Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/285

Rh an eagle and many other animals; I have pictures of them in a book that I got as a present upon my namesake's day. Come with me." With these words he dragged Orel into the house, where he showed him the pictures in his book.

Orel was much pleased with the pictures, and even Mr. Beyer looked on with great interest. "You did not have that last year,did you?" he asked.

"I got it as a present from the Countess on my namesake's day; besides that, I got a pair of doves from Christina, rabbits from the gamekeeper, a silver dollar from Grandma, and a suit of clothes from my parents!" said John proudly.

"You are a lucky boy," said Mr. Beyer, who was looking into the book; and seeing a fox, he smiled and said: "Wait, you rascal, I'll make you come to time yet!" Willie, thinking he meant the one in the book, looked up with surprise; upon which Mr. Beyer said: "Don't you be afraid. I don't mean this fox in the book, but one in the mountains that resembles this one and that must be caught, because it does us much damage."

"Perhaps Peter will catch it; I helped him set the trap before we started," said Orel.

"O my boy, a fox is ten times more cunning than Peter; he is up to tricks that a man would never think of, and especially if, like this one, he has once been caught. The wretch! I set a nice roast for him, thinking I should catch him; he was hungry, but what did he do? Just bit off his broken leg and escaped. Now he will hardly allow himself to be caught a second time. Man learns wisdom by experience, and a fox seems to be as wise as a man."