WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 307 



of Telamon, hurled the ponderous rock at Hector that crushed 

 his buckler and brought the hero to his knees, I doubt much," 

 continued Keryfan, " if it was half as heavy as that last millstone 

 you have just added to the cairn." 



"Safe bind, safe find," said Shafto; "and now it would puzzle, 

 I think, his big Bengal brother to break out of that prison in any- 

 thing less than twenty-four hours. But we won't shoot the 

 varmint no, with a few minutes' law he'll give the hounds 

 some trouble to catch him in the rocky cover below ; and, as 

 the brute will probably make the best of his way back to his old 

 haunts, he may show us some more of his family ere we have 

 quite done with him." 



So the next morning we were at him again, and this time with 

 three couple of hounds, a hatchet, a crowbar, and a bundle of 

 crackers, manufactured by Keryfan expressly for the work. But 

 these last, as it happened, were not required ; for no sooner were 

 the rocks removed by the application of the crowbar, and the 

 aperture fairly laid bare, than, with one stroke of the hatchet, 

 out dashed the cat almost in Shafto's face, its eyes flashing fire, 

 and every hair on its short tail bristling up like the crest on a 

 boar's neck. Nothing so wild and scared in its look and action 

 had ever been seen by me before or since ; but so rapid were 

 its movements, that it was impossible to catch more than a 

 glimpse of the brute as it shot, like a meteor, into the scrub 

 below. Shafto then looked at his watch, and when five minutes 

 had elapsed, sounded the signal to let go the hounds; but in 

 consequence of their eagerness to be quit of the couples, and 

 Owen's delay in liberating them, a good ten minutes' law was 

 obtained by the cat ere they were clapped upon the scent. This, 

 however, proved rather to be a help than an impediment to the 

 sport, for, in consequence of the cat's incarceration, the scent 

 emitted by the brute was tenfold stronger than it would other- 

 wise have been had it been found at large ; and thus, from the 



