For a red fox, trotting past just then at a distance of not more than ten or a dozen feet, served to all observers as a more than ample explanation of the shrew's abrupt departure.

The fox turned his head at the sound of the scurry and squeak, and very naturally attributed it to his own appearance on the scene.

But at the same time he caught sight of those two motionless human shapes sitting rigid behind the poplar sapling.

They were so near that his nerves received a shock.

He jumped about ten feet; and then, recovering himself with immense self-possession, he sat up on his haunches to investigate.