seized,  and  then  dragging  their  prey  to  the  shore.  Sometimes  the  fox
miscalculates  the  strength  of  his  victim,  and  emerges  from  his  experiment
in  fishing  with  a  portion  of  his  tail  bitten  off;  but  this  is  a  very  rare  oc-
currence, as  the  fox  is  too  proud  of  the  fine  appearance  of  his  brush  to
run  the  risk  of  a  serious  injury  to  it."


,..•  -.-,.  •;-;..
THK    FOX    FAMILY    ABROAD.
THE   YOUNG   NIMEODS.
CHAPTER  V.
THE  COUNTRY  STORE.— A  TRIP  TO  THE  MOUNTAINS.
boys  were  much  delighted  with  their  morning's  sport.  The
traps  had  given  them  a  mink  and  a  musk-rat — not  a  very  formida-
ble prize — and  Joe  remarked  that  they  should  hope  for  better  luck  next
time.  They  had  seen  and  learned  a  great  deal  that  was  new  to  them,
and  besides,  their  appetites  had  been  sharpened  to  a  condition  of  great
keenness  by  their  long  walk  in  the  pure  air  of  the  morning.
They  went  out  with  Joe  the  next  day  and  the  next,  to  visit  his  traps
and  assist  him.  in  bringing  home  his  captures.  They  hunted  squirrels
in  the  forest,  but  without  any  success  till  near  the  end  of  the  week,  when
they  managed  to  shoot  one  on  the  tree  where  they  had  practised  the
process  of  smoking  out  on  the  day  after  their  arrival.  They  became
interested  in  the  ways  of  the  country,  and  used  to  accompany  the  farm-
er's boy  when  he  gave  the  inhabitants  of  the  barn-yard  their  breakfast.
Horses  and  cattle  assembled  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder  leading  to  the  corn-
crib,  and  when  the  youth  appeared,  with  his  arms  filled  with  ears  of  corn,
there  was  an  impatient  raising  of  heads  and  jostling  of  sides  which  greatly
amused  the  visitors  from  the  city.
