3 o8 WOLF-HUNTING. 



impetuous dash with which the hounds pursued it, the cat, with 

 less law, would have probably taken to tree immediately. As it 

 was, a rattling good run for an hour or more, from Pen-kerrig 

 Hill to the lowest point of the Kilvern covers, was the fortunate 

 result. The cat then, being apparently beaten, sought refuge 

 under the roots of a gigantic alder-tree which, half-uprooted, 

 fairly bridged over the brook that fretted and foamed 'neath its 

 shade. From the worn condition of its upper bark, the tree had 

 evidently been long used as a crossing-place during the prevalence 

 of floods, not only by the peasantry, but probably by the wild 

 animals frequenting the adjoining forests ; and the cat, in seeking 

 refuge under its roots, could scarcely have chosen a stronger 

 holt. 



The hounds turned to and marked uproariously, working with 

 teeth and claws as if they would tear up the tree. But while 

 they are thus engaged, let me relate an anecdote which, in the 

 matter of securing the cat for the night and turning it out before 

 the hounds in the morning, comes freshly to mind on the present 

 occasion. Peter Horsall, a well-known squire and justice of the 

 peace, living within a short distance of the wildest coast of the 

 south of Devon, was on a winter's evening entertaining a party 

 of friends at dinner, when the cry of " A wreck ! " rung through 

 his hall, and a man rushed breathlessly into the dining-room to 

 announce, with the exception of one living creature, the total loss 

 of a foreign ship and its crew. 



"And what creature is it?" inquired the justice, whose interest 

 as lord of the manor was naturally roused by these tidings. 



" Plaize your worship," said the countryman, " 'tis a Jesuit. 

 Us have a caught 'un, and want to know what us be to do 

 with 'un ? " 



" A Jesuit ! a Jesuit ! " repeated the puzzled squire, looking 

 round for imformation in vain to his equally puzzled guests ; and 

 at last, coming to the conclusion that it was some wild animal 



