158 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
with these hiding-places, as suddenly as ghosts vanish 
at cock-crowing. The hounds come up to the hiding- 
place, and a fight ensues. The first head intruded into 
the cat’s hole is sure to meet with a warm reception. 
Claws and teeth do their work. 
Still the staunch hound heeds it not, and either he 
gets a hold himself, or acts asa bait to draw the cat 
from its burrow ; thus fastened, the dog, being the most 
powerful in strength, backs out, dragging his enemy 
along with him; and no sooner is the cat’s head seen by 
the rest of the pack, than they pounce upon it, and ina 
few moments the “nine lives” of the “ varmint” are 
literally chawed-up. 
At one of these burrowings, a huge cat intruded into 
a hole so small, that an ordinarily large hound could not 
follow. A little stunted but excellent dog, rejoicing in 
the name of Ringwood, from his diminutiveness succeed- 
ed in forcing his way into the hole after the cat; in an 
instant a faint scream was heard, and the little fellow — 
gave symptoms of having caught a Tartar. One of the 
party present stooped down, and running his arm under 
the dog’s body, pressed it forward, until he could feel 
that the cat had the dog firmly clawed by each shoulder, 
with his nose in the cat’s mouth; in this situation, by 
pressing the dog firmly under the chest, the two were 
drawn from the hole. 
The cat hung on unti: he discovered that his victim 
was surrounded by numerous friends, when he let go 
