the hunter, and are reflected in those of the hunted, and make life a
lurid nightmare. The scene set his teeth on edge.

'Of course,' he said, and the recklessness of it was quite clear to him
when he thought of his mother--'of course, the little fox shall come.'

'And the one-eyed cat and the blind bird and the old ancient rabbit,
I'll wager!' queried Abel. 'Well, minister, you can set up a menagerie
and make money.'

'They could go in bits of holes and corners,' Hazel put in anxiously,
'and nobody'd ever know they were there! And the bird chirrups lovely,
fine days.'

Abel shouted with laughter.

'Tuthree feathers and a beak!' he said. 'And the rabbit'd be comforbler
a muff.'

Edward hastily ended the discussion.

'Of course, they shall all come,' he said.

Somehow, Hazel made the sheltering of these poor creatures a matter of
religion. He found himself connecting them with the great 'Inasmuch as
ye have done it unto these--' He had never seen the text in that light
before. But he was dubious about the possibility of making his mother
see it thus.

'They'll be much obleeged,' Hazel said. 'Come and see 'em.'