it had left undisturbed the doe and her fawns. They were
no doubt the same that had eaten the buck on the night before. They had
found him in a shallow pit, out of which, after making their supper upon
him, they had easily escaped. Returning again next night, they had
watched until the doe and her fawns came along and dropped into the pit;
and then, without dreaming of any change in the circumstances of the
case, the wolves had leaped in after. But the increased descent down
which they had pitched, convinced these wary animals that they had
`leaped without looking,' and were `in the trap' themselves; and,
guessing that whoever had made that trap would soon be alongside, they
were as much frightened as the poor doe. In this state we had actually
found them--cowering and crouching, and more scared-like than the fawns
themselves. You will think this a very improbable relation, yet it is
quite true. An equally improbable event occurred not long after. Frank
caught a large fox and a turkey in his trap; and although they had been
together for some hours, not a feather of the turkey was plucked by its
affrighted neighbour!

"I have also heard of a panther, who, by the sudden rising of a flood,
had found himself upon a small islet in company with a deer; and
although at any other time his first instinct would have led him to
pounce upon the deer, yet the poor thing was allowed to run about
without its fierce companion making any attempt to molest it. The
panther saw that he and the deer were equally in peril; and a common
danger among the wild animals--as among men--frequently changes foes
into friends."

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.

THE OLD "'POSSUM" AND HER KITTENS.

"The next adventure which befell us was near having a more serious
termination. This time Frank was my companion, while Harry remained at
home with his mother. Our errand was to procure some of the long
Spanish moss that grew upon the live-oaks in the lower end of the
valley. This moss, when smoked and cleansed of the leaves and pieces of
bark that adhere to it, makes most excellent stuffing for
bed-mattresses--in fact, almost equal to curled hair--and for this
purpose we wanted it. We did not take the cart, as Cudjo had Pompo in
the plough, preparing a large tract for our second crop of corn. We
only carried with us a couple of raw-hide ropes, intending to bring home
good burdens of the moss upon our rock.

"We travelled on down the valley, loo