“What are they—dogs?” questioned Spouter, coming up.
“Dogs nothing!” cried Fred. “Don’t you know what they are? Foxes!”
“That’s what they are,” answered Jack, giving a careful look. “Some old mother fox has been using this corner for her den.”
“Say, if that’s so, we’d better look out for the mother fox!” exclaimed Randy, in alarm. “No wild animal will allow any one to molest her young without a fight.”
“Yes, and a stiff fight, too!” added Gif.
Gif had scarcely spoken when there was a wild barking and snapping outside of the old cabin. Then came a sudden leap through a wide-open window and the next instant the six boys found themselves confronted by a full-sized and very angry looking mother fox.
CHAPTER X
AN UNEXPECTED BLAZE
For the instant the six boys were so startled that they knew not what to do. None of them was armed, their firearms and their fishing outfits resting on the floor with their rolls.
But if the lads were taken aback, so was the mother fox. She had landed squarely on the floor and now shrank back, hair bristling on end and her eyes staring wildly at what was before her. Astonishment seemed to give way to fear over the welfare of her offspring and then her eyes gleamed with a sudden ferocity. Had there been no young ones she might have leaped through the window again for safety, but now she would fight to the death for those she loved.