CORNWALL, _Aug. 28, 1912_. * * * * * CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. EARLY TROUBLES 1 II. EDUCATION 23 III. INDEPENDENCE 40 IV. CHASED BY POLECATS 56 V. A DELUSIVE REFUGE 66 VI. BACK ON CARN BREA 78 VII. FROM PILLAR TO POST 95 VIII. THE GREAT WINTER 118 IX. PERIL OF DEATH 136 X. THE FIENDS OF THE WILD 160 XI. _L’HOMME S’AMUSE_ 180 INDEX 195 * * * * * LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS “HE SAT AND LISTENED” _Frontispiece_ “THEY NESTLED CLOSE” _Face page_ 4 AUTHOR’S SKETCH-MAP OF THE SCENE OF THE STORY 32 “GREY FOX” 84 MOUNT’S BAY FROM THE BEACON 100 THE REMAINS OF THE BEACON WOOD 152 A STOAT 162 SENNEN CHURCH TOWER 170 THE STORY OF A HARE CHAPTER I EARLY TROUBLES The Cornish Heights terminate near the Land’s End in four wild hills of singular charm, though of very modest altitude. Springing as they do from a treeless tableland, they look quite like a miniature mountain range, especially when seen through rolling mists or capped by the rain-laden clouds which, like birds coming weary from the Atlantic, settle on their summits. Man seldom intrudes there, though they offer a peerless prospect over promontory and ocean. The faint paths amongst ling and furze are not his: they have been traced by the foxes that kennel on this silent retreat, or by badgers going to and from the deep sett on the northern slope; for the desolate upland has long been given over to the outlawed creature, and furnished sanctuary to any wildling that sought it.