148 Studies in Rat Catching. |_ch. ix. 



refused to face the gorse, had the chief of 

 the work, for directly a rabbit was started by 

 the other dogs, it made straight off across 

 the open for the gorse on the Denes, and the 

 lurchers were the only dogs fast enough to 

 catch them. We finally had to give up 

 work because the dogs of all sorts were too 

 tired to move, and also because the weather, 

 that had been fine and calm all the previous 

 week, began to break, and before we reached 

 shelter there was half a gale sending big 

 green waves thundering on to the beach and 

 carrying the salt spray far inland. 



That night, after Jack was in bed and 

 asleep, I put on my hat and went out, called 

 by the noise of the waters. I joined a group 

 of weather-beaten hard-featured men dressed 

 in thick blue jerseys and "sou-wester" 

 hats, who stood with their hands tucked 

 deep into their trouser pockets, watching 

 the sea from behind the shelter of a boat 



