48
PARTISAN REVIEW
the gambel joint, and the belly whiter than a woman's. Hub
turned 'round, his eyes, softening for a second.
Gordon shifted his gun .and looked away.
They clambered over a stone fence into a pasture. A line
of hickories on the north side. Hub pointed to arrowhead
tracks. He crouched. His gun flew up. A crack like two bil–
liard balls kissing. The squirrel fell down heavy as rotten-ripe
fruit. It flashed up and down, flung out its tail, its paws out
prayerfully. Hub grabbed it by the tail and batted the brains
out on a stone. He stuffed it into his pocket.
They tramped a long time about before spotting another.
A gray dog squirrel which scooted up a chokecherry tree. Gor–
don circled slowly. The squirrel kept the tree between them.
Gordon feinted and let go. The squirrel held on with a paw,
then flowed down and dropped in a heap. They jumped for it.
It flew between their legs into the stone fence.
Hub dropped down and tore at the stones. The stones were
frozen fast. The ice ripped his hands. They got hold of a
fencepost and eased the stones out. Their faces fired up in the
wind.
They made a gap in the fence. Hub crawled on his knees,
sniffing and puffing. He made a sudden dive and threw the
squirrel. The squirrel landed in the snow, raced up a wild apple
and disappeared in the knothole.
They shoved a stick inside. The squirrel chittered and
squealed. They put leaves inside. The leaves smoked stingily.
They spent their last match. They could not dislodge the squir–
rel.
Hub plodded crosslots to the nearest farmhouse for an axe.
Gordon stood guard near the knothole. Hub came back with
the axe and chopped at the tree. The chips fired back at them.
The wind softened a little. Snow sifted down slowly, and then
in a wild rush as if geese had been plugged overhead.
They spotted the squirrel coiled up with one paw shoved
up towards the heart of the tree. Hub dropped his axe and
poked his hand into the knothole. There was a click. A harsh
voice bawled out, "Hands out, you tramps, or we give you an
extra asshole each."
They jerked from the tree. A man loomed out of the snow
almost on top of them. The wind tore at the snow.
It
was Ed
Pusley with his gun.
