He followed after her through the underwood up the side of the hill,
when suddenly she disappeared from his sight, behind some bracken.
When he got there he could see her nowhere, but looking about him found
a fox's earth, but so well hidden that he might have passed it by a
thousand times and would never have found it unless he had made
particular search at that spot.

But now, though he went on his hands and knees, he could see nothing of
his vixen, so that he waited a little while wondering.

Presently he heard a noise of something moving in the earth, and so
waited silently, then saw something which pushed itself into sight. It
was a small sooty black beast, like a puppy. There came another behind
it, then another and so on till there were five of them. Lastly there
came his vixen pushing her litter before her, and while he looked at her
silently, a prey to his confused and unhappy emotions, he saw that her
eyes were shining with pride and happiness.

She picked up one of her youngsters then, in her mouth, and brought it
to him and laid it in front of him, and then looked up at him very
excited, or so it seemed.

Mr. Tebrick took the cub in his hands, stroked it and put it against his
cheek. It was a little fellow with a smutty face and paws, with staring
vacant eyes of a brilliant electric blue and a little tail like a
carrot. When he was put down he took a step towards his mother and then
sat down very comically.

Mr. Tebrick looked at his wife again and spoke to her, calling her a
good creature. Already he was resigned and now, indeed, for the first