The old he-wolf had appeared at a distance and then vanished;
and the cubs, trotting along behind the mother, knew nothing of what was
coming or what was expected of them. They lay in hiding on the lee side
of the thicket, each one crouching under a bush or root, with the mother
off at one side perfectly hidden as usual.
Presently a rabbit appeared, hopping along in a crazy way, and ran plump
into the jaws of a wolf cub, which leaped up as if out of the ground,
and pulled down his game from the very top of the high jump which
Moktaques always gives when he is suddenly startled. Another and another
rabbit appeared mysteriously, and doubled back into the cover before
they could be caught. The cubs were filled with wonder. Such hunting was
never seen before; for rabbits stirred abroad by day, and ran right into
the hungry mouths instead of running away. Then, slinking along like a
shadow and stopping to look back and sniff the wind, appeared a big red
fox that had been sleeping away the afternoon on top of a stump in the
center of the thicket.
The old mother's eyes began to blaze as Eleemos drew near.
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