l dead with the first frightful sound. It just
bellowed and roared. In only a little while he found different ways to
make it sound by his manner of working the tongue. A long, steady,
even pull got that kind of a roar. A short, quick one made it bark. A
pull half the length of the thong, a pause, and another pull, made it
sound like a bark and a yelp. To pull hard and quick, made it go
louder, and soft and easy made it whine. Before he had tried it ten
minutes he could do fifty things with it that would almost scare the
livers out of those nasty old foxes that were taking every one's geese,
Dorking roosters, and even baby lambs and pigs. Of course people
couldn't stand that; something had to be done!

Even in the Bible it says, "Beware of the little foxes that spoil the
vines," and geese, especially blue ones, Dorking roosters, lambs, and
pigs were much more valuable than mere vines; so Leon made that awful
thing to scare the foxes from their holes that's in the Bible too,
about the holes I mean, not the scaring. I wanted Leon to slip to the
back door and make the dumb-bell--that's what he called it; if I had
been naming it I would have called it the thunder-bell--go; but he
wouldn't. He said he didn't propose to work as he had, and then have
some one find out, and fix one like it. He said he wouldn't let it
make a sound until the night before the chase, and then he'd raise the
dead. I don't know about the dead; but it was true of the living.
Father went a foot above his chair and cried: "Whoo-pee!" All of us,
even I, when I was waiting for it, screamed as if Paddy Ryan raved at
the door. Then Leon came in and showed us, and every one wanted to
work the dumb-bell, even mother. Leon marched around and showed off;
he looked "See the conquering hero comes," all over. I never felt
worse about being made into a girl than I did that night.

I couldn't sleep for excitement, and mother said I might as well, for
it would be at least one o'clock before they would round-up in our
meadow below the barn. All the neighbours were to shut up their stock,
tie their dogs, or lead them with chains, if they took them, so when
the foxes were surrounded, they could catch them alive, and save their
skins. I wondered how some of those chasing people, even Laddie, Leon,
and father--think of that! father was going too--I wondered how they
would have liked to have had something as much bigger than they were,
as they were bigg