hile on the mound by the gate,
and tiptoe, with black-fringed ears moving restlessly, had listened to
some ominous sound in the farmyard. The prickly stubble felt strange to
her feet, so, carefully picking her way by the ditch, she crossed to the
nearest gate and ambled down the lane. But the change noticed in the
wheat-field seemed to have passed over the whole countryside. It was
more and more pronounced during the following week, till, in October,
the late harvest had all been cleared. The habits of the hare altered
with the season. Having at last grown accustomed to the varied
conditions of her life, she sometimes frequented the old tracks over the
upland, but rarely resorted to the "forms" in which she had lain amid
the summer wheat.

October brought her an experience which might have proved disastrous,
but which, fortunately, resulted in nothing more than a passing fright.
In the stalk of the rye occurs a knot, forming a slight bulge known to
the peasantry as the "sweet joint." Rabbits and hares are extremely fond
of this succulent morsel, and, in consequence, the rye-crop, if near a
large warren, is in danger of being totally destroyed. Puss one night
had wandered far to a field, where, some time before, she had discovered
a patch of standing rye. The few remaining stalks were hard and
uninviting, but there were some delicious parsnips among the root-crops.
At dawn she settled down to hide between the rows of swedes close by,
and remained secreted for the day; but towards evening a sportsman came
in at the gate, and, with a low word of command and a wave of the arm,
"threw off" his brace of red setters to range the field. Working
systematically to right and left, the dogs sought eagerly for game. Soon
the hare was scented, and while Juno, with stiffened "stern" and
uplifted paw, stood almost over her, Random, "backing" his companion,
set towards the furrow where Puss, perfectly rigid, and with ears well
over her shoulders, crouched low, prepared for instant flight. Step by
step the sportsman, with gun in readiness, moved towards Juno,
cautioning her against excitement; while Random, sinking on his
haunches, awaited patiently the issue of events. Suddenly, convinced
that in flight lay her surest chance of escape, the hare leaped from her
"seat," and with the utmost speed, though from the ease of her motions
appearing to run slowly, made her way towards the hedgerow. There was a
quick rush behind her as she started