!82 ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



The next morning one of the packery hands happened 

 to pass the stable, and noticed a big hole, that seemed to 

 have been dug from the outside in a way to communi- 

 cate with a tunnel under the stable-boards. He informed 

 the groom, his first impression being that the puppies 

 were gone; the bitch must have fetched them during 

 the night. But no ; there they sat in their basket, all 

 eight of them, munching away at some strange-looking 

 object, which upon examination proved to be the body 

 of a young gazapo, or mule-eared rabbit. There was 

 only one possible explanation, though it seemed almost 

 incomprehensible how the bitch could have dug a hole 

 of that size in a single night, — a short summer night at 

 that. And, moreover, how had she managed to elude 

 the mastiffs? They had been unchained at sundown, 

 and always patrolled the premises in every direction. 

 The groom slept in the stable the next night, but nothing 

 stirred ; the night after, however, he was awakened by 

 the yelping of the puppies, and, lighting his lantern, 

 found that they were fighting over the remains of a big 

 prairie-cock which some inaudible caterer must have 

 brought them before midnight. It was now decided to 

 recapture the bitch, if it could be done without hurting 

 her, and the best plan seemed to be to catch her in her 

 own trap by fastening a slip-noose over the entrance of 

 her tunnel. But she was up to such tricks: five differ- 

 ent times, at intervals varying from two to four days, did 

 she visit the stable on her errand of love and get off 



