softest of all furs. But colour is a cardinal point when
beauty is considered and where fashion is Queen. So the choicest colours
are the soft olive brown with silver hairs, found in the Russian Sable,
and the glossy black with silver hairs, found in the true Silver Fox of
the North.

THE MOST WONDERFUL FUR IN THE WORLD

What is the Silver Fox? Simply a black freak, a brunette born into a
red-headed family. But this does not cast any reflection on the mother
or on father's lineage. On the contrary, it means that they had in them
an element of exceptional vigour, which resulted in a peculiar
intensifying of all pigments, transmuting red into black and carrying
with it an unusual vigour of growth and fineness of texture, producing,
in short, the world-famed Silver Fox, the lightest, softest, thickest,
warmest, and most lustrous of furs, the fur worth many times its weight
in gold, and with this single fault, that it does not stand long wear.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: V. Red Fox
_Captive; photo by E. T. Seton_]

[Illustration: VI. Foxes quarrelling
_Captive; photo by E. T. Seton_]

Cold and exposure are wonderful stimulants of the skin, and so it is not
surprising that the real Silver Fox should appear only in very cold
climates. Owing to its elevation the Yellowstone Park has the winter
climate of northern Canada, and, as might have been predicted, the
Silver Fox occurs among the many red-headed or bleached blonde Foxes
that abound in the half open country.

You may travel all round the stage route and neither see nor hear a Fox,
but travel quietly on foot, or better, camp out, and you will soon
discover the crafty one in yellow, or, rather, he will discover you.
How? Usually after you have camped for the night and are sitting quietly
by the fire before the hour of sleep, a curious squall is heard from the
dark hillside or bushes, a squall followed by a bark like that of a toy
terrier. Sometimes it keeps on at intervals for five minutes, and
sometimes it is answered by a similar noise. This is the bark of a Fox.
It differs from the Coyote call in being very short, very squally, much
higher pitched, and without any barks in it that would do credit to a
fair-sized dog. It is no use to go after him. You won't see him. You
should rather sit and enjoy the truly wildwood ring of his music.

In the morning if you look hard in the dust and mud, you may find his
tracks, and once in a while you will see his yello