El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-06
By F. st. Mars.

IF YOU had stood or walked among
the open grassy spaces between the
= thickets. which marked, as it were,
the outskirts of the forest, you would
not have seen a living thing, except
perhaps a few birds, vanishing so to
speak around corners. Yet the place
was really alive with animals the
whole time, for this was the hour just
! before dawn, when in the moonlight
the night hunting animals were re-
turning to the forest, and the night
feeding nominating animals were re-
turning also. But so stealthily were
they that nothing more of them would
have been seen than possibly sway
ing twig to show that something had
passed that Way-df the rabbit had
not squealed.
There We're swarms of rabbits about,
racing and playing quite silently.
This one squealed because he had, in
galIoping between some branches, got
his fur hopelessly entangled in a
snake like brier. I suppose he thought
he was trapped. Anyway he strug-
gled and he squealed.
Instantly, without any preliminary
warning, a WeasePs long brown shape
shot over the grass, straight for the
Iuckless bunny. lie was very quick,
that weasel though he could not see
J the rabbit, only heard it; but he did
not appear to have been so quick as
reach the prey another creature
dashed out from the bushes on his
right. This other animal, also was
( hurrying to the cry of bunny in dis
tress He was larger than the wea-
sci though very much like him, and
was known as a beech marten. He,
too was wonderfully quick, but be-
fore he could quite reach the brler,
from another bush. The sight of Its
eyes alone sent marten and weasel
swerving into cover for dear life. The
third arrival was a wildcat brist-
ling. flat cared, fiery eyed fierce ap-
partition.
He had not far to go and in an
other bound would have reached Brer
| Rabbit and ended that equealing for
ever when all of a sudden he checked
himself in midspring and came down
again almost in his tracks. An AMI
nal had shot around the corner OF the
thicket in which the rabbit had caught
himself. It was a lean red brute, and
its teeth cleaned in the moonlight
Another second and it would nave
cOllided with the cat if the latter had
not checked his spring. 1t was 4 fox.
Both animals stood motiOnless, re-
garding one another, each itching 10
kill the rabbit and make off, but
neither daring to make the first move
I suppose they remained there Tor
about 80 seconds, possibly longer, ana
all the time the rabbit went on ut
tering that pitiful squeal. which they
knew full well would call up every
prowler requiring a meal, within hear
ing.
An owl fluttered over their heads,
| his big eyes cleaning into the thicket,
| trying to make out the rabbit and
| both animals glanced up at him. As
they did so, without a sound, without
! SO much as a whisper even. big
| shape sailed clean over the brier
| bush and landed precisely between
! them like some huge furry ball.
! The fox fell backwards nearly un-
/ der the snoUt of an old wild boar, re-
/ turning slowly to his lair in the forest
| for the day. "G-r-r-oomf" said the
4 boar right in Brer FoX's ear, and in
/ a flash the fox was gone streakinS
! into the night like red line drawn
| in and out among the dense black
! masses of bush. and the open silver
| for the wildcat she seemed merely
| to have twisted upon herself and TO
| have gone out, just as a lamp is
| blown out.
The boar stood motionless for a
moment following the vanishing
brush" of the fox with his wicked
! twinkling eyes. snorted and passed on
| into the shadows
Only the furry ball remained. He
| was strange beast to look upon be-
| ing somewhat like the cat, but larger,
| with an absurd stumpy tail that
| bobbed; ears like the cat but with
| still more absurd tufts of hair stick
| ing from their tips, limbs like the cat
| also, but disproportiOnately long and
rather thick; fur Of a rich golden
| gray, and on his face, which re-
sembled a large edition of the wild
cat, was a set and diabolical grin. He
| was q lynx.