Lancer and the Badger. 133 



named Lancer, Pearl, by Diver — Racket, also a winner, 

 with another brace, both by Lancer, but unknown on the 

 show bench. Here all our efforts were of no avail, it was 

 impossible to dig, and we could only hope that the united 

 efforts of the terriers might drive the badger out. How- 

 ever, there were several in the place, and after some hours 

 of waiting, and despairing of ever seeing one of the terriers 

 again, we fairly gave up all hope. At last faint moans 

 could be heard, and the ubiquitous small boy, happily at 

 hand, was induced by a liberal bribe to venture down the 

 shaft a few yards, crawling on his hands and knees, a 

 candle on the end of a long pole being pushed on in front 

 to show him the way. Lancer, Remus, and Pearl were 

 thus passed out more dead than alive, the two sons of the 

 former were quite dead ! Lancer, as soon as the water and 

 fresh air had somewhat revived him, was just entering the 

 shaft for another turn at his enemies, when I caught sight 

 of him in time to haul him back by his stern. Never have 

 I seen terriers so mauled. These three were cut to pieces 

 almost, and for weeks had to be fed with a spoon, as their 

 lips had to be sewn-up. 



" On a subsequent occasion I was tempted to try this 

 same earth again ; Veni, Valetta, Vedette, Victor Chief, all 

 ' show dogs,' being the terriers used. After a couple of 

 hours' work, in which we could hear ' our dogs ' hard at 

 their game, we discovered the battle was being waged 

 near the outlet, and sure enough a badger's scut was 

 soon apparent and promptly seized, and the owner hauled 

 out nolens volens. It proved to be a monster, the biggest, 

 handsomest, fattest badger I ever handled — 321b. was his 

 w r eight. To our intense astonishment, not a terrier was 

 badly injured; all the evening this was the topic of a 



