CH. IV.] A Ferret Disabled. 73 



whistle ! and back he comes, and at that 

 moment Jack picks up a ferret on the other 

 side, it having gone through the hole. 

 Chance sniffs at it and says it is swept clear, 

 and I block it up with my heel, and Jack 

 does the same to the bolt-hole, so that if a 

 rat does come back later on the dogs will 

 have a chance ; and then on we go a few 

 yards to the next hole which Chance marks. 

 This time the ferret went in like a lion and 

 came out like a lamb, with the blood running 

 out of the side of its face ; and whilst I am 

 examining the bite, a real patriarch rat bolted 

 at a side hole near Pepper, who strikes at it, 

 misses taking a proper hold and gets it too 

 far back, and the next moment the blood is 

 pouring from a bite above his eye ; but the 

 rat is dead, and Pepper but little the worse. 



I thought it was too late in the year for 

 young ones, but it was not, for at the next 

 hole we came to the ferret got into a nest, 



I 



