she crouched and crawled forward +with the utmost caution. With breathless excitement we wormed our +bodies along in her wake, as though we had been trained to it. But we +had not; we were imitating her instinctively, and kept our distance as +faithfully as the shadow of her brush that darkened the moonlit ground +in front of us. + +On reaching the ridge I could not help shifting my gaze to glance +at the wide marshland below us, so strikingly unlike any scene my +young eyes had looked on. Here and there on the level expanse sheets +of water and a winding stream shone like silver, and from the great +reed-beds about them came a soft voice like the murmur of waves on a +distant beach. This was the expression of a stolen instant, and no +sooner were my eyes back on the vixen than she sank to the ground as +though she had suddenly lost the use of her legs. We did the same. +This pleased her, as I could tell by the expression of satisfaction +in the eager face which she turned slowly towards us and as slowly +withdrew, brushing aside as she did so the dry bents that rose a good +way up her long ears. + +At first I wondered what she had found, as the only living +things visible to me were some rabbits far below on the lip of a +funnel-shaped warren. But presently over her head I saw the tips of +the ears of a rabbit quite close to us, and my heart began to thump +as it had perhaps never done before. The sight of the living prey had +awoke in me the dormant spirit of the hunter that has hardly slumbered +since; and not in me only--my sisters were evidently as excited as I +was, for their brushes were lashing mine as wildly as mine did theirs. + +The rabbit meanwhile winded danger and, as its nostrils showed, kept +sniffing the air to try and locate it. When it succeeded, its eyes +fell, not on a stealthy enemy thirsting for its blood but--so sudden +was the vixen's change of attitude and demeanor--on a harmless, +playful fox rolling on her back as I had seen her roll in utter +guilelessness a hundred times. The rabbit started, as well it might, +and I expected to see it dive into its hole; but, marvellous to +relate, instead of seeking safety it regained its composure and +resumed its nibbling on an almost bare patch, towards which the +assumed frolics of the vixen and the slant of the ground were leading +her. Then, with one of the lightning-like rushes which made her look +a blurred mass even to our quick eyes, she was on it, and when she +faced us the rabbit's head and hind-quarters hung limp as she held it +across her mouth. + +On witnessing the kill we cubs jumped to our feet, eager to partake of +the first course of our supper. But when we attempted to take it from +her mouth, to our amazement the vixen snarled at us as she had never +done before. My little sister, to whom she had always been so tender, +was the last to try, and, incredible as it may seem, the vixen turned +on her like a fury. + +Nothing but my desire to record faithfully the impressions of that +time would make one own that I considered my mother unnatural and +cruel in denying food to the weakling among her cubs. If the water +which had cooled our parched throats the night before scalded us +we should not have been so taken aback as by this sudden change of +conduct on her part. It was simply incomprehensible. Had something +outside our knowledge caused her to turn against us? If not, what did +she mean by her harshness? + +It did occur to me that this unaccountable behavior might be feigned, +and that presently she would drop the rabbit at our feet and be again +the affectionate mother she had always been. Indeed, I watched her +out of the corners of my eyes from the spot to which I had retired, +expecting to see her snarl relax into a grin. But in this I was +disappointed, for, on reaching a ledge below, to which we followed +her at a respectful distance, she devoured every bit of the luscious +morsel before our eyes, though she knew well enough that we were +ravenously hungry. The delicious smell of the hot entrails which the +wind brought us put the keenest edge on my appetite--already sharp +set by the previous night's shortness--and with the strong craving to +satisfy it came the novel thought of satisfying it with a rabbit of +my own catching. The bunnies were still playing about on the edge of +the warren, and whilst the vixen kept shifting her gaze from them to +me, licking her blood-stained lips, the lesson she wished to teach +suddenly flashed upon me, and the explanation of her conduct was +complete. She was saying as plainly as could be: "There is your prey. +I have shown you how to catch it. Go and get your own supper." I +required no further prompting. Then and there I began my first stalk +under the eyes of all I loved in the world. + +Summoning my untried powers, I wormed myself over the ground towards +a single bush that screened me from the observation of most of the +rabbits. Its shelter gained, I looked back and up to where three pairs +of green eyes regarded my every movement, and then peeped with the +utmost caution round the corner of the furze towards my prey. The +bunnies were all there and thoroughly alert, and so disconcerting did +I find their united gaze that I drew my head back to consider the +situation. When I peeped again half their number showed their white +scuts and went to ground, and the other half seemed prepared to follow +their example. + +Satisfied that direct approach was out of the question, I walked +aslant the slope towards a piece of flat ground on a level with the +warren, as though I were engaged on some engrossing pursuit in that +direction. As I went I did not even squint at the rabbits, though it +cost me an effort to look straight before my muzzle. My simulated +detachment from my prey must, I felt sure, have excited the admiration +of my dear mother, and so must the thoroughness with which I gave +myself over to the antics that took me at first farther and farther +away and then nearer and nearer to the few remaining rabbits, whose +curiosity had got the better of their fears. The silly creatures were +quite taken in by the capers I cut, and one at least realized his +danger too late, for ere he could reach his hole I snapped him up and +bore him up the hill towards the vixen. + +Insignificant as the incident appears to me now, it was one of the +greatest events of my life. Every fox is proud of his first skill, +and I was no little elated by mine. Indeed, I felt I must make some +sort of demonstration in honor of the occasion. Imagine me, then, a +handsome young dog-fox, head erect, ears pricked, brush on end and +well fluffed out, trotting along on the very tips of my toes with +my first rabbit between my jaws, and you have a picture of me as I +swaggered over the bare turf in the moonlight, before the eyes of my +admiring mother and jealous sisters. I shall never forget the pride I +felt nor the inner voice that kept whispering, "You are able to get +your own living now, my boy, but don't be too highly elated!" + +I got on rapidly after this my first experience. How could I do +otherwise, with such a clever and painstaking little mother as I had +to instruct me in the wiles and ways of our craft? In a short time I +became expert not only in catching young rabbits, rats, moles, and +mice, but in picking up the feathered prey that frequented fen and +hillside. + +Of course I met with many disappointments; pheasants, partridges and +wild-duck often escaped my clutches when I already considered them +mine. My failures were due chiefly to inexperience, but in a measure +also to the intrusion of other foragers, who turned up at critical +moments and ended for me the work of hours. On one occasion a hunted +hare passed between me and a covey of partridges I was drawing up to; +but the birds, who squatted in a circle with their heads outwards, +as their custom is, did not rise until a pack of stoats came along +on his line, and with their noisy yelpings broke the silence of the +roosting-place. On another, the sudden appearance of a poaching cat +defrauded me of a pheasant on the edge of the pine-wood; but that +night I killed before the darkness faded, and had buried what I could +not eat before the vixen raised the "dawn" cry. + +After good hunting we used to romp home together over the furze-dotted +land or across the fen, and from sheer high spirits vixen and cubs +alike used to bound over the bushes or clumps of rushes and sags +across our path. Week after week nothing happened to disturb our peace +or excite our fears, but, for all our apparent security, we were never +abroad at sunrise unless a thick fog lay over the land. + +In those expeditions I used latterly to separate myself from the vixen +on reaching the hunting-ground and seek my prey alone, rejoining her +when she sounded the call to leave the trail or ambuscade. In this way +I became more and more independent, and at times would turn a deaf +ear to her summons. Twice I was so belated that the pools by the way +reflected the rosy fore-glow of the dreaded sun as I scurried past +them. + +I may have spent a month in the vixen's company before I could make +up my mind to shake off her authority and forage where I pleased. She +was conscious that I chafed at the restraint which she considered +necessary, and was no doubt prepared for the serious step I had +resolved on. Nevertheless, when the night came, it was not without a +sense of shame at breaking away from one who had been so tender and +forbearing that I sidled past her where she sat outside the earth +playing with my sisters. I had rather expected she would exercise +her authority and call me back. Though she stopped her gambols and +looked wistfully at me, she made no protest, and I passed on my way +unchallenged; but I was glad when the bushes hid me from her sight +and from the questioning eyes of my sisters, who seemed very much +astounded at my going off alone. + +Soon after crossing the stream I began to rehearse the plan I had +surreptitiously formed in the earth. As it promised success, I decided +to go through with it, though a darker night would have suited my +purpose better. Clouds indeed there were, but white and fleecy, only +slightly veiling the light of the full moon, which shone very brightly +as it crossed the deep blue spaces between. The self-confidence I +felt in the earth had been oozing out of me as I threaded my lonely +way through brake and reed-bed, but it returned when, after trotting +across the quaking bog that trembled under my light steps like a +jelly-fish, I came at last in sight of the pool where I intended to +lie in wait for wild-fowl. + +Although I had taken a short cut over the treacherous morass to +forestall the duck, I feared that they might have settled in the water +before I reached my ambush, and it was with eager eyes that I scanned +the surface from a clump of rushes on a finger of land that jutted a +little way into the pool. All was well! Not a bird floated on the open +water between the beds of lilies or in the lanes between the floating +grasses. The only things that caught my eye were a moorhen and the +trail of light she left behind her as she swam the gloomy water, which +was shadowed by some alders. + +Crossing the baked and cracked mud left exposed by the sunken pool, +I entered the water, swam over to the islet, and secreted myself on +the margin of a tiny creek just above a line of stranded feathers. +There, screened from the keen eyes of flighting wild-fowl, I began my +vigil with all the hope that waits on inexperience. Crouching beneath +my ambush, I heard a few distant cries, which came, I should think, +from birds feeding on the edge of the tide. So faint were they as to +be audible only when the fitful breeze lulled and the tall, feathery +reeds about the pool ceased rustling. + +Presently, from the water between two lily-beds a silvery fish jumped +thrice in quick succession, as if pursued by some invisible foe; of +the latter I saw no sign, unless its presence was indicated by a swirl +in the water near where the fish fell. The long silence which followed +was broken at last by a swish of wings--an inspiriting sound after +the tedious wait--and some wild-fowl wheeled in a wide circle above +my head before settling on one of the many pools that glistened on +the wide marshland below them. As I lost the sound, I feared that the +birds had dropped in elsewhere, but round they came again, and, with a +splash that made me tingle with excitement, a mallard and three ducks +alighted on the water midway between the islet and the reeds. They +were evidently ill at ease, though they seemed to me so secure that I +could not imagine what they could be so suspicious of--certainly not +of the peregrine that harassed them at sunrise; and at the time I knew +nothing of the monster pike that tenanted the pool, and took toll of +feather as well as of fin. Could it be that they had got some inkling +of my presence? I crouched absolutely motionless whilst their restless +eyes searched the tangle on the island, and when they stared at the +patch where I was hiding I scarcely dared to breathe. + +Before settling down to feed they cruised restlessly up and down, +and even whilst they gobbled the green weed they kept looking so +persistently my way that I began to think they could scent me, though +they had only bills for noses. I had marked the mallard for my prey. +He was a plump bird, and I had to keep my tongue from licking my +lips at the prospect of the feast; for he was very tempting to an +appetitie sated of rabbit, and by this time I knew every feather of +the plumage that covered his juicy flesh. Just then it vexed me to +hear the vixen's call, far off though it was, as I feared she might +hit my trail, follow it, and spoil my hunting. Her yapping caused all +four birds to raise their heads and listen, but they showed no further +sign of alarm, as every creature of the wild knows that dead silence +precedes the kill and that it need have no dread of a noisy fox. + +The ducks were near enough now for me to see the least movement of +the mallard's eyes, the white of which, even when his head was down, +showed that he was in deadly fear of something. "Fool!" thought I, +"eat your supper in peace; but when you land on the mud of the creek, +where lie yesternight's imprints of your webbed feet, then look about +you." + +[Illustration: "HIS BEADY EYES GLEAMED."] + +And yet I was mistaken; at that instant an enemy was within a few +yards of him. I had warning of its approach, for I saw the moonlight +catch a heave of the water, just as from the cliff I had seen it +catch the glassy surface of the curling wave; but in my inexperience +I never dreamt that the glint could be caused by a rival for the +bird. I was now to learn better, as with a great flapping of wings and +a loud quack the mallard disappeared below the surface. I remember +nothing about the three ducks for I nearly jumped out of my skin; and +my stupefaction was complete when I saw a big animal appear at the +surface and leave the water with the mallard in his mouth. + +The sight of this brute with my bird enraged me so much that at +first I was on the point of springing across the creek and taking +it from him. I would have done so had he been only half his size, +but I was afraid of the strong, queer-looking creature. His body was +very long, his legs short but massive, and his tail, which tapered +to a point, stretched across the mud and just touched the water. He +had no ears--at least, nothing worth the name; his eyes were small, +his whiskers very long and white, and his jaws so heavy that they +frightened me. How he enjoyed the mallard, the rascal! How his beady +eyes gleamed until he saw me back out of my ambush; and then what +an evil look rose to them! That was enough to scare me without the +frightful grimace and hissing that accompanied it. + +I lost no time in getting out of sight of such a horror. I crossed +the pool, dreading at every stroke that the fearsome beast would +seize me from beneath, as he had seized the mallard, pull me under, +and--disgusting thought!--perhaps eat me. I looked back on landing, +and again when I reached the reeds; then, as I saw no trace of him and +had dry land in front, I cursed him to my heart's content. I had been +deprived of my supper in the last watch of the night, and it would +take me all my time to reach the earth before dawn, even by way of the +quaking bog. I gnashed my strong teeth as I hurried across the fen, +swearing that I would be avenged on that thief if chance threw me in +his way again; and though a fox may not be able to choose place and +time, he generally gets his wrongs righted in the end. I own that for +the moment the sight of the strong, fierce brute must have unnerved +me; why else should the rustling of a vole on the bank of our own +stream scare me so and cause me to run home in breathless haste? + +When I reached the earth the vixen and my sisters were lying near the +entrance, looking as happy and contented as mother and whelps can +look. With misfortune written on my crestfallen face, I stood before +them bedraggled and panting, as complete a picture of misery as can +well be imagined. My mother looked me up and down with sympathetic +eyes that told her thoughts, and though she never said a word I read +in their varying expressions: "You are miserable and discomfited, my +cub; you are evidently paying dear for your freedom. Nevertheless I +admire your independence and, for all your wayward spirit, I am proud +of you." + +Crimson streaks marked the low sky to the east before I followed the +others to the den for, rather than retire supperless, I stayed outside +to crunch a few dry bones. It had been a most unsatisfactory night's +hunting, and, though I tried hard to get the evil-looking brute with +the webbed feet out of my mind, I seemed, even till I fell asleep, to +be watching that rascally otter lying his full length and holding in +his fore-paws the fattest mallard I had ever seen. + +Despite my disappointment and fear, I resolved to visit the fen again +a few nights later, and it vexed me greatly when the vixen objected +and insisted that I should join her and my sisters in an expedition +to the hill beyond it. I was sulky at the start, and lagged behind +the others all the way across the marshland, but I closed up when +we breasted the hill, and shook off the last traces of ill-temper on +seeing the vixen steal towards an enclosed field some little distance +down from the crest. I watched her closely whilst she reconnoitered at +a gap in the rude stone wall, and, from the fixity of her gaze, felt +almost sure that she espied game. All doubt was dispelled when, with +the stealthiest of movements, she came back to me and, as if I was the +most amiable cub in the world and worthy of the post of honor, led me +round to the meuse through which the game had entered the field, and +left me to watch it. + +As I lay there, within a spring of the scent-tainted run that recalled +a trail I had once followed on the fen, I became uncontrollably +curious to see the animal that had but shortly before passed along +it. I felt sure the creature was in the field, and no sooner had the +vixen disappeared round the corner of the long wall than I left my +hiding-place, crawled up the face of the enclosure as quietly as a +fly, and peeped through a break in the top whence a stone had fallen. +Ah! there he was, for all the world like an immense rabbit, nibbling +the clover right out in the middle of the square field. Of course I +ought to have returned to my ambush at once, but curiosity held me to +the spot, and whilst I was taking a last look, I caught sight of the +vixen stealing over the wall on the further side into the tangle that +filled the corner and, in fact, grew all round the field at the foot +of the wall. In this she was lost to view, till presently her mask +appeared again between some seeding thistles about thirty yards from +the unsuspicious hare. + +Now began one of the most thrilling stalks I ever witnessed, though, +owing to the astonishing way the vixen hid herself, I could see little +of her but her ears. To have rendered herself so inconspicuous she +must have grovelled along on her belly in some slight hollow of the +ground not visible to me; for the clover was not more than an inch +high and of itself afforded very little concealment. The nearer she +got the more excited I became; and for the life of me I could not +understand--even now I cannot understand--why the hare, of all animals +the timidest and most watchful, neither saw, heard, nor scented her. +Inch by inch the clever little stalker wound her way until nearer +approach without discovery must have been impossible. I was wondering +why she delayed making one of her lightning-like rushes, when, with +a tremendous bound, the hare started off in a direction wide of my +station. The vixen, who was in swift pursuit, made a desperate effort +to turn him; but in this she would have failed, despite her wonderful +fleetness, had not my little sister, whether by accident or design I +do not know, suddenly showed herself at the gate for which the hare +was heading. This had the effect of sending him towards the meuse I +had been set to watch and of reminding me of my duty. + +The hare was yet some thirty yards down the hill but coming like the +wind, when I dropped quietly into my ambush and gathered my legs +under me. What a row he made as he dashed through the brambles and +came through the hole at the foot of the wall! Never shall I forget +the excitement of the moment when, with his ears thrown back on his +shoulders, he came in sight. I made my spring as he flashed by, and +though I only knocked him over, I was on him and bore him down before +he could recover himself. The vixen, who came up the next moment, was +delighted to find me standing over my first hare; and when in response +to her call my sisters joined us, she distributed the portions into +which she had broken it up. There was much chattering over the +feast--the contented chattering that attends good hunting. + +Thus did our mother teach us to act in concert--the method sometimes +employed by dog and vixen if hares are scarce and wild, but more +commonly adopted when driving rabbits from a brake where there are no +holes in which they can get to ground. + +Our supper over, the vixen led us along the crest of the hill to a +small clump of wind-clipt pines, which are still standing, whence can +be obtained a view of the fen on the one side and of the sand-hills +on the other. This was my first sight of the dunes and of the +farm-buildings on the edge of them. Whilst we stood there a loud bark, +thrice repeated, came from within the trees about the buildings. + +"What is that?" I asked, somewhat alarmed. + +"That is the voice of a dog--the voice of an enemy." + +Then she warned us never under any circumstances to go near the place, +"for," said she, "danger lurks there, and perhaps death." + +Wise little mother, if I had only heeded thy warning, what anguish and +degradation I might have been spared! + +Day was already dawning, and I wondered that she so long delayed +returning to the earth. To jog her memory I kept glancing first at her +and at the eastern sky, but to my surprise she took no notice. Her +face was very sad, and she seemed lost in thought. I believe she was +thinking of the time, now close at hand, when we must separate from +her and face the dangers of life alone. + +But it was not her intention to go back to the cairn, for on reaching +the foot of the hill she turned aside and brought us to another earth, +before which lay an enormous heap of yellowish soil. This, as it +proved, was to be our new home; and from the fresh trail that led to +it, I judged that at least one animal would share it with us. + +A little way inside the entrance, which was a large one, the tunnel +divided; and when the vixen and my sisters disappeared in the branch +leading to the left, I, curious to see our new neighbor, followed +the trail along the other. On and on I stole through a low winding +passage, which penetrated so far that I thought I should never reach +the object of my search. + +At last I came on his lair at a spot where the tunnel suddenly +widened, and the sight of it made me stand agape. Instead of the +bare ground, which is a fox's couch, and on which I expected to see +the creature curled up, before me rose a great heap of dried grass +that filled the chamber from side to side, and reached almost to the +roof. So effectually did it conceal its occupant that not a hair of +him could I see. The slight rustling of the bed would have told me +he was there, even had my nostrils not given undeniable proof of his +presence; and as my curiosity, now thoroughly aroused, would not let +me retire before I had had at least a glimpse of the creature, I drew +near with the utmost caution, craned my neck over the broad edge, and +looked down on him. + +My eye! he was a monster. It surprised me to see how big he was; but +what really took me aback was his very pale color, which showed even +in the darkness of the den. I had expected to see a gray creature, +like the badger on the cliffs, and not a white one nearly twice his +size. My first impulse was to retreat, but on regaining my composure, +I resolved to stay and have a good look at him. + +His broad side rose and fell with his slow, heavy breathing; his +eye--I could see but one--was closed, and there was no sign of +vigilance about the small limp ears. To all appearance he was in a +deep sleep, which I believed, as well I might, that had done nothing +to disturb. For if my approach had been as noiseless as the incoming +of the fresh air that sweetens the close atmosphere of our dens, not +less so was my examination of the formidable creature, though it was +made with breathless wonderment. + +Yet before I could bark in his ear and run away, as I was tempted to +do, he sprang suddenly to his feet with a loud snarl, which nearly +frightened me out of my skin. Fortunately, he did not snap at me as I +drew back, or pursue me as I bolted at full speed along the tunnel; +indeed, judging from his subsequent conduct, I should say that his +venerable face was one grin from ear to ear when he discovered it was +a chit of a fox cub that had scared him. + +My mother, whom the loud snarl had brought in hot haste to my side, +was very angry with me for trespassing on the badger's private +quarters instead of following her into the part of the sett she had +appropriated. No doubt it was a foolish thing to intrude on the +privacy of so powerful an animal; but I had no occasion to regret my +misconduct, for the badger, far from resenting it, became my best +friend. Every morning after that I used to peep at him; but instead +of creeping in stealthily, as I had done at first, I walked in as if +I were going to my own den, and to apprise him of my approach gave a +stifled bark on reaching the turn by the rock, beyond which a short +length of straight tunnel led to his lair. Though I seldom neglected +to warn him of my coming I believe it was unnecessary, as he got +to know my light footstep so well that he did not take the trouble +to raise his head on the rare occasions when I forgot to signal my +approach. Sleepy though he always was after his night's round, he +never failed to wink at me with the eye that was uppermost. Sometimes +he would wink twice; but beyond that he never got. + +He must have been a good fellow, this distinguished member of the +oldest family amongst animals, to put up with these dawn visits of a +fox who was still under the partial tutelage of his mother. I have +often wondered why he did so, but never been quite sure. If I may +give my reason--and be it understood that it involves no slur on the +badger's fame--I should say it was because of his friendless state. +I say, "friendless," inasmuch as he was never seen in company with +the only other badger in the countryside, the one that dwelt on the +cliffs; and he kept quite aloof from the other creatures of the wild. + +I have always felt proud that he should have thought me worthy of the +least consideration; but this did not make me blind to his faults. I +don't refer to his living on beetles and wasp-grubs, nor do I mean +the trick of sleeping with one paw in his mouth, or the queer way he +had of running back-wards into the earth, at which little game I once +surprised him; no, I am thinking of a bad habit from which we suffered +much annoyance, and which I am very loth to mention, much less dwell +on. But it must be stated, and at some length, on account of my story; +it was this: he could not keep his claws from digging. + +What made his offence ten times worse in our ears was that as far +as our vulpine wits could enlighten us--and we discussed the matter +again and again--there was no necessity for his self-imposed labor. +Any reasonable creature would have thought the sett was more than +complete, inasmuch as the part of the hill it tunnelled in all +directions was like a vast honey-comb. It held quarters for a whole +swarm of badgers; and yet the old fellow must needs keep burrowing +farther and farther in, opening out more chambers and galleries, as +if it were not commodious enough for his individual requirements. Of +course he was free to add to the accommodation of the sett, whether +he really did feel cramped for room or only imagined that he did; +nevertheless we foxes accounted it a grievance to have to put up with +the din he made in digging, which, as it reverberated along the hollow +ways, resembled the rumbling of thunder more than any other sound, and +prevented us from getting a wink of sleep in the long, dragging hours +during which it lasted. + +This was only the first stage of the annoyance. A more serious trouble +was the way the great heap kept on increasing with the excavated +soil that he fetched out by the barrow-load about once a week on the +average, generally in the small hours of the morning when we were away +foraging. The enormous mound made us hang our heads in shame every +time we passed in and out. And as if this were not enough to betray us +to our enemies, on our return home one morning we found his great bed +lying atop of the pile, which now looked like a haycock in the midst +of the brake. At the sight of this my mother lost her temper, and +heaped such unrestrained abuse on the badger that I could not keep my +jaws closed. It pains me to this day to remember that I dared reply to +her; but how, when my old friend was attacked in such bitter terms, +could I honorably keep silence? That day I had to be content with the +draughty corner of the den, apart from my mother and sisters, who +edged away from me as if I were mangy. I spent miserable hours lying +there; but about noon the vixen walked over to me, licked my face with +her hot tongue, and curled up by my side. These tender attentions +soothed my injured feelings, and I soon fell into a peaceful sleep. + +I do not reproach the badger for changing his bed, I cannot reproach +him for his cleanliness, and I have no wish to disparage his great +industry; my object is to set down the truth, and I think that this +corpulent creature had to make work to keep his fat down and, even in +times of famine, to dig willy-nilly to prevent his claws growing into +his flesh. + +Of course, had the matter of digging by day, in which lay the sting +of the underground annoyance, been brought to an issue, we foxes had +not a shadow of right on our side; because we knew that the earth +belonged to the badger by right of excavation, and that we were there +on sufferance only as long as he found us tolerant and agreeable. +We did well to endure what we could not cure, for, had it come to a +quarrel, to a conflict with tooth and claw, the badger could have +made mincemeat of our whole party without sustaining a scratch. So we +prudently refrained from making any comment in his hearing, and, as he +could read nothing from my looks, he had not the faintest suspicion of +the grumbling to which I had to listen, or of the difficult part I had +to play to keep on good terms with my family. + +So things went on until a common trouble befell both the badger and +ourselves, and immediately following it, calamities so dire as almost +to dwarf into nothingness the annoyances of which so much had been +made. + +We had frequented the sett for perhaps a month, when, on returning +early one morning from hunting on the moors, we found, to our +astonishment, the entrances to the earth blocked and the badger shut +out. Thought I, "This misfortune to himself and to us is the result +of his misdoings," and I fully expected to see the vixen pour out the +vials of her wrath; but, to my surprise, all she did was to cruise up +and down in a fever of anxiety, with a watchful eye on the desperate +efforts the badger was making to remove the faggots jammed into the +hole. Failing to remove them by tugging, he began to bite through the +thick, tough stems as though they were reeds; and in my inexperience +I thought he would soon succeed in chopping a way in. But whoever had +placed the faggots there had done his work too well for the entry to +be hurriedly effected, so that gray dawn found the badger but little +advanced with his stubborn task and us cubs roaming restlessly about, +eyeing him at his work. + +The only time I got in his way he turned his nervous face and snarled +at me as though I were a stranger. Seeing what deadly earnest he was +in, I gave him a wide berth, and sat on the top of the heap with my +brush to him, blinking at the sky that was now all read as if the +cliffs were a-fire far, far away beyond the fen. Every now and again, +when the vixen came my way, I caught her casting uneasy glances +towards the east, and the instant the glaring rim of the sun showed, +she stole away and we in her train, leaving my old friend biting and +pounding in his apparently hopeless toil. + +If his efforts looked hopeless, the journey before us was certainly +disagreeable. I shall not soon forget that crossing of the fen, which, +as bad luck would have it, was as free from mist as the gilded crests +of the tor that seemed to stare at us belated creatures of the night, +abroad at such an uncanny hour. The vixen took advantage of every bit +of cover within easy reach of the bee-line to the cairn earth, for +which she was making; but for all that, there were many exposed places +that could not be avoided, and there the cruel sun had us at his +mercy, and blinded us with his naked rays. Nor were we alone in our +misfortune. Half-way over, at a spot where the glittering pools lay +thickest, we met a vixen and four cubs heading straight for our sett. +She, too, was all anxiety; and seeing this, I began to wonder why the +stopping of an earth should occasion such widespread consternation. + +My mother traversed the mossy spaces between the pools at the utmost +speed of the weakly cub by her side, whilst my sister and I followed +a little to one side, so as to avoid treading on the long, terrifying +shadows they cast. On coming within sight of the earth she stopped +suddenly in her stride, and as she did so my astonished eyes lighted +on the object which had arrested her steps. It was the enemy--it was +man. I recognized him at first sight, unlike though he was to the +being I had vaguely imagined. There is no reason for surprise that I +did. For what beast of the field or wild stands erect with such ease +on his hind-feet, or has face, fore-paws and ears as bare of fur as +is the skin of a mangy fox? Moreover, I caught his scent; and it was +the same scent as had tainted the stone on the cliff, that tainted the +faggots--evidence hardly less convincing than the steady gaze of his +eyes and the shout he raised. At the awful sound we turned tail and +melted into the brake. + +Round and round the great furze cover we stole, until I thought that +the vixen would never come to a standstill; but at last she chose for +sanctuary a tangled corner near a runnel, and there, amidst the russet +bracken, my weary sisters curled themselves up and fell asleep. + +Whether the vixen slept at all I cannot say, but I do not think +she did, for she was wide awake when I dropped off, and she was +all eyes and ears when I was startled out of my sleep by three +noisy wood-pigeons overhead. As we looked at one another across the +tiny stream, a strange sound reached me from the direction of the +wood below the tor, or, it might be, from the tor itself. It was a +high-pitched note, very penetrating, and a little like a cock's crow, +though differing from it even more than a curlew's whistle does from +an otter's. The instant I heard it I knew that it came from no bird's +throat, but whence it came I could not tell. + +What a simpleton I was at that time! The toot of the horn is as +familiar to me now as the clatter of shod horses. I know, too, now +what it portends; but at that moment, though fear was mingled with my +curiosity, I should not have been very uneasy, save for the obvious +anxiety of my mother. Not that she fussed about as if flurried, but +I could see her alarm in her unusual alertness. When a cock-pheasant +flew past and skimmed the brake that mantled the steep slope below us, +her eyes followed it with an eagerness that seemed to demand from it +the secret of its startled flight. + +Again the horn sounded, this time from the neighborhood of the +withered oak between us and the tor. Then I heard a horse galloping +and saw a flash of scarlet at the foot of the slope where the pheasant +had dropped in. What did it all mean? Were we foxes in any way +concerned in the unwonted proceedings that were disturbing the great +silence that had till then brooded over the cover? The suspense, the +uncertainty, which the vixen's evident distress intensified, the vague +sense of danger, were painful; but all doubts were soon dispelled, +"Eloo in! Hi, Forester! Eloo in!" The rasping yell with which this was +uttered betokened some sinister happening, though we looked in vain to +the vixen, round whom my sisters gathered, to enlighten us as to its +nature. + +At this point my recollection is blurred, save for two things, the +crashing noise in the brake and the flight of the vixen and my sisters +along the watercourse, with the pack in pursuit. I shall always hear +the one and see the other. If ever I was terrified in my life it was +then; and between the clamor of the hounds and the thundering tread +of a hundred galloping horses I was so bewildered that I knew not +where to turn. But as the noise died away my nerves steadied, and, +rising from my crouching attitude, I peeped through the furze to try +to discover what was happening. For a long time I could see nothing in +the deserted valley below; but, continuing my watch, I perceived the +vixen and my little sister coming along the open bank of the stream, +with the leading hounds in close pursuit and apparently gaining at +every stride. + +I am too old now to feel strongly as I did then, but still I am +affected at the recollection of the vixen striving to save my sister +by devices such as a partridge will employ to divert an enemy from its +young. How the chase ended I could not see; but the sudden ceasing of +the clamor made me fear the worst. + +In the silence that succeeded I made for the cairn earth, expecting to +get in there; but that, too, was stopped. Whilst I was debating what +to do, I heard the huntsman's voice, and had scarcely regained my old +station by the watercourse when the hounds opened on my line. They +were coming towards me at a great pace. Without an instant's delay I +was off, and, stealing down the long slope, reached the edge of the +cover, where I checked my steps to look out and see that the coast was +clear. Except the blazing sunlight, there was nothing in the bottom or +on the bare slope beyond to scare me, and as the hounds were half-way +down the hill, I committed myself to the open. + +I had not got far when there was a scream, a human scream, fit to +wake the dead. It startled me horribly, but did not cause me to +deviate a hair's-breadth from the direction in which I had set my +head. Near the brow I stopped and looked back at the crowd of dogs +and horsemen. It puzzled me then, it puzzles me yet, to know why they +should wish to kill me, but I had not a doubt that was their object. +The clamor did not greatly terrify me at that stage of the chase, as I +felt sure I should be able to elude my pursuers in the fen for which I +was making. + +I held about the same lead across the next valley and up the hill +beyond, but the heat of the sun was beginning to tell on me before +I reached the wide belt of rushes near the mere. When I had crossed +it the hounds had greatly reduced the distance between us; I was +beginning to flag, and the sanctuary I sought was nearly two miles +away. The going was heavy over the marshland, where never a breath +stirred, but I struggled on as best I could towards the islet of my +favorite pool, spreading terror amongst grebe and hern along the +silent ways I threaded. + +At length I gained the pool, and as I left the finger of land jutting +towards the islet and took to the water, I felt I was near an asylum +at last. Vain hope! When I was barely half-way across an accursed +magpie espied me, and came and hovered just over my head, making +a loud chattering noise that the hounds must have heard. I looked +straight before my muzzle, pretending to take no notice of the +plague, and as soon as I landed, lay down in my old ambush that half +concealed me from the exasperating bird. "The pest will surely hold +his tongue now that I am in lair," thought I. But no; he chattered +louder than ever, as if it delighted him to betray me to the pack, +whose whimpering I could now hear. In my exhausted condition I was +very loth to move, but, seeing that to remain there was certain death, +I left my hiding-place and plunged into the water on the further side +of the islet. My tormentor came with me, and never shall I forget his +harsh, jeering cries whilst I swam to the nearest alders, and even +whilst I made my slow way through the sparse thorns that ran up to +the furze about the earth. Under the close brake I was free from the +traitor, and it cheered me to be so near the sett and a safe refuge. +As I followed the beaten track leading to it I was indifferent to my +pursuers, for I felt sure that the badger must long ere this have +opened a way in. + +Alas! it had proved beyond his powers. The ground about the faggots +was littered with the bits he had chopped off, but he had failed to +effect an entry. Realizing my desperate position, I almost gave myself +up for lost. Fortunately, in my extremity--and a fox's brain is never +clearer than then--I wondered where the badger had bestowed himself. +Where he could get I could get, and if I could only trace him I might, +despite the stiffness of my limbs and the nearness of the hounds, even +yet escape with my life. + +Picking up his trail, I followed it along the base of the hill to +a thicket, dense and matted as bramble, blackthorn and furze could +make it. Through this I passed until I reached a small cave at the +foot of a sheer wall of rock. The trail led inwards, and at the very +back I came on my friend. He looked most vicious at first; but when +he recognized the bedraggled cub before him, the expression of his +venerable face quickly changed to one of compassion, and then again +to hate as he heard the hounds, now running mute, crash through the +undergrowth. It was an awful moment. It behoved me to find, and that +instantly, some secure position out of reach of the infuriated pack. +The leading hounds were at the mouth of the cave when, by a last +effort, I gained a scanty ledge, almost too narrow for foothold, a +little way above the badger's head. I was never in a more desperate +position, but fear glued me to the spot; and better vantage-ground for +viewing the fight that followed could not have been. "Keep cool," I +shouted to my old friend as well as I could for panting; and before I +could repeat my warning, the hounds were on him. + +There are things which seem incredible unless witnessed; and I +would not now submit the evidence of my own eyes did I not feel it +my bounden duty to record the facts which redound to the fame of +the badger and to the glory of the wild. But how is it possible to +describe what happened so the picture presented may approach in +vividness the savage scene I looked upon? I have seen the waves dash +and dash again into a cavern, only to be as often rolled back till the +tide had spent its force and left the cave as silent as at first. The +inrush of the pack was like the on-coming of an irresistible wave; but +the badger, with his back to the low arch, was not to be overwhelmed +whilst he could keep his feet and ply jaw and claw. Only three hounds +could get at him at a time; and when it came to deadly fang work, +what were these soft creatures of the kennel to the most formidable +beast of the brake? As fast as the badger could deal with them, hound +after hound withdrew howling, till there was scarcely one of the +twenty couple composing the pack on whom his terrible jaws had not +closed. + +While the fray was at its height the badger was at times partly hidden +under his assailants, and thus arose no small danger to myself. One +big brute of a hound there was who espied me where I stood, still as +if carved in stone, save for my heaving flank and lolling tongue. This +must have caught his eye, and time after time he leapt at me from the +backs of the writhing mass below; but for want of steady foothold, +he failed as often to reach me. The last time he fell he slipped +between two hounds, and the badger had him at his mercy. It did my +ears good to hear him howl; and no sooner did the badger let him go +than he retreated over the backs of the hounds behind with a celerity +which did credit even to his long legs. Through the creeper that half +curtained the mouth of the cave I saw him take up his station amongst +the rearmost ranks of those hounds who were baying their loudest from +the brambles. + +Shortly after this, one of two mounted men, whose progress was +arrested by the thicket, jumped from his horse and plunged into the +tangle. Only his hot face and bald head showed above the brake as he +came slowly along, cracking his whip as best he could for the briers +that reached to his neck and clung to his red sleeve. Whilst he fought +his way through, the other kept screaming at the top of his voice: +"Whip 'em off! The brute'll murder my best hounds!" The huntsmen had +no difficulty in whipping off the crew of howlers outside; but it was +no easy task to call off the staunch hounds that, despite the terrible +punishment they were receiving, would have carried on the fight until +they dropped from exhaustion. At last he succeeded, remounted his +horse, and rode away with the other. + +In the silence that ensued my position appeared to me still most +unenviable. Would the badger, on whom I had brought all this trouble, +avenge himself on me for the wrong I had done him? I tried to read his +intentions, but he gave no sign. Presently he looked up at me, and in +fear and trembling I returned his gaze. A wild light blazed in his +black eyes, but no trace of rage against myself. Then I took courage, +though obliged to look away from his blood-stained face, so horrible +was the sight it presented. His must have been a noble nature to bear +such punishment without resentment, and I am glad he never guessed my +fears. + +How I wronged this chivalrous old aristocrat in thinking it possible +he could use his giant strength to crush the life out of a helpless +cub! The old fellow was as friendly as though nothing had happened +when, at last, falling rather than leaping, I came down from my perch +to try to find relief from the cramp that was knotting my muscles. +His awful panting had by that time somewhat subsided; but I was truly +sorry to see him in such a deplorable state, and I suppose I showed it +in my face, for he said: "Do not grieve on my account, little brother. +I shall soon recover from my scratches." + +My legs were too stiff to let me lie down, so I stood by his side +whilst he licked his wounds and smoothed his ruffled coat, and at +nightfall, when he left, I staggered after him as best I could. After +drinking at a spring on the way, we came to the earth, from the mouth +of which, as I rejoiced to see, the faggots had been removed. There +the badger left me and went up the hill toward the farm-land over +which he wandered nearly every night in search of food. At what time +he returned I do not know, as I did not awake till late the following +afternoon, when I was aroused from my deep sleep by the noise he made +on resuming his excavations. + +There are some things which I would gladly be silent about, but which +are necessary to the completeness of my story. + +Chief of these are the grievous losses on that day's cub hunting. +My little sister and--sadder still--my dear mother were killed by +the hounds. It was best they should die together, for the cub was so +dependent on the vixen, and the vixen so inseparable from the cub, +that I am sure they could not have lived happily apart. Our common +trouble drew my surviving sister and myself closer to each other, and +for a few weeks we lived together in the earth, though we went our +several ways at night, and very seldom hunted in concert. + +The close of this period is marked by an event of great moment to +myself, which, though it does not redound to my credit, must be told +in some detail. + +It is necessary first to state that for some reason the hounds gave +up coming to our country, and that in their place a murderous +gang of ruffians infested the district, and by traps, by poisoned +carcasses, by terriers, by digging and by filling the earths with +smoke, succeeded in destroying nearly every fox in the countryside. +Fortunately our earth proved impregnable to the spade and proof +against smoke; whilst the badger made such havoc with the dogs that +were sent against us that, after two determined but futile assaults, +we were left in peace. For a time we had to exercise the utmost +caution in avoiding the numerous traps, which were artfully concealed +in the runs leading from the earth; but afterwards these were removed, +and we might roam without molestation over our desolate wilds. + +Hares had been all but exterminated, and rabbits and wild-fowl so +shot down and thinned that it was hard to get a living, and at last +my necessities tempted me to that most perilous of undertakings, a +raid on the poultry of the neighboring farm. Besides the everlasting +crowing of the cocks, I had heard the noise made by the flocks of +housed turkeys, geese, and ducks, as I returned at dawn from the empty +warren on the dunes; and this had set me longing for them. + +I did not enter lightly on this my first foray, which I knew to be +fraught with danger. My plans were laid with the fullest deliberation, +and in the deep silence of my den I carefully thought out every step +in my expedition. One of the strong points of a fox is attention to +details. We go over and over every turn, we weigh every chance, and +try to foresee every contingency. Indecision and flurry are not in our +nature; we know what we are going to do, and we go coolly through with +it. Our best-laid schemes may and do miscarry at times; nevertheless, +with the overconfidence of cubhood, I really thought that the +precautions I meant to take excluded all risks to my skin. Why, I had +mapped out in my brain every inch of the incursion; I had selected the +best way of approach; I was prepared with the safest line of retreat; +and, what is of no small moment, I had arranged for the disposal of +the kill, which was likely to be a big one. + +Eager as I was to realize my sanguine expectations, I twice postponed +my visit, hoping for the cover of a storm that threatened; but on +the third night, though the weather had cleared, I resolved to defer +the raid no longer. The crescent moon was just above the hill when +I stretched myself at the mouth of the earth and set out to put +well-matured plans into execution. I walked up the rugged hillside +with all the circumspection and gravity becoming a great undertaking, +and stayed awhile on the crest to reconnoitre the scene of my +operations. The farm-house, the outbuildings, the yards, were all +silent. No foot stirred, no bark of dog broke the stillness which +brooded over the rugged slope, the smooth fields, and the endless +waste of sand beyond. + +Satisfied that the coast was clear, I made my way down the hill +by a path my pads had laid--for I was on my trail leading to the +dunes--and, keeping to the shelter of a hedge of blackthorns, reached +the wall under the elms. Over it I crawled to the lower yard where +the big pool is. Its muddy edge was white with stranded feathers, and +so was the track leading past the mowhay, where rats were rustling in +the straw. But I left them behind, and with stealthy stride reached +the scene of action. A cock, unsuspicious of my presence, crowed in +the first house I came to, but the door was a new one, and a weasel +could not have got under it; so I passed in disgust to the next shed, +which contained the turkeys. But if the hen-house was effectually +closed, the turkey-house was hermetically sealed, and I thought that +the farmer must be a cruel brute not to give the poor birds better +ventilation. + +"They would be but dry eating, even if I could get them," said I, as +I crossed the deeply-rutted road to the big house where my nose told +me the geese were shut up. This building boasted a tall chimney, which +made it look quite lofty; but it was on a small hole in the bottom of +the door, from which came the goodliest of smells, that I fixed my +attention, and without a moment's delay I set about enlarging it. The +wood round it was very rotten, but I could not make the opening as big +as I wished, on account of a piece of iron which was fastened across +the door on the inside, some five or six inches above the level of +the ground. Whilst I was at work the cackling inside was deafening; +and when, by a furious effort, I squeezed my way in, I found myself +in a veritable pandemonium. I really think that geese take their +troubles more noisily than any birds in the world, except, perhaps, +guinea-fowls; and I, who love quiet, would have left them severely +alone if I could have got at the fowls or the turkeys. Their clumsy +wings, too, can make you see stars if they catch you fairly across +the eyes, as theirs caught me more than once before my work was done. + +Now it is one thing to slay in hot blood, another to tell at your +ease what happened. I will merely say that the lust for slaughter was +strong in me, and that in a short time all the flock but one lay dead +on the stone floor. + +Not an instant did I waste before setting about the next step in my +projected night's work, the removal of the biggest bird to the dune I +had chosen for my cache. I hoped to take all--it could be done--but +I would make sure of the best. My grandest victim was the gander. I +had pulled him out from under two geese, and was bearing him over the +bodies of the flock towards the door, when, to my horror, I saw that +the hole had been stopped from the outside. + +While the killing went on I had been deaf to everything, and I believe +that a wagon might have passed through the yard without my noticing +it. But now I became alive to every sound. I dropped the gander and +listened. At first I could hear nothing but the thumping of my own +heart, still affected by the speed of the kill; but presently the +silence was broken by the sound of a man's footsteps on the stones at +the back of the house. A few minutes later I heard the heavy tread on +the roof, whereat I fell into a state of abject terror, which caused +me to run round the walls like a rat in a trap. + +My enemy did not remain long, and when he came down he made for the +farm-house, muttering as he went. Now, thought I, is the moment to +regain my freedom. Escape by the door seemed out of the question; a +small paneless window through which I could see a single star was +hopelessly beyond my reach; but a third outlet, the chimney, remained, +and by it I might find deliverance. + +Here I met with an unexpected, but not insuperable, difficulty; for a +foot or so up, the flue was choked with old nests. I closed my eyes +whilst I pulled them down; but the suffocating dust, which there was +no draught to carry away, compelled me to return every now and again +to the floor to breathe. This inconvenience, however, was a mere +trifle, and after drawing a few breaths I returned to my work. It +cheered me to hear the debris falling, and to know that every stroke +of my fore-paws brought me nearer to my liberty. Imagine my dismay, +then, on discovering, after all my toil, that a flat stone capped the +chimney and prevented my escape. Though it smelt abominably, I made +frantic efforts to remove it. I pawed it, I bit it, I tried to raise +it with the top of my poll, with my arched back, but place myself +as I might, I could not find a position that enabled me to get good +purchase owing to the width of the chimney. Had it been half an inch +narrower, I might have managed to dislodge the stone, heavy though it +was, for I had felt it yield a little when I made my greatest effort. +But there was no result from what force I could use, and seeing that I +was only wasting time and strength, I scrambled down the flue to the +heap of fallen rubbish, which gave way under me and spread out over +the floor. + +The geese lay as I had left them. It was a big kill, and no mistake. +The floor was white with birds, and in places they were two deep. As +became a dog-fox I had done my work well, and the birds were all dead +except one, which raised its head now and again in the far corner +under the window. I had not the least inclination to touch it again, +and though I must have been very hungry, I did not think of eating. +I was in a trap; I knew it, so did my enemy, and I knew that he knew +it. That he would return at daybreak I felt sure, and that he would +kill me I had little doubt. At the very thought I grovelled with +fear among the bodies of my victims, until the determination to live +aroused me to fresh exertions. In my desperation I tried to bite away +the nails that studded the sound wood about the hole by which I had +entered; I tried to dig my way under the door, but I did not succeed +in dislodging a single stone. Oh for half an hour of my friend the +badger! I made frantic, unavailing leaps at the open window; I cruised +round and round the walls until I must have travelled miles; time +after time I scrambled up the chimney, only in the end to resume my +aimless rounds. At length, weary with my endeavors, continued through +many hours, I lay down again, panting, amongst the geese. + +The stillness of that dead-house was profound. Outside, too, all was +still, save for the soughing of the wind in the leafless elms. This +was the voice of an old friend, and it soothed me somewhat till it +brought back to my mind the picture of the reeds bending over the +rippled surface of my favorite pool. At the thought of my freedom +in the fen I jumped to my feet and tried again and again, without +success, each possible outlet, and then once more lay down with +heaving side and lolling tongue to wait for the end. + +Presently a cock crowed; and at last dawn peeped through the window, +and found me a more pitiable object than the old goose who squinted +at me every time she raised her blood-stained head. It would be day +soon, but as yet the light was gray. It was the hour that had ofttimes +surprised me in the midst of my hunting, and hurried me across the +misty fen to my kennel in the brake; the hour when every carnivorous +creature of the night steals by hidden ways to his retreat, and +conceals himself from the cruel eye of day. + +As the light grew stronger I found myself rising involuntarily to my +feet to return to the earth, but the strong walls compelled me to +stay and await my fate. Soon a pale, rosy light suffused the sky, and +presently the first beam of sunshine came in at my window and fell on +an old spider's web stretched over a hole in the wall of the chimney. +I envied the owner of the web: I envied the dead geese: I would at +that moment have been even the broken starling's egg lying there on +the waste-heap, or the skeleton of a fly dangling at the end of the +gossamer. + +I heard a door slammed and the noise of footsteps. They were +deliberate, heavy, merciless, and they were approaching the door +behind which I stood listening. Just when I expected to see it +slightly opened, and was on the point of shamming dead, there was +a loud kick against it which upset my plan and made me rush up the +chimney. + +Then the door was unbarred and opened. + +"All dead, are 'ee?" + +"Aye, all dead." + +After a pause the newcomer added: + +"You're as putty a lot ever I reared; in another month you'd have been +ready for market, and I looked to 'ee to pay part of the rent." + +Then in a voice like thunder he bawled out: + +"Where art thee, Master Reynard? Ah, thee scoundrel, thee needn't try +to get out by the chimbley! thee'rt wastin' thy precious time. I'll +help thy lordship through the front door in a minute. An'rew, bring +the sack here." + +Presently I heard two men below, and the door closed behind them. + +"He's up the chimbley and safe enuf. You hold the sack whilst I stir +him up with this eer pole." + +Two awful thumps I endured without flinching, but the third knocked +my hind-legs from under me, and I fell all of a heap into the bag. + +"So far, so good. Now we'll tie a stone to the sack and drop the lot +into the deep corner of the goslin' pool. The varmint must die. I'll +go and fetch a bit of rope." + +Whilst the farmer was gone the man opened the mouth of the sack and +looked down on me. Not satisfied, apparently, with the half light +of the outhouse, he took me into the open and peered at me again. I +thought I recognized him the first time he inspected me; but now, with +the morning sun on his ruddy cheeks I was quite sure. He was the first +man I had seen, the man who was on the cairn the morning my mother was +killed by the pack; he was the man who, I felt certain, had stopped +the earths. I was calm now. I had gone through the agony of death, but +still I did not want to die. Life was sweet, very sweet. I was not +like a mangy old fox; I was in the pride of my cub-hood. + +"What a beauty!" said the earth-stopper, as he continued to gaze at +me. "What a grand fox, to be sure! If An'rew can save 'ee, then thee +shan't die, now there." Saying this he let go his hold on the sack and +turned away. You can depend upon it I made a quick exit and sped off. +I hope no serious harm came to Andrew. + +I sought a new home, looking therefor on the great moors. For a time +I had a life comparatively free from care, but though few of the +changes in the autumn life of the wild escaped me, I was slow to +interpret those signs that foretold the severe weather that was to +suddenly set in. It is, however, hardly matter for wonder that I was +blind to the warnings they conveyed, for the frosts of our peninsula +are, as a rule, so slight as to relax their feeble grip by noon-day; +even the smallest birds suffer little discomfort. Indeed, I have +sometimes thought that migratory birds flock to our shores because of +the mildness of the climate and the hospitality its feeding grounds +offer; but this is only the view of a fox, who welcomes these aliens, +and takes heavy toll of their number. Whatever the cause may be, +there is no doubt about the fact. This year, however, the flocks of +fieldfares, always the first to arrive, were earlier than was their +wont. I noted, too, that despite the normal mildness of the weather, +our few hibernating creatures suddenly withdrew into their winter +quarters; the hedge-hogs to the drifts of leaves and hollow holes of +dead trees, and the dormice to their nests in the low bushes. These +incidents did not seem to concern me; though I was surprised at the +abandonment of the fen by the otters, till presently I learnt that the +late salmon had already passed up the river. That seemed to explain +it; for the otters always follow the salmon, as every fox knows who +has had the luck to find a half-eaten fish on the bank. + +I am convinced that all these creatures were conscious of approaching +hard weather; and when I discovered that the squirrels with which the +wood abounded, had sought their nests in the top-most branches of the +red pines, a sense of the evil times before us came to me, too. + +I noticed while I lay from dawn to sunset amongst the undergrowth +that a strange calm, presaging sudden change of weather, brooded over +the solemn wood. The silence was unbroken until twilight, when the +starlings settled in and mingled their vespers with the soughing of +the rising wind. Then when I left my lair, threaded the boles of the +pines and came to the beeches, the leaves crackled under foot, a sign +of cold, dry weather; but I did not feel the keen wind until I gained +the shoulder of the ridge to the north, which is crowned by the tor. +At midnight on the moors the cold became intense; when, near dawn, +I crossed the upland road which since some heavy rains had been a +quagmire, I found it hard as rock, and the backwater of the pool above +the ford was frozen to the edge of the current. On the marshy ground +below, the cracking of the ice under my tread disturbed several snipe; +and between the alders and my own lair two woodcock got up, which, +from their weary flight, I should say had only just arrived. + +My snug kennel under the furze looked doubly snug that cold, hard +dawn; and whatever privations the future might have in store, there +was at least every token of present abundance. + +"The long-bills are pretty plentiful," thought I, as I curled up on my +dry couch. "Hungry times are over; there will be food galore now." + +I slept through the day and sought the fen at nightfall, to find +the pool and the mere, or rather those parts of them that remained +unfrozen, crowded with wild-fowl. Strangers though we were to one +another, they proved very wary and difficult of approach, despite the +curiosity my appearance aroused in them. + +So matters stood for some time, during which I cared to remain out +only part of the night; but when my coat got thick enough to resist +the piercing cold I hunted far and late, seldom reaching my kennel +before the sun showed red above the sea. + +During the period of dry frost I fared well enough; but a snow-storm +which occurred at the time of the new moon and lasted for two days and +two nights, rendered foraging difficult, and made me feel a stranger +in my own country. Except in rudest outline, it was no longer like +itself. The fen was a great white plain, broken by a big and a small +pool and the winding stream that fed them. In place of the sombre +array of pines under the tor, usually as marked a feature in our +landscape as were the great reed-beds themselves, a vast slope of snow +met the eye; and the tor might have been a fleecy cloud in the leaden +sky. Strangest of all was the aspect of the dunes, which looked like +great waves of pure foam arrested in their roll. + +Many a time I scanned this white undulating waste for the hare that +frequented the sand-hills, hoping to mark him in a position where it +would be possible to stalk him. I say, "possible" because of the great +powdery drifts that rose like new dunes across my hidden trails and +barred my progress in every direction. Moreover, each fall of snow +caused me fresh trouble; for it stultified the knowledge I had gained, +and compelled me to find new ways to my hunting grounds. + +To add to my difficulties, soon only a few landmarks were left, and +these hard to recognize--horseshoe of thatch about the short chimney +was all there was to show the position of the cottage, and it was hard +to believe that the snow-laden elms were the same trees whose golden +leafage but a month before had cast so deep a shadow on the farmyard +where the cock pheasant had been feeding with the fowls. On the edge +of the ploughed field next the mowhay were the tracks made by the two +wary rabbits whose home was under the big rick, and the few partridges +which had escaped our jaws kept near the rubbing post in the middle of +the field. + +But I recall that fallow best by the course I had across it after the +little jack-hare, who led me such a round as I have seldom gone. I +lost sight of him in the field beyond the orchard, where the turnips +lay in heaps, but followed his line up and down the hill to the head +of the fen, across which he went almost in the teeth of a raging +blizzard. He had ringed the bulrushes in the heart of the bog before +making one of his baffling sidelong leaps, and then set his face for +the foot-hills under my lair. The scent was hot amongst the scattered +furze-bushes through which he led me, and so heavily clogged were +his feet with snow that I felt sure I should overtake him before he +reached the tamarisks on the other side of the hill; but I underrated +his endurance. I followed him to the waste of sand-hills, only to find +that he had disappeared in a drift at the foot of the highest dune. In +his desperation--for I was all but on him--he must have plunged into +this and worked his way far in, as I could not find him, though I dug +and dug into the smothering mass in every direction. Nothing remained +but to make my weary way home through the blinding, driving storm. +There are more blanks than prizes in the life of even a clever fox. + +The scent lay wonderfully that night, and I followed it as easily +as I had shortly before followed the scent of a bittern across the +snow between the reed-bed and the bulrushes. It was in this isolated +clump that the otters so often laid up before the frost hardened the +trembling mass environing it; but now I noticed that some of these +wily creatures had beaten a deep track across the narrow neck of the +big bend of the river, though I did not once get a glimpse of them. + +I must pass over much detail of the varying fortunes of that eventful +time to speak of the mis-adventures that befell me on an expedition +when I unwittingly exposed myself to a great danger, and was lucky to +escape with my life. I had risen from my kennel, stretched myself, +sniffed the biting wind, listened, shaken my thick coat, and then, as +was my wont since giving up my journeys to the hills, first visited +the few remaining bits of boggy ground in sheltered places of the +brake, with the hope of picking up one of the woodcock that resorted +there to feed. I approached one spot after another against the wind +and with the utmost stealth; but, despite my extreme caution, I +succeeded only in flushing the birds, so wary had they become through +being harassed--chiefly, I believe, by young cubs. + +After lapping some water below a cascade hung with icicles, I left +the soft margin of the rapid runnel which had been riddled by the +bills of the woodcock and, emerging from the furze, stole down to the +thicket of blackthorns. But my nose told me a fox had been there +already; so I at once made for my favorite pool, whence the cries of +various wild-fowl reached my ears. I knew that they consisted of duck, +widgeon, and teal; but from the noise they made, I judged them to be +more numerous than usual, and so they proved. + +Through a gap in the reeds I gazed once and again at the tantalizing +sight. What more maddening spectacle for a hungry fox than that of +game beyond reach? I ransacked my brain to discover a way to get at +them. It was beyond my powers. The edge of the acre of water that +remained open was a score of yards from the reeds and scarcely less +from the island. There was only one course practicable, to disturb the +birds and to take up a hidden position from which I should be within +striking distance of the pool. The snowy surface which ringed them in +denied concealment save at one point, and that was much too far from +the water to suit my methods, for the scanty bit of cover was too long +springs from the brink of the ice. Any attempt to rush the birds from +there seemed vain. Many a time since the frost set in I had stood and +weighed the chances it offered, only to scorn the idea of using it +for an ambuscade. To-night, somehow--was it because of my ravenous +hunger?--the clump of sags, though weighed down by the snow, did not +look quite so hopeless as before the last fall; and I decided to +accept its hard conditions and give it a trial. It was an exasperating +thing to be obliged to scare the birds; but there was no help for it, +and so forward I went. + +My forefoot was hardly through the fringe of reeds when a mallard saw +me and gave the alarm. In an instant a hundred pairs of eyes were +turned on me; and, as if fascinated by the sight of so fine a fox, +their owners did not take wing until I was nearly half-way across +the snow. Then, with a loud "quar, quar, quar" from the ducks, all +the birds rose in a confused company, the noise of their wing-beats +drowning for a moment the loud rustling of the swaying reeds. I +watched them divide into their several skeins, which then wheeled +above my head and flew seawards, the widgeon in the van. + +Before seeking my ambush, I crossed the ice to the other side of the +pool, in the hope of finding a disabled bird in the thick cover, but +saw nothing save a few dead starlings that had fallen from their +roosting perches on the reeds. The flesh of starlings is nearly as +loathsome to me as the flesh of carrion-feeding birds; so I left +their stark bodies lying there, and trotted over the wide stretch of +snow to the island. When crossing, I noticed a small hole in the ice. +It had been made and kept open by otters that they might come there +to breathe whilst fishing; but I did not know this at the time. The +island, though it reeked with the smell of duck, was blank; so I made +for the sags again, and crawled under them carefully in order not to +disturb their white coating. Gently as I pushed my pointed muzzle +between the stems the frozen snow rattled down in a shower, and this +caused me much misgiving, for I feared that the exposed blades, black +with decay, would be sure to excite the suspicion of the quick-eyed +fowl, and warn them off the water. + +When ensconced, I found that my ambush barely screened me, and, what +was more serious, it seemed much farther from the pool than in the +bloodthirsty moment when I had decided to use it. However, being in, +I meant to stay, and so, the tip of my muzzle between two bent blades +that grew a few inches in front of the clump, and nothing but the tag +of my brush projecting at the rear, I began my vigil. It was bitter +work watching with the gale in your teeth, but I might have noticed +it less had the ambush been a little nearer the water. Nevertheless, +being of a sanguine temperament, I threw sense and sinew into my work +as if success were assured. My ears were spread their widest, to catch +any sound that reached them above the lapping of the water and the +swish of the encompassing reeds; my eyes, if not fixed on the pool, +scanned the snowy space between; and my legs were gathered under me +ready to spring. One by one some feathers the ducks had left, drifted +to the nearer side and were lost to sight; once I caught the faint +wing-beats of passing wild-fowl and, raising my eyes, saw the long +wedge of them black against the bright stars; but not a bird settled +on the water. + +Hour after hour passed in this manner, and my patience was just giving +out when an incident occurred that dispelled all thought of trying +my luck elsewhere. It was not the fish that jumped clear of the +surface, which induced me to stay, but the great boil in the water +near where it fell. I believed this had been caused by an otter, and +quite expected to see the creature land on a small jagged point of +ice hard by, where the snow had been much trampled. Nor did mere +curiosity keep me an interested spectator: I was expecting to get fish +for supper after my wasteful friend had taken one or two bites of +his prey. Whilst I watched for his appearance, and watched in vain, +a rather larger fish leapt out--once--twice; and the third time it +was hardly above the surface when the open jaws of a huge pike showed +close behind it, and I could see the bristling array of teeth before +a tremendous swirl hid them again. In all my experiences I have only +once witnessed anything that took me more by surprise; and from that +night I have never swum across to the island without fear of being +seized by the grim monster which I now knew tenanted the pool. + +The pike had scarcely disappeared before three teal, whose flight I +had not heard, settled in the middle of the water and set my brush +waving with excitement. Totally unsuspicious of my presence they swam +towards me, and approached so close to the ice as to be completely +hidden by the bank of snow near its edge. Judging their position as +well as I could by the delicious scent that reached me, I made two +tremendous leaps, which landed me amongst them before they could take +wing. But on account of the spray and the shock of the icy-cold water +I missed all three; though my jaws snapped close over the spot where +one of them dived. He came up yards away from where I was awaiting +him, rose as only a teal can rise, and flew off in company with his +mates, who were wheeling about overhead. + +With a rankling sense of failure I scrambled with some difficulty on +to the ice, shook my coat and, turning my back on my ambush, trotted +off as briskly as I could in the direction of the mere. Through the +long wait on the snow and the coldness of the water into which I had +plunged, my feet were so benumbed that I could scarcely feel them +under me when crossing the bog. Nevertheless, I stumbled on until +warmth came back to them, and then hunted the waste beyond, working +across the wind on the margin of the laid reed-beds in the hope of +scenting moorhens or water-rail to break my long fast. Most carefully +did I try the patches of sedgy cover in the loops of the stream where +I had seldom failed; but even there I met with disappointment, the +few birds I winded evading me by diving under the ice which in places +covered the strong current. + +I must have trotted miles along the zigzag course I took, before I +reached the expanse of windswept snow under which lay the frozen mere. +From inside the fringe of reeds I could hear the honking of the geese +on the open water, and at times a sound that was new to me, a wild +trumpeting which seemed to come from where the sea was thundering on +the bar. For a fox naturally prompt in decision, I stood there long, +considering whether to make a journey that offered but poor prospect +of success. In the wild-fowl's feeding-ground I had come from there +was at least makeshift for an ambush; on the level ice-field before +me there was not cover enough to hide a mouse, and the chance of a +kill was very, very small. Choice of supper, however, lay between +cold starling, bitter and dry, and hot goose, sweet and juicy--if I +could get it--and goose or nothing was my resolve. I set my face for +the spot where the scarcely discernible specks on the snow showed +the game to be thickest; and if my coat turned white in winter like +that of a stoat I had seen a few nights before, I might have stolen +at least part of the way unobserved. As it was, my reddish-brown fur, +though lighter than in the summer, made me as conspicuous as a crow on +a stubble to the noisy sentinels overhead, which at once spread the +cry of "Fox afoot!" far and wide over the great mere. The only method +possible, then, in this wild-goose chase, was to keep going with the +most nonchalant air at my command, as if my sole object in approaching +the pool was to wash down a heavy supper; and it was lucky for my plan +that my thick coat hid my prominent ribs and concealed my half-starved +condition. + +Presently I could see that the wild-fowl lining the margin of the ice +were nearly all geese; but what riveted my gaze was a small group of +big white birds beyond, whose heads towered high above the mass of +insignificant-looking duck that crowded the water. + +"Halloo! something new in the feather line," thought I. "What monsters +are these?" + +And then it occurred to me that, as I had never cast eyes on their +kind before, it might be that these strangers had never set eyes on a +fox, and would entertain no fear of such an innocent-looking creature +come to quench his thirst. This line of reasoning seemed so plausible +that I licked my dry chops at the prospect of a lordly feast, and +for a moment felt inclined to despise such small birds as geese. +These latter had for some time held their heads turned my way; so, +to show that concealment was not dreamt of, I stood still, raised +my mask to the moon, just risen above the headland, and, though it +cost me a great effort, barked as joyously as only a full-fed fox can +bark. Rarely in my chequered life have I given utterance to notes so +expressive of content; and as the geese seemed greatly taken by the +music, I continued to indulge them, at the same time lessening the +distance that separated us. + +We were getting on quite good terms with one another--at least, so I +thought--until I was within--well, it is difficult to judge distance +over snow--perhaps fifty yards of them. Then I saw unmistakable +signs of restlessness. To lull suspicion I waved my brush in my most +fascinating manner; I rolled on my back, hoping to prove to them that, +murderer though I might be by repute, I was really a playful creature, +even on that wild winter's night; and in order to reassure the more +timorous, including a fine gander, who had retired from the front to +the rear rank, I began to cut capers, running after my brush in small +circles, or rather in a spiral which would bring me, as I could see +out of the corner of my eye, within rushing distance of two of the +most curious of my admirers. + +It was all in vain; my back was to the cowardly crew when they rose; +but even then I should have seized a laggard had I sprung a few hairs +higher, for the tip of my muzzle actually touched his cold webbed +foot. In my fall on the edge of the ice I all but lost my balance and +toppled into the water. Was I enraged when I recovered myself? I need +not enlarge on that. + +The flight of the geese alarmed the duck, which rose in a big cloud +from the mere, with a noise that would, I am sure, have bewildered any +animal except a fox, or perhaps an otter. But I ignored it, and amidst +their silly clamor and the loud whirr of their wings that momentarily +drowned the gale, fixed my eyes on the three swans--for such they +were--who did not take flight like the others, but swam up and down +the rough water in a manner which, if not expressive of contempt, was +at least aggressive and provocative. Their attitude was a revelation +to me; no bird had ever dared challenge me before; and if they see as +foxes do, these black-billed strangers who stared so hard must have +read blank amazement on my innocent face as I read defiance on theirs. +Nor was I free from irritation at the bravado conspicuous in their +puffed-out breasts and beruffled plumage. + +Suddenly my demeanor changed from amazement to rage. This certainly +they must have known from my flaming eyes, bristling fur, and +fluffed-out brush lashing from side to side; but up and down they +swam, hissing out their summons to come and do battle, if I dared. A +fox shrink from combat with feathered foes? Never! I jumped into the +water, and swam across the strong current for the spot they had chosen +for the contest. All three preserved their determined front until I +was close enough to see the yellow on their bills and the snake-like +look in their evil eyes, but at my next stroke two of them beat the +water with their great wings, rose in the air, and with loud-creaking +pinions flew over my head. + +"Cowards!" said I. "Why did you not stand your ground?" + +Whilst I wondered that the remaining bird did not follow their +example, a streak of blood on his white plumage told me he was +wounded; and the instant it caught my eye I felt he was mine. I never +doubted I should kill him as soon as I could close my jaws on his long +white neck; the only thing that troubled me was how I should manage +to land him on the ice with such a strong stream running. He was the +biggest of the three, a magnificent bird, and, except for his bill, +as white as the snow. To my astonishment, wounded though he was, he +actually swam to meet me and struck the first blow. Before I could +close with him he stretched his head over mine, caught me by the left +ear, and pressed me under water. For all my frantic struggles, I was +half drowned when I succeeded by a desperate effort in disengaging +myself from his grip. Rising close to him, I seized his neck through +the thick coat of feathers that protected it, and hung on. The +commotion that followed baffles description. With one wing--for the +other lay helpless--he lashed the water and spun around in circles, +taking me with him. It would have been better to let go than be +carried by the strong current I knew not whither; but in such a case a +fox can never resolve to relinquish his hold, and it was fortunate for +me that, before I had been taken out into the middle of the mere, my +teeth slipped off the smooth oily feathers. + +I had had enough. Exhausted and benumbed, I made for the ice, now a +long way off, and fighting the current with all my strength, had got +at length within a few yards of the jagged edge when, to my horror, +I heard the swan coming up, and gaining on me at every stroke. I did +my very utmost to reach the ice, but in vain; he was on me before +I could land. Again I was immersed; twice I planted my feet on the +edge, only to be pulled back. I had caught a Tartar, and escape seemed +impossible; even if he did not drown me, I feared I should be sucked +under the ice. The thought of losing my life roused me to a supreme +effort. With gnashing teeth I turned on my persecutor. My onset must +have terrified him, for he quailed before it and retreated a few yards +into the mere. With the help of my brush I whipped round, gained the +rough edge, and, putting forth my last bit of strength, dragged myself +on to the ice, and fell, utterly spent, just beyond his reach. + +For a time I lay there motionless, but by-and-by fear moved me to +turn my head and look for my enemy. There he was, proudly swimming up +and down before me with blood-stained breast and drooping wing, still +defiant. It was the most humiliating moment of my life. Presently +I rose and shook myself, but to no purpose. My bedraggled coat had +frozen, and hung stiffly on me. I exchanged looks of vengeance with +my terrible foe and slunk away. + +What a weary journey it was over the snow! How I floundered through +the deep drift that separated me from my cover, and how glad I was to +reach the friendly shelter of the brake! It was good to be screened +from the eyes of the countless wild-fowl who had watched the fight, +and whose cries had sounded like jeers as I tottered across the wide +ice-field. There is little bark left in a fox when the quacking of +ducks disconcerts him and makes his brake a welcome refuge. + +I sat down under the furze, brushed the bloody feather from my muzzle +and licked my paws, which had been cut by the sharp-edged ice in my +mad struggles to get out of the water. Though dawn was some two hours +off, I had no heart for any more hunting; so I made for my lair, which +I reached by way of the brambly thicket above the quarry, and, after +shaking my coat again, crept to where my snug kennel lay under its +double roof of gorse and snow. There, hidden from all eyes and from +the bright lights of the frosty sky, I curled up in the cup of dry +spines with my brush about my nose, and heedless of the gale that +raged above but could not reach me, forgot my troubles in sleep. + +The hounds drew the tor wood once, and only once, after the thaw, and +did not pay a single visit to our brake, though the earth was stopped +three times before the end of the season. The explanation is probably +to be found in the heavy rains which flooded the fen and made the +country unfit for hunting; big pools were found where none were seen +before, and the springs which broke out in many new places, together +with the surface-drainage of rain and melted snow, not only kept them +full, but seemed to turn every bit of spongy ground into a quagmire. + +Left to myself, I was as happy as a fox can be, and, forgetting the +hardships I had passed through, looked forward with pleasurable +anticipation--as, indeed, every wilding does--to the golden days of +summer, when troubles are few and delights many. Yet the tamarisks had +hardly begun to feather before there was brought into the countryside +a hound which proved the most terrible enemy that ever shadowed my +life. + +That the farmer had need of a more watchful guardian for the poultry +yard than old Shep I knew well enough from the serious losses he had +sustained. Besides fowls and ducks, even geese and turkeys had been +carried off, some by day under cover of mist and drizzling rain, but +mostly at night. I had seen foxes returning from that direction with +birds in their mouths; I had actually come on the caches, both inside +and outside our brake, where they had buried what they could not take +away; and this wholesale plundering caused me great anxiety, because +I knew it would lead to reprisals. But I never dreamt in my most +troubled moments of the scourge that was being prepared. Even had I +known that old Shep was to be superseded and another farm-dog put in +his place the news would not have alarmed me in the least, because of +the contempt I felt for the few specimens I had seen. But I was now to +learn that there are farm-dogs and farm-dogs. + +As soon as the new dog was led home I came on evidence of his work. +I found the body of a fox near the gap of a reclaimed field that had +recently been filched from our cover, and could see by the fang-marks +in his chest that he had been murdered. Now it was impossible that +old Shep should be the culprit. He was always asleep at midnight, +and bore a good character amongst us for utter harmlessness; yet +everything pointed to his guilt. A double trail led from the warm +carcass towards the farm buildings, and one was the trail of a dog. +I walked slowly up the hill, trying to unravel the mystery, and had +scarcely passed over the crest when a loud bay, very different from +old Shep's, broke the stillness of the night and explained everything. +Whilst I listened it was repeated again and again, and its meaning was +unmistakable. It was a warning to the fox from the new guardian of +the farmyard that the days of robbery without punishment were past, +and that a new régime had begun. I yapped no reply, for it was best +to let this dangerous customer believe that the fox he had killed was +a stranger to the district, and that none frequented the wild within +reach of his voice. + +I was very miserable now. Putting all together, I was convinced that +the newcomer would prove a dangerous enemy; and yet I felt that I +ought to see him, for I recollected my mother's story of the fox who, +like the otter in the quaking bog, judged the jackass by his bray, and +suffered agonies until he cast eyes on him. + +The opportunity offered a few days later without my seeking it. On a +lovely spring morning such as Nature often lavishes on her wildlings, +I lay stretched out amongst the scattered furze-bushes enjoying the +warmth of the sun, without a thought of any intrusion on the peaceful +scene. The lambs were bleating in the field next the dunes, the rooks +cawing in the leafing elms, and the farm-boy, whom I could not see for +the thicket of blackthorns at the foot of the croft, was singing the +drowsy song he sang always at his work. A magpie on the tallest of the +blackthorns seemed unusually interested in either the boy or his work; +but I thought nothing of that. Presently, however, to my surprise, it +began mobbing some creature. Then I rose to my feet, almost expecting +to view a fox, when, to my amazement, I saw a huge dog leave the +thicket and come into the open. It was the new hound, and the sight +of him made me catch my breath. What struck me most--for without it, +size and strength of jaw signify nothing--was the speed I read in his +long muscular limbs. He moved with an ease I had never seen in any +other dog. Had his hind-quarters sloped like mine, I should, like +the magpie, have taken him for a denizen of the wild; but the defect +betrayed him as the servant of man. + +My curiosity was excited, and I would not steal away to the near +brake until I had discovered what his business was. It was of the +simplest. He stopped about half-way up the hill at a spot full in +the hot sun, turned round two or three times as I do to make my bed, +and laid himself down amongst the tussocks of grass. I watched his +bloodshot eyes blink in the blazing light; noted his restlessness, +the twitching of his cropped ears, and the quivering of his great +nostrils, even whilst he seemed to doze; studied his huge bull-terrier +head, raised when a yellowhammer settled on the golden bush behind +him; shuddered at the array of crowded teeth when he yawned. + +He may have lain an hour amid the bright new herbage before the boy +whistled. His ears showed that he heard, but he took no further +notice. When the whistle was repeated he growled. Then the boy +screamed, as I have heard the huntsman scream after me; and the great +brindled brute leapt to his feet and bounded down the hill at a pace I +had not thought any creature capable of. I knew then that no fox could +get away from him in the open, or escape with his life when overtaken. + +"No more stealing of old gobblers," said I under my breath as I slunk +away to the earth. + +For some days I scarcely slept on account of the worry; and the more +I thought it over in the quiet of my kennel, the surer I felt that +this great restless hound would render life unbearable by invading my +cover. Was it likely that a creature pricked by pride of limb and of +fang would be content to wander within the narrow confines of a dozen +fields criss-crossed with trails, and never trespass on the environing +wilds to which the trails led? Impossible! Is there not an eternal +feud between the tame and the wild canine? This half-wild protege +of man, free to wander at will and wreak his vengeance on us hated +dwellers in the brake, able too by speed and strength to carry out his +fell designs, was certain, sooner or later, to follow the cursed scent +that lingers where we tread, and track me to my hidden lair. + +The days went by, however, and I was not molested; though night after +night, as I heard his threatening bay, I asked myself, How long shall +I be left in peace? When a fortnight passed without a sign, I began to +think that this sharer of man's hearth might, after all, be nothing +more than a noisy farmyard braggart, brave enough, perhaps, on grass +or plough-land, but afraid to trespass on the waste. Rudely was my +mistake brought home to me. + +Now what I am going to tell is not something I have heard: I saw it +with my own eyes on the moor which rises from the head of the fen. I +was trotting along at the time, planning how best to work the ground +on such a still night, when a fox--a stranger to me--came over the +brow on my left, and dashed across my front at a gallop. At first +I thought he must have some game in sight; but as neither hare nor +leveret was to be seen, I could not help, in the absence of any +apparent reason for his conduct, imagining that he must be mad, like +a fox I once saw crossing the bar. Strange fancy, perhaps; but then, +what sane animal, and, above all, what fox, would waste his speed +after nothing? And what in the world was there for the fugitive to fly +from? Suddenly I thought of the hound, and as suddenly, just when the +fox had disappeared where the land dipped, I heard the thud of heavy +feet. Peeping between two boulders that concealed me from view, I saw +him come over the crest at the spot where I first caught sight of the +fox. He was running by scent, but at so tremendous a pace that I +feared the fox could not live before him. + +His silence chilled me more than his loud bay; but though I could not +detect the faintest whimper, every moment there was a strange clicking +sound--a noise foreign to the moorland. When he came abreast of me +I saw it was caused by the broken chain that hung from his neck and +struck the steel collar he wore. In a twinkling the dusky fiend had +disappeared in the gloom, his head set for the tor. I listened. After +a time I heard him crash through a long bramble thicket. Then a long +interval. Then the owls, which had been very noisy, suddenly ceased +their midnight chorus. They were watching the tragic chase between +the boles of the pines. How it ended I never knew; but I am inclined +to think that the fox reached the rocks and escaped. If he had been +killed, the foxes which lodged on the western slope of the tor would +have forsaken their coverts, at least for a time; and this they did +not do. + +That night it was useless to try to hunt, as I kept looking back every +dozen strides for fear the hound might be following me. At last I gave +it up; but I did not return along my usual trail, laid when the night +had no fear for me. I avoided open ground as much as possible, to +steal along tangled dips and gullies. Before crossing a ridge I halted +to peer through the darkness, fearful of seeing the sinister green +eyes that would apprise me of the hound's approach. + +On reaching the double trail, I cleared it at a bound, as though it +had been a line of fire, and made for the river at the spot where it +spreads over the marshes; for I hoped by swimming it at its widest +part to add to the difficulties of the hound if he should follow me. +Although the precautions I took proved unnecessary, I mention a few of +them to show the fear the creature had inspired in me. After that I +used to foil the runs in the brake for the purpose of puzzling him if +he chanced to strike my night's trail and tried to trace me to my lair. + +But of what avail were all my wiles against a creature so endowed? At +length the marvellous powers he possessed enabled him not only to find +my kennel, but to approach it so noiselessly as almost to surprise me +in my sleep. Had it not been for the slight rustling of the furze, +caused by his grim protruding muzzle, he must have taken me where I +lay as a fox takes a rabbit in its seat. As it was it was a close +call. Enraged at my escape, he came crashing after me. I led him to +the cover beyond the quarry, where the furze was close and stunted, +and where the runs were so small that he had to force a way along +them. In these unfavorable conditions I thought he would soon tire of +pursuit; but to my surprise he persisted hour after hour, despite the +stifling atmosphere of the brake on such a close, hot day. Could he +have driven me into the open I should have been at his mercy; I knew +this as well as he, and never gave him the chance he longed for. + +In the end I wearied him out, and none too soon, for I was almost +spent before he relinquished the chase. I had escaped, but my dread of +the fiend was greater than ever--so great, indeed, that I never went +near the brake again as long as he lived. + +The silence of the night at this time was painful. A dog-fox dared +no longer call to his mate for fear of betraying his whereabouts to +the hound, now abroad at all hours. I hardly dared sleep two days +following, in the same place, lest in his wanderings he should have +come upon my couch and be there awaiting me. I lived under a reign of +terror, and the gloom that brooded over brake, tor, and fen spread to +the higher moors, where the hound had once been seen. But, gloom or no +gloom, I had to have food though every journey I made to the fen was +at the risk of my life. + +Generally I was through early enough to enable me, by hurrying, to +be back in my couch in gorse or heather before dawn. One morning, +however, I was so late that I decided to lie up for the day in the fen +rather than risk crossing the moors after daybreak. + +Through the mist that lay over the heart of the bog I could just make +out the tall clump of rushes where I meant to lie up if the slough +should yet prove firm enough to bear my weight. On striking the river, +which was much above the previous summer's level, I waded into the +water, and, to throw the hound out in the event of his following me, +floated some distance with the current before landing on the opposite +side. As I rustled through the flags and the belt of reeds, whose +dew-laden plumes were sparkling in the first rays of day, a heron rose +lazily and, skimming a reed bed, flew away towards the half-risen sun, +leaving me, as far as I could see, the sole tenant of the silent +marshland. Only the bare, flat quagmire now lay between me and my +harborage, and, anxious to be hidden from sight, I lost no time in +setting out across the treacherous surface. + +I selected a line which seemed to promise the firmest footing, and +stepped with all possible lightness. Yet, in spite of every care, I +sank deep in places, and midway the crust was so thin that for a while +I was in great danger of foundering. However, by putting forth all my +strength, I was able, at last, to free myself from the clutches of the +more liquid mire and reach the drier, sounder surface between it and +the rushes. I was indeed glad to feel the solid ground under my feet +once more. + +Had I realized the peril before setting out I should not have +attempted to cross. I ought, perhaps, to have turned back on striking +the dangerous zone; but, once embarked on an undertaking, it is not in +my nature to retreat, for there is that in a fox which makes him go +through with his purpose at all hazards, though it may compel him to +pass between the legs of the huntsman's horse or traverse a bog that +threatens to swallow him up. + +At last, exhausted and bemired, I entered the clump, whose shadow lay +like a wide road across that part of the quagmire where it fell, and +chose for my couch a tall heap of dead reeds just inside the wall of +pale green stems. It seemed to have served for a nest of the captive +wild swan, and had probably been floated to the spot by the subsiding +flood. + +To reach my bed I had to cross the stream which drained the pool +within the dense ring of bulrushes; and as I waded through it a +well-known scent reached my nostrils, and told me that the wiliest +creature of the night had also sought this isolated retreat to hover +in. I watched the sedgy islet whence the scent proceeded, expecting to +get a glimpse of the otter couching there; but he lay low and did not +expose a hair, despite the crackling of the reeds as I made my bed. + +I was free now to attend to my toilet and prepare for the rest I so +much needed. With my pads dirty as they were, sleep was out of the +question; so I licked them and my legs as clean as I could, and, thus +refreshed, soon dozed off, with a sense of security to which I had +long been a stranger. + +I slept soundly, without the horrid dreams of the previous weeks, +and was awakened at last by the hum of insects. A year before, when +I often lay in the fen, my ears would not have noticed this loud +undertone of noonday life; but latterly I had, for the most part, +kennelled in the moors, where were only noiseless butterflies and +lizards, silent as sphinxes. I was not really sorry to be disturbed, +for it was delightful to lie there, vaguely conscious of the warmth +of the sun and looking about me in a drowsy way. I turned my blinking +eyes now to the distant mere, sparkling at the end of a vista in the +reeds, now to the hoary summit of the tor seen against the blue sky, +and again to the water-insects at sport on a small pool just beyond +the black shadow which had crept up well-nigh to the foot of the +bulrushes. + +Presently, tiring of the view, I was about to drop asleep again, when +I heard a noise which, if it had been less violent, I should have +thought to be caused by an animal shaking itself. It was followed by a +commotion on the river-bank, and then, to my horror, the hound burst +through the reeds. He had followed my trail to that point, and guessed +where I was, for he kept looking at the clump, and even at the part of +it where I was crouching. He threw up his nose and sniffed the air, +as I could see by the working of his gleaming nostrils; but there was +no wind to carry the scent across the morass--not enough, indeed, to +stir he light feathery tops of the reeds behind him. + +Soon he advanced to the very edge of the bog and looked longingly at +the clump, as if he were eager to reach it but dared not risk the +crossing. At last, after running up and down the edge several times, +apparently in search of a hard place, he decided to brave the danger, +and with cat-like steps, ludicrous to watch in such a monster, began +the perilous passage. He was soon up to his knees, and the deeper he +went the greater my excitement grew. Every instant I expected to see +him sink out of sight. So sure of it did I feel that I almost ventured +to show myself and fling at the fiend the reproaches that crowded to +my tongue. But though his progress was very slow, he was inch by inch +reducing the distance that separated us. + +Before long he was near enough for me to hear the sucking noise made +by the slough as it reluctantly released its grip on the long muscular +legs. He did not pick and chose his way, or deviate by a reed's +breadth from the straight course that would bring him to the gap +in the belt of rushes made by the overflow. Now he was on the most +treacherous part of the quagmire, which shook with the struggle he +made to keep his head above the surface. With dilated pupils I watched +what must be his last efforts. I noted the rise of the mire on his +collar, till at last it rose no farther, but still he came on; and +then I noticed the liquid mud raised in front of him like the ripple +in front of a swan. Wading he must have been, though he looked exactly +as though he were swimming; and his great red tongue lolled out with +the frantic exertions. + +When he got nearer his feet must have found the bottom, for his +shoulders rose free of the surface; and I saw his hair bristle as +though something had suddenly angered him. He had scented me or the +otter, or both; and in his haste to add to the number of his victims, +he ploughed through the last score yards of mud like a mad creature. +Along the muddy bed of the overflow he toiled step by step; and the +instant he entered the pool, I rose to my feet, doubtful whether to +stay or retreat, and paused to listen before committing myself. + +At that moment I heard a sullen plunge, then another, as two otters +dived into the pool. Thinking there was safety in numbers, I decided +to remain in hiding rather than trust to my slight chance of escape +across the bog. The wild struggles of the hound told me he had viewed +the otters; but he must have lost them again for presently all was +very quiet, though I could hear him at times nosing the rushes and +ferns round the pool, as if in search of them. My eyes were as alert +as my ears, and soon caught a heave on the surface of the overflow and +the gleam of an otter's back as the creature rounded the shallow bend +leading to the river. A few seconds later I saw the other otter glide +noiselessly away, and then a great fear seized me as I realized that I +was left alone with the hound. + +Scarcely were my eyes back on the pool before he landed on the islet, +where he stood with the water dripping from his brindled coat, whilst +with nostrils raised he sniffed the air. As I watched him through the +stems, I became aware that he winded me; and when I saw him take to +the water and head straight; for my hiding-place, I stole silently but +swiftly away and, fearful of trusting to the muddy bed of the stream, +committed myself to the bog. + +I trod its treacherous surface as lightly as I could, but because of +the smallness of my feet I kept breaking through the crust, and made +only slow progress. Nevertheless I succeeded in getting farther than +I expected before the hound sighted me. As soon as he did he burst +through the rushes and, making a tremendous spring, landed within a +few yards of where I was struggling with the mire. + +This wild leap of his saved me. Had he been content to follow at his +best pace, the chances are that he would have caught me before I +could reach the bank of the river; but now, through the violence of +his fall, he was so deeply embedded that I gained many yards before +he could extricate himself. Indeed, by the time he had done so I +had reached the more liquid part of the morass where I had all but +foundered at sunrise. With the double danger threatening me, I exerted +myself even more than then; but, madly as I struggled, my progress +was not nearly as fast as that of the hound, now overhauling me. It +was horrible to hear this murderous fiend whimpering and whining in +his eagerness to get at me, and to feel that I was scarcely advancing +at all. I was like a fox in a nightmare, only I was never more wide +awake in my life. Fright however kept urging me on, and to my joy I at +last felt firmer ground under my feet. + +The bank gained, I turned my head for an instant, and saw my pursuer +seemingly stuck in the treacherous mud-belt; but I did not waste +precious time watching him. That he still reckoned me his I felt sure; +that I should escape I had little hope; nevertheless, I meant to do my +utmost to save my life. I galloped down-stream close to the water's +edge, took the otter's path across the neck of the bend, swam the +river, and on landing plunged into the great reed-brakes. + +On, on I went at my full speed, driven by mortal fear. I knew I was +not yet out of danger. Here a wild-duck rose in affright, there a +moorhen scurried out of my way; but I kept straight on past clumps of +osmunda ferns and flags, and across backwaters till at last, after +swimming a maze of water-ways, I came to the grassy promontory that +flanks the inflow of the river into the mere. + +For a moment I stood there irresolute. Should I take to the water or +trust to the bordering reeds? Whilst I hesitated, I thought I heard +the hound coming, and the next instant dropped into the stream. +Partly by swimming, but chiefly by the aid of the current, I succeeded +in reaching the nearest islet of the little archipelago that studded +the rippled expanse. There I hoped to find refuge from my relentless +pursuer. + +I had arrived only just in time, for, peeping through the sedgy growth +that covered my hiding-place, I saw the hound gallop to the end of the +promontory and stand gazing over the wide surface. Then he withdrew to +the brake that rose like a lofty wall about the mere. I could trace +his progress by the rising of the wild-fowl whose sanctuaries he +invaded, and later by the glimpse I got of the angered swan swimming +defiantly across the narrow opening of a big creek about which the +array of reeds was densest. I saw no further sign of the brute that +had so rudely violated the summer peace of the fenland, but wisdom +seemed to dictate that I should look elsewhere for a more peaceful +home. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Page 12: Changed "night" to "nights." + (Orig: And how short those night were!) + +Page 20: Changed "crusing" to "cruising." + (Orig: crusing restlessly up and down the turf) + +Page 23: Changed "noes" to "noses." + (Orig: turned up our noes at such food) + +Page 37: Changed "exhilirating" to "exhilarating." + (Orig: It was most exhilirating to be wandering) + +Page 40: Changed "thristing" to "thirsting." + (Orig: stealthy enemy thristing for its blood) + +Page 42: Changed "lucious" to "luscious." + (Orig: every bit of the lucious morsel) + +Page 53: Changed "malard" to "mallard." + (Orig: a loud quack the malard disappeared) + +Page 53: Changed "mallord" to "mallard." + (Orig: How he enjoyed the mallord,) + +Page 67: Changed "nothinginess" to "nothingness." + (Orig: dwarf into nothinginess the annoyances) + +Page 71: Changed "manteled" to "mantled." + (Orig: skimmed the brake that manteled the steep slope) + +Page 74: Changed "pursurers" to "pursuers." + (Orig: I should be able to elude my pursurers) + +Page 76: Changed "rocognized" to "recognized." + (Orig: he rocognized the bedraggled cub) + +Page 81: Changed "grievious" to "grievous." + (Orig: Chief of these are the grievious losses) + +Page 92: Changed "be" to "he." + (Orig: killed by the pack; be was the man who,) + +Page 103: Changed "waching" to "watching." + (Orig: It was bitter work waching with the gale in your teeth,) + +Page 132: Changed "pursurer" to "pursuer." + (Orig: and saw my pursurer seemingly stuck) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER REYNARD*** + + +******* This file should be named 44347-8.txt or 44347-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/4/3/4/44347 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a +href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></p> +<p>Title: Master Reynard</p> +<p> The History of a Fox</p> +<p>Author: Jane Fielding</p> +<p>Release Date: December 4, 2013 [eBook #44347]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER REYNARD***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Diane Monico,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 633px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="633" height="800" alt="cover" /> +</div> +<hr class="tb" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="431" height="600" alt="" /> +</div> + + + + +<h1>Master Reynard</h1> + +<p class="ph2"><i>The History of a Fox</i></p> + +<p class="ph4"><i>From Animal Autobiographies by J. C. Tregarthen</i></p> + +<p class="ph4">REVISED BY<br /> +<span class="ph3">JANE FIELDING</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="ph4">NEW YORK<br /> +<span class="ph3">A. L. CHATTERTON CO.</span> +</p> + + + +<p class="ph6"> +Copyright, 1913<br /> +A. L. CHATTERTON CO. +</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MASTER_REYNARD" id="MASTER_REYNARD">MASTER REYNARD</a></h2> + + +<p>The earth where I was born was far down the face of a steep cliff +and opened on a sloping shelf of turf, from the edge of which the +undercliff fell sheer to the sea. The entrance we used most was +slightly above the level of the springy sward and led by a small +tunnel to a roomy chamber where daylight never penetrated.</p> + +<p>There on the bare dry ground the vixen laid us—my two sisters and me. +If I was like the baby cubs I have since seen, I was born blind, my +muzzle was blunt and rounded, and my coat as black as a crow, the only +white about me being a few hairs in the tag of my tiny brush. Even at +the time when I first remember what I was like my fur was still a very +dark color and bore no resemblance to the russet hue of a full-grown +fox.</p> + +<p>This was a few weeks after my eyes were opened, when, after awaking +from our first sleep, we were in the habit of sunning ourselves just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +inside the mouth of the earth. It was there, with my muzzle resting on +the vixen's flank, that I got my earliest glimpse of the world. The +turf was then almost hidden by pink flowers, over the heads of which +I could see, between two of the pinnacles that bordered the ledge, +the sea breaking on a reef where the cormorants used to gather at low +water and stand with folded or outstretched wings until the rising +tide drove them to the big white rock beyond.</p> + +<p>So few things moved within our field of vision that every creature we +saw afforded us the keenest interest. Sometimes during days together +nothing stirred but the stems of the thrift and the surf about the +reef, for the sky was cloudless when the hot weather set in. Now and +again a red-legged crow came and perched on one of the pinnacles, +crying "Daw, daw!" until its mate joined it, and then, all too soon, +they took wing and flew away; at times a hawk or a peregrine would +glide by and break the monotony of our life.</p> + +<p>Our narrow green was dotted by five boulders, and one of these we +could see from the earth. On this our most frequent visitor alighted. +It was an old raven, who presently dropped to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> ground, walked up +to the remains of any fowl or rabbit lying near the heap of sandy soil +which my mother had scratched out when making the earth, and pecked, +pecked, pecked, until only the bones were left. Then, uttering his +curious "Cawpse, cawpse!" he would hop along the ground, flap his +big black wings, and pass out of sight. I feel sure that he saw us +watching him, for his eyes often turned our way.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, to our astonishment, a half-grown rabbit came lopping +along, and stopped to nibble the turf at a spot barely a good spring +from the vixen. She, usually very drowsy, half opened her eyes and +turned her face towards the intruder, but she did not rise to her +feet. We youngsters were beside ourselves with excitement, but were +not allowed to scramble over her side to drive away this audacious +trespasser on our private domain. This, I think, was owing to my +mother's great anxiety on our account.</p> + +<p>I have never known a vixen so determined that her cubs should lie +hidden by day; but then we were her first litter. She would constantly +warn us against venturing out whilst the sun was up. So particular +was she that we were not permitted to expose as much as our muzzles +outside the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> earth, though birds and rabbits moved about there freely. +We could not understand the restriction, and I fear that we thought it +unkind of her to confine us to a cramped, stuffy hole the summer day +through, when we longed to be gambolling about the sward or basking +in those warm corners under the boulders which retained some of their +heat even after the sun went down.</p> + +<p>It is true that I tried hard to get my liberty. Time after time, when +I thought she had dozed off, I endeavored to squeeze between her and +the low roof. It was of no use, though I used the utmost stealth and +trod as lightly as a feather. Never once did I catch her napping. On +the few occasions when I was on the point of succeeding she seized me +between her velvety lips and put me back in my place between my two +little sisters.</p> + +<p>Thus, by the kindest of mothers, I was disciplined in the ways of the +wild creatures, learning, by constant correction and example, that the +world outside the earth is denied to us by day, and is ours to move +and play and seek our prey in only by night.</p> + +<p>And how short those nights were! What a weary, weary time it was, +awaiting their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> approach! How impatiently we watched their slow +advent! how we tingled with delight in every limb on seeing the shadow +of the high boulder creep and creep across the turf until it reached +the pinnacle that had a patch of golden lichen on it! Then, as the sun +sank behind the headland, the nearer sea became sombre, the bright +expanse beyond darkened, and at last the stars would begin to show in +the sky. By this my mother had shaken off her drowsiness, the glow +had come back into her green eyes, and, rising to her feet, she would +leave the earth. If she detected no danger, she would call us to her. +What a moment that was! the pent-up energy of hours of restraint +breaking out in such rompings and runnings after our own brushes as +I have never seen in any other young creatures. Wearying at last of +these antics and of jumping over the back of the vixen, who watched +us with loving eyes, we settled down to the game of lurk and pounce +amongst the boulders. To our great delight, the vixen often joined in +this before setting out in search of food. Her nimbleness and skill in +dodging filled us with amazement. Like a flash she was on us; there +was no avoiding her rushes, though she always avoided ours,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> and her +movements were as silent as the passing of a shadow when a swift cloud +crosses the sun.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget those frolics in which she shared; they not only +were useful training for the life before us, as I afterwards realized, +but also induced in us a fondness for her so great that we could not +bear to have her out of our sight when she left us to seek the food we +needed. We would watch her as she followed the narrow track that wound +up the cliff, till from the rocks near the top she looked down to +assure herself of our safety before going inland. And that was not the +last we saw of her. Times and times I have caught sight of her bright +eyes glittering like twin stars on the summit of the ivy-covered scarp +where the magpies built.</p> + +<p>A more affectionate mother cubs never had; but for the life of me I +could not understand why she was so anxious about our safety: I had +neither seen nor heard anything in our little world to alarm me. +Whether she had or not I do not know, but she was haunted by the +dread of something, as I could tell by the way she used to look about +her and listen when watching our gambols, and by her starting at the +slightest unusual sound. Her nervousness made me nervous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> and, thus +infected by my mother's fears, I got to be afraid without in the least +knowing what there was to be afraid of.</p> + +<p>These vague fears were on two occasions the cause of false alarms. +Once, somewhere along the cliff a dry stick snapped. That was enough. +My sisters and I fled in terror to our den, where we were joined a +minute later by the anxious vixen who had just left us for a foraging +expedition. There was no danger: it was merely a lumbering badger +which crossed our playground later on; but I have learnt since that no +wild thing can hear the snap of a twig without alarm. The badger was a +strange-looking creature: his face was white, with black stripes from +ear to muzzle; his gray hair all but swept the ground; and he walked +not lightly on his toes as we do but heavily on the soles of his feet.</p> + +<p>At another time the whistling of harvest curlews frightened us almost +out of our lives. These were both needless terrors; but soon I was +brought face to face with evidence of a real enemy, the one, no doubt, +of whom my mother lived in such dread. It was not many days after the +coming of the whimbrels—for the moon, a mere sickle then, had not +waxed to half its full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> size—when two incidents occurred which proved +to me, a raw, heedless cub, that there was serious ground for fear. +Both happened in broad daylight, one close on the heels of the other.</p> + +<p>One drowsy noon we were watching from our usual place the old raven +pecking at the hind-quarters of a rabbit, when with an awful thud +a big stone struck the turf close to him, bounded off, and rolled +towards the corner of our playground. In a twinkling, before it had +stopped rolling, we had retreated to the very end of the earth and +there lay trembling, and wondering, even in our consternation, whether +the mischievous magpies, who had set up a sudden clamor, were not the +cause of our discomfiture. When we stole out in the quiet and dusk, +my mother walked straight to the stone and smelt it, and I, being +curious, must needs follow her example. What an awesome smell it had! +The scent was unlike anything I had sniffed before, and surely not the +scent of any beast of the field! The vixen, who stood there watching +me, noted the cold shiver it sent through my young limbs and seemed by +her expressive face to say: "The creature that tainted that stone is +the cause of all my fears," and, further, if I read aright the sad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +look that rose to her eyes: "He will prove your scourge as he has +proved mine." My story will tell whether it has been so.</p> + +<p>In our games that night I avoided the corner where the stone lay, and +so did my sisters. I noticed, too, that the vixen was away in quest +of food a shorter time than usual, and did not go out a second time +as she had generally done since our appetites had grown. We had, +therefore, to satisfy our hunger on the gosling she had brought. +This we broke up ourselves with our sharp milk teeth, chattering and +quarrelling as was our wont whilst the meagre feast lasted. The vixen +contented herself with a few old bones.</p> + +<p>The other incident was graver, causing injury to my mother. It +happened thus. She had gone out one night shortly after—for the moon +was still not quite full—but, though absent till nearly dawn, she +failed to procure any food. I remember our impatience at her long +absence and our disappointment on seeing her issue from the furze +without even a few mice in her mouth. However, there was no help for +it. The sun was reddening the sky near the horizon, so, supperless and +sullen, we curled ourselves up and fell asleep. On awakening, as we +did before our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> usual time, we began to cry pitifully for food, and +at length, driven to desperation by our complaints, the vixen stole +out at noon, not under cover of mist or fog but with the sun shining +in the bluest of skies. Ravenous with hunger, we crowded the mouth of +the earth, listening for the sound of her returning steps. Long, long +we harkened without catching any whisper of her approach. At last we +heard a muffled, double report, and after an interval the faint patter +of her pads. In my anxiety to see what she had brought I put my head +out and kept my eyes fixed on the run in the yellow furze through +which she always came. Never shall I forget my horror at what I saw. +Instead of her russet face with its black and white marking, her mask +below the eyes was all blood and dreadful to behold. I am ashamed to +say it, but her appearance terrified me, though I loved her as I loved +my life. She staggered into the earth, and took no more notice of us +than, if we had been strange cubs, which alarmed me more than her +dazed look. The reason of her plight was a puzzle to me, and though +the stone, with its horrid association, forced itself upon my notice +as a possible cause, I dismissed the idea that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> could have done the +injury, inasmuch as it was lying where it had rolled. No; in a vague +way I attributed her state to the daylight, so great had my fear of it +became. Ah me, how ignorant I was in those far-away days!</p> + +<p>We were free now to go and come as we listed, but, famished though we +were, not one of us attempted to leave the earth except to get a drink +of water, and we lay huddled together, looking out of the corners of +our eyes at our poor mother, as miserable and forlorn a litter of +foxes as could anywhere be found. In the depth of the night, however, +the pangs of hunger compelling us, we left the vixen, who seemed to +be asleep, and crept out. Being bigger than my sisters, I felt called +upon to take the lead, and neither of them showed any inclination to +dispute it with me. But where to take them, or how to get a supper, I +had not an idea.</p> + +<p>I am not going to cast one word of blame on my mother for delaying +to teach us to shift for ourselves. It was out of affection that +she kept us so long to the nursery; and how could she possibly have +foreseen the calamity that had so unexpectedly disabled her and thrown +us on our own resources? And, lest a suspicion of neglect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> towards +us should attach to her memory, I must here say what I have not yet +mentioned—that by the death of the dog-fox, my father, the burden +of our upbringing from the day of our birth fell wholly on my little +mother. What labor and sacrifice this must have meant! After we were +weaned, how often have I seen her go without her share of the prey +that we greedy cubs might suffer no sint! When has cliff or moor +witnessed greater devotion, greater unselfishness? And now she lay +in the earth so sorely wounded as to be indifferent to our helpless +plight. I will not dwell on my feelings, but they made it difficult to +focus my thoughts on the undertaking before me.</p> + +<p>For a minute or two I sat on my haunches near the big boulder, +considering gravely where I should go, my sisters the while +cruising restlessly up and down the turf with all the impatience of +irresponsibility, awaiting development. This to-and-fro movement of +theirs added to my bewilderment, and even the bats flitting about were +a trifle disconcerting to a cub with three routes to choose from, each +in its turn more inviting than the others.</p> + +<p>There was the patch leading to the upper cliff;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> there was, I assumed, +a way down the undercliff; and there was, I knew, a track between the +two which the badger had worn. I have never been up the cliff, and +after the vixen's recent experience dared not go, though it was night, +and nothing stirred but the reeds about our drinking-place and the +leaves of the gnarled tree where the magpies built.</p> + +<p>In the end I decided, if I could find a way, to go down the cliff. +There was a sandy cove below that I had often longed to reach in +my mother's absence, but my strength was unequal to the descent. I +determined to try to go there now. So, leading the others past the +little basin where we quenched our thirst, I brought them along the +cliff to a place where the sheer precipice changed into a succession +of ledges, down which we leaped until brought to a standstill above a +wall of nearly perpendicular rock. It was impossible to reach the flat +shelf below by leaping: we should have broken our bones; and there +we stood staring over the brink at the smooth rock beneath us, and +wondering how we could pass it.</p> + +<p>Again my sisters looked to me to take the lead, so, putting forth all +the power of my untried claws, I began, brush first, to crawl down +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> fissure that lay aslant the precipitous face of the great slab. +This I followed, partly by feeling with my hind claws where foothold +permitted a firm grip, partly by turning my face and seeing where +the easiest line of descent lay. At last I succeeded in reaching the +bottom without mishap. My sisters imitated me, coming down more easily +than I had done, probably on account of their greater skill and lesser +weight.</p> + +<p>A creek, too wide to jump, now separated us from the sand, but, taking +to the water, we waded until we lost bottom, and then, for the first +time in our lives, by swimming crossed deep water. More bedraggled +creatures than we looked on landing it would be difficult to imagine; +but we shook ourselves from muzzle to tag, making the spray fly from +our wet coats, and set about searching for something to eat. Where +the beach met the cliff was a cave that ran a long way in and had two +lesser caves opening out of it. We explored these without finding in +either of them anything except dry seaweed and pieces of cork, so we +retraced our steps and made for the other side of the cove. There, +just beyond the ribs of a wreck that projected from the sand, we +came on a big jelly-fish. Though we should have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> turned up our noses +at such food in ordinary times, it was a windfall in our famished +condition, and we swallowed the quivering mass with gusto, sand and +all. Good food or bad, it filled our stomachs and stopped the gnawing +pangs of hunger.</p> + +<p>We then clambered to the top of some rocks that stood out above the +sand, and found there a small pool of water, temptingly clear. Being +thirsty after our meal, we began to lap it. Ugh! it was nasty to the +taste, but, what was worse, the mistake was a blow to my conceit, for +I was humiliated by the reproachful glances my sisters shot at me. +To avoid them I raised my eyes, and, as I did so, caught sight of +the vixen on the cliff at the spot where we had taken to the ledges. +Then it came home to me that I had done wrong to leave the earth +without her, and, fearing she would be angry, I hid myself amongst +the rocks, as did my sisters. The vixen, usually quick as lightning +in her movements, came but very slowly down the cliff on the line +we had taken, and as slowly crossed the sand to the cave. This she +entered, and for a time was lost to view. My inclination nearly led me +to quit my hiding-place and go after her; but again fear checked me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +and I remained where I was. On leaving the cave, she with difficulty +followed our trail to the spot where we had eaten the jelly-fish, and, +not seeing us, seemed to lose heart, for she sank to the ground and +called us with a most piteous cry, which at once drew us to her side. +I can see even now the delight on her poor face as we bounded towards +her across the sand that separated us. After licking us with her +swollen tongue, she led us up the cliff by a much easier path than the +one we had followed in descending, and we soon reached the level of +our earth. We proceeded towards it in single file by the narrowest of +paths, passing our usual drinking-place, where for a reason I am going +to explain, the supply was so scanty that we found barely enough water +to quench our thirst. The vixen was curled up at the mouth of the den +when we reached it, and we had to climb over her back to get to our +sleeping-places.</p> + +<p>A short period free from troubles followed, during which my mother +rapidly recovered. Nevertheless, the wounds on her face were barely +healed when there befell one of the greatest calamities of my eventful +life—a calamity that was near putting an end to us all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>Before attempting to describe it, I must mention the sufferings we +endured in the days following our adventure down the cliff, through +the gradual drying up of the water that supplied our drinking-place. +Night after night, when we repaired to the basin that the falling +water had hollowed in the rock, I had noticed that the stream, which +came from some hidden source beneath a pile of boulders, got smaller +and smaller, and, after the very hot weather set in, dwindled to +a mere trickle. To such a thin thread did it shrink that from the +mouth of the earth, which was not many yards away, we could no longer +hear it splashing into the basin. Now and then, especially when some +animal, generally the badger, had been there before us, we were driven +to such an extremity as to be compelled to lick the dew off the turf +to cool our tongues until the water had collected again.</p> + +<p>It was a terrible time. To this day we speak of the year of my birth +as the Dry Year, and indeed I, who was a May fox, was nearly three +moons old before I saw rain, which fell on the afternoon of the day +when the curlews' whistling scared us. I remember, though not as +vividly as the rainbow seen that day, the embrowned turf<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> of our +playground being dotted with slugs which the downpour had enticed out +of the sunless crevices of the rocks.</p> + +<p>The rain had ceased before nightfall, and the following day the sky, +which had been black and lowering, became as cloudless as before, +whilst the heat, previously intense, became well-nigh unbearable. +Hour after hour we lay in the deep shade of the bracken fronds at +the entrance, panting for breath and longing for the water we were +not allowed to get before dusk. At the first sign of twilight, +and even whilst the after-glow suffused the sky, we rushed to the +drinking-place, our three masks completely filling the basin, which +we soon lapped dry. Almost as refreshing as the water we swallowed +was the cool spray—despite the rain it was no more—that fell on our +heads from the lip of the rock above.</p> + +<p>For several days from dawn to dusk we thus endured the agony of +parching thirst, till at last, when our tongues lolled out, and one of +my sisters showed signs of utter exhaustion, the vixen so far yielded +to our entreaties as to permit us to slink out, one by one, to drink.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately we could not reach the reeds about the water without +exposing ourselves to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> eyes of the magpies overhead. On spying +us they set up such a clamor that every bird and beast for a great +distance along the cliffs must have known that a fox was moving, and +rejoiced at our misfortune.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;"> +<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="427" height="600" alt="THESE BLACK AND WHITE PESTS." /> +<div class="caption">"THESE BLACK AND WHITE PESTS."</div> +</div> + +<p>We have many enemies, but none whom we despise so much as magpies, +crows, and jays. Their treatment of us is as unprovoked as it is +insulting. We have never injured them, and yet, as I shall tell later, +the pariahs of the wild, that gorge on our unburied kills, seek every +opportunity of betraying us.</p> + +<p>Those cliff magpies, at whose tongues we suffered such indignities, +must have spent their days in watching our movements. After my sisters +had had their drink, it took hours for the basin to refill, yet as +soon as my muzzle projected beyond the bracken when I went to take my +turn, the hateful wretches would cry out, "There he is!"</p> + +<p>I never grew indifferent to this daily annoyance, and in a rage I used +to lap up what water there was in choking haste, so as to escape the +mobbing of these black and white pests who flew just beyond my reach, +and at times even brushed with their wings the tops of the tall reeds +about the basin.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>We were not the only sufferers from the drought. Indeed everything +suffered, and most of all perhaps the herbage. The thrift and white +campion that covered the ledges, the ferns that found root-hold in the +crannies and crevices of the rocks, and the stone-crop and lichens +growing on the rocks themselves, drooped and withered; and at last +the boggy ground above the drinking-place caked and dried, so that +the reeds turned yellow, and rattled rather than swished when the +night wind stirred them. Under the scorching sun the thread of water +shrank and shrank until it dripped drop by drop, and finally dried up +altogether. At my last visit to the drinking-place the smooth basin +was hot with the fierce rays, and the moss about the edge of the +rock above was nearly as moistureless as the crinkled lichen on the +pinnacles.</p> + +<p>In these conditions it was impossible to remain where we were, and +that night my mother reluctantly decided to abandon our home and to +lead us up the cliff. Would that she had taken us the moment the stars +showed, instead of waiting until deep night; for the delay nearly +proved fatal to us all. A fox's life is so short that he cannot forget +even the groundless scares his fears make him the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> victim of, so it +is not to be wondered at that the events of the night I am about to +describe are almost as vivid to me still as at the time they happened.</p> + +<p>My sisters had returned once more from the dried-up basin to which +they had been some five or six times since sunset, and joined me where +I lay near the mouth of the earth, waiting for the dew to fall and +listening for the footsteps of the vixen who had gone to get ready the +new lair. It was a beautiful night—the sea calm, and the surf about +the reef alight with phosphorescence, whilst the furze-bushes and the +clump of brambles near the reeds were dotted with glow-worms. There +was even a solitary one on the drooping bracken above the entrance. +A wind of summer strength stirred the withered herbage and murmured +around the precipitous crags above our heads, but, save the boom from +the great cave below when the tide rose, all was still. Suddenly, +without warning of any kind, there came a flash of light from the +cliffs above the sandy cove where we had eaten the jelly-fish. It died +away and then returned, more brightly than before. It was not nearly +so fierce as the lines of fire I had seen zigzagging the black sky +on the afternoon of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> heavy rain, nor was there any thunder with +it as then, but there was a strange, crackling noise, as of animals +crunching bones.</p> + +<p>Immediately flames leapt in great tongues from the brambly thicket +beyond the reeds. These drove us to the den; and there we crouched +listening to the awful sound, which grew louder and louder. Soon a +faint glare lit up a part of the earth as far in as the spot where two +rocks narrowed the tunnel. Before this I was on the point of bolting; +but now fear seized my limbs and I could not rise, could only crouch +closer and closer to the earth like my sisters. Whilst we lay there +huddled together and crying out for the vixen she returned, darkening +the tunnel as she came towards us. Scarcely had she joined us when an +evil-smelling fog rolled in, causing us to keep our muzzles close to +the ground. Then the fire swept past the earth, lighting it up to the +end where we lay. Panic-stricken though I was, I remember noticing how +the smooth floor gleamed, and how curiously the light glowed on the +vixen's fur. Suddenly the heat became less intense, and a current of +fresh air entering the earth revived us as we lay panting at the point +of suffocation.</p> + +<p>The crackling and roar of the flames had long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> died away before we +dared to quit our sanctuary, and when at last we ventured to the mouth +of the earth, what a sight met our gaze! Our playground was charred, +except for a narrow strip near its edge, and towards this a thin line +of fire moved slowly, blotting out the criss-cross tracks we had worn +between the boulders. A ring of sparks encircled the raven's perch, +and crept higher and higher, consuming the lichen, and leaving bare +rock in its train; where the brambles had stood was a heap of glowing +ash; grasses and reeds had disappeared; in short, the place which had +been our little world and of which we knew every blade and spray, was +as nearly past recognition as a corn-field after harvest. Away towards +the west great ruddy flames leapt from the furze brake and lit up sky +and sea and headland with such a lurid light as I had never seen; +whilst on the near slopes a hundred smaller fires flickered and died, +to blaze again and re-illuminate the great piles of bared rock. Sparks +falling from above showed that the ivy round the home of the magpies +had not escaped; and as the birds had mobbed me most unmercifully that +very day, I rejoiced in their misfortune.</p> + +<p>The vixen, satisfied at last that she might venture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> forth, took up +my puny sister, who was then unable to stand, and set out for the +steep path by which she usually reached the top of the cliff. My other +sister and I trod closely on her heels as she picked her way over the +heated ground and skirted the glowing remains of the furze-bushes. In +the ascent my pads were rather badly burnt and my fore-legs singed +by a fire which suddenly broke out in some smouldering heather into +which they sank. The glimpse I got of the face of the precipice showed +that the ivy had lost all its leaves, the bared stems standing out +plainly against the black fissures that seamed the great wall of rock +besprinkled with sparks which in their fall resembled shooting stars.</p> + +<p>When we reached the summit we could hear the magpies calling out, +but, to do them justice, they were not mobbing us then. Once beyond +the blackened ground we ranged up one on each side of the vixen, and +after crossing fields of stubble and turnips and getting far beyond +the reek of the burning, we caught the scene of the brook for which +she was making. We struck it where it wound through marshy ground on +the outskirts of a furze brake, and in a trice were up to our bellies +in the delicious cool stream with our tongues hard at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> work. The water +was cold and sweet; there was plenty of it, and we lapped and lapped +as long as we could take in a drop. In all my life I never again +enjoyed a drink like that, and the mud that stuck to my legs seemed to +soothe the pain of the burns.</p> + +<p>My little sister was able to follow us now without assistance, but the +vixen, who was exhausted with carrying her so far, went at a walking +pace between the stems of the furze and kept looking back to see that +she was keeping up with us, though she took no notice whatever of my +other sister who was going on three legs, or of myself whose poor feet +were so tender that I hardly dared touch the ground.</p> + +<p>Emerging from the furze we came upon a circle of turf, where we +caught sight of at least a dozen rabbits scurrying to the holes that +honey-combed the ground at the foot of a high cairn. One of these had +been enlarged, as the heap of fresh earth showed, and into it the +vixen led us to a dry and sweet-smelling den, where she left us, to +procure food. In there it seemed as still as death to us who had had +the roar of the sea in our ears all our lives, but the lair was very +comfortable, and roomy enough for us to stand side by side whilst<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +the vixen distributed the rabbit she presently brought us. We found, +too, on curling ourselves up, that, big as we were, we could lie close +together without trespassing on the tunnel as we had latterly done in +the cliff earth. So, as we were thoroughly weary, we soon forgot the +dangers we had passed and fell asleep, our mother lying between us and +the opening, as was her invariable custom.</p> + +<p>I was startled out of my sleep by a stamping overhead, caused by the +rabbits in the heart of whose burrow we were lying. The noise, which +broke out again and again just as I was on the point of dropping +off, irritated me so much that at last I got on my hind-legs, thrust +my muzzle into the hole in the roof, and breathed loudly through +my nostrils. This snorting was not without result, for after the +stampede that followed there was quiet for a long time. Nevertheless +the tiresome creatures had spoilt my day's rest and, try as I might, +I could not doze off again. My sisters slept through it all, and the +vixen showed no sign of being disturbed, except that she half opened +her eyes when the rabbits scampered over the spot where she lay. +It was very early, as I could tell by the scent of the furze that +stole along the tunnel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> and almost overpowered the flavor of rabbit, +from which the den was never quite free. To pass the weary hours I +licked the mud off my legs, which still smarted, and, whilst I did +so, thought of our narrow escape, and wondered in a vague way whether +fires were to be numbered amongst the regular troubles of a fox's life.</p> + +<p>At length the vixen roused herself, and when the coolness and smell of +the air warned her that the sun had set, she rose and led us forth, +not for our usual gambols, but, as it proved, for our first lesson +in hunting. I suspected something unusual was afoot the moment she +ordered us to follow her across the stream, whither she had taken us +to drink; and the further we got from the earth, the more excited +I grew at the prospect of the adventures before us. It was most +exhilarating to be wandering over the broad, high country, which, in +comparison with our ledge at the foot of the precipice, seemed like +the roof of the world. For nights and nights past I had yearned to +accompany my mother on her rounds, and the unexpected gratification of +my intense longing thrilled every fibre of my being. So great was my +excitement that I quite forgot not only a loose milk tooth that had +been worrying me, but even the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> tenderness of my poor pads, on which I +had with difficulty limped to the drinking-place.</p> + +<p>The vixen ran steadily some dozen paces in front, and side by side +we cubs followed in her train, noiselessly as shadows. It fascinated +me to watch her lissom movements as she stole along, and to note the +ripples that ruffled her smooth coat when she crossed the broken +ground. We had passed over one hill and were breasting the next beyond +before I began to wonder what we were going to see and how soon, and +then, without warning, she reared on her hind-legs, listened with ears +erect, and pounced on something in a patch of rushes, in which she +buried her long muzzle. The next instant she came trotting back to my +little sister, and gave her the mouse she held between her lips. Her +quick hearing had detected its movements in the undergrowth.</p> + +<p>But mousing was apparently not the chief business of the night, for, +without dwelling, she stepped across the dried-up runnel which the +rushes fringed, and headed for the craggy ridge above. In her progress +up the steep slope she kept scanning the ground to right and left of +the trail as if she expected at any moment to see the prey she was in +search of, and when near the crest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> she crouched and crawled forward +with the utmost caution. With breathless excitement we wormed our +bodies along in her wake, as though we had been trained to it. But we +had not; we were imitating her instinctively, and kept our distance as +faithfully as the shadow of her brush that darkened the moonlit ground +in front of us.</p> + +<p>On reaching the ridge I could not help shifting my gaze to glance +at the wide marshland below us, so strikingly unlike any scene my +young eyes had looked on. Here and there on the level expanse sheets +of water and a winding stream shone like silver, and from the great +reed-beds about them came a soft voice like the murmur of waves on a +distant beach. This was the expression of a stolen instant, and no +sooner were my eyes back on the vixen than she sank to the ground as +though she had suddenly lost the use of her legs. We did the same. +This pleased her, as I could tell by the expression of satisfaction +in the eager face which she turned slowly towards us and as slowly +withdrew, brushing aside as she did so the dry bents that rose a good +way up her long ears.</p> + +<p>At first I wondered what she had found, as the only living +things visible to me were some rabbits far below on the lip of a +funnel-shaped warren.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> But presently over her head I saw the tips of +the ears of a rabbit quite close to us, and my heart began to thump +as it had perhaps never done before. The sight of the living prey had +awoke in me the dormant spirit of the hunter that has hardly slumbered +since; and not in me only—my sisters were evidently as excited as I +was, for their brushes were lashing mine as wildly as mine did theirs.</p> + +<p>The rabbit meanwhile winded danger and, as its nostrils showed, kept +sniffing the air to try and locate it. When it succeeded, its eyes +fell, not on a stealthy enemy thirsting for its blood but—so sudden +was the vixen's change of attitude and demeanor—on a harmless, +playful fox rolling on her back as I had seen her roll in utter +guilelessness a hundred times. The rabbit started, as well it might, +and I expected to see it dive into its hole; but, marvellous to +relate, instead of seeking safety it regained its composure and +resumed its nibbling on an almost bare patch, towards which the +assumed frolics of the vixen and the slant of the ground were leading +her. Then, with one of the lightning-like rushes which made her look +a blurred mass even to our quick eyes, she was on it, and when she +faced us the rabbit's head and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> hind-quarters hung limp as she held it +across her mouth.</p> + +<p>On witnessing the kill we cubs jumped to our feet, eager to partake of +the first course of our supper. But when we attempted to take it from +her mouth, to our amazement the vixen snarled at us as she had never +done before. My little sister, to whom she had always been so tender, +was the last to try, and, incredible as it may seem, the vixen turned +on her like a fury.</p> + +<p>Nothing but my desire to record faithfully the impressions of that +time would make one own that I considered my mother unnatural and +cruel in denying food to the weakling among her cubs. If the water +which had cooled our parched throats the night before scalded us +we should not have been so taken aback as by this sudden change of +conduct on her part. It was simply incomprehensible. Had something +outside our knowledge caused her to turn against us? If not, what did +she mean by her harshness?</p> + +<p>It did occur to me that this unaccountable behavior might be feigned, +and that presently she would drop the rabbit at our feet and be again +the affectionate mother she had always been. Indeed, I watched her +out of the corners of my eyes from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> the spot to which I had retired, +expecting to see her snarl relax into a grin. But in this I was +disappointed, for, on reaching a ledge below, to which we followed +her at a respectful distance, she devoured every bit of the luscious +morsel before our eyes, though she knew well enough that we were +ravenously hungry. The delicious smell of the hot entrails which the +wind brought us put the keenest edge on my appetite—already sharp +set by the previous night's shortness—and with the strong craving to +satisfy it came the novel thought of satisfying it with a rabbit of +my own catching. The bunnies were still playing about on the edge of +the warren, and whilst the vixen kept shifting her gaze from them to +me, licking her blood-stained lips, the lesson she wished to teach +suddenly flashed upon me, and the explanation of her conduct was +complete. She was saying as plainly as could be: "There is your prey. +I have shown you how to catch it. Go and get your own supper." I +required no further prompting. Then and there I began my first stalk +under the eyes of all I loved in the world.</p> + +<p>Summoning my untried powers, I wormed myself over the ground towards +a single bush that screened me from the observation of most of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +rabbits. Its shelter gained, I looked back and up to where three pairs +of green eyes regarded my every movement, and then peeped with the +utmost caution round the corner of the furze towards my prey. The +bunnies were all there and thoroughly alert, and so disconcerting did +I find their united gaze that I drew my head back to consider the +situation. When I peeped again half their number showed their white +scuts and went to ground, and the other half seemed prepared to follow +their example.</p> + +<p>Satisfied that direct approach was out of the question, I walked +aslant the slope towards a piece of flat ground on a level with the +warren, as though I were engaged on some engrossing pursuit in that +direction. As I went I did not even squint at the rabbits, though it +cost me an effort to look straight before my muzzle. My simulated +detachment from my prey must, I felt sure, have excited the admiration +of my dear mother, and so must the thoroughness with which I gave +myself over to the antics that took me at first farther and farther +away and then nearer and nearer to the few remaining rabbits, whose +curiosity had got the better of their fears. The silly creatures were +quite taken in by the capers I cut, and one at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> realized his +danger too late, for ere he could reach his hole I snapped him up and +bore him up the hill towards the vixen.</p> + +<p>Insignificant as the incident appears to me now, it was one of the +greatest events of my life. Every fox is proud of his first skill, +and I was no little elated by mine. Indeed, I felt I must make some +sort of demonstration in honor of the occasion. Imagine me, then, a +handsome young dog-fox, head erect, ears pricked, brush on end and +well fluffed out, trotting along on the very tips of my toes with +my first rabbit between my jaws, and you have a picture of me as I +swaggered over the bare turf in the moonlight, before the eyes of my +admiring mother and jealous sisters. I shall never forget the pride I +felt nor the inner voice that kept whispering, "You are able to get +your own living now, my boy, but don't be too highly elated!"</p> + +<p>I got on rapidly after this my first experience. How could I do +otherwise, with such a clever and painstaking little mother as I had +to instruct me in the wiles and ways of our craft? In a short time I +became expert not only in catching young rabbits, rats, moles, and +mice, but in picking up the feathered prey that frequented fen and +hillside.</p> + +<p>Of course I met with many disappointments;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> pheasants, partridges and +wild-duck often escaped my clutches when I already considered them +mine. My failures were due chiefly to inexperience, but in a measure +also to the intrusion of other foragers, who turned up at critical +moments and ended for me the work of hours. On one occasion a hunted +hare passed between me and a covey of partridges I was drawing up to; +but the birds, who squatted in a circle with their heads outwards, +as their custom is, did not rise until a pack of stoats came along +on his line, and with their noisy yelpings broke the silence of the +roosting-place. On another, the sudden appearance of a poaching cat +defrauded me of a pheasant on the edge of the pine-wood; but that +night I killed before the darkness faded, and had buried what I could +not eat before the vixen raised the "dawn" cry.</p> + +<p>After good hunting we used to romp home together over the furze-dotted +land or across the fen, and from sheer high spirits vixen and cubs +alike used to bound over the bushes or clumps of rushes and sags +across our path. Week after week nothing happened to disturb our peace +or excite our fears, but, for all our apparent security, we were never +abroad at sunrise unless a thick fog lay over the land.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>In those expeditions I used latterly to separate myself from the vixen +on reaching the hunting-ground and seek my prey alone, rejoining her +when she sounded the call to leave the trail or ambuscade. In this way +I became more and more independent, and at times would turn a deaf +ear to her summons. Twice I was so belated that the pools by the way +reflected the rosy fore-glow of the dreaded sun as I scurried past +them.</p> + +<p>I may have spent a month in the vixen's company before I could make +up my mind to shake off her authority and forage where I pleased. She +was conscious that I chafed at the restraint which she considered +necessary, and was no doubt prepared for the serious step I had +resolved on. Nevertheless, when the night came, it was not without a +sense of shame at breaking away from one who had been so tender and +forbearing that I sidled past her where she sat outside the earth +playing with my sisters. I had rather expected she would exercise +her authority and call me back. Though she stopped her gambols and +looked wistfully at me, she made no protest, and I passed on my way +unchallenged; but I was glad when the bushes hid me from her sight +and from the questioning eyes of my sisters, who seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> very much +astounded at my going off alone.</p> + +<p>Soon after crossing the stream I began to rehearse the plan I had +surreptitiously formed in the earth. As it promised success, I decided +to go through with it, though a darker night would have suited my +purpose better. Clouds indeed there were, but white and fleecy, only +slightly veiling the light of the full moon, which shone very brightly +as it crossed the deep blue spaces between. The self-confidence I +felt in the earth had been oozing out of me as I threaded my lonely +way through brake and reed-bed, but it returned when, after trotting +across the quaking bog that trembled under my light steps like a +jelly-fish, I came at last in sight of the pool where I intended to +lie in wait for wild-fowl.</p> + +<p>Although I had taken a short cut over the treacherous morass to +forestall the duck, I feared that they might have settled in the water +before I reached my ambush, and it was with eager eyes that I scanned +the surface from a clump of rushes on a finger of land that jutted a +little way into the pool. All was well! Not a bird floated on the open +water between the beds of lilies or in the lanes between the floating +grasses. The only things that caught my eye were a moorhen and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> the +trail of light she left behind her as she swam the gloomy water, which +was shadowed by some alders.</p> + +<p>Crossing the baked and cracked mud left exposed by the sunken pool, +I entered the water, swam over to the islet, and secreted myself on +the margin of a tiny creek just above a line of stranded feathers. +There, screened from the keen eyes of flighting wild-fowl, I began my +vigil with all the hope that waits on inexperience. Crouching beneath +my ambush, I heard a few distant cries, which came, I should think, +from birds feeding on the edge of the tide. So faint were they as to +be audible only when the fitful breeze lulled and the tall, feathery +reeds about the pool ceased rustling.</p> + +<p>Presently, from the water between two lily-beds a silvery fish jumped +thrice in quick succession, as if pursued by some invisible foe; of +the latter I saw no sign, unless its presence was indicated by a swirl +in the water near where the fish fell. The long silence which followed +was broken at last by a swish of wings—an inspiriting sound after +the tedious wait—and some wild-fowl wheeled in a wide circle above +my head before settling on one of the many pools that glistened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> on +the wide marshland below them. As I lost the sound, I feared that the +birds had dropped in elsewhere, but round they came again, and, with a +splash that made me tingle with excitement, a mallard and three ducks +alighted on the water midway between the islet and the reeds. They +were evidently ill at ease, though they seemed to me so secure that I +could not imagine what they could be so suspicious of—certainly not +of the peregrine that harassed them at sunrise; and at the time I knew +nothing of the monster pike that tenanted the pool, and took toll of +feather as well as of fin. Could it be that they had got some inkling +of my presence? I crouched absolutely motionless whilst their restless +eyes searched the tangle on the island, and when they stared at the +patch where I was hiding I scarcely dared to breathe.</p> + +<p>Before settling down to feed they cruised restlessly up and down, +and even whilst they gobbled the green weed they kept looking so +persistently my way that I began to think they could scent me, though +they had only bills for noses. I had marked the mallard for my prey. +He was a plump bird, and I had to keep my tongue from licking my +lips at the prospect of the feast; for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> he was very tempting to an +appetitie sated of rabbit, and by this time I knew every feather of +the plumage that covered his juicy flesh. Just then it vexed me to +hear the vixen's call, far off though it was, as I feared she might +hit my trail, follow it, and spoil my hunting. Her yapping caused all +four birds to raise their heads and listen, but they showed no further +sign of alarm, as every creature of the wild knows that dead silence +precedes the kill and that it need have no dread of a noisy fox.</p> + +<p>The ducks were near enough now for me to see the least movement of +the mallard's eyes, the white of which, even when his head was down, +showed that he was in deadly fear of something. "Fool!" thought I, +"eat your supper in peace; but when you land on the mud of the creek, +where lie yesternight's imprints of your webbed feet, then look about +you."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 425px;"> +<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="425" height="600" alt="HIS BEADY EYES GLEAMED." /> +<div class="caption">"HIS BEADY EYES GLEAMED."</div> +</div> + +<p>And yet I was mistaken; at that instant an enemy was within a few +yards of him. I had warning of its approach, for I saw the moonlight +catch a heave of the water, just as from the cliff I had seen it +catch the glassy surface of the curling wave; but in my inexperience +I never dreamt that the glint could be caused by a rival<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> for the +bird. I was now to learn better, as with a great flapping of wings and +a loud quack the mallard disappeared below the surface. I remember +nothing about the three ducks for I nearly jumped out of my skin; and +my stupefaction was complete when I saw a big animal appear at the +surface and leave the water with the mallard in his mouth.</p> + +<p>The sight of this brute with my bird enraged me so much that at +first I was on the point of springing across the creek and taking +it from him. I would have done so had he been only half his size, +but I was afraid of the strong, queer-looking creature. His body was +very long, his legs short but massive, and his tail, which tapered +to a point, stretched across the mud and just touched the water. He +had no ears—at least, nothing worth the name; his eyes were small, +his whiskers very long and white, and his jaws so heavy that they +frightened me. How he enjoyed the mallard, the rascal! How his beady +eyes gleamed until he saw me back out of my ambush; and then what +an evil look rose to them! That was enough to scare me without the +frightful grimace and hissing that accompanied it.</p> + +<p>I lost no time in getting out of sight of such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> a horror. I crossed +the pool, dreading at every stroke that the fearsome beast would +seize me from beneath, as he had seized the mallard, pull me under, +and—disgusting thought!—perhaps eat me. I looked back on landing, +and again when I reached the reeds; then, as I saw no trace of him and +had dry land in front, I cursed him to my heart's content. I had been +deprived of my supper in the last watch of the night, and it would +take me all my time to reach the earth before dawn, even by way of the +quaking bog. I gnashed my strong teeth as I hurried across the fen, +swearing that I would be avenged on that thief if chance threw me in +his way again; and though a fox may not be able to choose place and +time, he generally gets his wrongs righted in the end. I own that for +the moment the sight of the strong, fierce brute must have unnerved +me; why else should the rustling of a vole on the bank of our own +stream scare me so and cause me to run home in breathless haste?</p> + +<p>When I reached the earth the vixen and my sisters were lying near the +entrance, looking as happy and contented as mother and whelps can +look. With misfortune written on my crestfallen face, I stood before +them bedraggled and panting,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> as complete a picture of misery as can +well be imagined. My mother looked me up and down with sympathetic +eyes that told her thoughts, and though she never said a word I read +in their varying expressions: "You are miserable and discomfited, my +cub; you are evidently paying dear for your freedom. Nevertheless I +admire your independence and, for all your wayward spirit, I am proud +of you."</p> + +<p>Crimson streaks marked the low sky to the east before I followed the +others to the den for, rather than retire supperless, I stayed outside +to crunch a few dry bones. It had been a most unsatisfactory night's +hunting, and, though I tried hard to get the evil-looking brute with +the webbed feet out of my mind, I seemed, even till I fell asleep, to +be watching that rascally otter lying his full length and holding in +his fore-paws the fattest mallard I had ever seen.</p> + +<p>Despite my disappointment and fear, I resolved to visit the fen again +a few nights later, and it vexed me greatly when the vixen objected +and insisted that I should join her and my sisters in an expedition +to the hill beyond it. I was sulky at the start, and lagged behind +the others all the way across the marshland, but I closed up when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +we breasted the hill, and shook off the last traces of ill-temper on +seeing the vixen steal towards an enclosed field some little distance +down from the crest. I watched her closely whilst she reconnoitered at +a gap in the rude stone wall, and, from the fixity of her gaze, felt +almost sure that she espied game. All doubt was dispelled when, with +the stealthiest of movements, she came back to me and, as if I was the +most amiable cub in the world and worthy of the post of honor, led me +round to the meuse through which the game had entered the field, and +left me to watch it.</p> + +<p>As I lay there, within a spring of the scent-tainted run that recalled +a trail I had once followed on the fen, I became uncontrollably +curious to see the animal that had but shortly before passed along +it. I felt sure the creature was in the field, and no sooner had the +vixen disappeared round the corner of the long wall than I left my +hiding-place, crawled up the face of the enclosure as quietly as a +fly, and peeped through a break in the top whence a stone had fallen. +Ah! there he was, for all the world like an immense rabbit, nibbling +the clover right out in the middle of the square field. Of course I +ought to have returned to my ambush at once, but curiosity held me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +the spot, and whilst I was taking a last look, I caught sight of the +vixen stealing over the wall on the further side into the tangle that +filled the corner and, in fact, grew all round the field at the foot +of the wall. In this she was lost to view, till presently her mask +appeared again between some seeding thistles about thirty yards from +the unsuspicious hare.</p> + +<p>Now began one of the most thrilling stalks I ever witnessed, though, +owing to the astonishing way the vixen hid herself, I could see little +of her but her ears. To have rendered herself so inconspicuous she +must have grovelled along on her belly in some slight hollow of the +ground not visible to me; for the clover was not more than an inch +high and of itself afforded very little concealment. The nearer she +got the more excited I became; and for the life of me I could not +understand—even now I cannot understand—why the hare, of all animals +the timidest and most watchful, neither saw, heard, nor scented her. +Inch by inch the clever little stalker wound her way until nearer +approach without discovery must have been impossible. I was wondering +why she delayed making one of her lightning-like rushes, when, with +a tremendous bound, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> hare started off in a direction wide of my +station. The vixen, who was in swift pursuit, made a desperate effort +to turn him; but in this she would have failed, despite her wonderful +fleetness, had not my little sister, whether by accident or design I +do not know, suddenly showed herself at the gate for which the hare +was heading. This had the effect of sending him towards the meuse I +had been set to watch and of reminding me of my duty.</p> + +<p>The hare was yet some thirty yards down the hill but coming like the +wind, when I dropped quietly into my ambush and gathered my legs +under me. What a row he made as he dashed through the brambles and +came through the hole at the foot of the wall! Never shall I forget +the excitement of the moment when, with his ears thrown back on his +shoulders, he came in sight. I made my spring as he flashed by, and +though I only knocked him over, I was on him and bore him down before +he could recover himself. The vixen, who came up the next moment, was +delighted to find me standing over my first hare; and when in response +to her call my sisters joined us, she distributed the portions into +which she had broken it up. There was much chattering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> over the +feast—the contented chattering that attends good hunting.</p> + +<p>Thus did our mother teach us to act in concert—the method sometimes +employed by dog and vixen if hares are scarce and wild, but more +commonly adopted when driving rabbits from a brake where there are no +holes in which they can get to ground.</p> + +<p>Our supper over, the vixen led us along the crest of the hill to a +small clump of wind-clipt pines, which are still standing, whence can +be obtained a view of the fen on the one side and of the sand-hills +on the other. This was my first sight of the dunes and of the +farm-buildings on the edge of them. Whilst we stood there a loud bark, +thrice repeated, came from within the trees about the buildings.</p> + +<p>"What is that?" I asked, somewhat alarmed.</p> + +<p>"That is the voice of a dog—the voice of an enemy."</p> + +<p>Then she warned us never under any circumstances to go near the place, +"for," said she, "danger lurks there, and perhaps death."</p> + +<p>Wise little mother, if I had only heeded thy warning, what anguish and +degradation I might have been spared!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>Day was already dawning, and I wondered that she so long delayed +returning to the earth. To jog her memory I kept glancing first at her +and at the eastern sky, but to my surprise she took no notice. Her +face was very sad, and she seemed lost in thought. I believe she was +thinking of the time, now close at hand, when we must separate from +her and face the dangers of life alone.</p> + +<p>But it was not her intention to go back to the cairn, for on reaching +the foot of the hill she turned aside and brought us to another earth, +before which lay an enormous heap of yellowish soil. This, as it +proved, was to be our new home; and from the fresh trail that led to +it, I judged that at least one animal would share it with us.</p> + +<p>A little way inside the entrance, which was a large one, the tunnel +divided; and when the vixen and my sisters disappeared in the branch +leading to the left, I, curious to see our new neighbor, followed +the trail along the other. On and on I stole through a low winding +passage, which penetrated so far that I thought I should never reach +the object of my search.</p> + +<p>At last I came on his lair at a spot where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> tunnel suddenly +widened, and the sight of it made me stand agape. Instead of the +bare ground, which is a fox's couch, and on which I expected to see +the creature curled up, before me rose a great heap of dried grass +that filled the chamber from side to side, and reached almost to the +roof. So effectually did it conceal its occupant that not a hair of +him could I see. The slight rustling of the bed would have told me +he was there, even had my nostrils not given undeniable proof of his +presence; and as my curiosity, now thoroughly aroused, would not let +me retire before I had had at least a glimpse of the creature, I drew +near with the utmost caution, craned my neck over the broad edge, and +looked down on him.</p> + +<p>My eye! he was a monster. It surprised me to see how big he was; but +what really took me aback was his very pale color, which showed even +in the darkness of the den. I had expected to see a gray creature, +like the badger on the cliffs, and not a white one nearly twice his +size. My first impulse was to retreat, but on regaining my composure, +I resolved to stay and have a good look at him.</p> + +<p>His broad side rose and fell with his slow, heavy breathing; his +eye—I could see but one—was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> closed, and there was no sign of +vigilance about the small limp ears. To all appearance he was in a +deep sleep, which I believed, as well I might, that had done nothing +to disturb. For if my approach had been as noiseless as the incoming +of the fresh air that sweetens the close atmosphere of our dens, not +less so was my examination of the formidable creature, though it was +made with breathless wonderment.</p> + +<p>Yet before I could bark in his ear and run away, as I was tempted to +do, he sprang suddenly to his feet with a loud snarl, which nearly +frightened me out of my skin. Fortunately, he did not snap at me as I +drew back, or pursue me as I bolted at full speed along the tunnel; +indeed, judging from his subsequent conduct, I should say that his +venerable face was one grin from ear to ear when he discovered it was +a chit of a fox cub that had scared him.</p> + +<p>My mother, whom the loud snarl had brought in hot haste to my side, +was very angry with me for trespassing on the badger's private +quarters instead of following her into the part of the sett she had +appropriated. No doubt it was a foolish thing to intrude on the +privacy of so powerful an animal; but I had no occasion to regret my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +misconduct, for the badger, far from resenting it, became my best +friend. Every morning after that I used to peep at him; but instead +of creeping in stealthily, as I had done at first, I walked in as if +I were going to my own den, and to apprise him of my approach gave a +stifled bark on reaching the turn by the rock, beyond which a short +length of straight tunnel led to his lair. Though I seldom neglected +to warn him of my coming I believe it was unnecessary, as he got +to know my light footstep so well that he did not take the trouble +to raise his head on the rare occasions when I forgot to signal my +approach. Sleepy though he always was after his night's round, he +never failed to wink at me with the eye that was uppermost. Sometimes +he would wink twice; but beyond that he never got.</p> + +<p>He must have been a good fellow, this distinguished member of the +oldest family amongst animals, to put up with these dawn visits of a +fox who was still under the partial tutelage of his mother. I have +often wondered why he did so, but never been quite sure. If I may +give my reason—and be it understood that it involves no slur on the +badger's fame—I should say it was because of his friendless state. +I say, "friendless,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> inasmuch as he was never seen in company with +the only other badger in the countryside, the one that dwelt on the +cliffs; and he kept quite aloof from the other creatures of the wild.</p> + +<p>I have always felt proud that he should have thought me worthy of the +least consideration; but this did not make me blind to his faults. I +don't refer to his living on beetles and wasp-grubs, nor do I mean +the trick of sleeping with one paw in his mouth, or the queer way he +had of running back-wards into the earth, at which little game I once +surprised him; no, I am thinking of a bad habit from which we suffered +much annoyance, and which I am very loth to mention, much less dwell +on. But it must be stated, and at some length, on account of my story; +it was this: he could not keep his claws from digging.</p> + +<p>What made his offence ten times worse in our ears was that as far +as our vulpine wits could enlighten us—and we discussed the matter +again and again—there was no necessity for his self-imposed labor. +Any reasonable creature would have thought the sett was more than +complete, inasmuch as the part of the hill it tunnelled in all +directions was like a vast honey-comb. It held quarters for a whole +swarm of badgers; and yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> the old fellow must needs keep burrowing +farther and farther in, opening out more chambers and galleries, as +if it were not commodious enough for his individual requirements. Of +course he was free to add to the accommodation of the sett, whether +he really did feel cramped for room or only imagined that he did; +nevertheless we foxes accounted it a grievance to have to put up with +the din he made in digging, which, as it reverberated along the hollow +ways, resembled the rumbling of thunder more than any other sound, and +prevented us from getting a wink of sleep in the long, dragging hours +during which it lasted.</p> + +<p>This was only the first stage of the annoyance. A more serious trouble +was the way the great heap kept on increasing with the excavated +soil that he fetched out by the barrow-load about once a week on the +average, generally in the small hours of the morning when we were away +foraging. The enormous mound made us hang our heads in shame every +time we passed in and out. And as if this were not enough to betray us +to our enemies, on our return home one morning we found his great bed +lying atop of the pile, which now looked like a haycock in the midst +of the brake. At the sight of this my mother lost her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> temper, and +heaped such unrestrained abuse on the badger that I could not keep my +jaws closed. It pains me to this day to remember that I dared reply to +her; but how, when my old friend was attacked in such bitter terms, +could I honorably keep silence? That day I had to be content with the +draughty corner of the den, apart from my mother and sisters, who +edged away from me as if I were mangy. I spent miserable hours lying +there; but about noon the vixen walked over to me, licked my face with +her hot tongue, and curled up by my side. These tender attentions +soothed my injured feelings, and I soon fell into a peaceful sleep.</p> + +<p>I do not reproach the badger for changing his bed, I cannot reproach +him for his cleanliness, and I have no wish to disparage his great +industry; my object is to set down the truth, and I think that this +corpulent creature had to make work to keep his fat down and, even in +times of famine, to dig willy-nilly to prevent his claws growing into +his flesh.</p> + +<p>Of course, had the matter of digging by day, in which lay the sting +of the underground annoyance, been brought to an issue, we foxes had +not a shadow of right on our side; because we knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> that the earth +belonged to the badger by right of excavation, and that we were there +on sufferance only as long as he found us tolerant and agreeable. +We did well to endure what we could not cure, for, had it come to a +quarrel, to a conflict with tooth and claw, the badger could have +made mincemeat of our whole party without sustaining a scratch. So we +prudently refrained from making any comment in his hearing, and, as he +could read nothing from my looks, he had not the faintest suspicion of +the grumbling to which I had to listen, or of the difficult part I had +to play to keep on good terms with my family.</p> + +<p>So things went on until a common trouble befell both the badger and +ourselves, and immediately following it, calamities so dire as almost +to dwarf into nothingness the annoyances of which so much had been +made.</p> + +<p>We had frequented the sett for perhaps a month, when, on returning +early one morning from hunting on the moors, we found, to our +astonishment, the entrances to the earth blocked and the badger shut +out. Thought I, "This misfortune to himself and to us is the result +of his misdoings," and I fully expected to see the vixen pour out the +vials of her wrath; but, to my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> surprise, all she did was to cruise up +and down in a fever of anxiety, with a watchful eye on the desperate +efforts the badger was making to remove the faggots jammed into the +hole. Failing to remove them by tugging, he began to bite through the +thick, tough stems as though they were reeds; and in my inexperience +I thought he would soon succeed in chopping a way in. But whoever had +placed the faggots there had done his work too well for the entry to +be hurriedly effected, so that gray dawn found the badger but little +advanced with his stubborn task and us cubs roaming restlessly about, +eyeing him at his work.</p> + +<p>The only time I got in his way he turned his nervous face and snarled +at me as though I were a stranger. Seeing what deadly earnest he was +in, I gave him a wide berth, and sat on the top of the heap with my +brush to him, blinking at the sky that was now all read as if the +cliffs were a-fire far, far away beyond the fen. Every now and again, +when the vixen came my way, I caught her casting uneasy glances +towards the east, and the instant the glaring rim of the sun showed, +she stole away and we in her train, leaving my old friend biting and +pounding in his apparently hopeless toil.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>If his efforts looked hopeless, the journey before us was certainly +disagreeable. I shall not soon forget that crossing of the fen, which, +as bad luck would have it, was as free from mist as the gilded crests +of the tor that seemed to stare at us belated creatures of the night, +abroad at such an uncanny hour. The vixen took advantage of every bit +of cover within easy reach of the bee-line to the cairn earth, for +which she was making; but for all that, there were many exposed places +that could not be avoided, and there the cruel sun had us at his +mercy, and blinded us with his naked rays. Nor were we alone in our +misfortune. Half-way over, at a spot where the glittering pools lay +thickest, we met a vixen and four cubs heading straight for our sett. +She, too, was all anxiety; and seeing this, I began to wonder why the +stopping of an earth should occasion such widespread consternation.</p> + +<p>My mother traversed the mossy spaces between the pools at the utmost +speed of the weakly cub by her side, whilst my sister and I followed +a little to one side, so as to avoid treading on the long, terrifying +shadows they cast. On coming within sight of the earth she stopped +suddenly in her stride, and as she did so my astonished eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> lighted +on the object which had arrested her steps. It was the enemy—it was +man. I recognized him at first sight, unlike though he was to the +being I had vaguely imagined. There is no reason for surprise that I +did. For what beast of the field or wild stands erect with such ease +on his hind-feet, or has face, fore-paws and ears as bare of fur as +is the skin of a mangy fox? Moreover, I caught his scent; and it was +the same scent as had tainted the stone on the cliff, that tainted the +faggots—evidence hardly less convincing than the steady gaze of his +eyes and the shout he raised. At the awful sound we turned tail and +melted into the brake.</p> + +<p>Round and round the great furze cover we stole, until I thought that +the vixen would never come to a standstill; but at last she chose for +sanctuary a tangled corner near a runnel, and there, amidst the russet +bracken, my weary sisters curled themselves up and fell asleep.</p> + +<p>Whether the vixen slept at all I cannot say, but I do not think +she did, for she was wide awake when I dropped off, and she was +all eyes and ears when I was startled out of my sleep by three +noisy wood-pigeons overhead. As we looked at one another across the +tiny stream, a strange<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> sound reached me from the direction of the +wood below the tor, or, it might be, from the tor itself. It was a +high-pitched note, very penetrating, and a little like a cock's crow, +though differing from it even more than a curlew's whistle does from +an otter's. The instant I heard it I knew that it came from no bird's +throat, but whence it came I could not tell.</p> + +<p>What a simpleton I was at that time! The toot of the horn is as +familiar to me now as the clatter of shod horses. I know, too, now +what it portends; but at that moment, though fear was mingled with my +curiosity, I should not have been very uneasy, save for the obvious +anxiety of my mother. Not that she fussed about as if flurried, but +I could see her alarm in her unusual alertness. When a cock-pheasant +flew past and skimmed the brake that mantled the steep slope below us, +her eyes followed it with an eagerness that seemed to demand from it +the secret of its startled flight.</p> + +<p>Again the horn sounded, this time from the neighborhood of the +withered oak between us and the tor. Then I heard a horse galloping +and saw a flash of scarlet at the foot of the slope where the pheasant +had dropped in. What did it all mean?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Were we foxes in any way +concerned in the unwonted proceedings that were disturbing the great +silence that had till then brooded over the cover? The suspense, the +uncertainty, which the vixen's evident distress intensified, the vague +sense of danger, were painful; but all doubts were soon dispelled, +"Eloo in! Hi, Forester! Eloo in!" The rasping yell with which this was +uttered betokened some sinister happening, though we looked in vain to +the vixen, round whom my sisters gathered, to enlighten us as to its +nature.</p> + +<p>At this point my recollection is blurred, save for two things, the +crashing noise in the brake and the flight of the vixen and my sisters +along the watercourse, with the pack in pursuit. I shall always hear +the one and see the other. If ever I was terrified in my life it was +then; and between the clamor of the hounds and the thundering tread +of a hundred galloping horses I was so bewildered that I knew not +where to turn. But as the noise died away my nerves steadied, and, +rising from my crouching attitude, I peeped through the furze to try +to discover what was happening. For a long time I could see nothing in +the deserted valley below; but, continuing my watch, I perceived the +vixen and my little sister coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> along the open bank of the stream, +with the leading hounds in close pursuit and apparently gaining at +every stride.</p> + +<p>I am too old now to feel strongly as I did then, but still I am +affected at the recollection of the vixen striving to save my sister +by devices such as a partridge will employ to divert an enemy from its +young. How the chase ended I could not see; but the sudden ceasing of +the clamor made me fear the worst.</p> + +<p>In the silence that succeeded I made for the cairn earth, expecting to +get in there; but that, too, was stopped. Whilst I was debating what +to do, I heard the huntsman's voice, and had scarcely regained my old +station by the watercourse when the hounds opened on my line. They +were coming towards me at a great pace. Without an instant's delay I +was off, and, stealing down the long slope, reached the edge of the +cover, where I checked my steps to look out and see that the coast was +clear. Except the blazing sunlight, there was nothing in the bottom or +on the bare slope beyond to scare me, and as the hounds were half-way +down the hill, I committed myself to the open.</p> + +<p>I had not got far when there was a scream, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> human scream, fit to +wake the dead. It startled me horribly, but did not cause me to +deviate a hair's-breadth from the direction in which I had set my +head. Near the brow I stopped and looked back at the crowd of dogs +and horsemen. It puzzled me then, it puzzles me yet, to know why they +should wish to kill me, but I had not a doubt that was their object. +The clamor did not greatly terrify me at that stage of the chase, as I +felt sure I should be able to elude my pursuers in the fen for which I +was making.</p> + +<p>I held about the same lead across the next valley and up the hill +beyond, but the heat of the sun was beginning to tell on me before +I reached the wide belt of rushes near the mere. When I had crossed +it the hounds had greatly reduced the distance between us; I was +beginning to flag, and the sanctuary I sought was nearly two miles +away. The going was heavy over the marshland, where never a breath +stirred, but I struggled on as best I could towards the islet of my +favorite pool, spreading terror amongst grebe and hern along the +silent ways I threaded.</p> + +<p>At length I gained the pool, and as I left the finger of land jutting +towards the islet and took to the water, I felt I was near an asylum +at last.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> Vain hope! When I was barely half-way across an accursed +magpie espied me, and came and hovered just over my head, making +a loud chattering noise that the hounds must have heard. I looked +straight before my muzzle, pretending to take no notice of the +plague, and as soon as I landed, lay down in my old ambush that half +concealed me from the exasperating bird. "The pest will surely hold +his tongue now that I am in lair," thought I. But no; he chattered +louder than ever, as if it delighted him to betray me to the pack, +whose whimpering I could now hear. In my exhausted condition I was +very loth to move, but, seeing that to remain there was certain death, +I left my hiding-place and plunged into the water on the further side +of the islet. My tormentor came with me, and never shall I forget his +harsh, jeering cries whilst I swam to the nearest alders, and even +whilst I made my slow way through the sparse thorns that ran up to +the furze about the earth. Under the close brake I was free from the +traitor, and it cheered me to be so near the sett and a safe refuge. +As I followed the beaten track leading to it I was indifferent to my +pursuers, for I felt sure that the badger must long ere this have +opened a way in.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<p>Alas! it had proved beyond his powers. The ground about the faggots +was littered with the bits he had chopped off, but he had failed to +effect an entry. Realizing my desperate position, I almost gave myself +up for lost. Fortunately, in my extremity—and a fox's brain is never +clearer than then—I wondered where the badger had bestowed himself. +Where he could get I could get, and if I could only trace him I might, +despite the stiffness of my limbs and the nearness of the hounds, even +yet escape with my life.</p> + +<p>Picking up his trail, I followed it along the base of the hill to +a thicket, dense and matted as bramble, blackthorn and furze could +make it. Through this I passed until I reached a small cave at the +foot of a sheer wall of rock. The trail led inwards, and at the very +back I came on my friend. He looked most vicious at first; but when +he recognized the bedraggled cub before him, the expression of his +venerable face quickly changed to one of compassion, and then again +to hate as he heard the hounds, now running mute, crash through the +undergrowth. It was an awful moment. It behoved me to find, and that +instantly, some secure position out of reach of the infuriated pack. +The leading hounds were at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> mouth of the cave when, by a last +effort, I gained a scanty ledge, almost too narrow for foothold, a +little way above the badger's head. I was never in a more desperate +position, but fear glued me to the spot; and better vantage-ground for +viewing the fight that followed could not have been. "Keep cool," I +shouted to my old friend as well as I could for panting; and before I +could repeat my warning, the hounds were on him.</p> + +<p>There are things which seem incredible unless witnessed; and I +would not now submit the evidence of my own eyes did I not feel it +my bounden duty to record the facts which redound to the fame of +the badger and to the glory of the wild. But how is it possible to +describe what happened so the picture presented may approach in +vividness the savage scene I looked upon? I have seen the waves dash +and dash again into a cavern, only to be as often rolled back till the +tide had spent its force and left the cave as silent as at first. The +inrush of the pack was like the on-coming of an irresistible wave; but +the badger, with his back to the low arch, was not to be overwhelmed +whilst he could keep his feet and ply jaw and claw. Only three hounds +could get at him at a time; and when it came to deadly fang<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> work, +what were these soft creatures of the kennel to the most formidable +beast of the brake? As fast as the badger could deal with them, hound +after hound withdrew howling, till there was scarcely one of the +twenty couple composing the pack on whom his terrible jaws had not +closed.</p> + +<p>While the fray was at its height the badger was at times partly hidden +under his assailants, and thus arose no small danger to myself. One +big brute of a hound there was who espied me where I stood, still as +if carved in stone, save for my heaving flank and lolling tongue. This +must have caught his eye, and time after time he leapt at me from the +backs of the writhing mass below; but for want of steady foothold, +he failed as often to reach me. The last time he fell he slipped +between two hounds, and the badger had him at his mercy. It did my +ears good to hear him howl; and no sooner did the badger let him go +than he retreated over the backs of the hounds behind with a celerity +which did credit even to his long legs. Through the creeper that half +curtained the mouth of the cave I saw him take up his station amongst +the rearmost ranks of those hounds who were baying their loudest from +the brambles.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this, one of two mounted men,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> whose progress was +arrested by the thicket, jumped from his horse and plunged into the +tangle. Only his hot face and bald head showed above the brake as he +came slowly along, cracking his whip as best he could for the briers +that reached to his neck and clung to his red sleeve. Whilst he fought +his way through, the other kept screaming at the top of his voice: +"Whip 'em off! The brute'll murder my best hounds!" The huntsmen had +no difficulty in whipping off the crew of howlers outside; but it was +no easy task to call off the staunch hounds that, despite the terrible +punishment they were receiving, would have carried on the fight until +they dropped from exhaustion. At last he succeeded, remounted his +horse, and rode away with the other.</p> + +<p>In the silence that ensued my position appeared to me still most +unenviable. Would the badger, on whom I had brought all this trouble, +avenge himself on me for the wrong I had done him? I tried to read his +intentions, but he gave no sign. Presently he looked up at me, and in +fear and trembling I returned his gaze. A wild light blazed in his +black eyes, but no trace of rage against myself. Then I took courage, +though obliged to look away from his blood-stained face,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> so horrible +was the sight it presented. His must have been a noble nature to bear +such punishment without resentment, and I am glad he never guessed my +fears.</p> + +<p>How I wronged this chivalrous old aristocrat in thinking it possible +he could use his giant strength to crush the life out of a helpless +cub! The old fellow was as friendly as though nothing had happened +when, at last, falling rather than leaping, I came down from my perch +to try to find relief from the cramp that was knotting my muscles. +His awful panting had by that time somewhat subsided; but I was truly +sorry to see him in such a deplorable state, and I suppose I showed it +in my face, for he said: "Do not grieve on my account, little brother. +I shall soon recover from my scratches."</p> + +<p>My legs were too stiff to let me lie down, so I stood by his side +whilst he licked his wounds and smoothed his ruffled coat, and at +nightfall, when he left, I staggered after him as best I could. After +drinking at a spring on the way, we came to the earth, from the mouth +of which, as I rejoiced to see, the faggots had been removed. There +the badger left me and went up the hill toward the farm-land over +which he wandered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> nearly every night in search of food. At what time +he returned I do not know, as I did not awake till late the following +afternoon, when I was aroused from my deep sleep by the noise he made +on resuming his excavations.</p> + +<p>There are some things which I would gladly be silent about, but which +are necessary to the completeness of my story.</p> + +<p>Chief of these are the grievous losses on that day's cub hunting. +My little sister and—sadder still—my dear mother were killed by +the hounds. It was best they should die together, for the cub was so +dependent on the vixen, and the vixen so inseparable from the cub, +that I am sure they could not have lived happily apart. Our common +trouble drew my surviving sister and myself closer to each other, and +for a few weeks we lived together in the earth, though we went our +several ways at night, and very seldom hunted in concert.</p> + +<p>The close of this period is marked by an event of great moment to +myself, which, though it does not redound to my credit, must be told +in some detail.</p> + +<p>It is necessary first to state that for some reason the hounds gave +up coming to our country,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> and that in their place a murderous +gang of ruffians infested the district, and by traps, by poisoned +carcasses, by terriers, by digging and by filling the earths with +smoke, succeeded in destroying nearly every fox in the countryside. +Fortunately our earth proved impregnable to the spade and proof +against smoke; whilst the badger made such havoc with the dogs that +were sent against us that, after two determined but futile assaults, +we were left in peace. For a time we had to exercise the utmost +caution in avoiding the numerous traps, which were artfully concealed +in the runs leading from the earth; but afterwards these were removed, +and we might roam without molestation over our desolate wilds.</p> + +<p>Hares had been all but exterminated, and rabbits and wild-fowl so +shot down and thinned that it was hard to get a living, and at last +my necessities tempted me to that most perilous of undertakings, a +raid on the poultry of the neighboring farm. Besides the everlasting +crowing of the cocks, I had heard the noise made by the flocks of +housed turkeys, geese, and ducks, as I returned at dawn from the empty +warren on the dunes; and this had set me longing for them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>I did not enter lightly on this my first foray, which I knew to be +fraught with danger. My plans were laid with the fullest deliberation, +and in the deep silence of my den I carefully thought out every step +in my expedition. One of the strong points of a fox is attention to +details. We go over and over every turn, we weigh every chance, and +try to foresee every contingency. Indecision and flurry are not in our +nature; we know what we are going to do, and we go coolly through with +it. Our best-laid schemes may and do miscarry at times; nevertheless, +with the overconfidence of cubhood, I really thought that the +precautions I meant to take excluded all risks to my skin. Why, I had +mapped out in my brain every inch of the incursion; I had selected the +best way of approach; I was prepared with the safest line of retreat; +and, what is of no small moment, I had arranged for the disposal of +the kill, which was likely to be a big one.</p> + +<p>Eager as I was to realize my sanguine expectations, I twice postponed +my visit, hoping for the cover of a storm that threatened; but on +the third night, though the weather had cleared, I resolved to defer +the raid no longer. The crescent moon was just above the hill when +I stretched myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> at the mouth of the earth and set out to put +well-matured plans into execution. I walked up the rugged hillside +with all the circumspection and gravity becoming a great undertaking, +and stayed awhile on the crest to reconnoitre the scene of my +operations. The farm-house, the outbuildings, the yards, were all +silent. No foot stirred, no bark of dog broke the stillness which +brooded over the rugged slope, the smooth fields, and the endless +waste of sand beyond.</p> + +<p>Satisfied that the coast was clear, I made my way down the hill +by a path my pads had laid—for I was on my trail leading to the +dunes—and, keeping to the shelter of a hedge of blackthorns, reached +the wall under the elms. Over it I crawled to the lower yard where +the big pool is. Its muddy edge was white with stranded feathers, and +so was the track leading past the mowhay, where rats were rustling in +the straw. But I left them behind, and with stealthy stride reached +the scene of action. A cock, unsuspicious of my presence, crowed in +the first house I came to, but the door was a new one, and a weasel +could not have got under it; so I passed in disgust to the next shed, +which contained the turkeys. But if the hen-house was effectually +closed, the turkey-house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> was hermetically sealed, and I thought that +the farmer must be a cruel brute not to give the poor birds better +ventilation.</p> + +<p>"They would be but dry eating, even if I could get them," said I, as +I crossed the deeply-rutted road to the big house where my nose told +me the geese were shut up. This building boasted a tall chimney, which +made it look quite lofty; but it was on a small hole in the bottom of +the door, from which came the goodliest of smells, that I fixed my +attention, and without a moment's delay I set about enlarging it. The +wood round it was very rotten, but I could not make the opening as big +as I wished, on account of a piece of iron which was fastened across +the door on the inside, some five or six inches above the level of +the ground. Whilst I was at work the cackling inside was deafening; +and when, by a furious effort, I squeezed my way in, I found myself +in a veritable pandemonium. I really think that geese take their +troubles more noisily than any birds in the world, except, perhaps, +guinea-fowls; and I, who love quiet, would have left them severely +alone if I could have got at the fowls or the turkeys. Their clumsy +wings, too, can make you see stars if they catch you fairly across +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> eyes, as theirs caught me more than once before my work was done.</p> + +<p>Now it is one thing to slay in hot blood, another to tell at your +ease what happened. I will merely say that the lust for slaughter was +strong in me, and that in a short time all the flock but one lay dead +on the stone floor.</p> + +<p>Not an instant did I waste before setting about the next step in my +projected night's work, the removal of the biggest bird to the dune I +had chosen for my cache. I hoped to take all—it could be done—but +I would make sure of the best. My grandest victim was the gander. I +had pulled him out from under two geese, and was bearing him over the +bodies of the flock towards the door, when, to my horror, I saw that +the hole had been stopped from the outside.</p> + +<p>While the killing went on I had been deaf to everything, and I believe +that a wagon might have passed through the yard without my noticing +it. But now I became alive to every sound. I dropped the gander and +listened. At first I could hear nothing but the thumping of my own +heart, still affected by the speed of the kill; but presently the +silence was broken by the sound of a man's footsteps on the stones at +the back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> of the house. A few minutes later I heard the heavy tread on +the roof, whereat I fell into a state of abject terror, which caused +me to run round the walls like a rat in a trap.</p> + +<p>My enemy did not remain long, and when he came down he made for the +farm-house, muttering as he went. Now, thought I, is the moment to +regain my freedom. Escape by the door seemed out of the question; a +small paneless window through which I could see a single star was +hopelessly beyond my reach; but a third outlet, the chimney, remained, +and by it I might find deliverance.</p> + +<p>Here I met with an unexpected, but not insuperable, difficulty; for a +foot or so up, the flue was choked with old nests. I closed my eyes +whilst I pulled them down; but the suffocating dust, which there was +no draught to carry away, compelled me to return every now and again +to the floor to breathe. This inconvenience, however, was a mere +trifle, and after drawing a few breaths I returned to my work. It +cheered me to hear the debris falling, and to know that every stroke +of my fore-paws brought me nearer to my liberty. Imagine my dismay, +then, on discovering, after all my toil, that a flat stone capped the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +chimney and prevented my escape. Though it smelt abominably, I made +frantic efforts to remove it. I pawed it, I bit it, I tried to raise +it with the top of my poll, with my arched back, but place myself +as I might, I could not find a position that enabled me to get good +purchase owing to the width of the chimney. Had it been half an inch +narrower, I might have managed to dislodge the stone, heavy though it +was, for I had felt it yield a little when I made my greatest effort. +But there was no result from what force I could use, and seeing that I +was only wasting time and strength, I scrambled down the flue to the +heap of fallen rubbish, which gave way under me and spread out over +the floor.</p> + +<p>The geese lay as I had left them. It was a big kill, and no mistake. +The floor was white with birds, and in places they were two deep. As +became a dog-fox I had done my work well, and the birds were all dead +except one, which raised its head now and again in the far corner +under the window. I had not the least inclination to touch it again, +and though I must have been very hungry, I did not think of eating. +I was in a trap; I knew it, so did my enemy, and I knew that he knew +it. That he would return at daybreak I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> felt sure, and that he would +kill me I had little doubt. At the very thought I grovelled with +fear among the bodies of my victims, until the determination to live +aroused me to fresh exertions. In my desperation I tried to bite away +the nails that studded the sound wood about the hole by which I had +entered; I tried to dig my way under the door, but I did not succeed +in dislodging a single stone. Oh for half an hour of my friend the +badger! I made frantic, unavailing leaps at the open window; I cruised +round and round the walls until I must have travelled miles; time +after time I scrambled up the chimney, only in the end to resume my +aimless rounds. At length, weary with my endeavors, continued through +many hours, I lay down again, panting, amongst the geese.</p> + +<p>The stillness of that dead-house was profound. Outside, too, all was +still, save for the soughing of the wind in the leafless elms. This +was the voice of an old friend, and it soothed me somewhat till it +brought back to my mind the picture of the reeds bending over the +rippled surface of my favorite pool. At the thought of my freedom +in the fen I jumped to my feet and tried again and again, without +success, each possible outlet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> and then once more lay down with +heaving side and lolling tongue to wait for the end.</p> + +<p>Presently a cock crowed; and at last dawn peeped through the window, +and found me a more pitiable object than the old goose who squinted +at me every time she raised her blood-stained head. It would be day +soon, but as yet the light was gray. It was the hour that had ofttimes +surprised me in the midst of my hunting, and hurried me across the +misty fen to my kennel in the brake; the hour when every carnivorous +creature of the night steals by hidden ways to his retreat, and +conceals himself from the cruel eye of day.</p> + +<p>As the light grew stronger I found myself rising involuntarily to my +feet to return to the earth, but the strong walls compelled me to +stay and await my fate. Soon a pale, rosy light suffused the sky, and +presently the first beam of sunshine came in at my window and fell on +an old spider's web stretched over a hole in the wall of the chimney. +I envied the owner of the web: I envied the dead geese: I would at +that moment have been even the broken starling's egg lying there on +the waste-heap, or the skeleton of a fly dangling at the end of the +gossamer.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>I heard a door slammed and the noise of footsteps. They were +deliberate, heavy, merciless, and they were approaching the door +behind which I stood listening. Just when I expected to see it +slightly opened, and was on the point of shamming dead, there was +a loud kick against it which upset my plan and made me rush up the +chimney.</p> + +<p>Then the door was unbarred and opened.</p> + +<p>"All dead, are 'ee?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, all dead."</p> + +<p>After a pause the newcomer added:</p> + +<p>"You're as putty a lot ever I reared; in another month you'd have been +ready for market, and I looked to 'ee to pay part of the rent."</p> + +<p>Then in a voice like thunder he bawled out:</p> + +<p>"Where art thee, Master Reynard? Ah, thee scoundrel, thee needn't try +to get out by the chimbley! thee'rt wastin' thy precious time. I'll +help thy lordship through the front door in a minute. An'rew, bring +the sack here."</p> + +<p>Presently I heard two men below, and the door closed behind them.</p> + +<p>"He's up the chimbley and safe enuf. You hold the sack whilst I stir +him up with this eer pole."</p> + +<p>Two awful thumps I endured without flinching,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> but the third knocked +my hind-legs from under me, and I fell all of a heap into the bag.</p> + +<p>"So far, so good. Now we'll tie a stone to the sack and drop the lot +into the deep corner of the goslin' pool. The varmint must die. I'll +go and fetch a bit of rope."</p> + +<p>Whilst the farmer was gone the man opened the mouth of the sack and +looked down on me. Not satisfied, apparently, with the half light +of the outhouse, he took me into the open and peered at me again. I +thought I recognized him the first time he inspected me; but now, with +the morning sun on his ruddy cheeks I was quite sure. He was the first +man I had seen, the man who was on the cairn the morning my mother was +killed by the pack; he was the man who, I felt certain, had stopped +the earths. I was calm now. I had gone through the agony of death, but +still I did not want to die. Life was sweet, very sweet. I was not +like a mangy old fox; I was in the pride of my cub-hood.</p> + +<p>"What a beauty!" said the earth-stopper, as he continued to gaze at +me. "What a grand fox, to be sure! If An'rew can save 'ee, then thee +shan't die, now there." Saying this he let go his hold on the sack and +turned away. You can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> depend upon it I made a quick exit and sped off. +I hope no serious harm came to Andrew.</p> + +<p>I sought a new home, looking therefor on the great moors. For a time +I had a life comparatively free from care, but though few of the +changes in the autumn life of the wild escaped me, I was slow to +interpret those signs that foretold the severe weather that was to +suddenly set in. It is, however, hardly matter for wonder that I was +blind to the warnings they conveyed, for the frosts of our peninsula +are, as a rule, so slight as to relax their feeble grip by noon-day; +even the smallest birds suffer little discomfort. Indeed, I have +sometimes thought that migratory birds flock to our shores because of +the mildness of the climate and the hospitality its feeding grounds +offer; but this is only the view of a fox, who welcomes these aliens, +and takes heavy toll of their number. Whatever the cause may be, +there is no doubt about the fact. This year, however, the flocks of +fieldfares, always the first to arrive, were earlier than was their +wont. I noted, too, that despite the normal mildness of the weather, +our few hibernating creatures suddenly withdrew into their winter +quarters; the hedge-hogs to the drifts of leaves and hollow holes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +dead trees, and the dormice to their nests in the low bushes. These +incidents did not seem to concern me; though I was surprised at the +abandonment of the fen by the otters, till presently I learnt that the +late salmon had already passed up the river. That seemed to explain +it; for the otters always follow the salmon, as every fox knows who +has had the luck to find a half-eaten fish on the bank.</p> + +<p>I am convinced that all these creatures were conscious of approaching +hard weather; and when I discovered that the squirrels with which the +wood abounded, had sought their nests in the top-most branches of the +red pines, a sense of the evil times before us came to me, too.</p> + +<p>I noticed while I lay from dawn to sunset amongst the undergrowth +that a strange calm, presaging sudden change of weather, brooded over +the solemn wood. The silence was unbroken until twilight, when the +starlings settled in and mingled their vespers with the soughing of +the rising wind. Then when I left my lair, threaded the boles of the +pines and came to the beeches, the leaves crackled under foot, a sign +of cold, dry weather; but I did not feel the keen wind until I gained +the shoulder of the ridge to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> the north, which is crowned by the tor. +At midnight on the moors the cold became intense; when, near dawn, +I crossed the upland road which since some heavy rains had been a +quagmire, I found it hard as rock, and the backwater of the pool above +the ford was frozen to the edge of the current. On the marshy ground +below, the cracking of the ice under my tread disturbed several snipe; +and between the alders and my own lair two woodcock got up, which, +from their weary flight, I should say had only just arrived.</p> + +<p>My snug kennel under the furze looked doubly snug that cold, hard +dawn; and whatever privations the future might have in store, there +was at least every token of present abundance.</p> + +<p>"The long-bills are pretty plentiful," thought I, as I curled up on my +dry couch. "Hungry times are over; there will be food galore now."</p> + +<p>I slept through the day and sought the fen at nightfall, to find +the pool and the mere, or rather those parts of them that remained +unfrozen, crowded with wild-fowl. Strangers though we were to one +another, they proved very wary and difficult of approach, despite the +curiosity my appearance aroused in them.</p> + +<p>So matters stood for some time, during which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> I cared to remain out +only part of the night; but when my coat got thick enough to resist +the piercing cold I hunted far and late, seldom reaching my kennel +before the sun showed red above the sea.</p> + +<p>During the period of dry frost I fared well enough; but a snow-storm +which occurred at the time of the new moon and lasted for two days and +two nights, rendered foraging difficult, and made me feel a stranger +in my own country. Except in rudest outline, it was no longer like +itself. The fen was a great white plain, broken by a big and a small +pool and the winding stream that fed them. In place of the sombre +array of pines under the tor, usually as marked a feature in our +landscape as were the great reed-beds themselves, a vast slope of snow +met the eye; and the tor might have been a fleecy cloud in the leaden +sky. Strangest of all was the aspect of the dunes, which looked like +great waves of pure foam arrested in their roll.</p> + +<p>Many a time I scanned this white undulating waste for the hare that +frequented the sand-hills, hoping to mark him in a position where it +would be possible to stalk him. I say, "possible" because of the great +powdery drifts that rose like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> new dunes across my hidden trails and +barred my progress in every direction. Moreover, each fall of snow +caused me fresh trouble; for it stultified the knowledge I had gained, +and compelled me to find new ways to my hunting grounds.</p> + +<p>To add to my difficulties, soon only a few landmarks were left, and +these hard to recognize—horseshoe of thatch about the short chimney +was all there was to show the position of the cottage, and it was hard +to believe that the snow-laden elms were the same trees whose golden +leafage but a month before had cast so deep a shadow on the farmyard +where the cock pheasant had been feeding with the fowls. On the edge +of the ploughed field next the mowhay were the tracks made by the two +wary rabbits whose home was under the big rick, and the few partridges +which had escaped our jaws kept near the rubbing post in the middle of +the field.</p> + +<p>But I recall that fallow best by the course I had across it after the +little jack-hare, who led me such a round as I have seldom gone. I +lost sight of him in the field beyond the orchard, where the turnips +lay in heaps, but followed his line up and down the hill to the head +of the fen, across which he went almost in the teeth of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> raging +blizzard. He had ringed the bulrushes in the heart of the bog before +making one of his baffling sidelong leaps, and then set his face for +the foot-hills under my lair. The scent was hot amongst the scattered +furze-bushes through which he led me, and so heavily clogged were +his feet with snow that I felt sure I should overtake him before he +reached the tamarisks on the other side of the hill; but I underrated +his endurance. I followed him to the waste of sand-hills, only to find +that he had disappeared in a drift at the foot of the highest dune. In +his desperation—for I was all but on him—he must have plunged into +this and worked his way far in, as I could not find him, though I dug +and dug into the smothering mass in every direction. Nothing remained +but to make my weary way home through the blinding, driving storm. +There are more blanks than prizes in the life of even a clever fox.</p> + +<p>The scent lay wonderfully that night, and I followed it as easily +as I had shortly before followed the scent of a bittern across the +snow between the reed-bed and the bulrushes. It was in this isolated +clump that the otters so often laid up before the frost hardened the +trembling mass environing it; but now I noticed that some of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> these +wily creatures had beaten a deep track across the narrow neck of the +big bend of the river, though I did not once get a glimpse of them.</p> + +<p>I must pass over much detail of the varying fortunes of that eventful +time to speak of the mis-adventures that befell me on an expedition +when I unwittingly exposed myself to a great danger, and was lucky to +escape with my life. I had risen from my kennel, stretched myself, +sniffed the biting wind, listened, shaken my thick coat, and then, as +was my wont since giving up my journeys to the hills, first visited +the few remaining bits of boggy ground in sheltered places of the +brake, with the hope of picking up one of the woodcock that resorted +there to feed. I approached one spot after another against the wind +and with the utmost stealth; but, despite my extreme caution, I +succeeded only in flushing the birds, so wary had they become through +being harassed—chiefly, I believe, by young cubs.</p> + +<p>After lapping some water below a cascade hung with icicles, I left +the soft margin of the rapid runnel which had been riddled by the +bills of the woodcock and, emerging from the furze, stole down to the +thicket of blackthorns. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> my nose told me a fox had been there +already; so I at once made for my favorite pool, whence the cries of +various wild-fowl reached my ears. I knew that they consisted of duck, +widgeon, and teal; but from the noise they made, I judged them to be +more numerous than usual, and so they proved.</p> + +<p>Through a gap in the reeds I gazed once and again at the tantalizing +sight. What more maddening spectacle for a hungry fox than that of +game beyond reach? I ransacked my brain to discover a way to get at +them. It was beyond my powers. The edge of the acre of water that +remained open was a score of yards from the reeds and scarcely less +from the island. There was only one course practicable, to disturb the +birds and to take up a hidden position from which I should be within +striking distance of the pool. The snowy surface which ringed them in +denied concealment save at one point, and that was much too far from +the water to suit my methods, for the scanty bit of cover was too long +springs from the brink of the ice. Any attempt to rush the birds from +there seemed vain. Many a time since the frost set in I had stood and +weighed the chances it offered, only to scorn the idea of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> using it +for an ambuscade. To-night, somehow—was it because of my ravenous +hunger?—the clump of sags, though weighed down by the snow, did not +look quite so hopeless as before the last fall; and I decided to +accept its hard conditions and give it a trial. It was an exasperating +thing to be obliged to scare the birds; but there was no help for it, +and so forward I went.</p> + +<p>My forefoot was hardly through the fringe of reeds when a mallard saw +me and gave the alarm. In an instant a hundred pairs of eyes were +turned on me; and, as if fascinated by the sight of so fine a fox, +their owners did not take wing until I was nearly half-way across +the snow. Then, with a loud "quar, quar, quar" from the ducks, all +the birds rose in a confused company, the noise of their wing-beats +drowning for a moment the loud rustling of the swaying reeds. I +watched them divide into their several skeins, which then wheeled +above my head and flew seawards, the widgeon in the van.</p> + +<p>Before seeking my ambush, I crossed the ice to the other side of the +pool, in the hope of finding a disabled bird in the thick cover, but +saw nothing save a few dead starlings that had fallen from their +roosting perches on the reeds. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> flesh of starlings is nearly as +loathsome to me as the flesh of carrion-feeding birds; so I left +their stark bodies lying there, and trotted over the wide stretch of +snow to the island. When crossing, I noticed a small hole in the ice. +It had been made and kept open by otters that they might come there +to breathe whilst fishing; but I did not know this at the time. The +island, though it reeked with the smell of duck, was blank; so I made +for the sags again, and crawled under them carefully in order not to +disturb their white coating. Gently as I pushed my pointed muzzle +between the stems the frozen snow rattled down in a shower, and this +caused me much misgiving, for I feared that the exposed blades, black +with decay, would be sure to excite the suspicion of the quick-eyed +fowl, and warn them off the water.</p> + +<p>When ensconced, I found that my ambush barely screened me, and, what +was more serious, it seemed much farther from the pool than in the +bloodthirsty moment when I had decided to use it. However, being in, +I meant to stay, and so, the tip of my muzzle between two bent blades +that grew a few inches in front of the clump, and nothing but the tag +of my brush projecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> at the rear, I began my vigil. It was bitter +work watching with the gale in your teeth, but I might have noticed +it less had the ambush been a little nearer the water. Nevertheless, +being of a sanguine temperament, I threw sense and sinew into my work +as if success were assured. My ears were spread their widest, to catch +any sound that reached them above the lapping of the water and the +swish of the encompassing reeds; my eyes, if not fixed on the pool, +scanned the snowy space between; and my legs were gathered under me +ready to spring. One by one some feathers the ducks had left, drifted +to the nearer side and were lost to sight; once I caught the faint +wing-beats of passing wild-fowl and, raising my eyes, saw the long +wedge of them black against the bright stars; but not a bird settled +on the water.</p> + +<p>Hour after hour passed in this manner, and my patience was just giving +out when an incident occurred that dispelled all thought of trying +my luck elsewhere. It was not the fish that jumped clear of the +surface, which induced me to stay, but the great boil in the water +near where it fell. I believed this had been caused by an otter, and +quite expected to see the creature land on a small jagged point of +ice hard by, where the snow had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> been much trampled. Nor did mere +curiosity keep me an interested spectator: I was expecting to get fish +for supper after my wasteful friend had taken one or two bites of +his prey. Whilst I watched for his appearance, and watched in vain, +a rather larger fish leapt out—once—twice; and the third time it +was hardly above the surface when the open jaws of a huge pike showed +close behind it, and I could see the bristling array of teeth before +a tremendous swirl hid them again. In all my experiences I have only +once witnessed anything that took me more by surprise; and from that +night I have never swum across to the island without fear of being +seized by the grim monster which I now knew tenanted the pool.</p> + +<p>The pike had scarcely disappeared before three teal, whose flight I +had not heard, settled in the middle of the water and set my brush +waving with excitement. Totally unsuspicious of my presence they swam +towards me, and approached so close to the ice as to be completely +hidden by the bank of snow near its edge. Judging their position as +well as I could by the delicious scent that reached me, I made two +tremendous leaps, which landed me amongst them before they could take +wing. But on account of the spray and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> shock of the icy-cold water +I missed all three; though my jaws snapped close over the spot where +one of them dived. He came up yards away from where I was awaiting +him, rose as only a teal can rise, and flew off in company with his +mates, who were wheeling about overhead.</p> + +<p>With a rankling sense of failure I scrambled with some difficulty on +to the ice, shook my coat and, turning my back on my ambush, trotted +off as briskly as I could in the direction of the mere. Through the +long wait on the snow and the coldness of the water into which I had +plunged, my feet were so benumbed that I could scarcely feel them +under me when crossing the bog. Nevertheless, I stumbled on until +warmth came back to them, and then hunted the waste beyond, working +across the wind on the margin of the laid reed-beds in the hope of +scenting moorhens or water-rail to break my long fast. Most carefully +did I try the patches of sedgy cover in the loops of the stream where +I had seldom failed; but even there I met with disappointment, the +few birds I winded evading me by diving under the ice which in places +covered the strong current.</p> + +<p>I must have trotted miles along the zigzag<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> course I took, before I +reached the expanse of windswept snow under which lay the frozen mere. +From inside the fringe of reeds I could hear the honking of the geese +on the open water, and at times a sound that was new to me, a wild +trumpeting which seemed to come from where the sea was thundering on +the bar. For a fox naturally prompt in decision, I stood there long, +considering whether to make a journey that offered but poor prospect +of success. In the wild-fowl's feeding-ground I had come from there +was at least makeshift for an ambush; on the level ice-field before +me there was not cover enough to hide a mouse, and the chance of a +kill was very, very small. Choice of supper, however, lay between +cold starling, bitter and dry, and hot goose, sweet and juicy—if I +could get it—and goose or nothing was my resolve. I set my face for +the spot where the scarcely discernible specks on the snow showed +the game to be thickest; and if my coat turned white in winter like +that of a stoat I had seen a few nights before, I might have stolen +at least part of the way unobserved. As it was, my reddish-brown fur, +though lighter than in the summer, made me as conspicuous as a crow on +a stubble to the noisy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> sentinels overhead, which at once spread the +cry of "Fox afoot!" far and wide over the great mere. The only method +possible, then, in this wild-goose chase, was to keep going with the +most nonchalant air at my command, as if my sole object in approaching +the pool was to wash down a heavy supper; and it was lucky for my plan +that my thick coat hid my prominent ribs and concealed my half-starved +condition.</p> + +<p>Presently I could see that the wild-fowl lining the margin of the ice +were nearly all geese; but what riveted my gaze was a small group of +big white birds beyond, whose heads towered high above the mass of +insignificant-looking duck that crowded the water.</p> + +<p>"Halloo! something new in the feather line," thought I. "What monsters +are these?"</p> + +<p>And then it occurred to me that, as I had never cast eyes on their +kind before, it might be that these strangers had never set eyes on a +fox, and would entertain no fear of such an innocent-looking creature +come to quench his thirst. This line of reasoning seemed so plausible +that I licked my dry chops at the prospect of a lordly feast, and +for a moment felt inclined to despise such small birds as geese. +These latter had for some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> time held their heads turned my way; so, +to show that concealment was not dreamt of, I stood still, raised +my mask to the moon, just risen above the headland, and, though it +cost me a great effort, barked as joyously as only a full-fed fox can +bark. Rarely in my chequered life have I given utterance to notes so +expressive of content; and as the geese seemed greatly taken by the +music, I continued to indulge them, at the same time lessening the +distance that separated us.</p> + +<p>We were getting on quite good terms with one another—at least, so I +thought—until I was within—well, it is difficult to judge distance +over snow—perhaps fifty yards of them. Then I saw unmistakable +signs of restlessness. To lull suspicion I waved my brush in my most +fascinating manner; I rolled on my back, hoping to prove to them that, +murderer though I might be by repute, I was really a playful creature, +even on that wild winter's night; and in order to reassure the more +timorous, including a fine gander, who had retired from the front to +the rear rank, I began to cut capers, running after my brush in small +circles, or rather in a spiral which would bring me, as I could see +out of the corner of my eye, within rushing distance of two of the +most curious of my admirers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was all in vain; my back was to the cowardly crew when they rose; +but even then I should have seized a laggard had I sprung a few hairs +higher, for the tip of my muzzle actually touched his cold webbed +foot. In my fall on the edge of the ice I all but lost my balance and +toppled into the water. Was I enraged when I recovered myself? I need +not enlarge on that.</p> + +<p>The flight of the geese alarmed the duck, which rose in a big cloud +from the mere, with a noise that would, I am sure, have bewildered any +animal except a fox, or perhaps an otter. But I ignored it, and amidst +their silly clamor and the loud whirr of their wings that momentarily +drowned the gale, fixed my eyes on the three swans—for such they +were—who did not take flight like the others, but swam up and down +the rough water in a manner which, if not expressive of contempt, was +at least aggressive and provocative. Their attitude was a revelation +to me; no bird had ever dared challenge me before; and if they see as +foxes do, these black-billed strangers who stared so hard must have +read blank amazement on my innocent face as I read defiance on theirs. +Nor was I free from irritation at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> bravado conspicuous in their +puffed-out breasts and beruffled plumage.</p> + +<p>Suddenly my demeanor changed from amazement to rage. This certainly +they must have known from my flaming eyes, bristling fur, and +fluffed-out brush lashing from side to side; but up and down they +swam, hissing out their summons to come and do battle, if I dared. A +fox shrink from combat with feathered foes? Never! I jumped into the +water, and swam across the strong current for the spot they had chosen +for the contest. All three preserved their determined front until I +was close enough to see the yellow on their bills and the snake-like +look in their evil eyes, but at my next stroke two of them beat the +water with their great wings, rose in the air, and with loud-creaking +pinions flew over my head.</p> + +<p>"Cowards!" said I. "Why did you not stand your ground?"</p> + +<p>Whilst I wondered that the remaining bird did not follow their +example, a streak of blood on his white plumage told me he was +wounded; and the instant it caught my eye I felt he was mine. I never +doubted I should kill him as soon as I could close my jaws on his long +white neck; the only thing that troubled me was how I should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> manage +to land him on the ice with such a strong stream running. He was the +biggest of the three, a magnificent bird, and, except for his bill, +as white as the snow. To my astonishment, wounded though he was, he +actually swam to meet me and struck the first blow. Before I could +close with him he stretched his head over mine, caught me by the left +ear, and pressed me under water. For all my frantic struggles, I was +half drowned when I succeeded by a desperate effort in disengaging +myself from his grip. Rising close to him, I seized his neck through +the thick coat of feathers that protected it, and hung on. The +commotion that followed baffles description. With one wing—for the +other lay helpless—he lashed the water and spun around in circles, +taking me with him. It would have been better to let go than be +carried by the strong current I knew not whither; but in such a case a +fox can never resolve to relinquish his hold, and it was fortunate for +me that, before I had been taken out into the middle of the mere, my +teeth slipped off the smooth oily feathers.</p> + +<p>I had had enough. Exhausted and benumbed, I made for the ice, now a +long way off, and fighting the current with all my strength, had got +at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> length within a few yards of the jagged edge when, to my horror, +I heard the swan coming up, and gaining on me at every stroke. I did +my very utmost to reach the ice, but in vain; he was on me before +I could land. Again I was immersed; twice I planted my feet on the +edge, only to be pulled back. I had caught a Tartar, and escape seemed +impossible; even if he did not drown me, I feared I should be sucked +under the ice. The thought of losing my life roused me to a supreme +effort. With gnashing teeth I turned on my persecutor. My onset must +have terrified him, for he quailed before it and retreated a few yards +into the mere. With the help of my brush I whipped round, gained the +rough edge, and, putting forth my last bit of strength, dragged myself +on to the ice, and fell, utterly spent, just beyond his reach.</p> + +<p>For a time I lay there motionless, but by-and-by fear moved me to +turn my head and look for my enemy. There he was, proudly swimming up +and down before me with blood-stained breast and drooping wing, still +defiant. It was the most humiliating moment of my life. Presently +I rose and shook myself, but to no purpose. My bedraggled coat had +frozen, and hung stiffly on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> me. I exchanged looks of vengeance with +my terrible foe and slunk away.</p> + +<p>What a weary journey it was over the snow! How I floundered through +the deep drift that separated me from my cover, and how glad I was to +reach the friendly shelter of the brake! It was good to be screened +from the eyes of the countless wild-fowl who had watched the fight, +and whose cries had sounded like jeers as I tottered across the wide +ice-field. There is little bark left in a fox when the quacking of +ducks disconcerts him and makes his brake a welcome refuge.</p> + +<p>I sat down under the furze, brushed the bloody feather from my muzzle +and licked my paws, which had been cut by the sharp-edged ice in my +mad struggles to get out of the water. Though dawn was some two hours +off, I had no heart for any more hunting; so I made for my lair, which +I reached by way of the brambly thicket above the quarry, and, after +shaking my coat again, crept to where my snug kennel lay under its +double roof of gorse and snow. There, hidden from all eyes and from +the bright lights of the frosty sky, I curled up in the cup of dry +spines with my brush about my nose, and heedless of the gale that +raged above but could not reach me, forgot my troubles in sleep.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>The hounds drew the tor wood once, and only once, after the thaw, and +did not pay a single visit to our brake, though the earth was stopped +three times before the end of the season. The explanation is probably +to be found in the heavy rains which flooded the fen and made the +country unfit for hunting; big pools were found where none were seen +before, and the springs which broke out in many new places, together +with the surface-drainage of rain and melted snow, not only kept them +full, but seemed to turn every bit of spongy ground into a quagmire.</p> + +<p>Left to myself, I was as happy as a fox can be, and, forgetting the +hardships I had passed through, looked forward with pleasurable +anticipation—as, indeed, every wilding does—to the golden days of +summer, when troubles are few and delights many. Yet the tamarisks had +hardly begun to feather before there was brought into the countryside +a hound which proved the most terrible enemy that ever shadowed my +life.</p> + +<p>That the farmer had need of a more watchful guardian for the poultry +yard than old Shep I knew well enough from the serious losses he had +sustained. Besides fowls and ducks, even geese<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> and turkeys had been +carried off, some by day under cover of mist and drizzling rain, but +mostly at night. I had seen foxes returning from that direction with +birds in their mouths; I had actually come on the caches, both inside +and outside our brake, where they had buried what they could not take +away; and this wholesale plundering caused me great anxiety, because +I knew it would lead to reprisals. But I never dreamt in my most +troubled moments of the scourge that was being prepared. Even had I +known that old Shep was to be superseded and another farm-dog put in +his place the news would not have alarmed me in the least, because of +the contempt I felt for the few specimens I had seen. But I was now to +learn that there are farm-dogs and farm-dogs.</p> + +<p>As soon as the new dog was led home I came on evidence of his work. +I found the body of a fox near the gap of a reclaimed field that had +recently been filched from our cover, and could see by the fang-marks +in his chest that he had been murdered. Now it was impossible that +old Shep should be the culprit. He was always asleep at midnight, +and bore a good character amongst us for utter harmlessness; yet +everything pointed to his guilt. A double trail led<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> from the warm +carcass towards the farm buildings, and one was the trail of a dog. +I walked slowly up the hill, trying to unravel the mystery, and had +scarcely passed over the crest when a loud bay, very different from +old Shep's, broke the stillness of the night and explained everything. +Whilst I listened it was repeated again and again, and its meaning was +unmistakable. It was a warning to the fox from the new guardian of +the farmyard that the days of robbery without punishment were past, +and that a new régime had begun. I yapped no reply, for it was best +to let this dangerous customer believe that the fox he had killed was +a stranger to the district, and that none frequented the wild within +reach of his voice.</p> + +<p>I was very miserable now. Putting all together, I was convinced that +the newcomer would prove a dangerous enemy; and yet I felt that I +ought to see him, for I recollected my mother's story of the fox who, +like the otter in the quaking bog, judged the jackass by his bray, and +suffered agonies until he cast eyes on him.</p> + +<p>The opportunity offered a few days later without my seeking it. On a +lovely spring morning such as Nature often lavishes on her wildlings, +I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> lay stretched out amongst the scattered furze-bushes enjoying the +warmth of the sun, without a thought of any intrusion on the peaceful +scene. The lambs were bleating in the field next the dunes, the rooks +cawing in the leafing elms, and the farm-boy, whom I could not see for +the thicket of blackthorns at the foot of the croft, was singing the +drowsy song he sang always at his work. A magpie on the tallest of the +blackthorns seemed unusually interested in either the boy or his work; +but I thought nothing of that. Presently, however, to my surprise, it +began mobbing some creature. Then I rose to my feet, almost expecting +to view a fox, when, to my amazement, I saw a huge dog leave the +thicket and come into the open. It was the new hound, and the sight +of him made me catch my breath. What struck me most—for without it, +size and strength of jaw signify nothing—was the speed I read in his +long muscular limbs. He moved with an ease I had never seen in any +other dog. Had his hind-quarters sloped like mine, I should, like +the magpie, have taken him for a denizen of the wild; but the defect +betrayed him as the servant of man.</p> + +<p>My curiosity was excited, and I would not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> steal away to the near +brake until I had discovered what his business was. It was of the +simplest. He stopped about half-way up the hill at a spot full in +the hot sun, turned round two or three times as I do to make my bed, +and laid himself down amongst the tussocks of grass. I watched his +bloodshot eyes blink in the blazing light; noted his restlessness, +the twitching of his cropped ears, and the quivering of his great +nostrils, even whilst he seemed to doze; studied his huge bull-terrier +head, raised when a yellowhammer settled on the golden bush behind +him; shuddered at the array of crowded teeth when he yawned.</p> + +<p>He may have lain an hour amid the bright new herbage before the boy +whistled. His ears showed that he heard, but he took no further +notice. When the whistle was repeated he growled. Then the boy +screamed, as I have heard the huntsman scream after me; and the great +brindled brute leapt to his feet and bounded down the hill at a pace I +had not thought any creature capable of. I knew then that no fox could +get away from him in the open, or escape with his life when overtaken.</p> + +<p>"No more stealing of old gobblers," said I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> under my breath as I slunk +away to the earth.</p> + +<p>For some days I scarcely slept on account of the worry; and the more +I thought it over in the quiet of my kennel, the surer I felt that +this great restless hound would render life unbearable by invading my +cover. Was it likely that a creature pricked by pride of limb and of +fang would be content to wander within the narrow confines of a dozen +fields criss-crossed with trails, and never trespass on the environing +wilds to which the trails led? Impossible! Is there not an eternal +feud between the tame and the wild canine? This half-wild protege +of man, free to wander at will and wreak his vengeance on us hated +dwellers in the brake, able too by speed and strength to carry out his +fell designs, was certain, sooner or later, to follow the cursed scent +that lingers where we tread, and track me to my hidden lair.</p> + +<p>The days went by, however, and I was not molested; though night after +night, as I heard his threatening bay, I asked myself, How long shall +I be left in peace? When a fortnight passed without a sign, I began to +think that this sharer of man's hearth might, after all, be nothing +more than a noisy farmyard braggart, brave enough,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> perhaps, on grass +or plough-land, but afraid to trespass on the waste. Rudely was my +mistake brought home to me.</p> + +<p>Now what I am going to tell is not something I have heard: I saw it +with my own eyes on the moor which rises from the head of the fen. I +was trotting along at the time, planning how best to work the ground +on such a still night, when a fox—a stranger to me—came over the +brow on my left, and dashed across my front at a gallop. At first +I thought he must have some game in sight; but as neither hare nor +leveret was to be seen, I could not help, in the absence of any +apparent reason for his conduct, imagining that he must be mad, like +a fox I once saw crossing the bar. Strange fancy, perhaps; but then, +what sane animal, and, above all, what fox, would waste his speed +after nothing? And what in the world was there for the fugitive to fly +from? Suddenly I thought of the hound, and as suddenly, just when the +fox had disappeared where the land dipped, I heard the thud of heavy +feet. Peeping between two boulders that concealed me from view, I saw +him come over the crest at the spot where I first caught sight of the +fox. He was running by scent, but at so tremendous a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> pace that I +feared the fox could not live before him.</p> + +<p>His silence chilled me more than his loud bay; but though I could not +detect the faintest whimper, every moment there was a strange clicking +sound—a noise foreign to the moorland. When he came abreast of me +I saw it was caused by the broken chain that hung from his neck and +struck the steel collar he wore. In a twinkling the dusky fiend had +disappeared in the gloom, his head set for the tor. I listened. After +a time I heard him crash through a long bramble thicket. Then a long +interval. Then the owls, which had been very noisy, suddenly ceased +their midnight chorus. They were watching the tragic chase between +the boles of the pines. How it ended I never knew; but I am inclined +to think that the fox reached the rocks and escaped. If he had been +killed, the foxes which lodged on the western slope of the tor would +have forsaken their coverts, at least for a time; and this they did +not do.</p> + +<p>That night it was useless to try to hunt, as I kept looking back every +dozen strides for fear the hound might be following me. At last I gave +it up; but I did not return along my usual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> trail, laid when the night +had no fear for me. I avoided open ground as much as possible, to +steal along tangled dips and gullies. Before crossing a ridge I halted +to peer through the darkness, fearful of seeing the sinister green +eyes that would apprise me of the hound's approach.</p> + +<p>On reaching the double trail, I cleared it at a bound, as though it +had been a line of fire, and made for the river at the spot where it +spreads over the marshes; for I hoped by swimming it at its widest +part to add to the difficulties of the hound if he should follow me. +Although the precautions I took proved unnecessary, I mention a few of +them to show the fear the creature had inspired in me. After that I +used to foil the runs in the brake for the purpose of puzzling him if +he chanced to strike my night's trail and tried to trace me to my lair.</p> + +<p>But of what avail were all my wiles against a creature so endowed? At +length the marvellous powers he possessed enabled him not only to find +my kennel, but to approach it so noiselessly as almost to surprise me +in my sleep. Had it not been for the slight rustling of the furze, +caused by his grim protruding muzzle, he must have taken me where I +lay as a fox takes a rabbit in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> its seat. As it was it was a close +call. Enraged at my escape, he came crashing after me. I led him to +the cover beyond the quarry, where the furze was close and stunted, +and where the runs were so small that he had to force a way along +them. In these unfavorable conditions I thought he would soon tire of +pursuit; but to my surprise he persisted hour after hour, despite the +stifling atmosphere of the brake on such a close, hot day. Could he +have driven me into the open I should have been at his mercy; I knew +this as well as he, and never gave him the chance he longed for.</p> + +<p>In the end I wearied him out, and none too soon, for I was almost +spent before he relinquished the chase. I had escaped, but my dread of +the fiend was greater than ever—so great, indeed, that I never went +near the brake again as long as he lived.</p> + +<p>The silence of the night at this time was painful. A dog-fox dared +no longer call to his mate for fear of betraying his whereabouts to +the hound, now abroad at all hours. I hardly dared sleep two days +following, in the same place, lest in his wanderings he should have +come upon my couch and be there awaiting me. I lived under a reign of +terror, and the gloom that brooded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> over brake, tor, and fen spread to +the higher moors, where the hound had once been seen. But, gloom or no +gloom, I had to have food though every journey I made to the fen was +at the risk of my life.</p> + +<p>Generally I was through early enough to enable me, by hurrying, to +be back in my couch in gorse or heather before dawn. One morning, +however, I was so late that I decided to lie up for the day in the fen +rather than risk crossing the moors after daybreak.</p> + +<p>Through the mist that lay over the heart of the bog I could just make +out the tall clump of rushes where I meant to lie up if the slough +should yet prove firm enough to bear my weight. On striking the river, +which was much above the previous summer's level, I waded into the +water, and, to throw the hound out in the event of his following me, +floated some distance with the current before landing on the opposite +side. As I rustled through the flags and the belt of reeds, whose +dew-laden plumes were sparkling in the first rays of day, a heron rose +lazily and, skimming a reed bed, flew away towards the half-risen sun, +leaving me, as far as I could see, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> sole tenant of the silent +marshland. Only the bare, flat quagmire now lay between me and my +harborage, and, anxious to be hidden from sight, I lost no time in +setting out across the treacherous surface.</p> + +<p>I selected a line which seemed to promise the firmest footing, and +stepped with all possible lightness. Yet, in spite of every care, I +sank deep in places, and midway the crust was so thin that for a while +I was in great danger of foundering. However, by putting forth all my +strength, I was able, at last, to free myself from the clutches of the +more liquid mire and reach the drier, sounder surface between it and +the rushes. I was indeed glad to feel the solid ground under my feet +once more.</p> + +<p>Had I realized the peril before setting out I should not have +attempted to cross. I ought, perhaps, to have turned back on striking +the dangerous zone; but, once embarked on an undertaking, it is not in +my nature to retreat, for there is that in a fox which makes him go +through with his purpose at all hazards, though it may compel him to +pass between the legs of the huntsman's horse or traverse a bog that +threatens to swallow him up.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>At last, exhausted and bemired, I entered the clump, whose shadow lay +like a wide road across that part of the quagmire where it fell, and +chose for my couch a tall heap of dead reeds just inside the wall of +pale green stems. It seemed to have served for a nest of the captive +wild swan, and had probably been floated to the spot by the subsiding +flood.</p> + +<p>To reach my bed I had to cross the stream which drained the pool +within the dense ring of bulrushes; and as I waded through it a +well-known scent reached my nostrils, and told me that the wiliest +creature of the night had also sought this isolated retreat to hover +in. I watched the sedgy islet whence the scent proceeded, expecting to +get a glimpse of the otter couching there; but he lay low and did not +expose a hair, despite the crackling of the reeds as I made my bed.</p> + +<p>I was free now to attend to my toilet and prepare for the rest I so +much needed. With my pads dirty as they were, sleep was out of the +question; so I licked them and my legs as clean as I could, and, thus +refreshed, soon dozed off, with a sense of security to which I had +long been a stranger.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>I slept soundly, without the horrid dreams of the previous weeks, +and was awakened at last by the hum of insects. A year before, when +I often lay in the fen, my ears would not have noticed this loud +undertone of noonday life; but latterly I had, for the most part, +kennelled in the moors, where were only noiseless butterflies and +lizards, silent as sphinxes. I was not really sorry to be disturbed, +for it was delightful to lie there, vaguely conscious of the warmth +of the sun and looking about me in a drowsy way. I turned my blinking +eyes now to the distant mere, sparkling at the end of a vista in the +reeds, now to the hoary summit of the tor seen against the blue sky, +and again to the water-insects at sport on a small pool just beyond +the black shadow which had crept up well-nigh to the foot of the +bulrushes.</p> + +<p>Presently, tiring of the view, I was about to drop asleep again, when +I heard a noise which, if it had been less violent, I should have +thought to be caused by an animal shaking itself. It was followed by a +commotion on the river-bank, and then, to my horror, the hound burst +through the reeds. He had followed my trail to that point, and guessed +where I was, for he kept looking at the clump, and even at the part of +it where I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> crouching. He threw up his nose and sniffed the air, +as I could see by the working of his gleaming nostrils; but there was +no wind to carry the scent across the morass—not enough, indeed, to +stir he light feathery tops of the reeds behind him.</p> + +<p>Soon he advanced to the very edge of the bog and looked longingly at +the clump, as if he were eager to reach it but dared not risk the +crossing. At last, after running up and down the edge several times, +apparently in search of a hard place, he decided to brave the danger, +and with cat-like steps, ludicrous to watch in such a monster, began +the perilous passage. He was soon up to his knees, and the deeper he +went the greater my excitement grew. Every instant I expected to see +him sink out of sight. So sure of it did I feel that I almost ventured +to show myself and fling at the fiend the reproaches that crowded to +my tongue. But though his progress was very slow, he was inch by inch +reducing the distance that separated us.</p> + +<p>Before long he was near enough for me to hear the sucking noise made +by the slough as it reluctantly released its grip on the long muscular +legs. He did not pick and chose his way, or deviate by a reed's +breadth from the straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> course that would bring him to the gap +in the belt of rushes made by the overflow. Now he was on the most +treacherous part of the quagmire, which shook with the struggle he +made to keep his head above the surface. With dilated pupils I watched +what must be his last efforts. I noted the rise of the mire on his +collar, till at last it rose no farther, but still he came on; and +then I noticed the liquid mud raised in front of him like the ripple +in front of a swan. Wading he must have been, though he looked exactly +as though he were swimming; and his great red tongue lolled out with +the frantic exertions.</p> + +<p>When he got nearer his feet must have found the bottom, for his +shoulders rose free of the surface; and I saw his hair bristle as +though something had suddenly angered him. He had scented me or the +otter, or both; and in his haste to add to the number of his victims, +he ploughed through the last score yards of mud like a mad creature. +Along the muddy bed of the overflow he toiled step by step; and the +instant he entered the pool, I rose to my feet, doubtful whether to +stay or retreat, and paused to listen before committing myself.</p> + +<p>At that moment I heard a sullen plunge, then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> another, as two otters +dived into the pool. Thinking there was safety in numbers, I decided +to remain in hiding rather than trust to my slight chance of escape +across the bog. The wild struggles of the hound told me he had viewed +the otters; but he must have lost them again for presently all was +very quiet, though I could hear him at times nosing the rushes and +ferns round the pool, as if in search of them. My eyes were as alert +as my ears, and soon caught a heave on the surface of the overflow and +the gleam of an otter's back as the creature rounded the shallow bend +leading to the river. A few seconds later I saw the other otter glide +noiselessly away, and then a great fear seized me as I realized that I +was left alone with the hound.</p> + +<p>Scarcely were my eyes back on the pool before he landed on the islet, +where he stood with the water dripping from his brindled coat, whilst +with nostrils raised he sniffed the air. As I watched him through the +stems, I became aware that he winded me; and when I saw him take to +the water and head straight; for my hiding-place, I stole silently but +swiftly away and, fearful of trusting to the muddy bed of the stream, +committed myself to the bog.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>I trod its treacherous surface as lightly as I could, but because of +the smallness of my feet I kept breaking through the crust, and made +only slow progress. Nevertheless I succeeded in getting farther than +I expected before the hound sighted me. As soon as he did he burst +through the rushes and, making a tremendous spring, landed within a +few yards of where I was struggling with the mire.</p> + +<p>This wild leap of his saved me. Had he been content to follow at his +best pace, the chances are that he would have caught me before I +could reach the bank of the river; but now, through the violence of +his fall, he was so deeply embedded that I gained many yards before +he could extricate himself. Indeed, by the time he had done so I +had reached the more liquid part of the morass where I had all but +foundered at sunrise. With the double danger threatening me, I exerted +myself even more than then; but, madly as I struggled, my progress +was not nearly as fast as that of the hound, now overhauling me. It +was horrible to hear this murderous fiend whimpering and whining in +his eagerness to get at me, and to feel that I was scarcely advancing +at all. I was like a fox in a nightmare, only I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> was never more wide +awake in my life. Fright however kept urging me on, and to my joy I at +last felt firmer ground under my feet.</p> + +<p>The bank gained, I turned my head for an instant, and saw my pursuer +seemingly stuck in the treacherous mud-belt; but I did not waste +precious time watching him. That he still reckoned me his I felt sure; +that I should escape I had little hope; nevertheless, I meant to do my +utmost to save my life. I galloped down-stream close to the water's +edge, took the otter's path across the neck of the bend, swam the +river, and on landing plunged into the great reed-brakes.</p> + +<p>On, on I went at my full speed, driven by mortal fear. I knew I was +not yet out of danger. Here a wild-duck rose in affright, there a +moorhen scurried out of my way; but I kept straight on past clumps of +osmunda ferns and flags, and across backwaters till at last, after +swimming a maze of water-ways, I came to the grassy promontory that +flanks the inflow of the river into the mere.</p> + +<p>For a moment I stood there irresolute. Should I take to the water or +trust to the bordering reeds? Whilst I hesitated, I thought I heard +the hound coming, and the next instant dropped into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> the stream. +Partly by swimming, but chiefly by the aid of the current, I succeeded +in reaching the nearest islet of the little archipelago that studded +the rippled expanse. There I hoped to find refuge from my relentless +pursuer.</p> + +<p>I had arrived only just in time, for, peeping through the sedgy growth +that covered my hiding-place, I saw the hound gallop to the end of the +promontory and stand gazing over the wide surface. Then he withdrew to +the brake that rose like a lofty wall about the mere. I could trace +his progress by the rising of the wild-fowl whose sanctuaries he +invaded, and later by the glimpse I got of the angered swan swimming +defiantly across the narrow opening of a big creek about which the +array of reeds was densest. I saw no further sign of the brute that +had so rudely violated the summer peace of the fenland, but wisdom +seemed to dictate that I should look elsewhere for a more peaceful +home.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<hr class="chap" /> +<p> </p> + +<p class="transnote"><b>Transcriber's Note</b><br /><br /> + +Page <a href="#Page_12">12</a>: Changed "night" to "nights."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: And how short those night were!)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_20">20</a>: Changed "crusing" to "cruising."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: crusing restlessly up and down the turf)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_23">23</a>: Changed "noes" to "noses."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: turned up our noes at such food)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_37">37</a>: Changed "exhilirating" to "exhilarating."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: It was most exhilirating to be wandering)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_40">40</a>: Changed "thristing" to "thirsting."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: stealthy enemy thristing for its blood)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_42">42</a>: Changed "lucious" to "luscious."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: every bit of the lucious morsel)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_53">53</a>: Changed "malard" to "mallard."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: a loud quack the malard disappeared)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_53">53</a>: Changed "mallord" to "mallard."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: How he enjoyed the mallord,)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_67">67</a>: Changed "nothinginess" to "nothingness."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: dwarf into nothinginess the annoyances)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_71">71</a>: Changed "manteled" to "mantled."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: skimmed the brake that manteled the steep slope)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_74">74</a>: Changed "pursurers" to "pursuers."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: I should be able to elude my pursurers)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_76">76</a>: Changed "rocognized" to "recognized."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: he rocognized the bedraggled cub)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_81">81</a>: Changed "grievious" to "grievous."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: Chief of these are the grievious losses)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_92">92</a>: Changed "be" to "he."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: killed by the pack; be was the man who,)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_103">103</a>: Changed "waching" to "watching."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: It was bitter work waching with the gale in your teeth,)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_132">132</a>: Changed "pursurer" to "pursuer."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Orig: and saw my pursurer seemingly stuck)</span><br /> +</p> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER REYNARD***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 44347-h.txt or 44347-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/4/3/4/44347">http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/4/44347</a></p> +<p> +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p> +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Master Reynard + The History of a Fox + + +Author: Jane Fielding + + + +Release Date: December 4, 2013 [eBook #44347] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER REYNARD*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Diane Monico, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 44347-h.htm or 44347-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44347/44347-h/44347-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44347/44347-h.zip) + + + + + +[Illustration] + + +MASTER REYNARD + +The History of a Fox + +From Animal Autobiographies by J. C. Tregarthen + +Revised by + +JANE FIELDING + + + + + + + +New York +A. L. Chatterton Co. + +Copyright, 1913 +A. L. Chatterton Co. + + + + +MASTER REYNARD + + +The earth where I was born was far down the face of a steep cliff +and opened on a sloping shelf of turf, from the edge of which the +undercliff fell sheer to the sea. The entrance we used most was +slightly above the level of the springy sward and led by a small +tunnel to a roomy chamber where daylight never penetrated. + +There on the bare dry ground the vixen laid us--my two sisters and me. +If I was like the baby cubs I have since seen, I was born blind, my +muzzle was blunt and rounded, and my coat as black as a crow, the only +white about me being a few hairs in the tag of my tiny brush. Even at +the time when I first remember what I was like my fur was still a very +dark color and bore no resemblance to the russet hue of a full-grown +fox. + +This was a few weeks after my eyes were opened, when, after awaking +from our first sleep, we were in the habit of sunning ourselves just +inside the mouth of the earth. It was there, with my muzzle resting on +the vixen's flank, that I got my earliest glimpse of the world. The +turf was then almost hidden by pink flowers, over the heads of which +I could see, between two of the pinnacles that bordered the ledge, +the sea breaking on a reef where the cormorants used to gather at low +water and stand with folded or outstretched wings until the rising +tide drove them to the big white rock beyond. + +So few things moved within our field of vision that every creature we +saw afforded us the keenest interest. Sometimes during days together +nothing stirred but the stems of the thrift and the surf about the +reef, for the sky was cloudless when the hot weather set in. Now and +again a red-legged crow came and perched on one of the pinnacles, +crying "Daw, daw!" until its mate joined it, and then, all too soon, +they took wing and flew away; at times a hawk or a peregrine would +glide by and break the monotony of our life. + +Our narrow green was dotted by five boulders, and one of these we +could see from the earth. On this our most frequent visitor alighted. +It was an old raven, who presently dropped to the ground, walked up +to the remains of any fowl or rabbit lying near the heap of sandy soil +which my mother had scratched out when making the earth, and pecked, +pecked, pecked, until only the bones were left. Then, uttering his +curious "Cawpse, cawpse!" he would hop along the ground, flap his +big black wings, and pass out of sight. I feel sure that he saw us +watching him, for his eyes often turned our way. + +One afternoon, to our astonishment, a half-grown rabbit came lopping +along, and stopped to nibble the turf at a spot barely a good spring +from the vixen. She, usually very drowsy, half opened her eyes and +turned her face towards the intruder, but she did not rise to her +feet. We youngsters were beside ourselves with excitement, but were +not allowed to scramble over her side to drive away this audacious +trespasser on our private domain. This, I think, was owing to my +mother's great anxiety on our account. + +I have never known a vixen so determined that her cubs should lie +hidden by day; but then we were her first litter. She would constantly +warn us against venturing out whilst the sun was up. So particular +was she that we were not permitted to expose as much as our muzzles +outside the earth, though birds and rabbits moved about there freely. +We could not understand the restriction, and I fear that we thought it +unkind of her to confine us to a cramped, stuffy hole the summer day +through, when we longed to be gambolling about the sward or basking +in those warm corners under the boulders which retained some of their +heat even after the sun went down. + +It is true that I tried hard to get my liberty. Time after time, when +I thought she had dozed off, I endeavored to squeeze between her and +the low roof. It was of no use, though I used the utmost stealth and +trod as lightly as a feather. Never once did I catch her napping. On +the few occasions when I was on the point of succeeding she seized me +between her velvety lips and put me back in my place between my two +little sisters. + +Thus, by the kindest of mothers, I was disciplined in the ways of the +wild creatures, learning, by constant correction and example, that the +world outside the earth is denied to us by day, and is ours to move +and play and seek our prey in only by night. + +And how short those nights were! What a weary, weary time it was, +awaiting their approach! How impatiently we watched their slow +advent! how we tingled with delight in every limb on seeing the shadow +of the high boulder creep and creep across the turf until it reached +the pinnacle that had a patch of golden lichen on it! Then, as the sun +sank behind the headland, the nearer sea became sombre, the bright +expanse beyond darkened, and at last the stars would begin to show in +the sky. By this my mother had shaken off her drowsiness, the glow +had come back into her green eyes, and, rising to her feet, she would +leave the earth. If she detected no danger, she would call us to her. +What a moment that was! the pent-up energy of hours of restraint +breaking out in such rompings and runnings after our own brushes as +I have never seen in any other young creatures. Wearying at last of +these antics and of jumping over the back of the vixen, who watched +us with loving eyes, we settled down to the game of lurk and pounce +amongst the boulders. To our great delight, the vixen often joined in +this before setting out in search of food. Her nimbleness and skill in +dodging filled us with amazement. Like a flash she was on us; there +was no avoiding her rushes, though she always avoided ours, and her +movements were as silent as the passing of a shadow when a swift cloud +crosses the sun. + +I shall never forget those frolics in which she shared; they not only +were useful training for the life before us, as I afterwards realized, +but also induced in us a fondness for her so great that we could not +bear to have her out of our sight when she left us to seek the food we +needed. We would watch her as she followed the narrow track that wound +up the cliff, till from the rocks near the top she looked down to +assure herself of our safety before going inland. And that was not the +last we saw of her. Times and times I have caught sight of her bright +eyes glittering like twin stars on the summit of the ivy-covered scarp +where the magpies built. + +A more affectionate mother cubs never had; but for the life of me I +could not understand why she was so anxious about our safety: I had +neither seen nor heard anything in our little world to alarm me. +Whether she had or not I do not know, but she was haunted by the +dread of something, as I could tell by the way she used to look about +her and listen when watching our gambols, and by her starting at the +slightest unusual sound. Her nervousness made me nervous, and, thus +infected by my mother's fears, I got to be afraid without in the least +knowing what there was to be afraid of. + +These vague fears were on two occasions the cause of false alarms. +Once, somewhere along the cliff a dry stick snapped. That was enough. +My sisters and I fled in terror to our den, where we were joined a +minute later by the anxious vixen who had just left us for a foraging +expedition. There was no danger: it was merely a lumbering badger +which crossed our playground later on; but I have learnt since that no +wild thing can hear the snap of a twig without alarm. The badger was a +strange-looking creature: his face was white, with black stripes from +ear to muzzle; his gray hair all but swept the ground; and he walked +not lightly on his toes as we do but heavily on the soles of his feet. + +At another time the whistling of harvest curlews frightened us almost +out of our lives. These were both needless terrors; but soon I was +brought face to face with evidence of a real enemy, the one, no doubt, +of whom my mother lived in such dread. It was not many days after the +coming of the whimbrels--for the moon, a mere sickle then, had not +waxed to half its full size--when two incidents occurred which proved +to me, a raw, heedless cub, that there was serious ground for fear. +Both happened in broad daylight, one close on the heels of the other. + +One drowsy noon we were watching from our usual place the old raven +pecking at the hind-quarters of a rabbit, when with an awful thud +a big stone struck the turf close to him, bounded off, and rolled +towards the corner of our playground. In a twinkling, before it had +stopped rolling, we had retreated to the very end of the earth and +there lay trembling, and wondering, even in our consternation, whether +the mischievous magpies, who had set up a sudden clamor, were not the +cause of our discomfiture. When we stole out in the quiet and dusk, +my mother walked straight to the stone and smelt it, and I, being +curious, must needs follow her example. What an awesome smell it had! +The scent was unlike anything I had sniffed before, and surely not the +scent of any beast of the field! The vixen, who stood there watching +me, noted the cold shiver it sent through my young limbs and seemed by +her expressive face to say: "The creature that tainted that stone is +the cause of all my fears," and, further, if I read aright the sad +look that rose to her eyes: "He will prove your scourge as he has +proved mine." My story will tell whether it has been so. + +In our games that night I avoided the corner where the stone lay, and +so did my sisters. I noticed, too, that the vixen was away in quest +of food a shorter time than usual, and did not go out a second time +as she had generally done since our appetites had grown. We had, +therefore, to satisfy our hunger on the gosling she had brought. +This we broke up ourselves with our sharp milk teeth, chattering and +quarrelling as was our wont whilst the meagre feast lasted. The vixen +contented herself with a few old bones. + +The other incident was graver, causing injury to my mother. It +happened thus. She had gone out one night shortly after--for the moon +was still not quite full--but, though absent till nearly dawn, she +failed to procure any food. I remember our impatience at her long +absence and our disappointment on seeing her issue from the furze +without even a few mice in her mouth. However, there was no help for +it. The sun was reddening the sky near the horizon, so, supperless and +sullen, we curled ourselves up and fell asleep. On awakening, as we +did before our usual time, we began to cry pitifully for food, and +at length, driven to desperation by our complaints, the vixen stole +out at noon, not under cover of mist or fog but with the sun shining +in the bluest of skies. Ravenous with hunger, we crowded the mouth of +the earth, listening for the sound of her returning steps. Long, long +we harkened without catching any whisper of her approach. At last we +heard a muffled, double report, and after an interval the faint patter +of her pads. In my anxiety to see what she had brought I put my head +out and kept my eyes fixed on the run in the yellow furze through +which she always came. Never shall I forget my horror at what I saw. +Instead of her russet face with its black and white marking, her mask +below the eyes was all blood and dreadful to behold. I am ashamed to +say it, but her appearance terrified me, though I loved her as I loved +my life. She staggered into the earth, and took no more notice of us +than, if we had been strange cubs, which alarmed me more than her +dazed look. The reason of her plight was a puzzle to me, and though +the stone, with its horrid association, forced itself upon my notice +as a possible cause, I dismissed the idea that it could have done the +injury, inasmuch as it was lying where it had rolled. No; in a vague +way I attributed her state to the daylight, so great had my fear of it +became. Ah me, how ignorant I was in those far-away days! + +We were free now to go and come as we listed, but, famished though we +were, not one of us attempted to leave the earth except to get a drink +of water, and we lay huddled together, looking out of the corners of +our eyes at our poor mother, as miserable and forlorn a litter of +foxes as could anywhere be found. In the depth of the night, however, +the pangs of hunger compelling us, we left the vixen, who seemed to +be asleep, and crept out. Being bigger than my sisters, I felt called +upon to take the lead, and neither of them showed any inclination to +dispute it with me. But where to take them, or how to get a supper, I +had not an idea. + +I am not going to cast one word of blame on my mother for delaying +to teach us to shift for ourselves. It was out of affection that +she kept us so long to the nursery; and how could she possibly have +foreseen the calamity that had so unexpectedly disabled her and thrown +us on our own resources? And, lest a suspicion of neglect towards +us should attach to her memory, I must here say what I have not yet +mentioned--that by the death of the dog-fox, my father, the burden +of our upbringing from the day of our birth fell wholly on my little +mother. What labor and sacrifice this must have meant! After we were +weaned, how often have I seen her go without her share of the prey +that we greedy cubs might suffer no sint! When has cliff or moor +witnessed greater devotion, greater unselfishness? And now she lay +in the earth so sorely wounded as to be indifferent to our helpless +plight. I will not dwell on my feelings, but they made it difficult to +focus my thoughts on the undertaking before me. + +For a minute or two I sat on my haunches near the big boulder, +considering gravely where I should go, my sisters the while +cruising restlessly up and down the turf with all the impatience of +irresponsibility, awaiting development. This to-and-fro movement of +theirs added to my bewilderment, and even the bats flitting about were +a trifle disconcerting to a cub with three routes to choose from, each +in its turn more inviting than the others. + +There was the patch leading to the upper cliff; there was, I assumed, +a way down the undercliff; and there was, I knew, a track between the +two which the badger had worn. I have never been up the cliff, and +after the vixen's recent experience dared not go, though it was night, +and nothing stirred but the reeds about our drinking-place and the +leaves of the gnarled tree where the magpies built. + +In the end I decided, if I could find a way, to go down the cliff. +There was a sandy cove below that I had often longed to reach in +my mother's absence, but my strength was unequal to the descent. I +determined to try to go there now. So, leading the others past the +little basin where we quenched our thirst, I brought them along the +cliff to a place where the sheer precipice changed into a succession +of ledges, down which we leaped until brought to a standstill above a +wall of nearly perpendicular rock. It was impossible to reach the flat +shelf below by leaping: we should have broken our bones; and there +we stood staring over the brink at the smooth rock beneath us, and +wondering how we could pass it. + +Again my sisters looked to me to take the lead, so, putting forth all +the power of my untried claws, I began, brush first, to crawl down +a fissure that lay aslant the precipitous face of the great slab. +This I followed, partly by feeling with my hind claws where foothold +permitted a firm grip, partly by turning my face and seeing where +the easiest line of descent lay. At last I succeeded in reaching the +bottom without mishap. My sisters imitated me, coming down more easily +than I had done, probably on account of their greater skill and lesser +weight. + +A creek, too wide to jump, now separated us from the sand, but, taking +to the water, we waded until we lost bottom, and then, for the first +time in our lives, by swimming crossed deep water. More bedraggled +creatures than we looked on landing it would be difficult to imagine; +but we shook ourselves from muzzle to tag, making the spray fly from +our wet coats, and set about searching for something to eat. Where +the beach met the cliff was a cave that ran a long way in and had two +lesser caves opening out of it. We explored these without finding in +either of them anything except dry seaweed and pieces of cork, so we +retraced our steps and made for the other side of the cove. There, +just beyond the ribs of a wreck that projected from the sand, we +came on a big jelly-fish. Though we should have turned up our noses +at such food in ordinary times, it was a windfall in our famished +condition, and we swallowed the quivering mass with gusto, sand and +all. Good food or bad, it filled our stomachs and stopped the gnawing +pangs of hunger. + +We then clambered to the top of some rocks that stood out above the +sand, and found there a small pool of water, temptingly clear. Being +thirsty after our meal, we began to lap it. Ugh! it was nasty to the +taste, but, what was worse, the mistake was a blow to my conceit, for +I was humiliated by the reproachful glances my sisters shot at me. +To avoid them I raised my eyes, and, as I did so, caught sight of +the vixen on the cliff at the spot where we had taken to the ledges. +Then it came home to me that I had done wrong to leave the earth +without her, and, fearing she would be angry, I hid myself amongst +the rocks, as did my sisters. The vixen, usually quick as lightning +in her movements, came but very slowly down the cliff on the line +we had taken, and as slowly crossed the sand to the cave. This she +entered, and for a time was lost to view. My inclination nearly led me +to quit my hiding-place and go after her; but again fear checked me, +and I remained where I was. On leaving the cave, she with difficulty +followed our trail to the spot where we had eaten the jelly-fish, and, +not seeing us, seemed to lose heart, for she sank to the ground and +called us with a most piteous cry, which at once drew us to her side. +I can see even now the delight on her poor face as we bounded towards +her across the sand that separated us. After licking us with her +swollen tongue, she led us up the cliff by a much easier path than the +one we had followed in descending, and we soon reached the level of +our earth. We proceeded towards it in single file by the narrowest of +paths, passing our usual drinking-place, where for a reason I am going +to explain, the supply was so scanty that we found barely enough water +to quench our thirst. The vixen was curled up at the mouth of the den +when we reached it, and we had to climb over her back to get to our +sleeping-places. + +A short period free from troubles followed, during which my mother +rapidly recovered. Nevertheless, the wounds on her face were barely +healed when there befell one of the greatest calamities of my eventful +life--a calamity that was near putting an end to us all. + +Before attempting to describe it, I must mention the sufferings we +endured in the days following our adventure down the cliff, through +the gradual drying up of the water that supplied our drinking-place. +Night after night, when we repaired to the basin that the falling +water had hollowed in the rock, I had noticed that the stream, which +came from some hidden source beneath a pile of boulders, got smaller +and smaller, and, after the very hot weather set in, dwindled to +a mere trickle. To such a thin thread did it shrink that from the +mouth of the earth, which was not many yards away, we could no longer +hear it splashing into the basin. Now and then, especially when some +animal, generally the badger, had been there before us, we were driven +to such an extremity as to be compelled to lick the dew off the turf +to cool our tongues until the water had collected again. + +It was a terrible time. To this day we speak of the year of my birth +as the Dry Year, and indeed I, who was a May fox, was nearly three +moons old before I saw rain, which fell on the afternoon of the day +when the curlews' whistling scared us. I remember, though not as +vividly as the rainbow seen that day, the embrowned turf of our +playground being dotted with slugs which the downpour had enticed out +of the sunless crevices of the rocks. + +The rain had ceased before nightfall, and the following day the sky, +which had been black and lowering, became as cloudless as before, +whilst the heat, previously intense, became well-nigh unbearable. +Hour after hour we lay in the deep shade of the bracken fronds at +the entrance, panting for breath and longing for the water we were +not allowed to get before dusk. At the first sign of twilight, +and even whilst the after-glow suffused the sky, we rushed to the +drinking-place, our three masks completely filling the basin, which +we soon lapped dry. Almost as refreshing as the water we swallowed +was the cool spray--despite the rain it was no more--that fell on our +heads from the lip of the rock above. + +For several days from dawn to dusk we thus endured the agony of +parching thirst, till at last, when our tongues lolled out, and one of +my sisters showed signs of utter exhaustion, the vixen so far yielded +to our entreaties as to permit us to slink out, one by one, to drink. + +Unfortunately we could not reach the reeds about the water without +exposing ourselves to the eyes of the magpies overhead. On spying +us they set up such a clamor that every bird and beast for a great +distance along the cliffs must have known that a fox was moving, and +rejoiced at our misfortune. + +[Illustration: "THESE BLACK AND WHITE PESTS."] + +We have many enemies, but none whom we despise so much as magpies, +crows, and jays. Their treatment of us is as unprovoked as it is +insulting. We have never injured them, and yet, as I shall tell later, +the pariahs of the wild, that gorge on our unburied kills, seek every +opportunity of betraying us. + +Those cliff magpies, at whose tongues we suffered such indignities, +must have spent their days in watching our movements. After my sisters +had had their drink, it took hours for the basin to refill, yet as +soon as my muzzle projected beyond the bracken when I went to take my +turn, the hateful wretches would cry out, "There he is!" + +I never grew indifferent to this daily annoyance, and in a rage I used +to lap up what water there was in choking haste, so as to escape the +mobbing of these black and white pests who flew just beyond my reach, +and at times even brushed with their wings the tops of the tall reeds +about the basin. + +We were not the only sufferers from the drought. Indeed everything +suffered, and most of all perhaps the herbage. The thrift and white +campion that covered the ledges, the ferns that found root-hold in the +crannies and crevices of the rocks, and the stone-crop and lichens +growing on the rocks themselves, drooped and withered; and at last +the boggy ground above the drinking-place caked and dried, so that +the reeds turned yellow, and rattled rather than swished when the +night wind stirred them. Under the scorching sun the thread of water +shrank and shrank until it dripped drop by drop, and finally dried up +altogether. At my last visit to the drinking-place the smooth basin +was hot with the fierce rays, and the moss about the edge of the +rock above was nearly as moistureless as the crinkled lichen on the +pinnacles. + +In these conditions it was impossible to remain where we were, and +that night my mother reluctantly decided to abandon our home and to +lead us up the cliff. Would that she had taken us the moment the stars +showed, instead of waiting until deep night; for the delay nearly +proved fatal to us all. A fox's life is so short that he cannot forget +even the groundless scares his fears make him the victim of, so it +is not to be wondered at that the events of the night I am about to +describe are almost as vivid to me still as at the time they happened. + +My sisters had returned once more from the dried-up basin to which +they had been some five or six times since sunset, and joined me where +I lay near the mouth of the earth, waiting for the dew to fall and +listening for the footsteps of the vixen who had gone to get ready the +new lair. It was a beautiful night--the sea calm, and the surf about +the reef alight with phosphorescence, whilst the furze-bushes and the +clump of brambles near the reeds were dotted with glow-worms. There +was even a solitary one on the drooping bracken above the entrance. +A wind of summer strength stirred the withered herbage and murmured +around the precipitous crags above our heads, but, save the boom from +the great cave below when the tide rose, all was still. Suddenly, +without warning of any kind, there came a flash of light from the +cliffs above the sandy cove where we had eaten the jelly-fish. It died +away and then returned, more brightly than before. It was not nearly +so fierce as the lines of fire I had seen zigzagging the black sky +on the afternoon of the heavy rain, nor was there any thunder with +it as then, but there was a strange, crackling noise, as of animals +crunching bones. + +Immediately flames leapt in great tongues from the brambly thicket +beyond the reeds. These drove us to the den; and there we crouched +listening to the awful sound, which grew louder and louder. Soon a +faint glare lit up a part of the earth as far in as the spot where two +rocks narrowed the tunnel. Before this I was on the point of bolting; +but now fear seized my limbs and I could not rise, could only crouch +closer and closer to the earth like my sisters. Whilst we lay there +huddled together and crying out for the vixen she returned, darkening +the tunnel as she came towards us. Scarcely had she joined us when an +evil-smelling fog rolled in, causing us to keep our muzzles close to +the ground. Then the fire swept past the earth, lighting it up to the +end where we lay. Panic-stricken though I was, I remember noticing how +the smooth floor gleamed, and how curiously the light glowed on the +vixen's fur. Suddenly the heat became less intense, and a current of +fresh air entering the earth revived us as we lay panting at the point +of suffocation. + +The crackling and roar of the flames had long died away before we +dared to quit our sanctuary, and when at last we ventured to the mouth +of the earth, what a sight met our gaze! Our playground was charred, +except for a narrow strip near its edge, and towards this a thin line +of fire moved slowly, blotting out the criss-cross tracks we had worn +between the boulders. A ring of sparks encircled the raven's perch, +and crept higher and higher, consuming the lichen, and leaving bare +rock in its train; where the brambles had stood was a heap of glowing +ash; grasses and reeds had disappeared; in short, the place which had +been our little world and of which we knew every blade and spray, was +as nearly past recognition as a corn-field after harvest. Away towards +the west great ruddy flames leapt from the furze brake and lit up sky +and sea and headland with such a lurid light as I had never seen; +whilst on the near slopes a hundred smaller fires flickered and died, +to blaze again and re-illuminate the great piles of bared rock. Sparks +falling from above showed that the ivy round the home of the magpies +had not escaped; and as the birds had mobbed me most unmercifully that +very day, I rejoiced in their misfortune. + +The vixen, satisfied at last that she might venture forth, took up +my puny sister, who was then unable to stand, and set out for the +steep path by which she usually reached the top of the cliff. My other +sister and I trod closely on her heels as she picked her way over the +heated ground and skirted the glowing remains of the furze-bushes. In +the ascent my pads were rather badly burnt and my fore-legs singed +by a fire which suddenly broke out in some smouldering heather into +which they sank. The glimpse I got of the face of the precipice showed +that the ivy had lost all its leaves, the bared stems standing out +plainly against the black fissures that seamed the great wall of rock +besprinkled with sparks which in their fall resembled shooting stars. + +When we reached the summit we could hear the magpies calling out, +but, to do them justice, they were not mobbing us then. Once beyond +the blackened ground we ranged up one on each side of the vixen, and +after crossing fields of stubble and turnips and getting far beyond +the reek of the burning, we caught the scene of the brook for which +she was making. We struck it where it wound through marshy ground on +the outskirts of a furze brake, and in a trice were up to our bellies +in the delicious cool stream with our tongues hard at work. The water +was cold and sweet; there was plenty of it, and we lapped and lapped +as long as we could take in a drop. In all my life I never again +enjoyed a drink like that, and the mud that stuck to my legs seemed to +soothe the pain of the burns. + +My little sister was able to follow us now without assistance, but the +vixen, who was exhausted with carrying her so far, went at a walking +pace between the stems of the furze and kept looking back to see that +she was keeping up with us, though she took no notice whatever of my +other sister who was going on three legs, or of myself whose poor feet +were so tender that I hardly dared touch the ground. + +Emerging from the furze we came upon a circle of turf, where we +caught sight of at least a dozen rabbits scurrying to the holes that +honey-combed the ground at the foot of a high cairn. One of these had +been enlarged, as the heap of fresh earth showed, and into it the +vixen led us to a dry and sweet-smelling den, where she left us, to +procure food. In there it seemed as still as death to us who had had +the roar of the sea in our ears all our lives, but the lair was very +comfortable, and roomy enough for us to stand side by side whilst +the vixen distributed the rabbit she presently brought us. We found, +too, on curling ourselves up, that, big as we were, we could lie close +together without trespassing on the tunnel as we had latterly done in +the cliff earth. So, as we were thoroughly weary, we soon forgot the +dangers we had passed and fell asleep, our mother lying between us and +the opening, as was her invariable custom. + +I was startled out of my sleep by a stamping overhead, caused by the +rabbits in the heart of whose burrow we were lying. The noise, which +broke out again and again just as I was on the point of dropping +off, irritated me so much that at last I got on my hind-legs, thrust +my muzzle into the hole in the roof, and breathed loudly through +my nostrils. This snorting was not without result, for after the +stampede that followed there was quiet for a long time. Nevertheless +the tiresome creatures had spoilt my day's rest and, try as I might, +I could not doze off again. My sisters slept through it all, and the +vixen showed no sign of being disturbed, except that she half opened +her eyes when the rabbits scampered over the spot where she lay. +It was very early, as I could tell by the scent of the furze that +stole along the tunnel and almost overpowered the flavor of rabbit, +from which the den was never quite free. To pass the weary hours I +licked the mud off my legs, which still smarted, and, whilst I did +so, thought of our narrow escape, and wondered in a vague way whether +fires were to be numbered amongst the regular troubles of a fox's life. + +At length the vixen roused herself, and when the coolness and smell of +the air warned her that the sun had set, she rose and led us forth, +not for our usual gambols, but, as it proved, for our first lesson +in hunting. I suspected something unusual was afoot the moment she +ordered us to follow her across the stream, whither she had taken us +to drink; and the further we got from the earth, the more excited +I grew at the prospect of the adventures before us. It was most +exhilarating to be wandering over the broad, high country, which, in +comparison with our ledge at the foot of the precipice, seemed like +the roof of the world. For nights and nights past I had yearned to +accompany my mother on her rounds, and the unexpected gratification of +my intense longing thrilled every fibre of my being. So great was my +excitement that I quite forgot not only a loose milk tooth that had +been worrying me, but even the tenderness of my poor pads, on which I +had with difficulty limped to the drinking-place. + +The vixen ran steadily some dozen paces in front, and side by side +we cubs followed in her train, noiselessly as shadows. It fascinated +me to watch her lissom movements as she stole along, and to note the +ripples that ruffled her smooth coat when she crossed the broken +ground. We had passed over one hill and were breasting the next beyond +before I began to wonder what we were going to see and how soon, and +then, without warning, she reared on her hind-legs, listened with ears +erect, and pounced on something in a patch of rushes, in which she +buried her long muzzle. The next instant she came trotting back to my +little sister, and gave her the mouse she held between her lips. Her +quick hearing had detected its movements in the undergrowth. + +But mousing was apparently not the chief business of the night, for, +without dwelling, she stepped across the dried-up runnel which the +rushes fringed, and headed for the craggy ridge above. In her progress +up the steep slope she kept scanning the ground to right and left of +the trail as if she expected at any moment to see the prey she was in +search of, and when near the crest, she crouched and crawled forward +with the utmost caution. With breathless excitement we wormed our +bodies along in her wake, as though we had been trained to it. But we +had not; we were imitating her instinctively, and kept our distance as +faithfully as the shadow of her brush that darkened the moonlit ground +in front of us. + +On reaching the ridge I could not help shifting my gaze to glance +at the wide marshland below us, so strikingly unlike any scene my +young eyes had looked on. Here and there on the level expanse sheets +of water and a winding stream shone like silver, and from the great +reed-beds about them came a soft voice like the murmur of waves on a +distant beach. This was the expression of a stolen instant, and no +sooner were my eyes back on the vixen than she sank to the ground as +though she had suddenly lost the use of her legs. We did the same. +This pleased her, as I could tell by the expression of satisfaction +in the eager face which she turned slowly towards us and as slowly +withdrew, brushing aside as she did so the dry bents that rose a good +way up her long ears. + +At first I wondered what she had found, as the only living +things visible to me were some rabbits far below on the lip of a +funnel-shaped warren. But presently over her head I saw the tips of +the ears of a rabbit quite close to us, and my heart began to thump +as it had perhaps never done before. The sight of the living prey had +awoke in me the dormant spirit of the hunter that has hardly slumbered +since; and not in me only--my sisters were evidently as excited as I +was, for their brushes were lashing mine as wildly as mine did theirs. + +The rabbit meanwhile winded danger and, as its nostrils showed, kept +sniffing the air to try and locate it. When it succeeded, its eyes +fell, not on a stealthy enemy thirsting for its blood but--so sudden +was the vixen's change of attitude and demeanor--on a harmless, +playful fox rolling on her back as I had seen her roll in utter +guilelessness a hundred times. The rabbit started, as well it might, +and I expected to see it dive into its hole; but, marvellous to +relate, instead of seeking safety it regained its composure and +resumed its nibbling on an almost bare patch, towards which the +assumed frolics of the vixen and the slant of the ground were leading +her. Then, with one of the lightning-like rushes which made her look +a blurred mass even to our quick eyes, she was on it, and when she +faced us the rabbit's head and hind-quarters hung limp as she held it +across her mouth. + +On witnessing the kill we cubs jumped to our feet, eager to partake of +the first course of our supper. But when we attempted to take it from +her mouth, to our amazement the vixen snarled at us as she had never +done before. My little sister, to whom she had always been so tender, +was the last to try, and, incredible as it may seem, the vixen turned +on her like a fury. + +Nothing but my desire to record faithfully the impressions of that +time would make one own that I considered my mother unnatural and +cruel in denying food to the weakling among her cubs. If the water +which had cooled our parched throats the night before scalded us +we should not have been so taken aback as by this sudden change of +conduct on her part. It was simply incomprehensible. Had something +outside our knowledge caused her to turn against us? If not, what did +she mean by her harshness? + +It did occur to me that this unaccountable behavior might be feigned, +and that presently she would drop the rabbit at our feet and be again +the affectionate mother she had always been. Indeed, I watched her +out of the corners of my eyes from the spot to which I had retired, +expecting to see her snarl relax into a grin. But in this I was +disappointed, for, on reaching a ledge below, to which we followed +her at a respectful distance, she devoured every bit of the luscious +morsel before our eyes, though she knew well enough that we were +ravenously hungry. The delicious smell of the hot entrails which the +wind brought us put the keenest edge on my appetite--already sharp +set by the previous night's shortness--and with the strong craving to +satisfy it came the novel thought of satisfying it with a rabbit of +my own catching. The bunnies were still playing about on the edge of +the warren, and whilst the vixen kept shifting her gaze from them to +me, licking her blood-stained lips, the lesson she wished to teach +suddenly flashed upon me, and the explanation of her conduct was +complete. She was saying as plainly as could be: "There is your prey. +I have shown you how to catch it. Go and get your own supper." I +required no further prompting. Then and there I began my first stalk +under the eyes of all I loved in the world. + +Summoning my untried powers, I wormed myself over the ground towards +a single bush that screened me from the observation of most of the +rabbits. Its shelter gained, I looked back and up to where three pairs +of green eyes regarded my every movement, and then peeped with the +utmost caution round the corner of the furze towards my prey. The +bunnies were all there and thoroughly alert, and so disconcerting did +I find their united gaze that I drew my head back to consider the +situation. When I peeped again half their number showed their white +scuts and went to ground, and the other half seemed prepared to follow +their example. + +Satisfied that direct approach was out of the question, I walked +aslant the slope towards a piece of flat ground on a level with the +warren, as though I were engaged on some engrossing pursuit in that +direction. As I went I did not even squint at the rabbits, though it +cost me an effort to look straight before my muzzle. My simulated +detachment from my prey must, I felt sure, have excited the admiration +of my dear mother, and so must the thoroughness with which I gave +myself over to the antics that took me at first farther and farther +away and then nearer and nearer to the few remaining rabbits, whose +curiosity had got the better of their fears. The silly creatures were +quite taken in by the capers I cut, and one at least realized his +danger too late, for ere he could reach his hole I snapped him up and +bore him up the hill towards the vixen. + +Insignificant as the incident appears to me now, it was one of the +greatest events of my life. Every fox is proud of his first skill, +and I was no little elated by mine. Indeed, I felt I must make some +sort of demonstration in honor of the occasion. Imagine me, then, a +handsome young dog-fox, head erect, ears pricked, brush on end and +well fluffed out, trotting along on the very tips of my toes with +my first rabbit between my jaws, and you have a picture of me as I +swaggered over the bare turf in the moonlight, before the eyes of my +admiring mother and jealous sisters. I shall never forget the pride I +felt nor the inner voice that kept whispering, "You are able to get +your own living now, my boy, but don't be too highly elated!" + +I got on rapidly after this my first experience. How could I do +otherwise, with such a clever and painstaking little mother as I had +to instruct me in the wiles and ways of our craft? In a short time I +became expert not only in catching young rabbits, rats, moles, and +mice, but in picking up the feathered prey that frequented fen and +hillside. + +Of course I met with many disappointments; pheasants, partridges and +wild-duck often escaped my clutches when I already considered them +mine. My failures were due chiefly to inexperience, but in a measure +also to the intrusion of other foragers, who turned up at critical +moments and ended for me the work of hours. On one occasion a hunted +hare passed between me and a covey of partridges I was drawing up to; +but the birds, who squatted in a circle with their heads outwards, +as their custom is, did not rise until a pack of stoats came along +on his line, and with their noisy yelpings broke the silence of the +roosting-place. On another, the sudden appearance of a poaching cat +defrauded me of a pheasant on the edge of the pine-wood; but that +night I killed before the darkness faded, and had buried what I could +not eat before the vixen raised the "dawn" cry. + +After good hunting we used to romp home together over the furze-dotted +land or across the fen, and from sheer high spirits vixen and cubs +alike used to bound over the bushes or clumps of rushes and sags +across our path. Week after week nothing happened to disturb our peace +or excite our fears, but, for all our apparent security, we were never +abroad at sunrise unless a thick fog lay over the land. + +In those expeditions I used latterly to separate myself from the vixen +on reaching the hunting-ground and seek my prey alone, rejoining her +when she sounded the call to leave the trail or ambuscade. In this way +I became more and more independent, and at times would turn a deaf +ear to her summons. Twice I was so belated that the pools by the way +reflected the rosy fore-glow of the dreaded sun as I scurried past +them. + +I may have spent a month in the vixen's company before I could make +up my mind to shake off her authority and forage where I pleased. She +was conscious that I chafed at the restraint which she considered +necessary, and was no doubt prepared for the serious step I had +resolved on. Nevertheless, when the night came, it was not without a +sense of shame at breaking away from one who had been so tender and +forbearing that I sidled past her where she sat outside the earth +playing with my sisters. I had rather expected she would exercise +her authority and call me back. Though she stopped her gambols and +looked wistfully at me, she made no protest, and I passed on my way +unchallenged; but I was glad when the bushes hid me from her sight +and from the questioning eyes of my sisters, who seemed very much +astounded at my going off alone. + +Soon after crossing the stream I began to rehearse the plan I had +surreptitiously formed in the earth. As it promised success, I decided +to go through with it, though a darker night would have suited my +purpose better. Clouds indeed there were, but white and fleecy, only +slightly veiling the light of the full moon, which shone very brightly +as it crossed the deep blue spaces between. The self-confidence I +felt in the earth had been oozing out of me as I threaded my lonely +way through brake and reed-bed, but it returned when, after trotting +across the quaking bog that trembled under my light steps like a +jelly-fish, I came at last in sight of the pool where I intended to +lie in wait for wild-fowl. + +Although I had taken a short cut over the treacherous morass to +forestall the duck, I feared that they might have settled in the water +before I reached my ambush, and it was with eager eyes that I scanned +the surface from a clump of rushes on a finger of land that jutted a +little way into the pool. All was well! Not a bird floated on the open +water between the beds of lilies or in the lanes between the floating +grasses. The only things that caught my eye were a moorhen and the +trail of light she left behind her as she swam the gloomy water, which +was shadowed by some alders. + +Crossing the baked and cracked mud left exposed by the sunken pool, +I entered the water, swam over to the islet, and secreted myself on +the margin of a tiny creek just above a line of stranded feathers. +There, screened from the keen eyes of flighting wild-fowl, I began my +vigil with all the hope that waits on inexperience. Crouching beneath +my ambush, I heard a few distant cries, which came, I should think, +from birds feeding on the edge of the tide. So faint were they as to +be audible only when the fitful breeze lulled and the tall, feathery +reeds about the pool ceased rustling. + +Presently, from the water between two lily-beds a silvery fish jumped +thrice in quick succession, as if pursued by some invisible foe; of +the latter I saw no sign, unless its presence was indicated by a swirl +in the water near where the fish fell. The long silence which followed +was broken at last by a swish of wings--an inspiriting sound after +the tedious wait--and some wild-fowl wheeled in a wide circle above +my head before settling on one of the many pools that glistened on +the wide marshland below them. As I lost the sound, I feared that the +birds had dropped in elsewhere, but round they came again, and, with a +splash that made me tingle with excitement, a mallard and three ducks +alighted on the water midway between the islet and the reeds. They +were evidently ill at ease, though they seemed to me so secure that I +could not imagine what they could be so suspicious of--certainly not +of the peregrine that harassed them at sunrise; and at the time I knew +nothing of the monster pike that tenanted the pool, and took toll of +feather as well as of fin. Could it be that they had got some inkling +of my presence? I crouched absolutely motionless whilst their restless +eyes searched the tangle on the island, and when they stared at the +patch where I was hiding I scarcely dared to breathe. + +Before settling down to feed they cruised restlessly up and down, +and even whilst they gobbled the green weed they kept looking so +persistently my way that I began to think they could scent me, though +they had only bills for noses. I had marked the mallard for my prey. +He was a plump bird, and I had to keep my tongue from licking my +lips at the prospect of the feast; for he was very tempting to an +appetitie sated of rabbit, and by this time I knew every feather of +the plumage that covered his juicy flesh. Just then it vexed me to +hear the vixen's call, far off though it was, as I feared she might +hit my trail, follow it, and spoil my hunting. Her yapping caused all +four birds to raise their heads and listen, but they showed no further +sign of alarm, as every creature of the wild knows that dead silence +precedes the kill and that it need have no dread of a noisy fox. + +The ducks were near enough now for me to see the least movement of +the mallard's eyes, the white of which, even when his head was down, +showed that he was in deadly fear of something. "Fool!" thought I, +"eat your supper in peace; but when you land on the mud of the creek, +where lie yesternight's imprints of your webbed feet, then look about +you." + +[Illustration: "HIS BEADY EYES GLEAMED."] + +And yet I was mistaken; at that instant an enemy was within a few +yards of him. I had warning of its approach, for I saw the moonlight +catch a heave of the water, just as from the cliff I had seen it +catch the glassy surface of the curling wave; but in my inexperience +I never dreamt that the glint could be caused by a rival for the +bird. I was now to learn better, as with a great flapping of wings and +a loud quack the mallard disappeared below the surface. I remember +nothing about the three ducks for I nearly jumped out of my skin; and +my stupefaction was complete when I saw a big animal appear at the +surface and leave the water with the mallard in his mouth. + +The sight of this brute with my bird enraged me so much that at +first I was on the point of springing across the creek and taking +it from him. I would have done so had he been only half his size, +but I was afraid of the strong, queer-looking creature. His body was +very long, his legs short but massive, and his tail, which tapered +to a point, stretched across the mud and just touched the water. He +had no ears--at least, nothing worth the name; his eyes were small, +his whiskers very long and white, and his jaws so heavy that they +frightened me. How he enjoyed the mallard, the rascal! How his beady +eyes gleamed until he saw me back out of my ambush; and then what +an evil look rose to them! That was enough to scare me without the +frightful grimace and hissing that accompanied it. + +I lost no time in getting out of sight of such a horror. I crossed +the pool, dreading at every stroke that the fearsome beast would +seize me from beneath, as he had seized the mallard, pull me under, +and--disgusting thought!--perhaps eat me. I looked back on landing, +and again when I reached the reeds; then, as I saw no trace of him and +had dry land in front, I cursed him to my heart's content. I had been +deprived of my supper in the last watch of the night, and it would +take me all my time to reach the earth before dawn, even by way of the +quaking bog. I gnashed my strong teeth as I hurried across the fen, +swearing that I would be avenged on that thief if chance threw me in +his way again; and though a fox may not be able to choose place and +time, he generally gets his wrongs righted in the end. I own that for +the moment the sight of the strong, fierce brute must have unnerved +me; why else should the rustling of a vole on the bank of our own +stream scare me so and cause me to run home in breathless haste? + +When I reached the earth the vixen and my sisters were lying near the +entrance, looking as happy and contented as mother and whelps can +look. With misfortune written on my crestfallen face, I stood before +them bedraggled and panting, as complete a picture of misery as can +well be imagined. My mother looked me up and down with sympathetic +eyes that told her thoughts, and though she never said a word I read +in their varying expressions: "You are miserable and discomfited, my +cub; you are evidently paying dear for your freedom. Nevertheless I +admire your independence and, for all your wayward spirit, I am proud +of you." + +Crimson streaks marked the low sky to the east before I followed the +others to the den for, rather than retire supperless, I stayed outside +to crunch a few dry bones. It had been a most unsatisfactory night's +hunting, and, though I tried hard to get the evil-looking brute with +the webbed feet out of my mind, I seemed, even till I fell asleep, to +be watching that rascally otter lying his full length and holding in +his fore-paws the fattest mallard I had ever seen. + +Despite my disappointment and fear, I resolved to visit the fen again +a few nights later, and it vexed me greatly when the vixen objected +and insisted that I should join her and my sisters in an expedition +to the hill beyond it. I was sulky at the start, and lagged behind +the others all the way across the marshland, but I closed up when +we breasted the hill, and shook off the last traces of ill-temper on +seeing the vixen steal towards an enclosed field some little distance +down from the crest. I watched her closely whilst she reconnoitered at +a gap in the rude stone wall, and, from the fixity of her gaze, felt +almost sure that she espied game. All doubt was dispelled when, with +the stealthiest of movements, she came back to me and, as if I was the +most amiable cub in the world and worthy of the post of honor, led me +round to the meuse through which the game had entered the field, and +left me to watch it. + +As I lay there, within a spring of the scent-tainted run that recalled +a trail I had once followed on the fen, I became uncontrollably +curious to see the animal that had but shortly before passed along +it. I felt sure the creature was in the field, and no sooner had the +vixen disappeared round the corner of the long wall than I left my +hiding-place, crawled up the face of the enclosure as quietly as a +fly, and peeped through a break in the top whence a stone had fallen. +Ah! there he was, for all the world like an immense rabbit, nibbling +the clover right out in the middle of the square field. Of course I +ought to have returned to my ambush at once, but curiosity held me to +the spot, and whilst I was taking a last look, I caught sight of the +vixen stealing over the wall on the further side into the tangle that +filled the corner and, in fact, grew all round the field at the foot +of the wall. In this she was lost to view, till presently her mask +appeared again between some seeding thistles about thirty yards from +the unsuspicious hare. + +Now began one of the most thrilling stalks I ever witnessed, though, +owing to the astonishing way the vixen hid herself, I could see little +of her but her ears. To have rendered herself so inconspicuous she +must have grovelled along on her belly in some slight hollow of the +ground not visible to me; for the clover was not more than an inch +high and of itself afforded very little concealment. The nearer she +got the more excited I became; and for the life of me I could not +understand--even now I cannot understand--why the hare, of all animals +the timidest and most watchful, neither saw, heard, nor scented her. +Inch by inch the clever little stalker wound her way until nearer +approach without discovery must have been impossible. I was wondering +why she delayed making one of her lightning-like rushes, when, with +a tremendous bound, the hare started off in a direction wide of my +station. The vixen, who was in swift pursuit, made a desperate effort +to turn him; but in this she would have failed, despite her wonderful +fleetness, had not my little sister, whether by accident or design I +do not know, suddenly showed herself at the gate for which the hare +was heading. This had the effect of sending him towards the meuse I +had been set to watch and of reminding me of my duty. + +The hare was yet some thirty yards down the hill but coming like the +wind, when I dropped quietly into my ambush and gathered my legs +under me. What a row he made as he dashed through the brambles and +came through the hole at the foot of the wall! Never shall I forget +the excitement of the moment when, with his ears thrown back on his +shoulders, he came in sight. I made my spring as he flashed by, and +though I only knocked him over, I was on him and bore him down before +he could recover himself. The vixen, who came up the next moment, was +delighted to find me standing over my first hare; and when in response +to her call my sisters joined us, she distributed the portions into +which she had broken it up. There was much chattering over the +feast--the contented chattering that attends good hunting. + +Thus did our mother teach us to act in concert--the method sometimes +employed by dog and vixen if hares are scarce and wild, but more +commonly adopted when driving rabbits from a brake where there are no +holes in which they can get to ground. + +Our supper over, the vixen led us along the crest of the hill to a +small clump of wind-clipt pines, which are still standing, whence can +be obtained a view of the fen on the one side and of the sand-hills +on the other. This was my first sight of the dunes and of the +farm-buildings on the edge of them. Whilst we stood there a loud bark, +thrice repeated, came from within the trees about the buildings. + +"What is that?" I asked, somewhat alarmed. + +"That is the voice of a dog--the voice of an enemy." + +Then she warned us never under any circumstances to go near the place, +"for," said she, "danger lurks there, and perhaps death." + +Wise little mother, if I had only heeded thy warning, what anguish and +degradation I might have been spared! + +Day was already dawning, and I wondered that she so long delayed +returning to the earth. To jog her memory I kept glancing first at her +and at the eastern sky, but to my surprise she took no notice. Her +face was very sad, and she seemed lost in thought. I believe she was +thinking of the time, now close at hand, when we must separate from +her and face the dangers of life alone. + +But it was not her intention to go back to the cairn, for on reaching +the foot of the hill she turned aside and brought us to another earth, +before which lay an enormous heap of yellowish soil. This, as it +proved, was to be our new home; and from the fresh trail that led to +it, I judged that at least one animal would share it with us. + +A little way inside the entrance, which was a large one, the tunnel +divided; and when the vixen and my sisters disappeared in the branch +leading to the left, I, curious to see our new neighbor, followed +the trail along the other. On and on I stole through a low winding +passage, which penetrated so far that I thought I should never reach +the object of my search. + +At last I came on his lair at a spot where the tunnel suddenly +widened, and the sight of it made me stand agape. Instead of the +bare ground, which is a fox's couch, and on which I expected to see +the creature curled up, before me rose a great heap of dried grass +that filled the chamber from side to side, and reached almost to the +roof. So effectually did it conceal its occupant that not a hair of +him could I see. The slight rustling of the bed would have told me +he was there, even had my nostrils not given undeniable proof of his +presence; and as my curiosity, now thoroughly aroused, would not let +me retire before I had had at least a glimpse of the creature, I drew +near with the utmost caution, craned my neck over the broad edge, and +looked down on him. + +My eye! he was a monster. It surprised me to see how big he was; but +what really took me aback was his very pale color, which showed even +in the darkness of the den. I had expected to see a gray creature, +like the badger on the cliffs, and not a white one nearly twice his +size. My first impulse was to retreat, but on regaining my composure, +I resolved to stay and have a good look at him. + +His broad side rose and fell with his slow, heavy breathing; his +eye--I could see but one--was closed, and there was no sign of +vigilance about the small limp ears. To all appearance he was in a +deep sleep, which I believed, as well I might, that had done nothing +to disturb. For if my approach had been as noiseless as the incoming +of the fresh air that sweetens the close atmosphere of our dens, not +less so was my examination of the formidable creature, though it was +made with breathless wonderment. + +Yet before I could bark in his ear and run away, as I was tempted to +do, he sprang suddenly to his feet with a loud snarl, which nearly +frightened me out of my skin. Fortunately, he did not snap at me as I +drew back, or pursue me as I bolted at full speed along the tunnel; +indeed, judging from his subsequent conduct, I should say that his +venerable face was one grin from ear to ear when he discovered it was +a chit of a fox cub that had scared him. + +My mother, whom the loud snarl had brought in hot haste to my side, +was very angry with me for trespassing on the badger's private +quarters instead of following her into the part of the sett she had +appropriated. No doubt it was a foolish thing to intrude on the +privacy of so powerful an animal; but I had no occasion to regret my +misconduct, for the badger, far from resenting it, became my best +friend. Every morning after that I used to peep at him; but instead +of creeping in stealthily, as I had done at first, I walked in as if +I were going to my own den, and to apprise him of my approach gave a +stifled bark on reaching the turn by the rock, beyond which a short +length of straight tunnel led to his lair. Though I seldom neglected +to warn him of my coming I believe it was unnecessary, as he got +to know my light footstep so well that he did not take the trouble +to raise his head on the rare occasions when I forgot to signal my +approach. Sleepy though he always was after his night's round, he +never failed to wink at me with the eye that was uppermost. Sometimes +he would wink twice; but beyond that he never got. + +He must have been a good fellow, this distinguished member of the +oldest family amongst animals, to put up with these dawn visits of a +fox who was still under the partial tutelage of his mother. I have +often wondered why he did so, but never been quite sure. If I may +give my reason--and be it understood that it involves no slur on the +badger's fame--I should say it was because of his friendless state. +I say, "friendless," inasmuch as he was never seen in company with +the only other badger in the countryside, the one that dwelt on the +cliffs; and he kept quite aloof from the other creatures of the wild. + +I have always felt proud that he should have thought me worthy of the +least consideration; but this did not make me blind to his faults. I +don't refer to his living on beetles and wasp-grubs, nor do I mean +the trick of sleeping with one paw in his mouth, or the queer way he +had of running back-wards into the earth, at which little game I once +surprised him; no, I am thinking of a bad habit from which we suffered +much annoyance, and which I am very loth to mention, much less dwell +on. But it must be stated, and at some length, on account of my story; +it was this: he could not keep his claws from digging. + +What made his offence ten times worse in our ears was that as far +as our vulpine wits could enlighten us--and we discussed the matter +again and again--there was no necessity for his self-imposed labor. +Any reasonable creature would have thought the sett was more than +complete, inasmuch as the part of the hill it tunnelled in all +directions was like a vast honey-comb. It held quarters for a whole +swarm of badgers; and yet the old fellow must needs keep burrowing +farther and farther in, opening out more chambers and galleries, as +if it were not commodious enough for his individual requirements. Of +course he was free to add to the accommodation of the sett, whether +he really did feel cramped for room or only imagined that he did; +nevertheless we foxes accounted it a grievance to have to put up with +the din he made in digging, which, as it reverberated along the hollow +ways, resembled the rumbling of thunder more than any other sound, and +prevented us from getting a wink of sleep in the long, dragging hours +during which it lasted. + +This was only the first stage of the annoyance. A more serious trouble +was the way the great heap kept on increasing with the excavated +soil that he fetched out by the barrow-load about once a week on the +average, generally in the small hours of the morning when we were away +foraging. The enormous mound made us hang our heads in shame every +time we passed in and out. And as if this were not enough to betray us +to our enemies, on our return home one morning we found his great bed +lying atop of the pile, which now looked like a haycock in the midst +of the brake. At the sight of this my mother lost her temper, and +heaped such unrestrained abuse on the badger that I could not keep my +jaws closed. It pains me to this day to remember that I dared reply to +her; but how, when my old friend was attacked in such bitter terms, +could I honorably keep silence? That day I had to be content with the +draughty corner of the den, apart from my mother and sisters, who +edged away from me as if I were mangy. I spent miserable hours lying +there; but about noon the vixen walked over to me, licked my face with +her hot tongue, and curled up by my side. These tender attentions +soothed my injured feelings, and I soon fell into a peaceful sleep. + +I do not reproach the badger for changing his bed, I cannot reproach +him for his cleanliness, and I have no wish to disparage his great +industry; my object is to set down the truth, and I think that this +corpulent creature had to make work to keep his fat down and, even in +times of famine, to dig willy-nilly to prevent his claws growing into +his flesh. + +Of course, had the matter of digging by day, in which lay the sting +of the underground annoyance, been brought to an issue, we foxes had +not a shadow of right on our side; because we knew that the earth +belonged to the badger by right of excavation, and that we were there +on sufferance only as long as he found us tolerant and agreeable. +We did well to endure what we could not cure, for, had it come to a +quarrel, to a conflict with tooth and claw, the badger could have +made mincemeat of our whole party without sustaining a scratch. So we +prudently refrained from making any comment in his hearing, and, as he +could read nothing from my looks, he had not the faintest suspicion of +the grumbling to which I had to listen, or of the difficult part I had +to play to keep on good terms with my family. + +So things went on until a common trouble befell both the badger and +ourselves, and immediately following it, calamities so dire as almost +to dwarf into nothingness the annoyances of which so much had been +made. + +We had frequented the sett for perhaps a month, when, on returning +early one morning from hunting on the moors, we found, to our +astonishment, the entrances to the earth blocked and the badger shut +out. Thought I, "This misfortune to himself and to us is the result +of his misdoings," and I fully expected to see the vixen pour out the +vials of her wrath; but, to my surprise, all she did was to cruise up +and down in a fever of anxiety, with a watchful eye on the desperate +efforts the badger was making to remove the faggots jammed into the +hole. Failing to remove them by tugging, he began to bite through the +thick, tough stems as though they were reeds; and in my inexperience +I thought he would soon succeed in chopping a way in. But whoever had +placed the faggots there had done his work too well for the entry to +be hurriedly effected, so that gray dawn found the badger but little +advanced with his stubborn task and us cubs roaming restlessly about, +eyeing him at his work. + +The only time I got in his way he turned his nervous face and snarled +at me as though I were a stranger. Seeing what deadly earnest he was +in, I gave him a wide berth, and sat on the top of the heap with my +brush to him, blinking at the sky that was now all read as if the +cliffs were a-fire far, far away beyond the fen. Every now and again, +when the vixen came my way, I caught her casting uneasy glances +towards the east, and the instant the glaring rim of the sun showed, +she stole away and we in her train, leaving my old friend biting and +pounding in his apparently hopeless toil. + +If his efforts looked hopeless, the journey before us was certainly +disagreeable. I shall not soon forget that crossing of the fen, which, +as bad luck would have it, was as free from mist as the gilded crests +of the tor that seemed to stare at us belated creatures of the night, +abroad at such an uncanny hour. The vixen took advantage of every bit +of cover within easy reach of the bee-line to the cairn earth, for +which she was making; but for all that, there were many exposed places +that could not be avoided, and there the cruel sun had us at his +mercy, and blinded us with his naked rays. Nor were we alone in our +misfortune. Half-way over, at a spot where the glittering pools lay +thickest, we met a vixen and four cubs heading straight for our sett. +She, too, was all anxiety; and seeing this, I began to wonder why the +stopping of an earth should occasion such widespread consternation. + +My mother traversed the mossy spaces between the pools at the utmost +speed of the weakly cub by her side, whilst my sister and I followed +a little to one side, so as to avoid treading on the long, terrifying +shadows they cast. On coming within sight of the earth she stopped +suddenly in her stride, and as she did so my astonished eyes lighted +on the object which had arrested her steps. It was the enemy--it was +man. I recognized him at first sight, unlike though he was to the +being I had vaguely imagined. There is no reason for surprise that I +did. For what beast of the field or wild stands erect with such ease +on his hind-feet, or has face, fore-paws and ears as bare of fur as +is the skin of a mangy fox? Moreover, I caught his scent; and it was +the same scent as had tainted the stone on the cliff, that tainted the +faggots--evidence hardly less convincing than the steady gaze of his +eyes and the shout he raised. At the awful sound we turned tail and +melted into the brake. + +Round and round the great furze cover we stole, until I thought that +the vixen would never come to a standstill; but at last she chose for +sanctuary a tangled corner near a runnel, and there, amidst the russet +bracken, my weary sisters curled themselves up and fell asleep. + +Whether the vixen slept at all I cannot say, but I do not think +she did, for she was wide awake when I dropped off, and she was +all eyes and ears when I was startled out of my sleep by three +noisy wood-pigeons overhead. As we looked at one another across the +tiny stream, a strange sound reached me from the direction of the +wood below the tor, or, it might be, from the tor itself. It was a +high-pitched note, very penetrating, and a little like a cock's crow, +though differing from it even more than a curlew's whistle does from +an otter's. The instant I heard it I knew that it came from no bird's +throat, but whence it came I could not tell. + +What a simpleton I was at that time! The toot of the horn is as +familiar to me now as the clatter of shod horses. I know, too, now +what it portends; but at that moment, though fear was mingled with my +curiosity, I should not have been very uneasy, save for the obvious +anxiety of my mother. Not that she fussed about as if flurried, but +I could see her alarm in her unusual alertness. When a cock-pheasant +flew past and skimmed the brake that mantled the steep slope below us, +her eyes followed it with an eagerness that seemed to demand from it +the secret of its startled flight. + +Again the horn sounded, this time from the neighborhood of the +withered oak between us and the tor. Then I heard a horse galloping +and saw a flash of scarlet at the foot of the slope where the pheasant +had dropped in. What did it all mean? Were we foxes in any way +concerned in the unwonted proceedings that were disturbing the great +silence that had till then brooded over the cover? The suspense, the +uncertainty, which the vixen's evident distress intensified, the vague +sense of danger, were painful; but all doubts were soon dispelled, +"Eloo in! Hi, Forester! Eloo in!" The rasping yell with which this was +uttered betokened some sinister happening, though we looked in vain to +the vixen, round whom my sisters gathered, to enlighten us as to its +nature. + +At this point my recollection is blurred, save for two things, the +crashing noise in the brake and the flight of the vixen and my sisters +along the watercourse, with the pack in pursuit. I shall always hear +the one and see the other. If ever I was terrified in my life it was +then; and between the clamor of the hounds and the thundering tread +of a hundred galloping horses I was so bewildered that I knew not +where to turn. But as the noise died away my nerves steadied, and, +rising from my crouching attitude, I peeped through the furze to try +to discover what was happening. For a long time I could see nothing in +the deserted valley below; but, continuing my watch, I perceived the +vixen and my little sister coming along the open bank of the stream, +with the leading hounds in close pursuit and apparently gaining at +every stride. + +I am too old now to feel strongly as I did then, but still I am +affected at the recollection of the vixen striving to save my sister +by devices such as a partridge will employ to divert an enemy from its +young. How the chase ended I could not see; but the sudden ceasing of +the clamor made me fear the worst. + +In the silence that succeeded I made for the cairn earth, expecting to +get in there; but that, too, was stopped. Whilst I was debating what +to do, I heard the huntsman's voice, and had scarcely regained my old +station by the watercourse when the hounds opened on my line. They +were coming towards me at a great pace. Without an instant's delay I +was off, and, stealing down the long slope, reached the edge of the +cover, where I checked my steps to look out and see that the coast was +clear. Except the blazing sunlight, there was nothing in the bottom or +on the bare slope beyond to scare me, and as the hounds were half-way +down the hill, I committed myself to the open. + +I had not got far when there was a scream, a human scream, fit to +wake the dead. It startled me horribly, but did not cause me to +deviate a hair's-breadth from the direction in which I had set my +head. Near the brow I stopped and looked back at the crowd of dogs +and horsemen. It puzzled me then, it puzzles me yet, to know why they +should wish to kill me, but I had not a doubt that was their object. +The clamor did not greatly terrify me at that stage of the chase, as I +felt sure I should be able to elude my pursuers in the fen for which I +was making. + +I held about the same lead across the next valley and up the hill +beyond, but the heat of the sun was beginning to tell on me before +I reached the wide belt of rushes near the mere. When I had crossed +it the hounds had greatly reduced the distance between us; I was +beginning to flag, and the sanctuary I sought was nearly two miles +away. The going was heavy over the marshland, where never a breath +stirred, but I struggled on as best I could towards the islet of my +favorite pool, spreading terror amongst grebe and hern along the +silent ways I threaded. + +At length I gained the pool, and as I left the finger of land jutting +towards the islet and took to the water, I felt I was near an asylum +at last. Vain hope! When I was barely half-way across an accursed +magpie espied me, and came and hovered just over my head, making +a loud chattering noise that the hounds must have heard. I looked +straight before my muzzle, pretending to take no notice of the +plague, and as soon as I landed, lay down in my old ambush that half +concealed me from the exasperating bird. "The pest will surely hold +his tongue now that I am in lair," thought I. But no; he chattered +louder than ever, as if it delighted him to betray me to the pack, +whose whimpering I could now hear. In my exhausted condition I was +very loth to move, but, seeing that to remain there was certain death, +I left my hiding-place and plunged into the water on the further side +of the islet. My tormentor came with me, and never shall I forget his +harsh, jeering cries whilst I swam to the nearest alders, and even +whilst I made my slow way through the sparse thorns that ran up to +the furze about the earth. Under the close brake I was free from the +traitor, and it cheered me to be so near the sett and a safe refuge. +As I followed the beaten track leading to it I was indifferent to my +pursuers, for I felt sure that the badger must long ere this have +opened a way in. + +Alas! it had proved beyond his powers. The ground about the faggots +was littered with the bits he had chopped off, but he had failed to +effect an entry. Realizing my desperate position, I almost gave myself +up for lost. Fortunately, in my extremity--and a fox's brain is never +clearer than then--I wondered where the badger had bestowed himself. +Where he could get I could get, and if I could only trace him I might, +despite the stiffness of my limbs and the nearness of the hounds, even +yet escape with my life. + +Picking up his trail, I followed it along the base of the hill to +a thicket, dense and matted as bramble, blackthorn and furze could +make it. Through this I passed until I reached a small cave at the +foot of a sheer wall of rock. The trail led inwards, and at the very +back I came on my friend. He looked most vicious at first; but when +he recognized the bedraggled cub before him, the expression of his +venerable face quickly changed to one of compassion, and then again +to hate as he heard the hounds, now running mute, crash through the +undergrowth. It was an awful moment. It behoved me to find, and that +instantly, some secure position out of reach of the infuriated pack. +The leading hounds were at the mouth of the cave when, by a last +effort, I gained a scanty ledge, almost too narrow for foothold, a +little way above the badger's head. I was never in a more desperate +position, but fear glued me to the spot; and better vantage-ground for +viewing the fight that followed could not have been. "Keep cool," I +shouted to my old friend as well as I could for panting; and before I +could repeat my warning, the hounds were on him. + +There are things which seem incredible unless witnessed; and I +would not now submit the evidence of my own eyes did I not feel it +my bounden duty to record the facts which redound to the fame of +the badger and to the glory of the wild. But how is it possible to +describe what happened so the picture presented may approach in +vividness the savage scene I looked upon? I have seen the waves dash +and dash again into a cavern, only to be as often rolled back till the +tide had spent its force and left the cave as silent as at first. The +inrush of the pack was like the on-coming of an irresistible wave; but +the badger, with his back to the low arch, was not to be overwhelmed +whilst he could keep his feet and ply jaw and claw. Only three hounds +could get at him at a time; and when it came to deadly fang work, +what were these soft creatures of the kennel to the most formidable +beast of the brake? As fast as the badger could deal with them, hound +after hound withdrew howling, till there was scarcely one of the +twenty couple composing the pack on whom his terrible jaws had not +closed. + +While the fray was at its height the badger was at times partly hidden +under his assailants, and thus arose no small danger to myself. One +big brute of a hound there was who espied me where I stood, still as +if carved in stone, save for my heaving flank and lolling tongue. This +must have caught his eye, and time after time he leapt at me from the +backs of the writhing mass below; but for want of steady foothold, +he failed as often to reach me. The last time he fell he slipped +between two hounds, and the badger had him at his mercy. It did my +ears good to hear him howl; and no sooner did the badger let him go +than he retreated over the backs of the hounds behind with a celerity +which did credit even to his long legs. Through the creeper that half +curtained the mouth of the cave I saw him take up his station amongst +the rearmost ranks of those hounds who were baying their loudest from +the brambles. + +Shortly after this, one of two mounted men, whose progress was +arrested by the thicket, jumped from his horse and plunged into the +tangle. Only his hot face and bald head showed above the brake as he +came slowly along, cracking his whip as best he could for the briers +that reached to his neck and clung to his red sleeve. Whilst he fought +his way through, the other kept screaming at the top of his voice: +"Whip 'em off! The brute'll murder my best hounds!" The huntsmen had +no difficulty in whipping off the crew of howlers outside; but it was +no easy task to call off the staunch hounds that, despite the terrible +punishment they were receiving, would have carried on the fight until +they dropped from exhaustion. At last he succeeded, remounted his +horse, and rode away with the other. + +In the silence that ensued my position appeared to me still most +unenviable. Would the badger, on whom I had brought all this trouble, +avenge himself on me for the wrong I had done him? I tried to read his +intentions, but he gave no sign. Presently he looked up at me, and in +fear and trembling I returned his gaze. A wild light blazed in his +black eyes, but no trace of rage against myself. Then I took courage, +though obliged to look away from his blood-stained face, so horrible +was the sight it presented. His must have been a noble nature to bear +such punishment without resentment, and I am glad he never guessed my +fears. + +How I wronged this chivalrous old aristocrat in thinking it possible +he could use his giant strength to crush the life out of a helpless +cub! The old fellow was as friendly as though nothing had happened +when, at last, falling rather than leaping, I came down from my perch +to try to find relief from the cramp that was knotting my muscles. +His awful panting had by that time somewhat subsided; but I was truly +sorry to see him in such a deplorable state, and I suppose I showed it +in my face, for he said: "Do not grieve on my account, little brother. +I shall soon recover from my scratches." + +My legs were too stiff to let me lie down, so I stood by his side +whilst he licked his wounds and smoothed his ruffled coat, and at +nightfall, when he left, I staggered after him as best I could. After +drinking at a spring on the way, we came to the earth, from the mouth +of which, as I rejoiced to see, the faggots had been removed. There +the badger left me and went up the hill toward the farm-land over +which he wandered nearly every night in search of food. At what time +he returned I do not know, as I did not awake till late the following +afternoon, when I was aroused from my deep sleep by the noise he made +on resuming his excavations. + +There are some things which I would gladly be silent about, but which +are necessary to the completeness of my story. + +Chief of these are the grievous losses on that day's cub hunting. +My little sister and--sadder still--my dear mother were killed by +the hounds. It was best they should die together, for the cub was so +dependent on the vixen, and the vixen so inseparable from the cub, +that I am sure they could not have lived happily apart. Our common +trouble drew my surviving sister and myself closer to each other, and +for a few weeks we lived together in the earth, though we went our +several ways at night, and very seldom hunted in concert. + +The close of this period is marked by an event of great moment to +myself, which, though it does not redound to my credit, must be told +in some detail. + +It is necessary first to state that for some reason the hounds gave +up coming to our country, and that in their place a murderous +gang of ruffians infested the district, and by traps, by poisoned +carcasses, by terriers, by digging and by filling the earths with +smoke, succeeded in destroying nearly every fox in the countryside. +Fortunately our earth proved impregnable to the spade and proof +against smoke; whilst the badger made such havoc with the dogs that +were sent against us that, after two determined but futile assaults, +we were left in peace. For a time we had to exercise the utmost +caution in avoiding the numerous traps, which were artfully concealed +in the runs leading from the earth; but afterwards these were removed, +and we might roam without molestation over our desolate wilds. + +Hares had been all but exterminated, and rabbits and wild-fowl so +shot down and thinned that it was hard to get a living, and at last +my necessities tempted me to that most perilous of undertakings, a +raid on the poultry of the neighboring farm. Besides the everlasting +crowing of the cocks, I had heard the noise made by the flocks of +housed turkeys, geese, and ducks, as I returned at dawn from the empty +warren on the dunes; and this had set me longing for them. + +I did not enter lightly on this my first foray, which I knew to be +fraught with danger. My plans were laid with the fullest deliberation, +and in the deep silence of my den I carefully thought out every step +in my expedition. One of the strong points of a fox is attention to +details. We go over and over every turn, we weigh every chance, and +try to foresee every contingency. Indecision and flurry are not in our +nature; we know what we are going to do, and we go coolly through with +it. Our best-laid schemes may and do miscarry at times; nevertheless, +with the overconfidence of cubhood, I really thought that the +precautions I meant to take excluded all risks to my skin. Why, I had +mapped out in my brain every inch of the incursion; I had selected the +best way of approach; I was prepared with the safest line of retreat; +and, what is of no small moment, I had arranged for the disposal of +the kill, which was likely to be a big one. + +Eager as I was to realize my sanguine expectations, I twice postponed +my visit, hoping for the cover of a storm that threatened; but on +the third night, though the weather had cleared, I resolved to defer +the raid no longer. The crescent moon was just above the hill when +I stretched myself at the mouth of the earth and set out to put +well-matured plans into execution. I walked up the rugged hillside +with all the circumspection and gravity becoming a great undertaking, +and stayed awhile on the crest to reconnoitre the scene of my +operations. The farm-house, the outbuildings, the yards, were all +silent. No foot stirred, no bark of dog broke the stillness which +brooded over the rugged slope, the smooth fields, and the endless +waste of sand beyond. + +Satisfied that the coast was clear, I made my way down the hill +by a path my pads had laid--for I was on my trail leading to the +dunes--and, keeping to the shelter of a hedge of blackthorns, reached +the wall under the elms. Over it I crawled to the lower yard where +the big pool is. Its muddy edge was white with stranded feathers, and +so was the track leading past the mowhay, where rats were rustling in +the straw. But I left them behind, and with stealthy stride reached +the scene of action. A cock, unsuspicious of my presence, crowed in +the first house I came to, but the door was a new one, and a weasel +could not have got under it; so I passed in disgust to the next shed, +which contained the turkeys. But if the hen-house was effectually +closed, the turkey-house was hermetically sealed, and I thought that +the farmer must be a cruel brute not to give the poor birds better +ventilation. + +"They would be but dry eating, even if I could get them," said I, as +I crossed the deeply-rutted road to the big house where my nose told +me the geese were shut up. This building boasted a tall chimney, which +made it look quite lofty; but it was on a small hole in the bottom of +the door, from which came the goodliest of smells, that I fixed my +attention, and without a moment's delay I set about enlarging it. The +wood round it was very rotten, but I could not make the opening as big +as I wished, on account of a piece of iron which was fastened across +the door on the inside, some five or six inches above the level of +the ground. Whilst I was at work the cackling inside was deafening; +and when, by a furious effort, I squeezed my way in, I found myself +in a veritable pandemonium. I really think that geese take their +troubles more noisily than any birds in the world, except, perhaps, +guinea-fowls; and I, who love quiet, would have left them severely +alone if I could have got at the fowls or the turkeys. Their clumsy +wings, too, can make you see stars if they catch you fairly across +the eyes, as theirs caught me more than once before my work was done. + +Now it is one thing to slay in hot blood, another to tell at your +ease what happened. I will merely say that the lust for slaughter was +strong in me, and that in a short time all the flock but one lay dead +on the stone floor. + +Not an instant did I waste before setting about the next step in my +projected night's work, the removal of the biggest bird to the dune I +had chosen for my cache. I hoped to take all--it could be done--but +I would make sure of the best. My grandest victim was the gander. I +had pulled him out from under two geese, and was bearing him over the +bodies of the flock towards the door, when, to my horror, I saw that +the hole had been stopped from the outside. + +While the killing went on I had been deaf to everything, and I believe +that a wagon might have passed through the yard without my noticing +it. But now I became alive to every sound. I dropped the gander and +listened. At first I could hear nothing but the thumping of my own +heart, still affected by the speed of the kill; but presently the +silence was broken by the sound of a man's footsteps on the stones at +the back of the house. A few minutes later I heard the heavy tread on +the roof, whereat I fell into a state of abject terror, which caused +me to run round the walls like a rat in a trap. + +My enemy did not remain long, and when he came down he made for the +farm-house, muttering as he went. Now, thought I, is the moment to +regain my freedom. Escape by the door seemed out of the question; a +small paneless window through which I could see a single star was +hopelessly beyond my reach; but a third outlet, the chimney, remained, +and by it I might find deliverance. + +Here I met with an unexpected, but not insuperable, difficulty; for a +foot or so up, the flue was choked with old nests. I closed my eyes +whilst I pulled them down; but the suffocating dust, which there was +no draught to carry away, compelled me to return every now and again +to the floor to breathe. This inconvenience, however, was a mere +trifle, and after drawing a few breaths I returned to my work. It +cheered me to hear the debris falling, and to know that every stroke +of my fore-paws brought me nearer to my liberty. Imagine my dismay, +then, on discovering, after all my toil, that a flat stone capped the +chimney and prevented my escape. Though it smelt abominably, I made +frantic efforts to remove it. I pawed it, I bit it, I tried to raise +it with the top of my poll, with my arched back, but place myself +as I might, I could not find a position that enabled me to get good +purchase owing to the width of the chimney. Had it been half an inch +narrower, I might have managed to dislodge the stone, heavy though it +was, for I had felt it yield a little when I made my greatest effort. +But there was no result from what force I could use, and seeing that I +was only wasting time and strength, I scrambled down the flue to the +heap of fallen rubbish, which gave way under me and spread out over +the floor. + +The geese lay as I had left them. It was a big kill, and no mistake. +The floor was white with birds, and in places they were two deep. As +became a dog-fox I had done my work well, and the birds were all dead +except one, which raised its head now and again in the far corner +under the window. I had not the least inclination to touch it again, +and though I must have been very hungry, I did not think of eating. +I was in a trap; I knew it, so did my enemy, and I knew that he knew +it. That he would return at daybreak I felt sure, and that he would +kill me I had little doubt. At the very thought I grovelled with +fear among the bodies of my victims, until the determination to live +aroused me to fresh exertions. In my desperation I tried to bite away +the nails that studded the sound wood about the hole by which I had +entered; I tried to dig my way under the door, but I did not succeed +in dislodging a single stone. Oh for half an hour of my friend the +badger! I made frantic, unavailing leaps at the open window; I cruised +round and round the walls until I must have travelled miles; time +after time I scrambled up the chimney, only in the end to resume my +aimless rounds. At length, weary with my endeavors, continued through +many hours, I lay down again, panting, amongst the geese. + +The stillness of that dead-house was profound. Outside, too, all was +still, save for the soughing of the wind in the leafless elms. This +was the voice of an old friend, and it soothed me somewhat till it +brought back to my mind the picture of the reeds bending over the +rippled surface of my favorite pool. At the thought of my freedom +in the fen I jumped to my feet and tried again and again, without +success, each possible outlet, and then once more lay down with +heaving side and lolling tongue to wait for the end. + +Presently a cock crowed; and at last dawn peeped through the window, +and found me a more pitiable object than the old goose who squinted +at me every time she raised her blood-stained head. It would be day +soon, but as yet the light was gray. It was the hour that had ofttimes +surprised me in the midst of my hunting, and hurried me across the +misty fen to my kennel in the brake; the hour when every carnivorous +creature of the night steals by hidden ways to his retreat, and +conceals himself from the cruel eye of day. + +As the light grew stronger I found myself rising involuntarily to my +feet to return to the earth, but the strong walls compelled me to +stay and await my fate. Soon a pale, rosy light suffused the sky, and +presently the first beam of sunshine came in at my window and fell on +an old spider's web stretched over a hole in the wall of the chimney. +I envied the owner of the web: I envied the dead geese: I would at +that moment have been even the broken starling's egg lying there on +the waste-heap, or the skeleton of a fly dangling at the end of the +gossamer. + +I heard a door slammed and the noise of footsteps. They were +deliberate, heavy, merciless, and they were approaching the door +behind which I stood listening. Just when I expected to see it +slightly opened, and was on the point of shamming dead, there was +a loud kick against it which upset my plan and made me rush up the +chimney. + +Then the door was unbarred and opened. + +"All dead, are 'ee?" + +"Aye, all dead." + +After a pause the newcomer added: + +"You're as putty a lot ever I reared; in another month you'd have been +ready for market, and I looked to 'ee to pay part of the rent." + +Then in a voice like thunder he bawled out: + +"Where art thee, Master Reynard? Ah, thee scoundrel, thee needn't try +to get out by the chimbley! thee'rt wastin' thy precious time. I'll +help thy lordship through the front door in a minute. An'rew, bring +the sack here." + +Presently I heard two men below, and the door closed behind them. + +"He's up the chimbley and safe enuf. You hold the sack whilst I stir +him up with this eer pole." + +Two awful thumps I endured without flinching, but the third knocked +my hind-legs from under me, and I fell all of a heap into the bag. + +"So far, so good. Now we'll tie a stone to the sack and drop the lot +into the deep corner of the goslin' pool. The varmint must die. I'll +go and fetch a bit of rope." + +Whilst the farmer was gone the man opened the mouth of the sack and +looked down on me. Not satisfied, apparently, with the half light +of the outhouse, he took me into the open and peered at me again. I +thought I recognized him the first time he inspected me; but now, with +the morning sun on his ruddy cheeks I was quite sure. He was the first +man I had seen, the man who was on the cairn the morning my mother was +killed by the pack; he was the man who, I felt certain, had stopped +the earths. I was calm now. I had gone through the agony of death, but +still I did not want to die. Life was sweet, very sweet. I was not +like a mangy old fox; I was in the pride of my cub-hood. + +"What a beauty!" said the earth-stopper, as he continued to gaze at +me. "What a grand fox, to be sure! If An'rew can save 'ee, then thee +shan't die, now there." Saying this he let go his hold on the sack and +turned away. You can depend upon it I made a quick exit and sped off. +I hope no serious harm came to Andrew. + +I sought a new home, looking therefor on the great moors. For a time +I had a life comparatively free from care, but though few of the +changes in the autumn life of the wild escaped me, I was slow to +interpret those signs that foretold the severe weather that was to +suddenly set in. It is, however, hardly matter for wonder that I was +blind to the warnings they conveyed, for the frosts of our peninsula +are, as a rule, so slight as to relax their feeble grip by noon-day; +even the smallest birds suffer little discomfort. Indeed, I have +sometimes thought that migratory birds flock to our shores because of +the mildness of the climate and the hospitality its feeding grounds +offer; but this is only the view of a fox, who welcomes these aliens, +and takes heavy toll of their number. Whatever the cause may be, +there is no doubt about the fact. This year, however, the flocks of +fieldfares, always the first to arrive, were earlier than was their +wont. I noted, too, that despite the normal mildness of the weather, +our few hibernating creatures suddenly withdrew into their winter +quarters; the hedge-hogs to the drifts of leaves and hollow holes of +dead trees, and the dormice to their nests in the low bushes. These +incidents did not seem to concern me; though I was surprised at the +abandonment of the fen by the otters, till presently I learnt that the +late salmon had already passed up the river. That seemed to explain +it; for the otters always follow the salmon, as every fox knows who +has had the luck to find a half-eaten fish on the bank. + +I am convinced that all these creatures were conscious of approaching +hard weather; and when I discovered that the squirrels with which the +wood abounded, had sought their nests in the top-most branches of the +red pines, a sense of the evil times before us came to me, too. + +I noticed while I lay from dawn to sunset amongst the undergrowth +that a strange calm, presaging sudden change of weather, brooded over +the solemn wood. The silence was unbroken until twilight, when the +starlings settled in and mingled their vespers with the soughing of +the rising wind. Then when I left my lair, threaded the boles of the +pines and came to the beeches, the leaves crackled under foot, a sign +of cold, dry weather; but I did not feel the keen wind until I gained +the shoulder of the ridge to the north, which is crowned by the tor. +At midnight on the moors the cold became intense; when, near dawn, +I crossed the upland road which since some heavy rains had been a +quagmire, I found it hard as rock, and the backwater of the pool above +the ford was frozen to the edge of the current. On the marshy ground +below, the cracking of the ice under my tread disturbed several snipe; +and between the alders and my own lair two woodcock got up, which, +from their weary flight, I should say had only just arrived. + +My snug kennel under the furze looked doubly snug that cold, hard +dawn; and whatever privations the future might have in store, there +was at least every token of present abundance. + +"The long-bills are pretty plentiful," thought I, as I curled up on my +dry couch. "Hungry times are over; there will be food galore now." + +I slept through the day and sought the fen at nightfall, to find +the pool and the mere, or rather those parts of them that remained +unfrozen, crowded with wild-fowl. Strangers though we were to one +another, they proved very wary and difficult of approach, despite the +curiosity my appearance aroused in them. + +So matters stood for some time, during which I cared to remain out +only part of the night; but when my coat got thick enough to resist +the piercing cold I hunted far and late, seldom reaching my kennel +before the sun showed red above the sea. + +During the period of dry frost I fared well enough; but a snow-storm +which occurred at the time of the new moon and lasted for two days and +two nights, rendered foraging difficult, and made me feel a stranger +in my own country. Except in rudest outline, it was no longer like +itself. The fen was a great white plain, broken by a big and a small +pool and the winding stream that fed them. In place of the sombre +array of pines under the tor, usually as marked a feature in our +landscape as were the great reed-beds themselves, a vast slope of snow +met the eye; and the tor might have been a fleecy cloud in the leaden +sky. Strangest of all was the aspect of the dunes, which looked like +great waves of pure foam arrested in their roll. + +Many a time I scanned this white undulating waste for the hare that +frequented the sand-hills, hoping to mark him in a position where it +would be possible to stalk him. I say, "possible" because of the great +powdery drifts that rose like new dunes across my hidden trails and +barred my progress in every direction. Moreover, each fall of snow +caused me fresh trouble; for it stultified the knowledge I had gained, +and compelled me to find new ways to my hunting grounds. + +To add to my difficulties, soon only a few landmarks were left, and +these hard to recognize--horseshoe of thatch about the short chimney +was all there was to show the position of the cottage, and it was hard +to believe that the snow-laden elms were the same trees whose golden +leafage but a month before had cast so deep a shadow on the farmyard +where the cock pheasant had been feeding with the fowls. On the edge +of the ploughed field next the mowhay were the tracks made by the two +wary rabbits whose home was under the big rick, and the few partridges +which had escaped our jaws kept near the rubbing post in the middle of +the field. + +But I recall that fallow best by the course I had across it after the +little jack-hare, who led me such a round as I have seldom gone. I +lost sight of him in the field beyond the orchard, where the turnips +lay in heaps, but followed his line up and down the hill to the head +of the fen, across which he went almost in the teeth of a raging +blizzard. He had ringed the bulrushes in the heart of the bog before +making one of his baffling sidelong leaps, and then set his face for +the foot-hills under my lair. The scent was hot amongst the scattered +furze-bushes through which he led me, and so heavily clogged were +his feet with snow that I felt sure I should overtake him before he +reached the tamarisks on the other side of the hill; but I underrated +his endurance. I followed him to the waste of sand-hills, only to find +that he had disappeared in a drift at the foot of the highest dune. In +his desperation--for I was all but on him--he must have plunged into +this and worked his way far in, as I could not find him, though I dug +and dug into the smothering mass in every direction. Nothing remained +but to make my weary way home through the blinding, driving storm. +There are more blanks than prizes in the life of even a clever fox. + +The scent lay wonderfully that night, and I followed it as easily +as I had shortly before followed the scent of a bittern across the +snow between the reed-bed and the bulrushes. It was in this isolated +clump that the otters so often laid up before the frost hardened the +trembling mass environing it; but now I noticed that some of these +wily creatures had beaten a deep track across the narrow neck of the +big bend of the river, though I did not once get a glimpse of them. + +I must pass over much detail of the varying fortunes of that eventful +time to speak of the mis-adventures that befell me on an expedition +when I unwittingly exposed myself to a great danger, and was lucky to +escape with my life. I had risen from my kennel, stretched myself, +sniffed the biting wind, listened, shaken my thick coat, and then, as +was my wont since giving up my journeys to the hills, first visited +the few remaining bits of boggy ground in sheltered places of the +brake, with the hope of picking up one of the woodcock that resorted +there to feed. I approached one spot after another against the wind +and with the utmost stealth; but, despite my extreme caution, I +succeeded only in flushing the birds, so wary had they become through +being harassed--chiefly, I believe, by young cubs. + +After lapping some water below a cascade hung with icicles, I left +the soft margin of the rapid runnel which had been riddled by the +bills of the woodcock and, emerging from the furze, stole down to the +thicket of blackthorns. But my nose told me a fox had been there +already; so I at once made for my favorite pool, whence the cries of +various wild-fowl reached my ears. I knew that they consisted of duck, +widgeon, and teal; but from the noise they made, I judged them to be +more numerous than usual, and so they proved. + +Through a gap in the reeds I gazed once and again at the tantalizing +sight. What more maddening spectacle for a hungry fox than that of +game beyond reach? I ransacked my brain to discover a way to get at +them. It was beyond my powers. The edge of the acre of water that +remained open was a score of yards from the reeds and scarcely less +from the island. There was only one course practicable, to disturb the +birds and to take up a hidden position from which I should be within +striking distance of the pool. The snowy surface which ringed them in +denied concealment save at one point, and that was much too far from +the water to suit my methods, for the scanty bit of cover was too long +springs from the brink of the ice. Any attempt to rush the birds from +there seemed vain. Many a time since the frost set in I had stood and +weighed the chances it offered, only to scorn the idea of using it +for an ambuscade. To-night, somehow--was it because of my ravenous +hunger?--the clump of sags, though weighed down by the snow, did not +look quite so hopeless as before the last fall; and I decided to +accept its hard conditions and give it a trial. It was an exasperating +thing to be obliged to scare the birds; but there was no help for it, +and so forward I went. + +My forefoot was hardly through the fringe of reeds when a mallard saw +me and gave the alarm. In an instant a hundred pairs of eyes were +turned on me; and, as if fascinated by the sight of so fine a fox, +their owners did not take wing until I was nearly half-way across +the snow. Then, with a loud "quar, quar, quar" from the ducks, all +the birds rose in a confused company, the noise of their wing-beats +drowning for a moment the loud rustling of the swaying reeds. I +watched them divide into their several skeins, which then wheeled +above my head and flew seawards, the widgeon in the van. + +Before seeking my ambush, I crossed the ice to the other side of the +pool, in the hope of finding a disabled bird in the thick cover, but +saw nothing save a few dead starlings that had fallen from their +roosting perches on the reeds. The flesh of starlings is nearly as +loathsome to me as the flesh of carrion-feeding birds; so I left +their stark bodies lying there, and trotted over the wide stretch of +snow to the island. When crossing, I noticed a small hole in the ice. +It had been made and kept open by otters that they might come there +to breathe whilst fishing; but I did not know this at the time. The +island, though it reeked with the smell of duck, was blank; so I made +for the sags again, and crawled under them carefully in order not to +disturb their white coating. Gently as I pushed my pointed muzzle +between the stems the frozen snow rattled down in a shower, and this +caused me much misgiving, for I feared that the exposed blades, black +with decay, would be sure to excite the suspicion of the quick-eyed +fowl, and warn them off the water. + +When ensconced, I found that my ambush barely screened me, and, what +was more serious, it seemed much farther from the pool than in the +bloodthirsty moment when I had decided to use it. However, being in, +I meant to stay, and so, the tip of my muzzle between two bent blades +that grew a few inches in front of the clump, and nothing but the tag +of my brush projecting at the rear, I began my vigil. It was bitter +work watching with the gale in your teeth, but I might have noticed +it less had the ambush been a little nearer the water. Nevertheless, +being of a sanguine temperament, I threw sense and sinew into my work +as if success were assured. My ears were spread their widest, to catch +any sound that reached them above the lapping of the water and the +swish of the encompassing reeds; my eyes, if not fixed on the pool, +scanned the snowy space between; and my legs were gathered under me +ready to spring. One by one some feathers the ducks had left, drifted +to the nearer side and were lost to sight; once I caught the faint +wing-beats of passing wild-fowl and, raising my eyes, saw the long +wedge of them black against the bright stars; but not a bird settled +on the water. + +Hour after hour passed in this manner, and my patience was just giving +out when an incident occurred that dispelled all thought of trying +my luck elsewhere. It was not the fish that jumped clear of the +surface, which induced me to stay, but the great boil in the water +near where it fell. I believed this had been caused by an otter, and +quite expected to see the creature land on a small jagged point of +ice hard by, where the snow had been much trampled. Nor did mere +curiosity keep me an interested spectator: I was expecting to get fish +for supper after my wasteful friend had taken one or two bites of +his prey. Whilst I watched for his appearance, and watched in vain, +a rather larger fish leapt out--once--twice; and the third time it +was hardly above the surface when the open jaws of a huge pike showed +close behind it, and I could see the bristling array of teeth before +a tremendous swirl hid them again. In all my experiences I have only +once witnessed anything that took me more by surprise; and from that +night I have never swum across to the island without fear of being +seized by the grim monster which I now knew tenanted the pool. + +The pike had scarcely disappeared before three teal, whose flight I +had not heard, settled in the middle of the water and set my brush +waving with excitement. Totally unsuspicious of my presence they swam +towards me, and approached so close to the ice as to be completely +hidden by the bank of snow near its edge. Judging their position as +well as I could by the delicious scent that reached me, I made two +tremendous leaps, which landed me amongst them before they could take +wing. But on account of the spray and the shock of the icy-cold water +I missed all three; though my jaws snapped close over the spot where +one of them dived. He came up yards away from where I was awaiting +him, rose as only a teal can rise, and flew off in company with his +mates, who were wheeling about overhead. + +With a rankling sense of failure I scrambled with some difficulty on +to the ice, shook my coat and, turning my back on my ambush, trotted +off as briskly as I could in the direction of the mere. Through the +long wait on the snow and the coldness of the water into which I had +plunged, my feet were so benumbed that I could scarcely feel them +under me when crossing the bog. Nevertheless, I stumbled on until +warmth came back to them, and then hunted the waste beyond, working +across the wind on the margin of the laid reed-beds in the hope of +scenting moorhens or water-rail to break my long fast. Most carefully +did I try the patches of sedgy cover in the loops of the stream where +I had seldom failed; but even there I met with disappointment, the +few birds I winded evading me by diving under the ice which in places +covered the strong current. + +I must have trotted miles along the zigzag course I took, before I +reached the expanse of windswept snow under which lay the frozen mere. +From inside the fringe of reeds I could hear the honking of the geese +on the open water, and at times a sound that was new to me, a wild +trumpeting which seemed to come from where the sea was thundering on +the bar. For a fox naturally prompt in decision, I stood there long, +considering whether to make a journey that offered but poor prospect +of success. In the wild-fowl's feeding-ground I had come from there +was at least makeshift for an ambush; on the level ice-field before +me there was not cover enough to hide a mouse, and the chance of a +kill was very, very small. Choice of supper, however, lay between +cold starling, bitter and dry, and hot goose, sweet and juicy--if I +could get it--and goose or nothing was my resolve. I set my face for +the spot where the scarcely discernible specks on the snow showed +the game to be thickest; and if my coat turned white in winter like +that of a stoat I had seen a few nights before, I might have stolen +at least part of the way unobserved. As it was, my reddish-brown fur, +though lighter than in the summer, made me as conspicuous as a crow on +a stubble to the noisy sentinels overhead, which at once spread the +cry of "Fox afoot!" far and wide over the great mere. The only method +possible, then, in this wild-goose chase, was to keep going with the +most nonchalant air at my command, as if my sole object in approaching +the pool was to wash down a heavy supper; and it was lucky for my plan +that my thick coat hid my prominent ribs and concealed my half-starved +condition. + +Presently I could see that the wild-fowl lining the margin of the ice +were nearly all geese; but what riveted my gaze was a small group of +big white birds beyond, whose heads towered high above the mass of +insignificant-looking duck that crowded the water. + +"Halloo! something new in the feather line," thought I. "What monsters +are these?" + +And then it occurred to me that, as I had never cast eyes on their +kind before, it might be that these strangers had never set eyes on a +fox, and would entertain no fear of such an innocent-looking creature +come to quench his thirst. This line of reasoning seemed so plausible +that I licked my dry chops at the prospect of a lordly feast, and +for a moment felt inclined to despise such small birds as geese. +These latter had for some time held their heads turned my way; so, +to show that concealment was not dreamt of, I stood still, raised +my mask to the moon, just risen above the headland, and, though it +cost me a great effort, barked as joyously as only a full-fed fox can +bark. Rarely in my chequered life have I given utterance to notes so +expressive of content; and as the geese seemed greatly taken by the +music, I continued to indulge them, at the same time lessening the +distance that separated us. + +We were getting on quite good terms with one another--at least, so I +thought--until I was within--well, it is difficult to judge distance +over snow--perhaps fifty yards of them. Then I saw unmistakable +signs of restlessness. To lull suspicion I waved my brush in my most +fascinating manner; I rolled on my back, hoping to prove to them that, +murderer though I might be by repute, I was really a playful creature, +even on that wild winter's night; and in order to reassure the more +timorous, including a fine gander, who had retired from the front to +the rear rank, I began to cut capers, running after my brush in small +circles, or rather in a spiral which would bring me, as I could see +out of the corner of my eye, within rushing distance of two of the +most curious of my admirers. + +It was all in vain; my back was to the cowardly crew when they rose; +but even then I should have seized a laggard had I sprung a few hairs +higher, for the tip of my muzzle actually touched his cold webbed +foot. In my fall on the edge of the ice I all but lost my balance and +toppled into the water. Was I enraged when I recovered myself? I need +not enlarge on that. + +The flight of the geese alarmed the duck, which rose in a big cloud +from the mere, with a noise that would, I am sure, have bewildered any +animal except a fox, or perhaps an otter. But I ignored it, and amidst +their silly clamor and the loud whirr of their wings that momentarily +drowned the gale, fixed my eyes on the three swans--for such they +were--who did not take flight like the others, but swam up and down +the rough water in a manner which, if not expressive of contempt, was +at least aggressive and provocative. Their attitude was a revelation +to me; no bird had ever dared challenge me before; and if they see as +foxes do, these black-billed strangers who stared so hard must have +read blank amazement on my innocent face as I read defiance on theirs. +Nor was I free from irritation at the bravado conspicuous in their +puffed-out breasts and beruffled plumage. + +Suddenly my demeanor changed from amazement to rage. This certainly +they must have known from my flaming eyes, bristling fur, and +fluffed-out brush lashing from side to side; but up and down they +swam, hissing out their summons to come and do battle, if I dared. A +fox shrink from combat with feathered foes? Never! I jumped into the +water, and swam across the strong current for the spot they had chosen +for the contest. All three preserved their determined front until I +was close enough to see the yellow on their bills and the snake-like +look in their evil eyes, but at my next stroke two of them beat the +water with their great wings, rose in the air, and with loud-creaking +pinions flew over my head. + +"Cowards!" said I. "Why did you not stand your ground?" + +Whilst I wondered that the remaining bird did not follow their +example, a streak of blood on his white plumage told me he was +wounded; and the instant it caught my eye I felt he was mine. I never +doubted I should kill him as soon as I could close my jaws on his long +white neck; the only thing that troubled me was how I should manage +to land him on the ice with such a strong stream running. He was the +biggest of the three, a magnificent bird, and, except for his bill, +as white as the snow. To my astonishment, wounded though he was, he +actually swam to meet me and struck the first blow. Before I could +close with him he stretched his head over mine, caught me by the left +ear, and pressed me under water. For all my frantic struggles, I was +half drowned when I succeeded by a desperate effort in disengaging +myself from his grip. Rising close to him, I seized his neck through +the thick coat of feathers that protected it, and hung on. The +commotion that followed baffles description. With one wing--for the +other lay helpless--he lashed the water and spun around in circles, +taking me with him. It would have been better to let go than be +carried by the strong current I knew not whither; but in such a case a +fox can never resolve to relinquish his hold, and it was fortunate for +me that, before I had been taken out into the middle of the mere, my +teeth slipped off the smooth oily feathers. + +I had had enough. Exhausted and benumbed, I made for the ice, now a +long way off, and fighting the current with all my strength, had got +at length within a few yards of the jagged edge when, to my horror, +I heard the swan coming up, and gaining on me at every stroke. I did +my very utmost to reach the ice, but in vain; he was on me before +I could land. Again I was immersed; twice I planted my feet on the +edge, only to be pulled back. I had caught a Tartar, and escape seemed +impossible; even if he did not drown me, I feared I should be sucked +under the ice. The thought of losing my life roused me to a supreme +effort. With gnashing teeth I turned on my persecutor. My onset must +have terrified him, for he quailed before it and retreated a few yards +into the mere. With the help of my brush I whipped round, gained the +rough edge, and, putting forth my last bit of strength, dragged myself +on to the ice, and fell, utterly spent, just beyond his reach. + +For a time I lay there motionless, but by-and-by fear moved me to +turn my head and look for my enemy. There he was, proudly swimming up +and down before me with blood-stained breast and drooping wing, still +defiant. It was the most humiliating moment of my life. Presently +I rose and shook myself, but to no purpose. My bedraggled coat had +frozen, and hung stiffly on me. I exchanged looks of vengeance with +my terrible foe and slunk away. + +What a weary journey it was over the snow! How I floundered through +the deep drift that separated me from my cover, and how glad I was to +reach the friendly shelter of the brake! It was good to be screened +from the eyes of the countless wild-fowl who had watched the fight, +and whose cries had sounded like jeers as I tottered across the wide +ice-field. There is little bark left in a fox when the quacking of +ducks disconcerts him and makes his brake a welcome refuge. + +I sat down under the furze, brushed the bloody feather from my muzzle +and licked my paws, which had been cut by the sharp-edged ice in my +mad struggles to get out of the water. Though dawn was some two hours +off, I had no heart for any more hunting; so I made for my lair, which +I reached by way of the brambly thicket above the quarry, and, after +shaking my coat again, crept to where my snug kennel lay under its +double roof of gorse and snow. There, hidden from all eyes and from +the bright lights of the frosty sky, I curled up in the cup of dry +spines with my brush about my nose, and heedless of the gale that +raged above but could not reach me, forgot my troubles in sleep. + +The hounds drew the tor wood once, and only once, after the thaw, and +did not pay a single visit to our brake, though the earth was stopped +three times before the end of the season. The explanation is probably +to be found in the heavy rains which flooded the fen and made the +country unfit for hunting; big pools were found where none were seen +before, and the springs which broke out in many new places, together +with the surface-drainage of rain and melted snow, not only kept them +full, but seemed to turn every bit of spongy ground into a quagmire. + +Left to myself, I was as happy as a fox can be, and, forgetting the +hardships I had passed through, looked forward with pleasurable +anticipation--as, indeed, every wilding does--to the golden days of +summer, when troubles are few and delights many. Yet the tamarisks had +hardly begun to feather before there was brought into the countryside +a hound which proved the most terrible enemy that ever shadowed my +life. + +That the farmer had need of a more watchful guardian for the poultry +yard than old Shep I knew well enough from the serious losses he had +sustained. Besides fowls and ducks, even geese and turkeys had been +carried off, some by day under cover of mist and drizzling rain, but +mostly at night. I had seen foxes returning from that direction with +birds in their mouths; I had actually come on the caches, both inside +and outside our brake, where they had buried what they could not take +away; and this wholesale plundering caused me great anxiety, because +I knew it would lead to reprisals. But I never dreamt in my most +troubled moments of the scourge that was being prepared. Even had I +known that old Shep was to be superseded and another farm-dog put in +his place the news would not have alarmed me in the least, because of +the contempt I felt for the few specimens I had seen. But I was now to +learn that there are farm-dogs and farm-dogs. + +As soon as the new dog was led home I came on evidence of his work. +I found the body of a fox near the gap of a reclaimed field that had +recently been filched from our cover, and could see by the fang-marks +in his chest that he had been murdered. Now it was impossible that +old Shep should be the culprit. He was always asleep at midnight, +and bore a good character amongst us for utter harmlessness; yet +everything pointed to his guilt. A double trail led from the warm +carcass towards the farm buildings, and one was the trail of a dog. +I walked slowly up the hill, trying to unravel the mystery, and had +scarcely passed over the crest when a loud bay, very different from +old Shep's, broke the stillness of the night and explained everything. +Whilst I listened it was repeated again and again, and its meaning was +unmistakable. It was a warning to the fox from the new guardian of +the farmyard that the days of robbery without punishment were past, +and that a new regime had begun. I yapped no reply, for it was best +to let this dangerous customer believe that the fox he had killed was +a stranger to the district, and that none frequented the wild within +reach of his voice. + +I was very miserable now. Putting all together, I was convinced that +the newcomer would prove a dangerous enemy; and yet I felt that I +ought to see him, for I recollected my mother's story of the fox who, +like the otter in the quaking bog, judged the jackass by his bray, and +suffered agonies until he cast eyes on him. + +The opportunity offered a few days later without my seeking it. On a +lovely spring morning such as Nature often lavishes on her wildlings, +I lay stretched out amongst the scattered furze-bushes enjoying the +warmth of the sun, without a thought of any intrusion on the peaceful +scene. The lambs were bleating in the field next the dunes, the rooks +cawing in the leafing elms, and the farm-boy, whom I could not see for +the thicket of blackthorns at the foot of the croft, was singing the +drowsy song he sang always at his work. A magpie on the tallest of the +blackthorns seemed unusually interested in either the boy or his work; +but I thought nothing of that. Presently, however, to my surprise, it +began mobbing some creature. Then I rose to my feet, almost expecting +to view a fox, when, to my amazement, I saw a huge dog leave the +thicket and come into the open. It was the new hound, and the sight +of him made me catch my breath. What struck me most--for without it, +size and strength of jaw signify nothing--was the speed I read in his +long muscular limbs. He moved with an ease I had never seen in any +other dog. Had his hind-quarters sloped like mine, I should, like +the magpie, have taken him for a denizen of the wild; but the defect +betrayed him as the servant of man. + +My curiosity was excited, and I would not steal away to the near +brake until I had discovered what his business was. It was of the +simplest. He stopped about half-way up the hill at a spot full in +the hot sun, turned round two or three times as I do to make my bed, +and laid himself down amongst the tussocks of grass. I watched his +bloodshot eyes blink in the blazing light; noted his restlessness, +the twitching of his cropped ears, and the quivering of his great +nostrils, even whilst he seemed to doze; studied his huge bull-terrier +head, raised when a yellowhammer settled on the golden bush behind +him; shuddered at the array of crowded teeth when he yawned. + +He may have lain an hour amid the bright new herbage before the boy +whistled. His ears showed that he heard, but he took no further +notice. When the whistle was repeated he growled. Then the boy +screamed, as I have heard the huntsman scream after me; and the great +brindled brute leapt to his feet and bounded down the hill at a pace I +had not thought any creature capable of. I knew then that no fox could +get away from him in the open, or escape with his life when overtaken. + +"No more stealing of old gobblers," said I under my breath as I slunk +away to the earth. + +For some days I scarcely slept on account of the worry; and the more +I thought it over in the quiet of my kennel, the surer I felt that +this great restless hound would render life unbearable by invading my +cover. Was it likely that a creature pricked by pride of limb and of +fang would be content to wander within the narrow confines of a dozen +fields criss-crossed with trails, and never trespass on the environing +wilds to which the trails led? Impossible! Is there not an eternal +feud between the tame and the wild canine? This half-wild protege +of man, free to wander at will and wreak his vengeance on us hated +dwellers in the brake, able too by speed and strength to carry out his +fell designs, was certain, sooner or later, to follow the cursed scent +that lingers where we tread, and track me to my hidden lair. + +The days went by, however, and I was not molested; though night after +night, as I heard his threatening bay, I asked myself, How long shall +I be left in peace? When a fortnight passed without a sign, I began to +think that this sharer of man's hearth might, after all, be nothing +more than a noisy farmyard braggart, brave enough, perhaps, on grass +or plough-land, but afraid to trespass on the waste. Rudely was my +mistake brought home to me. + +Now what I am going to tell is not something I have heard: I saw it +with my own eyes on the moor which rises from the head of the fen. I +was trotting along at the time, planning how best to work the ground +on such a still night, when a fox--a stranger to me--came over the +brow on my left, and dashed across my front at a gallop. At first +I thought he must have some game in sight; but as neither hare nor +leveret was to be seen, I could not help, in the absence of any +apparent reason for his conduct, imagining that he must be mad, like +a fox I once saw crossing the bar. Strange fancy, perhaps; but then, +what sane animal, and, above all, what fox, would waste his speed +after nothing? And what in the world was there for the fugitive to fly +from? Suddenly I thought of the hound, and as suddenly, just when the +fox had disappeared where the land dipped, I heard the thud of heavy +feet. Peeping between two boulders that concealed me from view, I saw +him come over the crest at the spot where I first caught sight of the +fox. He was running by scent, but at so tremendous a pace that I +feared the fox could not live before him. + +His silence chilled me more than his loud bay; but though I could not +detect the faintest whimper, every moment there was a strange clicking +sound--a noise foreign to the moorland. When he came abreast of me +I saw it was caused by the broken chain that hung from his neck and +struck the steel collar he wore. In a twinkling the dusky fiend had +disappeared in the gloom, his head set for the tor. I listened. After +a time I heard him crash through a long bramble thicket. Then a long +interval. Then the owls, which had been very noisy, suddenly ceased +their midnight chorus. They were watching the tragic chase between +the boles of the pines. How it ended I never knew; but I am inclined +to think that the fox reached the rocks and escaped. If he had been +killed, the foxes which lodged on the western slope of the tor would +have forsaken their coverts, at least for a time; and this they did +not do. + +That night it was useless to try to hunt, as I kept looking back every +dozen strides for fear the hound might be following me. At last I gave +it up; but I did not return along my usual trail, laid when the night +had no fear for me. I avoided open ground as much as possible, to +steal along tangled dips and gullies. Before crossing a ridge I halted +to peer through the darkness, fearful of seeing the sinister green +eyes that would apprise me of the hound's approach. + +On reaching the double trail, I cleared it at a bound, as though it +had been a line of fire, and made for the river at the spot where it +spreads over the marshes; for I hoped by swimming it at its widest +part to add to the difficulties of the hound if he should follow me. +Although the precautions I took proved unnecessary, I mention a few of +them to show the fear the creature had inspired in me. After that I +used to foil the runs in the brake for the purpose of puzzling him if +he chanced to strike my night's trail and tried to trace me to my lair. + +But of what avail were all my wiles against a creature so endowed? At +length the marvellous powers he possessed enabled him not only to find +my kennel, but to approach it so noiselessly as almost to surprise me +in my sleep. Had it not been for the slight rustling of the furze, +caused by his grim protruding muzzle, he must have taken me where I +lay as a fox takes a rabbit in its seat. As it was it was a close +call. Enraged at my escape, he came crashing after me. I led him to +the cover beyond the quarry, where the furze was close and stunted, +and where the runs were so small that he had to force a way along +them. In these unfavorable conditions I thought he would soon tire of +pursuit; but to my surprise he persisted hour after hour, despite the +stifling atmosphere of the brake on such a close, hot day. Could he +have driven me into the open I should have been at his mercy; I knew +this as well as he, and never gave him the chance he longed for. + +In the end I wearied him out, and none too soon, for I was almost +spent before he relinquished the chase. I had escaped, but my dread of +the fiend was greater than ever--so great, indeed, that I never went +near the brake again as long as he lived. + +The silence of the night at this time was painful. A dog-fox dared +no longer call to his mate for fear of betraying his whereabouts to +the hound, now abroad at all hours. I hardly dared sleep two days +following, in the same place, lest in his wanderings he should have +come upon my couch and be there awaiting me. I lived under a reign of +terror, and the gloom that brooded over brake, tor, and fen spread to +the higher moors, where the hound had once been seen. But, gloom or no +gloom, I had to have food though every journey I made to the fen was +at the risk of my life. + +Generally I was through early enough to enable me, by hurrying, to +be back in my couch in gorse or heather before dawn. One morning, +however, I was so late that I decided to lie up for the day in the fen +rather than risk crossing the moors after daybreak. + +Through the mist that lay over the heart of the bog I could just make +out the tall clump of rushes where I meant to lie up if the slough +should yet prove firm enough to bear my weight. On striking the river, +which was much above the previous summer's level, I waded into the +water, and, to throw the hound out in the event of his following me, +floated some distance with the current before landing on the opposite +side. As I rustled through the flags and the belt of reeds, whose +dew-laden plumes were sparkling in the first rays of day, a heron rose +lazily and, skimming a reed bed, flew away towards the half-risen sun, +leaving me, as far as I could see, the sole tenant of the silent +marshland. Only the bare, flat quagmire now lay between me and my +harborage, and, anxious to be hidden from sight, I lost no time in +setting out across the treacherous surface. + +I selected a line which seemed to promise the firmest footing, and +stepped with all possible lightness. Yet, in spite of every care, I +sank deep in places, and midway the crust was so thin that for a while +I was in great danger of foundering. However, by putting forth all my +strength, I was able, at last, to free myself from the clutches of the +more liquid mire and reach the drier, sounder surface between it and +the rushes. I was indeed glad to feel the solid ground under my feet +once more. + +Had I realized the peril before setting out I should not have +attempted to cross. I ought, perhaps, to have turned back on striking +the dangerous zone; but, once embarked on an undertaking, it is not in +my nature to retreat, for there is that in a fox which makes him go +through with his purpose at all hazards, though it may compel him to +pass between the legs of the huntsman's horse or traverse a bog that +threatens to swallow him up. + +At last, exhausted and bemired, I entered the clump, whose shadow lay +like a wide road across that part of the quagmire where it fell, and +chose for my couch a tall heap of dead reeds just inside the wall of +pale green stems. It seemed to have served for a nest of the captive +wild swan, and had probably been floated to the spot by the subsiding +flood. + +To reach my bed I had to cross the stream which drained the pool +within the dense ring of bulrushes; and as I waded through it a +well-known scent reached my nostrils, and told me that the wiliest +creature of the night had also sought this isolated retreat to hover +in. I watched the sedgy islet whence the scent proceeded, expecting to +get a glimpse of the otter couching there; but he lay low and did not +expose a hair, despite the crackling of the reeds as I made my bed. + +I was free now to attend to my toilet and prepare for the rest I so +much needed. With my pads dirty as they were, sleep was out of the +question; so I licked them and my legs as clean as I could, and, thus +refreshed, soon dozed off, with a sense of security to which I had +long been a stranger. + +I slept soundly, without the horrid dreams of the previous weeks, +and was awakened at last by the hum of insects. A year before, when +I often lay in the fen, my ears would not have noticed this loud +undertone of noonday life; but latterly I had, for the most part, +kennelled in the moors, where were only noiseless butterflies and +lizards, silent as sphinxes. I was not really sorry to be disturbed, +for it was delightful to lie there, vaguely conscious of the warmth +of the sun and looking about me in a drowsy way. I turned my blinking +eyes now to the distant mere, sparkling at the end of a vista in the +reeds, now to the hoary summit of the tor seen against the blue sky, +and again to the water-insects at sport on a small pool just beyond +the black shadow which had crept up well-nigh to the foot of the +bulrushes. + +Presently, tiring of the view, I was about to drop asleep again, when +I heard a noise which, if it had been less violent, I should have +thought to be caused by an animal shaking itself. It was followed by a +commotion on the river-bank, and then, to my horror, the hound burst +through the reeds. He had followed my trail to that point, and guessed +where I was, for he kept looking at the clump, and even at the part of +it where I was crouching. He threw up his nose and sniffed the air, +as I could see by the working of his gleaming nostrils; but there was +no wind to carry the scent across the morass--not enough, indeed, to +stir he light feathery tops of the reeds behind him. + +Soon he advanced to the very edge of the bog and looked longingly at +the clump, as if he were eager to reach it but dared not risk the +crossing. At last, after running up and down the edge several times, +apparently in search of a hard place, he decided to brave the danger, +and with cat-like steps, ludicrous to watch in such a monster, began +the perilous passage. He was soon up to his knees, and the deeper he +went the greater my excitement grew. Every instant I expected to see +him sink out of sight. So sure of it did I feel that I almost ventured +to show myself and fling at the fiend the reproaches that crowded to +my tongue. But though his progress was very slow, he was inch by inch +reducing the distance that separated us. + +Before long he was near enough for me to hear the sucking noise made +by the slough as it reluctantly released its grip on the long muscular +legs. He did not pick and chose his way, or deviate by a reed's +breadth from the straight course that would bring him to the gap +in the belt of rushes made by the overflow. Now he was on the most +treacherous part of the quagmire, which shook with the struggle he +made to keep his head above the surface. With dilated pupils I watched +what must be his last efforts. I noted the rise of the mire on his +collar, till at last it rose no farther, but still he came on; and +then I noticed the liquid mud raised in front of him like the ripple +in front of a swan. Wading he must have been, though he looked exactly +as though he were swimming; and his great red tongue lolled out with +the frantic exertions. + +When he got nearer his feet must have found the bottom, for his +shoulders rose free of the surface; and I saw his hair bristle as +though something had suddenly angered him. He had scented me or the +otter, or both; and in his haste to add to the number of his victims, +he ploughed through the last score yards of mud like a mad creature. +Along the muddy bed of the overflow he toiled step by step; and the +instant he entered the pool, I rose to my feet, doubtful whether to +stay or retreat, and paused to listen before committing myself. + +At that moment I heard a sullen plunge, then another, as two otters +dived into the pool. Thinking there was safety in numbers, I decided +to remain in hiding rather than trust to my slight chance of escape +across the bog. The wild struggles of the hound told me he had viewed +the otters; but he must have lost them again for presently all was +very quiet, though I could hear him at times nosing the rushes and +ferns round the pool, as if in search of them. My eyes were as alert +as my ears, and soon caught a heave on the surface of the overflow and +the gleam of an otter's back as the creature rounded the shallow bend +leading to the river. A few seconds later I saw the other otter glide +noiselessly away, and then a great fear seized me as I realized that I +was left alone with the hound. + +Scarcely were my eyes back on the pool before he landed on the islet, +where he stood with the water dripping from his brindled coat, whilst +with nostrils raised he sniffed the air. As I watched him through the +stems, I became aware that he winded me; and when I saw him take to +the water and head straight; for my hiding-place, I stole silently but +swiftly away and, fearful of trusting to the muddy bed of the stream, +committed myself to the bog. + +I trod its treacherous surface as lightly as I could, but because of +the smallness of my feet I kept breaking through the crust, and made +only slow progress. Nevertheless I succeeded in getting farther than +I expected before the hound sighted me. As soon as he did he burst +through the rushes and, making a tremendous spring, landed within a +few yards of where I was struggling with the mire. + +This wild leap of his saved me. Had he been content to follow at his +best pace, the chances are that he would have caught me before I +could reach the bank of the river; but now, through the violence of +his fall, he was so deeply embedded that I gained many yards before +he could extricate himself. Indeed, by the time he had done so I +had reached the more liquid part of the morass where I had all but +foundered at sunrise. With the double danger threatening me, I exerted +myself even more than then; but, madly as I struggled, my progress +was not nearly as fast as that of the hound, now overhauling me. It +was horrible to hear this murderous fiend whimpering and whining in +his eagerness to get at me, and to feel that I was scarcely advancing +at all. I was like a fox in a nightmare, only I was never more wide +awake in my life. Fright however kept urging me on, and to my joy I at +last felt firmer ground under my feet. + +The bank gained, I turned my head for an instant, and saw my pursuer +seemingly stuck in the treacherous mud-belt; but I did not waste +precious time watching him. That he still reckoned me his I felt sure; +that I should escape I had little hope; nevertheless, I meant to do my +utmost to save my life. I galloped down-stream close to the water's +edge, took the otter's path across the neck of the bend, swam the +river, and on landing plunged into the great reed-brakes. + +On, on I went at my full speed, driven by mortal fear. I knew I was +not yet out of danger. Here a wild-duck rose in affright, there a +moorhen scurried out of my way; but I kept straight on past clumps of +osmunda ferns and flags, and across backwaters till at last, after +swimming a maze of water-ways, I came to the grassy promontory that +flanks the inflow of the river into the mere. + +For a moment I stood there irresolute. Should I take to the water or +trust to the bordering reeds? Whilst I hesitated, I thought I heard +the hound coming, and the next instant dropped into the stream. +Partly by swimming, but chiefly by the aid of the current, I succeeded +in reaching the nearest islet of the little archipelago that studded +the rippled expanse. There I hoped to find refuge from my relentless +pursuer. + +I had arrived only just in time, for, peeping through the sedgy growth +that covered my hiding-place, I saw the hound gallop to the end of the +promontory and stand gazing over the wide surface. Then he withdrew to +the brake that rose like a lofty wall about the mere. I could trace +his progress by the rising of the wild-fowl whose sanctuaries he +invaded, and later by the glimpse I got of the angered swan swimming +defiantly across the narrow opening of a big creek about which the +array of reeds was densest. I saw no further sign of the brute that +had so rudely violated the summer peace of the fenland, but wisdom +seemed to dictate that I should look elsewhere for a more peaceful +home. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Page 12: Changed "night" to "nights." + (Orig: And how short those night were!) + +Page 20: Changed "crusing" to "cruising." + (Orig: crusing restlessly up and down the turf) + +Page 23: Changed "noes" to "noses." + (Orig: turned up our noes at such food) + +Page 37: Changed "exhilirating" to "exhilarating." + (Orig: It was most exhilirating to be wandering) + +Page 40: Changed "thristing" to "thirsting." + (Orig: stealthy enemy thristing for its blood) + +Page 42: Changed "lucious" to "luscious." + (Orig: every bit of the lucious morsel) + +Page 53: Changed "malard" to "mallard." + (Orig: a loud quack the malard disappeared) + +Page 53: Changed "mallord" to "mallard." + (Orig: How he enjoyed the mallord,) + +Page 67: Changed "nothinginess" to "nothingness." + (Orig: dwarf into nothinginess the annoyances) + +Page 71: Changed "manteled" to "mantled." + (Orig: skimmed the brake that manteled the steep slope) + +Page 74: Changed "pursurers" to "pursuers." + (Orig: I should be able to elude my pursurers) + +Page 76: Changed "rocognized" to "recognized." + (Orig: he rocognized the bedraggled cub) + +Page 81: Changed "grievious" to "grievous." + (Orig: Chief of these are the grievious losses) + +Page 92: Changed "be" to "he." + (Orig: killed by the pack; be was the man who,) + +Page 103: Changed "waching" to "watching." + (Orig: It was bitter work waching with the gale in your teeth,) + +Page 132: Changed "pursurer" to "pursuer." + (Orig: and saw my pursurer seemingly stuck) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER REYNARD*** + + +******* This file should be named 44347.txt or 44347.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/4/3/4/44347 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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