CH. VI.] Things Students Should Know. 105 



then it will be a long dig to free it. Re- 

 member, too, a ferret has to go down the hole 

 and face a beast nearly as big as itself, with 

 teeth like lancets and with courage to use 

 them, and so should be as free as possible ; 

 and lining a ferret is about equal to setting 

 a student with the gloves on to fight against 

 another without them. Then some way back 

 I mentioned ferrets' bells. They are little 

 hollow brass balls with an iron shot in them 

 that make a pretty tinkling sound, and are 

 supposed to be tied round the ferret's neck. 

 In my opinion, if you put a bell on it, you 

 may as well put the ferret in the bag and 

 keep it there. The theory about bells is, 

 that a ferret running down a hole jinghng its 

 bell will fill a rat with fear and make it bolt, 

 but this is all nonsense ; rats are not so 

 easily frightened. Again, it is said that if a 

 ferret comes out of a hole in a thick hedge 

 unseen, the bell will let you know where it 



