LITTLE GENTLEMAN IN BLACK VELVET COAT ' 



round it, hunting everywhere for the escaping 

 enemy. He seemed as if ' possessed by a 

 devil ! ' When the corpse was again held near 

 him he sprang straight at it, getting it by the 

 tip of the nose and holding on like a limpet. 

 He was raised clinging to the dead mole high 

 above the cage, still he held on, using his fore 

 paws to rasp his inanimate foe. Three minutes, 

 five minutes, seven minutes passed, and still 

 he kept his bull-dog grip. At last we pulled 

 him off, when he raced round the cage looking, 

 or rather smelling, anxiously for the corpse, 

 and mad to continue the attack. Had it been 

 another live mole they would have fought to 

 the death ! 



Many a furious battle must be waged in 

 those tortuous tunnels that are the home of 

 the mole. Imagine the meeting in the gloom, 

 friend and foe recognised by smell alone; the 

 fierce joy and madness of the battle waged up 

 and down the passages; and the victor, torn 

 and bleeding, going home at last to his warm 

 nest of leaves and grass, leaving his enemy 

 still and cold in some dark corner. But not 

 only must many fierce battles be fought 

 between rival males, but other combats must 

 be fought too. Would even the bloodthirsty 



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