Obed laughed good-naturedly.

“I’ll tell yuh, Bandy-legs,” he said, confidentially.  “In the first place breeders like to change their stock, so as to bring new blood into the pens.  Then again, why, I happens to need the money that’s comin’ to me for my share.  A fellow has got to live up here in the mountains, and grub costs a wheen o’ hard cash, ’specially when yuh got a good appetite, which seems to fit me all right.  But if I get what I’m hopin’ for it’ll be all right, and I reckons thar’ll come some years before we let more foxes get away from this same farm.”

So he took them to where he had his main enclosure, in which the boys found the parent foxes.  They may have become somewhat accustomed to seeing Obed, and hearing the sound of his coaxing voice, for even the most timid of wild animals in the process of time comes to recognize the one who supplies their wants along the line of daily food.  But possibly Bandy-legs or Steve chanced to laugh, or speak out loud, for the old foxes took the alarm; and it was only after constant efforts on the part of Obed, with his familiar call to dinner, that caused them to show themselves at all.

They were certainly beauties.  Max wondered more than ever at the nerve of Obed in trying to start a silver black fox farm in this section, with no one save himself apparently in charge.  He feared that the enterprise would be doomed to certain disaster.  The smart woods boy might be successful in raising a crop of valuable youngsters in the fox line; but sooner or later some unscrupulous men, guides out of a job perhaps, and loaded with strong drink, would try to make a secret raid on his preserves, and clean him out in a single night.  Fox pelts worth thousands of dollars must tempt some men beyond their fears, or power of resistance.

Max made up his mind he would talk about this with Obed before he left.  He wondered at the short-sighted policy of the executor of Mr. Coombs’ estate in allowing so much money to be tied up in this property without proper safeguards.  If it was intended to continue the fox farm now that it gave all evidences of possible success surely the boy should have an assistant, some strong woodsman who could by his presence and readiness to do battle awe any intended transgressors.

They next visited the enclosure where the two pair of little foxes played and slept and ate their fill, daily increasing in size and value.  They were also timid, though in due time Obed managed to get them to show themselves; for hunger is a powerful inducement, and the smell of favorite food a lure difficult to resist.

“Of course,” explained the young fur farmer, while they were watching the inmates of the second enclosure, “I don’t have black cats up here yet to carry out them directions exactly; but I’m aiming to do that also pretty soon.  Yep, and after this set o’ pups has been sold, if they fetch all I count on, I’m goin’ to have a talk with the lawyer that looks after Mr. Coombs’ estate.  He promised to come up and see what could be done about extendin’ the farm.  And then I guess it’s goin’ to be time to hire a helper, seein’ I can’t do everything by myself.”