It  so  happened,  on  another  occasion,  that  in  a  fine  forest  in Russia  I  came  across  a  splendid  black  fox,  whose  skin  was  of too  great  value  to  allow  a  shot  to  spoil  it.  The  fox  stood  close to  a  tree.  In  a  moment  I  extracted  the  ball  with  which  my  gun  was charged,  and  in  its  place  put  a  good  spike-nail.     I  then  fired, and  hit  him  so  cleverly  that  I  nailed  his  brush  fast  to  the  tree. I immediately  went  up  to  him,  gave  him  a  cross  cut  over  the face  with  my  hunting-knife,  took  my  whip  in  hand,  and  flogged him  vigorously  until  he  actually  leaped  out  of  his  skin.

- Chapter 2