I suspect
that he revolved the subject in his mind while he revolved the great
wheel of the churning-machine, and that some turn or other brought him
a happy thought, for next time he showed himself a strategist. Instead
of giving chase to the woodchuck when first discovered, he crouched
down to the ground, and, resting his head on his paws, watched him.
The woodchuck kept working away from the hole, lured by the tender
clover, but, not unmindful of his safety, lifted himself up on his
haunches every few moments and surveyed the approaches. Presently,
after the woodchuck had let himself down from one of these attitudes of
observation, and resumed his feeding, Cuff started swiftly but
stealthily up the hill, precisely in the attitude of
a cat when she is stalking a bird. When the woodchuck rose up again,
Cuff was perfectly motionless and half hid by the grass. When he again
resumed his clover, Cuff sped up the hill as before, this time crossing
a fence, but in a low place, and so nimbly that he was not discovered.
Again the wood chuck was on the outlook, again Cuff was motionless and
hugging the ground.
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