144 Studies in Rat Catching, [ch. viii. 



my dogs ; but it takes two to make a quarrel, 

 and my dogs knew better than to waste their 

 strength in fighting when there was a day's 

 work in front of them. 



In a few minutes we were at the first piece 

 of netted gorse — a real tearer, close, compact 

 and a mass of thorns ; but what dogs or boys 

 care for gorse thorns when rabbits are on 

 foot ? So it is, " Over you go, boys ! " "Hie 

 in, dogs ! Roust them out there ! " and the 

 old dogs spring the nets and are at work in 

 a minute, while the young ones blunder and 

 struggle in the nets, and have to be lifted 

 over. The curate, Jack and I, and the man 

 who drove the cart with the nets, and who 

 will carry off the dead rabbits, stand at the 

 nets and take out and kill the rabbits that 

 get caught ; and for the first hour we have as 

 much as we can do, and work our hardest. 

 Many rabbits do get through the nets, and 

 others go back, and these latter it is difficult 



