to steal away to the clover above the woods that fringed the long,
still pool up-stream.

As the day wore on, the hare heard the unmistakable tread of human feet
approaching through the woods. The sounds became increasingly distinct;
then a pebble rattled and splashed into the water as the intruder walked
across the river-bed. He passed close to the "form," and, turning
down-stream, was lost to sight amid the bushes. At intervals, the hare
imagined that the faint, muffled sounds of footsteps came from the
distance; but again the sounds drew near, ceasing, however, when the man
was a few yards from the nest.

I can complete the story. Since spring I had been studying the wild life
of this lonely island below the rocky gorge extending hither from the
village bridge. The wood-wren, the willow-wren, and the garden-warbler
had nested in the thickets, and every evening I had visited the place to
pry on their doings, and to note how the flowers in glad succession
blossomed and faded--their presence in this lonely sanctuary known only
to myself, and to the birds, bees, and butterflies, and to the little
shrews that rustled over the dry leaves beneath. But now the
garden-warblers had left for the copse on the far side of the river, and
the wood-wrens and the willow-wrens had retreated to the inner recesses
of the thickets, where, amid the luxuriant verdure of midsummer, their
movements baffled my observation.

On the July evening, as I lay in the matted grass at the edge of the
copse by the pebbles, watching a whitethroat among the bushes opposite,
my eye happened to rest for an instant on a patch of bare mud
immediately before me. There, to my surprise, I discovered the
footprints of the hare. The five toes of the fore-feet, and the four
toes of the hind-feet, were as clearly outlined as if each impression
had been taken in plaster. And yet, when I stood up to look at the spot,
the marks seemed to have wholly disappeared. On nearer examination I
found that the track of the hare was in the direction of the island.
From their shape, and the distance between each, the footprints
indicated that the movements of the hare had not been hurried. Similar
footprints were visible in a straight line between the bank and the
island. Only one conclusion seemed possible--the hare had crossed to the
island early that morning, after the heavy shower that had fallen just
before dawn. It would have been contrary to her habits had she crossed
l