28 THE LIFE OF A FOX.

my lads;” and one was ordered to fetch a
terrier, and tools for digging. During the. time
they were at this, 1 stole away from the covert
in another direction, and so saved my life. It
seems they soon found out that I had left the
earth, tried the covert over again, and then went
home, vowing my destruction another day.

This was warning enough to prevent my
remaining longer in or near this covert for the
present. Venturing further abroad, I returned
to that in which I had been disturbed by the
shooters, and there frequently picked up more
wounded birds: I also found, in a field close
by, part of a dead sheep, which a: shepherd
had left for his dog. Some of this I took away
and buried. I was returning for another bit,
when the rough dog, which had just arrived,
suspecting that I had purloined his meat, flew
at me the instant he saw me, with such fury
that he knocked me over and over again without
getting hold of me. He then turned, and was
in the act of securing me with his teeth, when

I griped one of his legs, and bit it through; the

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