port. It was sharp and short--very different from
the note he had uttered when the chase first commenced. Louder and
louder grew the noise, as the hounds came rapidly up the ridge toward
the place where the boys were stationed, and every one was on the
alert, expecting every moment to see the fox break cover.

Suddenly a loud howl blended with Sport's baying, and the hounds
seemed to turn and sweep down the valley.

"The fox has left the ridge, boys," said Frank.

"Then we're dished again," exclaimed Archie.

"Perhaps not," continued Frank. "He will have to go across the meadow,
and will run the risk of being caught by Lightfoot. We must try and
cut him off."

And he led the way down the ridge, in the direction the chase was
tending.

In a few moments the hounds broke out into a continuous cry, and, when
the boys emerged from the woods, they saw them standing at the foot of
a tall stump, which stood near the middle of the meadow.

Brave immediately ran to join them, and Harry exclaimed,

"I'd like to know what those dogs are doing there?"

"Why, they've got the fox treed," said Frank.

"A fox treed!" repeated Harry, with a laugh, "Whoever heard of such a
thing?"

"I have often read," answered Frank, "that when a fox is hard pressed,
and finds himself unable to escape, he will take advantage of any
place of concealment he can find."

While this conversation was going on, the boys had been running toward
the stump, and, when they reached it, they found Brave with his head
buried in a hole near the ground, now and then giving his tail a jerk,
but otherwise remaining as motionless as a statue.

"What do you think now of the possibility of seeing a fox?" inquired
Frank, turning to Harry.

"I don't believe it yet," said the latter.

"Then how is it that the dogs are here?"

"The fox may have run down here and doubled on his trail, and thus
thrown the dogs off the scent."

"He didn't have time to do that," said Archie, who had divested
himself of his coat, and stood with his ax, ready to cut down the
stump. "He's in here, I'm certain. See how Brave acts."

"It will not take long to find out," said George, who was a good deal
of his brother's opinion that the fox was not in the tree.

And he and Archie set to work, with the intention of cutting it down.
But it was found to be hollow; and, after taking out a few chips,
Archie stooped down to take a survey of the interior, and spied the
fox crouched in th