ith his hands, protected by a pair of buckskin
gloves, seized first one, then another, of the snapping, snarling little
vulpines and popped them into the basket. It was agreed that Thomas
should have one of them; and in furtherance of this division of the
spoils, Halse and Addison went around by way of the Edwards farm, with
Tom and the basket, while the Old Squire and I loaded ourselves with the
tools and took the direct route homeward.

Supper was ready and Theodora had been blowing the horn for us, long and
loud; in fact, we met her by the corn-field, whither she had at length
come in search of us. I hastily told her of the capture, but the Old
Squire said, "Don't tell your grandmother till the boys come with the
cubs, then we will show them to her."

So we went into the house and leisurely got ready for supper. At length,
Addison and Halse came to the kitchen door with their basket; and Gramp
said, "Come here, Ruth, and see two little fellows who helped eat your
old goose."

Gram came out looking pretty stern at the word goose, and when Ad pulled
the bag partly away and showed the two fox cubs, casting up the whites
of their roguish eyes at her, she exclaimed harshly, "Ah, you little
scamps!"

"But, oh, aren't they cunning! Aren't they pretty!" exclaimed Theodora
and Ellen.

"Well, they are sort of pretty," admitted Gram, softening a little as
she looked at them. "I suppose they are not to blame for their sinful
natures, more than the rest of us."

We then told her of our exploit, digging them out of the burrow. The Old
Squire thought that the mother fox would not trouble the farm-yard
further, now that her family was disposed of.

After supper, Addison gathered up boards about the premises and built a
pen out behind the west barn, in which to inclose the young foxes. As
nearly as I can now remember, the pen was about fifteen feet long by
perhaps six feet in width, with board sides four feet high. We also
covered the top of it with boards upon which we laid stones. A pan for
water was set inside the pen, and we gave them, for food, the various
odds and ends of meat and other waste from the kitchen. For a day or two
we enjoyed watching them very much.

They did not thrive well, but grew poor and mangy; and I may as well go
on to relate what became of them. After we had kept them in the pen
about a month, a dog, or else a fox, came around one night and dug under
the side of the pen, as if making an attempt t