the
fox, but Kagh's moral sense was either lacking or undeveloped. He wanted
the hollow. Therefore he set about securing it in the easiest and most
effective way. By pressing his quills close to his body and backing into
the log, the sharp points presented a formidable front against which the
fox had no protection. So, as Kagh backed in, the fox backed out,
incensed but helpless. In a very few moments the porcupine was fast
asleep, his conscience quite untroubled. As the sun rose higher, a
bloodthirsty weasel thrust its pointed nose into the log and glared with
red eyes of hate upon the sleeping porcupine, then went his way,
spreading terror and destruction among the smaller wood folk.

About noon Kagh awoke and, crawling to the opening of the log, looked
about him. As a rule the porcupine travels and feeds by night, but Kagh
was a creature of whims and he decided that he had been fasting quite
long enough. Accordingly he set out in a leisurely search for food,
loafing along the base of a sunny ledge of rock. A meal of grubs and
peppery wake-robin roots left him happy, but still he rambled on,
following his nose and alert for any new adventure.

Suddenly he lifted his head and sniffed the air. To his nostrils drifted
the faint scent of smoke, and smoke in Kagh's mind was associated with
campfires and delectable bits of bacon rind or salty wood. For the first
time since leaving his spruce tree the evening before, Kagh hurried. He
blundered along the trail in a way which would have scandalized the
other forest inhabitants, among whom silence is the first law of
preservation.

Near the camp a rabbit had crept timidly from the forest and was sitting
erect upon its haunches, its quivering nose testing the wind, its
bulging eyes missing nothing that went on around it. Kagh paid no more
attention to the rabbit than to the bush under which it sat. He
blundered into the camp, from which the hunter was absent in search of
game, but the next moment he backed off, squeaking with pain and
surprise. He had walked straight into the warm ashes of the campfire.

His discomfort was soon forgotten, however, as he came upon a board
saturated with bacon grease. Kagh's teeth were sharp as chisels and the
sound of his gnawing could be heard far in the still air. He ate all he
could hold of the toothsome wood, then started upon a tour of inspection
of the camp.

An open tent-flap drew his attention. Forthwith he walked inside,
knocking