MARTENS, POLECATS, WEASELS, STOATS 193 



birds are from the best blood. And here I will 

 reveal a little secret : if a more than usually vicious 

 enemy is seen flying about, the game-cock has steel 

 spurs fixed on him when running with the fowls : on 

 reaching home his spurs are taken off. Any one that 

 has handled one of these courageous birds will under- 

 stand the simple process. The mischief in this case, 

 however, has been done, and the farmer means to 

 punish the offender, if possible, by killing him. Going 

 to a corner, he takes from it a long stout pole about 

 six feet in length, pointed at the thickest end, called 

 in this locality a stake. Grasping this by the middle, 

 he walks off with it, calling Bob. ' Hi, Bob ! ' A 

 rough-coated bob-tailed sheep-dog bounds up to him. 

 His master will tell you Bob can do everything but 

 speak to him. ' On to him, boy ! ' and Bob is on 

 after him, for he has hit the trail off at once. 

 Followed by his master, he runs and stops at a dry 

 drain under a log bridge used when the waters are 

 out. There he sniffs : the polecat has run through it 

 if he is not there now. * Hi, Bob, look out ! ' No 

 need to tell him that. Now the use of that pole is 

 seen, for it is poked into the old drain, where it digs 

 and rattles at a rate that would bolt twenty polecats 

 if they were hiding in it. ' On, old boy, find him ! ' The 

 dog makes for a low shelter thatched with reeds, close 



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