the cavity with dry ashes, in which are placed bits of roasted
cheese. Reynard is very suspicious at first, and gives the place a
wide berth. It looks like design, and he will see how the thing
behaves before he approaches too near. But the cheese is savory and
the cold severe. He ventures a little closer every night, until he
can reach and pick a piece from the surface. Emboldened by success,
like other mortals, he presently digs freely among the ashes, and,
finding a fresh supply of the delectable morsels every night, is
soon thrown off his guard and his suspicions quite lulled. After a
week of baiting in this manner, and on the eve of a light fall of
snow, the trapper carefully conceals his trap in the bed, first
smoking it thoroughly with hemlock boughs to kill or neutralize the
smell of the iron. If the weather favors and the proper precautions
have been taken, he may succeed, though the chances are still
greatly against him.

Reynard is usually caught very lightly, seldom more than the ends
of his toes being between the jaws. He sometimes works so cautiously
as to spring the trap without injury even to his toes, or may remove
the cheese night after night without even springing it. I knew an
old trapper who, on finding himself outwitted in this manner, tied a
bit of cheese to the pan, and next morning had poor Reynard by the
jaw. The trap is not fastened, but only encumbered with a clog, and
is all the more sure in its hold by yielding to every effort of the
animal to extricate himself.

When Reynard sees his captor approaching, he would fain drop into a
mouse-hole to render himself invisible. He crouches to the ground
and remains perfectly motionless until he perceives himself
discovered, when he makes one desperate and final effort to escape,