THE LIFE OF A FOX. ie

it. I only knew that the speaker was a very
nice sort of man, and never doubted that he
meant every thing that is pleasant; although
I must say that his outward looks, the first
time I saw him, did not at all take my fancy.
There appeared to me something so ungainly
and unnatural, something so very absurd, to see
an animal reared up on end, and walking about
on his hind legs; to say nothing of what seemed
his hide, which hung about him in such a loose
and uncouth fashion, as if Nature had been sick
of her job, and refused to finish it.

A few evenings after this I was crossing a
field, and watching some young rabbits, with
which I longed to become more nearly ac-
quainted, when suddenly a large black dog and
an ugly beast called a game-keeper, jumped over
a hedge. I immediately lay flat on the ground,
hoping that I should not be seen; when, how-
ever, I found them coming within a few yards
of me, I started off, closely pursued by the
villanous dog, and seeing that I should soon
be overtaken, turned round, and slipt away

B 6