oth hunter and victim, but it soon led him to a hole
in the hedgerow, and there abruptly ceased. He was about to turn from
the spot, when the eyes of the supposed weasel suddenly gleamed at the
mouth of the hole, but disappeared when the presence of the cub was
recognised. The fox, retreating to a convenient post of observation
behind a tuft of grass, settled down to await his opportunity. A few
minutes elapsed, and the pursued creature came once more in sight. It
appeared like a shadow against the sky, lifted its nose inquiringly,
quitted the burrow, sat bolt upright for a moment, then, reassured,
proceeded towards the covert on the opposite side of the path. With a
single bound, the cub cleared the grass-tuft, reached out at his prey,
missed his grip, bowled the animal over, and, turning rapidly, caught it
across the loins instead of by the throat. Unfortunately for himself,
the fox had made a slight miscalculation. With a scream of rage and
pain, the polecat--for such the creature proved to be--turned on the
aggressor, and instantly fastened its formidable teeth, like a steel
trap, on his muzzle. Vulp had been taught that his fangs, also, were a
trap from which there should be no escape, and so he held on firmly,
trying meanwhile to shake the life from his victim. He pressed the
polecat to the ground, and frantically endeavoured to disengage its hold
by thrusting his fore-paws beneath its muzzle; but every effort alike
was useless. A scalding, acrid fluid emitted by the polecat caused the
lips and one of the eyes of the cub to smart unbearably, and the
offensive odour of the fluid grew stronger and stronger, till it became
almost suffocating. At last the polecat convulsively trembled as its
ribs and spine were crushed in the fox's tightening jaws, its teeth
relaxed their hold, and the fight was over.

Sickened by the pungent smell, and with muzzle, lips, and right eye
burning horribly from his wounds and the irritant poison, Vulp hastily
dropped his prey, and ignominiously bolted from the scene of the
encounter. Soon, however, he stopped; the pain in his eye seemed beyond
endurance. He tried to rub away the noxious fluid with his paws, but his
frantic efforts only increased the irritation by conveying the poison to
his other eye and to his wounds. He rolled and sneezed and grunted in
torment; he drew his muzzle and cheeks to and fro on the ground,
wrestling with the great Earth-Mother for help in direst agony. He coul