at
Hencastle?'

"'Why, of course, the whole place is full of them.'

"'Then I'll come with you,' said the fox, lowering his eyes, lest the
cocks should discern the hungry look in them. 'And if there are a
thousand mice in the loft, they shall all soon lick the dust. Ah! you
don't know what delicious dainties such--mice--are.'

"This time the fowls had to wait till evening before they heard Mark,
the watchman, crowing from his chimney, and calling forth,

"'Here come the three!
But what do I see?
Why, the friend that they bring
Is a four-legged thing.'

"When the fox got to the outer wall, he sniffed about uneasily and
said,

"'I smell a dog, and I am not fond of the race, nor do they as a rule
like me.'

"'You need not be alarmed,' replied the cocks; 'there is only one of
them here--our friend Mr. Flaps,--and he is always stationed outside the
castle; besides, he is just as glad as we are that you have come to kill
the mice.'

"But in spite of this assurance, the fox did not at all like the idea of
going in past Flaps, who stood at the door, showing his teeth, and with
the hair down his back standing on end; but at last, catching sight of a
number of plump young chickens looking out at a window, Reynard could
resist no longer, and with his mouth watering in anxiety to be among
them, he slipped past Flaps like lightning, and scampered up into the
loft. Once there, he behaved so affably to the fowls, and especially to
some of the oldest and most influential hens, that very soon every one
looked on him as their friend in time of need, and their enthusiasm was
brought to a climax when they saw him catch four mice in half as many
minutes.

"In the dead of the night, when all were asleep, Reynard crept up to
where the fowls roosted, and finding out where the youngest and fattest
were perched, he snapped off the heads of a couple before they had even
time to flutter a feather. He then carried them to the window, opened it
very gently, dropped the dead bodies out on to the ground beneath, and
then sped away down to the house-door and bolted it.

"When he had done this, he returned to the old hens and woke them by
groaning in such a heartbreaking manner, that all the fowls crowded
round him to know what was amiss.

"'Alas!' cried he, 'it has been my sad lot to witness a most fearful
sight. That dog whom you keep down below to guard the house slipped in
at the door, and going to the corner where t