approach. A fox is so familiar with his immediate surroundings
that, till his keen senses detect signs of danger, he will roam
unconcernedly hither and thither in the dark woods near his "earth,"
frolicking with his mate, or hunting the rabbits and the mice, or
sportively chasing the wind-blown leaves, as if a hound could never
disturb his peace. The fox knows the shape of each tree and bush, and of
each shadow thrown on the grass; he notes the havoc of the tempest and
the work of the forester. When the wind roars loudly in the branches
overhead, or the raindrops patter ceaselessly on the dead herbage
underfoot, or the mists blot out the vistas of the woods, he seldom
wanders far from home, for at such times Nature plays curious tricks
with sound and scent and sight, and danger steals upon him unawares.

The hunted creatures of the night so dislike the rain, that during a
storm Reynard would have difficulty in obtaining sufficient food; but
down in the river-pools below the wood, fearless Lutra, unaffected by
the inclement weather, swims with her cubs from bank to bank, and learns
that frogs and fish are as numerous in the time of tempest as when the
moon is bright and the air is warm and still.

Since my earliest years of friendship with Ianto the fisherman and
Philip the poacher, I have regarded night watching in the woods or by
the riverside as a fascinating sport, in which my knowledge of Nature is
put to its severest test. By close, patient observation alone, can the
naturalist learn the habits of the creatures of the night; and if it
should be his good fortune to become the friend of such men as I have
mentioned he would find their help of inestimable value.

To Ianto and Philip I owe a debt of gratitude, of which I become
increasingly conscious with the passing of the years. I could never make
them an adequate return for their kindness; but I am solaced by my
recollection that I was able to comfort such staunch old friends when
they were passing into the darkness of death--haply to find, beyond,
some fair dawn brighter than any we had together seen from the hills
around my home. Often, as I write, I see them sitting in the evening
sunlight of my little room; often, in my garden, I see them walking up
the path attended by my dogs that now are dead; often, in the river
valley, whether I wander by night or by day, I see them at my side.

Ianto and Philip were always eager to help me by every means in their
power