THE BADGER AND THE FOX. 



811 



a peg. Having arranged all this to his own satisfaction, Jim picks 

 up the large sack he had two, a large and a small walks out of 

 the hollow on to the moonlit greensward, and hoots like a brown 

 owl, three times. After this musical effort he stands cpiite still, and 

 listens intently, but for some time the humming jar of the fern- 

 owl, chur-chur-er-er-er-er-chur, is the only sound that reaches his 

 ear. Suddenly he places his empty sack on the ground beside 

 him, and is on the alert, for a sound of quickly moving feet at a 

 distance makes itself heard. He knows what that means : Ginger 

 and Nipper are close on the badger's track ; and like the well- 

 bred, well-trained little fox terriers that they are, they run him 

 mute, save for the mere ghost of a whimper now and again, just 

 enough to show they are eager to close with the poor beast. 



That, however, is far from the keeper's intention ; he would 

 not let his two little beauties, game though they are, close with 

 such a desperate antagonist as an old dog badger, if he could help 

 it ; for he knows well enough that dogs and badger would fight 

 to the death. His plan is that they shall drive him to his burrow, 

 and into the sack. 



The best -laid plans do not succeed always, however, as is 

 proved in this case. Nearer and nearer comes the sound of pat- 

 tering feet at full speed, and behind that the heavy tread of a 

 man who is putting his best foot foremost. Nearer they come ; 

 they will break into the moonlight in another moment ; we can 

 hear them pant, for they have run him through the cover at top 

 speed. The lad is ready to 

 dash down into the hollow ; 

 in fact, he has already 

 moved to do so, when the 

 sound of running feet stops 

 dead ; and then, in the 

 thicket, a desperate tearing 

 scuffle is heard going on, for 

 Ginger and Nipper have 

 run into and closed with him 

 before he could reach home. 



The sounds make Jim 

 wild with excitement, and 

 he shouts his loudest to the 

 keeper, who is now close at 

 hand and puffing like a steam-engine with running so hard. 



" Can't ye git a badger in a sack without hollerin' like mur- 

 der ? " he asks angrily. " I'm a good mind \ 



What he'd a good mind to did not transpire, for the boy yelled 

 out : " I ain't got him ; they'se got him ; don't ye hear 'em worryin' 

 of him ? " 



American Badger. 



