94 MASTER TOMMY'S EXPLOITS. 



teeth into the dog's shoulder. Black, though badly 

 wounded, uttered not a cry ; but flinging the racoon 

 down upon the ground, pressed him against a stone until 

 he choked him. Hover, though somewhat tardy, had 

 hastened to the assistance of his comrade, but too late to 

 be of any service. 



Six months after this adventure I was staying with 

 one of my friends at Beaufort Farm, near the Colombia, 

 in South Carolina. Here I was introduced to a young 

 racoon, whom the overseer had caught in a burrow a few 

 days after his birth. 



When I made his acquaintance he was about two 

 months old, and allowed to run. free in the house ; had 

 lived like a young kitten, playing with the negro children, 

 who called him Tommy, licking the plates and dishes in 

 the kitchen, and stealing from time to time a bit of meat, 

 a fish, a morsel of lard. On different occasions it was 

 remarked that Master Tommy glided near the young 

 chickens, ducklings, and other poultry, and tried the 

 strength of his claws upon their feathers. Far from 

 encouraging this natural instinct, my friend's overseer 

 passed a cord through the ring of his collar, attaching the 

 other extremity to a tolerably heavy log; so that it 

 would be impossible for him to make the slightest move- 

 ment in the direction of the poultry. 



During my residence at Beaufort Farm, my friend and 

 I were desirous of making an experiment on the savage 

 temperament of the young racoon. We let him loose in the 

 yard. As soon as he thought no one was watching him, 

 he began to creep towards the corner where the hens and 

 ducks were picking up their allowance of grain. The 



