THE WHITE BADGER 181 



he had often looked down on from Bartinney and 

 Chapel Carn Brea ; there he was in high hope 

 of meeting her. 



So intent was he on his quest that he never 

 stopped to browse, leaving untouched patch 

 after patch of tender herbage in the moorland 

 farms he crossed. Yet he never saw a living 

 thing. He came to the wild which is crowned 

 by the weird rocks of Carn Kenidzhek, and 

 here, standing near the summit, he scrutinised 

 the moonlit waste, apparently a desolate land, 

 a land without life. Just before daybreak, how- 

 ever, there came into view, ghostly as the 

 stoats but very much larger, a creature thread- 

 ing its way in and out among the furze bushes 

 as it made for the Carn. The hare was 

 puzzled as to its identity until it began to 

 ascend the slope, when to his surprise he 

 saw that it was that uncommon thing, a white 

 badger. 



It presently winded the hare, stood, gazed at 



him, then after a glance at the faint glow in 



the depressions betw^een the hills, hurried to 



its earth. As soon as it had disappeared the 



hare sought a couch in the heather, and sat 



with his face to the far-off Cams, whose crests 



were soon bright in the rays of the rising 



sun. 



N 



