UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00022230140 ■/i Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://archive.org/details/fourfootedamericwrig FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS ■?&&& The American Deer. See page 306. FOUR-FOOTED AMEPJCANS AND THEIR KIN BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT EDITED BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN ILLUSTRATED BY ERNEST SETON THOMPSON Weto fgorU THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 1898 All rights reserved CorYRiGiix, 1S93, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Norton ot) $rrss J. S. Gushing & Co. - Berwick & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A. To WILLIAM T. HORNADAY DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORIC ZOOLOGICAL PARK 2H}fe 3So0k is ©etitcatrti BY THE AUTHOR IN RECOGNITION OF HIS EFFORTS TO PRESERVE THE LIVING AMERICAN MAMMALS WHERE THEY BIAY BE KNOWN TO THE CHILDREN OF FUTURE GENERATIONS SCENE: Orchard Farm and Twenty Miles around. TIME: Fall until Spring. CHARACTERS: Dr. Roy Hunter, a naturalist. Olive, the Doctor's daughter. Nat and Dodo, the Doctor's nephew and niece. Mr. and Mrs. Blake, the parents of Nat and Dodo. Hap, a lame country hoy. Mammy Bun, an old colored nurse and cook. Rod, the farmer. Olaf, a sailor and fisherman. Nez Long, a charcoal burner and woodsman. Toinette, Nez' wife. Quick, a fox terrier. Mr. Wolf, a St. Bernard dog. Explanation. — Dr. Hunter, after travelling for many years, returned to his old home at Orchard Farm, with his daughter Olive, aged seventeen, and Mammy Bun. He invited Nat and Dodo, who had always lived in the city, to spend the summer with him, so that they might learn about outdoor things, and told them the story of the birds. Mr. and Mrs. Blake came for the children in the autumn, and they expected to return to the city to school ; but Dr. Hunter, who was always making delightful surprises, arranged for the whole family to spend the winter at the Farm. AVhat they did, and how they became acquainted with the Four- footed Americans, is told in this story, vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTEE I PAGE In the Pasture .......... 1 CHAPTER II The Animal Tree ......... 11 CHAPTER III Waffles and a Walk ........ 22 CHAPTER IV Climbing the Animal Tree ....... 31 CHAPTER V An Autumn Holiday ........ 41 Woodchucks, Muskrats, etc. CHAPTER VI Out-door Cookery ......... 60 CHAPTER VII Camp Saturday . . . . . . . . . .82 CHAPTER VIII Explanation Night ......... 94 The Brotherhood of Beasts. CHAPTER IX An Invitation . . . . . . , . . .110 X TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER X PAGE Monarciis in Exile ......... 115 The American Bison. CHAPTER XI Rabbit Tracks .......... 137 Wood Hare — Varying Hare — Jack Rabbit — Marsh Hare — Pika, Little Chief, or Whistling Hare. CHAPTER XII The Winter Woods ......... 155 Trails and. Trapping. CHAPTER XIII Nez Long's Menagerie ........ 174 The Little Fur-bearers — Otter — Skunk — Little Striped Skunk — Weasel — Sable — Fisher — Wolverine — Mink — Raccoon, etc. CHAPTER XIV Foxes and Snow-shoes ........ 194 Red Fox — Gray Fox — Arctic Fox. CHAPTER XV Wolf ! 212 The Timber Wolf, and the Coyote, or Prairie Wolf. CHAPTER XVI Cousins of Cats 223 Puma — Ocelot — Wildcat, also the Civet Cat, which is no Cat at all. CHAPTER XVII Three Hardy Mountaineers 238 The Grizzly Bear — Big Horn Sheep — Rocky Mountain Goat. TABLE OF CONTENTS xi CHAPTER XVIII PACE On the Plains .......... 254 The Pronghorn or Antelope — Prairie Dog — Coyote and Badger. CHAPTER XIX Under the Polar Star ........ 270 The Woodland Caribou — Musk Ox — Polar Bear. CHAPTER XX A Sealskin Jacket at Home ....... 282 The Walrus — Sea Lion — Sea Bear or Fur Seal and the Harbor Seal. CHAPTER XXI Horns, Prongs, and Antlers ....... 298 Elk — American Deer — Growth and Difference between Horns and Antlers explained. CHAPTER XXII Nez' Big Moose . . .309 CHAPTER XXIII Fish or Flesh 320 Manatee — Sperm Whale — Bowhead Whale — Finback Whale — Porpoise — Dolphin. CHAPTER XXIV Rats and Mice 331 Muskrat — White Lemming — White-footed Mouse — Cot- ton Rat — Wood or Pack Rat — Marsh Rat — Pouched Gopher — Gray Pocket Gopher — Kangaroo Rat — Pocket Mouse — Jumping Mouse. xii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XXV PAGE Mischief Makers ......... 349 Red Squirrel — Flying Squirrel — Gray Squirrel — Fox Squir- rel — Chipmunk — Striped Spermophile — Line-tailed or Rock Spermophile. CHAPTER XXVI The Beaver's Story 365 CHAPTER XXVII "B'ars and Possums" ........ 376 Mammy Bun's Story. CHAPTER XXVIII From Moletown to Batville ....... 387 Common Mole — Star-nosed Mole — Short-tailed Shrew — Least Shrew — Hoary Bat — Little Red Bat — Brown Bat — Little Brown Bat — House or Snouty Bat. CHAPTER XXIX A Four-footed Dance ........ 403 LADDER FOR CLIMBING THE NORTH AMERICAN MAMMAL TREE 415 INDEX 431 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS [The artist has furnished his own incidents for many of these illustrations, and the author wishes to express her thanks for the use of the same in the stories.] PAGE The American Deer Frontispiece Tom, Jerry, and Comet ........ 6 Vertebrate Branches of the Animal Tree ... 37 The Woodchuck 44 Front Paw and Tail of Muskrat 49 The Lumber Camp ......... 72 The Collared Peccary ........ 90 White-footed Mouse ........ 91 North American Mammal Tree ...... 98 The Bison 118 Wood Hare 140 Marsh Hare 146 Jack Rabbit 148 Varying Hare .......... 151 Pika, Little Chief, or Whistling Hare .... 154 A Red Fox, Hunting . . . . . . . . 158 Canada Porcupine . . . . . . . . . 162 Common Skunk 176 Otter and Fisher ......... 178 Little Striped Skunk ........ 180 Weasel or Ermine 183 The Mink 185 Pine Marten and Red Squirrel ...... 186 xiii xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE wolverine ........... 189 The Raccoon 192 The Arctic Fox 202 Timber Wolf 212 Civet Cat 225 The Ocelot 228 Heads of House Cat, Wildcat, and Canada Lynx . . 229 The Puma hunting Elk . . . . . . . . 236 Grizzly Bear and Bighorn Sheep ...... 240 Mountain Goats ......... 246 Drama of the Plains ........ 256 The Badger ..... 268 Woodland Caribou ......... 276 Musk Ox 278 Polar Bear and Seal 280 Atlantic Walrus ......... 284 Sea Bear or Fur Seal 289 Harbor Seal 294 Heads of Antelope or Pronghorn, Mountain Goat, Big- horn, and Musk Ox ........ 300 Heads of Woodland Caribou, Moose, and Elk . . . 302 Nez' Big Moose 316 The Manatee 322 The Sperm Whale ......... 325 Finback Whale ......... 327 The Porpoise 328 Dolphins 330 Meadow Mouse 332 The Muskrat 337 Cotton Rat . 339 Marsh Rat 340 Wood Bat 341 Pouched or Mole Gopher 343 Gray Pocket Gopher 344 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XV Kangaroo Eat « Pocket Mouse . Jumping Mouse . Flying Squirrels Gray Squirrel . The Chipmunk . Striped Spermopiiile Rock Spermopiiile Beavers at Work Black Bear The Opossum Little Brown Bat Common Mole Star-nosed Mole Short-tailed Shrew Least Shrew page 345 347 348 352 358 300 302 364 360 379 383 389 390 391 394 395 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS IN THE PASTURE ;T was circus day clown at East Village. Not the common circus, with a Lion, Elephant, a cage or two of Monkeys, a fat clown turning somersaults, and a beautiful lady floating through paper hoops, but a real American circus — the Wild West Show, with its scouts, frontiersmen, Bron- cos, bucking Ponies, Indians, and Buffaloes. Of course the House People at Orchard Farm made a holiday and went down to see the show, giving many different reasons for so doing. Dr. Hunter and Mr. Blake said it was their duty as patriotic Americans to encourage native institutions, and Mrs. Blake said that she must surely go to see that the young people did not eat too many peanuts and popcorn balls. The young people thought that going to the circus was a must be, unless one was ill, or had done something very, very wrong, that merited the severest sort of punish- ment. Mammy Bun, too, who had been groaning B l 2 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS about pains in her bones for fully a week, took out her best black bonnet trimmed with a big red rose, — headgear that she only wore on great occasions, — saying : — " Pears to me nuffin eber does ma reumatiz de heap o' good like hearin' a real circus ban' a playin'. Land alibe, honies ! I feel so spry alreddy seems like I'se could do a caike walk dis yer minit." 7p £{£ $£ $fc TfC It was October. Everything looked cheerful at the farm. The maples were dressed in dazzling red and yellow ; heaps of red and yellow apples lay under the orchard trees, and the house and barns wore a glisten- ing new coat of yellow paint, with white trimmings and green blinds. A deeper yellow shone from the fields where jolly pumpkins seemed to play hide-and-seek behind the corn stacks, which the children called wigwams when they played Indian. Everything looked as thrifty as if the outdoor season was beginning instead of nearly at an end ; and well it might, for it had been many years since the old farm held such a family. There would be no closed blinds, leaf-choked paths, or snow- drifts left to bury the porch, this winter. "Yes, the Chimney Swift was right," said the Meadowlark in the old field, to the Song Sparrow who was singing cheerfully in a barberry bush. " We shall be better off than before these House People came ; they have already begun to scatter food in the barn- yard, though there are enough gleanings about to last us citizens until snow comes. The village boys never think of coming up here now to shoot, as they used IN THE PASTURE 3 to every season when the wind began to blow cold " ; and the Meadowlark flew to the top rail of the fence, boldly showing his 3 r ellow breast, and giving a note or two to tell how trustful he was. " Where have you been all summer ? " asked Comet, the young trotter, of the big brown farm horses, who had come to drink at the spring in the pasture below the barns. " It is so long since I have seen you I was afraid that you had been sold." " Oh no, youngster ! " replied Tom. " Jerry and I have only been summering up at the wood lots at the far end of the farm. We had our shoes off all the time, and could amuse ourselves as we liked. We never saw a harness or wagon ; all the work we did was to roll in the grass or wade in the river to keep the flies off. The grazing up there was simply deli- cious, you know, — all sorts of relishing little bits of herbs mixed in with the grass. " Now that we have had our rest, it is our turn to work, and gray Bess and Billy have gone to the pad- dock, and we have come to take their places. There is plenty to do on this farm in fall and winter, though it is very lonely. I can remember, when I was a four- year-old, that House People lived in the big barn with all the windows, and they used to ride over the snow in the low wagon without wheels, and we all had fine times together." "There are fine times here now," said Comet, shak- ing his mane importantly; "but of course you do not know about them, because you have been away. House People are living here again. We all have great fun and the best of eating, with more picnics than plough- 4 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS ing for the horses. Children play about the farm, who feed me with bunches of pink clover and little lumps of nice-tasting stuff they call sugar. I mistrusted it at first, it looked so like the hard pebbles in the brook, but it chewed up all right when I nibbled some." " You don't look as if you had been having half enough to eat, in spite of the good times," said Tom, pityingly. " Only look at your ribs. I can count every one of them. If you were harnessed to a plough, you would come apart at the very first pull. How could you drag a load of hay ? As for working in the thresh- ing-machine, those little feet of yours would catch between the slats. What use are thin horses, any- way ? " concluded Tom, rather rudely, not realizing that his remarks were impolite, while Jerry looked proudly along his fat sides and pawed the ground with a hoof nearly as large as a dinner plate. Comet was going to answer angrily and say some- thing very saucy about clumsy work horses, but he stopped himself in time, being every inch a thorough- bred ; for good breeding shows in the manners of animals as well as in House People. " No," he answered after a moment, " I can't plough, nor drag a load, nor work the threshing-machine ; but horses are made for different kinds of work. You do not think a cow useless because she gives milk instead of doing any sort of pulling, do you? Now I can drag the little wagon over to the railway station — where the great iron horse drags the string of covered wagons along the ground on the queer shiny fence rails — in half the time it takes you to go round the ten-acre lot. When I hear that horse coming, breathing hard IN THE PASTURE 5 and roaring 1 , I prick up my ears, and you can hardly see my feet when they touch the road, for I do not want that great roaring horse to get there before I do. So the master is pleased, and always takes me. How would you like to go fast like that ? " said Comet, smiling behind a bunch of grass. " I couldn't go fast if I wanted to," said Tom, hon- estly. " I tried it once, when a plough-chain fell and banged my heels. They called it running away, I believe. My ! how warm I was. Everything looked red as the sun in August, and a warm rain storm rolled off my coat on to the grass. That is what it seemed to me, but the farmer said, ' Tom is too fat and soft. See how he sweats ! ' and they skimped my dinner for a month." " Well, then, to continue," said Comet. " We ani- mals haven't been shut up all summer except in stormy weather ; the bars have been down between all the best pastures. Even Sausage, the sow, and her nine little pigs, have been out walking every day, and her sty has had fresh bedding in it the same as if they were Cow or Horse People. " We had so much freedom that I thought at first that there would be a great many fights, but we have all behaved beautifully. Even Nanny Baa, the stub- born old sheep, and Corney, the mischievous goat, have not butted any one or fought each other. " We've had a chance to hear about the world and the other animals in it too, for a circus has been camp- ing a few fields further down." " I don't like a circus," interrupted Jerry, decidedly. " There are always a lot of bad-smelling, foreign beasts 6 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS in cages with a circus, that a respectable farm four- foot should not encourage. Then there is a terrible noise, — worse than milk-pans falling off the fence, — that they call a band ; it makes ine forget myself and dodge and dance all over the road. Yes, indeed, I well remember the first circus I ever heard. It came here when we were five-year-olds. Tom and I upset a load of cabbages, and they rolled all the way down Long Hill into the brook." " There were no foreign wild beasts in this circus," said Comet, proud of his knowledge. " I put my head through the fence bars and had a fine chance to talk to some of the horses. There were several kinds of Horse Brothers there that I had never seen before ; different even from the long-eared Donkey and Mule Brothers." Here Comet stopped, took a bite of grass and a drink of water, waiting to see if Tom and Jerry were interested. They were, and as Comet looked up he saw that some of the other animals were coming down to drink, — Daisy, the finest cow in the herd, and Nanny Baa, sauntering all alone, the other sheep not having yet missed her, while Corney, the goat, whose whole name was Capricornus, danced about on a rock, charging at an imaginary enemy in the sky. " What other horses did you see V " asked Tom and Jerry together, as the others came up. " There were small horses, homely and thin, with straight necks and rolling eyes. Some of these were brown, and some all mixed brown and white. They ran up and down the field, clearing the old division fence at a jump. These were called Indian Ponies, ; Tom, Jerry, and Comet. IN THE PASTURE 7 and men they called Indians, with small eyes and dark rusty faces, rode on them for exercise. Beside these there were some others, called Burros, with longish ears, who did not seem to know how to either trot or run, and some of the small horses kept jerking and humping up their backs, so that the men could not ride them. " Who told you all these names ? " asked Tom, suspiciously. " There was an old horse who did not work in the circus, but only helped draw wagons, who stayed by the fence and talked to me. He had seen a great deal of life in his day, and what do you think he said about those strange horses ? That they were not born and raised on nice farms like you and me ; that they came from the west country where they run wild until they are old enough to work, and they live in great flocks as the Crows do hereabouts. Every horse has a mark on his side, put there by the man who owns him. When they are young they have fine sport, but when it is time for them to work, men ride after them on swift horses and catch them by throwing a rope loop over their heads, and sometimes this hurts them very much, and they are also sorry to leave their friends. " Out in the west country where these horses lived, the plains are full of fourfoots, — not Horse and Cow People, — but real wild fourfoots, strange as any of the Elephants or Lions. There are more kinds of them than you could ever dream of, even if you ate a whole bushel of oats for supper. "The Horse said that they belong to older American families than any of us farm animals, and that once 8 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS these four-footed Americans and the Red Indian Brothers, who lived in tents, owned all the country, and there were no real House People or farm fourfoots here at all." " That must have been a long time ago," said Jerry. " I remember my grandmother, and she never said any- thing about wild people, and I never knew about any other animals but ourselves." " Who am 7", pray ? " squealed a Squirrel, scamper- ing along the fence. " How ignorant you are not to know that I belong to a very old family." " You don't count," neighed Jerry. " I never thought you were an animal." " Not an animal, hey ? I will show you what a sharp- toothed animal I am, some fine day, and nibble up your dinner when you are asleep," and the Squirrel jumped over Jerry's back, and ran up a tree. " My friend told me," continued Comet, " that some of those wild fourfoots are working for their living in this very circus. They are quite rare now, though they used to be as plentiful in the west pastures as ants in a hill. He showed me some of these beasts this very morning when they were being led down to the village." " What did they look like ? " " Something like bulls, with low backs and great heavy heads, all bushy with thick brown wool. My friend said they are called Bison by the Wise Men ; but in the circus and out where they used to live, every one calls them Buffaloes." " I wonder if they are related to me ? " said Daisy, who had joined the group. IN THE PASTURE 9 " They are not as handsome as yon, though they might belong to your family," said Comet, politely. " Perhaps I may have some wild cousins," said Sausage, rooting up the turf. " I wonder what they eat?" " I should like to go and meet my wild relations, if I have any," said Corney. " I wonder if they could beat me at butting and sliding down hill ? " " Humph, it is very strange about all these wild things," said Jerry. "I — My, they are making that bang noise again, down at the village ! " " That is the band. I think the circus is over," said Comet. " Which Horse Brother dragged the people down there, and who went ? " asked Daisy, who was always inquisitive. " They all went, and they walked with their own feet, because the Doctor knows that we do not like smells and noises," said Comet. " They are coming back up the hill now. Nat is following 'way behind, carrying something. Ugh ! It is a big snake, and he has it by the tail. I hate snakes ; they look up so suddenly out of the grass when one is feeding, and they always seem to be by the nicest bunch of clover." " Perhaps the people will stop here to rest, and we may hear something about our wild brothers," said Daisy. " I think Dodo has sugar for me," said Comet to Tom and Jerry. " I will drop a piece, and you can pick it up, and see how you like it." " Comet is quite a gentleman, if his ribs do show," muttered Tom to his companion, looking pleased, while 10 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS the other animals lingered about the spring, waiting for the. House People. " Here are the horses that I haven't seen before from the grass farm ; and Comet, too, and Daisy ! " cried Dodo, climbing over the fence. " Please stop a bit, Uncle Roy, and let me give them some of my popcorn balls ; I'm mre they will like them, and Corney simply loves peanuts." "What did I tell you?" whispered Comet to Tom, as Dodo chirped for him to come to her. II THE ANIMAL TREE |OME up on the fence too, please, uncle," coaxed Dodo, and Dr. s»w Hunter climbed over the pasture bars, seating him- self on the fence in answer to her request to ' stop a bit while she fed the animals.' He mo- tioned to Rap, who was rather tired with his walk, to come beside him, while Nat and Dodo divided the contents of their pockets into little heaps. " Give the popcorn to Daisy and the horses," said Dodo. " The peanuts are for Corney ; we can toss them up, and see him hop and scramble to catch them. It's lots of fun. Sausage can have all the mixed crumbs, 'cause she likes grubby things. Please, Nat, won't you bury your snake, or hang it up, or some- thing? Whichever way I look, it seems to be too near." " I'll hang it up on the tree, because I'm going to put it in a glass jar to keep. Daddy has gone back to the village to buy me some alcohol to pour on it." " Ugh ! what do you want it for ? If I were you, I'd rather have the money the alcohol costs to buy a new butterfly net." ll 12 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Uncle Roy says it is as fine a rattlesnake as he ever saw. That is why he bought it of the man from the mountain, who killed it. There aren't any here- abouts now. A good thing, too, because they are biters ; but I want it for my collection. I haven't many reptiles, you know ; only a garter snake, two lizards, and a frog — whoa! Tom, eat fair; your mouth is twice as big as Comet's." " How queer Daisy's tongue feels — it tickles my hand," said Dodo. " She licks everything into her mouth, but the horses take food in their lips. Uncle Roy, please come down here and see how queerly Daisy eats, and oh, my ! she hasn't any top front teeth, either. Is she very old ? Do look ; her jaws wiggle as if she was chewing gum ! " " No, little girl ; none of the Cow Family have any front upper teeth. A well-behaved cow sticks out her tongue with a sidewise motion to guide the grass into her mouth, while in the Horse Family the habit is to seize it with the lips, and then nip it between the teeth." " Yes, but, uncle ! " cried Nat, jumping hastily over the fence to dodge Corney, who was tired of eating peanuts one by one, and, giving a sudden butt, had seized bag and all ; " Uncle Roy, cows are ever so fond of chewing. They eat all the morning, and then they go under the trees and chew, chew, chew, all the after- noon ; but horses gobble their food once for all." u I'm very glad you have noticed this, Nat. The cow is built upon a different plan from the horse. The horse has a complete set of upper and under teeth, and a single stomach — something like our own THE ANIMAL TREE 13 — to receive the food. The cow has four stomachs. When she eats, the food goes into the first stomach, where it stays a while to grow soft. After Daisy has filled this first stomach, she goes to rest for a while, brings up the softened food into her mouth, and chews it again. This softened food is called the ' cud/ ' " Oh, now I know what Rod meant," cried Dodo, clapping her hands, " when he said the cows were chewing their ' cud. 1 They were lying under the trees, and didn't seem to have anything near them to eat. I thought end must be moss or something. Do any other of our animals beside cows have several stom- achs and chew cud ? " " Yes, all the animals that belong to the Meat Fam- ily : Sheep and Goats, and, among their wild Ameri- can brothers, the Deer and the very Buffalo that you saw at the show this afternoon." " Were those strange beasts any relations of our farm animals?" asked the children in one breath. " Were our farm animals once wild like the Buf- faloes, and did they live far out West? Who first caught them and made them tame ? " gabbled Dodo, only stopping when her breath failed. " Our farm animals were never, in the true sense, natives of this country. In the far back days, before the pale-faced voyagers came to these shores, the Red Brothers had no horses to carry them, nor cows to give them milk. They followed the war-path and game- trail on foot, and their clothing and tent homes were made of the skins of the beasts they took with bow, arrow, and spear. Time was when they had not even spears and arrows. 14 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " When the pale-faced settlers came to America they brought the useful animals from their old homes with them : pigs, sheep, horses, goats, cows, dogs, cats, etc., — so though these have lived here as the people have, long enough to be citizens, they are not native or indigenous Americans any more than we ourselves. That distinction belongs to the Indian, Peccary, Buffalo, Musk Ox, Mountain Goat, Bighorn, Wolf, and Wild- cat, who are the wild cousins of House People and their farm fourfoots. The horse alone has no living wild cousin here, though there were horses in America ages ago." " Then those horses that the Indians rode at the show, who hopped around so, weren't really wild at all," said Nat, with a look of great disappointment. " They seemed really, truly wild, and how the Indians stuck on and dodged and fired their guns ! " " They are wild in the sense that they were born on the open prairie and lived in vast herds, but they are the great-grandchildren of tame horses. In the south- west, as well as in South America, vast herds of these horses, descended from those brought in by the Span- ish, roamed at large. From time to time the Indians dashed into the troops and lassoed those that they de- sired and rode them as we saw the Indians do this afternoon, but they are not true four-footed Americans like that little Chipmunk over there, who is stealing a few peanuts that Corney overlooked, or like the sly, fat Woodchucks that we are trying to trap in the orchard." " Please, Uncle Roy, can Dodo and I put halters on Tom and Jerry and see if we can ride them round the THE ANIMAL TREE 15 field without any saddles ? " said Nat, looking fearlessly up at the big horses, whose mouths barely touched the top of his head. "You can try, if you like," laughed the Doctor, "but I'm afraid it will be too hard travelling for Dodo. No, you will risk a bumping ? Very well, then, but tell Rod to bring blankets and surcingles." In a few minutes Rod came, strapped a folded blanket on each horse, and gave Nat Jerry's halter, but insisted upon keeping hold of Tom. " Now, if I only had something to shoot with, we could play circus. Hoo-oo-ooh ! " cried Nat, trying to imitate an Indian cry, at which sound Jerry galloped very quietly down the pasture, switching his tail. But to Nat it seemed as if he was seated on an earthquake, and he clutched Jerry's mane, whereupon the horse gave a little kick of surprise and cantered heavily back to the spring. "I think T-o-m is falling to pieces," chattered Dodo, as Rod ran him round the pasture. "He — is — so — fat, too, my legs can't bend down ; — I — guess I'll stop, please," and Rod swung her down to the wall beside her uncle. " A circus isn't as easy as it looks," said Nat, wiping his face, and Rap laughed heartily and pounded his crutch on the fence. " Farm horses are not saddle horses," said Comet to himself. " I'm all mixed up about animals," said Dodo in a few minutes when she had caught her breath. " Our farm animals aren't real Americans, yet Daisy is a kind of cousin of the wild Buffalo, because she has no 16 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS upper front teeth and chews a cud. Birds seem so much easier to understand. Birds are animals with a backbone, a beak for a mouth, and two legs. They wear feathers and lay eggs. But these others are different in their mouths and stomachs and feet, and some have horns and some don't. Some have little tails like Corney, and some long hairy tails like the horses, and oh, Uncle Roy, that snake there is all tail ! " Olive says bugs, and beetles, and flies, are animals, too, and beetles are crusty, and caterpillars are squashy, and flies are buzzy, and I'm sure I never can tell who is who. Birds look something alike, even when they are as different as a Hummingbird and a Duck ; but I cant understand how all the other animals are re- lated." " Not so fast, dearie," said the Doctor, laughing at her inquiries until the tears ran down his cheeks. " The differences and the relationships of these animals are no harder to remember than they are among the birds. You know that with them their beaks and feet were arranged to suit their needs. Have you forgotten how we classified the birds, and the little table of the Animal Kingdom that you wrote ? " " Yes," said Nat, hesitating ; " that is, I did know, but I've forgotten most of it." "I remember," said Rap, "that you said classifying was to put the animals together that were the nearest alike, and the two great divisions of the Animal King- dom were animals without backbones and animals with them." " Olive says my sponge is an animal," said Dodo, doubtfully. " Surely it can't have any backbone, for THE ANIMAL THEE 17 if it did it would scratch my face ; but then it was full of prickles when it was new, perhaps its backbone was crumpled up ! " " I must try to make this Animal Kingdom and its chief divisions more clear to you," said the Doctor, pausing a minute as he looked across the pasture. "Do you see that great chestnut tree yonder, with the thick trunk and wide-spreading branches ? " " Yes, indeed," said Rap, " and it bears the fattest, sweetest nuts of any tree hereabouts ; but it takes a very hard frost to open them." " I remember how good the nuts used to be, but now I want you all to notice the way in which the tree grows. Above ground there is a thick straight part which is called the trunk ; then this soon divides into large branches. A little further up these thick branches separate into smaller branches yet, until they end in little slender twigs. " The Animal Kingdom is like this tree in the way in which -the different members all are developed side by side, interlacing and depending upon each other. It is difficult to tell some of the lowest branches of the animal tree from plants: as none of these animals of the first branches have any backbones, they are called Invertebrates, and their inside parts are held together in a little tube." " Are birds on one of the high branches ? " asked Dodo. " Yes, one of the very highest, next to the great branch, where man himself sits, surrounded by all his faithful four-footed friends, just as he is when he walks about every day." 18 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Do House People and fourfoots belong on the same great branch?" said Rap, looking puzzled. "What is it called, please?" " It is the Mammal branch, the highest of all, and it has so many little branchlets and twigs that it is large enough to be a tree all by itself." " Exactly Jiotv are the other Mammals like us, and what does Mammal mean? Do they all have warm red blood like ours?" asked Dodo, who was celebrated for cutting her fingers. " They all have warm red blood, but so have birds ; there are other differences that you will learn later. The one thing that makes them Mammals is that they suckle their young with milk." "M — mammals; m — milk," sang Dodo. "Why, that is as easy to remember as ' Billy Button bought a buttered biscuit ' ! Please tell us the names of some nearby Mammals, Uncle Roy." " All the farm and house fourfoots are Mammals ; also the wild Deer, Wolves, Foxes, Rats, Mice, Squir- rels, Moles, Skunks, Weasels, and Woodchucks, beside many others you do not know even by name." " So all those nuisance animals are Mammals too," said Dodo, meditatively. " Nuisance animals ! Which are those ? " asked Rap. " The naughty, bothersome ones that eat things and bite holes in the house, and dig up the orchard, and smell, oh, so bad ! Why, Rap, don't you remember the evening we thought there was a black and white rooster by the orchard wall, and Quick and I tried to catch it, and it turned out to be a Skunk ? Then my THE ANIMAL TREE 19 clothes had to be boiled so hard they were no more use, and Quick tried to get away from himself for almost two weeks." " Oh, yes, I do. Mammals must have a great many shapes, Doctor," continued Rap, thoughtfully. " How are they made into families ? — the same way as birds?" " In very much the same way. To-night, after sup- per, I will draw you a picture of a part of this wonder- ful animal tree, and tell you the names of some of its branches, and perhaps you will remember a few of them. I do not wisli to bother you with long words, but there are a few that you must learn. " The history of this animal tree is the most inter- esting story in the world, and the Wise Men call it Zoology, after two Greek words that mean the 'history of animal life.' " " Then that is the reason why an out-door menag- erie is called a Zo-o-logical Garden," said Nat, stum- bling a trifle over the word. " Daddy was reading to mother about such a beautiful garden for wild animals that is going to be made near New York, — the very biggest in the world, — so that every one in America can see how the animals live. Perhaps we can go there some day and see all the Mammals." " Daisy gives milk, so I am very sure I know one Mammal anyway," said Dodo, who was growing a little tired. " Oh ! oh ! " she cried, suddenly jumping off the fence. " The sun is going down pop. I never noticed it, and Rod said I might help milk to-night. He's taking the cows in now. Won't you come and see me do it, Uncle Roy ? " 20 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS "You help milk?" laughed Nat. "Who taught you how? " " Rod ; I've had four lessons, and I can milk almost a quart. Then my hands grow all weak and shaky, and Hod says it's enough for once, both for me and for the cow. Daisy is the only one that will let me." "Poor, patient Daisy," laughed the Doctor. "To be sure we will come and see this famous milkmaid." Dodo led the way to the cow barn, where each cow had a clean stall marked with her name. Then she tied a queer sort of apron round her waist, made, like Rod's, out of a meal sack, hunted for a small stool, also like Rod's, and prepared in a very businesslike man- ner to wash off Daisy's bag with a sponge and some clean water. " Bravo ! Bravo ! " cried the Doctor. " My little farmer has already learned that everything about milk, from the animal to the pans, should be very clean." " Zig-zig-zig-zig," said the milk, spattering on the bottom of the pail. In a few minutes the spattering stopped. " Now it's beginning to purr like a cat," explained Dodo. " It does that when the milk begins to fill up a little." Dodo kept bravely at it until her fingers, now red and tired, had coaxed about a quart from Daisy. "That will go for to-night," she said, "though I'm sure I milked more last time. I'm dreadfully thirsty ; suppose we drink this now, Uncle Roy. There's a glass b} r the well, Nat," — and the milk rapidly disappeared. "M — mammals; m — milk," sang Dodo, skipping THE ANIMAL TREE 21 ahead toward the house, as the short twilight hurried after the sun. " I wish the days were longer," sighed Rap, turning to go home. " But evening with a wood fire in the wonder room is lovely," sang Dodo, " and to-night uncle he, will draw a tree," — she sang; then stopped and laughed at her rhyme. " Uncle Roy," she whispered, " it's been such a happy day, can we have Rap to help finish off by toasting crackers in the wonder room, and see you draw the animal tree? Yes? I'll give you a bear's hug ! " "I reckon there will be a frost to-night," said Rod, passing on his way to the house with the milk-pail. " Frost ! " shouted Nat, dancing round in glee. "Frost — chestnuts, Rap, — and to-morrow will be Saturday ! " * * * * * " How do you like this ? " said Comet, looking up from his oats over to Tom and Jerry, as the stable door closed with a click. " Box stalls and two bundles of clean straw apiece, and warm bran mash for you beside. Did you ever have anything as nice as this where you were this summer ? " " I think the House People here understand a horse's feelings," answered Jerry, plunging his nose into his supper. Ill WAFFLES AND A WALK AMMY BUN cooked a delicious supper for the children that night, for the circus had put her in extra good humor. As it was the first of the really cool evenings, she sur- prised them with hot cocoa in the place of their usual glasses of milk, and there was cream toast, and cold chicken and tongue sliced daintily together. The children had famous appetites, and Mr. Blake said he expected by spring they would all be as fat as Sausage herself. " Not if you carry out all the plans I have for mak- ing you work and keeping you out-of-doors," said the Doctor. " What ? What are we going to do ? Is there a sur- prise ? " asked Dodo eagerly, reluctantly setting down her teacup. " School takes so much time and the rest of it is nearly all dark. Oh ! I smell waffles ! " " What is nearly all dark, — the school, or the time, or the waffles ? " asked the Doctor, as soon as the laugh, caused by Dodo's mixed-up sentences, had stopped. 22 WAFFLES AND A WALK 23 " I mean that night comes nowadays very soon after we come home from school. Why are the days so short in winter, Uncle Roy, just when we need the sun to warm us, and so long and hot in summer when we want to be cool ? " " Why, it's the other way round," said Rap ; " it is because the sun stays up so long in spring and sum- mer that the days are warm, and because it comes so late, and hurries to bed, that the days are cold." " But why does the sun stay longer some times than others ? Why need the days ever be so very short ? " " Your supper would grow cold if I stopped to explain," said the Doctor. " Some day we must make ourselves into a class in astronomy and learn how the sun, moon, and stars all go bowling about in the sky, and how the old earth looked when she was young." " There is the moon now. Oh, how fat it is to- night," said Dodo, looking toward a window where the curtains had not been drawn. " The hunter's moon," said Mr. Blake, " and many a good time I've had by the light of it." "Why is it called hunter's moon, daddy," asked Dodo, " and what did you do with the light of it ? " " It is the moon that comes in October when all the game birds and wild food and fur beasts are through raising their families, and it is fair for House People who need fur or food to go and hunt them." " Did you ever need food and fur, daddy ? " per- sisted Dodo. "Yes, sometimes I really did; and should have starved except for my gun and what it brought me ; 24 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS and sometimes perhaps I thought I did," said Mr. Blake, looking at the Doctor, who was shaking with laughter. " Did you ever shoot anything just to see if you could hit it ? " asked Nat. " Yes ; I'm afraid I did often, before I had travelled over the wild west country and learned for myself that shooting food and fur beasts to ' see what you can hit,' is making this wonderful land of ours as bare of four- footed things as it will be of birds." " Say, Mis' Cherry, can de young mis hab a spoon o' jam 'long o' dere waffles ? " asked Mammy Bun in what was meant to be a whisper, popping her head in at the door. " I'm afraid not, to-night, mammy," said Mrs. Blake, whose girlish name of Cherry, mammy still used. "We should have the children dreaming of Buffaloes and Indians and rolling out of bed. Waffles are quite enough." " But Mammy Bun's waffles are such well-behaved things that they never hurt anybody," said Olive. " Yes," echoed Dodo, " mammy says it's all in the beating up ; if you beat waffles ever so hard when you're making them, they'll never talk back after you eat them. I know something that does talk back, though — it's turnips if you eat them raw like apples, and chew rather quick and then drink water. Oh, it was dreadful ! " "So, missy has been having indigestion, lias she?" laughed the Doctor. " Yes ; if that name means that inside your chest is too big for your skin. What makes indigestion, Uncle Roy?" WAFFLES AND A WALK 25 " Indigestion comes when the food you eat is not of the right kind or quality for your stomach mill to turn into good flesh and blood. Then it stays in the mill, swelling up, growing stale and sour, choking up the little wheels, and souring the wheel grease that helps them move, causing pain and sickness, until it is turned out in some way. That is the reason why we should be careful what we put into the mill. " To make sure that mammy's waffles do not grumble, suppose we all take a little walk down the road before we go into the wonder room to draw the animal tree. " Come, Cherry," said the Doctor, drawing Mrs. Blake's hand through his arm, " you, too. I'm not going to have you stay in the house all the time. We need you, and you need the fresh air to give you back the red cheeks that gave you your pet name. Olive, dear, please get your aunt's warm wrap — never mind gloves ; here is a coat-pocket for each hand," and the proces- sion stepped out into the bright moon path. " There will be no frost until this wind dies down," said Mr. Blake. " What nice clean shadows the trees make," said Olive, after they had walked in silence down a lane that led from the turnpike toward the pastures and spring. " Hush ! what was that ? " " A bird, maybe, that was sleepy and fell off its perch." " No, • a Flying Squirrel," whispered the Doctor. " There it goes ! " and on looking up they saw a dark object, a little larger than a Chipmunk, half spring, half drop from a birch tree on one side of the lane to a maple on the opposite side. 26 FOUR-FOOTED AMEBICANS " Can Squirrels fly ? I thought only birds could do that," whispered Dodo, awe-struck. " Look yonder, but keep very still," said Mr. Blake, holding back some branches that hid the view of the spring. "It is a little dog drinking," said Nat. "What a bushy tail he has. See, he is going over toward the barns ; perhaps he is a friend of Quick, or Mr. Wolf." " No, it is a Fox, and he is going to see where the chickens live." " A Fox ! " screamed Dodo, forgetting the need for silence. " A real wild animal ! Oh, uncle, do let us catch it ! " " I very much wish jou would," said the Doctor, as the Fox raised one paw, sniffed the air, and disap- peared like magic between some Ioav bushes. " He is the most cunning of our beasts, and if the wind had been the other way, he would not have given us even this peep at him." " What difference does the wind make ? " asked Nat. " Is he afraid of it ? " " I know," said Rap ; " for before my leg was hurt I went often with the miller and his dog to hunt Foxes that stole his turkeys. Little wild beasts look for food mostly at night, or late in the afternoon, or early in the morning, when it isn't so easy to see, so they use their smeller to tell them a great many things that they can't see with their eyes. They can smell so well that if the wind was blowing from us to them they would know we are here and would run away." " That is right, my lad," said the Doctor. " The wild beasts have a much keener sense of smell and WAFFLES AND A WALK 27 hearing than we House People, and 3^011 will do well when you wish to watch even a Squirrel to keep from stepping on a dry leaf and to see which way the wind blows." "■Only think, we've seen a real wild animal," chuckled Dodo to Nat. "I've seen a Coon and a Muskrat and a Mink," said Rap, "besides Foxes and Squirrels." " I know what Mink is," said Dodo ; " it's nice brown fur, and I have some of it on my winter coat. " Uncle Roy is going to take us to the old log camp in the Owl woods some day, and there are fur beasts up around there, he says." " Daddy has been all about the wild west country on business, and he has seen dreadful fierce, wild animals, and he is going to tell us about them by and by. You know daddy goes round to find out about the country and look for mines that are hidden in the ground," explained Nat to Rap, " and that's why we haven't seen much of him for a long time. You see mines are often in very savage places, and now daddy is staying here this winter to write down all he has seen and draw plans for people to work by in the spring." "Oh, then your father is a miner," said Rap ; "I've read about them." " No, a miner is the man that digs with a pick and shovel ; daddy is the one who digs with his brain and tells the miner how to work so that the earth won't fall in on him, and how to cut away the rock and get to the treasure. Daddy is what they call a Mining Engineer ! " and Nat stopped suddenly, as if the two big words were too much for him. 28 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Some clay I suppose you will go with him and see all these things. It is nice to have two legs," said Rap, half sadly, looking at his crutch. "Never mind ; we will be partners. I will go out and hunt, and you shall write the book about it the way uncle does, for I don't like to write." " I do," said Rap, cheering up ; " that will be splen- did." .. "Don't try to walk through the fence," said Olive. Then the children found that they had been so busy talking that they did not realize they were walking back toward the farm, until they had bumped into the front fence instead of opening the gate. The log fire in the wonder room was not a bit too warm, and as they gathered around it Mr. Wolf and Quick came in from the kitchen licking their lips, as if they had been so busy with supper that they had not missed their friends. Wolf settled himself at Mrs. Blake's feet with all the dignity of a St. Bernard, but Quick kept prancing and springing from one to another with Fox-Terrier ner- vousness. " In the spring when we began to learn about birds, I told you a few facts about their bones and feathers, the way in which they were made and for what they were useful," said Dr. Roy, sitting at his desk and tip- ping back his chair. " We found the bird was a good American citizen, and I think you feel now as if you really had a bowing acquaintance with some of these feathered folk." " Yes," said Dodo, " I forget some things you said about them for a while, and then I remember again. WAFFLES AND A WALK 29 We saw a Screech Owl in the woods yesterday, and I remembered its name right off, and that it was one of the good Owls that mustn't be shot." " Good girl, that encourages your old uncle to tell you more stories this winter about some of the other creatures that are branches of the wonderful animal tree." Nat and Rap brightened up, and Olive said she could not imagine anything pleasanter for winter even- ings. " But we have to do our lessons in the evenings," said Nat, dolefully. " Uncle Roy will manage it somehow," said Dodo, shaking her head confidently; "there is a surprise somewhere, I know. I've been expecting it." At this Mr. and Mrs. Blake and the Doctor smiled, but said nothing.' "Uncle Roy," persisted Dodo, after a pause, "won't you do as you did with the birds, and tell us about the wild American animals instead of about menagerie beasts, and then make us a book about them ? There must be as many as fifty kinds of usual animals in America, counting all those in the west country. I'm so tired of menagerie beasts — " ' L is for Lion who roars in his rage, T is for Tiger who snarls in his cage,' that was on my picture blocks when I was a little child. I had picture books of Cockatoos and other strange birds, too, but they never seemed to mean anything until you told us about our American birds." " You are right, Dodo," said the Doctor, " and you 30 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS have given me some new ideas for my surprise. Yes, there is a surprise hiding somewhere near ! We are to have a winter camp here at the farm, and the stories told at the campfire shall all be about four- footed Americans, with a few about some no-footed and wing-handed ones thrown in." IV CLIMBING THE ANIMAL TREE PLENDID!" cried Nat and Rap to- gether, as soon as they realized what Dr. Roy said. " When shall we have the stories ? " " What is a campfire ? Is it made of logs or coal ? " asked Dodo. " Where are you going to have the camp? Here in the wonder room ? " asked Olive, who was as much surprised as her cousins. " What are no-footed Americans, fishes ? " persisted Dodo. "Fishes have no feet, and yet these no-footed beasts are not fishes. The Americans you shall hear about will all be our blood brothers, the Mammals — the highest branch of the animal tree, the one that I said has so many smaller branches that it seems almost like a whole tree by itself." " M — mammals; m — milk," said Dodo, proud at not having forgotten. " But, Uncle Roy, we can't see all these M — mammals outdoors, as we did the birds, and there aren't any here in your wonder room. How can Ave tell how they look ? " " You will probably see some of the smaller ones 81 32 FOUR-FOOTED AMEBIC AN S this winter, just as you saw the Fox to-night. I have the skins of others packed away in chests ; and some you must learn to know hj pictures, until you have a chance to see them in the Zoo or in a Museum. " No more questions to-night. You will hear more about the surprise to-morrow. Now I must try to tell you how to climb the animal tree, so that you may step easily from branch to branch and have a general understanding of its groups and families." " This will be harder than learning about bones and feathers that built the bird." " Yes and no ! When you began to learn the geography of our country, what was the first map you saw, Nat ? A map of one state, with all the mountains, rivers, cities, and towns, large and small ? " " Ah, no, uncle ; a plain, easy map of the whole of North America, with only the very big chief moun- tains, rivers, and land divisions put down. It took us a long time only to learn the names of the states and how they were bounded ; then by and by we took them in groups, until at this school we are hav- ing each state by itself." " Precisely. Now, in drawing this animal tree, I will not put down all small branches and twigs, but merely the chief branches, so that you may have what is called a 'general idea' of the whole. Then from time to time you can study by itself any branch that particularly interests you. " Now watch," said the Doctor, drawing rapidly on a large sheet of cardboard. "Your old uncle is no draughtsman, but this Avill do for a beginning, and I will copy it neatly by and by, so that we can hang CLIMBING THE ANIMAL TREE 33 it on the wall of our camp. This animal tree has a straight trunk, and first come eight brandies." " Ah ! Ah ! " cried Dodo. " Mother ! Daddy ! Come and look ! Uncle is making each branch end in an animal, so we can see with one peep where they belong, and the little first animal that belongs to the trunk hasn't any more shape than an ink blot ! " What is that queer little spot, uncle ? Has it a name ? All ! now you are writing the name on each branch," chattered Dodo. After everybody had looked at the sketch of the animal tree, the Doctor hung it up on the door, and said he would try to answer a few of their questions about it. " These," said the Doctor, pointing to the lower branches of the tree that he had drawn, " are the animals which have no backbones, — Invertebrates, the Wise Men call them, — and though I do not want to trouble you with long names, you must try to remember this one, because it is important and you will meet it often in reading. " With these branches begin the lowest forms of animal life. This little thing on the trunk that Dodo called an ink blot is the very first form of animal life, it is called a Protozoan, and it is really so small that you could not see it without a microscope." " That is a pretty big name for next-to-nothing," said Rap. " Yes ; but the name, like many of those the Wise Men give, explains the meaning. It comes from the Greek words protos (first) and zoon (animal), so among ourselves we will call the trunk of the tree the first 34 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS animal, as it is tlie first step from the vegetable to the animal kingdom." " If it is so small and has so little body, how can you tell it isn't a vegetable ? " asked Olive. " It is very difficult indeed to distinguish between the lower forms of animal and vegetable life, and we must leave the reason why to the AVise Men : for it puzzles them very often, and I could not explain it without using long words." " Why, Uncle Roy," said Dodo, " I know a real simple reason, — animals can move and plants can't ! " " Wrong, missy ; many of the lower animals cannot move. The coral, for instance, and the oysters, are as much fixtures as the geraniums in their pots over by the window. " But to return to our animal tree. Besides having no backbones, these lower animals have no hearts, lungs, or brains ; they are not built around a bony skeleton, as birds are or we ourselves. Their vital parts are held in a single tube. These animals are of various shapes and live in many ways and places, — on the earth, in the water, and in mud. Among the lower branches of the animal tree, you will find things that are familiar to you, though you probably never have thought what they were, whether animals or vegetables. " To repeat all the names, even of the animals that belong on each branch, would confuse and tire you sadly, so I will only tell you of some of the principal kinds that you are most likely to see, to act as steps, so to speak, by which you may climb to the branch where our four-footed Americans live. CLIMBING THE ANIMAL TREE 35 " On the next branch to the trunk, or First Animal, belong the Sponges ; they are plant-like water animals that cannot move. Then the Jelly Fishes and Sea Anemones, which are masses of clear, jelly-like stuff floating in the sea, and many of these are beautifully colored." " I saw some Jelly Fish when we were at the shore this summer," said Dodo. " I walked on some, and though they felt so slimy they sort of made my feet tingle." " Olive," said the Doctor, " suppose you take out the blackboard and write the names of these lower branches who have no backbones." THE TRUNK AND SOME OF THE LOWER BRANCHES OF THE ANIMAL TREE Protozoa or First Animals 1. Sponges . . . . 2. Jelly Fishes . . 3. Corals 4. Star Fishes . 5. Worms .... The trunk. The lowest form of animal life, body; a single cell. Most of them too small to be seen without microscope. Plant-like water animals that cannot move. Round masses of clear, jelly-like stuff floating in the sea. Sea Anemones, etc. The white, lace-like specimens that you have seen in cabinets, or the polished pink sprays thaf are made into ornaments or carved into beads. You may have thought these some sort of stones, but corals are tiny, soft-bodied animals living in cases made of lime. Many of these cases built up close together form the beautiful shapes that you know. The five-pointed prickly animals found on sea beaches. Sea Urchins, etc. Crinoids, etc. Long squirming animals, of both land and water ; also living as parasites upon the in- sides of other animals. 36 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 6. Mollusks. . . . Shell Fish, such as Oysters, Clams and Mussels, Snails, Slugs, Cuttle Fish, etc. 7. Crustaceans . . Animals covered with a hard shell, having many legs and a pair of feelers, or antenna;, breathing through gills the air that is dis- solved in the water. Lobsters, Crabs, etc., are Crustaceans. 8. Spiders and (Called Arachnidae, from Arachne, the Spinner, Scorpions . . . because they spin webs.) Are a sort of cousin to Crabs, but live on the earth instead of in the water. " The top branches of this group contain the Insects, with many legs, their bodies being divided into three parts. Insects go through many changes in the course of development. Take the butterfly as an example. First an egg is laid by a fully grown butterfly ; second, a caterpillar is hatched from the egg ; third, the cater- pillar spins itself into a chrysalis, or cocoon, out of which comes the winged butterfly. Ants, mosquitoes, flies, and beetles are all insects. " Among the next circle of branches we find the ani- mals having backbones, the Vertebrates. I think you will feel more at home with them, and we are more nearly concerned with them now, as our mammals be- long in this order, although there are many things you must some day learn of the many backboneless twigs, especially about the insects with their wonderful wings and stings." " I suppose my Rattlesnake is a rather low-down Ver- tebrate, Uncle Roy," said Nat. "No, my boy, there are two grades below him and two above. See," — and the Doctor drew a branch with five divisions. Vertebrate Branches of the Animal Tree. 37 38 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS THE VERTEBRATE BRANCHES OF THE ANIMAL TREE ANIMALS HAVING BACKBONES Animals with bony skeletons ; never having more than two pairs of limbs. These animals inhabit both land and water, and may either swim, fly, crawl, or walk. Fishes .... Cold-blooded animals that live in water; usually covered with scales. They breathe through gills, and in their fins we see the very beginnings of limbs. Frogs, etc. . . (Amphibians.) Going through several transforma- tions, from egg to perfect animal, but having legs when fully grown. The stepping-stones between fishes and reptiles. Reptiles . . . Cold-blooded, egg-laying animals, either with a shell or scaly covering, living on land or in the water; some kinds doing both. They have simple, three- chambered hearts. Alligators, Turtles, and Snakes are Reptiles. Birds Warm-blooded, air-breathing animals. They are covered with feathers, have four-chambered hearts, and the young are hatched from eggs. Mammals . . The highest order of animals. Warm-blooded, air- breathing, having a four-chambered heart and double circulation. The young are born alive and nourished by their mother's milk. Mammals are all more or less covered with hair. The Whale, Seal. Cat, Cow, Dog, Rabbit, Mouse, Bat, Monkey, and Man are Mammals. "The Mammal branch is so large and important and has so many small branches and twigs of its own that by and by I shall make yon a tree of it by itself." " Are yon going to draw the Mammal tree to-night ? " asked Dodo, anxiously. " Because I think my head is as full of thinking as it will hold. 1 ' CLIMBING THE ANIMAL TREE 39 " No, missy, not another word to-night ; it is half- past eight, and your mother has been making ' time-to- go-to-bed' signs at me for half an hour." " But, mother," pleaded Dodo, " though my head is full, my stomach feels real hollow, and we were going to toast crackers, you know." " Very well ! Nat, rake open the hot ashes and see if you can find another pair of tongs. Two crackers and a glass of milk make a very comfortable night- cap ; for if you go to bed with an empty stomach, you will probably wake up with an empty head," said the Doctor, rubbing his hands together. " Am I invited to this feast ? " " Of course ; you and mother and daddy. Olive belongs with us children. It wouldn't be a real feast without you all," said Dodo, a look of perfect content resting on her round face. " Here are three pairs of tongs. Nat, you toast for mamma, and Rap for uncle, and I'll toast for papa and Olive ; then afterwards we can toast for each other. It's lots more fun doing it for somebody else, and then having somebody do it for you." In a moment the three children were crouching in front of the fire, holding the crackers by the rims with old-fashioned tongs, over the bed of glowing hickory fragments. " The crackers that fall into the fire belong to the dogs," said Dodo, consolingly, to Rap, who had just dropped his first one. "They don't mind a few ashes." " Here is mammy with the big pitcher," said the Doctor. " Now all stand in a row and drink a health, 40 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS in milk, to home, and the blood-brothers whose acquaintance we are to make — the Four-Footed Americans." " Is Rap going to stay here all night ? " asked Nat, as they put down their glasses. " No ; his mother would worry. Your father and I will walk home with him; we have some things to talk over/' " Is it anything to do with the surprise ? " asked Dodo. " Miss Inquisitive, if you poke your precious nose so far into things, some day it may be shut in the crack of a door," laughed her father. "Ah ! the wind has fallen and the frost has come. I'm glad Rod covered those pumpkins," said the Doctor, who was already out on the porch. " Then we can go nutting to-morrow," said Nat, capering. "Come up early, Rap." " We shall go nutting to-morrow, but Rap need not come up ; Ave will call for him," said the Doctor. " But the chestnuts are all up this way," persisted Dodo. "I did not say we were going che&tnutting" replied the Doctor, closing the door so suddenly, that if Dodo's nose had been anything longer than a pug it might really have been squeezed in the crack. " M — mammals; m — milk," she half sang, half whispered, as she stumbled sleepily up to bed, hanging on her mother's arm. AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY >HEN Nat awoke the next morning, he lay quite still for a moment, rubbing his eyes and wondering what it was that he was trying to remember. He did not seem to be in any more of a hurry to get up than the sun, who was only beginning to peep through the most southerly corner of the orchard trees, instead of being up above them at this hour, as had been his habit all summer. Nat finally opened his eyes and looked toward the window, still half dreaming about Wild West Shows, animal trees, and four-footed Americans, wondering why the light was so speckled. Then as he saw the frost crystals that covered the panes with their beauti- ful fern traceries, it all came back like a flash, and he jumped out, shouting, tk There's been a hard frost, and we are to go nutting to-day, and hear about the surprise ! " At the same moment Dodo's sturdy fist pounded on the door. Bang, bang, bang ! " Aren't you up yet, 41 42 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS Nattie? I am, and all dressed." Bang. "My boots laced to the very top, and my teeth cleaned with powder." Bang, bang, bang ! Lacing her boots and cleaning her teeth were usually two weak spots in Dodo's toilet, and the fact that she had done both so early in the morning made Nat feel sure that some- thing unusual was afoot. " Yes, I'm up," said Nat, " and I'll be ready in a minute." " Father says, put on your thick very old clothes, and the old boots with the scraped skin." "Where are we ffoing' ? Was there a bier frost?" spluttered Nat, straggling with his sponge full of water. "Uncle Roy said he would tell when we are all dressed. I can't seem to make Olive hurry one bit, and breakfast will be at seven, and it's a quarter to, now. Only look out, and you'll see what kind of a frost there was," — and Nat could hear the squeak and flop that she made as she slid down the bannisters and landed on the rug at the foot of the stairs. He wiped off the frost with his towel and looked out. Near the house everything was glittering with diamonds, for Jack Frost had only fingered the nearby things, but down in the low pasture by the spring the blackened ferns showed where he had walked with his heaviest boots. There was quite a commotion and bustle over by the barns. The long market wagon with all three seats screwed in place was pulled out of its shed, and Rod was putting bundles of straw in the bottom. Mysterious baskets stood about, and in one Nat thought he saw a tea-kettle. Who was that man in a queer furry-looking cap, thick short coat, and leg- AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 43 gins buttoned up to his knees ? Nat looked again and then exclaimed to himself, " Why, it's daddy, and the other humpy-looking man is uncle ! " Then he hurried on with dressing as the only means of solving the mystery. This morning there was a roaring fire in the Franklin stove in the dining-room. This stove, which is a sort of open fireplace on legs that stands out a little way from the chimney, throws more heat into the room than a hearth fire. " Now," said the Doctor, coming in with his arm around Olive, who met him in the hall, " hold your ears wide open and stand away from the table so that you will not break the china. tk We are going to the far-away hickory woods, where we expected to go on Dodo's birthday to look for owls ! Stop a moment ! that is not all. Instead of taking- sandwiches and such things for lunch we are going to take pots and pans and food and play camp-out and cook our dinner and supper in the woods, and come home by moonlight ! " " That will be fine," said Olive. " I half expected this last night." " Jolly ! " cried Nat. " But," said practical Miss Dodo, " if we are to cook, Mammy Bun will have to go, and being out after dark will make her grumble about her bones." " I am the c-oo-k who is going with you to-day," said Mr. Blake, coming in ; " and a very good cook, too, I can tell you." "Why, daddy," exclaimed both children, "can you cook, and out in the woods, without any stove, too ? " 44 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Indeed I can, and many's the day that your Uncle Roy and I have not only had to cook for ourselves, but catch or shoot our own provisions, and as for stoves — we often hadn't even a bough wind-break over us, and slept on the ground in our blankets." " On the ground ? And wasn't it wet, and didn't things bite you ? Ah, what is that ? Come, look out here, Uncle Roy. Wolf and Quick have caught some kind of a wild beast. It's too small for a Fox. What is it ? " " One of the big Woodchucks who would not go in the trap we set in the rocky pasture, and who is rather late in holing up. They generally go to sleep for the winter before hard frost." "Why don't they freeze?" said Dodo. "You told us once that it was very extra dangerous to go to sleep out doors in cold weather, — that we would freeze in a twinkling." " Is that beast one of the four-footed Americans you are going to tell us about ? " asked Nat. " What queer long teeth he has : two upper and two under ones, with straight edges, and no little pointed ones like our eye- teeth. Do the four-footed Americans belong to guilds the same as the birds do, Uncle Roy ? " " Yes, my boy ; and those four powerful teeth show to what guild the Woodchuck belongs, — the greatest guild among the Mammals, — the Gnawers. " Mother is coming," said Dodo, going to the stairs to meet her, as Mammy Bun came in the opposite door with the coffee-pot. " Now everything is started, 'cause nothing really begins right end up until mother comes ! " The Woodchuck. AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 45 The Doctor would not let the children hurry their breakfast, and Mr. Blake said, " Eat all you can now, for you may not like my cooking." "Are you not going to take some cake or bread, or at least cold chicken ? " asked Mrs. Blake. " No, dear ; not even bread. Ginger cookies are the only cooked food allowed. I want to give the children a nibble at the way people live who explore, or hunt, or for any other reason take to a wild life. Don't worry ; we shall neither starve nor be out quite all night, though it may be late before we return." Tom and Jerry were harnessed to the farm wagon, so Comet was left home by himself. " You see this wagon is only suitable for stout horses," said Tom, with a wink to his mate, as they drove round to the house. "Are you sure you have everything?" asked Mrs. Blake, anxiously. " I will give you a list of our belongings : a tea- kettle, a coffee-pot, a frying-pan, and a small tin kettle, six tin plates, cups, knives and forks, salt, pepper, sugar, coffee, flour, part of a ham, a dozen eggs, a small bag of potatoes, a quart of beans, a ball of stout cord, my shot-gun, a small axe, a shovel, and plenty of matches." " 'Pears like you uns was calkerlatin' to plant a gar- din, wif beans and p'taters and a shovel," chuckled Mammy Bun, who was never far away when a picnic was about to start. " For de law's sakes, Massa Doctor, do fetch along a jar o' sas, — all dem vittles am chokin' dry!" " Mr. Blake is the cook, and you know, mammy, cooks don't like to be interfered with." 46 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS "No mo' do they," she chuckled. ***** They stopped at Rap's house and found him waiting, with a feed-bag, all ready for the nuts he expected to get. " Which way are the hickory woods ? " asked Olive ; " toward the shore or inland ? " " Inland and almost twenty miles due north of here. There was a logging camp there years ago. I am sure that you have never been in that direction." " Is there any river in the woods ? " asked Rap. "Perhaps we may see some wild ducks." " There is a strong, swift river beyond where we are going, though I am not sure that we shall get so far to- day, but there is a small river and pond near the hick- ory woods, where you may see ducks. It is by the big river that the lumber camp is, where Olaf expects to stop for a few months this winter." Some of the trees that were almost covered the day before had dropped their leaves entirely after the hard frost, and the Red Squirrels were chattering and running along the stone fences. One little fellow was carrying a nut in each cheek, and looked very comical, as if he either had the mumps or a toothache. " I never noticed before how many Squirrels there are about here. I suppose because the leaves hid them. Are they Mammals, Uncle Roy, and what guild do they belong to ? " asked Dodo. " Yes, they are Mammals, and they belong to the same guild as the Woodchuck, — the Gnawers. Watch that little fellow as he sits up and turns the nut about with his paws, which he uses quite as we do our AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 47 hands. See how quickly he gnaws through the hard shell." " So he does," cried Nat. " Chipmunks gnawed up a lot of our seckle pears this year before they were ripe," said Rap. " They seemed to want the seeds, for they left the fruity part chipped up all over the grass under the tree." " That is one of their habits ; in fact, the bad habit of the whole guild, that they destroy much more than they need for food." " Most of the little beasts hereabouts belong to the Gnawers, don't they, Doctor ! " asked Rap. " Squirrels, Chipmunks, Muskrats, Rats, Mice, Woodchucks, Rab- bits, and all such things ? " " Yes, all those belong to the Gnawers, and some of them we call vermin, or, as Dodo says, ' Nuisance Ani- mals,' who do more harm than good. Yet many of them are wonderfully intelligent, and it seems hard sometimes to say that we should kill even one of these little mischief-makers. " The great balance wheel of Nature is so carefully made and well planned by its Maker that we must always touch it reverently." " What do you mean by balance wheel, Uncle Roy ? " asked Nat. " This, my lad. In this world of ours nothing, from the least grain of sand to the strongest animal, was made for itself alone. Each thing depends upon some other thing, which is equally dependent in its own turn. So we may compare this plan to a wheel which, though it is made of many different parts, — hub, spokes, rim, and tire, — would not be a useful, perfect wheel if even 48 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS a single spoke were missing, so much does the strength of the whole depend on even the least part. We may think that this animal or that is of no use, until we find by experience that it filled its place as a small but important spoke in this life-wheel." " But, father," said Olive, "it is surely necessary for us to kill Rats and Mice and other nuisance animals ? " " Certainly, we must kill them now because the balance wheel has been so disturbed that these animals have multiplied out of their due proportion and we have made ourselves responsible for their increase. This is a penalty man has to pay in many ways for eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. He has to labor to accomplish many things that Heart of Nature intended doing for him." " Then maybe if people hadn't shot so many Owls and good Cannibal Birds, it would have helped keep down the nuisance animals," ventured Dodo. " Oh, uncle, what are those funny little haystacks down in the water in the marsh meadow? " " Muskrat huts. Stop a minute, Olive, and let us look at them," said the Doctor, shading his eyes with his hands. " The animals who make their homes in those haystacks, as Dodo calls them, are very curious as well as both mischievous and useful. They look like something between the Woodchuck the dogs brought in this morning and a great Rat. They are a little under a foot long, and they can swim as fast as a Duck. Their front toes have long claws for scratching, and their back toes webs for swimming. They live in the banks of rivers and ponds in summer, and retire into these huts, made of rushes and old weeds, AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 49 before winter. They will suck eggs and steal poultry like common Rats. They have a stiff, hairy-looking coat, but underneath it is soft, beautiful fur. Why, that old cap your father is wearing is Muskrat fur — where did you get it, Blake? " " Out West, with many other such things to keep out cold. But this is only the common uncolored skin ; Front Paw and Tail of Muskrat. the furriers dye it a soft brown, selling it for French seal, — and a very pretty fur it is, too, for caps and mittens." " There seem to be a good many wild animals about here, even though it's a prettjr tame place — I mean a civilized place," said Nat, correcting himself. " I never thought that we should find fur beasts so near home. I'd like to see into one of those Muskrat houses, uncle." " And so you shall, as soon as it is cold enough for the water that surrounds it to be frozen so that we can walk to them. The story of that animal and his cousin, the Beaver, is enough to fill a book all by itself." E 50 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS After they had jogged along a fairly level road for a couple of hours, the children asking questions and begging to get out at intervals, to pick up some par- ticularly nice apple that had fallen outside a fence and been passed by in the general harvest, they turned into a lane road with turf between the wheel tracks. The ground now began to rise in a zig-zag fashion between a wall of hemlock and pine trees, under which were mats of ground pine, partridge berry, and wintergreen. Whirr- whirr, and a pair of large brownish birds flew up from the roadside and disappeared in some bushes. "What were those birds as big as chickens?" screamed Dodo. " Oh, why didn't some one catch them ? They went right by your nose, Olive ! " " I think partly because I was as much surprised as they were," laughed Olive. " As fine a pair of Ruffed Grouse as one could wish for dinner," said Mr. Blake. " Ah, papa, you wouldn't eat them ? " Availed Dodo. " Why not, girlie ? They are game birds made for food ; their nesting is over, and this is the season that the Wise Men say we may take them by fair hunting." " What is fair hunting ? I don't think any hunting is fair." "Using no trap or snare, but following the game afoot, if it be birds with gun and dog, killing no more than you need. If it is a Deer, Elk, Moose, or Ante- lope, using your own perseverance and rifle without a dog, and never taking a doe or fawn unless absolute starvation stares you in the face." " But if you are trying to kill nuisance animals ? " asked Rap. AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 51 "Then use gun, trap, snare, poison, or any other means you have ; but never put a nuisance animal to torture — never leave even a rat to die miserably in a trap." " I guess I'll let you do my hunting for me, daddy," said Dodo, duly impressed. " I'd rather not kill any- thing myself." " And I had much rather you would not," said Mr. Blake, putting his arm around her. " Keep your little heart tender. There is greater need for such things than for game and guns in this world nowadays, little daughter. I would not now willingly kill a big game animal n^self and see the light fade from its bright eyes and the last flutter of its breast." " It wouldn't be any harm if we learned how to shoot, would it, daddy ? " asked Nat. " 'Way back in the sum- mer Uncle Roy said perhaps you would teach me some time, and Rap, too," for the boys had long since become inseparable. "Certainly, you shall learn this very fall. Every man should know how to shoot and handle a gun prop- erly, if need requires. Shooting game fairly is a manly art, and it is also a manly art to know when and what not to shoot." " See the river," said Dodo. " You called it little, but it is much bigger and swifter than our river. Oh, what a queer bridge, and all the evergreen trees are on the rocks on one side, and great tall barky trees with no leaves on the other." " This is the beginning of the hickory wood, where we are going. It looks to me as if some one had been making improvement here, since my day," said the 52 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS Doctor. " Though the biggest trees are gone, the dead ones seem to have been taken away from year to year, and the young growth encouraged." " Stop a minute, Olive ; your father, Nat, and I will walk this last mile ; the road is too steep and rough for a full load." "Is. the far west country wilder than this?" asked Dodo, who of course wished to walk with the others, holding tight to her uncle's hand. " I think it's lonely enough for Tigers here, if it was only warm enough." " Bless my heart, this is not wild ! You have a road to walk on ; you know where you came from and where you are going. To call a country really wild it must have no roads, but only gaps or trails between the trees, and often not even these, but you must cut a path for yourself. You will more frequently know where you wish to go than where you are going ; and you are never sure when, if ever, you will get back to the place from which you started." " What is that ahead ? Smoke coming from the hill- side. It must be from the charcoal-burner's hut that Olaf spoke of last summer. I supposed that was the other side of the mountain, but I see the wood here is about right for making charcoal." The Doctor and Dodo had fallen behind Mr. Blake and Nat. When they overtook them they found that the lane ended in some high hickory woods, and Mr. Blake suggested they couldn't find a better place to halt and make their play camp. While they were discussing where it would be best to tie the horses, a tall, thin, but wiry man, came noise- lessly from among the trees and stood looking at the AN AUTUMN If OLID AY 53 party. He had a long, straight nose like a Fox, and deep-set eyes ; his face was as brown as his beard, and his clothes were very much like some of those worn by the scouts in the Wild West Show, his shoes being without seams, like moccasins. In spite of his strange face and dress there was noth- ing forbidding about him, and he had a pleasant smile as he stepped noiselessly up. "A woodsman, I know," said Mr. Blake to himself, scarcely looking at the man's face, but judging by his soft tread. The man stood still a second, looking as if he saw some familiar object, but from a great distance, and then exclaimed, " I want to know ! " The Doctor and Mr. Blake both started forward, and the strange man grasped each by the hand. "Nez Long! Is it possible?" said the Doctor, clap- ping him on the back with his free hand, while the children stood looking on in amazement. Olive, how- ever, knew who he was as soon as she heard the name, and explained to the others, while the three men con- tinued to talk eagerly. Nez was a man from northern Maine whom her father and uncle had known out West. He had been a trapper, hunter, and cowboy, all by turns, and the head of a lum- ber camp in Canada. The French Canadians called him Nez Long, which means " long-nose " in their lan- guage. He had once saved Mr. Blake's life, when he was almost crushed by a falling tree and in danger of being torn by a bear, but how he came in the hickory wood she of course did not know. " Yes, I'm the charcoal-burner, I reckon, now, and 54 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS canoe-maker, too, and do a bit o' huntin' and trappin' raound about, and raise some truck t'other side o' the woods, and get out railroad ties. I've a camp o' my own inside the first belt, and a wife, and she isn't a squaw neither, and two young uns. You see I've got some property at last, Doc, in spite of being a sort of wild Injun myself. We live in a log house, though ; we'd choke in any other kind, — my woman an' me's agreed on that. She was 'Toinette Pardeau — old Dominique's daughter. You'll remember him ; he was your guide the day you got that thunderin' big Bear. All these your young uns, Jake?" " What a queer man," said Dodo. " And not very polite. He calls Uncle Roy, Doc, and daddy, Jake. I don't think he is nice." " You must remember," said Olive, " that he has been with them in wild places and they have shared danger, and worked and hunted together as if they were brothers, and when men do this, the Mister drops away from their names, and they feel to each other as you and Nat and Rap do." " Of course they must," said Dodo, repentantly, "and he picked the tree off daddy ; " so, without hesitating, she walked up to him, holding out her hand, and saying solemnly, " Good morning, Mr. Long Nose, I'm glad to meet you and thank you very much for taking the tree off daddy's leg." " I want to know ! " stuttered Nez, more surprised than if a Grizzly Bear had spoken to him. Every one laughed then, and it did not take long to explain why they were there, and how they were going to cook dinner camp-fashion ; and Nat feeling the sud- AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 55 den confidence in Nez that young people and dogs have in those who really love them, said, " I'm going to learn to shoot this winter and hear all about the wild American animals, and sometimes you will let us come to see you, won't you, and you'll tell us stories ? " " Oh, do," echoed Dodo, looking up at him with a smile that generally had yes, as its reward, " and per- haps you'll tell us just one story for dessert to-day." "Sure enough I will," he answered; "and I'll set you a camp and a fire all slick and ready while you're a-gettin' your nuts. Then you can come over yonder," and without more ado he disappeared in the trees. " Where are the nuts ? " asked Dodo, looking up to the sky. " On the ground partly and in the trees mostly," said Olive. " If these trees in front of us had a good shaking, we could pick up enough hickories to last all winter." The horses were unharnessed, tethered to stumps and blanketed ; for in spite of the bright sun the air was keen, and the wind had suddenly sprung up, scat- tering the leaves and sending down quite a hailstorm of nuts. When Mr. Blake and the Doctor, climbing some of the smaller trees, aided the wind in its work, the nuts gave the gatherers such a pelting that they had to stop until the squall was over. " It's almost too easy to be fun," said Nat, as they tied up the mouth of Rap's bag, which was already filled. "I think I'd rather hunt for things a little longer." " Good boy," said his father ; " that is the spirit that 56 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS makes a real sportsman, — the watching and waiting and finding, not simply the greedy getting that makes the selfish sort of man I call a Hunting Wolf." " You had better make the most of this easy nutting, though," said the Doctor, " for when it comes to pick- ing up chestnuts, you will have to look and poke about between the leaves and stones, I can tell you." " I wonder what Mr. Long Nose is doing, and how he is going to fix our camp for us," said Dodo, empty- ing her little basket into the big one for the third time. " I think we have enough now." " I thought there was some other reason for your hurry beside the filling of the bags. I never knew before that children could have too many nuts. But don't call your friend Long Nose, Dodo ; he has a real name, though it was never used among his camp-mates." " What shall I call him then — Mr. Long ? " " No ; simply Nez, pronounced as it is spelled ; he will understand it better, for if you called him Mister, he would be put out, perhaps." " Oh, what a big Squirrel ! " called Nat. " Twice as large as those about the farm, and all one color, like a Maltese cat, only a little browner. There is another, and another yet, chasing about like anything ! See, Uncle Roy ; up there ! " " Gray Squirrels, and fine ones, too. These are exactly the sort of woods that suit them ; plenty of hickories and beech trees, and water not far away." " How many kinds of American Squirrels are there? " asked Dodo, " and is the lining of mother's coat made of the fur of this gray kind ? " " There are sixty or seventy kinds in North AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 57 America, but the Red, Gray, the big Fox Squirrel, and the little Chipmunk, or Ground Squirrel, are the ones most likely to interest yon. The lining of your mother's coat is probably made of the skins of a Russian Squirrel. Strange as it may seem, the skins of our species are too thin and tender to let them go in the list of valuable fur-bearing animals." " I suppose they are like the Moleskin that Rod gave me to make a muff for my doll. It cracked like a piece of paper, and wouldn't stay sewed well, and it had a very queer smell that took a day to wash off my hands. Why do some animals have such strange smells, Uncle Roy ? " " For two reasons. There are protective smells and signal smells. The Skunk's odor belongs to this first sort, and he uses his evil odor as a weapon of defence and seems to thoroughly understand its power, for very few of the large beasts of prey ever care to get within range of it. " The signal smells are as important to the Four- footed People as speech is to House People. In fact, the power of scent largely takes the place of speech with them. What they lack in tongue is made up by a wonderful keenness of ear and nose. " A Fox goes through a lane and can tell by the smell whether it is a dog who has been there before him or a brother Fox. The dog in his turn who fol- lows knows by the scent Avhere the Fox has gone and can find him unless he crosses water." " Why can't he follow" him across water ? Does it wash away the smell ? " asked Nat. "Exactly, but — " 58 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " What is that terrible noise," cried Olive, starting, and they all listened, somewhat startled, while Dodo crept close between her father and uncle, saying", " It must be a very wild sick cow that is hurt." " If we were in a swamp a couple of hundred miles further north, instead of here in a hickory wood, I should say it was either a cow Moose or else some one imitating one," said Mr. Blake. " Why, it's Nez, of course," said Dr. Roy. " He used to be one of the best Moose callers along the border. He is ready for us to come up, and has taken that way to call us, though we are not Moose." " Let's go quick and see," said Dodo, recovering her courage, and hurrying the party along. " What are Moose, and what do people call them for?" " Moose are the largest of our Deer. The cry we have just heard is the cow Moose's call to her mate. Men who hunt the Moose imitate this call, and the bull (which is the name given male Moose and Elk) comes hurrying up to meet, not his mate, but a bullet." "Do you call that fair hunting, daddy?" asked Nat. " No, I do not ; unless the hunter is hungry and can- not get food in any other way, it seems to me little bet- ter than setting a trap. A sportsman should show his skill in finding the Moose, not calling him by a trick." " Yes," said Nat, " I understand that. It's the same as if when we play hide-and-seek I wanted Dodo, and instead of hunting for her I cried or did something to make her come out, and then cried ' I spy.'" " Look, father ! Look there ! " said Olive. " It's like the old days in Canada." AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY 59 As they left the narrow footpath where they had been walking in Indian iile they stepped into an open space from which all the trees had been cut, as well as the underbrush. At the further side, with its back against the hill toward the north, was a log-cabin with small windows in the front and sides. A little way from it was a sort of long shed, roofed with hemlock boughs, under which was a grindstone, some tools, etc. In the centre of the open square the earth was black, and there were many ashes, as if a fire had often burned there. At one side Nez himself was at work, axe in hand, before a sort of tent made of two upright poles, and a crosspiece against which he Avas laying hemlock boughs. Not far from this two logs about live feet long were placed side by side on the ground. The upper side was shaved off ; at one end they were about four inches apart and at the other eight. Between this was a line of glowing charcoal, kept from burning the logs by the earth which was heaped against them. At either end there was an upright stake, and a bar was laid between these so that it came about a foot and a half above the lire. VI OUT-DOOR COOKERY 'ETCH yer blankets. Thar's yer lean-to and thar's yer stove," said Nez, pointing to the slanting hemlock roof and the line of glowing coals. " Now git out yer kit and yer grub, and let's see what sort of a feed we can cook up." " The woman and the young uns are gone over the mountain to Chestnut Ridge tradin', but they'll be home b'fore night. I'd be pleased to have yer eat in the cabin b'yon' there, but yer seemed to want to play campin'." The three children looked on in open-eyed wonder, but Olive, who had some experience in woodcraft, be- gan sorting and arranging the things that Mr. Blake, the Doctor, and Nez brought up from the wagon. First she put the food and cooking utensils on planks near the fire, and then spread the wagon cushions at the back of the brush lean-to, and laid some extra horse blankets upon them. " I wonder why uncle brought six blankets when there are only two horses," said Nat. 60 OUT- DOOR COOKERY 61 " We'll see before we get home," said Dodo ; " we always do." Next Olive filled the tea-kettle from a pail of water Nez brought from a spring on the hill above the cabin, and hung it on the crossbar over the fire. "I know what that stick is for, anyway," said Nat. " I've fixed sticks like that to hold a kettle, and I've roasted chestnuts and potatoes in hot ashes," said Rap ; "but I can't think what those two logs are for, and why they are fixed wider apart at one end than at the other." " That is easily explained," said Mr. Blake, begin- ning to untie his packages of groceries. " You see the bottom of the coffee-pot is smaller than the tin kettle, and the frying-pan is larger than either. Now, if we set the coffee-pot on the narrow end, it fits nicely, but the kettle would not get enough heat, so that stands where the logs are wider apart, and the frying- pan further along ; and if we wanted to cook some- thing in a wire broiler, it could go at the very end. Isn't this log stove a great invention ? " " Y-e-s," said the children ; " but what are you go- ing to cook ? " " Roast the potatoes in the ashes, boil the coffee, fry the ham and eggs in this pan, tie strings to the stems of these apples and hang them on the rod by the tea-kettle. " We will begin with the potatoes and apples," said Mr. Blake, "for they take the longest to cook. How is it for game about here, Nez ? I brought my gun, thinking I might get a few Quail ; but it's taken us so long to come up that there is not time." 62 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Quail and Grouse, plenty, and some Woodcock, if you know where to go. The woman is takin' a bunch now to trade over the mountain, and Stubble, my dog, has gone with her, or I'd send him out with 3'ou. Here's a pair o' Grouse that have hung since day before yesterday ; they'll roast first-rate, if you'll have 'em." Nez Avent to the shed and brought back a pair of Partridges, or Ruffed Grouse, as they should be called, both males, with ruffs of lustrous green feathers. " How pretty ! " said Dodo, stroking them ; " would it be any harm for me to wear those wings in my hat after we have eaten the birds ? " " It is no harm to use the wings of food birds for ornament ; the only danger is that people, who do not care or know the difference, or understand about Citizen Bird, may wear the wings of Song Birds by mistake." " How can we roast them without an oven ? " asked Rap, as they watched Nez pulling off the wing and tail feathers, but not otherwise plucking the Grouse. " Hang them with a string over the fire ? " " In the ashes along o' the potatoes," replied Nez, at the same time going near the spring and bringing a spadeful of pliable, clayey earth, which, by wetting, he kneaded into two sheets a little thicker than pie crust. " What can he be doing ? " whispered Dodo to Olive ; " do you suppose he really eats mud pies ? " " No, dear ; of course not. Watch ! " Nez laid a bird in the centre of each sheet of clay dough, after wetting its feathers, which he wrapped all around it as if it were an apple in a OUT-BOOR COOKERY 63 little dumpling. Then lie dug out a small oven- like hole under the broadest part of the fire, into which he put the Grouse, covered them with ashes, and raked the live coals back over the spot. " Won't they be all burned and dirty ? " whispered Dodo to Olive. " Wait and see," was her answer. While the dinner was cooking, Nez led the party, all except the cook, about his clearing, as he called it. At first the cabin seemed very dark, but they soon saw that it had two rooms separated by a great chim- ney piled up of broad rough stones. One room was the kitchen and living room, and the other the bed- room. This had berths nailed to the wall, not unlike those in a ship or sleeping car. The bedding con- sisted of coarse gray blankets, spread over fresh hem- lock boughs and straw. The fireplace was open and wide, and on the living- room side some long logs were piled one on top of the other, with smaller sticks and kindlings in front. " We keep er sort uv campfire in here cold nights, yer see, Doctor. When once you've been uster sleepin' by a fire, you miss it dredful. I've got a stove in here," he said, pointing to the kitchen ; " but in warm weather we cook outside on the logs. When you've spent twenty or thirty years sleepin' mostly under the sky, any kind uv a roof seems crampy, so in sum- mer season I lie out yet." " Did you ever sleep all night outdoors, like daddy and uncle, with no tent or anything ? " asked Dodo, in an awe-struck tone, leaving the boys, who were look- ing at the strange assortment of things that hung from 64 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS the rafters of the cabin, stood in corners, or were stuck in the little cracks between the logs. — Fishing-poles, a Winchester rifle, a double-barrel shot-gun, bunches of herbs, the furry skins of several kinds of small beasts, a Fox tail fastened to a stick for a duster, and many other fascinating objects. " Sleep out all night, missy ? " said Nez in astonish- ment ; " why, o' course, that wuz always the kind of campin' I did when I wuz trappin'." " Why didn't wild beasts eat you, and why didn't you get all damp and mouldy ? " persisted Dodo. " Mostly on account of the dry air in those places, and campfires, I reckon, and sleepin' with one eye open," said Nez, laughing. " Here comes Renny, he wants his supper, I guess." "Why, it's a Fox! Won't he bite? I thought Foxes were wild beasts," said Nat, as a young Fox, looking something like a small collie dog, trotted up to the cabin, sniffing about and eyeing the strangers suspiciously. " That Fox won't bite, he's a pet of the young uns. His mother was killed for chicken stealin', I reckon, along in May ; and Stubble nosed out the hole on the other side of the mountain, and I found two pups in it. One died, and we raised this. We've got a young Coon, too, somewhere about." " He is just as pretty as a dog. Will he never run away and try to find his mother?" asked Rap. "I had a tame Coon once, and it stayed round all right, but along in the second spring it ran away." " I reckon the Fox Avill too, when he gits old enough to take a mate and set up house for himself. They all OUT-BOOB COOKERY 65 do, — birds and beasts and folks too, — everybody likes, to have a place of his own. Don't he, Doctor? Here I was a-roamin' all over creation, no idea uv stayin' put anywhere, and here I am settled down and what they call civilized." The Doctor laughed and walked off with Nez to see his charcoal pit and bit of cleared land, where he raised potatoes and beans, while the children still looked wonderingly about the cabin. " I wonder why the leaves are swept away so clean all about here?" said Dodo. "It looks so much pret- tier to have leaves and pine needles on the ground." " On account of fire," said Olive. " When you camp out, you have to be very careful about fire, espe- cially in places where there are many evergreen trees. Nez cooks out of doors and works often under that shed, and has a log fire to warm him ; and if the ground were covered with dry leaves, the fire might spread all through the woods." " I'm so very hungry," said Dodo, presently; " suppose we go over and see how daddy is getting along with his cooking." " There must be Coons living around here," said Rap, looking eagerly into some old trees. "I see lots of likely holes, and there's a splendid lot of brush down hill there for Rabbits. Say, Nat, I wonder when we learn to shoot if Nez wouldn't let us come here and get something to eat and then cook it ? It would be great sport ! " " We can ask him, anyhow. There, daddy is beckon- ing to us, and I smell ham. C-o-m-i-n-g, c-o-m-i-n-g," Nat shouted. 66 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " It's all ready," said Dodo, who had gone ahead, " only Uncle Roy and Nez have wandered away, and daddy says we must not dig out the roast birds until they come back. Can't you moo-oo to call them, daddy, the same way that Nez did ? " "I can try, girlie. Nat, go over to the cabin and see if you can find a great cone-shaped thing made of bark." Nat soon returned breathless, but with the desired article. " It was hanging by the chimney on an old pair of some kind of queer flat spiked Deer horns." "Antlers, Nat ; Ave don't call those things horns when they belong to Deer. They must be the antlers of Nez' famous Moose. You must ask him to tell you about it some day. Let me have the horn." " It's like a little megaphone, you know," said Nat ; " the thing they called out the programme with at the circus, only that was tin and this is old dry bark." " So it is, and that, like many other things, had its beginning in some simple invention of a woodsman. Let me have it — Moo-oo-oo-o ! Wher ! Moo-oo-oo-o ! " " Oh, what a queer foggy noise ! " cried Dodo, stop- ping up her ears. " I'm afraid, Uncle Jack," said Olive, " if I were a Moose I should run away from a mate with such a voice." "May I try?" said Rap. " Certainly. I never was a good Moose caller, it always gave me a sore throat." Rap took the cone and called gently at first, raising the horn and then lowering it to the ground, making a very good imitation of Nez' call. OUT- DOOR COOKERY 67 " Bravo ! " cried Mr. Blake ; " some one must have taught you that, my boy." " I've seen the lumbermen do it over at the far mountain." " Are there Moose anywhere near here ? " asked Olive. " Oh, no ; but the men had worked in North Maine and Canada, and they used to sit round the fire and tell boast stories of what they had done, and showed how they called Moose." " Boast stories, what are those ? " asked Olive. " Stories about animals they had hunted so long ago that every time they told about the beast it got bigger and bigger, until it wouldn't have known itself." Mr. Blake laughed heartily at Rap's description, as if he thoroughly appreciated his meaning. " When we sit by the campfire thinking of past days that have pleased us, we often see them through the firelight as we do things in dreams, which are part imagination and part memory. Always remember, boys, that the adventures we have under the open sky and the friends we make around the campfires and in the silence of strange places — open prairie or trackless wood — are different from the doings and acquaintances of every day, and the account of them must always seem unreal to those who have not been there." " You called fust rate the second time," said Nez to Mr. Blake, returning from showing his farm, as he called it. " It was a little onsertin at fust — " " Praise Rap ; the call I gave was called a ' foggy noise ' by Dodo." " Was that you, little chap ? Want to know ! Was you raised in the North Woods ? " 68 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS "No, but I've always wanted to live in the woods the way you do ; but you see woods are too far away from people for mother to get any washing to do." " Never you mind," said Nez, " after the first snow you come up and stop with me a spell, and I'll show you how to git some Rabbits and a Grouse or two for your mammy, when I've got my Muskrat and Mink traps set. There's no big game hereabouts, at least none bigger than a Fox or a Porkipiue, a Coon or maybe a couple o' Wild Cats strayin' about. But you can see how the night comes in the woods, and I'd learn you the tracks of some o' the fur beasts. If we get good deep snow down along the river medders, I'll show you how to walk on snow-shoes, too ; maybe it'll come in handy some day." " I couldn't learn that on account of my leg, but Nat could, and he'd love it," said Rap, cheerfully. " Dinner, dinner," called the Doctor, " and stories afterward. Dodo is very anxious to see you open the mud pies, Nez." " Come and sit on the cushions under this nice wind break," said Olive, going to the lean-to that Nez had made of the hemlock boughs. " Here are your plates and cups, — you be waiter, Nat, and take them to Uncle Jack." " What do you call your camp, Nez ? " asked Mr. Blake. " Settledown," said Nez, laughing, "'cause we've set- tled here nigh two years." " Bill of Fare for Dinner at Camp Settledown, served by Chef Jacque," called Mr. Blake. " Ham and eggs, potatoes in jackets, frying-pan bread, roast Grouse with OUT-DOOR COOKERY 69 clay pastry. Dessert — roast apples on strings, ginger cookies, and " — as Nez came from the cabin with a jar — " wild plum jam, and coffee with condensed cream! " The first course was eaten with much relish, and then they gathered around the fire to see Nez uncover his famous pies. The first one being opened disclosed a mass of blackened feathers. " I knew it wouldn't be any good," whispered Dodo to Nat. "You know too soon then," he replied, as Nez with a skilful pull took feathers, skin, and all from the bird, showing its smoking, nicely cooked body all ready to be eaten. " Oh ! " said the children, as they cut it, or, I should say more truthfully, pulled it apart. " It's terribly good with a little salt on it," said Dodo ; " here's a dear little wish-bone for you, Olive, and both top legs." And for the next half hour the conversation was nearly extinguished by the food. "Please, are you going to tell us a story now?" asked Dodo of Nez, as he began collecting the tin plates, cups, pots, and pans. " Wash up yer kit first, then campfire and talking. You see, missy, in the woods it don't do to let yer vittles cool on the dishes ; it's too hard to clean 'em. Got a kittle? Yes ? " and he filled the largest tin with water, which he set on the fire to heat for dish-washing. "Any dish-rag?" and Nez carefully put the good scraps in a pail to feed to Stubble when he should return, wiped each article out with a handful of leaves which he carefully burned as soon as soiled, — then the dish-washing was an easy matter. 70 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS '" You see," he explained, " if you are camping in any one place for a spell, it gets dreadful mussy if you don't keep cleaned up, and then you may want yer duds in a hurry. Always keep yer kit ready, whether it's guns, or harness, or kittles ; that's camp law." So the children strayed about for an hour or so until Nez and their father had finished their work and smoked their after-dinner pipes. " Now we'll have a campfire, though it's the wrong time o' day," continued Nez, piling some logs from his shed against a couple of charred tree trunks that stood side by side about four feet apart ; he put sticks and kindling in front of the logs, arranging the heap so that the wind blew from the front to the back. " Why don't you put the sticks in a stack, like corn stalks?" asked Nat. "That is the way we do when Uncle Roy lets us make bonfires in the gravel-bank lot ; it burns up as quick as a flash, only it eats a great lot of wood." " That's the reason we don't do it," said Nez, " just 'cause it does burn up quick and eat the wood so fast and then slumps out. This isn't the real time o' day that in natur' a woodsman or a plainsman would stop to build a campfire, but it'll do to show } r ou by." " When do people generally build them ? " asked Rap. "Along about dark," said Nez, "after supper, when the day's work is done, if it's a cattle round-up, or a huntin' or a lumber camp. In the north and northwest country the air is dry and fine enough in the daytime, but as soon as the sun goes down — down goes the weather, too. If you go to sleep with no fire, or let OUT-DOOR COOKERY 71 your fire go out, you'll get up with stumbliu' feet and hands all thumbs in the morning. That's why we pile the logs this way, so that the fire gets a good hold and creeps up slowly, and lasts long. " Then you'll lie under yer bush shanty, or lean-to, or canvas, or whatever kind of a shelter you have, or stretch out on the ground in yer blanket, and yer so glad of rest that yer wouldn't change with any one in a castle. Some one throws on the logs, and the camp settles down for the night to smoke and talk and then sleep. Wolves may bark in the distance, and Wildcats yowl and sneeze ; as long as the fire blazes they'll keep away." " Please tell us about all the sorts of tents you've slept in," said Olive. " And about the wild beasts that sneezed at you," added Nat, as they all watched the fire dreamily in the comfortable silence brought by a day in the open air and a good meal. " My furst reglar campin' was in a lumber camp in Canada, the Saskatchewan country they call it. All day long we were out in the woods cutting trees, trim- ming them down and branding the logs to be hauled over the snow in the winter to the river, so that the spring freshets would wash them down. I don't think I ever struck a camp that had more game, big and little, come about it. Maj r be it was 'cause I was young then, and everything seemed wonderful. " The camp was clear out in the wilderness, in a sort of holler between a marshy place all brushed over and a woody hill ; it was just half dugout, half log-cabin, like my own yonder. In fact, I made this as like as I could to the remembrance of that one. Only, like most 72 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS camps thereabouts, it had a pair uv Moose horns over the door to bring good huntin". " It was the furst winter that I was there I learned from the Indians and half-breeds how to read signs; to know by the footprints jest what animal had been that way, and by the way young twigs were nibbled and torn whether it was a Moose, — if it was a bull with antlers or the smaller cow without them. Then I learnt the footmarks of all the fur beasts, and their toothmarks on the bark, and when there were scratches on the trees I knew how big a B'ar had sharpened his claws there, and how tall he was." " Oh, uncle, don't you remember how you said the Wise Men made animals into classes by looking at their feet and teeth, but I didn't know people could tell them only by their footprints. " Please, Nez, can you tell by smell where all the dif- ferent animals are, as uncle says they can tell about each other ? " asked Nat. " Not quite," said Nez, laughing, " though there are a few I can nose out besides Skunks. I did some tall huntin' and trappin' then for a season or two, before the game got too skary, and folks came that killed just for getting the antlers of the bulls and leavin' the meat to rot, — folks that took a fawn or doe just the same as a buck. Hunting Wolves, I call them, for a Wolf is a wasteful beast in his killin'." " That's what daddy calls such people, too. Tell us the names of some of the beasts you saw," coaxed Nat. " It would be easier to name those I didn't," said Nez, hesitating ; " but of a moonlight night after an early snow, when all of the outfit but me was away, I've / \Aim M«»i w?t „ The Lumber Camp. Wolf. Skunks. Canada Lynx. Moose. OUT-DOOR COOKERY 73 seen a Moose come from the windward side of the cabin, while a Fox sulked in the shade of some firs watching the Skunks fighting over the scrap-pail, and a Lynx crouched, grinning, on a log, taking it all in. Meanwhile white northern Hares and Ermines nosed about dreadful careless, not knowing when they might make food for Owls, and Meadow Mice squealed among the logs and left their little tracks like birds' claws in the snow. When they think there's nobody round, beasts have their playtime, just like folks." " Oh ! " sighed Rap and Nat in chorus, " all those beasts you saw are four-footed Americans ; if we could only live in a camp and see them." " It was a nice place to see the animals, but pshaw, some folks would find the camp smoky in winter and full o' black flies in summer. Don't I remember the time I shot my big Moose ? I'll tell you that story some day, and about another time out in Montana how your dad was huntin' for Sheep and met a Grizzly B'ar. That is, if he don't." " And did you ever see a great white Polar Bear, or find Seals swimming on the ice ? " asked Dodo. "No, I never was so far north. There is a friend of mine, a Finlander, who folloAvs the sea, who has been as fur north as most men go and get back again, and he knows those beasts and their ways. He's comin' to stop with me a spell this snowfall, and he's been fishin' and keepin' a light down on the shore two summers. I thought maybe you'd met him, his name is — " " Olaf ! " cried the children and Olive in chorus. " Want to know ! " said Nez, looking pleased, and puffing vigorously at his pipe. 74 FOUR FOOTED AMERICANS , " Oh, uncle ! Oh, daddy ! " cried Nat and Dodo, rolling- off the blankets in their excitement. " Nez knows Olaf and he's coming here ! Don't you see how much we could learn about the fourfoots if we could only live up here in a log house ? " " Doubtless you could, and you would perhaps enjoy it vastly for a while, but how about school ? You must begin by being fitted for your lives as House People ; few of us can live the wild life, except now and then for pleasure and as a rest from too much tameness. Don't look so blue, Nat. Dodo, cheer up, even if you may not live in a log house you are not going to be shut up in a prison this winter. Listen, and I will tell you the whole of the surprise that you partly learned yesterday." Four heads crowded together, and eight wide-open eyes gazed at Dr. Roy, for Olive was as much in the dark as the others. " Must we guess ? " asked Dodo, clapping her hands. " You may all try, if you like, but I do not think you can possibly guess the whole of the secret." "We are coming up here on Saturdays to learn to shoot and hear Nez tell stories," ventured Nat. "No," said Olive, "it can't be that, because it would be too far and too cold in winter. Perhaps you will ask Nez to come down some time and tell us stories," said Olive. " It takes too long to guess," cried Dodo, wriggling about in her impatience, " please tell us now ! " " Very well ; the surprise has three parts to it. Sit still, Dodo, and remember that you are not to jump up and down or hug me until I have quite finished. OUT-BOOR COOKERY 75 " You all remember the old summer kitchen at the farm that is filled with boxes, tools, and rubbish, — ■ the long - , low room back of the dairy, with the brick floor and wide fireplace ? " " Oh, } T es," said Nat, " I've looked in there trying to find Bats that I've seen go through a place where the glass was broken, but it was stuffed so full of every- thing that I couldn't get in at the door." " Now," continued the Doctor, " this very day Rod is clearing out all the rubbish, and I am going to let you fit up that old room like a log-cabin camp. The fireplace is large enough to hold a fine campfire. This is part first. "Part second. — Every Saturday afternoon that it is pleasant your father or I will teach you to shoot at a target. "Part third. — -When it is dark you shall go into ' camp ' and cook your own supper, after the same fash- ion as you have seen the dinner cooked to-day, then after supper we will have stories about the four-footed Americans. Nez has promised to tell some of them, and Olaf others. Rap can tell what he knows of the nearby beasts, while your father and I will fill in the chinks." " How did you ever think of anything so lovely ? " exclaimed Olive. " I can hug you now," said Dodo, immediately doing it vigorously. " Hurrah ! Moo-oo-o ! " was Nat's response, trying to blow a joyful blast on the Moose horn, and failing utterly, while Rap sat in silence, but with a beaming face. 76 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS ., " Let's go home and begin right away," said Dodo. " It is high time to go home," said Mr. Blake, jump- ing up. " Who would think it was nearly five o'clock ? The sun sets in a hurry these days, and we shall have to ask the moon to escort us, I think. Cold ham and cookies must do for supper." " Somebody is coming," said Eap, pointing to the path that wound around the steep, wooded crest, where his quick ears detected a rustling in the dead leaves. At the same time a ginger-colored setter dog came in sight, followed by two sturdy little boys, who, on see- ing strangers, dodged into the cabin like frightened Rabbits. " That's Toinette and the young uns," said Nez. Then added by way of apology, " The young uns don't see many folk and they are skary. Here, Toinette," speaking to a rather pretty, dark-haired, black-ej^ed young woman, who came up carrying a basket on her head, " make you acquainted with some old tent mates o' mine." The woman gravely held out her hand to each with a pretty gesture of welcome that said more than words. " She's half French, you see," explained Nez, " and she isn't much on talkin' American." But the moment Mr. Blake spoke to her in the soft slurring French of the Canadian woods, she answered readily, and her face was wreathed with smiles. "You must bring your wife and children down to visit us, Nez," said the Doctor ; " it will do them good to see other young folks." "I reckon it would. The boys go to school now, over the mountain ; book learnin' is some good even to out- noon cookery 77 woodsmen, I say, and by the time they've grown up there won't be much of a livin' left in the woods, anyhow." " But it's more than five miles over to the Ridge school by the road." " Yes, but that's nothin' fine days, and when snow comes I calkerlate ter put on snow-shoes and ride 'em, one on each shoulder, across country ; they don't weigh much compared to camp kits and Deer I've carried." " Dodo, how would you like to go ten miles a day through the woods to school ? " asked her father, for Dodo sometimes grumbled at walking the smooth mile that lay between the farm and schoolhouse. "At first, for about a week, it would be fun, and then perfectly dreadful," she answered promptly. They left Nez' camp reluctantly, and returned to where they had left the wagon and horses, who greeted them with neighs of pleasure. Tom had walked so many times around the tree to which he was tethered that he was wound up tight to the trunk, while Jerry had nibbled his rope loose and was having a fine time rolling on the ground, though his thick coat, long mane, and tail were knotted with burrs which would give Rod a good hour's work to comb out. "Never mind," he neighed, as the Doctor said "Look at what a pickle Jerry is in," — "I've had my fun to-day as well as you." The sun disappeared exactly at the moment that the wagon turned into the lane again, and every one waved good-by to Nez, who watched them out of sight. " I know what all the extra blankets and things were put in for," said Dodo, as her father made her sit on a 78 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS blanket which he folded over her knees and drew about her shoulders like a shawl, so that only her head peeped out, while the others arranged theirs to match. " It's like being in a bag. How nice and warm it feels," she said, nestling down. "I didn't know just one blanket could be so comfortable." " Just one skin robe or wool blanket is all that the Indian hunter, or plainsman, has to stand between him and the bitter cold night," said the Doctor ; " so that many people who are living the out-door life continu- ally, have their blankets sewed into this shape and lined with fur, and they are called sleeping bags." "That is what Dodo's blanket will be long before we get home," said Olive, as Dodo nodded and swayed on the seat. " No, I'm going to stay awake so as to see every- thing," said she, suddenly stiffening up and opening her eyes very wide. " Look at the mist coming up out of the river and lowlands," said Rap ; " it's just as if they had gone to sleep and it was their breath." " We shall save three miles by following the river lane," said the Doctor to Mr. Blake, who was driving. By this time the light that guided them came from the great full hunter's moon, and all that was left of daylight was a few dull red shadows in the west. " There are lots of little beasts out to-night," said Rap, his eyes being almost as keen in the darkness as a cat's. " Oh, Doctor, do you hear that barking down the river bank ? I'm as sure as anything that it's a dog that has treed a Coon, for the noise keeps coming from the same place. Can't we stop and see ? " OUT-DOOR COOKERY 7 ( J Mr. Blake drew in the horses, and they all listened for several minutes. The barking turned to a yelp and then a baying 1 , and almost at the same time a good- sized beast, bigger than the largest Angora cat, with a full tail, sprang from the bushes into the road, stopped to listen, and then scenting the horses con- tinued on its way through the bushes and disappeared among the rocks, while the barking dog seemed to be taking a zig-zag course in the opposite direction. " We have seen the Coon without leaving the wagon," said Mr. Blake, whipping up again. " He evidently sprang from the tree across one of the brooks that feed the river, and the dog has lost the scent." "It is a very queer animal," said Olive. "Father, did you notice when it sat up to listen it looked like a little Bear, in spite of its long tail ? " " That is not strange, considering that it is a cousin of Bears," said the Doctor. " Coons are real clever," said Rap. " The one I had could do ever so many tricks, and used its paws as if they were hands." " What are Coons good for — to eat or wear ? " asked Dodo. " Both," said the Doctor. " Their fur is soft and prettily brindled, and if they are young, the flesh is not unlike Rabbit." " Mammy Bun says they used to have Coons down ♦where she lived, but their fur wasn't good for much." " The fur of an animal living in the South is never as good as the fur of the same species living in the North." " Why is that ? " asked Nat. 80 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Because fur is given animals to protect them from the cold ; the summer coat of a fur beast is thin, as you see the summer coat of a horse is short, com- pared to the thick coat that grows out at the first cold weather. (Look at Tom and Jerry and see how woolly they are now.) As it is never very cold in the South, the fur animals do not need such thick, soft coats as they do here, while in Canada and northward, where the winter is far longer and colder than with us, the fur is heavier yet." " There is a word I've heard hunters use for the fur of animals, the same as plumage means the feathers of birds, only I've forgotten it," said Rap. "Pelage, is it not? It comes from peau (pelt), which means furry skin , a skin used for the leather instead of fur is called a hide." Two men stepped across the road, with what looked like Rabbits and Grouse hanging over their shoulders, but slunk into the shadow of some bushes when they saw the wagon. " Pot hunters, I know," said Mr. Blake, " snaring and trapping, as usual." " How do you know they trapped the birds, daddy ? " said Nat. " Because they had no guns and hid when they saw us. If you watch wood life much, my boy, you will soon learn to see the reason why for things, and it is very often the reason that helps you to see the thing itself. * " Hoo-hoo-hoooo ! " came a cry from over a very dark bit of road through which they were going. " Nat, there is one of your friends, — the Great Horned Owl," said the Doctor. OUT- DOOR COOKERY 81 "What is that — a Skunk?" asked Olive, as some- thing black and white ran across the road. " It is striped so that it hardly shows in the moonlight." " Yes ; a Skunk, or rather what Tommy Anne calls a 'Scent Cat.' There is a great deal of argument as to whether its black and white coat protects it or not." '.' I should say that it certainly did protect it on moonlight nights, but not on very dark nights," said Mr. Blake. " I shouldn't think that would count ; on dark nights you couldn't see it at all — only smell it," said Dodo, and then every one laughed at her matter-of-fact way of looking at things. Between talking and listening to the strange sounds of night, it seemed but a short drive home. They left Rap at his gate, and soon the lamp on the porch at the farm was making their eyes blink, and when the children were unwrapped from their blankets, Dodo was really asleep in her bag. " I might as well be sleepy now as not," she mur- mured, as her father lifted her down, " because Ave can't begin to fix our camp until next Saturday, can we ? " " Neigh, n-e-i-g-h ! " snorted Tom and Jerry, know- ing their supper \vas waiting for them at the barn, but Dodo was so sleepy that she thought they were answering' her. VII CAMP SATURDAY SRHAPS you expect that the chil- dren immediately began to tease the Doctor about their indoor camp ; but more than a week passed, after their visit to Nez, before they had time even to think about their uncle's promise. The next Sat- urday they went chestnutting, and ^^fi^MlS so it was the first part of November when a cold, cloudy day drove the children indoors and made them knock on the door of the wonder room in quest of their uncle, much as they had done six months before, when they were disputing as to whether or not a bird was an animal. "We've been trying tp get into the old kitchen, but the door is locked, and there are great tight shut- ters at all the windows," said Dodo, before she had fairly crossed the threshold. "Which means, I suppose," said the Doctor, "that you are ready to make camp and wish me to help you. I had been wondering how long it would be before you asked me to keep my promise. Go and find Olive, while I get the key." This old summer kitchen was joined on one side 82 CAMP SATURDAY 83 to the main house by a covered passageway, and was quite like a separate building. When the Doctor unlocked the door, the light was so dim that all the children could see was the outline of an enormous chimney, that seemed to be quite in the centre of the room. In a moment, however, Rod came in and threw open the shutters. " Why, father," said Olive, " I never saw such a chimney anywhere before. How did it come here? Was it put up first and then the room built around it? " Indeed, the chimney was almost as large as a small room ; the open fireplace on one side would allow half a dozen people to sit around the fire, while on the oppo- site part there was a little iron door. " What is this ? " asked Dodo, promptly opening it. " That was the brick oven where the pies and bread used to be baked in the olden time." " But it has a stone floor and is so far from the fire I should think it would have taken most forever for the heat to have gone through ; and it's very big." " The heat didn't come from the fireplace," said Olive. " People used to fill the oven with wood, a great many hours before they wanted to bake, and then when the stones were very hot they would sweep out all the cinders and ashes and pop in the bread and things. The oven was made large so that they might save trouble by baking a quantity of food at once." " Why, then, in those old times living was something like camping out, wasn't it, Uncle Roy?" said Nat. " Very much, but it made the people quick-witted, hardy, and self-reliant, ready for any emergency that might happen, just as the Avild out-door life does." 84 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS '"Oh, look at the floor!" exclaimed Dodo; "it's made of bricks set in a wiggly pattern, with sand in the cracks ; and the beams show overhead, and there's no plaster on the walls." "I think we could make a really wild-looking place of this, if we only had some skins, and antlers, and guns, and such things," said Olive, walking about the room quite as much excited as her little cousins. Rod had taken all the rubbish away and made the room clean, but the Doctor wished the young people to have the pleasure of fitting it up themselves. " Come up in the attic and out in the lumber room in the barn, and I think we shall find what we need ; mean- while Rod will start a fire." In half an hour or so the procession returned, every one carrying something, while Mr. Blake and the Doctor brought in an old-fashioned settle — a sort of table with a top that tips back and a box underneath, making a very comfortable seat. This they placed in the middle of the room facing the fire, and then went back for two long benches, such as Avere once used in country schools. "May we have one chair with a back for mother to use when she comes ? " asked Dodo, who had been told that in a real camp there was little or no furni- ture. " Aren't there to be any bunks ? " pleaded Nat. " Rap and I thought we should like to try sleeping out here some time." " Not so fast," said the Doctor. " Here, Olive, I will drive some nails in the chimney cracks and you can hang up the pots and pans and tin cups, for you will CAMP SATURDAY 85 use the same kit that we took to the woods. Now for tlio skins," and the Doctor began to unroll several bundles that smelt of camphor, which had tilled the biggest cedar chest in the attic. " Beast skins ! " said Nat, " all kinds, shaggy, and bushy, and hairy. Oh, do tell us what they belong to, uncle?" " Not now ; we will hang them up around our camp, and you shall learn about each in turn, for though some are but fragments, every one has a story." " Do those horns that papa is bringing belong with the skins ? " asked Dodo, as Mr. Blake brought in a pair of smooth, curved horns, like those of some enor- mous bull, and also a pair of branching antlers that ended in little twig-like points. " The smooth horns belong with this shaggy skin," said the Doctor. " I will fasten them up over the fire- place. Have you ever seen a beast with such a coat and horns ? " " They might belong to a big wild cow," said Nat. " I know," said Dodo. " Oh, Nat, why didn't you guess the Wild West Show and the Buffaloes ? " " Here are a lot of little skins, like Squirrels' with- out much tail, and one like a big, striped pussy cat. Oh, how can we wait to hear about them all ! I shall keep wondering and guessing. It's worse than the puzzles iii St. Nicholas. What a glorious fire, too, — as big as the one Nez made in the wood ; and there is a hook that swings out to hold the kettle, so when we want to cook, we only have to fix two logs to hold the pots the same as Nez did. But there are not enough ashes to bury potatoes." 86 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS ( s 'We can save the ashes," said Olive, "until we have a great heap of them." " So we can, and these benches go into the chimney on each side, so we can sit in there if it grows cold, or if we need to watch the cooking." "Now some hooks and nails in that corner for your mop, dish-rags, and dish- pan, and you are ready for housekeeping," said the Doctor. "All except the broom," said Olive. " Nez had fresh hemlock twigs tied to a stick; but the hemlocks are too scarce here to be used in that way." "I will tell Rod to tie you a birch broom. That is what Grandma Hunter always used on this sanded brick floor. If there is anything else wanting, you can look for it yourselves." Long before they had finished admiring their camp the dinner bell rang, and they hurried to tidy them- selves, wondering how the morning had galloped away. Nat, who could hardly finish his pudding before going back to camp, came running in, his eyes ablaze with questions. " Daddy ! daddy ! Rod has taken your gun rack from the back entry into camp, and there is a little rifle in it that I've never seen before ; and when I asked him what it was for, lie said, ' For you and Rap to hunt big game with.' I told him that there wasn't any big game near here, and he said : ' Yes, there's a Deer down between the birches in the long pasture. I saw it there just now.' Won't }~ou please come and see, quick, before it gets away ; though I don't think it would be nice to shoot it, for it's com- pany, and there's only one, and we can't even pretend CAMP SATURDAY 87 that we need it for food. Please hurry, or it may run away." " I don't think it will go, and 1 am quite willing that you should shoot it," said the Doctor. Olive looked at her father in surprise, but his face told nothing. Dodo suspected something, and vent- ured, " I think it must he a tame Deer you have brought to teach us with." "No, it can't be," said Nat. "Uncle would never be so cruel as to shut up a tame Deer to be shot." " Don't you think we had better go and see, instead of talking?" said Mr. Blake. "There goes Rod down the hill now. Who knows but what he will get the first shot." " I see it ! " cried Nat ; " a real big Deer with curly horns, I mean antlers, and a skin about the color of a donkey's. See, Olive, it stands between the birches right against the side hill." "Oh, it's moving," wailed Dodo. " It has gone. Rod has frightened it," shouted Nat. " Yes, it has disappeared, surely," said the Doctor, " We might go and see what Rod has to say for him- self." " It is behind the trees, I can see its legs," said Olive, as they reached the pasture. " It's backing in between the trees again. Why, father, it's a big target shaped like a Deer ! " So it was. The animal was first sawed out of wood, then fastened together with movable legs, after the fashion of a jumping Jack. Then it was padded a little and covered with stout sail-cloth, which was painted so that at a short distance it really looked 88 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS like the animal itself. The cleverest thing about it was the way in which it hung by cords, from a pole fastened between the trees, in such a way that it could be pulled to and fro, so that the marksman could have the excitement of shooting at a moving object. " Who made it ? " asked Dodo, after they had recovered from their surprise. " It looks very like one of the animals in my Noah's Ark, only bigger." "I did," said Mr. Blake; "and it is the common American Deer, though I suspected your uncle would ask if it was a Rhinoceros." " Oh, no, daddy ; it isn't as queer as that," said Nat, wondering why his uncle laughed so. " It will be bully — no, I mean jolly — to shoot at; and when we've plunked it all to pieces, perhaps you would make us a Bear or a Wild Cat, so that we can tell where to shoot each one. Please, could I have the little gun and try now ? " " Yes ; Rod will bring it. There, isn't it a beauty ? A Ballard repeater ! See how the lock drops, and you put in the cartridges so. Stop ! that will never do ; you were pointing the barrel almost at Dodo. The first thing you must remember about a gun is never to point it at any one, even if you are sure it is not loaded ; and the second thing is always to drop the lock and make sure it is empty before you put it away. "Now watch me put in the cartridges. So, now close the lock and pull the trigger back half-way, put the butt against your right shoulder, so, bring that little pinhole sight, on your gun barrel, in a straight line between your eye and the Deer back of its shoulder. Noav, hold fast and pull the trigger." CAMP SATURDAY 89 Bang ! Dodo screamed and put her fingers in her ears. Nat looked eagerly, fully expecting to have blown the Deer to bits, but he had not touched it. " You shut your eyes tight and tired almost straight up into the sky," laughed Olive, who was quite a clever shot herself. " I don't like a gun," said Dodo. " Is there any kind of anything that I could shoot at an animal target, that wouldn't make such a noise ? " " A good bow and some arrows are what you need, missy," said her father ; " and I'll make you a beauti- ful, fat pig for a target. Come up to the barn and I'll do it now." In a few minutes Mr. Blake had filled a feed bag hard with cut hay, tied up one of the lower corners to make a curly tail, made ears of corn husks, a face of a huge beet, and legs of corn-cobs. " Now, Dodo, I'll put this in a nice place against the stone fence, where it can't fall over if it gets tired of standing, and you may shoot to your heart's content. You can play that it is a Peccary, — the wild American cousin of Sausage and all other farm pigs." " Are there any about here ? " " Oh, no ; fortunately for us, they live now in small herds down on the southeast plains of Texas and west- ward along the Mexican border, for they are ugly, savage, slab-sided little wild pigs, with a light collar around the neck like a rope mark, sly, keen eyes, and a pair of small tusks sharp enough to cut a man's leg in the thickest part, or rip the throat of any poor dog who is forced to hunt them. Once they were plenti- ful enough to be of value for their hides and bristles. 90 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS and hunting them is still considered good sport by some people. " The Peccary looks innocent enough as it walks along on the points of its hoofs, or wallows in the shady marshes of the river bottoms, its mouth gaping in a foolish fashion ; but if it sees you — watch out. If your gun misses, you had better run, even if you have to take to a cactus patch, for, appropriately enough, prickles and Peccaries grow in the same places, and they are both painful things to encounter." Dodo was delighted to think her target was a wild cousin of Sausage's, and flew into the house to tell her mother and promise her the first shot at the Peccary, as soon as she should have her bow and arrows. Then she flew out again to coax her father to make her a good tight bow, which he soon did out of a hickory sapling and some of his pet fish-line. Nat, who meanwhile dis- appeared, soon returned with Rap, and everything had to be shown and explained once more. Rap handled the rifle very carefully, as one having had experience, and then took up the other small gun which Nat had overlooked. " How is it different from the other ? " asked Nat. " It has two barrels instead of one," said Rap, "and the cartridges hold a lot of shot instead of bullets. It is for shooting little things." " Why is a lot of shot better than a good bullet ? " asked Nat. " Shot spreads out, and is more likely to hit a small object than a bullet that only strikes in one place. If we ever go up to see Nez and hunt Rabbits, this is the gun we shall need," said the Doctor. CAMP SATURDAY 91 After they had practised awhile, Rap had succeeded in hitting the Deer twice, but it now began to rain in earnest, and they returned to the camp. " Hush ! " said Dodo, as they were coming through the corner door toward the fireplace. " See, we have company ! Look at that Mouse sitting by the edge of the hearth ; it's as friendly as anything, and it isn't a common mouse-trap Mouse, either. Look what big White-footed or Deer Mouse. eyes it has, and a lovely brown back, and its feet are white, like clean stockings." The Mouse sat up and began to clean its paws and wash its face daintily, while the children watched it and Olive tiptoed out to call her father. " It is a White-footed or Deer Mouse," said the Doc- tor, " so called because it has a tawny back. Dodo is right, it is not a ' common mouse-trap Mouse,' though in some places it does often live in our houses. It also 92 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS makes its nests under tree roots and sometimes in old birds' nests. I will set a trap for it, and then we can look at it closely." " Yes, uncle, but please not a choke trap ; it's too pretty. We could look at it ever so much better if we caught it in one of those little house-traps, with a wheel for it to run around in — that they sell at the store. I can shake enough money out of my bank to buy one, because I haven't shaken it for nearly two months." " No need of that ; there are some old traps up garret that Rod may clean for you, and a Squirrel cage too, I think. I am willing for you to have a few such winter pets here in camp, if you care for them properly. It is no harm to keep a Squirrel or a Coon as a well-fed captive in the hungry winter season, if you let them go again before they pine for freedom. Remember, this camp is to be the place for your treasures, summer and winter. " There is plenty of room in those empty dresser shelves for all the sticks and stones and empty nests you find, that would only be in the way and make a litter in the house." " Mousey has gone down between the bricks ! " ex- claimed Dodo. " Is the Deer Mouse a four-footed American, Uncle Roy?" " Yes, a true native, but the common, brown House Mouse and Rat are the children of foreign parents, who sneaked over here like stowaways, in bales of mer- chandise, and have now spread from the seaports, like tramps, all over the land. " By the way, young folks, what shall we call our camp? It should certainly have a name. You shall CAMP SATURDAY 93 have first choice, Olive, as Dodo named the wonder room." " We might call it after some animal that lives around here, 1 ' suggested Nat, as Olive hesitated. " Woodchuck or Fox or Skunk aren't nice names," said Dodo, "-though we might call it after the Squirrels." " What is the very wisest, cleverest fourfoot in our America?" asked Nat. " The Beaver," said the Doctor ; " he thinks, plans, and works, and his house is quite worthy of the skill of a two-handed engineer." " Then Beaver would be a good name for the camp, only there are none hereabout." " It would be if it was a go-to-school, working, wood- cutter's camp," said Mr. Blake ; " but it is too solemn a name for a jolly holiday affair like this." " I have it," said Olive, the idea coming to her as Mr. Blake spoke ; " call it Camp Saturday ! " A clapping of hands followed, that made the room echo and the little Deer Mouse shiver in his hole. " Let's begin now ! We've had our shooting — now let us cook supper and tell stories ! " cried Dodo, eagerly. " Not to-day," said the Doctor ; " your mother has still some preparations to make ; but instead of waiting for the first snow, as I once said, we will have a big game hunt a week from to-day at two o'clock, and at six we will have our first supper in Camp Saturday." VIII EXPLANATION NIGHT The Brotherhood of Beasts N afternoon spent in what they called hunting — shooting at the targets in the long pasture — had given them wonderful appetites for supper, or probably Dodo would have noticed that she had scorched the cream toast a little, and that there were lumps in the cocoa; but Olive's omelet, with its seasoning of herbs, was as delicious as an omelet can only be when eaten directly from the fire. Camp Saturday was fairly opened, the first supper eaten, the dishes all washed and put away, and the spider and kettles hung on their nails behind the chim- ney. The boys did the dish-washing and fed the fire, as division of labor is one of the first rules of camp living. " I wonder how long it will be before I can hit the Deer when it is moving ? " said Nat, who was looking into the fire and thinking of the afternoon's sport. " Not before spring," said Dodo, positively ; " for you 94 EXPLANATION NIGHT 95 only hit it once, 'way back where it didn't hurt it, when it stood still," speaking as if the target was a live thing ; " but I shot my Peccary pretty nearly in the head." This remark made the others laugh, as Dodo had only succeeded in missing the Peccary's nose by an inch or so. " I don't see how you can shoot so well lying on the ground, Rap," she continued. " I should think it would squeeze you all up ; but you hit the Deer twice." " I suppose it's because I've tried before, with a bigger gun that kicked when it went off, so the little one seemed very easy, and, even if you have two legs, you can keep steadier lying down than standing up." " Who is going to tell the story to-night — you, father, or Uncle Jack?" asked Olive, hanging up her big apron and taking her place in the chimney nook ; for though the campfire was roaring and glowing, the far-away parts of the old room were too cold for sitting still, and the young people wore long coats which Mrs. Blake had made from rough red and blue blankets — a cross between toboggan suits and blanket wrappers, which served not only to keep them very warm, but prevented the wood sparks from setting fire to their lighter clothes. "We shall not have any stories to-night," said her father ; " this will be Explanation Night — the explana- tion of the Mammal tree, where we shall find our four- footed Americans. You must learn and remember some things about this tree before we begin to climb it, for when Nez and Olaf tell you stories, they may not like to be interrupted by too many questions. 96 FOUB-FOOTED AMERICANS "Do you remember the two great divisions of the animal kingdom or tree, as we call it? " " Yes," shouted Rap and Nat, " trunk and branches. The first animal was the trunk that separated it from the vegetable world. Animals without backbones were the lower branches and animals with backbones the top branches." " And what class of animals live on the highest branch ? " "M- — -mammals, that give m — milk," said Dodo, so quickly that the others had no time to answer. " Because this top Mammal branch is so large, I told you that I would make a tree of it all by itself. Here it is : now you can see how man and his blood brothers are related." So saying, the Doctor unrolled a long sheet of paper and fastened it to a door, where the firelight shone brightly on it. " This tree has several more branches when it grows in warmer countries. You can see where they belong: two very low down by the trunk, and one up near the top where the Monkeys live. This winter you must be content to stmty the tree as it grows north of the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Grande, up to the land of snow and the northern lights. Nat, go to the wonder room and bring me the map of North America that hangs there. We will hang it on one side of the animal tree. " You see that the Rio Grande is the river that bounds the United States on the southwest, and the few branches that are cut from our tree belong to the tropi- cal animals that only stray north of this river by mere accident. North American Mammal Tree, showing the Chief Branches. 97 98 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Of course in climbing this tree we shall only find the living Mammals, the extinct species belong to an- other branch of study." " What are 'stinct animals ? " asked Dodo. " Gone out ones, I guess," said Rap, " because 'stin- guishing a candle means putting it out." " Make the word extinguish and you will be perfectly right, my boy," said the Doctor. " I suppose the ones that are dead looked like the live ones, didn't they ? " asked Dodo. " By extinct animals the Wise Men mean not merely those that are dead, but those that lived so long ago that even their exact pattern has disappeared from the earth, better designs having replaced them." " Then how does anybody know about them ? " asked Rap. " By reading in books, I suppose." " These animals had passed away before there were any books, and before man, as we know him, was living on the earth ; so all we can know about them must be learned from the skeletons that are found buried be- neath the earth, and in the rocks and beds of old-time clay and silt. The study of these bones is called Palaeontology." " How could their bones get into hard rock ? " asked Rap and Nat almost together. " That question has a very long answer, and belongs to the story of when the earth was young ; but it will help you to remember this much : — " The earth was once a fiery ball of gases like the sun. The time came when it was needed by the Mind that plans and sets everything in motion, and He began to develop it by degrees as He does everything ; for in EXPLANATION NIGHT 99 His realm there is no trickery or magic, nothing with- out a reason, nothing sudden or unforeseen. So this growth of our planet from a fiery ball to the earth Ave know took millions of what we call years, and, at first, there was no plant life, but only a molten mass which, when it cooled, turned to rock, making a crust. " After a long time, when the first animals were needed, they were made to suit the earth as it Avas then ; but the surface of the earth Avas constantly changing — heating and cooling as the top of a cake changes and cracks in the baking. Land came Avhere Avater had been ; forests Avhere all Avas barren ; then the animal life Avas changed and changed again and adapted, ahvays groAving of a higher kind, until the earth Avas ready as a home for man himself, Avho is the King of Animals, — living on the top branch of the same animal tree to be sure, but separated and raised above his blood brothers by wearing the image of God, Avhich is the soul. " The different periods through which the earth and its vegetable and animal life has passed can be seen by digging down through the earth's crust as you Avould cut through a layer cake. Some day Ave will study about this, but iioav Ave must return to Man, the tAvo-handed, tAvo-legged King, and look at what he sees from the top of his tree, as he looks down on his subjects and blood brothers, most of Avhom have four legs, though some, as you Avill see, have none at all." "But, father," asked Olive, "do you think there will ever be any higher sort of animal than man ? " " There may be a more perfect race of men than those Ave knoAV ; for of the living races some are more 100 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS elevated and spiritual than others, and everything in the great Plan moves upward." " You have made a picture of an Indian on the top branch of our Mammal tree, but there aren't so many of them alive now as of us, are there ? " asked Nat. "No, my boy, I put him there because, speaking cor- rectly, he is a native American like the fourfoots ; but a great change is coming over the tree. Some of its lower branches are dying off, as well as the top branch, and of these changes and their reasons I hope you will learn from our campfire stories/' The children looked at the map for some time, read- ing the names on the branches, tracing with their fin- gers the different twigs and the outlines of the animals in which they ended. Finally Nat asked, " Is there anything else in which Mammals are alike except that they have warm red blood and nurse their young ? " " If you should look at the skeleton of a cat, a bear, a horse, and a man, you would see that in the skeletons of all these Mammals the plan is much the same, dif- ferent parts being developed to suit the way in which the members of each family move or get their food. " The Gnawers have strong, square teeth, the diggers powerful fore paws, the Leapers strong, long hind legs, the Swimmers webbed hind feet and tails like paddles, and so on, and remember that all Mammals are more or less covered with hair." " Covered with hair ? I never thought of that. Is fur, hair ? " asked Rap. " Fur, hair, and wool are really all the same things, developed in different ways, though they look unlike. EXPLANATION NIGHT 101 The hair of a horse is harsh, of a eat soft, of a Musk- rat the longer hair is stiff and wiry and the under-coat soft, and what we call furry. You know that the hair on a baby's head is soft and downy, and not sharp as it grows to be later on. " There are quite a number of other things that the Mammals have in common with King Man. They have intelligence, as well as instinct, and they can think and reason also." " I don't quite understand about instinct and all that," said Rap. " I know what thinking is, of course ; but I thought that only House People could think and talk." "Ah, there is where older heads than yours make a mistake," said the Doctor, stooping to pile up the fire that was settling forward, adding a few pine cones to make it blaze. "Animals talk, though not in our words, and they have also a language of signs and smells that we but poorly understand, although the savage races and people who live much outdoors have similar ways, and can read many things by this sign language that would puzzle very intelligent House People. " Let me see if I can explain the difference between intelligence and instinct. Eating comes by instinct ; a baby eats without thinking, as well as other young animals. An animal may help itself to the kind of food that its family is in the habit of eating, and that, too, is an act of instinct. " Now listen, an animal sees a bit of meat hanging in the air ; it is bait tied by a string to a trap set to kill him. He does not know this by instinct, for this per- 102 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS haps is the first time man and their traps have ever been near one of his tribe. He takes the meat and is caught, but succeeds in getting free again. Some ani- mals are so clever that once having been caught, or having seen a brother beast caught, they set to work to think out a way of cutting the string and getting the meat without being caught in the trap. This shows reason and intelligence, does it not? " " Why, of course it does. Please, what fourfoots are clever enough for that except Foxes? They are smarter than some people," said Rap. " You will learn of these clever ones branch by branch and twig by twig. I am only trying to tell you how to start up the tree to-night. One thing more about intelligence," said the Doctor. " You all of you have dreamed sometimes ; can you tell of what dreams are made ? " No one was in a hurry to answer, and Olive said : " They are a jumble of something that has happened and lots of things that never have, but that seem quite real." " Yes, that is a good answer ; for dreams are a blend- ing of memory — the remembrance of something that has happened — and imagination, which is creating something." " Making it up, do you mean ? " asked Dodo. " Yes, making up — inventing ; so any one who dreams must have more or less intelligence, and many Mammals dream." " I know they do ! " exclaimed Nat. " Mr. Wolf dreams and growls away like everything, and the other night Quick was sleeping by my bed and he gave a lot EXPLANATION- NIGHT 103 of little sharp barks like those he gives at cats and Woodchucks, and all the hair over his backbone ruffled up ; but when I looked at him his eyes were shut tight." " Mammals are of a good many sizes, and move about in a great many different ways, — run and lope and jump, — but they almost all have four legs, don't they ? " asked Rap. " They are of all sizes, from a Mouse of a few inches to the great Whales that measure seventy or eighty feet in length, but they are not by any means all pro- vided with four legs. Mammals are often called Quadrupeds, or four-footed animals, and the greater number do have four feet ; but one has two feet, while others like the Whale have no feet. " The majority of Mammals live on the surface of the earth, and their limbs are formed for walking. They never have more than two pairs of legs, and may lack hind limbs ; but you will never see them with hind legs and no fore limbs." " There are lots of useful Mammals, too, besides all the little nuisance ones, aren't there, Uncle Roy?" asked Dodo. " Yes, surely ; Mammals are the most useful of all animals. They supply us with meat, milk, hides, wool, fur, horn, and ivory. The Whale gives oil, whalebone, and spermaceti ; the hoofed Mammals — horses, oxen, etc. — are draught animals. I want you to look at your tree and I will show you the ladder I have made to go with it. You remember the way in which the Bird Families all walked together in a pro- cession, each wearing his Latin name, that the Wise 104 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS Men gave him, in addition to his English one. This ladder is arranged so that when yon hear a story of an animal, you can look at it and see in what family he belongs, in what guild he works, and his place in the tree. If we ever make our stories into a book we will put this ladder at the end to help little people who might not be able to climb our tree without it." " Are those fourfoots all made into families and guilds ? How is it done, by watching their claws and mouths, what they eat, and the way they work, the same as with the birds ?" " Partly," said the Doctor, laughing, " only it is teeth and feet with Mammals, instead of bills and claws. " The Wise Men, by measuring, comparing, and studying the bones of these Mammals, have divided them into groups or classes, keeping those the most like together. This is called classification, and is very important. If they had not done this, you would never guess, by looking at pictures or at stuffed animals in a Museum, that a Whale is one of your blood brothers and not a great fish ; or that the Bat, that } t ou see flitting about at twilight, is not a bird." " I'm sure it takes a lot of believing to know that a Whale isn't a fish anyway," said Nat. " Do Mammals have tools to work with the same as birds have chisel and hooked bills and all that ? " "Yes, every Mammal has either a tool or weapon, and sometimes the same thing answers for both, as you will see." " You need not trouble yourself with learning your ladder by heart all at once ; but when you have heard a story about an animal, go to the ladder and it will help EXPLANATION NIGHT 105 you to find on which branch of the tree and to what guild it belongs." " Shall we make tables as we did about the birds ? I love to write them," said Dodo. " Color, size, and all the guilds to which they belong? I think not," said the Doctor ; " for you will not be able to see as many of these fourfoots for yourselves as you did of the birds, and that is the reason why I have made the ladder with a step in it for each animal, plainly marked with its size and color." " Couldn't we write down the names of the guilds, then ? " coaxed Dodo. " Certainly ; if you like, you can end the evening by writing a list of the guilds and groups to which our four-footed, no-footed, and wing-handed Americans belong." "How many Mammals shall we learn about — one hundred, like the Birds ? " " Seventy-five ; I think that will cover all the most interesting, and I have in my portfolio the pictures of about that number to show you. " We may divide our Mammals into eight chief guilds, though the larger ones have several societies or branches, and I will give }'OU the name of an animal belonging to each guild to help you remember." I. Pouch Wearers The females of this guild carry their young in a pocket. (The Opossum belongs here.) II. Sea Cows Clumsy water animals, who feed upon water plants, helping themselves with their Hipper-like fore legs. Hind legs wanting. (Manatee.) 106 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS III. Rollers ........ Salt-water Mammals, whose fore limbs are hidden in skin mittens. They roll through the water and are helpless on land. (Whale.) IV. Hoof Wearers Swift-moving Mammals, with toes com- pacted into small feet, called hoofs, and having their horns in pairs. (a) Rooters. With two upper tusks like a Pig. (Peccary.) (b) Solid-homed Cud-chewers. Hard, branching, bony horns like a Deer. (Moose.) (c) Hollow-horned Cud-chewers. Hollow, curved horns like a Cow. (Buffalo.) V. Gnawers The largest guild among fourfoots. Animals with four sharp, front-cut- ting teeth. All eat vegetable food, though some prefer animal. All the nuisance animals are Gnawers. (a) Shadow-tailed Gnawers. Having upright, plumy tails. (Gray Squirrel.) (b) Burrowing Gnawers. Those who make their homes under ground. (Woodchuck.) (c) Swimming Gnawers. Those who spend part of their time in the water and usually live near it. (Muskrat.) (d) Long-eared, Short-tailed Gnawers. Having Rabbit-like ears. (Wood Hare.) VI. Flesh Eaters Mammals with four, long-pointed dog- like teeth for tearing meat. (a) Claw-handed Flesh Eaters. Toes ending in movable claws like the house cats. (Wildcat.) (J.)) Dog-nosed Flesh Eaters. With pointed muzzles and bark- ing calls. (Fox.) (c) The Greedy Growlers. Beasts who eat both meat, fruit, and vegetables. (Bear.) (il) Little Fur Bearers. Who all yield fur of more or less value. (Mink.) (e) Water People, (beat Mammals with flipper-like limbs, living chiefly in the water. (Seal.) VII. Bug Biters Burrowers, who kill harmful insects. (Moles.) EXPLANATION NIGHT 107 VIII. Winged Hunters . . Mammals who have membranes between the fingers of their hands or lore limbs that form wings. (Bats.) " These guilds will perhaps be harder for you to remember in the beginning' than the Bird Guilds, for there are more of them, and they have longer names ; but if you look at the tree and pictures, and try to remember one animal that belongs to each guild, all the rest will follow." " Uncle," said Nat, " do our Mammals make long spring and fall journeys as the birds do, and can we divide them into citizens, and summer citizens, and visitors ? " " Oh, yes ! and do they pay taxes and work for their living like Citizen Bird ? " asked Dodo. " Nat, your question is easier to answer than Dodo's. Mammals do not travel as birds do, and few, if any, have a regular time for moving except to shift their feeding grounds for various reasons. Of course, if parts of the country are settled by House People, and woods are cut down and wild pasture ploughed up, or waterways drained, the animals who have lived there will move on to new homes ; but this is not a regular migration. " Then, again, grass-eating animals, who spend the summer in the mountains, come down into sheltered valleys for the winter, and so on ; but in spite of this we cannot call our Mammals travellers. It is difficult to say which of them are useful citizens, some undoubt- edly are, and pay taxes by killing nuisance animals, and yielding fur or food, but in a very different way from Citizen Bird, who works with us to raise the crops. 108 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " They were undoubtedly, in the true sense, all once useful citizens of the Republic of Nature, when every spoke was in place in the great balance-wheel, and man had only the things that were created for his use, had not invented anything for himself, and was called uncivilized ; but all that was long ago. This is changed now, and you will find, when you hear the stories, that guns have driven away animals that arrows could not kill, and some beasts, missing their natural food, have taken to eating things that were not intended for them, and have become beasts of prey and nuisance animals. " One thing I want you to remember. The skins of these Mammals were the very first prizes that America offered to the white people when they came here — the first wealth of the land. The trappers were of an earlier tribe than the miners. The pelts of the fur beasts brought money while the treasures of gold, silver, copper, and coal were still hidden deep under ground. But man, by killing these Mammals waste- fully and even during their breeding seasons, has made them now exceedingly rare. One by one they are growing fewer and shyer, and the animals that came over seas, as we did, in the long ago, are filling their places as far as they are able. The long-horned cattle feed on the prairies in place of the Bison, just as our houses stand on the ground once occupied by the red- man's wigwam/' " But it is better to have House People and cows in America than savages and Bison, isn't it ? " asked Olive, who saw that the children looked puzzled. " Yes, it means progress, and one of Heart of Nat- EXPLANATION NIGHT 109 lire's laws is that nothing shall stand still. When a tree can no longer grow, it must decay and turn into earth, that some other tree may grow in its place ; but we should never have killed the wild men and beasts as we did, merely to show our superior strength and for the greed of killing. It is only about four hundred years since white men set foot on this soil, and yet it seems as if in a hundred more there may be no more real two or four-footed Americans left." " There is the Deer Mouse again," whispered Dodo, who was growing tired, pointing to the hearth corner. The Mouse gathered up some crumbs and licked up a few drops of water that had fallen on the stones, then whisked away again. " He likes supper before he goes to bed. Please can we roast some chestnuts, Uncle Roy?" Every one laughed ; no more reasons why were asked, and Explanation Night ended merrily to the sound of chestnuts snapping vigorously in a wire corn-popper that the children took turns in shaking over the hot coals. IX AN INVITATION EFORE the excitement of moving into camp had passed away, the children had another treat in the shape of a pair of holidays, — Thanksgiving and the day after. For as the day of Saint Turkey always comes on Thursday, teachers and children agree that it is not worth while to light school fires on Friday, only to put them out again the next day. " We can begin the stories and have the campfire every night and shoot every afternoon. It's begun to snow already, and perhaps Nez will come down and show us how to make snow-shoes," chattered Dodo, happily, on Monday, as she looked out of the window in the wonder room, into the sky at dusk, and saw the mysterious flakes of the first snow-storm fluttering down. " Yes, it will be jolly ! " said Nat, looking up from the book he was studying : " but I want to do some real shooting, too. Hod says there's lots of Rabbit signs over along the edge of the wood lot, where he was hauling logs yesterday, and he found three forms no AN INVITATION 111 beside. Then there are fresh scratches on the big chestnut tree up by the hole where the branch broke, and on the earth by the little rock caves, and Rod says that means Coons. Do you think that Quick would make a good Coon dog, daddy ? He has an everlasting bark, and that's what Rod says you need in a Coon dog." Nat came and stood with his back to the fire, spread- ing his hands betAveen imaginary coat tails, speaking so earnestly and wearing such a sportsman-like air, that his father and uncle laughed outright. " What kind of forms did Rod find in the pasture, and what have they to do with Rabbits ? " asked Dodo, looking puzzled. " I thought forms were the other names for the moulds Mammy Bun puts the jelly and blanc-mange in to harden, so when it's stiff and turns out it is in a pretty shape instead of looking mussy and wobbling all over the dish." "■You are right there," said her father ; "but a Rab- bit's form is quite different. It is its favorite bed, — the hollow made by it when it lies down in the grass, or among leaves and litter, — which after being used a few times takes the form of the Rabbit's body." "Oh, I understand that," said Dodo, eagerly; "it's a Rabbit mould, only instead of the mould making the Rabbit the way it does with jelly, the jelly — no, I mean the Rabbit — makes the mould. But please, uncle, don't let the boys shoot the little nearby animals on the farm, because I want to make friends with them, and Rabbits are as funny and cunning as kittens, so I'm sure they can't do any harm." When the laughter had subsided, Dr. Roy took a 112 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS letter from a strange, dirty envelope he had been hold- ing in his hand, and spread it on the desk before him. "Here is something that will interest yon, Nat, and provide you with real shooting without disturbing Dodo's 'home Rabbits.' In fact, that sheet of paper contains the most tempting invitation I've had for a year. Come here and read it to us, Olive." Olive looked puzzled at first, as, sitting on the arm of her father's chair, she read : — friend dr. hunteh : toinette thinks to Lave a party for three days to begin on thrsday olaf and part of his outfit is coining over she would think it prowd if you would come to it also friend Jack blake and his boy and the other boy with the one leg which will find coons first rait also fox trails and rabbits which are to many as well as skunks she will make the best cookin of the french which she is half you know you need not answer only come Nez-s s ij " What does that mean ?" asked Olive, after she had spelled out this remarkable letter, which had neither commas, periods, nor capitals, pointing to three marks like little zig-zags of lightning after his name. " Why, that's Nez' blaze ! " said Mr. Blake, looking at the letter attentively. " Don't you remember, Hoy, the mark he put upon his logs so that he would know them among those of other choppers, and the sign he cut on trees when we hewed a path so that we should know the trail for our own ? I suppose Nez has never written such a long letter as this before, and he adds his blaze marks to assure us that he wrote it himself and means all he says." " I call that a tine letter," said Nat, beaming with satisfaction. " Three days in the woods, hooray ! It .4iV INVITATION 113 isn't late, may I run clown and tell Rap ? 1 suppose, of course, we will go," lie added anxiously. " There is nothing about girls in the letter," said Dodo, "and it will be a dreadfully unthankful Thanks- giving Day with only mother and Olive and me at home, and Mammy Bun may say it is wasteful to kill Mr. Gobble only for us, and he is so fat I don't think he will live till Christmas. You will all be so tired when you get home Saturday, and proud with going hunting, that you won't care to cook supper and tell stories in our camp." Here Dodo's voice broke into a wail, and in spite of brave blinking, a large round tear perched itself on her nose in a position where it commanded attention. " Oh, Dodo," said her uncle, taking her on his knee, " it is a very poor sportsman that cries not only before he is hurt, but before the gun that might possibly hurt him is even loaded. Cheer up, did you ever know any one at the farm to make a good time for themselves by hurting somebody else ? " " No-oo, but I shouldn't want to be piggy and keep you all at home, either," murmured Dodo, with her face hidden under her uncle's coat-collar. " There is a useful word in our language that is a very good plaster to cure the ills of reasonable people who wish to do different things, it is compromise. Do you know what that means ? " " No-oo," quavered Dodo. " Each agree and do a part of what they want," said Olive. "Oh, I know now," said Nat; "it's what Rod calls ' split-the-difference.' " 114 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS "Exactly, and we will 'split the difference' by staying at home Avith the ladies on Thursday and having Mr. Gobble for dinner and our story in the evening. Then Friday we will start for Nez' camp, going by rail to Chestnut Ridge Station, and driving over from there, so as to lose as little time as possible on the way." Dodo's face came from under the coat-collar, and her arms tightened around Dr. Roy's neck so suddenly that he coughed. " Wait a minute, that is not all. I think we must have a party ourselves before long and invite all the camp people to come down here. What do you say to a Christmas party, sister Cherry, with a tree and songs and Santa Clans ? Will it be too much trouble ? No ? Then talk it over with Olive and Dodo while we are away, and decide what you want to do and how to do it, and you may put your hand in my pocket for a real Christmas at Camp Saturday." " My pockets have something in them, too," said Mr. Blake. " Our bank is choking," chimed in Nat and Dodo. X MONARCHS IN EXILE EFORE dusk, on Thanksgiving- Day, dinner was over, and the family had all gathered in Camp Satur- day. Mr. Gobble, with his chest- nut stuffing, proved so tempt- ing that two small people even begged for a third piece, and every one agreed to have only a light supper before bedtime, and tell stories first. "Is Turkey a real American, or did he come over with House People ? " asked Dodo. " I suppose he did, because he's a farm bird and very cranky to raise, Rod says." " Turkey is not only a true American, and the emblem of Thanksgiving Day, but our native wild Turkey is the great-grandfather of all the other Tur- keys that live everywhere on farms." The camp was quite in order now, for Dr. Roy had sent to various places for chests of odds and ends that had been stored away and almost forgotten. The board floor was nearly covered by the furry pelts of various beasts, while others were fastened against the walls, where some fine Deer's heads spread their 115 116 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS pronged and forked antlers, and seemed to wink their glass eyes as the fire flickered, casting startling shadows. " Let's make mother a throne by the fire," said Nat, drawing oat the settle. " This old woolly cow skin will mostly cover it," said Dodo, tugging at a bundle that lay partly un- folded in the corner. " Gently, gently," called the Doctor, coming to her aid. " That ' old cow skin ' is something that belongs to the past which I could hardly replace. It once belonged to a Buffalo — that one whose head is over the window. Nat, take the other corner and we will spread the skin carefully." "It's a pretty big skin — bigger than any of the beasts we saw at the circus ; but I didn't know that Buffaloes were rare," said Nat. " I thought the wild West was full of them, and all the Indians did when they wanted meat or a coat was to go out and kill one." " So they did once, my boy, and not so very long ago." "There is a picture of some in your animal port- folio," said Dodo, " and in it there are lots and lots of Buffaloes all over everywhere, more than all the cows in the pasture down at the milk farm." " What shall you tell us about to-night, father ? " asked Olive, coming in, followed by the dogs. " How will you manage about the stories ; take the animals by families as you did the birds ? " " No, I have another plan. In this portfolio are portraits of our most famous American Mammals, HON AliCHS IN EXILE 117 from 'big game,' as it is called, down to the smallest nuisance animal. You shall all take turns in choos- ing the picture you like, and then I will tell you its story, or, if I do not know it myself, you shall hear Nez, Uncle Jack, or Olaf for a change. Then when each story is finished, you must find the animal on the ladder, and see to what family and guild he belongs. Is it a bargain ? " Dodo may choose to-night, as she is the youngest. I will turn the pictures, for the portfolio is heavy." v " Did you draw all these pictures ? " Dodo asked, as she took her place by her uncle, hardly knowing what to choose from among so many. "No, indeed, the man who drew these knew the beast brotherhood as well as we know each other. In fact, they are so true that I think Heart of Nature must have stood beside him and touched his brush and pencil." " There is a Gray Squirrel in here," chattered Dodo, " that looks so funny and real, just like the one in our hickory, that I knew it right away. All these animals seem to be doing something, too, not sitting round looking uncomfortable, waiting to have their pictures taken like some beasts in my reader. I can't choose, uncle ; I like them all. Here are three cats' heads with no bodies ; they must have as nice a story as the Cheshire Cat. I think I'll shut my eyes and take the first I touch," she said finally, and her choice fell on the Buffalo, or Bison as the Wise Men call it. " You could not have chosen better, for from this story you will learn why I value that ' old cow skin ' so much. I think, if we name our stories, they will seem more interestinQ'. Let us call this one ' Monarchs 118 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS iii Exile,' " said the Doctor, as he fastened the picture with thumb pins beside the map on the wall, " and I will tell you why the Buffalo was a king, where his kingdom was, and how he comes now to be exiled." "My ! " said Dodo, studying the picture, "he looks like a great, wild, hump-backed bull gone to fur. Doesn't the Buffalo belong to the cow family ? " Nat laughed, but the Doctor said: '•'Both the im- ported race of cows and this wild American belong to the Bovidee, which we may call the meat family for short, because all the members of it are good for food. The members of this meat family have their toes arranged in cloven hoofs, and wear pairs of hollow horns which, when once grown, last for life. They all chew the cud and are therefore vegetable eaters. You can easily remember that all of the meat family belong- to the guild of Hoofed, Hollow-horned Cud-chewers." " Are not the horns of all animals hollow, and don't they last for life, unless something breaks them ? " asked Rap. " No, the meat family have hollow, curving, rather smooth horns, that begin to sprout when the animal is a few months old, and continue growing until the wearer is fully grown. In the Deer family of cud- chewers these horns, or antlers as they are then called, are of solid bone, pronged, fined, or spreading. They are shed and grown anew every year, and the reason for this is very interesting — horns, prongs, and antlers being a whole story by itself. Now let me return to our Buffalo. First look at the head and hide, then at the complete animal in the picture. Can }-ou imagine a more powerful or fierce beast ? " <■ f ^ Mr The Bison. MONABCIIS IN EXILE 119 " No," said Nat and Dodo, promptly ; but Rap hesi- tated a little and answered shyly : — " He must be very big and strong, yet somehow he looks rather stupid, too, as if he wasn't thinking about much of anything. But then," he added, as if fearing to be unjust, "perhaps it is the glass eyes that make the head look so sleepy." " You are perfectly right, Rap ; stupidity was the chief fault, or rather misfortune, of the Buffalo. The foremost Buffalo in the picture is an old male ; these males were often six feet high at the shoulder, and measured ten feet from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail, eight feet around the body just behind the fore legs, and weighed from fifteen to seventeen hundred pounds. Those we saw at the circus were born in captivity, and were much smaller. The ponderous head is shaggy, with a tufted crown between the curved horns that match the hoofs in blackness. The nose and lips are bare, but the chin is bearded. The shoul- ders and fore legs down to the knees are covered, as you see, with thick woolly hair, while the hair on the back parts of the body is shorter and more wavy. The hair varies in color and length on the different parts of the animal, ranging from yellowish brown to nearly black, and being from four to ten inches in length. Under the long hair and wool is a thick under- fur, which grows on the approach of cold weather and is shed, or moulted, again before summer." " Oh, what a mess the poor thing must get into when he moults," said Dodo, stroking the Buffalo robe. " He has nobody to comb him, and I should think he would all stick together and tangle. How does he 120 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS manage, uncle ? Does he scrape through the bushes the way a snake does to pull off its old skin ? " " You have judged rightly ; the Buffalo has a hard time with his coat, and only looks really respectable a very small part of the year. During four months he is well dressed, for the other eight he appears in various stages of rags and tatters. In October he is quite a gentleman, wearing a new suit of beautifully shaded brown and buff which he manages to keep fresh and bright until after Christmas. Soon after this the effect of wear and tear, storm and snow, appear in a general fading. You can easily see, however, that the Buffalo with his winter coat, added to a thick hide, could defy the weather even of the most open, wind- swept country, and must be one of the hardiest of our fourfoots. " All this tells you how the animal looked. Next you must know why he was king of American four- foots : it was because of his usefulness to the two- footed Americans — the Indians who lived with him in wood, plain, and prairie, but chiefly in the open plains. In the long ago every part of the Buffalo was of service to the wild people who had never seen a white face, a horse, or a gun. In fact, it is strange that this shaggy brown monster of the plain was not worshipped by the savages as a god ; for during the last three hundred years of their liberty it was the Buffalo chiefly that made it possible for them to live. As long as the Indian had the Buffalo to supply his needs, he was independent and unconquerable. " In the far back time, of which there is no written history, man had no other instruments of killing than M ON ARCIIS IN EXILE 121 did the beast brotherhood, not even the stone axe, or bow and arrow, being closely akin to the wild beasts themselves, who were armed only with teeth, claws, and cunning. Man must have lived origi- nally on fruits or animals weaker and less sure-footed than himself. In this struggle for a living the mind in man began to develop, and he shaped a club or a stone axe, made traps and then caught animals that gave him material for better weapons. What animal could give him more than the Buffalo ? '■The hairy skin made warm robes and other gar- ments, the hairless hides furnished tent coverings, bags for carrying food, and, later, when horses came, saddles, also boats, shields, rawhide ropes, etc. The sinews made the thread to sew the robes, the lattice for snow-shoes and strings for bows ; from the bones were fashioned many articles of use and ornament ; the hoofs and horns gave drinking cups and spoons, as well as the glue with which the Indian fastened his stone arrow-heads to their wooden shafts. Even the drop- pings of the Buffalo, when dried, were precious for fuel. These parts of the Buffalo would alone have made him valuable ; but we have not mentioned the meat, the rich, nourishing, wild beef of North America. Think of the hundreds of pounds of food one beast would yield ! " " Wasn't it rather tough meat?" asked Nat. "That old fellow there on the wall looks as if lie would have needed as much chewing as the gum Rod gave me from the old cherry tree." "The meat of an old Buffalo bull certainly was tough, as the meat of any other old animal is likely to 122 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS be ; but the beef of the three-year-old, or the cows, is as delicious as our best roast beef. " Only a part of the meat was eaten fresh, the rest was dried in various ways and kept for further use ; for the whole thought of the savage was given to self-pres- ervation from two ghosts that crossed his path at every step, — his human enemies and starvation. Often the last was the more cruel of the two. So the Buffalo tongues were smoked and dried, the marrow from the bones packed away in skins, while all the titbits were pounded fine, mixed with melted fat, and sometimes berries also, to make a sort of hash more nearly like sausage-meat than anything else, which was called pem- mican. When we think of the Buffalo, Ave must think of the Indian also, and if the Indian did much at last to send this beast brother into exile, he also has shared it with him." " Have Indians and Buffaloes always lived in North America," asked Olive, " and if they did not, where did they come from ? " " Always is a long time, for Avhen the earth was very young there were no people anywhere. I suppose you mean were the Indians the first people known to live here. Yes, and they may have been the very first peo- ple to live on this soil — a race by themselves. At any rate one of the first European discoverers to set foot on the North American continent found the Indian here and also the Buffalo. Strangely- enough the first Buf- falo described did not appear as a king of the plains, but a captive in a Menagerie. " It was nearly four hundred years ago, when Monte- zuma II was Emperor of Aztec Mexico, that a Men- MONABCIIS IN EXILE 123 agerie stood in the square of the Capitol. Among the other beasts in it was one called by an early writer a ' Mexican Bull, resembling many animals combined in one, having a humped back like a Camel, a Lion's mane, horns like a Bull, a long tail, and cloven hoofs,' — this beast was the American Buffalo. " How he came to be there no one knows, for they were not afterward found to range so far south, but he was probably captured by some of the Mexicans on their northward expeditions. " Between this first Buffalo of the Mexican Men- agerie and the last (which one of you young people may live to see) stretches the history of this tribe that exceeded in numbers any other of the greater beasts of the earth. It reads like some wild legend or impossi- ble fairy tale, yet it is all true and took place in the western half of our own country, and when the west wind blows fiercely around the farm, it has often swept over the very plains that were the Buffalo's kingdom. Whole books have been written, and yet have not told half the tale, which is in a way the history of the kill- ing of all the great American fourfoots as well. " The Buffalo's history is in three acts and many scenes. First, the golden days of peace and plenty, the rightful killing for food, with laborious hunting, a fair fight between man and beast. ' Take what ye need to eat,' said Heart of Nature to man and beast alike. " Then the white and red men joined in the pursuit ; fleet horses were used in the chase instead of men's feet, bullets killing from afar replaced the arrows shot at close range. Not merely meat to eat or hides for covering, or reasonable trade, but waste and butchery. Skins 124 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS traded for whiskey, — the skins too of cows and their young. " Last of all came the railroads, bringing the white hunter with his deadly aim into the last retreat of the herds. These three acts will show you the living, the hunting, and the butchering of the Buffalo. " At first the Buffaloes ranged over all parts of North America where they could find suitable pasture. See, I have made lines on the map to show you how it was found in two-thirds of what are now the United States, living in western prairies, forest-park land, the plains, and far up on mountain sides, being found in the North- west up to the land of snow. Buffaloes, as you know, are cud-chewers and, of course, grass-eaters, though when pushed to it they will eat sage brush, and for this reason they were obliged to move about during the year more than any other fourfoots, except one kind of deer ; those in the south going north as summer dried the grass, and the northerly herds leaving their summer pasture before heavy snow falls. Buffaloes usually moved several hundred miles south as winter came on, and in these annual migrations great numbers lost their lives ; for often the vast herds would make this journey on the full run, — stampeding, it is called. Pushing blindly along, masses of them fell into quick- sand and over cliffs, or broke through river and lake ice." " What made them stampede ? Was not that very stupid of them ? " said Nat. " Yes, but like most animals who live in flocks or herds, and people who live in thick communities, they were both curious and stupid — what one did they all MON AliCIIS IN EXILE 125 did. You know if Nanny Baa starts to run all the other sheep follow her, — where, it does not matter to them." " Yes, and I've noticed that they all try to get through the same hole in the wall, or pack tight into some little corner." " The grass was best in the valleys along the water- courses, and you would expect the Buffaloes to stay in such places ; but they were stupid even in their search for food, and wandered out on the dry plains where the grass that bore their name was turned to standing hay by drought and heat. "The Buffalo had no private life; his time was spent in a crowd from the time in spring, when as an awkward calf he found it difficult to keep up with the herd in its march, until his life was ended either by rushing with the stampeding herd into an engulfing bog, or, if straggling from the herd, wounded or feeble he fell a victim to the grim gray Wolves who were as the Buffaloes' shadows, following them ceaselessly. "The fact that the Buffaloes grazed far and wide made their daily march to the watercourses a ceremony of great importance, and their kingdom was furrowed deeply by these trails worn by innumerable feet as they all followed their leader to the chosen watering- place." " How did they choose their leader ? " asked Dodo. " Why, the strongest bull, of course," said Nat. " No, on the contrary, the leader whom they trusted was often some wise old cow. When she gave the signal, the feeding stopped, off they all marched, per- haps miles across country until water was reached, 126 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS always, in spite of their stupidity, choosing the safest and most direct route to the desired spot." "How did people find that out, by watching them?" asked Rap. " Partly, but their paths or trails were cut so deep, sometimes two feet, in the clayey ground, that they remain to this day. You see in the picture the Buf- faloes are coming down a trail, and with them is another king of the plains, — the sand-colored sluggish prairie Rattlesnake. Big as the Buffalo is, he does not care to pull the leaves from a tuft of curly grass if he sees one of these snakes near it. Nature evidently whispers to the Buffalo very early in life : ' The little horny knobs on your head will surely grow, a lap for each year : at three you will carry sharp spikes ; at ten polished black curved horns ; at twenty, if you live so long, gnarled, furrowed stubs, — yet do not be proud, remember that gray Rattlesnake coiled in the dust carries in his mouth two fangs as deadly as your fiercest charge. Be friends ; do not dispute, but share your kingdom with him.' So they lived together, but the snake has outlasted his brother king." " I shouldn't think then that plains would be nice places to stay," said Dodo. " They are not," said Olive, decidedly. " You are thinking of my story about the time I was belated, twenty years ago, and had to camp on the ground instead of coming on to your mother at the ranch," said the Doctor, laughing. " Did snakes chase you ? " asked Nat. " No, but the spot where we were obliged to make camp was full of their holes, and our horses knew it MONARCH S IN EXILE 127 and were uneasy; yet they were utterly spent, so we had no choice but to rest and picket them. We stopped up the snake holes with hot ashes from our fire, which by the way was made of Buffalo chips or droppings, spread a hair rope or lariat in a circle inside, while we put our- selves on rather than in our blankets." " Why did you make a circle with the rope? " asked Rap. " Because one of our party, a scout, said a Rattle- snake would never cross a hair rope, so we put it there to please the man." " Did they cross it? " asked all the children together. " No, we started in the morning on our search for water before a single evil-eyecf snake had wiggled out, but I thanked the ashes, not the magic rope." " Isn't the water rather warm and stale in these water holes? It usually is in such places here," said Rap, looking at the picture again. " Of course it is ! Dearie me ! ! " exclaimed the Doctor. " You youngsters would not even know it for water. Wetness is the only thing it has in common with the poorest puddle on the farm. Much of the water of prairie and Bad Lands is a cross between green whitewash and pea soup. Sometimes the lime, of which it is full, shows white and crusty round the pool edges as early ice does here. But to return to our Buffalo procession. " If it was a warm day they would often take a roll in the pools after drinking, and you can imagine what a spectacle a woolly Buffalo would be after such a bath in a mud puddle." "How could they like to be so dirty?" said Olive, 128 FOUIt-FOOTEI) AMERICANS who, in spite of her love of everything wild, was as dainty as a white kid glove. " They had a practical reason : the mud dried into a crust that kept the insects from driving them wild. From doing this frequently, and turning round and round as they wallowed and splashed, many of these pools were shaped into sort of deep, round bath tubs, as a potter shapes a clay vessel with his thumb. In fact, Buffaloes were so fond of rolling to scratch them- selves, that they also rolled head first in earth and sand, as well as water, and in time their horns came, in this way, to be worn and stubby. An English traveller, early in this century, wrote that in Pennsylvania, before the Buffaloes had learned to fear people, a man built a log house near a salt spring where many Buffaloes came to drink. The Buffaloes evidently thought the house would make a delightful place to rub and scratch, for history says they actually rubbed it down ! " Before they learned the dread of House People, and the necessity of keeping constantly on the watch, the Buffalo's life was much like that of the great herds of domestic cattle that now range the same prairie pastures. The calves frisked and played, the herds had their times of rest, of plenty and of scarcity, though the Buffalo was a difficult animal to starve, and faced out blizzards before which the domestic cattle would turn tail and perish. This was one great reason why he should have been protected, and this magnificent monarch kept in his kingdom and developed to suit present need. The Buffalo was able to withstand all the natural dangers, of cold, hunger, and prowling Wolves, to which he was exposed, MONARCHS IN EXILE 129 and still increase and multiply* They made good fathers, too, taking the young calves under their pro- tection, sometimes hustling them along through the Wolf packs with horns lowered and tails raised, keep- ing the calves well inside the flying wedge. Their vi- tality was so great that, if in falling over a precipice after some foolish run, a leg was broken, its owner was quite able to go about on the other three until it knit again. This is the first scene, — the golden days of the Buffaloes, — when they swarmed b}^ hundreds of thousands like mosquitoes over a marsh. These were the days when the red men had no weapons sufficient to kill them. " Listen to what came upon the Buffalo in the second scene, in the days of fair hunting, this time beginning we do not know when and lasting until threescore years ago." " How many is a score, more than a dozen ? " inter- rupted Dodo. "A score is twenty." " Are there two kinds of scores ? " persisted Dodo, " for you know, Uncle Roy, a baker's dozen is thirteen, and a dozen postage stamps is twelve, and down at the store they sell sticks of candy by postage-stamp meas- ure." " A score is no more nor less than twenty," laughed the Doctor ; "but do not lead me away from our second scene. When the Indian had no weapons, he could slay only small game, and even when he had only a club and stone axe to help him the killing of the thick- skinned, wool-clad Buffalo must have been a difficult task. Do the best he could, the red man had to work 130 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS desperately hard for every pound of flesh or hide he captured. " Then the mind of man began to develop and aid him. The Indian, knowing the Buffalo's habit of stampeding from fright, laid stones, sticks, and brush on either side of some open space to make a sort of drive- way, wide apart at first, but gradually narrowing until it ended either in a sort of pen or at the edge of a preci- pice. " After a herd was located, and this in itself was not always easy, a disturbance was made to start it run- ning in the right direction. Perhaps a man went out and waved his arms, retreating down the driveway as the first of the herd came near to look at him. The curious animal would quicken his pace, and as soon as he was fairly started the Indian slipped behind the bar- ricade and joined with his comrades in shouting to frighten the herd that were now following their leader at full gallop. " On the mad throng rushed, crowding and trampling each other as the track narrowed, until, when they arrived in the pen, they were giving each other mortal wounds, the calves tossed on the horns of the old bulls and the weaker trampled to death. Then, amid great personal danger, the Indians rushed in and killed those not already wounded, with stone axes, or in later days shot them with their flint arrows. You can see that it must have taken a strong arm to send a clumsy stone arrow through the thick Buffalo hide. If the animals were driven over a cliff and fell crippled at the bottom, the killing took place there in the same manner as in the pen. After the slaughter, the men discussed various MONABCHS IN EXILE 131 scenes of the affair as if it had been a battle between tribes, and the women came in, skinned the animals, cut up the meat, packed it on their wheel-less dog-carts, and took it to camp." " How can there possibly be a cart without wheels ? It would only be a box that would bump and spill," said Dodo, who had kept quiet an unusually long time for her. " This Indian cart, as wheel-less as the Eskimo sledge, is called a travois, and is still in use among the scattered tribes, except that now it is dragged by horses. Can you imagine how it was made ? " " Oh, I know what it is ; we saw it at the Wild West Show ! Don't you remember ? " shouted Nat. " The thing like a pair of cross-legged shafts fastened to the horse's back, with the big ends trailing on the ground, and braces across right behind the horse's back knees, to keep it together and make a place to hold things ! " " Yes, that was a travois, and it is possible to drag it over ground that would quickly break cart wheels. Some time after, when the civilized races or House People came to America and settled along the coasts, the horse found its way among the Indians. He came with the Spanish through Mexico in the South, and from the Canadian French in the North. Soon an Indian's wealth began to be measured by horses, as we measure ours by dollars. Indians mounted on half-breed horses followed the Buffalo over the plains, with greater success, for, as the old range of these animals in the East and South was being peopled and cultivated, the Buffalo crowded westward, as the 132 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS i.- Indians themselves were soon to be crowded from their hunting-grounds. This was the beginning of the end, though it took many years yet to drive the mon- arch from his kingdom. "Act third came, passed rapidly and with it the Buffalo. Firearms, from musket to pistol, were plen- tiful, and then followed the deadly, long-range rifle. Stupid greed fell upon the Indian and white settler alike. No one listened to the warning cry, ' Take what ye need to eat.' It was not only flesh for food and hides for covering, but hides for sale, and cow hides at that, with no respect of season. The Indian found that much deadly fire-water could be bought for Buffalo skins, and also that the hides of the females and calves were the softest and most valuable. " So then the massacre began ; for it was outright murder to kill the females and young. Whites and Indians went out to kill, as an army prepared to ma- noeuvre, surprise, trap, and give no quarter. The Buf- faloes were chased by men on horseback, who shot with pistols, as more easily used with one hand, and were also shot at from ambush with the long-range rifle, so that the poor bewildered things, often seeing no enemy, did not know in what direction to escape, and huddled together helpless victims. Still they held their own and increased until the last scene of all took place ; and it seems to me that it was only yesterday. " A railroad stretched its iron arm across the coun- try, — it was the Union Pacific. Have you ever seen the ants rush out of a great hill that has been dis- turbed ? Could you count them ? " "Oh," said Rap, "I've seen them often, and you MONAECHS IN EXILE 133 could no more count tliem than you could drops of water in a hurry." " Well, so it Avas with the Buffaloes ; there were never any large fourfoots on earth to equal them in numbers, and even in my day we have true records of a single herd of no less than 4,000,000 head. A friend of mine once, riding on a train, passed for more than one hundred miles through a single herd. It was dan- gerous, I can tell you, for the trains, and they often had to stop to let the Buffaloes pass by. At this time the Buffaloes were then in two great herds, the north- ern and the southern. Then these began to melt away as great snowballs do in the sun. Railroads meant an easy way to reach the Buffaloes, an easy way to trans- port the skins ; for it was the skin more than the meat that was desired. The engine whistle sounded the exile of this monarch, and for ten years his kingdom, shrinking and shifting, was a battlefield strewn with skinned carcasses. Next, the horns were gathered, and finally the bleached bones themselves were carried away to be ground into fertilizer, and thus make the obliteration complete. " During a few years more there were stragglers here and there, and, in 1890, when I was going Avestward from the Black Hills in Wyoming, I shot the beast whose head and skin Ave have here iioav. I said, 'I will take this eastAvard when I have a home again, that my grandchildren may believe that such beasts lived, and that their grandfather kneAV them on their native plains, for by that time this king Avill be in exile.' It has all happened sooner than I thought. " Noav a few, a mere handful, twenty-four perhaps in 134 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS all, live wild in the Yellowstone Park. A hundred more are scattered here and there in kind captivity, where they may live for some time, but lose their type and spirits like the captive Indians. Now you may travel the plains from New Mexico north and see no other trace of the Buffalo than a weather-beaten skull, — the perch for a burrowing Owl, or the retreat of the other king, the Rattlesnake. "As the Buffalo vanished, the Indian as a freeman vanished also ; his wild beef is gone and he is given rations in begrudged charity. Once both Buffalo and Indian might have been developed to useful citizens ; now, if we succeed in preserving either race, it will be only as captives. The kingdom of each is destroyed, and the people of this land are not blameless." " It's a very sad story, and I'm afraid the left-over Buffaloes won't like it very well even in the new Zool- ogy Garden," said Dodo, attacking the word bravely, but missing it. " Any sort of land with a fence around it must seem crampy for them. I'm very glad, anyhow, that I saw those at the circus." "I'm sorry for the Indians and the Buffaloes both," said Rap, solemnly, after a long pause when every one sat silently looking at the fire; "but I s'pose if white people wanted the land, it had to be because of what the first selectman calls ' progress ' ! " The elder people laughed heartily at this, and Nat said, " I don't see what he has to do with Indians and Buffaloes ; he's old Mr. Hodder down by the bridge, and he's never been anywhere." "Perhaps not," said Olive, "but I know what Rap means. This is the way it happened. You know MONARCHS IN EXILE 135 Widow Hull that has the little house beyond East Village by the tollgate ? " " I do,' 1 said Dodo. " She makes lovely taffy and jumbles and ginger pop ! " " Well, she won't any more ; they are going to take away the tollgate and her house, to make the road wider to run trolley cars on. Mrs. Hull has to move, and she feels dreadfully, and says she'll starve. I heard her talking about it to Mr. Hodder. " ' The town'll give yer a lot and move yer house across lots down to the next corner,' said he. 'Yer can sell yer truck there.' " 'But,' said Mrs. Hull, 'the trolley cars go by down- hill there and nobody'll stop to buy. They all had to stop at the tollgate ! ' " ' I know that, marm,' said he, getting cross, ' but it's progress ; progress always hurts somebody, marm.' " " Won't yer please hand in dis yer tray, Massa Blake," said Mammy Bun's cheery voice at the door. " I doan like walkin' on dem skins and tings, dey slipped me down j^esterday, dey did ; good rag carpet tacked tight am fine 'nough for dis ole 'oman. Lan' sakes, how can dey take pleasure sittin' in dat barn room, like dey had no good home all fixed nice," she muttered, as the door closed behind her. The tray held a light supper, because after dinner the children said they could not possibly eat a real supper ; but after Dodo and Nat had made three trips to the kitchen for fresh supplies of toast and biscuits, they decided that it was never safe to say immediately after dinner that you would not be hungry for tea. 136 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Poor old Buffalo," said Dodo, sitting on the settle by her mother and stroking the wavy hair of the robe, " you were one of the biggest of our f ourf oots, and now all that is left of you is a skin and a stuffed face. Please, Uncle Roy, don't you think the skin would feel more at home over there on the wall by its head than in being sat on ? " Amid the general laugh that followed, Nat went to the window, rubbed the frost from the pane, and looked out. " Oh, daddy ! Oh, Uncle Roy ! " he cried, " the moon is out, and the snow looks smooth and crisp ! Could anything be jollier for to-morrow ? Rod says we can learn to tell animal tracks quick as anything in new snow. Suppose I should shoot a Rabbit to bring home to mother, and we may even see a Coon ! Onty I think it will be much harder to hit a real running Rabbit than our Deer target, even with the little shot-o-un." XI RABBIT TRACKS •W dark it was the next morning when the four boys gathered in the kitchen for their breakfast at 6.30. 13 ut then you know what is late in summer is early in winter : it all depends upon when the sun chooses to get up and make day. You may also wonder who the two boys were beside Nat and Rap. If you had been there, you would have seen that they were the Doctor and Mr. Blake, who were in as high spirits as the children, and played so many pranks that Mammy Bun could hardly pour out the coffee for trying to hide her laughter. " Where is the little shot-gun ? " had been Nat's first question on coming down. " Is it loaded ? " " I think not, but I will look to make sure," said Mr. Blake. " Ah, don't do that," he added quickly, as Nat tried to look down the gun barrel. " Never do that. What did I tell you the first day you shot at the target ? Open the gun here at the breech by pulling down the lever so, always being careful not to point it at anybody or thing. Never take it for granted 137 138 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS that a gun is not loaded, and never trifle with it under any circumstances. It depends entirely upon how you behave toward this little gun whether your uncle ever gives it to you for your own or not : but for the present you must be content never to even handle it except when one of us is with you." " Aren't you going to take any nighties ? " asked Dodo, who had come down dressed in a rather confused mass of the warmest clothes she could find, half hoping that, in spite of everything, she might be allowed to go at the last moment. " No, missy, the only way we could use nighties at Nez' camp would be to put them on over our clothes. A good blanket apiece will be much more useful." " The stage-driver from Chestnut Ridge way allowed, when he came down last night, they had a big fall er snow there yesterday, that is, big fer the season," said Rod, as he drove up with Tom and Jerry in the farm wagon, deep with straw to keep feet from chilling. " Why didn't you bring the sleigh ? '•' called Olive from the window, where she stood in the dusk to watch them off, wrapped in a down quilt. " Snow's too soft; be all cut up down by the daypo." " There's an old sled in the barn, may I take it with me ? If there's thick snow at the Ridge, there may be some at Nez' camp," said Nat, eagerly. " We have as much as we can carry now, my boy," said the Doctor, " and you may be very sure if there is enough snow for coasting, Nez will have some sort of a contrivance for you to do it with." " Oh, look ! " cried Rap, pointing toward the southeast. The turnpike stretched a pure white pathway between RABBIT TRACES 139 the purplish gray arch of bare maple branches, and where it seemed to touch the sky, the sun was saunter- ing out from a purple and gold gateway. " Good morning ! Are you all washed and dressed ? " called Dodo, kissing her hands to the sun in particular and then stretching out her arms to the beautiful world in general. " Which reminds me, speaking of washing," said her father, kissing her and setting her down inside the door, " that I do not believe you have been on speaking terms with your own particular cake of soap this morning." Dodo laughed and went upstairs " to," as she said, " unbuild her clothes and begin all over again." " Let's run," said Tom to Jerry, as they turned out of the gate; "I feel so very fly that I should like to fly. Why don't you laugh ? That's a joke," he continued, jogging Jerry with his shoulder and nearly upsetting him. " Better not try it," said Jerry, settling his gait again, " or we may be put to haul logs, or in the threshing- machine, instead of dragging a sleigh, by and by, and hearing House People tell funny stories." " Look at the tracks all over the snow everywhere, I didn't see any yesterda} r ," said Nat, as they drove down the turnpike ; " some big and some little and some tiny. What do they all belong to, daddy ? " " Rabbits chiefly, — they are almost all pad-footed prints. I see one trail that belongs to a Skunk ; and another, those sharp clean jumps by the stone fence, tells of a Mink ; the smallest, like a bird track, prob- ably belongs to a Meadow Mouse. You did not see them yesterday because the little beasts seldom come 140 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS out until the second day after a snowstorm. We haven't time to stop for you to look for them, but we shall find plenty more at the mountain." " Rabbits are rather common everywhere in America, aren't they ? " asked Rap. " Yes, some member of the family is to be found everywhere, from the Polar Hare of the Barren Grounds to the Jack Rabbit of the hot sand-deserts of Texas and the southern half of the entire West." " You call some Rabbits and others Hares. What is the difference between a Rabbit and a Hare ? Don't they belong to the same family ? " asked Nat. " Perhaps they work in different guilds," ventured Rap. "No," said the Doctor, "they all belong to the long- eared, short-tailed gnawers, with the patent- jumping hind legs. The difference is, beside size, that little Hares are born in grassy nests with fur on and their eyes open ; while little Rabbits are naked and blind and are born in burrows. All our species are Hares. The Rabbits that House People keep sometimes as pets, are true Rabbits, children of European parents, and not American fourfoots, though we still continue to call our Hares, Rabbits, the same as we call Bisons, Buffaloes.'' " See, there goes a common Rabbit now ! " cried Rap. " How he bobs along and then stops and sits up ; do stop a second, Rod. He's looking at something by that tree and doesn't hear our wheels, because of the snow ! " "What queer tracks he makes," said Nat. "I thought the two big marks were made by his fore feet ; they look as if he hopped backward, but he Wood Hare. (Gray Rabbit.) BABBIT TRACKS 141 doesn't. How are these tracks made, uncle, do you know ? " " Yes, but I am going to let you and Rap find that out for yourselves." " I know,'' said Rap; " he swings his hind feet around his fore paws. I've often watched one do it." " There is a Downy Woodpecker tapping on the tree," said Mr. Blake. " Now Bunny sees it, and his nose twitches as if he Avere saying, ' Hello ! is it only you making all that noise ? ' " " I wonder what makes Rabbits so very scafey," said Nat ; " they always seem to be afraid of something, and their ears never stop jerking and twitching." " It's because everybody and everything is always chasing them," said Rap. " Precisely ! If you could spend a single day inside one of their leaf -brown skins, you would very soon see why poor brother Rabbit is so timid. Half of the year he is hunted by man ; all the year, in wild places, he is the daily meat of the Fox, Skunk, Mink, Wildcat, and the larger birds of prey, and when he comes near vil- lages or farms the house cats and dogs take their turn at chasing him." " There's an everlastin' sight too many on 'em any- way," put in Rod; "if they wasn't kep' down somehow, there'd be no use farmin'. If you mean to grow turnips and mangels nex' year, Doctor, yer'll have ter clear some on 'em out o' the long wood." " I don't see why there are any left at all," said Nat ; " how is it, uncle ? " " Heart of Nature gives the smaller, feebler animals many ways of hiding and a great many children, to 142 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS make up for the dangers they run, as Ave found he did with the birds. You remember that the Hawks and Owls, with their strong beaks and claws, who nest in far-away lonely places, laid fewer eggs than the birds Avho were weaker, or more exposed to danger. You know that the Ruffed Grouse and Bob-white, whose nests are on the ground, have a great many eggs, and are protected beside by the likeness in color of their feathers to the leaves and rocks. Color protection, it is called." "Oh, yes, I remember," said Nat. "Then do the fourfoots have this color protection too, and do they moult their fur as birds do feathers and change color?" " Don't you remember the Buffalo moulted his hair every spring, and looked as miserable and ragged as any old rooster ? " said Rap. " Yes, of course, but he didn't change color very much, only sort of faded, and then plenty of birds like Sparrows and Thrushes don't change much either." " Several of our fourfoots change color as completely every year as the Bobolink or Tallage r," said the Doctor. 7& 7$ % Tfc 7TJ They reached the station not a minute too soon. After settling themselves in the passenger car, — for there was only one and one baggage truck, — as the frost was too thick on the windows for them to look out, they continued their talk about Rabbits. " How long must we stay in these cars ? They are dreadfully stuffy," said Nat, as he took off his cap and scarf and helped Rap to unwind his. " Less than an hour," said the Doctor. " We go around the hills and the mountain and stop the other RABBIT TRACKS 143 side, instead of going through and over as we did when we drove there last month." "How many children do Rabbits have every year, daddy, and where do they live, — in holes like Wood- chucks, or haystack houses like Muskrats?" " Our Gray Rabbit, or Wood Hare, as the Wise Men wish him called, hides in holes or burrows, generally made by some other animal, sleeps or rests often in a form made by its body in the grass, and cares for its young in a ground nest, lined with grasses and its own soft fur, which hides the little Bunnies from sight. Three times a year a single pair of Hares may have a nestful of young to care for, so you can easily see why there are plenty of them. But the Wolf, the Bear, and the Wildcat, who have protecting teeth and claws, do not have so many young. In fact, the Bear and Wild- cat have to be content with only three or four." " Are there many other kinds of Rabbits in this coun- try beside the Wood Hare ? " asked Rap. "Twelve or more, though four or five are all that will interest you." " Do tell us about them now," begged Nat, "it won't make it seem so long in getting to Chestnut Ridge, and these cars are so slow ! " " ' Yet the way seemed long before him, And his heart outran his footsteps ! ' " hummed the Doctor. "What does that mean? It's poetry," said Rap, "but I don't understand it." " It means that when you want to get to a place very much, you wish yourself there so much faster than you 144 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS can possibly travel, that the journey seems about four times as long as it really is ! " " If we hear about Rabbits now, won't Dodo be dis- appointed? " asked kind-hearted Rap. " I have pictures of them in my portfolio, and you boys must remember and tell her all about them. " Of these four Rabbits the Wood Hare, the smallest and prettiest, is something less than a foot and a half long from the tip of his nose to the root of his cunning little turned-up white tail." " Is that the way you measure fourfoots, to the be- ginning of their tails?" asked Rap. "We measure birds to the end of the tail." " Yes, but a bird's tail where it joins the body is so overlaid with feathers that it is difficult to tell where it begins and the body ends ; with fourfoots it is differ- ent. If I should tell you, for instance, that a Red Fox was four feet long, you would think him much longer than he is, and not understand his size as well as if I said his body was two and a half and his tail one and a half feet long." " Yes, I see ; if the tail was measured in, he would seem a giant." " The Wood Hare has large eyes, long ears, the long hind legs of the family, also fur snow-shoes on the soles of his feet." " What good are such long back legs ? " asked Nat. " To jump with; eveiy animal family has some par- ticular way of moving, ■ — locomotion it is called, — and Hares are leapers, which is told in the Latin name lepus the Wise Men give them." "Does this Hare ever change color and moult?" BABBIT TRACKS 115 "He keeps very much the same color all the year, — a grayish brown top coat with bits of yellow and a whitish vest. As to moulting', all fur-bearing animals moult spring and fall, and have a long hairy covering that they wear all the year, and a short soft under-fur that grows thick to keep them warm in winter and thins out in spring. Animals from the North need most protection and have the thickest under-fur, so are of more value than the same sort of animal who lives in the South and has little need of under-fur. All the old hair has its time of breaking and shedding like the hair of our own heads. " This Hare likes to live near woods where he can find tender shoots to nibble, when gardens are empty and meadows covered with snow ; but he spends most of his time in brush lots where there is thick shelter, and he lives in every state in the Union that can yield him food. Pretty and gentle he is, yet no one can deny that he is a mischief-maker, and while he must not be allowed to eat our lettuce, cab- bages, or field roots, we must also be careful not to exterminate him." "What good does he do? Can he earn his living and pay his taxes ? " " Yes, he does, in a roundabout way, by being food for some other animal, who would eat more valuable things if it were not for poor little Bunny. " Another Hare which might be mistaken for the Gray Rabbit is his swamp -loving cousin, the Marsh Hare who lives south of North Carolina, taking to the water like a rat. This Marsh Hare has a large head, short ears and legs, and little or no hair on its soles, so that its footprints show the mark of the toe-nails. Its coat 146 FOUIt-FOOTED AMERICANS is darker in winter than in summer, and is always a deeper brown than the Wood Hare's, and its tail is a mere scrap lined with gray." " Why do they have shorter ears and legs than the Wood Hare, and no fur under their feet?" asked Nat. " Mammals, like birds, are all adapted to the places in which they live. A Hare living in open woods and fields must have long legs to give him speed to run to cover and long ears to catch the least sound of danger. The openings of their ears are sidewise, though they can move them forward and back when they are listen- ing. The sense of smell and hearing in the gnawing fourfoots seems to be chiefly used to tell them where their enemies are ; while the ears and noses of the flesh Marsh Hake. BABBIT TBACKS 147 eaters serve to guide them to the animal food they hunt. The ears of the cannibal beasts open forward, and have little pockets in their outside edges, like sounding boards, to catch the sounds coming from behind them." "Why, Mr. Wolf and Quick have those things in their ears. I've often wondered whether they were tears or bites, or made so on purpose," said Nat. " To return to our Marsh Hare, who lives in soft ground, hiding by dense bushes and often hides in the water itself with his ears flattened back and only his eyes and nose peeping above it, what use would long legs be to him ? He does not go into farms and gar- dens for his food, but browses on twigs and marsh roots. He could not leap about in such places, and hairy soles would make his feet heavy and soggy when he swims, and he slinks along close to the ground when on land. His greatest danger is from great water snakes and alligators. His nest, made of chewed-up reeds some- times nicely arched like a Meadowlark's, is often placed on so small a hummock that it seems to float like that of a marsh bird, and the very young Marsh Hares have funny, chubby little heads quite unlike the little Wood Hare. " You must go quite across country if you expect to find the third Hare of the group. If you move west to Texas in a straight line from the Marsh Hare's haunts, you will find the most astonishing member of the Hare family. Anywhere from Texas to Montana, or from Missouri to the Pacific, if you see a cloud of dust following the ground in the open, or a miniature cyclone part the grass, stop a bit and watch. What is it going by ? A blown-away windmill, a Kangaroo 148 FO UR- FOOT EI) AMERICANS turning somersaults, a mechanical flail escaped from its inventor ? No, only a Jackass Rabbit (called Jack for short), the largest and best known of this south- ern group. When Jack pauses, you will find him a curious combination of Donkey's ears joined to long legs by a skinny bit of a body about two feet long, covered above with light brown hairs tipped and striped with black, and a black tail three inches long, all this standing on large pad feet. Jack looks as stupid as his hoofed namesake, but as he whirls along to spread ruin to field, garden, and orchard, with his endless appetite, you cannot but admire the muscle and endur- ance of this prince of Gnawers. Jack Kabbits swarm over their range in vast troops. Ten, fifteen, or even twenty thousand at one time have been surrounded Jack Rabbit. BABBIT TRACKS 149 and driven into pens and slaughtered, very much after the same fashion that the Indians trapped the Buffa- loes. Though this sounds cruel, it seems to be neces- sary, if the great crops, that mean bread to the country, are to be saved. Now, instead of merely killing the Rabbits and letting the flesh go to waste, thoughtful sportsmen have made a plan to send them to nearby cities to be food for the poor who can buy but little meat." " Aren't there any other fourfoots out there to help keep the Jacks down ? " asked Rap. "' Yes, the Coyotes, or Prairie Wolves, used to feed on them, but people found that these little Wolves stole young calves and sheep, and they turned about and killed so many of them that the Jack Rabbits laughed, shook their ears, and said, ' We are good things, let us eat more and raise a great many children,' and off they whirled again. No other beast can run like a Jack Rabbit ; the swiftest horse cannot overtake him in a fair chase, and there is a famous race recorded between a Jack and a greyhound, where the Hare dis- tanced his pursuer for two miles and a half and then hid in a log, leaving the hound quite spent. " The result of the Jack Rabbits living as they pleased and holding high carnival was a series of hunts in which thousands were killed ; then the Coyotes in that particular spot, having no Jacks to eat, took calves, sheep, and poultiy boldly, and so trouble for the farmer and cattle raisers rolls along between the two animals. What suits the ranchman does not suit the farmer, and the end of the war is not yet in sight." "Perhaps an earthquake may swallow them all, — 150 FOUIi-FOOTED AMERICANS Jacks and Coyotes," said Nat, cheerfully. " No one would mind, would they, uncle ? " "I am quite sure they would not," said the Doctor, laughing ; " and it would be one less thing for animal lovers to worry about." " We are quite lucky to have such a nice sort of Rabbit living here, even if it does eat a little more than we can spare," said Nat. " But you haven't told us about the kind that changes his color every year. What is it called, and does that live in the North or South ? " " It is named the Varying Hare and lives northward from the state of New York, up to Canada and the northwestern parts of British America. In fact, its haunts in the Northwest touch and overlap those of the Polar Hare, who lives as far north as man has been, and is the companion of the Musk Ox and Polar Bear. In that far-away home this Hare always stays the color of the surrounding snow. " In size this A r arying Hare comes between the Jack Rabbit and Marsh Hare ; it has much of Jack's length of limbs, ears, and power of running, though it is, fortunately, not as destructive. It has furry feet like our Wood Hare, and the feeding and living habits of the two are very much alike, except that the Varying Hare is more rarely seen about in full daylight and prefers to feed toward evening, or in the night, like so many of our fourfoots. The change of color is what calls our attention to it. In summer its general hue is reddish brown, many of the long hairs having black tips. Its underparts are white and yellowish and its little turned-up tail is white and fluffy, so that the RABBIT TRACKS 151 name Cotton Tail applies to it as well as to onr Wood Hare. This dress is worn from April to November, or a trifle earlier or later according to location. During autumn or early winter, in its most northern haunts, it becomes almost white with the exception of a few dark hairs that frinsre the ears. How is this done ? " 98S9P Varying Hare. " Moulting ! " said the boys together. " Moulting the dark summer hair, and getting new white hair for winter." " That is the way that I believe the change is made, but the Wise Men have disagreed about this for some time. Some of them think that the brown summer fur grows longer and changes white at the approach of winter. Others that the new winter coat comes in 152 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS brown and then blanches, while others confess that they have not yet decided. "You know I told you a few minutes ago that our fur animals have a soft under-fur beside the long hairs. Some Wise Men say these, in the Varying Hare, are quite black in summer, but as soon as very cold weather touches them they begin to grow white at the tips. As the cold continues the white spreads down, until in very cold climates the whole hair grows white, and the thick under-fur also comes in white. They say that in spring, when the cold is over, the little white tips break off the long hairs and the color comes back to the lower parts until such times as they are pushed out by new hair ; but animals like the Arctic Fox, Polar Hare, and Bear always stay in the cold and snow and so are always protected by a white coat." " Why do you think this Hare moults and grows new white fur, uncle ? " asked Nat. " Because I have examined many specimens shot at different seasons, and I found that the white fur is much finer and softer than the brown summer coat, — a fact very easily seen on the nose and ear tips, where the change begins ; in fact, the white winter fur seems to me to be of an entirely different texture, without the grain and stiffness of the summer coat. Perhaps one of you boys will, some day in the future, be the very one who will settle this matter — who knows ? But whether this Hare changes by moulting or not, in places where it is not so cold only the tips of the outer fur are white, and he looks merely snow sprinkled. So you see varying is a very good name for the Hare, as he even varies according to the place where he lives." BABBIT TRACKS 153 " I suppose there is some reason for that too," said Rap. " All through with the Rabbits?" asked Mr. Blake, who had been in the baggage car. " We shall be at the Ridge in a few minutes, and I think you'll find a surprise waiting for you. No, 1 won't tell ; no use in asking. " Did the Doctor say anything about the Little Chief Hare, a sort of a cousin to Cotton Tails, who stands up, puts his hands in his pockets, and whistles ? " asked Mr. Blake, quickly, to divert the boys' attention. " Yes, I'm not joking, for I've seen them stand up and heard them whistle, though I won't be positive about the pockets." " Do they live near here ? " asked Rap. " No, miles and miles away. The first one I ever saw was when I was prospecting with our survey in autumn, along a cliff beyond the Missouri divide. I heard a queer little noise, something between a cry, a squeal, and a whistle, coming from a pile of slide rock. I waited a minute, and the sound came again and seemed to either echo or be repeated from several places. Presently out hopped or rather hobbled, for they move slowly, a couple of queer little beasts not eight inches long, with wavy brown and black fur, small round ears, real Guinea Pig faces, and nothing but a sort of bump for a tail. I said to myself, ' You look something like a Gopher, but you're not ; you look as if you had tried to be a Guinea Pig, but failed on account of the climate. Who are you ? " " One of our party told me all its names, — Pika, Little Chief, or Whistling Hare, and before I left that 154 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS region I saw a Pika household, inside a little loose tower of flat slide rock. What do you think, but the little fellows had a regular hay loft in there where they had cut stout grass and brought it in bundles in their mouths, packing it away on the stone shelves as neat as you please, to have it ready for winter food. I knew the hillside was full of these little beasts, for they kept squealing like a colony of singing mice." " Who would think that there is so much difference between Rabbit cousins," sighed Rap, as if he was op- pressed by the amount there was to learn even about the simplest fourfoots. " Different lengths of ears and legs ; even their scraps of tails are different." " Speaking of tails," said the Doctor, " there is a great deal more meaning in them than people usually think. When a Hare is running you may have a poor view of his head, but if you see his tail, it will give you a clew to his name, for each species wears his in a dif- ferent way." " Chestnut Ridge ! Change for Saw Mills and the Junction ! " called a brakeman, throwing open the car door. Rap, who had kept his crutch ready during the last half of the journey, reached the door as soon as Nat. There was the surprise in front of them. Good sleigh- ing, a big wood sled piled with blankets to drag them to Nez' camp, and Olaf for driver ! XII THE WINTER AVOODS LAF ! Olaf ! How did you know we were coming this way? Nez wrote, ' Never mind accepting, but come,' and so we did ! " cried Nat, before they had ex- changed greetings with their old friend. " Beside, I thought you lived too far off, — miles farther away than Nez." "A Fox came to the lumber camp two nights ago and barked three times," replied Olaf, laughing shyly as he glanced at the Doctor. " The first bark said, ' Some one thinks of you.' The second bark, ' Go to the stopping-place of the iron horse two days hence.' The third bark said, 'You will find there those you greatly love,' so here I am." " A Fox, how could he know about us ; though I've heard they are very wise, and if he did know how could he tell you ? " said Nat, very much puzzled. " Wood people understand the sign language of the fourfoots," replied Olaf, " and to show that what this Fox said was true, next morning when I drove my team down to the Saw Mills, there I saw a yellow fire-letter from the good Doctor, telling me the same thing." 155 156 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " What is a fire-letter ? " asked Rap. " The letter whose words come as lightning sparks," said Olaf, who, in trying to puzzle the boys, fell into the picture language so common in the north countries. " Oh, a telegram, of course ! " cried Rap. " But the Fox," persisted Nat. " I don't understand about him." " Hush, do not speak loud or he may hear you, for it was a very shy Fox that brought me the news, — a Dream Fox ! " " Oh, how you fooled us ! " shouted Nat. " No, I don't call it fooling," said Rap, quite seriously ; " a Dream Fox may be cousin of a Night- mare ! " So they started on their sleigh-ride in a very jolly mood, and in a few minutes left behind the dozen houses and store that was called Chestnut Ridge, as they cut down into one of the narrow valley roads that finally zig-zagged up toward Nez' camp. " It takes more to make a mountain out in the far west country than it does here, doesn't it, daddy ? " asked Nat. " Yes, I rather think it does ; but there is more comfort and beauty to the square inch in one of our mountains, even if they do seem only molehills com- pared to the Rockies." " I see more Rabbit tracks," said Rap, " and dog tracks, too, ■ — dogs that have been aliasing them, — over by those rocks ! " " Not dog, but Fox tracks," said Olaf, " though the print itself might be of a dog." " Then how do you know it isn't ?" THE WINTER WOODS 157 "I will show you this thing that you may under- stand a little of the wood language," said Olaf, pulling' up the horses. " You need not fear to stick in the snow ; it is even, but not deep," he said to Rap, helping him down very gently. " Keep behind me, so that we may follow these tracks without trampling them down. Are the Fox tracks coming toward us or going away ? " " Coming toward us. 1 ' " We will follow them backward to see where they start," So saying they tracked the footprints a couple of hundred feet around some hazel bushes, then on by a little knoll until they ended, or rather began, in a low opening between some rocks and a partly decayed log. Here the snow was trodden down and mixed with earth and several red splashes, while foot-prints returned to the hole from a different direction. " Dogs do not live in ground burrows or between rocks ; now you see it is a Fox. Here the Fox went out hungry, very early this morning, for the prints are clear. There at the other side he returned with food, — the blood stains are not more than three hours old. It was not a bird he brought, but something heavier that partly dragged on the ground, for there are marks here and there in the snow. " Turn now and follow the outgoing prints and you will see what has happened. It is not a long course, for this Fox found his breakfast quickly, I'm thinking." They turned about and retraced their steps until at last Olaf pointed to where Rabbit tracks came from under some bushes and went in the same direction as the Fox marks. 158 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Here came the Rabbit, but much earlier than the Fox, for his prints are crusted ; now they run to- gether." " Was the Fox chasing the Rabbit ? I should think Bunny could run the fastest," said Rap. " No, not chasing, but following him by scent. See ! here the Rabbit has stopped to nibble twigs and buds. Ah! now we have the battlefield : the Rabbit nestled in the snow, the Fox came here and crouched, waiting for Bunny to move before springing. The end was beyond in the open." The boys looked and saw where the snow was beaten down and covered with little tufts of fur, and from there were no more Rabbit tracks, only a single trail leading back toward the den, brightened here and there by blood marks. " The Fox family had a good breakfast, anyway," said Nat, cheerfully. " How I wish I could have peeped into their house. Can we ? " " I think we must hurry back ; they will be cold, waiting in the sleigh." Soon the road met and followed the river and was quite shut in on the north by hemlock woods. "There is a very big mark, — a Woodchuck track," said Nat, pointing to a broad trail that came close to the road and went toward the wood again. " I didn't know they lived in such wild places." " It can't be a Woodchuck, they hole up before it gets as cold as this, you know," said Rap. " Hole up ; no, I don't know. What do you mean ? " "Why, they don't like cold, and go into their holes and stay there until spring." THE WINTER WOODS 159 "Oh, yes, and live on what they have stored up, like Mice and Squirrels." " No," said the Doctor, " the Woodclmck lives with- out eating-, and sleeps so soundly that he never even feels hungry ; the Ground Squirrels that go into their holes for a time take care to fill their cupboards first." " Why don't the Woodchucks starve before spring, or else freeze? " " The fat they have gained in the summer by good living keeps them from doing either, and this fat serves them both for food and fire. Then, too, a Woodchnck is very particular how he puts himself to bed for this winter nap. He does not spread himself out like a windmill and kick off the clothes, as some House Children I know, do, but curls himself up with his nose under his paws so that even his breath is not wasted, but warms his feet like a stove." " Do any other fourfoots sleep this way ? " " The long winter sleep ? Yes, Bears do in cold regions, sometimes not coming out until May. Their little consins, the Coons, also go in for a while in early winter before there is a good crust on the snow, also the Chipmunk, and many others beside. " Even the animals who live on flesh and hunt all through the winter are very particular how they go to sleep in cold weather, usually managing to put their noses on their legs, so that these parts that are thinnest and feel cold soonest shall have the warmth of their breath. The Fox does even more, he spreads his bushy tail to cover his nose, and as you can imagine makes a sort of respirator for himself, for by breathing 160 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS through his thick tail he gets no icy air to give him a sore throat." " Isn't it wonderful," said Rap, as if he could hardly understand it all. " I know by myself," he added, " that you can go longer without being hungry when you are asleep than when you're awake. Sometimes I've slept twelve hours, but when I'm awake I eat breakfast, dinner, and tea all in twelve hours." " The streams are not frozen yet, even the little ones," said Mr. Blake ; " it ought to be a good season for the Skunks, who are great drinkers. Does Nez do much trapping ? Of course now there can be very little to take hereabouts." " He catches Skunks, Rabbits, Minks, and a few Foxes and Otters," said Olaf. " Up to this week he has done well on Coons, — his place looks something like a fur- trading post. Nez is bound to catch something wherever he camps. There's a Fox been eat.- up a. lot of fowls that belonged to an old woman do\ 8ft the hollow, and he has to be caught, or the poor o. ody will starve. This Fox is too cute to trap, so Nez planned to watch for it to-night. He has a good dog and thought you might like to go out, for old times' sake, though a Fox is small game after Panthers and Grizzlies." " Full moon, too, nothing could be better," said the Doctor, adding with a boyish laugh, " it's a duty to kill a Fox that steals a poor woman's poultry, isn't it, Jack ? " " It's a poor sportsman who ever lacks an excuse for fair hunting." Then the men began discussing Foxes so earnestly that Nat had to speak twice before he was heard. THE WINTER WOODS 161 " If that wasn't a Woodchuck trail by the road, what sort of a broad, low-crawling beast made it ? " " A Porcupine, most likely," said Olaf . " There are a few straying about still, though it is rather far south for them." " Porcupines ? I thought they were Menagerie ani- mals, — very dangerous ones who chase people and shoot them all full of sharp spikes like arrows, that grow on their backs ! I hope they won't come after us. Cactus prickles are awful, when they get in your hands, but Porcupine spikes must be worse." "Nez has a Porcupine in a pen up at his camp, so you can see it. They do not shoot their quills. When a Porcupine is frightened, he humps his back and draws his head down between his fore paws like a Turtle try- ing to get into his shell. Then all the quills on his back stand out like a sort of shield, and if anything tries to grab or \ ..e the Porcupine, that thing will surely get its mc and paws full of spikes that hold on lililr". fish-hool He has an ugly square sort of a tail, too, all covered with quills, that he uses for a club when he is angry, and a blow from it drives the barbed spikes far into the flesh of his enemy." " Mighty queer things, these Porcupines," said Mr. Blake. " Sort of living pincushions with the pins put in point up. I meddled with one. when I was a boy, and I haven't forgotten it yet, — the pins went in point first and stuck there heads down ! " " What good are they, daddy ; do they have fur or make meat, or eat bad insects, or belong to a guild ? " " They seem to be of no particular use to House People, though the Indians are fond of their meat and 162 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS weave their quills into belts and other ornaments and use them to trim their robes. In fact, Porcupines, though gentle and harmless personally, are rather mis- chievous animals belonging to the Gnawers, and eating- vegetable food. In winter they gnaw the twigs and bark of trees, and as they do not sleep the winter sleep they destroy a great deal of valuable wood. People can tell how deep the snow has been by the naked bands on the evergreen trees where the Porcupine has gnawed a way the bark, for they are very hun- gry beasts." " How big are they," asked Rap, " and do they live in dens like Foxes or in the earth ? " " They sometimes grow to be twice the size of a Woodchuck, and they look larger yet when their quills stick up. They live in dens, in the crevices between rocks and in tree holes. If you should look in one of Canada Porcupine. THE WINTER WOODS 163 these places, you would find it strewn with the quills that had fallen out from time to time." " If something bit them so they lost some quills, would new quills grow in right away, or would they have to wait for a regular time ? " " They begin to grow immediately, but it would take three months before the quills would be ready to shed again." " I should think if they ran through the bushes their quills would catch in everything and come off, and then any beast could kill them ! " " But they seldom run. Did you ever see a Porcu- pine run, Olaf ? " asked Mr. Blake. " They run, sir ; but not so fast that a man may not overtake them : they are so slow and stupid that it is wonderful any yet live. Still in the north woods they increase more and more, while the good Deer and use- ful fur beasts are seen less and less." " Do you remember a toy dog you once had, Nat, that could be wound up and would walk ? " " Oh, yes ; only he didn't walk well, and after a min- ute or two he couldn't go straight, — then he went very slow and stopped." " That is precisely the way a Porcupine moves, but even up in the pine trees where he spends most of his time, and is really quite an acrobat in his deliberate way, he goes from branch to branch in the same slow manner, as much as to say : ' Have I not a whole regi- ment of spearmen on my back to protect me ? My time is my own ! ' So he continues to crawl about chiefly at night, sometimes stopping to croon or sing to him- self, and is really a very unobjectionable object, unless 164 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS you happen to stumble over one in the dark ; and people who have kept them in cages say they have a great many interesting ways." " I see smoke ; Ave are nearly at camp," said the Doctor ; " and quite time, too, both my feet are fast asleep. What shall yon do with the horses, Olaf ? It is rather too chilly to pasture them in the snow." " There is an old barn here below, where Nez keeps his cow and some hay ; I'll put them there until I take you down again to-morrow." Soon they turned in between the trees, the horses breaking the path. Everywhere about were the foot- prints of little beasts, and in a few minutes they came .to Nez' clearing. There was no outside fire, but smoke and sometimes a few red sparks came from the stone chimney of the log house. Nez was busy at his work in the shed, which he had wholly enclosed with boughs and bark; the boys saw at once why Olaf said he had a "regular fur shop." The place was lined with various kinds of skins, drying upon all sorts of stretchers, and more were stacked away under the roof. "Want to know ! " said Nez, heartily, coming to meet the party, followed by Stubble, the setter, the tame Fox, who now wore a collar, and the two little boys who had been told that they must speak up and be polite. They only succeeded far enough to peep and stare while they held tight, each to one of their father's legs, as if they thought their guests Grizzly Bears or Wildcats. They wore queer peaked homemade caps of undyed Muskrat fur, and short, lambskin jackets with the wool inside, looking very much like a pair of captive brownies. THE WINTER WOODS 165 Nez could have easily bought woollen caps and coats for them in the Ridge village, but he loved simple, wild ways and things, and understood the turning of a skin directly into a coat better than the indirect way of first changing it for money and then buying the needed garment. " Step right in by the fire," said Nez, leading the way to the cabin. Then for the first time the boys realized that they were quite cold, — the excitement and novelty of their journey had kept them from feel- ing it before. The cabin was very warm, for two fires were burn- ing in a space that was scarcely more than one large room divided by the stone chimney. In one fireplace logs were blazing, in the other stood a small sheet-iron stove, upon which Toinette was preparing dinner, stir- ring something with a wooden spoon that yielded a delicious " have-some-more " odor. " Last winter we had a regular campfire on the ground in the middle and just a roof draught for the smoke, but we get too much rain along spring and fall in these parts for that sort of chimney, though there's nothing like a fire where you can sit all the way around." " Vill you now eat sometings, m'sieurs ? " said Toinette, hospitably, making a gesture toward the plank table, which they then noticed was set with an idea of festivity. Ground pine hung in festoons about the edge and was arranged in a sort of mat in the centre, figured with bunches and sprays of red berries. "Yes, better feed now," said Nez, "if you want a little sport this afternoon, 'cause 'long about dark we 166 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS must get after that Fox. I've took a day off and Toi- nette's brother here is lookin' after my traps." " Isn't it a holiday every day up here in the woods ? " asked Nat, as they sat down and Toinette placed before each a bowl of smoking bean soup with little squares of fried bread bobbing about in it. " I reckon not ! What made you think that, sonny ? No holidays in winter for a man who tries to git a livin' in the woods now'days. It's findin' tracks and settin' traps and gittin' the right bait ; then goin' visitin' the traps to git yer property before a Fox or a Weasel helps hisself to it, or it spoils so the pelt is no good. If it snows hard, yer traps gets buried and sometimes froze in. Then there's the beasts to skin and the skins to cure, and the charcoal pit to mind, and the woodpile to keep well squared, and the fire to keep burnin'. No, siree, winter's a busy time ! " Rabbit stew followed the soup, then a sort of pud- ding made of wild apples and barberry jam sweetened with molasses, which the boys thought delicious. " I cannot understand where you get so many pelts, Nez," said Mr. Blake. " I thought this part of the country was skinned out years ago." " It was, and there's nothin' here for folks who want to get things by the lot ; such kind did what they could to kill off the beasts. Now, I've read the signs here- abouts, and I say to myself, 'you may take so many Coons, and Minks, and Skunks, and Foxes every winter and not kill them out,' and when I get jest that many I stop and let "em have fair play. I shall stop on Coons this week, with a hundred good pelts to the better ; but I'm not done with Foxes yet, there's too THE WINTER WOODS 167 many o' tliem for the health of the fowls in these parts." " I shouldn't want to kill a pretty little beast like this ; he seems quite like a clog," said Nat, stroking the pet Fox who was nosing about and begging for scraps. He was indeed a beauty, with his fluffy, reddish yel- low fur, line dark brush, bright eyes, and intelligent face. lie looked so innocent, too, not as if he could outwit the cleverest of House People, or behead the biggest gander in the flock with one bite of his little white teeth. " I thought you didn't like Fox hunting, Uncle Roy, and thought it cruel, and yet you are going yourself to-night." "The Fox hunting I think cruel is not the necessary and quick killing of a mischievous animal, but the habit of keeping Foxes in what you might call a tame state, encouraging them to breed on your ground, and then turning out and chasing them with dogs trained for the purpose, and when the poor Fox has run his best and is spent (the longer he is kept going the better the sportsmen like it), the dogs are allowed to tear him to pieces. " The fashion of chasing any four-footed animal with dogs seems to me no sport. Teaching one fourfoot to tear another to bits is barbarous, according to my way of thinking. Even hunting the wild Fox Avith dogs seems a waste of time, since, if we really wish to destroy the beast, there are quicker ways of doing it without putting dogs to the pain of such tiresome runs, or the Fox through an agony of fear, which, to such an intel- 168 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS ligent animal, is worse than even the lingering death of being torn to bits." " But why does any one like to do so ? " asked Rap. " The excuse given for it in England is that it is an historic sport, a settled custom, that it makes use for a line race of horses, — hunters as they are called, — and the exercise makes a strong race of people. We have an unfortunate habit of importing customs without suffi- cient reason. It was this spirit of borrowing that gave us the English Sparrow." " Perhaps they will stop it now that there are such fine bicycles to exercise with. Don't you think bicycles would be nice things to make Dodo and me strong and tender-hearted ? " said Nat, so innocently that he was very much surprised when his father asked if he thought his stocking would hold anything as large, and what make he preferred. "I wasn't fishing for one," he hastened to explain, " only thinking how good it would be for me," at which his father and uncle burst out laughing. ***** Presently it was agreed that Rap should stay at home with the little boys and Olaf, who Avas to finish a sort of toboggan, made from a long wide board which he had steamed and rolled up in front for a fender and fastened with hide thongs. It yet remained to be orna- mented by a picture of Olaf s painting. Mr. Blake was interested in trying on a pair of snow- shoes, that Nez had made partly for old times' sake, and partly in case the snow should be so deep during the winter that he might need them in visiting his traps. The Doctor and Nez prepared to give Nat his first THE WINTER WOODS 169 taste of Rabbit si tooting, and soon these three, accom- panied by Stubble, who was an all-round 'hunting dog, started down hill, Nat holding the little shot-gun in hands that trembled with excitement, being very care- ful that it was not pointing at any one, even though it was not yet loaded. The afternoon wore away. The toboggan was decked with a picture of a large owl, which the youngest boy, Dominique, insisted should have a red ribbon painted about its neck, though his brother Phonse said owls never wore such things. Once in a while they heard a shot, but it was very still otherwise, with no signs of animal life save the pranks of a pair of half-tame Gray Squirrels who came and went in their search for hidden food. The moon shone silver white before the sun had set, and the two exchanged greetings while they struggled with some clouds that promised more snow or possibly wind and rain. Presently by this mixed light they saw Nat com- ing up the slope empty handed and hurrying ahead of the others. "Didn't you get airy thing?" called Rap. "Didn't you shoot a Rabbit? Where is your gun? " " No, I didn't ; but I nearly got one. It didn't see us a bit and was sitting up nibbling and I aimed as nice as could be, — just as Uncle Roy told me, with the gun against my shoulder and everything quite right, — when the Rabbit turned round and stared at me, and some- how it was so cunning and comfortable and seemed to trust me, that I didn't like to kill it. While I was thinking, it gave a couple of leaps and was gone ! Then I felt dreadfully foolish ! " 170 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " You need not feel foolish," said his father. " I would much rather have you pity the Rabbit than bang away recklessly, with ' blood in your eyes,' as the say- ing goes. If you sometimes put yourself in the place of the game you hunt, you will never become a ' Hunt- ing Wolf. 1 But what is that animal Nez is bringing? — it looks like a Fox, — and where is your gun ? " Nat hesitated and stammered : " It is a Fox, the bad Fox that ate the old woman's chickens, — the one that you were going to hunt to-night. I shot him, but it was an accident, and the gun bumped me dreadfully, and uncle is angry and took it away." Then Dr. Hunter and Nez came up, the latter carrying an unusually large Fox over his shoulder, which he laid down on the snow, saying, with an air of satisfaction, — " Thar, he'll give no more trouble with his tricks, though we are done out of a hunt, unless we go for Coons. Look at him, old and gray, trap marks on all four legs, and three toes off one foot ; no wonder we couldn't snare him." " Nat says that he shot him and that you are vexed. How did it happen ? " asked Mr. Blake of the Doctor, while Olaf drew near, eying the Fox eagerly. " Let Nat tell his own story," said the Doctor. " It happened this way," began Nat. " I was getting tired and cold. Stubble didn't start many Rabbits, so uncle said for me to wait a little Avhile by a bunch of hemlocks that kept the wind off, while he and Nez would go around the hill, and then if they found no better luck we would go home. Then — " " Yes, but what else did I tell you ? " THE WINTER WOODS 171 " You made me take both shells out of the gun, and told me to put them in my pocket, and — leave — them — there — until — you - came —back," said Nat, hesitating and looking very much as if he wanted to cry, which however was something he never did. " Please don't make me tell any more," he begged, but the Doctor motioned for him to go on. "Then — then I waited and it seemed very long, and I thought I would practise putting the shells into the gun and taking them out, to amuse myself. One time, when I had put them in I looked up, and beyond the hemlocks, only a little bit away, I saw something come out between the ground and some rocks. I couldn't tell exactly what sort of an animal it was, but I guessed it was a Rabbit, and I didn't want to wait until it looked at me, so I grabbed the gun and shot it off, both barrels, very quick, and the gun knocked me over." Here Nat stopped and drew a long breath, as if he wanted to make sure he could breathe again. " Nez and uncle came running back and thought I was hurt, and that some one had shot me, because I fell over in the snow. Then they found the Fox not far from his den, and he was mostly dead." " Why did the gun knock you over ? " asked Rap. " You see I was in such a hurry I couldn't think, and put the gun against the front of me where I breathe, instead of against my shoulder ! " " Oh ! ho ! " said Mr. Blake, " I begin to see why your uncle was vexed. But why didn't the Fox see or smell you, I wonder ? The idea of an old timer like that escaping traps for a dozen years only to fall a vic- tim of a small boy's mistake." 172 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " The Fox was windward of Nat, who, as he says, must have shot in a great hurry ! " " It was fine ! " shouted Rap. " Only think, Nattie, you've shot a very wicked Fox, and you can have the skin to make a rug for your mother, and perhaps she will hang it in Camp Saturday for a trophy ! Please, why was it wrong, Dr. Hunter?" " For this reason. Rap. I told Nat not to load his gun ; he disobeyed. He shot at something without be- ing sure what it Avas ; it happened to be a Fox, but it might have been a dog, or a calf, or a man crawling in the brush Every year dreadful accidents happen and people are killed and maimed for life because sportsmen become excited and mistake a man for a Deer, a Bear, or a Fox, and all the excuse they have is that it was a 'mistake. 1 People who can make such mistakes must not handle guns." The boys looked so very sad that Mr. Blake said, " I think Nat has learned his lesson early and once for all ; fortunately, by accident his accident wasn't an accident after all. Did you say your feet are cold ? T think we had better all go into the cabin." " They were very cold a while ago, daddy, for my leggins leaked a little and the snow got in, but now they feel better, or rather I don't feel as if I had any feet. I think it would be nice to put them by the fire." " What ! no feeling in them ?" exclaimed the Doctor. " Nez, bring me a pan of snow into the cabin, and off with your leggins, my boy. No, don't go near the fire, if you do your feet will swell and you will have chil- blains every winter for — I don't know how long." THE WINTER WOODS 173 " Oil, uncle ! that will make my feet freeze hard ! " cried Nat, as the Doctor began to rub them vigorously with handfuls of snow. " No, it won't," said Rap, consolingly, "snow draws the cold out ; the miller used often to rub my cheeks and ears with snow when I went out with him in winter." In a few minutes Nat said the feeling was coming back, only that it tickled in spots, so his uncle rolled him in a blanket and dropped him into the bunk filled with hemlock boughs that was to be his bed later on. There he lay comfortably watching the people come to and fro, and the preparations for supper. He was wondering if his uncle would ever let him have the gun again, whether the men would go Coon hunting that evening, or stay at home and tell stories, and then he fell asleep. When he awoke he did not know where he was at first ; then he saw the supper table spread by the fire- light, and a man, Toinette's brother, by the open door, who called to Nez : " Returned am I in the good time ; there was much fur in the traps, but the snow comes, dat vat you call blinds, — ze squall!" He heard the Doctor say : " We must make the best of it ; no Coons to-night. It is a good chance for the boys to hear about the little fur beasts and see a few of them." Then Nat remembered where he was and scrambled up for supper. XIII NEZ LONG'S MENAGERIE NNING so many animals about the camp makes a great many kinds of queer smells, " whis- pered Nat to Rap, as they sat clown to their supper of oat- meal porridge and coffee, while Toinette was busy frying something in a deep pan, which needed a great deal of turning. "The smell belongs mostly to Skunks, for I noticed that Toinette's brother had four or five among the other fur beasts he took over to what Nez calls his ' Menagerie,' in the shed, and all those other animals have smells of their own beside. I won- der what Toinette is cooking ? it looks something like chicken, but it isn't quite the right shape." " Maybe it is frogs' legs ; we used to have them often when we lived in the city." Nez soon settled the question by calling, " Whoever wants squirrel-leg fry, hand up his dish and get it right from the pan," an invitation that was accepted at once. " What becomes of the rest of the Squirrel ? " asked Rap, " is it any good ? " 174 NEZ long's menagerie lib "All, oui! it is, raoii enfant, for potage, — ze stew you call him," said Toinette, putting a fresh supply of legs into the pan. "Delicious !" said the Doctor. "I have eaten Squir- rel before, but it never tasted like this." "Spiled in the cookin'," said Nez ; "easiest beast there is to spile, but," giving a glance full of pride at Toinette, " the woman knows jest how long to stew 'em first, jest how long to fry, and jest how to season, and that's the whole sense of cookin', 1 reck'n. Why, along four years ago up in Canada we was pushed for meat onct, and Toinette she cooked up a fat young Porkipine so you couldn't ha' told it from young lamb, — yes, siree ! " " Didn't you have an awful time picking the quills out ? They must be as thick as feathers on a chicken," said Nat. " They only grow quills on their backs," replied Nez, "and you can take the whole skin off to onct without prickin' a finger, if you slit it and begin underneath." " Wasn't it a great deal of trouble to take off all the skins of the little fur beasts that are out in your shed ? Dodo and I skinned two moles a while ago to make a muff for her doll, but the skins tore even after we had rubbed alum on them and waited two weeks for them to dry. Mole skins don't smell very good either, but not so bad as Skunks." " It's easy enough to skin fur beasts if you don't wait too long, but some things hereabouts, Squirrels for instance, that have nice-lookin' fur, are of no account, because their skins are weak like your mole's. I'll bring in a few of to-day's batch so you can look at 'em." 176 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Uncle Hoy," asked Nat, as soon as Nez went out, " why do the fourf oots smell so queerly, when birds do not ? " " Some bird's do," said Rap. " Don't yon remember the marsh where the Herons live ? " " The fourfoots all have odors that vary with each species. Heart of Nature has a use for them like every- thing else in his garden. Birds depend upon sight and do not need the power of scent to guide them like the fourfoots. These, though they all have voices and can make sounds of pleasure or of warning, also need a silent language by which to speak to one another, in order that they may leave messages where absent friends can find them in wood and runways, as House People use written words. It is for this purpose that the power of secreting these odors has been given the fourfoots. " This arrangement has given these animals very keen noses, upon which they depend far more than on their eyes for recognizing either friends or enemies. It is this power that enables every animal to tell whether the beast who has gone over a trail before him is a friend or a foe, and it also serves as a weapon of defence, for some of the little Mammals taste so disagreeably that their cannibal brothers do not care to eat them. You know that the Skunk is as well able to protect himself from his big brothers by his odor as if he had the claws and paws of a Grizzly Bear." " Talkin' uv Skunks, here's a fine one," said Nez, coming in with half a dozen little animals in his arms, and holding the Skunk by the tail at arm's length. " What are those others ? " asked Rap, recognizing some unfamiliar animals in the heap. Common Skunk. NEZ long's menagerie 177 "There's a Mink, a Weasel, and, as luck turns, an Otter. We don't get many of them here, though they rove about so I'm never surprised to see a few. I've only found one of their coasts by the upper pond." " Coasts ! what do you mean ? " asked Rap. " Why, Otters are as fond of sliding down hill as you are, and mud makes as good a coast for them as snow, No, I'm not jokin', am I, Doctor ? " " What Nez says is perfectly true. Let me show that Otter to the boys and I will explain." Nez picked up an animal that must have weighed twenty pounds, with handsome rich, shaded brown fur, and laid it on the floor by the Doctor. It was about two feet and a half long from its blunt nose to the root of its stout tapering tail. Its head was catlike, with small round ears and bristly mustaches, its legs were short and ended in furry, webbed feet with stout claws. " What lovely soft under-fur," said Rap, parting the long glossy outer hairs gently with one hand, " and it's all over him, too, even on his tail." " This Otter has the most desirable, also the finest, under-fur of almost any of our fourfoots," said the Doc- tor, " and like the Beaver and Muskrat he spends a great deal of his time in and about the water." " Does living near the water have anything to do with making his under-fur so thick ? " asked Rap. "Very probably it does, the soft close fur being made to protect the body from becoming water soaked ; for the Seal, who spends the greater part of his life in the water, has the same wonderful, close under-coat, and the rare Sea Otter also." 178 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Where do these Otters live, what kind of nests do they make, and do they belong to a guild? " asked Nat. " They haunt wooded places near water ; sometimes a mother Otter makes a home for her two or three young in a hollow stump, or else in a hole under a bank, scraping a few leaves together as a bed. It is always within easy distance of the water, where the fish, upon which they feed, can be caught, for they belong to the guild of Flesh Eaters and like variety in their animal food, sometimes helping themselves to chickens and small game. They also have hiding-places in river banks entered by a hole under the water. " Otters when not busy hunting food are very play- ful animals, and one of their chief games is what Nez calls 'coasting.' In summer they choose a smooth bank stretching toward the water and deliberately lie Otter and Fisher. NEZ LONG'S MENAGERIE 179 on their stomachs, spread out their hind legs, give a push and slide down one after another, plunging into the water at the end, only to land again at a suita- ble spot, climb up hill and slide once more. You can imagine that a slippery mud-covered coast is soon formed, which is used by the Otter community. When the snow is deep, they make similar coasts through it down toward their feeding places, and they may then be easily tracked when on their excursions about home. " Then they don't sleep the winter sleep ? " said Rap. " How do they catch fish when the rivers freeze ? " "They are on the watch all winter, like the other members of the family of little fur bearers, or Mustelidce, as the Wise Men call them. They keep their fishing holes open through the ice, and these holes, as well as their slides, guide people in trapping them. One of the most likely places to set a trap is in a slidevvay, or fastened securely to a pole under the Otter's favorite fishing-hole. " Why do they catch them with traps, when Nez says it is so much trouble to bait them ? Why isn't it easier to shoot them ? " asked Nat. " In the first place all these fur fourfoots prowl about mostly after dark, and are very wild and so keen of scent that it is difficult to get near them, while at best a hunter would have to shoot them one by one, and they might sink under the ice and be lost. If he uses traps, he can set a dozen or more on a single afternoon and leave them to do their own work in the night. There is another reason, too, why it is not best to shoot them. Can either of you guess it ? " 180 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS Rap answered eagerly, " I think I know. It's be- cause the shot might make a great many holes in the skin and spoil it." " Yes, that is the reason. Now please show us the Skunk, Nez, and then he can go out in the shed and join his fellows ; his room will be much better than his company." " I think the smell of it is making my head ache," said Nat. " We will hurry," said the Doctor, " for this Common Skunk is a very disagreeable animal in many ways. You see, he is a full foot shorter than the Otter, and though he has a tail as plumy as a fountain, glossy black fur with white head and back bands, his face is sly and narrow, wearing a snappish look, and people say that a bite from his pointed teeth may carry hydro- phobia with it. " He is a bold animal, too, and whether he goes to the chicken house to choose his supper, or prowls around the refuse pails outside some camp, he is not inclined to hurry. Full well he knows the power of the blind- ing, scalding liquid which is his weapon, and animals, that could tear him to bits without the least trouble, pretend not to see him and keep their distance. So fearless are Skunks that a pair often take up their abode under a barn or even a piazza, and the little Skunks play about and are sometimes petted as harm- less kittens by the children, until one day the illusion is suddenly broken." " I should think it would be better if they were all killed out," said Rap. " Remember their fur, and that they earn their living Little Striped Skunk. NEZ LONG'S MENAGERIE 181 by eating mice and nuisance animals, as well as grass- hoppers and other insects." " I never heard of Skunk fur when I lived in the city," said Nat. " No, but you have heard of Alaska Sable, which is the name it uses when it puts away its evil odor and goes in polite society." " You called this one the Common Skunk. Are there any uncommon ones ? " asked Rap. " There are quite a number of species, but they are all common somewhere. The oddest of all is the Little Striped Skunk who lives in the more southern parts of the country, from Florida across to the Plains. He is a weasel-shaped little piece of impudence, with a white spot on his forehead, all the rest of his body and tail plume being so striped that you can never say if he is black and white or white and. black, or both ; he might be a toy animal made of strips of black and white flan- nel. Black and white is a rare combination for the coat of a fourfoot. None of our f ourf oots are bright-colored, and there are very few such in any country. Usually the color of an animal is arranged to blend with his surroundings and protect him from his enemies. Some- times, however, Nature wishes to give an animal a strik- ing coat that will be seen by others and warn them to keep away from him, and the Skunks wear coats of this kind. They prowl about chiefly at dusk or after dark. Have you ever noticed how clearly anything white, however small, shows at night?" " Oh, yes, I have often," said Rap. " In spring when all the snow has gone, except little bits under the fences, you can see it ever so far away, and sometimes when 182 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS the fine handkerchiefs mother washes blow away down the field, I can find them in the darkest night." " Then you can understand that the Skunk, who is sufficiently protected by his evil odor, may wear this striped flag to warn other animals not to come upon him too suddenly. Here, Nez, kindly take this fur- covered sachet away ; the boys will not forget how he looks, I'm sure." " Skunks are full of play and tricks, if they do smell a bit rank," said Nez, as he returned, followed by Mr. Blake. " I've kept young uns round camps where I've been, and they're good eatin', too, if they are killed out- right and skinned, — no, you needn't whistle, Mr. Blake, I've often broiled 'em like tender spring chickens. They are stupid, too, and if you put a trap in the runway from their holes to the water, they'll be sure to get into it, and seein' one caught doesn't prevent his neighbor from walkin' straight over him into another trap." "Do they stay out all winter like the Otters? " asked Nat. " That depends on the place and the weather. About here they keep lively right along, but further north they may den up for a bit the coldest part of the sea- son. But take these other two, the Weasel and Mink, they are lively most of the time." "What an ugly-looking little beast a Weasel is," said Nat, taking the slender animal, which was about a foot long, in his hand. " Rod caught ever so many around the chicken house last summer, but they were brown and not a sort of dirty white like this one, and it has a black tip to its tail. Do they moult out in autumn, Nez ? " NEZ LONG'S MENAGERIE 183 " I reckon they do, for they get whitish all the same as the Northern Hare, and when they are real white folks calls 'em Ermines. When they come from far north countries, where it is cold enough to make them a good clear white, they are worth a lot of money for their fur. But down here they're no good. This one strayed into a trap I set for Mink ; it's one of their bothersome tricks to push themselves into the place of Weasel or Ermine in Winter Dress. their betters. See, this fur is a mussy color, and fur- ther south they don't change hardly any." " Rod says Weasels are very bad things and no better than rats." " They are much worse than rats," said the Doctor. " In fact, they are the most malicious, blood-thirsty, and wasteful of all our fourfoots. They are all the time breaking Heart of Nature's law, ' Take what ye need for food,' killing merely for the pleasure of it, and 184 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS only taking a suck of blood here and a l>ite of flesh there. " The Weasel twists and winds its supple body into holes where nothing but a snake could follow, now writhing along as if it had no legs, then stretching its neck and peering round with the wagging head and wicked eyes of a Cobra. He devours mice, and sharp- toothed rats tremble before him. If he could learn to forsake bird-nesting and chicken-killing and wreak his love of slaughter on the ' nuisance animals,' he might easily cease being the worst of nuisances himself." " This Mink looks a good deal like the Weasel," said Rap, " except that it is longer and not half so snaky. It is a nice brown, too, like mother's muff that father brought her from New York long ago when I was a baby, and that she keeps done up in his silk handker- chief in a bandbox." " It doesn't smell very nicely," said Nat, " though not so badly as the Skunk. Is it a fierce, wicked beast, too?" " For steady-goin' mischief the Mink is only about two steps behind the Weasel," broke in Nez. " The Weasel is freaky ; he'll do a lot of mischief in one place, and then take himself off for a long spell ; but the Mink noses out a fine hen roost and then settles down under a shed near by to enjoy himself." " If it's in May," added the Doctor, " half a dozen little Minks, hairless and blind at first, may be hidden in the feather-lined nest, and many a choice morsel will be brought them before they are fully grown in au- tumn, and leave their mother to start life for them- selves. Day and night Minks go hunting and fishing NEZ LONG'S MENAGERIE 185 fife ' j|h f jreV&t£iBr" .^^ ~- -^IS H9 KrV' j4^i^l ■eL tBeis* S^bIK The Mink. too, sometimes catching animals twice their own size ; now a Muskrat, then a Hare, a Grouse, or a fine Trout, for the Mink is as much at home in the water as a Muskrat, swimming and diving easily. " Thus we find him everywhere, not only in all the temperate parts of the country, but in all sorts of places, from the banks of lonely watercourses to a burrow under the cow barn." " It seems very queer that mother's muff once went sneaking and tramping all over the country," said Rap. " If Dodo knew about Minks, and how savage they are, I'm sure she would be afraid of her little tippet with the head and claws. I never thought before how 186 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS all our fur things, caps and mittens and gloves, once walked about. I wish they could tell us stories about themselves." " I know a story a sealskin jacket told me once upon a time," said Olaf, who had been sitting quietly by the fire smoking his pipe. " A real true story, and will you tell it to us some day?" " Surely, yes, and some day soon, for it is a winter story." " Come, don't go floating up the Pacific to the fur islands after Seals yet awhile," said the Doctor. " There is one more important fur beast, almost as large as the Otter, but it is not found as far south as here. He loves the dark pine forests that furnish him good shel- ter, as well as a playground, for he spends most of his time in the trees, even making his nest in a tree hole in preference to the ground." " What is he called ? " asked Rap. " Is there a pict- ure of one at home ? " " Yes, and you will find that he looks something like a cat, and something like a Fox. In the woods and in books his name is Pine Marten, or American Sable. When he is turned into muffs and collars, he has a grander name yet, — Hudson's Bay Sable. He has a very handsome coat, and, like most of his tribe, the fur is finest at the beginning of winter. He has not only under-fur, but two kinds of outer as well, and his back is a handsome mellow shade of brown, in contrast to his dark tail, which is especially valuable." "Is the Pine Marten a chicken thief, too, like the Weasel and Mink ? " asked Rap. Pine Marten and Red Squirrel. NEZ long's men a gebie 187 " I dare say lie would eat chickens if they came in his way, but he does not care to stay about farms, and lives on Squirrels, birds, and many of the smaller nuisance animals, and when driven to it he will eat even beechnuts. " " My, though ! if those Martins ain't got tempers ! " said Nez. " And don't they jest fight fierce when once they start ! I saw one kill a Rabbit ; it wasn't satisfied with killin', but went on and tore and clawed and chawed it all to bits. "You should see 'em try to ketch Squirrels," he con- tinued. " Martins likes to git up in a tree and drop down suddent on their prey. That evenin' a nice, big Red Squirrel was setting on a pine branch with his back to the tree, takin' a nap, though I suspect he was more awake than he seemed. Along comes the Martin down from the tree-top, peerin' this way and that, lookin' to make an easy drop. There wuz a branch crosswise above the Squirrel and the Martin he couldn't manage the jump anyhow. Then he began to spit and cuss and snarl like mad, but the Squirrel never budged. He stopped still until the Martin went over to try another side, then opened his eyes, gave a big jump, and was off chatterin' like a watchman's rattle. " There's another Martin I've trapped out in the Northwest, that's every bit as big as an Otter and swims and fishes like one, for which reason some folks calls it a Fisher, and some a Black Cat Martin, though they are as much gray as black, and their legs and tails are brown, and they looks something like a little, lanky, long-tailed Bear. This Fisher will eat any mortal thing, from one of its own family to a snake or a Porkipine. 188 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS How it manages to kill that I never could see, though I found quills stuck all over a Fisher inside and out." " People who know, say the Fisher has the knack of killing the Porcupine by biting him in the stomach, where he is poorly protected," said the Doctor. "I think he is quite clever enough to do this, for he man- ages to take the bait out of almost any trap, as you and Olaf must know by experience, and hides his nest high up in a tree hollow as wisely as an owl." ;; For stealin' bait and traps, or makin' a general rumpus, I recommend the Wolf Martin ! " said Nez, with feeling. " I suppose you mean the Wolverine, or Glutton, names he gets for his fierceness and supposed endless appetite," said the Doctor. " That's he every time," said Nez, striking his fist on his knee. " If yer can pack more wickedness and real thinkin' mischief into a beast not over three feet long, with paws and claws like a Bear, and a face like a Bear, a Fox, and a Wolf all mixed into one, show me that beast ! " " What kind of fur does he wear ? " asked Nat. " Brown, of as many different shades as the mottles on a horse-chestnut," said the Doctor ; " the under-fur being short and very soft, and the outer about four inches long, wiry and shaggy. The soles of his feet even are so hairy that the footprints look almost like those of small Bears." " Why do you call him such a wicked beast, Nez ? " asked Rap. " Well, I reckon I've good reason. In the first place he kills anything that comes along, from a mouse up NEZ LONG S MENAGERIE 189 to a Deer that's been wounded or gone lame. He gets most of his game by sneakin' or droppin' on it, for he isn't a fast runner. But what's worst about him is, he's the biggest meddler on four legs. If a pair of 'em gits around camp when the men are off, good- by to the outfit. Fust they'll eat everything they can hold, then they'll amuse themselves by clawin' the rest or carry in' Wolverine. things away and scatterin' 'em. As trap spoilers they beats the record, — deadfalls or spring traps are all the same, they'll get the bait without being caught, and most likely spoil the trap beside." " What is a deadfall ? " asked Nat. " A kind of a trap that is often made by digging a hole and putting bait in and then covering it up with sticks and logs, so when the beast you want to catch, smells the bait and hunts for it, he falls into the trap, 190 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS or the log falls and shuts him in ; they are used for all sorts of beasts from Martens to Bears," said the Doctor. " Ah, I see ! A deadfall is a place that if you fall into you die. Do House People ever fall into these things ? " " Yes, sometimes, unfortunately, and in his knack at keeping out of danger this Wolverine shows even more ingenuity than man himself." " You have no Coons now ? I'm sorry, I wanted Nat to see one so he would recognize it if he should come across it in the home woods." " Nez ! uncle ! daddy ! Look quick, one of the beasts has come to life and has climbed up that beam by the chimney," whispered Nat, suddenly jumping up and getting behind his father. " Speaking of Coons, there is one now," said the Doctor. " Is that a camp pet or a visitor from the woods ? " " He's a pet," said Nez. " He belongs to Dom'nik and the Fox to Phonse ; we took him last May from an old tree over by the pit, when we were cuttin' poplars for charcoal. Keep still and maybe he'll come down and play with Foxey — he does sometimes." The boys watched quietly for a few minutes. At first the Coon, or Raccoon as he is really named, sat up with his paws folded like hairy hands and watched them. He was about two feet and a half high, his body was covered with wonderfully soft, deep, brindled Woodchuck-colored fur, and the round tail that hung nearly a foot below the beam was banded with gray and black. His bright eyes and pointed face wore an expression of innocence, and yet of great intelligence NEZ LONG 'S MENAGERIE 191 also, that closely resembled the Fox's who was sitting under the table looking 1 up at him. Presently Mr. Coon came deliberately down to the floor, ambled on all fours to the table with the awkward gait of his big cousin, the Bear, climbed on top and began tasting the various scraps of food that remained, using his fore paws exactly like hands. The Fox came from under the table and sat up on the broad bench sniffing anxiously. The Coon paid no attention to him, but picked up a piece of bread, jumped off the table, dipped the bread in the water pail, ate it, took a scrap of meat, washed it also and then gave it to the Fox, with all the quickness and intelligence of a monkey, and then began washing more bread for him- self. The boys could keep quiet no longer. " Why does he wash the bread ? " asked Nat aloud. At this the Coon retired to his beam, pushing the last bit of bread into his mouth with one paw. " Washing their food is a great habit of Raccoons," said Mr. Blake. " I've seen hundreds of them down about the southern lagoons, and they bathe and swim and paddle about the water, poking under stones for crayfish, mussels, and little crabs, half the night. In fact, the last half of the Latin name the Wise Men give them, lotor, refers to this washing habit of theirs. "You should see them scampering round by moon- light, like a parcel of monkeys at play. Down they come from the high trees where they have their nest holes, splashing over the lily pads and sliding into the water. They are fond of everything eatable, from crabs to sweet corn, and often fall victims to this love of the 192 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS cornfields. An autumn Coon hunt was one of the events of the year on the old plantations, and it is not yet out of style." " Mammy Bun says Coon hunting is fine sport," in- terrupted Nat. " She says the men go out with dogs and axes and chase the Coons, and they generally run up a tree, and then if the men can't shake the Coon out of the tree, they cut it down and let the dogs fight the Coon and shake it to death. I think that is a cruel way to kill such a pretty fourfoot." " I quite agree with you," said the Doctor ; " it is even more unnecessary than allowing the Fox to be torn to bits after he has run his best; for though the Coon is very bright in some ways, he can be easily trapped and the Fox cannot." "Everyone is sleepy," said Rap, presently; "the Coon has gone to sleep, and the Fox too, all curled up like a dog, and Olaf will nod himself into the fire in another minute." " I think you and Nat had better climb into your bunk in the corner and join them in dreamland," said the Doctor. " You see Toinette and the little boys have disappeared under their blankets in the other room." " The snow has stopped falling and the wind is drift- ing it around at a great rate," said Mr. Blake, opening the door as he spoke, when a great whirl of snowflakes, like the branch of a fairy tree, slipped past him into the cabin and turned to drops of water on the boards. " Suppose we take a mouthful of air before Ave turn in. Nez, we will go with you to put the Fox and the Coon in their pens, and see if your fur shop is safe." The Raccoon. NEZ LONG'S MENAGERIE 193 "We can't undress very much," said Nat, beginning and ending by taking off his shoes, "so it will be real easy dressing in the morning, and I want to see the Porcupine that is over in the shed the first thing. Don't go to sleep yet, Rap, 1 won't be a minute." Rap, however, was asleep the moment he sank between the new red blankets, — a present from Mrs. Blake to Toi- nette, — that covered the armful of hemlock branches that served as a mattress. The men came back, went to bed and to sleep, and soon the wind outside was the only sound, while occa- sional flashes from the smouldering log fire kept the cabin cheerfully light. For some strange reason Nat could not sleep; he dozed a dozen times ; then the wind whistled between the logs of the cabin and he started up again. Once he saw a couple of mice chasing each other about the hearth, then a shadow moved along the roof timbers. Was it the Coon ? No, for both Coon and Fox had been taken to their sleeping-quarters in the shed. Nat looked again ; the shadow grew deeper, took a solid form, and dropped to the floor. An extra bright flash from the fire showed him what looked like a bundle of some white-tipped fur. The mysterious thing was nothing more nor less than an animal — a Porcupine ! He could see its eyes glitter as it moved awkwardly across the floor to the very corner where he was lying. XIV FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES ,EERING out and very much frightened, at first Nat was going to call, then he |S|| thought that perhaps he might startle III1L- the Porcupine and make him angry, I W so he staid quite still waiting to see mw what would happen. Everything was painfully quiet ; why did not one of the others wake up? Even a snore would have sounded companionable. The Porcupine ambled toward the bunk, but stopped by one of the posts that supported it and began to gnaw with his strong, sharp-cutting teeth. Next he sampled all four legs of the table, then went to the water pail ; he seemed to scent the tracks of the Coon and Fox and crouched in a heap with his quills bristling on his back and his tail ready to strike. Finding that he was not disturbed, he began walking about again, finally climbing up to a log that ran across the face of the chimney, quite near the roof. In spite of feeling a trifle afraid, Nat could not help noticing how easily the Porcupine climbed and swung himself about, but when the animal had settled himself comfortably on the beam, something happened that was so strange that Nat first rubbed his eyes to be sure that 194 FOXKS AND SNOW-SHOES 195 lie was really awake, and then managed to wake Rap to share in his astonishment. The Porcupine was singing ! 1 " What is it, and where did it come from? " whispered Rap, only dimly conscious of where he was, Nat whispered back all he knew of the matter. "•It must be the tame Porcupine from the shed that crept out when Nez went to put back the Fox and the Coon," said Rap, who was quick to draw conclusions, " so I don't think hell hurt us ; but I never knew be- fore that they could sing like that ! " The Porcupine's song, was indeed very strange. At first it sounded like a particularly happy tea kettle, abrim with boiling water ; then it began to rise and fall, having some quite musical notes, finally dying away, blending with the whistling of the wind. By this time somebody stirred in the opposite corner. Nez tumbled up, Avith the instinct of a woodsman, to put more wood on the fire, so that Nat ventured to call his father. "A Porcupine! Nonsense! Where?" shouted Mr. Blake, not over willing to come out of his blankets. " The stories in your head and the fried Squirrel in your stomach have made a plan between them to give you some dreams ! " " Really no, daddy, Rap is awake and has seen it too, and we've heard it sing. Oh, be careful, it's coming down again! " Every one was awake now. Toinette and the little boys peeped in from their part of the cabin, Nez lighted 1 The author is indebted to Mr. Abbott H. Thayer and Dr. E. A. Mearns for information regarding the habits of Porcupines. 196 FOUR-FOOTED A2IERICANS a lantern, the Doctor began pulling on his boots, while Olaf took a long pole belonging to an eel spear from the corner. " What are you going to do, kill him? " asked Rap " Oh, now he's up on the table ! " " No, put him in this bag," said Nez, taking an old meal sack from under his bunk. " The only way to catch one of these critters alive without wishin' him dead is to poke him off somewhere into something. So " — Scratch, Push, and after a short struggle the dis- turber, making queer faces all the while, was securely bagged and the cabin retired to sleep again, while the Porcupine spent the night under the table, too much disgusted by the small size of his quarters to give another concert. ***** It was still dark the next morning when the boys smelled coffee boiling. Other things beside the early hour contributed to the darkness, — the windows were small and few at best, and the panes were turned into ground glass by the heavy coating of frost. The pail of cold water did not make bathing seem attractive to Nat, who edged away from it, saying that he had not brought a sponge; but Rap, who was used to rough living, dipped his face in the water, shook off the big drops, and polished it with his handkerchief. U T don't believe my hands will be clean for a month," said Nat, looking at his red, chapped, grimy paws. " It's fun camping for a little while, but beds with sheets are so comfortable, and Rap, — don't you think in winter camping is pretty smelly ? " " Yes, I suppose it is ; but then you know real camp- FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES 197 ing in wild places is different from playing at it as we do ; those people work all day and are too sleepy at night to notice smells. Nez is so busy all day long out in the cold, that when he comes in he's too sleepy to bother about little things. Toinette cooks things A 1 anyway. I wonder what we are going to have for breakfast ? Something that's fried in a big pan of fat. Do you suppose it's doughnuts ? " " You supposed right," said Nat a few minutes later, as Nez called them to the table, where there was a flat willow basket piled high with the puffy brown balls. Here comes ham, too, with funny lumpy sauce poured over it. I wonder what it is ? " " Sauce of ze chestnut, vary fine, m'sieurs ; ze sauce of my countree. I mak also ze dish of ze countree of ma 'usband — ze doonut, but zat ting of his countree, ze pi, I mak not, bah ! Shall it kill de red from the cheek de mes gargona? I name it not wiz ze pate of ma countree whose top it shall fly away vile you bite." The Doctor laughed heartily at Toinette's dislike of pie, saying : " You are right, Toinette, pie is very poor food for little boys ; but I have hard work to make Nat think so. Though I do not believe in doughnuts for breakfast, yours are so light and free from grease that you must not expect to have one left." " Ah, you are vary polite to zay it," replied Toinette, blushing and pouring a sort of porridge into the bowls that stood at the children's places. " Zis is ze plumb potage of Fete de Noel, but we did have it on ze fete day of ma 'usband's countree — ze T'anksgiving." Nat and Rap were soon fishing the big raisins out 198 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS of the hot porridge with their spoons, as eagerly as Dominique and Plionse. h Isn't it good ? " said Rap, as he neared the bottom of the bowl. " Scrape, scrape, scrape," said Nat's spoon for answer. ***** The boys were very much disappointed at the con- dition of the snow that morning. The wind had blown all night and drifted it so badly that the hills were quite bare, and coasting was impossible, while some of the little hollows were full. " In my day coasting never amounted to anything before Christmas," said the Doctor ; " these earhy snow flurries seldom lie evenly. One thing, Nat, if Nez will lend you a pair of snow-shoes and show you how to use them, you can practise nicely down there at the foot of the slope." " I should think I could walk on them without being taught how," said Nat. " The snow-shoes Toinette showed me yesterday looked something like tennis rackets with toe loops and ankle-ties to keep them on. Sliding along with them would be just as easy as any- thing." " So you think. If you succeed in walking ten steps on them to-day, you shall have a pair of your own. We seldom have snow, down at the farm, deep enough to make such things necessary, though you might find them useful in going to school some morning after a storm before the roads are broken," said Mr. Blake, looking at the Doctor with a twinkle in his eye, which however Nat did not notice. Soon they went out to the shed to have a more par- FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES 199 ticular view of Nez' Menagerie, and look tit Nat's Fox, which was to be skinned for him to take home. " I wonder if the tame Fox knows that the old Fox may be one of his relations, perhaps his grandfather ? " said Rap, as the little beauty sniffed about the skin that Nez was peeling off as neatly as a glove turned wrong side out. " I should not be surprised at anything a Fox may know," said the Doctor, " for in spite of the fact that they are continually hunted, they still manage to out- wit House People, and increase and live even about our hen houses. This little Fox evidently recognizes one of his own family. I even fancy I can see a look of recognition in his eyes as he sniffs." " Which do you think are the very cleverest Ameri- can fourfoots ? " asked Rap. " The Beaver has a very special sort of intelligence in the way of building his home, damming up the water necessary to protect it and in storing up food; but for pure wit and cunning I think the dog family, or Canidce, must be given first place." "The dog family! I didn't know there were any real American dogs," said Nat. " Wolves, Foxes, and the Coyote of the plains are first cousins of the dogs we keep as companions. Don't you know that we have called our big dog Mr. Wolf because he is about the size and the shape, though not the color, of the Timber AYolf ? " " These Red Foxes look like dear little collie dogs, except that their tails are rounder," said Rap. " You have often watched Mr. Wolf and Quick go hunting together, starting off as if they had a regular 200 FOUB-FOOTED AMERICANS plan of campaign, working to and fro on a scent they have found, galloping, sneaking, and finally stalking their game ? " " Oh, yes ! " cried Nat, " I've often seen them, and then when they come back if it's a Woodchuck or a Muskrat or a Skunk they have caught, Mr. Wolf brings it up to the back door and they both bark and bark until some one comes and tells them how clever they are. If their noses are much bitten, as they mostly are when they've caught a Woodchuck, they wait for Olive to put vaseline on them. Just plain vaseline; they don't like the kind with the carbolic smell, that you put on our hands when they are scratched ; it makes them sneeze and cough and rub their noses in the grass. I wonder why ? " " Because the members of the dog family have such a keen sense of smell that every odor seems many times more powerful to them than to us. This is the reason that the Fox can smell the scent of human lingers on the trap set for him unless it is dipped in water, or smeared with the blood of a fowl, or some other means is taken to divert him, and even then he may have sus- picions." " I should think baby Foxes would be very pretty," said Rap. " What time of the year are they born ? I mean to look for some next season." "They are born hereabout in March or April. In May, when I was a boy, I used often to see half a dozen of these bright, sharp-nosed little pups playing about the entrance to their earth burrow, or creeping along the rocky ledge or at the base of the hollow tree that was home to them. But mamma was always sure to be FOXES AND SNOW- SHOES 201 near to warn them of danger, and they obeyed whatever signal she gave them and disappeared as quickly as the little grouse hide under the leaves." " Are there as many kinds of Foxes as there are Rabbits, or only one kind ? " asked Nat. " There are about ten different kinds, or species, as the Wise Men say (I wish you to remember the Avord). Some of them are really the same animal, who wears somewhat different fur, according to the place where he lives. Take this Fox of Nat's for example. We call him the Red Fox, being in Latin Vulpes fulvus. 1 You see, he has a coat of rust color and yellow. He has two half brothers ; one called the Cross Fox, not because he has a bad temper, but because his color is partly red and yellow and partly ashy brown, which makes a cross mark on his shoulders. He is also related to another half brother of our Red Fox, the Black or Silver Fox, whose coat varies from dark gray to black with a sprinkling of white-tipped hairs and a white tail tip. This condition of fur is prized because it is so verj r rare, and as much, as one or two hundred dollars has been paid for a single skin. No one but the very Wise Men can tell these brothers apart half the time, and even one of the wisest of these calls our common animal the Red-Cross-Silver-Black Fox." " Oh, dear, what a lot to remember, and after all, that is only one kind, — species, I mean." " There are a couple of others, very distinct varieties that you can easily remember, — the Gray Fox and the beautiful white Arctic Fox of the Polar regions. " The Gray is the common Fox of the southern parts 1 See plate, page 158. 202 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Its fur on the back is a ' pepper-and-salt ' gray with a reel and white wash on the throat, sides of neck, sides of body and legs. Its head is broad, and it is neither as graceful nor as finely furred as the Red Fox. This Gray Fox is a more snarling, disagreeable beast than his red brother, but does not seem to be a blood-thirsty hunter, and kills merely what he needs for food. Though he is fond of grouse, chickens, Rabbits, and the eggs and young of game birds and domestic fowls alike, he also eats Meadow Mice and several kinds of rats, which habit should be set down for a good mark beside his name. " The Gray Fox can climb well, for he has strong curved nails that stick out beyond the furred toes, so he often escapes from his enemies by going up trees that may be quite branchless for twenty or thirty feet. He also prefers a hollow log or tree to an earth burrow as a nest for his puppies, which are not as numerous or as pretty as those of our Red Fox." _ " I can remember about that," said Nat. " The Gray Fox belongs to the south ; our Red-Cross-Silver-Black Fox to the middle and not too far north, and then there is a white one for the very far north." " Yes, the Arctic Fox, who lives as near to the never- found North Pole as men have been able to go. " He is bundled up and dressed in the very best style for an Arctic explorer, and for this reason he looks more like a cur dog, and has not the dapper, thorough- bred appearance of his sleek red cousin. This Arctic Fox has a bunchy body with short, round, fur-lined ears, and ruff's of fur which give his face a catlike expression. Summer and winter his coat is white, Arctic Fox. FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES 203 but by August the under-fur bog-ins to thicken, and when this Fox wears his heavy winter coat and is all white, with the exception of his light brown eyes, black nose, and brown claws, he is indeed a beautiful animal. The under-fur is soft and thick, even the soles of the feet being well padded to give their owners a firm foot- ing in travelling on ice, as well as for warmth. The tail is short and very bushy, while the longer fur is thicker on the back than underneath." " What does this Fox eat 'way up there, and does he make a home burrow in the snow ? " asked Nat. " I should think he would be awfully wild, and he must work very hard for a living." " There are no hen roosts to rob, but you must not forget the Arctic breeding birds and the Polar Hares. Many an anxious day this white Fox must give the Snowflake in its lowly nest, while the Eider Duck and Great Snow Goose must think this four-footed snow- drift a veritable spirit of evil. The little ground- burrowing Lemming also helps to fill up the chinks in Mr. Fox's stomach. Then there are the bits of flesh and fat that the Polar Bear leaves behind when he lias captured a fat Seal, and fish are to be had for the catching or often the picking up. In such a place the Fox does not have to look for a refrigerator in which to stow away spare scraps for the next meal. I've often wondered how he manages to get his meat into the over-ripe state that all the dog family consider so delicious." " Please, uncle," interrupted Nat, " why do dogs like spoiled meat so much better than fresh ? Quick alwaj's rolls and rubs his head on any old fish or dead bird he 204 FOUB-FOOTED AMERICANS finds, and Olive has to keep two collars for him ; as she sa} r s, ' one to Avear and one to air.' " u It is an unsettled question why this rolling is done ; but it is a fact that the dog family, with a few excep- tions, are as fond of rolling in carrion as a cat is of catnip. The Arctic Fox is more clean and particular than his cousins, perhaps because he has less chance of having spoiled meat left on his hands, and his odor is far less disagreeable than that of the Red Fox. " The Arctic Foxes live in burrows between earth and rocks," continued the Doctor, " very much like their more southern cousins ; but instead of being wilder they are much less sly and suspicious than other Foxes. It is easy to see the reason of this. They live beyond the usual reach of civilized man, and the Eskimo who hunts them seldom uses firearms, so these Foxes stop to look at pursuers or bark at them from the doors of their dens very much like half-wild dogs. They fall into the simplest kinds of traps and count their worst enemies the Polar Bear and ever-hungry Wolf, who vie with them in hardiness. Then, too, they enjoy the safety of color protection, — snow-white fur to blend with the snow itself." " Talking of Foxes," said Mr. Blake, coming across the shed where he had been helping Nez fold the Fox skin, fur in, so that it could be carried back to the farm to be cured, " do you know how Foxes defend them- selves when they fight each other ? " k * No," said Rap, " unless they bite and scratch ! " " They stand at a little distance apart growling and snapping ; when one springs, the other brings round his bushy tail to act like a shield to his head and throat, FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES 205 so that all that his adversary gets is a mouthful of fur." " Isn't that clever ! Have you ever seen them do it, daddy ? " said Nat. "No, but a friend of mine — the man who made all the pictures in your uncle's portfolio and knows so much of the ways of this family of Wolves and Foxes that he is called 'Wolf by his friends — says it is so." " You know," said the Doctor, " I told you long ago that every animal has something that serves either as a tool or a weapon, and if you listen to all there is to hear about the tails of our fourfoots, you will find that they are even more useful than ornamental. The big tail, or brush, of the Fox, as hunters call the prize they seek, may be a trap to catch burrs and a dead weight to carry when it is water soaked; but you see it is a shield both in battle and to keep paws and nose warm during winter naps." " Can Foxes swim ? " asked Nat. "As easily as dogs," said Mr. Blake. "I know a story about a very clever Fox, Avhose fur, one summer, was full of fleas who bit him so cruelly that he went in swimming to cool himself. The fleas, not wishing to be drowned, climbed up on his head, which was the only dry part of him. " The Fox felt very comfortable for a while, but when he went ashore and shook himself dry, the fleas quickly went back to their old hiding-places. T\is bothered the Fox a good deal, and he thought about the matter for a great many days, when he lay in his den hiding from the bright light, in which you know very few of our fourfoots care to be seen. 206 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " ' I have it ! ' lie said to himself. That night there was a full moon. The Fox went down to the river where the light came in beautiful silver stripes between the trees. He pulled several bunches of old, worn fur from his tail, and made them into a ball which he held between his front teeth, so that the fur rested against the end of his nose, then he walked slowly and care- fully into the water and began swimming up and down. " Soon the fleas collected on top of his head, as usual. Then he let himself sink lower and lower until only the tip of his nose and the ball of hair remained dry ; the fleas crawled to his very nose tip. When he drew that under water also, they took refuge in the ball of fur. Quick as a flash the Fox let go the ball, and, diving, swam back to shore, Avhere he stood laughing as the ball became water soaked and the fleas were drowned ! " " Oh, daddy, is that a real true story ? Did your Wolf friend tell it to you?" " I don't remember that he did, but until we meet the clever Fox who drowned the fleas, and hear what he has to say about it, no one can prove the story untrue." " If you reckon on tryin' these snow-shoes, you had better come down in the holler before it gits any softer," said Nez, bringing out the shoes. This par- ticular pair was very simple, made of a hickory strip, bent in an oblong until the ends met. These ends were fastened firmly together, and bridged in the centre by a cross-piece. This frame, which really looked some- thing between a lacrosse bat and a tennis racquet, was latticed with strips of rawhide cut thinner than shoe FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES 207 laces. In front of the cross-bar was a little opening, to let the toes move when the foot was fastened to the bar, by slipping through a stirrup-like loop. These shoes were a trifle less than four feet long, and a foot and a half across at the broadest part. " You stick to the regular model, I see," said the Doctor. " Yes, 1 do ; the mighty long ones and the round ones may have their uses in places and spots, but I don't want none of 'em," said Nez. On arriving at the hollow, Nez slipped his feet into the loops, and went across the drift with slow, even strides, swinging one foot over and past the other, his hands in his pockets, his body bending slightly for- ward. The boys were surprised to see that the shoes sunk several inches into the snow. " I thought they would help you keep on top," said Nat ; "I don't think they are much better than boots." " For a small snow like this, they are not," said Olaf, who had come up from the direction of the river. "But fancy to yourself a snow eight feet deep or ten, without a crust to hold you up. How should one walk on it ? At the first step one sinks, at the second one would fall and smother. With snow-shoes one may go on, sinking but a little, and if many men walk one after the other, soon a good trail is made. Beneath this trail may be the frozen sea or the deep ravine, but the snow- shoe will not let the wearer sink to it. The snow-shoe means food and life in the far northlands. There Nat- ure gives it to the fourfoots themselves — from the fur foot-pad of the Fox to the widening hoof of the Caribou." 208 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS Meanwhile Nez walked across several times in the same tracks, to make an easier path for Nat, who was impatient to try his luck. "Now be careful," called Mr. Blake and the Doctor together, as Nat balanced himself on the shoes, feeling that his feet were unnaturally far apart. One step, another, and Nat's feet had collided, his left shoe step- ping on the heel of the right, making him nearly turn a somersault and land head down in the snow, gasping and struggling. The pa^ty laughed heartily, for Nat had been so very confident of success. "If that were big snow he were lost!" said Olaf. " If you feel to slip, stoop down, that you do not come off, so — " and Olaf squatted to show his meaning. Nat was picked up and tried again, but this time he spread his legs so far apart to keep from interfering that he could not bring them together again, and stood still laughing, his arms crossed to keep him from sprawl- ing, as if he were a model for a fancy letter A. "Never mind," said the Doctor, "you will learn by practice if we have much snow this winter, for I am going to ask Nez and Olaf if, between them, they can- not rig us up half a dozen pairs of snow-shoes, so that all the household at the farm can have walks over the fields when the roads are choked and impassable." " How jolly ! " cried Nat, and then stopped as he saw the wistful look on Rap's face and remembered that snow-shoes would be of no use to him. " We must have one of those flat toboggan sleds, too, uncle," he added quickly, smiling at Rap, "and then we can take turns in dragging Dodo and mother, for they FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES 209 would be sure to be tired, and Rap can ride on it, too, whenever he wants to come." " I'm glad to have you introduced to snow-shoes," said Mr. Blake, " because they hold an important part in the life-history and hunting of some of our biggest game, as well as furnish the ' reason why ' some of our noblest animals, like the Moose, are following the Buffalo to the Happy Hunting Grounds." Olaf, Nez, Toinette's brother, and the Doctor were talking earnestly together as Mr. Blake turned toward them, and the boys heard the words, "deer," "sharp tracks," "fine buck," "last night," ending with Nez' usual exclamation of surprise, " Want to know ! " " Jacque has seen a Deer two miles below here," said Olaf, "in a cleared bit in the woods. He saw him in the snow last night, but was not quite sure because of the drift. Early to-day he saw the sure prints, and later the Deer himself browsing with two does, where the wind had bared the grass." " Deer were plenty all along here and over toward the farm in my father's day," said the Doctor ; "it will be wonderful if they are straying back again from some overcrowded feeding ground." "Perhaps they have run away from a Menagerie," suggested Nat. "I think not," said the Doctor ; "it is evidently a little family party starting off to explore for itself. At any rate we will not welcome them with bullets in the usual fashion, but after making sure of their where- abouts leave them in peace." " Who knows, Nez, but we may be able to turn your bit of woods here into a place for preserving and pro- 210 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS tecting some of our fourfoots, and make you chief gamekeeper and forester general." " I'm willin', Doc, but I must get a peep at 'em to make sure," said Nez, his sporting blood throbbing. "Yes," added Olaf, " we will go down this afternoon to make sure that the Dream Fox has not been showing his picture book to the good Jacque." " If you will keep me, I will stay and go with you ; I must," said Mr. Blake, capering about as gleefully as Nat or Dodo when they suspected a surprise. " I shall take the others to the Ridge then and come back and wait here one, two, three days more then, until you are ready," said Olaf, looking pleased. "Which reminds me that we must be starting home- ward in less than an hour," said the Doctor, looking at his watch. " Oh, I want to see the Deer too ! " cried Nat. " Sorry to say no to anything so tempting ; but I promised to bring you both safely back to your mothers to-night. Who knows, however," said the Doctor, cheerfully, " but these same Deer may stray over to the farm woods and make a visit ! " They went back to the cabin for early dinner and to say "good-by" to Toinette and the boys and make them promise to return the visit by coming to the Christmas party at the farm. They found the boys waiting with a stout bag between them, in which was something that moved about a great deal. "What have you there — the Porcupine?" asked the Doctor. " Billy Coon," replied Phonse, plucking up courage to speak. FOXES AND SNOW-SHOES 211 " They make a gift to you of the Coon to be your ami, your friend, to take d la maison, to your 'ouse," explained Toinette. The boys were delighted, of course. " Mammy Bun will think we have brought her an old friend ; but I'm not sure what your mother and the dogs will say," said the Doctor in an undertone. ^ % ?f£ % 7^ The journey home passed like a flash, and six o'clock saw Rap seated by the stove in his mother's little kitchen chattering of all the wonders of the trip, end- ing by telling her that her mink muff had once killed chickens, while she listened as eagerly as if he had made a voyage round the world. Meanwhile the Doctor decided that the Coon was to go in the barn, and not be introduced to the family until next day. Dodo was being entertained by Nat, and was so interested that she almost forgot to eat her supper, and afterward coaxed her uncle into bringing the portfolio of pictures into the wonder room, that she might look at all the Foxes and other little fur bearers. But when she came to the picture of the Por- cupine and heard its story, she gave a little shiver and exclaimed, " I'm glad now I stayed at home, for if I had seen him in the dark, I should have jumped up and screamed, and then you wouldn't have heard him sing, and most likely he would have stuck me so full of prickles that I couldn't sew my Christmas presents ! " XV WOLF! m^mmm ^ILL you piease choose one of the dog family?" asked Rap the next Saturday, when it was Nat's turn to select a picture for the story. " Yes, I meant to choose this one — the Wolf," said Nat; " and the picture looks as if a story really belonged to it." " ' A Trap ' is printed on the picture," said Dodo, " but I don't see any trap, unless the Wolf is caught in one and can't move." " Wrong, quite wrong, missy," said the Doctor, set- tling himself by the fire, after taking a couple of skins from those hanging about the walls and spreading them before him on the floor. " Listen, and I will tell you the story of the great Gray Wolf, whose picture you have here, and also about his little barking brother, the Coyote." " It is sure to be a good fierce story," said Dodo, "because Wolves gobble people, you know. When you lived far away, were you good friends with Wolves, uncle?" "Our American Wolves are not man-eaters as some 212 Timber Wolf. WOLF! 213 of their Old World brothers are thought to be, but say- ing that I am a friend of Wolves and know all about them — that is quite a different matter." "A Wolf has no friends; he is hated by twofoots and fourfoots alike. As for knowing all about Wolves we may know some things and think we know others, but the coinings and goings of a Wolf are as mysterious as the track of the wind itself. They move from place to place so suddenly and so swiftly that it would be easy to believe they flew on the storm, as witches were said to do on broomsticks." " Why do you say that some Wolves in other coun- tries are thought to eat people — don't you believe they do ? " asked Nat. " They may sometimes, but it is best not to believe all that is said about animals ; for there are a great many of what Rap calls ' boast stories ' floating around, especially about Wolves. The Wolf is one of the easi- est animals to see doubled and hear quadrupled. One may believe that a Avhole pack is outside the tent, bent on tearing you limb from limb, or swallowing you, sleeping blanket and all, when it is really only one mangy starveling, sniffing about for scraps of bacon or a bit of venison you have cached a little carelessly." " Cashed ! " said Nat. " I thought cash was money. How could you make money out of meat, uncle ? " " Cached, with a c, means hidden. It's a word that came from the French, round by way of the Canadian voyageurs. It is in common use in camp talk ; a cache is a hiding-place. The Gray Squirrel, instead of cach- ing his nuts all in one place as a Red Squirrel does, puts each one in a separate cache.' 1 '' 214 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Oh, yes, I can understand that," said Dodo. " When the Squirrel goes to find a nut, he plays cache-cache then, for that is what French children call hide-and-seek," said Olive, laughing. " Wolves all over the world bear very much the same character. The Wolf is an emblem of deceit and cun- ning. A Wolf, in the legend, ate Red Riding Hood's grandmother and tried to trick the child herself. When it is said of people, ' The} r have hard work to keep the AVolf from the door,' it means that want, or some trouble as cruel and cunning as a Wolf, is threatening them. The Gray Wolf, whose skin (the larger of the two) lies there on the floor, is, next to the Grizzly Bear, the most cruel and desperate of our fourfoots. Yet he is a coward ; if he were not he would have given battle to the death to thousands of the pioneers who, as it was, struggled inch by inch in face of desperate dangers to settle this country. Why the Wolf is such a coward no one knows ; but, fortunately, he is, or his race would not yet have been driven back until even the sight of a Wolf, except in a part of the West from Texas to North Dakota, is a great rarity." " If this old Wolf skin could only tell what it knows, the story would not be a dull one. Look at it there, with its long bristling gray and black hair, brindled with traces of an under-color of yellowish brown at its base. The under-fur is soft brown, while on the belly both hair and fur are white. There is a bit of buff also about its face, ears, and flanks. See its black whiskers, the slantwise eye holes, pointed ears, and straight, bushy tail. " The body and head are both long. This Wolf WOLF! 215 must have been four feet and a half from nose tip to root of tail. Ah, yes, you handle the empty skin freely enough ; but give it life, let the strong white dog teeth snap in its jaws, the bright eyes gleam, and its long- drawn howl come from the black lips, and you would not stay near it long. If it only could speak ! " said the Doctor, pausing and looking at the fire. " Wough-ow-ow owou-ough," sounded a weird voice outside the door. " Wough-oble-oble-oble-ough-o-u- gooow ! " " Horrors, what is that ? " cried Olive, startled from her usual calmness. " It's Wolves ! " screamed Nat and Rap. " A whole pack, but they've come for bacon scraps, they don't want us," shivered Dodo, trying to seem brave. Even the Doctor was a little startled, but the sus- pense only lasted a moment. It was broken by a ring- ing laugh which, even before he came in, they all knew belonged to Mr. Blake. " Oh, daddy ! daddy ! " said Dodo, " I didn't know ! How can you be such an intimate friend of Wolves that you could cry their cry, when uncle says they have no friends ? " " I'm not sure that I am a friend of theirs either," said Mr. Blake, throwing himself down on the wolf- skin rug; "but I've been among them where they live, and have heard their talk, and have seen their work." " Tell them your story of this Wolf skin, then," said the Doctor ; so after thinking for a few moments, Mr. Blake began : — " Every one knows the name of Wolf. This animal 216 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS is sometimes called Gray Wolf, and the Wise Men now say Timber Wolf ; but the simple word Wolf stands for both cruelty and cunning. His family history, from the time the white men came to settle in this land, is full of dark deeds and darker punishments. The Ind- ians repeat many tales about him, and tell how that long ago the Wolf ate of the meat of knowledge. This meat was the flesh of the great wide-eared, hornless Deer who is no longer living, but who was so wise in his day that he taught the winds how to blow. Whoever among the fourfoots should take one of these Deer by fair hunting, and eat its flesh, won great wisdom for his race, with keen eyes to read hidden sign languages and a nose to scent every message of the wind. " The Bear only licked a bit of this magical meat ; this brought it cunning and stupidity. The Fox, being too small to hunt it, nibbled at a piece he did not kill ; this gave him cunning, together with the penalty that he should be hunted by the beasts of his own tribe. The Puma seized a piece of flesh another beast had hidden, and so was given cunning and a sure, swift leap, but heavy paws that weigh in running. Then a Wolf slew the last wing-eared Deer of all, not by fair chase, but by trap and treachery, so that the Deer in dying branded the Wolf a coward. " ' Hunt and be ever hunted,' he shrieked. ' Hunt with hanging head and tail ; hunt treacherously with wile and snare, for you will have great need of cunning. An enemy comes from far across the seas, who walks upright as Bears walk, having a moon-white face, in one hand carrying fire, and in the other the fine white WOLF ! 217 earth that kills, 1 and he shall likewise devise magic wands to spring and hold you fast. " ' You will wage war together, this man and you, but he will conquer. And as a punishment for your way of killing me, you shall fear to kill him, for your real name is Coward ! ' u So after many years the white men came from over seas and settled, though at first there were but few, and the Wolves still roamed at will about the country — from the land where the snow never melts, down through the woods and plains to where the Rio Grande runs slantwise through the country and the prickly Peccaries and cacti live. The northern Wolves were large and grizzly ; but those in the hot south were smaller and had thinner fur. Wolves wore handsome robes in those days, and had as many names as Bobo- links. They were called White Wolves and Black in the northwest, Red Wolves in the cactus country, and Gray Wolves everywhere. " There were some smaller Wolves, who were less savage and less swift of foot than their brothers, more doglike and talkative, who babbled the secrets of the tribe and liked to hang about the homes of House People, rather than live in woods or caves. The larger Wolves disliked them, because they were afraid lest they should tell tribe secrets ; so they turned these small ones out to be a tribe apart, to feed on meaner game, and snatch and steal in open places. " These small Wolves were given charge over sheep, Jack Rabbits, and such timid things, and men called them Coyotes (ground burro wers). But the Coyote is 1 Strychnine. 218 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS also a cunning huntsman, and lays his own traps and chases Antelope on the plains ; yet to-day there is hatred between the two tribes, and, if a hungry Timber Wolf meets his little brother, he will often eat him ! " Look at that Coyote skin on the settle; you can see it is of a finer texture than this Gray Wolf robe. It is softly furred, a dark ripple running from head to tail and across the brindled shoulders, it has white lips, a rusty face, and a black tip to the tail, and measures a full tail length shorter than this Gray Wolf's pelt. The Coyote is little more than a vagabond wild dog, who barks and howls around the edges of settlements, licking his lips when a lamb bleats or a cock crows. " When the Buffalo herds blackened the plains, the Gray Wolves lived by following them, snatching the calves or killing the wounded and feeble old ones. Then great bands of Deer, Elk, Antelope, furnished them with food at all seasons ; for Wolves with their spreading feet could follow these heavy, sharp-hoofed beasts over the deep snow, through which they sank, and, spent and overcome, soon became the Wolves' prey. " As the country was settled, the Wolves crept back ; for whether the Indian's tale was true or not, a spell seemed to prevent their killing men. Gun, trap, and poison were all turned at the Wolves, who were also chased with dogs ; but still they worked mischief among horses, flocks, and herds, and still the cry among the frontiersmen was ' Wolf ! Wolf ! how shall we destroy him ? ' " Wolves have another fault besides sneak hunting, they break Nature's law, ' Take what 3 r e need to eat,' WOLF ! 219 and kill in times of plenty as if for the mere greed of killing, snatching a bite here, a fragment there, then wasting all the rest. They also have one virtue, which is common enough among the birds, but rare in four- foots, — they love their mates; and a friend of mine who knows Wolves as well as we know people, tells a story of the fiercest, slyest Wolf of all the southwest, who, in despair at having lost Jus mate, rushed headlong into a trap. "The home life of the Wolf is very short. His house is only a hole under some roots, or a sheltering cave, which covers half a dozen little woolly puppies in the late spring. Then the Wolves are happy, for it is the season when the Deer are fattening on the young grass and wear soft new horns. From this time follows six months of good living, then half a year that is a war with famine. Wolves do not sleep the lazy winter sleep like Bears, but hunt in packs, plotting to make a living like human thieves. If it had not been that long ago they ate the meat of knowledge, they would be gone and no one would understand the cry of Wolf ! As it is, there are still many of them in the northwest grazing country, and they increase here and there mysteriously from Texas to North Dakota even if men continually hunt and harry them and Deer are few ; for if bread fails them, they relish cake, by which I mean to say that, if they can't find venison, they are quite content with veal and mutton. " All f ourfoots understand the speech of scent, more or less, but Wolves certainly are wise with uncommon wisdom and have a wonderful sign and scent language. If one of the tribe dies of poison, the others will not eat 220 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS food scraps in that place. Does a Wolf of some other tribe run by, driven by fear; he may not be even seen, but he writes in his track and stopping-places the message that he wishes other Wolves to knoAv. Every hair that bristles on a Wolf's back has its own mean- ing. "Now listen to the story of this Wolf, whose skin is on the floor. He and his mate hunted together, often dashing at a horse or Deer, tearing its running sinews from behind, with their sharp teeth, or some- times picking up a calf that ran beside its mother, always having good eating. Often they would find a Deer's trail, running from its day cover to a spring, or to its dainty wood pasturage. The Wolves did not wish to run together openly, for Deer are very swift, and would lead them a weary race, so they would sniff the night wind and get before it so that it might not tell their doings to the Deer. The wind is fickle, an enemy to all hunters, always carrying along the latest gossip. Then one wolf would lie hidden by the runway, while his mate would show herself openly, and drive the Deer, at first gently, then fiercely, until it would run blindly in a circle (a habit of the family) to its first cover, past the very spot where the other Wolf lay like a living trap; one spring brought down the Deer and then the pair feasted at leisure."' " Oh, then that is what 'A Trap ' means on this picture. The Wolf was a trap for the Deer," said Dodo. " But how did the Wolf come to die and be made into this rug ? " " Bad days came soon after to the pair. The she- wolf vanished, House People cleared the timber from WOLF ! 221 that place and shot most of the Deer to feed themselves. The next winter was bitter cold, and yet the snow was not deep enough for our Wolf to chase and overcome what Deer remained. So he prowled too recklessly about a camp, and one night stepped into a trap that gripped his leg, that hind leg that you see now wears no foot. The Wolf straggled in vain to pull himself away, and then with awful bites gnawed himself free, leaving his foot fast in the trap. " Soon he grew hungrier and hungrier; he could find no food. Then, being desperate, he said, ' I would even kill a man ! ' " Early the next night he stole down to the camping place, but he found no one there, and the campfire was nearly out. Wolves do not like fire — and he thought, 'Surely this is my chance, perhaps they have left some food,' so he stalked in as boldly as his mangled leg al- lowed. Then he stopped, for he scented man ! Soon he went on again, for stretched in the corner lay a bundle in a blanket, — a man, but hurt and helpless. " The signs said, ' This man went out hunting with his friends, he lost their track, he fell and broke his leg, his gun is buried in the snow, he crawled back alone to shelter.' Then again the signs whispered to the Wolf as he hesitated, ' Kill him ! He is yours. He set the trap that robbed jou of your foot.' " The Wolf growled defiantly and crouched beside the bundle, waiting until it should give some sign of life to give the rending bite. The bundle moved and raised itself, fixing its eyes upon the Wolf, look for look ! " The Wolf glared, but saw in those two human eyes a light that never is in the eyes of beasts. His breath 222 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS blew coldly back to him, he shivered, for in his heart he was a coward. He longed to bite, and yet he did not dare. " The sleeping fire outside, that marked the camp, shot out a flaming tongue. The Wolf started, crouched, fearing to pass it. Then scenting on the wind that other men were coming, he slunk out and, not stopping to read the signs, seized a lump of meat, bolted it, and ran until he reached the Avood edge. "The tramp of many feet bent the ice crust, hurried words came from the camp, mingled with the cry of Wolf ! and the crash of logs. The fire leaped high. Fire also burned within the Wolf; then came the end — the scrap of meat that he had swallowed held the fine white earth that kills ! " ***** " Oh ! I was so afraid the poor man would be eaten," said Dodo, with a sigh of satisfaction. "Who was the man, daddy ? — for there must have really been a man, or the skin of the Wolf with one foot gone wouldn't have been found." " Was it yourself ? " asked Olive. ***** At that moment a scream from the kitchen turned their thoughts in another direction, so they hurried out to find the cause. It was easily seen. Billy Coon, Avho had escaped un- noticed from the camp while the Wolf story was in progress, in attempting to help himself to some bread dough that was rising by the fire, had fallen into the soft mass, and at Mammy's scream climbed to the top shelf of the dresser, where he sat, streaming dough. XVI COUSINS OF CATS A.C COONS have the reputation of being as mischievous as monkeys, as well as play- ful as kittens. Billy Coon did all in his power to keep up the reputation of his family, as well as to make life interest- ing to the children at the farm, often succeeding only too well, and was threatened with banishment by Rod, Dr. Hunter, and Mammy Bun in turn. Billy was supposed to live at the stable, except on Saturdays, when lie was brought to camp, " to make it seem more like outdoors," as Dodo said. The children watched eagerly to see if he would go to the hay loft and curl up for the winter sleep, after the custom of his family. But no, Billy did not propose to waste his time in this way, and indeed why should he? Was he not comfortable and well fed? He had no need to tighten his belt and go to bed to keep warm. To be sure, he did sleep nearly all day curled up in the hay rack over Comet's stall, waking up before dark each night to devise fresh mischief. The feed and oats were kept in bins above the stable, connected by a long, wooden shoot with the stalls be- low. One night Billy pulled open the little slot over 223 224 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS Comet's manger, and when Rod arrived in the morning he found the trotter standing in a pond of oats, having eaten so much that he had to take a dose of medicine and have his stomach rubbed with a broom handle to cure his colic. For the stomach of a horse is so built that when colic once gets inside it is very difficult to get it out again. Another evening Billy escaped unnoticed, before Rod closed the barn, and went into the house cellar. There he feasted and revelled all night, only to frighten Mammy Bun nearly out of her wits, when she went down to get the potatoes to bake for breakfast, by am- bling out at her, dripping with molasses from the jug which he had overturned. This particular evening he had engaged in a slight difference of opinion with Quick over a plate of scraps, and so kept prudently upon the camp rafters, while Quick and Mr. Wolf eyed him in a way that meant trouble for his ring- tailed Furship. " Won't you please choose the three Cats with no bodies ? " said Dodo to Olive, whose turn it was to select the picture for the story. " I was thinking of choosing the Cats," replied Olive. " There are a couple more pictures beside those. Ah, here they are ! The spotted Ocelot, lying in wait in a tree, and the Puma, hunting Elk/' '■' There is another a little further over,'' said Rap, " a lean, weaselly -looking beast with a thick tail. It is called Civet Cat, though it has a Fox face and a Coon tail." "You may take out the pictures with the others, COUSINS OF CATS 225 though it is not a Cut at all, but it is a good chance to tell you why it is not," said the Doctor. " This Northern Civet Cat, or Cacomistle (Bush Cat) as the Wise Men call it, though it belongs in the south- west part of the country, has more names than there Civet Cat. are days in the week, and all because in appearance and habits it is a sort of patchwork resembling, from different points of view, Coon, Fox, Cat, and Squirrel. ki In killing birds and robbing nests it follows the House Cat, and like it prowls at night and makes an amusing pet. Its body, covered with Coon-gray fur, Q 226 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS is about eighteen inches long and ends in such a thick, ringed tail, that you say Coon at once, and it does be- long' in the Raccoon family, and is the very least cousin of the Bear, in spite of its catlike ears, whiskers, and slender, lithe body. The Civet Cat also makes its home in hollow branches or stumps like the Coon, and as it climbs and dodges about, it might easily be taken for a wide-eared Squirrel, except for its tail. You see, here is another case where the tail tells ! " After placing the pictures carefully in a row below the map, animal tree, and ladder for climbing it, the children came back to the fire, near which, on the set- tle, Dr. Roy had thrown three skins — plain, spotted, and streaked. " How many species of Cats are there in North America ? " asked Olive. " Nine : five with high shoulders, short fur, and long tails, like those of their cousins the Lion, Tiger, and House Cat, and four of the Lynx variety, with short or bobtails, long fluffy fur, high back legs, and sharply pointed ears. All but one of the long-tailed varieties belong to the southwest, being much more at home in Central and tropical America than near the United States border. Beginning with the largest, they are called the Jaguar, the Puma, the Ocelot, the Yagua- rundi Cat, and the Eyra Cat, the last two being com- paratively unknown. The Puma and the Ocelot are the only ones that concern us. " Of the four bobtail Cats, or Lynxes, the Canada Lynx belongs to the north. The Spotted and Plateau Lynx belong to the southwest, leaving us in the mid- dle and southeast states the Bay Lynx, or Wildcat, as COUSINS OF CATS 227 he is everywhere called. They all have four toes on the hind feet and five on the front, and their tongues are covered with backward-pointed prickles." " There are long-tailed Wildcats in our woods ! Rod says so, and I saw them, for they come down to the barnyard to get swill, and they took some of the squabs from the pigeon house," said Nat. " They are dark brown and black striped, and have fat, bunchy cheeks, and crawl low down in the grass, as if they tried to hide." " You are both right and wrong," laughed Doctor Roy. " These cats are wild in one sense, because they live in the woods, hunt for a living, and are fierce and shy ; but they are the children of tamo house or barn cats and no more like the real Lynx rufus, than we should be like Indians if we went to the woods, dressed in moc- casins and blankets, and painted our faces. " In speaking of the Rabbits, I think I told you how much help the length and shape of their tails give in naming them." " Yes, I remember," said Rap ; " the Jack had the longest tail, and the Wood Hare a turned-up cotton tail, and the Pika not much of a tail at all." " It is the same with members of the cat family. The tail will give you a clew to the family, for as all these North American Cats are more prone to run away than to face you, the tail will be more familiar than the face, so if 3^011 see a Wildcat with a bobtail, you will know him for the real kind. " Having chosen three from this group of ten cats, let us look at them. Two of the three — the Puma and Wildcat — once ranged over a considerable part of the 228 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS United States, touching even the northern border, while the Ocelot always kept well to the south, having once been found in Arkansas and Louisiana, but now in our limits has retreated to or beyond the Rio Grande. The Ocelot is a spotted beauty, plucky, and a real game animal, with his skin as vari-colored and bright as a Leopard's, one of our few richly colored Mammals. He is also, as it says on this picture, a ' spotted disas- ter ' to birds and smaller beasts who venture in or under the tree where he chooses a branch for a divan whereon to take his noontime rest. Mottles of light and shadow playing upon the tree bark and nestling in the moving leaves, help hide his ten sharp claws sheathed between elastic foot-pads. His four cruel dog teeth, covered by the tightly shut whiskered lips, tell no tales of the bristle- covered tongue within, that licks and licks the skin of its prey, until it is filed away, and the bleeding flesh made ready for the meal. " When he hunts by stalking, he prefers the dark hours, his eyes shining like lanterns. In truth, the Ocelot wears a coat of many colors, in which orange, brown, and yellow blend and mingle as a groundwork for tawny, black-edged spots, stripes and streaks which cover two and a half feet of bod}' and fifteen inches of tail. In habits, he is more of a tree cat than the others ; he too, like them, is no carrion eater, only feeding upon prey that he catches himself. See the crouching figure with ears well up, back feet braced, and tail lashing. It is in the exact position of a House Cat watching a Mouse. In a moment, if the birds pass under the tree, there will be a spring, a flutter, and a mass of feathers borne to the ground, and a meal for the Ocelot. COUSINS OF CATS 229 House Cat. "Ill spite of its climbing propensi- ties, the Ocelot is a swift runner, and leads the dogs, with whom it was for- merly always hunted, a wild chase, crossing and doubling among the water- ways of its haunts in a manner to throw the keenest hound off the scent/' " Now my three grinning heads," said Dodo, gazing at her favorite picture ; "are they three kinds of cats, or a mother, father, and child? I think they look like a family." " Three different species," said Dr. Roy ; " and the heads are drawn in exact proportion, so that you may judge of their size. The smallest is the House Cat, an emigrant like our- selves. The next in size is the Wildcat, or Bay Lynx, and the largest with the hairy ear tufts is the savage Can- ada Lynx, called Loup Cervier by the early travellers. " You all know the House Cat and its habits : how it purrs when it is going to sleep or feels pleased ; how it sharpens its claws on car- pet or wood, drawing them in and out at will ; how Canada Lynx. Wildcat. 230 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS rough, its tongue is when it licks your finger. You have seen its eyes shine in the dark, and how the pupil (the little dark spot in the centre that lets in the light to make it see) can be made large or small. You have watched it steal along softly on its hunting trips as cautiously as a man, and you have seen it give a mouse or bird the fatal blow with its heavy paw, that both stuns and holds like a trap. It is a cat's skill as a bird hunter that made me banish it years ago from the farm, for a terrier will keep the rats and mice in order quite as well. " You also know, or at least I am sure that Olive does, how a cat steals away to find some very private place for a nest for her little blind kittens, and how much pride she takes in cuddling them in her arms and suckling them until they can lap milk or catch mice for themselves." " Indeed I do, for a cat once made a nest on a shelf in a box where I kept my best hat all trimmed with ostrich feathers and velvet ! " said Olive. " Our Wildcats seek out the most inaccessible places in rock ledges and tree hollows as homes for their kit- tens. When I was a boy I found a Wildcat's nest in an old chestnut log, in the wood by the grazing pasture at the other side of the farm. No, you need not look worried, Dodo, there are none about now ! " It was the early part of May, and a party of us had gone out to look for arbutus, which made masses of fragrant pink among the dead leaves. People all about had been complaining of the Foxes and saying that they were very bold, visiting some farm every night and yet leaving no tracks. We lost chickens and ducks, quite COUSINS OF CATS 231 a good-sized little pig, and finally a pair of tame white, pink-eyed rabbits that were my special pride. " In going flower hunting this day I strayed away from the others to look for the thousand and one things that always made the woods a fairy picture book to me. I should not have been surprised to have found the en- trance to the palace of the sleeping beauty between the rocks, but instead of Beauty I found a Beast ! " " Oh, uncle, you are joking; all those were dream sto- ries that never really happened," said Dodo, solemnly. " I said a Beast, not the Beast, and it happened in this way. I was resting on the edge of a moss-covered rock under the edge of which lay the trunk of an enor- mous chestnut that had been blown over and gone mostly to decay. As I swung my heels down and kicked this trunk, three little furry heads appeared at the hollow in the end. I took them for the kittens of some stray cat, and stooping over tried to catch one, but they gave a cry in concert, something between a spit and a yowl, and disappeared in the tree. Then I noticed that the mossy ground by the stump was dug up and there was the partly covered remains of one of my rabbits ! " Before I could think or put two and two together, I heard the snapping of some twigs behind me on the rocks, and as I turned a most weird and unpleasant ' meau-11-11 ' greeted me, and there stood a Wildcat, ears back, jaws snarling, its long legs braced for a spring ! I did not know that the American members of this family will not, any more than Wolves, attack man unless driven to bay, that they never hunt in packs, or that the cat was fully as much frightened as I was, and that she had merely returned home in a hurry in answer to 232 FOUli-FOOTEB AMERICANS the call of her kittens. I saw only a strange monster spitting fire, ready to spring at me, and imagined I heard the cries of a hundred more in the trees. Under these circumstances it was not strange that I ran back to my companions, with such a tale of horror that the whole party hurried home as fast as possible to spread the news, not daring to look behind them, and spilling arbutus blossoms like a paper chase trail over three miles of road. . " Our parents wisely decided that I must have seen one Wildcat, if not a whole army, and concluding that the missing poultry could only have been taken by a beast that climbed, organized a hunting party composed of six mixed dogs, who understood the Coon trade, five men and as many rifles, while I was allowed to follow. The mother Cat was easily treed and quickly shot ow- ing to her unwillingness to leave the neighborhood of her log house. I had begged for the kittens to tame for pets, so they were poked out of the log and put in a bag. "All of a sudden, as we turned toward a path to leave the wood by a different way, our old hound Trum- peter put his nose to the ground and started off like a shot, the less well-bred pack following at his heels. " ' Go home with your bag of kittens,' said my father, in a tone that brooked no argument, as he dashed after the dogs. Though it was a lonely walk, the bag was heavy, and the kittens clawed and quarrelled, there was nothing for me to do but go. " Sundown came, no father ; the moon rose, and the wives of the four other hunters gathered at our house, and sat solemnly in the sitting-room (now my wonder COUSINS OF CATS 233 room), where, Dodo, your mother, then a small baby, was asleep in her cradle. At ten o'clock they went to their homes, while I peeped at them from the hall window, and finally went to bed, dreaming of Wolves, Indians, and Lions. " About half-past seven the next morning the party returned, father carrying Trumpeter over his shoulder, and our neighbors the pair of Wildcats. They had followed the trail upon which our hound had started nearly all night, in and out of brush, marsh, and wood. When the male cat was finally brought to .bay, Trum- peter, not distinguishing between this savage beast and the usual Coon, had attacked him, only to be painfully wounded, and then a bullet had killed the second of this pair of robbers. " I can remember now exactly how the Wildcat looked, as it lay on the door stone, for they gave the female to me because I first saw it. It was nearly three feet long from nose to root of tail, which' was, perhaps, a little over six inches. It had a round head and large pointed ears, from which the long winter hairs were not completely shed. Its long body was covered with brindled, barred, and mottled fur, of light and dark brown, rusty and gray. Its legs and feet seemed long and large compared to its lean muscular body. My father kept the skin of this cat and tanned it, and, old and worn, there it is now on the settle ! " " Only think," said Nat, as the children began to handle the pelt and stroke it eagerl} r , " this old skin once lived in our woods and frightened Uncle Roy ! " " Did Trumpeter get well, and what became of the kittens ? " asked Dodo. 234 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Trumpeter was bandaged up and cured after a while, but it was months before he would go near the cat skin, which lay on the back of the parlor sofa. The kittens soon grew very sly and vicious, and father gave them to a travelling showman who came to East Village." " Where do Wildcats live now ? " asked Rap. " They are scattered quite evenly over the wilder parts of the middle country from the south up, haunting places where small Mammals or game birds can be had, but they are nowhere common enough to cause trouble." "Now the nicest cat picture of all," said Rap, "the Puma and the Elk. The Puma doesn't look much like a Cat — is more like the postmaster's old lean mastiff." " You make a good comparison there, my boy," said the Doctor ; " except that it has shorter legs and larger feet, and a tuft on the end of its tail, this Puma is very much the same size and color as that dog. " Imagine an animal like old Max weighing from 150 to 200 pounds, with the spring and strength of a bundle of steel springs, feet heavy enough to fell a man with a blow, and armed with the most powerful movable claws. Having more leaping agility than any American four- foot, clearing twenty feet easily on a level, and in a downward leap able to cover sixty feet, and you will have a picture of the Puma, as the Wise Men prefer to call him, though he is known in different parts of the country as Panther, Mountain Lion, and Cougar. The Puma varies very much in size, those found in the south being larger than their northerly brothers." "Why is that?" asked Rap. "Among Wolves the northerly ones were the biggest." COUSINS OF CATS 235 " The dog family likes a cool climate and the cats prefer a warm one. Even though the Puma is hardy, and can live in all climates, one of the Wise Men says that an animal always grows the largest in the climate that best suits him. " The Puma sharpens its claws on the bark of trees or the earth, and purrs when pleased ; both these instincts are found in his tame cousin, the House Cat, who provokes her owners often by scratching the carpet. Their fur changes color somewhat according to season, and the young wear mottled coats at first, like young Deer." " I suppose he only lives in very far-away wild places," said Rap. "Now his haunts are almost altogether confined to the rocky and wooded parts of the west and southwest ; but not so many years ago he ranged within a few miles of the eastern coast and was plentiful in the Adirondacks, in places where people now have camps and cottages. " The Puma is feared by all other beasts except a Bear or a Deer with fully grown antlers, for it both at- tacks the throat and gives killing blows with its heavy paws. But the Puma keeps to the wildest places and where it was plentiful the Wildcat was usually rare." " If they lived in such lonely places, how did they come to be killed out ? " asked Olive. " Because, wherever they were seen, they frightened people so much that they were killed whenever possible. Then they had but two, or at most four, little ones in their rocky lair every other year, and these took two or three years to become fully grown, so the race increased 236 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS very slowly. The only wonder is that there are so many left, for they are not long-lived animals, seldom living more than fifteen years." " Didn't they eat a great many people ? " asked Dodo. " No, like the Wolves they dread firearms and seldom or never attack man in spite of all the wonderful stories you will hear to the contrary. The greatest harm they did was to kill food animals upon which man depended. Deer, young Elk, and also calves, they destroyed easily, as well as sheep and pigs, and they have been known to capture, kill, and drag away to a private feeding spot a beast almost twice their own size. The Puma has one good quality, — it is not a wasteful feeder, never taking new prey while it has a supply of food on hand. " It is as a hunter that the Puma shows the most in- telligence. He is a fair hunter, watching signs, wait- ing until he can get to windward of his prey, then creeping slowly upon it and preparing for the spring, as the human hunter stalks and waits for the right moment to shoot. It is upon his wonderful leap that the Puma depends for his success ; he is too heavy of paw and too short of breath to be a fast runner. He may trust to one, two, or three springs to catch up with his flying prey, then if he does not overtake it he does not follow it further. It is this lack of speed which allows dogs and men afoot to drive him to cover, though of course he has the advantage of being able to cross chasms on logs and to descend steeps by means of trees. Young Deer are perhaps the Puma's favorite food, though he does not despise any animal food, and often makes a meal of that four-legged cactus, the Porcupine. Do you remember how Wolves trapped Puma hunting Elk. COUSINS OF CATS 237 the Deer, one chasing it in a circle while the other lay hidden in the runway to pull it down as it passed ? " " Yes, yes, we all do ! " chorused the children. " The Puma hunts singly more than in couples, so instead of driving the Deer or Elk (it never tries a fully grown Moose) it notes the runway and waits for the Deer to pass the spot where it is crouching. A successful spring will land the Puma on the haunches of his vic- tim, where lie fastens his claws until he can give the killing throat bite. But oftentimes the Deer starts quickly and the Puma is 'too late,' and the Elk escapes, like those in the picture. " In snow time alone, the Puma seems to hunt by chasing as well as by the stalk and leap. He can spread his broad paws so as to make snow-shoes of them, keeping on the surface while the small, sharp hoofs of the Deer cause them to sink. In this again he hunts like some sportsmen, who take a mean advantage of the heavy Moose and Elk ploughing wearily through deep snow, to follow them on snow-shoes without having the Puma's rightful excuse of hunger." The children laid the Ocelot, Wildcat, and Puma skins on the floor, comparing and talking about them, while Olive went for the crackers to toast. Finally Dodo folded her arms, looked up with a sigh, and said solemnly, " Even if Pumas do not eat people, I'm very much relieved to know that they have re- treated a long way inland," being perfectly unconscious that she was imitating Dr. Roy's speech and deliberate manner, and not understanding why he laughed so heartily that his " near to " eye-glasses bounced into the fire. XVII THREE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS AY I choose that deer with the smoke coming out of his nose?" said Dodo to Rap, as he was turning over the pictures the next Saturday evening. " I don't understand one bit about the different horns, — the cow's that stay on and the Deer's horns that fall off." " Doctor Roy says we must ask Nez for the story to that picture. I am looking to see if I can find any cousins of the farm animals ; it seems as if there must be some. Yes, here are two, — a Sheep with monstrous horns and a white Goat ! " " ( )h, uncle ! daddy ! " called Dodo, " we have found wild relations of Nanny Baa and Corney ! " " Yes," added Rap, " and beside in the Sheep picture there is Billy Goon's cousin, a great fat Bear." " So you have come to three of our famous ' big game ' fourfoots in a bunch," said Mr. Blake, " and I suppose you want me to take you hunting to-night. Very well, we will go, only you must put on stout 238 THREE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 239 clothes, thick, easy shoes, or moccasins, bring a pair of skees apiece, and be prepared for climbing up hill for miles and sleeping out doors many nights." " What are skees ? " asked Nat. " They are foot gear ; an Old-World invention, half skate, half snow-shoe, like a pair of small foot-tobog- gans, that Rocky Mountain hunters use in icy weather." " Then these ' big game ' animals live 'way out west in the Rocky Mountains ! I know those mountains," said Dodo ; " they hump up all the way from Alaska down to Mexico. But people need not walk ; couldn't they go there by train, daddy ? " "You can go for a week or more by train. Then at the end of a week of horseback riding and walking- mixed, you will be lucky if you see the plump, round body, and the great curved horns that give the name of Bighorn to this Mountain Sheep, the shyest of all our fonrfoots. " Some day, if I do not grow too old and stiff, and if the wasteful Wolf Hunters have not dragged dyna- mite guns up the mountains and bombarded them all out, I hope to take Nat to see this Bighorn and the Mountain Goat at home. For to-night you must be content with a story." " The big Bear, does he live as far up and away as the others ? " " He lives in and also below their ranges, but nowa- days one must usually look much further for a Grizzly, such as the one who is peering at the Bighorn in the picture, than for either the Sheep or Goats. The Grizzly is a flesh eater, with an enormous appetite for everything else eatable — from wild berries to hone}— 240 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS comb. He is sometimes tempted to come near farms, camps, and houses, to pick up dainty titbits, while the Sheep and Goats, being hollow-horned cud-chewers, belonging to the meat family, like the Bison, are not often tempted from their lofty grazing grounds ; but his foot leaves no sound and he comes and goes unseen. " In the great National Park of the Yellowstone River, where the Government, by offering protection, is trying to coax the ' big game ' to make itself into a Zoological Garden, — there is a hotel where people may stay who wish to see the wonders of the country without too much trouble. The waste food and refuse of this house is carried to a heap not far away." " A swill heap, you mean, don't you, daddy ? " asked Dodo. " I shouldn't think the Government would allow a swill heap in a Park. Uncle won't have one on the farm ; he says ' they are perfectly barbarous things, that make pestilence and flies,' so the pigs have the clean scraps and everything else is buried ! " " You are right there," laughed Mr. Blake, " and it is nothing more nor less than the odor of this swill heap, attractive at least from their point of view, that lures the Bears, both Black and Grizzly, from their rocky dens to come and feast within eye-shot of Houso People." " Then I should think the people could shoot them,'" said Nat. " No guns are allowed in the Park, that is one reason why the Bears are so fearless." " But I should think the Bears and Panthers and little nuisance animals would grow to be too many, and eat up the Deer and other fourfoots." Grizzly Beau and Bighokn Sheep. THREE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 241 " They may in time, but the idea, I believe, is to trap the larger beasts if they increase too freely and send them to Zoological Gardens where people may see them." " How long do wild animals live ? " asked Dodo. " That depends upon the species. House Cats and Dogs, you know, are considered quite old at twelve, and seldom live longer than fifteen years. Horses will average twenty-five, while on the other hand Squirrels and Rabbits are old at seven or eight." " How long do Bears live ? " " Perhaps twenty or twenty-five years, but it is very difficult to judge about wild animals. It is impossible to keep track of them out of doors. In confinement they are seldom perfectly healthy, and so do not live out their natural lives. In fact, among these flesh-eating four-foots, every one eats some one else, and it is prob- able that very few live to die of old age." " Do Grizzly Bears and Bighorns and Goats live no- where but in the Rockies ? " " Grizzlies were once found in all the mountains and foothills of the west from Mexico north to the Barren Grounds. They did not always stay in the mountains either, but came across open country, poking their noses most unpleasantly into the affairs of prairie travellers, and carrying consternation into the very glare of the campfire. "Now 'old Ephraim,' as the Grizzly is nicknamed, has been driven from his more southerly haunts only to increase and thrive mightily in the cold northwest ter- ritory, where the largest are found. When a Grizzly Bear undertakes to grow T as large as he can, then tca^s 242 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS warning, sheep, range cattle, and huntsmen ! Of all the ferocious, unstopable, persistent, disagreeable beasts of North America, this Bear is the chief ! Compared to him the Polar Bear is a cat and the Black Bear a kitten ; small wonder then that the Wise Men named him ' horribilis ' /" " I think you must have met a Grizzly out walking," said Dodo, " so you can tell us about him. How big was he and how did he look ? " " He looked as big as a load of hay ambling along, but he measured, after our battle was over, about nine feet from nose to tail, and stood four feet high at the shoulder. As he could not have changed in size dur- ing an hour, it proves what I have always said, that going either hunting or fishing turns human eyes into magnifying glasses, making them see double at the very least. " The rough hairy fur of the Grizzly varies so much in color that hunters, judging by sight alone, often in- sist that he is several kinds of bear instead of one. You all know that you cannot judge by appearances in studying animals ; if you did, you would call the Whale a big fish, never guessing that it is just as much a Mammal as a cow. " The Grizzly's summer coat is short, brindled brown, and his winter, long, heavy, and a buffy brown, not griz- zled gray as some people think. Grizzly, a Wise Man says, means horrible, and should be spelled g-r-i-s-1-y. A faded brown will be the color of those you are likely to see in menageries. This Bear has a heavy head, a rather wolflike face, with full cheek tufts of fur bush- ing out well up to the ears, and eyes that express the THREE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 243 deep cunning that looks like stupidity. He walks usu- ally on all fours, but can also charge standing upright, looking like some giant or ogre in a fairy tale. " His broad footprints, for he is a sole walker, also have something strangely human about them, and hunt- ers, fancying that they looked like moccasin tracks, dubbed the Grizzly 'Moccasin Joe.' But the likeness to a foot disappears when you see the long, cruel claws that end the toes — claws that are both weapons for tearing and tools for digging roots, hollowing out a den for the winter sleep, or burying the food he cannot eat at once." " Do big Bears like this have to sleep in winter ? I should think they could keep warm enough to stay awake with such a thick coat," said Nat. " In the cooler parts of the country they ' den up,' — - the length of time they stay in varying from a few weeks to six months, and depending upon the weather. When a Bear makes up his mind to go to sleep, he is generally very fat and his fur is at its best. I'm quite sure a thin Bear would have sense enough not to risk curling up until he had collected some fat about his bones to feed his winter life fire. "Now you must imagine a picture of Moccasin Joe in addition to the drawing, then take a good look at the Bighorn and Mountain Goat, for it was in hunting for one of these two that I met a Grizzly ' out walk- ing," as Dodo says. "' The Bighorn is a shapely, well-built f ourf oot, about the size of a year-old heifer (or in round numbers three and a half feet to the shoulder), with all the firm plump- ness of a sheep, having the poise and swiftness of a 244 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS Deer, and wearing such wonderful horns that he would be a marked animal in any country. So heavy are these horns that nature does not oblige the female to carry them, giving her a much smaller pair. It is suf- ficient for the males, who wage war with each other and upon beasts of prey, to have such weapons. Then, too, the small horns of the female tell the hunter who she is, and if he is a true sportsman he will never shoot her or her young, unless he is either starving or needs her very badly to complete some family group in a museum. "The coat of the Bighorn is of a bluish dirt gray, the rump is whitish, thick and fleecy beneath, thicker on the neck and shoulders than on the flanks, and thatched with a brittle, strawlike outer coat. In fact, at a dis- tance, if he is standing, the whole animal looks white, but in lying down seems to melt suddenly into his sur- roundings. He is not only a gamey, alert animal, but looks it ; he has the air of a mountain lover, whose great- est joy is to climb a high peak and turn his straw-colored eyes toward the view. This habit of course makes him doubly hard to kill, for the hunter not only has to climb, but the Sheep can see everything from his rocky outpost, and the chances are that, unless the sportsman crawls on the ground for miles from cover to cover, making himself as flat as a Woodchuck, when he arrives within shooting distance of where the Sheep was, he will see it calmty watching him from another pinnacle a mile further up." " I suppose they can jump just like Panthers and get over places that people couldn't cross," said Rap. " They are agile and quick runners and can jump TIIBEE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 245 moderately, but when they wish to go down a steep place, they set their feet and coast, for the shock of jumping so far would kill them, even if their bones were not all broken. "So hardy is the Bighorn and family that the lambs born in the early spring go slipping over the ice after their parents as soon as their legs can bear them, never dreaming of feeling cold." " If they are hardy and live so far away, I shouldn't think there would be any danger of their dying out," said Rap. " You would not think so, and yet they yield such delicious mutton that they are persecuted by all the flesh-eating animals who are able to take them, in addi- tion to man. "The Mountain Goat, on the contrary, is said, by those who know, to be holding his own better. His flesh is tough and strong-flavored, and his heavy coat of thick under-fur and rough white hair, that makes him look as clumsy as a miniature Bison, is of little value as a pelt. The Indians, who used to make robes of it, prefer the woven blankets obtained at the trading stations, and so leave him comparatively alone in his dizzy pastures." " The Goat doesn't look as if he would be a good climber," said Rap, studying the picture. " He is short-legged and clumsy and has a humpy neck like a Bison, and his head pokes so far forward that I shouldn't think he could see behind him. He looks as if he would like a nice, comfortable pasture like farm cattle! " " His looks belie him, sure enough! He is a foot less 246 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS tall than the Bighorn, and his smooth black horns do not look powerful, but if I could show you one of his hoofs, you would see how he manages to cling to the face of almost upright rocks. " This hoof has a soft clinging cushion in the middle and an edge sharp as a skate ; the foot of one of the few animals who in bitterest weather declines all shel- ter, and often lies down in the middle of a frozen pool in face of cutting wind, acting as if he enjoyed it." " Why doesn't he freeze to the ice and die ? " asked Dodo. " That is a question I cannot answer. He and his cousin, the Musk Ox, have the secret of keeping warm that nature taught their race in the bygone age of ice. But you can understand how interesting the Bighorn and Mountain Goat are, and see why, being within a few hundred miles of their haunts, I determined to find them, crossing the Bad Lands to the mountains where I had friends, without desiring to meet the Grizzly, who introduced himself to me quite unexpectedly." " What are Bad Lands ? " asked Nat. " Places full of robbers ? " " No; Bad Lands are the parts of the country, beauti- ful to see from the distance, but where there is so little moisture that few things better than cacti and such like plants will thrive. The lime-filled, parti-colored soil being filled with cracks and canons, it is a region good for game but bad for the farmer, bad for the cattle raiser and very bad for the sportsman who, if overtaken by darkness, must make his camp where he is, for there are no tree signs to guide him on his way." " Are these Bad Lands all in one place ? " asked Nat. Mountain Goats. THREE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 247 " I should think, if they are, the Government could put a fence around them to keep people from straying in." " That would be a fine piece of work," said Mr. Blake, laughing. " Imagine putting a fence around an irreg- ular strip, that runs east of the Rockies, making all sorts of side excursions, from Canada to Mexico, and containing more than a million square miles! It would take all the trees in Canada for fence posts, and the first post would be old and decayed before the last was put in. But let us return to our story. " It was in early summer, and the party I had joined was fairly located for making a railway survey across the Cascade Mountains, not far southeast of Seattle, in what is now the state of Washington. Look at your map and you will find that these mountains, named from the streams of clear, cold water dashing down their slopes, lie between the Rockies and the Pacific coast, and are about as far west as any mountains ex- cept the Olympic group. ' " While the camp was waiting for some instruments that had not arrived, three or four of us determined to do a little surveying for Sheep and Goats on our own account. After keeping together for two days and nights, until we had worked our waj^ well up, we de- cided to divide, three of the party to continue on above timber-line after the Goats, while I, accompanied by Crawling Joe, a typical mountaineer engaged by our camp as a guide, meat provider, and useful man, was to go southward along the ledges toward some woodlands and plateaus where Bighorns were likely to graze." " Why was the man called Crawling Joe ? " asked Dodo. 248 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS " Because of his way of hunting Indian-fashion. No matter which way the wind blew, when he had once located an animal, whether it was Bighorn, Moose, or Elk, he would manage to crawl and tack up against the wind within shooting distance of it. In doing this for years he had acquired the cunning of a snake, and would often appear by the campfire as suddenly as if he had come through the ground. " This particular day he insisted that we should leave the horses behind and go on foot, as the rolling of stones and other like sounds, made even by the most sure-footed horses, might prevent our getting a sight of our game. I carried nothing but my pet Winchester, but Joe shouldered a small pack sufficient for a night's camping. After climbing pretty steadily for four hours, we sat down to rest and eat our dinner of cold food. Finding shelter at the edge of a belt of spruces, where there was also water, we resolved to camp there that night and so left the pack in a tree until our re- turn, out of the reach of inquisitive Bears, if any should pass that way. " Our stalk for Bighorns began about one o'clock ; Joe took the lead, directing me by signs. In an hour we were well clear of the woods, and skirting a cliff full of springs and caverns. Suddenly Joe dropped to his knees, motioning me to do the same, then raised his head and gave it an upward jerk. I looked, and half a mile away, on a jutting rock that stood clean against the sky, like a headland against blue sea, was a Bighorn ram, as immovable as if he were a part of the blue gray stone itself. A little back of him were some ewes, lambs, and another ram, though as they were lying down THREE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 249 it was doubly easy to mistake them for stones. The peak where they stood was like an island. The wind was blowing in our faces, and Joe signalled me to take the left route while he turned to the right, thus lessen- ing the chance of the sheep's escape, at least down the mountain. Already I tasted the rich roast mutton with which I had promised to feast the boys of our camp, who had grown tired of salt meat and venison. " I dropped on my hands and knees and began to crawl in a very poor imitation of Joe, for it seemed to me that every stone I touched was either sharp as a knife, or took particular pleasure in rolling down hill. After a quarter of a mile of this sort of work, the ledge around which I was passing was high enough to shield me if I walked upright, and this allowed me to rest my strained knees and elbows. " As I paused a moment to look about, a few bones caught my eye ; the meat was picked from them, but the gristle was quite fresh. ' Ah, ha,' thought I, ' a Bear must have been enjoying some spring lamb ! ' I thought Bear, and instantly I satv a Bear ! Lurching down the steep and stopping directly in my path was a full-sized Grizzly, who was evidently as surprised as I, but not so frightened. The Bear rose on its hind legs, waving its paws, and looked at me slantwise. I returned the stare glance for glance, not knowing what else to do, half expecting the beast to run, as most fourfoots will, and feeling backward at the same time for a footing that would give me range enough to use my rifle. "As I took a step backward the Bear stepped forward growling. I had made a mistake ; a female Grizzly with two or three hungry cubs in her den does not run 250 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS that she may live to fight, she stays to kill that she may eat. Oh ! for a tree ! If there had been one in sight I would have risked running for it, as Grizzlies are not good climbers like the Black Bear ; but there I was, 1 could neither run nor shoot. My enemy gave a grin and a growl and took another step forward, clawing at me. I dared not lift ray rifle to my shoulder, lest she should grab the muzzle, but I managed to grasp the barrel, and swinging it round brought the butt down on the Grizzly's nose with a heavy blow. She was only enraged by it, not stunned, and gave a growl, gnashing her teeth with a horrible noise. For a moment I ex- pected no other fate than to become the supper for the little Bears ! " Something cold slipped along my shoulder and touched my cheek. Fortunately I had sufficient nerve not to turn — there was a sharp report close to my head that made me deaf and kept my ears ringing for months afterward, but the Bear pitched forward, just clearing me, and rolled down the rocks to a ledge below, shot through her wicked eye. " Then I turned. Joe was behind me, calm and cool as if he had merely shot a Squirrel. " ' I saw her a-comin' from the open yonder, and I reckoned you'd be wantin' me 'bout now. Never mind skinnin' her until we get our Bighorn — she'll stay down thar till we call fer her ! I reckoned that shot would scare the Bighorns, but it hasn't ; they must be a green bunch that haven't ever been hunted,' he said, looking around the corner. " Sure enough ; the rocks screened us, and the ram had merely shifted his position, while the whole bunch THREE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 251 were now picking at the tufts of grass back of the rocks. I was in no mood for hunting; but Joe took it for granted that we should go on, and the excitement soon put the Bear out of mind. " Before dusk we had killed our ram, but as he rolled and fell for some distance down the cliffs one horn was broken off and the other, that lies there on the mantel- shelf, is the only trophy you can have of the day when your father was nearly turned into Bear meat ! " " Oh, daddy ! daddy ! " cried Dodo, jumping on his knee and hugging him, " what should we have done if the Bear had eaten you?" " It was before you and Nat had come to live with me. I haven't taken so many risks since I have had two little bears of my own to care for." " Was the mutton good, and did you get it back to camp, and did the other men get any Goats ? " asked Nat. " Yes, we took the best parts of the ram back to the main camp, also the skin of the Grizzly. Our comrades did not get anything that day, though they did later on, and I also have a single Goat horn as a souvenir to match my ram's horn. Hand them to me, Nat." Nat stood on a chair and reached the two horns from the shelf. One was fifteen and one-half inches around at the base and three feet long on the outside of the curve, rough and yellowish gray, while the Goat's horn was smooth, black, and only eight inches in length. " You see that these two horns are hollow, from a little way above their base to the tip, like the horns of a Buffalo or cow. These are true horns and are 252 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS worn by the animal for life, unless accident breaks them off. They are made from a fibrous material akin to hair, and cannot be separated from the head without making a bleeding wound ; as a straight branch grows from a tree, if it is broken a scar is left and the sap runs out. " The antlers of Deer are not made of this libre, but of solid bone. They sprout from the head of the male Deer in the spring, as a leaf bud does from a twig. At first they are soft and tender as the young leaf is. Then they grow and expand in different shapes, each according to its kind, some being simple and others many-pointed, like ferns. All the summer they grow harder and harder, until in autumn and early winter they are ripe and fall off as the leaves do, leaving a little scar through which the next year's antlers sprout. " There is one animal that you will hear about soon, whose horns are stepping-stones between the hollow horns and the solid antlers. Tins is the Antelope, who belongs to the Deer branch of the meat family, and like other Deer sheds its pronged horns, which are still partly hollow like those of a cow." " What do you call them if they are half horn and half antlers ? " asked Rap. " The Wise Men call them prongs, and sportsmen give the Antelope the name of Pronghorn." Meanwhile Mr. Blake was unfastening a little orna- ment that hung to his watch-chain, which he handed to Dodo, saying, — "Here is something I found the other day that I thought was lost. Guess what that is, little daughter." THBEE HARDY MOUNTAINEERS 253 " It's a long, very big dog tooth," said Dodo, looking carefully at the yellow bit of gold-capped ivory in her pink palm. " Wrong ; it is a tooth of the Grizzly that didnt bite me ! " XVIII ON THE PLAINS REPARATIONS for the Christmas party were keeping everybody busy at the farm. Many mysterious boxes and bundles kept arriving from the city, but Dr. Roy had in- sisted that the young folks should make some of the gifts with their own hands. Olive, who was veiy deft with her fingers, had little trouble in devising pretty and useful things, but with Dodo and Nat it was a different matter. A fine, warm flannel gown was under construction for Rap's mother ; a like one, only of a gayer pattern, was already finished for Mammy Bun — that is, all but sewing on the buttons. Mrs. Blake had cut out the various garments, Olive doing the making, assisted in straight seams and easy places by Dodo, to whom sew- ing was a very solemn business. In fact, she held her needle as tight as it' she expected it to jump out of her fingers, and tugged at the thread as if it had the strength of a clothes-line, — a habit that caused many knots, broken ends, and, I must confess, tears. " I think Nat ought to sew and help us ; he isn't 254 ON THE PLAINS 255 making anything," she had said one day after putting her mother's patience, and a seam that would pucker, to a severe trial. " Phoof ! men never sew," he said contemptuously, " they leave such easy work to girls ! " " What is that I hear ? " said the Doctor from behind his newspaper. "Men never sew? That is a great mistake, young man. Men are not ordinarily obliged to cut and make their clothes, but a man should most certainly know how to use a needle. If he is a doctor, he must be able to sew up wounds and fasten bandages neatly. In any profession he is apt to find buttons missing, even if modern shirts are put together with studs ; while as a woodsman, traveller, or engineer, such as you wish to be, he is in constant need of a stout needle and thread ; a tent cover rips, a gun case is torn, thorns cut the clothing. A man may not sit down in the wilderness and wait for a woman to come by with thimble and scissors. " I think it will be an excellent thing, Nat, for you to learn to sew, and you can begin at once by putting the various buttons on these wrappers and aprons. 1 will teach you how myself." " Very well, I will," said Nat, remembering that he and Rap were planning to make a tent in the spring; "but you needn't teach me, uncle, any one can sew on buttons." " Very few people can sew on buttons properly," corrected the Doctor, " that is, buttons on men's clothing that will button and stay buttoned. I know a charming young lady who sews beautifully, but when it comes to buttons she fastens them down so flat and tight to the cloth, that the poor button-holes gape and 256 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS make faces in trying to swallow them, and often do not succeed at all. One of the button-holes in my over- coat is suffering from a strained jaw now ! " Olive laughed and blushed at this, saying that it really was not so very easy to give the button a nice little neck of thread to hold it and yet make it strong and fast. " Double thread, four times through, and wind four times round the neck is my receipt," said Dr. Roy. So this is how it came about that Nat was sitting tailor fashion on the wolf skin facing the campfire, sewing on buttons, the Saturday before Christmas, having borrowed Mammy Bun's thimble, which he wore on his thumb. "It's my turn again to choose," said Dodo, going to the portfolio ; " but won't you please help me, Uncle Roy ? I want to find one of those animals with the between horns, that are hollow like a cow's and yet fall off like a Deer's ! " " The Antelope, you mean. Turn a little further over — there is a head of a Prongbuck 1 (as the males are called), showing the horns, and here is a picture with the doe and fawn being chased across the plain by a Coyote, while the Prairie Dogs watch nervously from the doors of their holes, wondering when this little brother of the Wolf will turn his attention to them. This picture is quite a drama in itself, and we only need add one more character to have a group of plainsmen about whom books of stories could be written. Stop, there is the picture that I wish, — the Badger. " If you think a moment about the animals of our stories, you will remember that they have almost all 1 See page 300. Drama of the Plains. Prairie Dogs. Antelope. Coyote. OX THE PLAINS 257 lived in or about woods or thickets of some nature, and that they have been chiefly lovers of darkness — night hunters — the Buffalo and Jack Rabbit being the great exceptions. Now we have come to some fourfoots who, like those two, also prefer the open plains. Naming them in order of size they are the Antelope or Pronghorn, the Coyote, the Badger, and the Prairie Dog, who even to-day carry on the drama of the plains in spite of the onward march of two-footed settlers. " Three of these four animals live and feed in the open light of day, the Badger alone being a night prowler. Two, the Badger and the Prairie Dog, sleep the winter sleep, having homes deep under the ground. Two, the Pronghorn and Coyote, are always watching and awake, always alert, living wherever their food is to be found. This drama is not a comedy, it is a tragic grand chain, hands-all-round. " The Pronghorn is a cud-chewer, therefore a vege- table eater and no cannibal ; but the Coyote eats the Pronghorn, Prairie Dog, and Badger (when he can catch him), as well as our old friend, the Jack Rabbit. The Badger also eats the Prairie Dog, as well as Rats, Mice, Gophers, and other nuisance animals, yet the Prairie Dog is the only one of the four who increases beyond the possibility of counting, and stretches his villages from the home of the Peccary in Texas to the land of the Varying Hare." " Do they build houses ? " asked Dodo. " These in the picture seem to be sitting by little holes on top of ant-hills, that look exactly like the tips of the volcanoes on your raised map in the wonder room." " They do not build," said the Doctor ; " they dig 258 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS houses in the ground, after the fashion of their cousin, the Wooclchuck. But the Prairie Dogs are very sociable, living in great underground villages, sometimes twenty or thirty miles long. We may see the doors of their homes easily enough, where they sit hunched like little old women, with their arms wrapped in shawls, yet quite alert, like all of the Squirrel family to which they be- long. But they never invite us inside, or even give us a glimpse of the miles and miles of underground pas- sages that run so deep, that I have often wondered if this little beast might not sometimes burrow down to water, for though they often live near creeks and in river bottoms, they also seem to be content quite out of reach of visible water at least. " Deep as the passages may be, the Badger knows how to dig down to them, and readily captures this Prairie Squirrel, with its grizzled brown coat and Mar- mot's face. Though called Prairie Dot/, there is not a point of resemblance between this vegetable eater and the meat-eating dog, except it is in its cry, — ' Yap — yap — yap ! ' — which is between a yelp and a bark. " Cleanly in its habits and rather prettily furred, this fourfoot is a prince among mischief makers, and is a fine illustration of an animal who is becoming not only a nuisance, but a real danger to crops, because of the necessary disturbance of the great balance wheel." " What wheel was that ? I forget about it," said Dodo. " I remember," said Nat ; " the balance wheel is what Uncle Roy called ' The Plan of the World," where things Were arranged so that every animal and plant should be food to some other one, and there shouldn't ON THE PLAINS 259 be too much of anything. But by and by House People had to meddle, and without thinking much about it killed off some things, and then the others grew too many, because there was no one to eat them ! " " That is rather a mixed way of putting it," laughed Dr. Roy, " but we understand what you mean, which is something. " The Prairie Dog eats not only grass, but grass roots also, and as soon as they have eaten all within a certain distance of their homes, they move on, burrow- ing fresh villages, leaving bare, barren ground behind them, only to lay waste fresh grazing ground. "Before the Buffaloes had left and farm cattle roamed over the plains, and wheat fields made green seas of the prairies, the natural enemies of the Prairie Dogs held them in check. But the farmer was more angry with the Coyote, Fox, and Badger than with the seemingly harmless Prairie Dog, and turned his atten- tion to them, until he found that it was much worse to have his pasture eaten than to lose a few calves and lambs — and now the war wages fiercely in the grazing and wheat lands. " You may take a rifle and play ' catch as catch can, until the gunpowder runs out of the heels of your boots,' like the people in the nursery jingle ; but it is more often ' catch as catch emit ' when you undertake to rout a Prairie Dog town. " I have often sauntered through one of their villages, stick in hand, merely to see what they would do. They were as usual on the watch, each one close to his door. Very likely a Burrowing Owl, living in some abandoned hole of the dogs, would drop me a quaint bobbing cour- 260 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS tesy as I passed, after a fashion of its own. Perhaps I would see a sand-colored rattlesnake disappear in one of the mounds, probably to make a meal and a visit at the same time. " As I drew near every eye was upon me. If I raised my arms or stick, amid a chorus of yelps, down the Prairie Dogs would go into their holes, only to bob up the next moment Jack-in-the-box fashion. It does not seem to matter how they enter the holes. They can turn a somersault down the slope that leads from the door to the first gallery, and disappear backward, star- ing all the while. " Curiosity is often as fatal to them as to big game. Coyote knows this failing and avails himself of it in hunting them. You remember how the great Gray Timber Wolves hunt in couples or in packs. Coyote also follows this family habit. Two start out from a den or lounging spot in the side of a butte or coulie." " What is a butte ? " asked Dodo. " A butte is a sort of cliff of sandstone, that rises sharply from level ground. They are the landmarks of the plains and often take beautiful or fantastic shapes, like church spires or castles. Some buttes are bare and arid, some are dotted with clusters of pine trees. A coulie is a cut made by creek or river. "As I said before," continued the Doctor, "two Coyotes start out to see what they can pick up, sniffing about here and there like the vagabond wild dogs they are. If they find the carcass of some large animal, left by Wolves or human hunters, they will gorge them- selves contentedly upon it, for they are the Jackals of our country and revel in carrion. If, however, they ON THE PLAINS 261 meet with nothing of this sort, they sit down like a couple of House People deciding upon a plan of action, and look about the country in all directions." "Do they look for what they want? I thought all fourfoots followed scent the most," said Rap. " With the beasts of woods and thickets, smell is the keener sense of the two ; but with the animals who have been adapted to living in the open, sight is better de- veloped." "Of course," said Olive, "I can understand that, for you cannot see far in the woods, while there are fewer things in the open country to hold the scent." "Oar Coyotes see in the distance some Prairie Dogs sitting at the mouths of their caves : they interchange signals. One Coyote starts off on a lazy trot ; the other remains sitting. The first Coyote does not hurry, however, but goes in a careless way toward the village, and soon his companion may be seen following him. Singling out a particular dog, the leader passes it slowly, but without pausing. Down drops the Prairie Dog into its hole as if shot. In a moment his curiosity overcomes his fear. He peeps out, sees the Coyote moving off, and so resumes his doorstep watch, still eying the enemy. "The moment he takes his place he is snapped up by Coyote number two, who has followed, all unseen, in the footsteps of number one. This is of course if all goes well, and no neighborly Prairie Dog has given a warning ' Yap ! ' " Some spring morning our Coyotes may fancy veni- son for breakfast, and think that nothing would taste better than a young Antelope. Again they scan the 262 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS plain, slinking along cautiously behind such scant shel- ter as they can find, or lying flat on the ground if no cover offers. In the distance a bunch of Antelope are feeding, their pronged horns showing them to be chiefly males, who would run too swiftly and fight too bravely if the single pair of Coyotes should follow them. " While the Coyotes are planning and plotting, let us cross the plain and look at these Antelopes, who were once, next to the Buffalo, the most plentiful of our big game animals, even now holding out bravely against great persecution, which if it cannot be stopped will, in another ten years, surely drive them out of existence. " The Buffalo may thrive for a time in confinement, but the Antelope does not, for he misses the Buffalo grass of his native plains. " The Pronghorn is a compact animal, with more the shape of a Bighorn than of his cousin the Deer. He measures three feet to the shoulder, has a short body, and is very easy to identify, first by the black horns with double prongs that grow just above and between the large, deep brown eyes, next by the neck bands of brown and white, then by the white rump, the straw- like hair of the back being dun color, like the coat of a Jersey cow. The eyes of the Antelope are of won- derful size and brilliancy, and they are among the keenest eyed of our fourfoots. The doe (as the female is usually called in the Deer family) does not wear horns. " The twin horns of the little male fawns begin to grow when they are four months old, and are shed in midwinter or early spring, but the old bucks usually ON THE PLAINS 263 lose theirs in autumn, at the end of the year's growth and srood grazing. When the time comes that the old horn is ripe it drops off. If you could look at it, you would find it hollow half-way up, and see how it fitted over the bony core from which it grew, and which is a part of the animal's skull. Then you would see the point of the soft new horn sprouting." " Why do Deer have to shed their prongs and horns ? " asked Nat. " What are they good for, and isn't the ground all prickly with them ? " " They are the weapons with which the males fight each other when they choose their mates. You have seen that birds often quarrel in the mating season and peck and fly at each other, and the fourfoots are much more jealous and disagreeable, the larger ones, like the Bears and Deer, often fighting terrible battles. Their mating season is in the autumn, and when it is over they have no further use for their weapons until the new ones are ripe the next season." "Why don't they need them to fight people and other animals with ? " asked Rap. " They use them in self -protection sometimes, but in fighting other animals they usually strike with their hoofs and are able to deal very powerful blows. One of the ways in which the Deer family kills rattle- snakes is to spring suddenly upon them with their four feet close together. "The Pronghorn has its winter and summer ranges like the Buffalo. In summer, unless drought turns the coarse grass into hay, they fare well; but in winter the poor Antelope huddle together in such shelter as they can find, and if snowed in, not having snow-shoe feet to 264 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS travel toward Letter feeding grounds, they must freeze and starve if thoroughly snowbound. Why we do not find more of the cast-off prongs or antlers on the grounds, is a hard question to answer. Indians say because sometimes the animals paw up dirt and bury them, but it is probably because the great army of nuisance animals gnaw them for food. " The Antelope fawns, one or two in number, are born in middle or late spring, and stay in grassy nooks under slight shelter for a few days, after which they follow their mothers. This is a time of peril for both fawn and doe. While the fawns are too feeble to run about, they are comparatively safe, but as soon as they come out in plain sight the eyes of the Coyote world are upon them, and the does often lose their lives in striving to protect them. Then there are winged ene- mies also, — the great golden war Eagles, who swoop down and seize the fawns easily, and are often a match for fully grown bucks, disabling them first by picking out their eyes." "Do Antelopes only live in the far West ? Were there never any near here ? " asked Dodo. " They have never been found east of the Mississippi, but they once ranged all the way from the Saskatche- wan country down to prickly Peccary land, both in the green prairie, foothills, and dry, cracked alkali plain, where rattlesnakes and horned toads were their com- panions. Now domestic sheep have taken their sum- mer ranges on the bare slopes of the foothills, as the range cattle have replaced the Buffalo, and the great tribe is broken into detached groups, scattered here and there through half a dozen states." ON THE PLAINS 265 " I should think the Coyotes and Foxes could surely find the baby Deer when they were hidden in the bushes," said Rap. " So you would imagine, but when the fawns are very small they are said to have no odor by which they may be tracked, and if their mothers scent harm for them they give a bleating call, and the obedient children flatten themselves close to the earth and are hidden from sight, in the same manner that the little grouse disappear at their mother's cluck. As soon as they are old enough to have strength in their legs, the fawns cease hiding, taking to their heels when alarmed — and how a Pronghorn runs when it chooses ! The fully grown Antelope can outrun a race horse for a certain distance, and though they cannot jump as far upward as other Deer, they can cross a great space on a level, and even the little ones bound over the ground as swiftly as Rabbits." " I should think if they ran so fast and could see so far, hunters could never catch them," said Rap. " It is a difficult matter in broken and treacherous ground, but their curiosity makes it possible. To chase Antelope on horseback at full speed over the plains is dangerous work ; at any moment a horse may step into a Badger or Prairie Dog's hole, break his leg, and give the rider a bad fall. But sometimes a herd, on seeing a horseman, will run a little way, then all wheel round and gaze at him before starting once more, which lets him gain time. " There was a way of attracting Antelope, called sig- nalling, by waving a flag on a pole. On sight of the waving object, the curiosity of the animals was excited 266 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS and they came up to look, but it only attracted Ante- lope who had not been hunted before, and they are now growing too shy to be deceived by it. Then, in addi- tion to the protection of their coloring when lying down and their own wonderful eyesight, the Pronghorns have danger signals of their own, added to various cries. When alarmed, they can raise the hair on the rump until it looks like a huge white chrysanthemum, being visible from a great distance. " Now Avhile we have been talking about the habits of the Antelope, what have our pair of Coyotes planned? " They have sneaked along until they have discov- ered a doe, grazing alone and followed by a fair-sized fawn. After taking the lay of the land the Coyotes separate, one going over a bit of rising ground to the left and the other creeping directly towards its prey, for you must understand that Coyotes, though swift runners, cannot overtake an animal like the Antelope except by forming a partnership of two, three, or four, spreading out along the runway and chasing in relays — one starting when another gives out, until their victim is quite spent. " The doe starts to run, the fawn keeping by her side, its legs striking out awkwardly. On they go for a mile or so gayly enough, the doe gradually turning to the left toward an accustomed track, her white back bristling in alarm, like a warning cry of ' Wolf to any of her tribe who may heed. Now very soon the fawn begins to lag and the Coyote gains upon them. The doe is prepared for this, and gradually drops behind, keeping the fawn in front of her. One minute more and as the Coyote strives to pass and seize the kid, he ON THE PLAINS 267 will receive a stunning blow in the head from those rocklike hoofs. Then the pair will be safe, unless they are too tired to escape the second Coyote who is waiting to head them off a little further on. But if the second Coyote should arrive on the scene before the first is disabled, struggling is useless, and the little Wolf brothers will have the venison breakfast that they coveted." " You said the Badger holes were dangerous for horsemen. Do Badgers live with the Prairie Dogs ? " asked Dodo. " The Badger in this picture is very funny — he looks very silly, and as if he wanted to sneeze and couldn't ! " " Badgers make their homes near Prairie Dog towns or at wood edges. These burrows are very curious affairs too. They go down fully six feet, then separate into galleries that lead to different rooms, the master of the house occupying the largest, deepest apartment all by himself. They are clean beasts, too, and keep their quarters very neat. Foolish as the Badger looks, he is a fierce foe, and it is a plucky dog or beast of any kind who can rout him from his hole. "The Badger is about two feet from nose to tail, which is rather short; the body is broad and flat, the skin thick and tough, the back and fore legs as strong as iron. It has a pointed nose, keen black eyes, and a white stripe running from its nose over its head to the shoulders. The general color of its winter fur, which is three inches long, is a frosty gray. We say of a man who has peculiarly white-tipped hair, ' He is gray as a Badger.' The summer fur is less brilliant, being yel- lowish and faded. The Badger's chief claims to fame 268 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS are liis long, cruel claws, used both as tools and weapons, which, combined with his sharp teeth, make him an animal to be attacked cautiously. Both back and front feet have five strong toes set well in the flesh, armed with claws that make the Badger a veritable steam ftwrf Si-tci, T^W"?" Badger. shovel for digging. Once give him ever so small a start and he can burrow faster than anything can follow him. Or let him back into his hole, bracing his hind feet, and any Dog, Fox, or Coyote who tries to draw him out will be torn, bitten, and most likely have his throat cut." " Are Badgers good for anything but to keep down ON THE PLAINS 269 nuisance animals ? " asked Rap, getting up reluctantly, for he was obliged to go home early that night. " Yes, paint and shaving brushes are made from their stiffer tail-hairs, and their pelts have a small value in the fur market." " I've finished my last button," said Nat, jumping up as Rap closed the door ; " but my fingers are all cramped." " I should think they would be," said Olive, " sit- ting all in a heap and pushing the needle with your thumb. The buttons look very nicely, though, don't they, father?" " Yes, and you see they all have nice little necks, and the button-holes do not make faces when they swallow them," added Nat, proudly. " The last present is finished — now comes Christinas and the tree ! " cried Dodo, clapping her hands. " May we open our bank and see if we have enough money to buy the bird book for Rap ? You said we might when the sewing was all done. Yes ; here it is, I hid it in the wolf skin to have it all read3^. Oh, what a lot of pennies, and a gold dollar ! Who put that in, I wonder? It was you, daddy, I can tell by the way the end of your nose winks ! Do count for me, Olive, the pennies slip so ! " " Four dollars and fifty cents," said Olive, after counting twice over. " Hurrah ! " shouted Nat, " the book Rap wishes only costs three dollars and fifty cents, so we can buy him a big box of real city candy too ! " XIX UNDER THE POLAR STAR UCH wind and threatening weather, then two days of falling snow that • buried the fences, and at last the northwest wind sent the clouds scurrying, and bright •nshine returned with t lay before Christ- ma.-,. " It is like the pictures in a fair T ' ,tory ; do look at the trees and the top of the rose a oor ! " said Dodo that Friday morning, as she rubbed tl p-hole in the frost on the dining-room window. " .. ,1 is breaking the road up the hill, and all you can - is the top of his head, and Tom and Jerry step in uj where their blankets are strapped. It's lucky we 'the Christ- mas tree cut down and waiting in the 'shea before the snow came." "It isn't in the shed," said Nat, mischievously, com- ing in with dancing eyes and a veiy red, cold nose, the only parts of his face that could be seen between his muffler and cap brim. " Oh, where is it ? " wailed Dodo. " Do you think 270 UNDER THE POLAR STAR ' 271 any one lias stolen it — was there any trail in the snow ? " " Yes, some one has dragged the tree out ; I sav the footprints and marks of the branches ! " " Do let's go and tell Uncle Roy, or it will ^e too late to cut another." "Nat is teasing you," said Olive. " Father and Un- cle Jack are the thieves, for I see them >. j'ging' the tree round to the camp now." Bang! went the door, and the dining rooir was empty. ***** The tree touched the ceiling and was fastened to a beam with wire to keep the top steady, while the stand that held it was so pret + "ly covered with moss and pine needles that it looker! ate like the ground where the spruce crvow p.* ^ would have been the proper lights f vv ' x 'ine h tmas tree, but Dr. Roy was so afraid oi« c Caj Ep C oia dry beams afire, that he ob- jected even I21 ^nuies, and so Mr. Blake had sent to the city for or of tiny electric lights that would twinkle in s? ' Nat an^L , helped twine the beams with ever- greens and * the decorations on the tree, but no more. Ths, aid not for worlds have peeped at even the corner -. resent, they were so fond of being sur- prised. Ir £_ . of the temptation to go outdoors, they were too j ^h excited to care for making snow houses, or throwing snowballs, and kept in a perfect fidget un- til three o'clock, the hour when Rod was to take the big sleigh to the depot to meet the party from the mountain. * * * * * 272 FOUR-FOOTED AMEBIC AN S " They are coming, they are almost at the corner, for 1 can hear the bells ! " cried Dodo. " Now they've stopped ! " " They are waiting for Rap and his mother, you know the sleigh was to call for them. Here they are ! " shouted Nat, dashing down to the gate, — " that is, all but Toinette ! " Sure enough she had not come. " Got bashful at the last minit," said Nez ; " allowed she'd better stay home and keep house along with her brother who's winterin' with us, but they're goin' over to the Ridge to-morrer to keep Christmas Canady style with some country folks o' theirn. Reckon they'll see their Christ- mas candles in church ! " This was a very long speech for Nez, and he imme- diately retired to the barn with Rod, looking as if he was afraid of a real house with carpets and cur- tains. Olaf took some oddly shaped parcels from the bottom of the sleigh and carried them to the stoop, driving Phonse and Dominique in front of him like a pair of balky geese; but they soon felt at home and began to talk when they had been introduced to the dogs and saw Mammy Bun preparing supper. " I think those long bundles look as if they might hold show-shoes," said Nat to Olive ; " but what is in that green bag, I wonder? " " I have brought my fiddle," said Olaf, as if in answer to Nat's question. " Your father said to me : ' Olaf, I have a banjo ; bring your fiddle and we will make music together.'" Olaf often spoke slowly, as if he thought in his own UNDER THE POLAR STAR 273 tongue and turned the words to English as he said them, yet always using good language. The children began the entertainment of their guests by showing them everything on the farm, from Sausage up, and had only half explained the wonder room when the bell rang for tea. " The little boys have brought funny knit nighties and nightcaps with red tassels," whispered Nat to Dodo, as he returned from showing the Brownies — as Olive called them — their room and had helped unwind some of their wrappings. Supper was a rather mixed, but very merry, meal. Olive had difficulty in keeping Dodo from asking the Brownies why they preferred fingers to forks, while Mr. Wolf and Quick saw instantly that something unusual was in the air and roved about the table try- ing to snatch scraps, something that they had never before dreamed of doing. But then if Christmas comes but once a year, having a party of two Brownies, a real live woodsman, and a Fin who knows a Dream Fox, is rarer yet. The men went out in the clear starlight for a breath of air and to smoke their pipes. Rap's mother helped Mammy Bun in washing dishes and making the kitchen neat, so that by eight o'clock everything was in order for the march upon Camp Saturday. "Isn't it nice?" said Dodo to the Brownies; "eight o'clock is go-to-bed-time on common nights, but Christ- mas eve it is the very beginning, for daddy says we may stay up until ten ! " The Brownies, however, did not understand much about time, for they usually went to bed whenever it 274 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS grew dark. While they all stood waiting for the sign to he given for opening the camp door, a scream came from Mammy Bun, who was already inside. " For de Ian' sakes, Massa Doctor, come hyar right smart ! Billy Coon, he am in der tree eatin' eheryting ! I tink he hab bit one o' dem fancy lights, shor' miff ! " The waiting procession immediately stampeded. Fortunately the tree was fastened at the top, or Billy's fat body would have overturned it and wrought dire mischief. As it was, he had only eaten a few lady apples and a candy cane, so he was driven into a far corner, where he sat devouring a string of popcorn that caught round his neck, for the Brownies were delighted to see their old friend, and the children all begged that he might not be banished. The tree lights twinkled in earnest, and made such a blaze that the Brownies blinked, and an hour was spent in exploring the branches of the tree after the ground had been gleaned of the larger gifts. If this was not a story of fourfoots, I would tell you all about the presents, — the names of the bicycles that Olive, Nat, and Dodo received, of Rap's bird book, Mrs. Blake's soft sealskin jacket, the Brownies' toys, Olafs carved pipe, and Nez' knife that had a blade for everything and one extra. I must not even whisper about these things, except to say that the snow-shoes were there ; but hurry to the story that Olaf told as he gazed from the tree to the campfire, listening now and then, as if his words came from the wind outside. " Who shall choose the pictures to-night ? " asked Olive. " It is Dodo's turn to-morrow, but this is an extra evening." UNDER THE POLAR STAR 275 " Let Olaf choose for himself," said the Doctor. " He has a story in mind and knows what he needs to illustrate it." Olaf took six pictures from the portfolio ; the first three were of a Polar Bear, a Caribou, and the Musk Ox, a shaggy, brown beast with drooping horns, that looked half sheep and half Buffalo. The other three were of Sea Lions, Seals, and a Walrus. " They are all strange, far-away, cold country ani- mals," said Rap ; " just the right sort for a winter story." " Mine is a tale of ice and snow, long nights and short days, of a country whose north border sleeps in the twilight a third of the year, — if it were not so the people would be sightless from the snow blindness, — a land of hunger and cold, of sore famine, and then brutal hunting. We may call this place Fur Land, and it lies under the Polar star and is the place where the white Bear rug and sealskin jacket are at home." "Please, Olaf," interrupted Dodo, "if you know about this far-away, cold country, can you tell if the Reindeer that Santa Glaus drove have any American cousins, and why children never see him driving over the roofs or coming down the chimneys any more ? " "Yes," said Olaf, hesitating a moment; "those Rein- deer have cousins living with us. They are called the Caribou, and grow of two varieties, — one short-legged and stunted, that tracks the treeless Barren Grounds, and the other here pictured, the Woodland Caribou. But ' why do children no longer see the good Santa Claus ? ' That question has a sad, sad answer, coming from unfair hunting, which drives so many fine things 276 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS out of this land. Think you Saint Nicholas will bring his magic Deer here for men to shoot with their long- reaching guns ? He knows their cruel hearts too well, and keeps away so that no man, pointing to a row of antlers over his chimney-piece, may say, ' Those are — ^^^^^j^j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^— r^-p - ~ ■ •:"." ' -'JwJ'ty'^ G9H r^fc-"- t'is-; dl-J \C" - ' • pP*^r^ ^^^^F^ mr^M B^si - *—"*■•-! P-irf^m^^-^BlfrB WjL^j^i p\ ^^SIbE^S^HI sL iii*- 1 gu | .^maawJMtiW ^W'^Bfll ^^__^jjBBPR^BI^*^^ %#*? Mi> . "" ~LjU" ~ ■w , -•*■' i ->"/'