208 The Amateur Poacher. 



it to him. He first filled up the hole from which a 

 rabbit had just bolted with a couple of ' spits,' i.e. 

 spadefuls, and then began to dig on the top of the 

 mound. 



This digging was very tedious. The roots of the 

 thorn bushes and trees constantly impeded it, and had 

 to be cut. Then upon at last getting down to the hole, 

 it was found that the right place had not been hit by 

 several feet. Here was the line and the lined ferret 

 he had got hitched in a projecting root, and was 

 furiously struggling to go forward to the feast of blood. 



Another spell of digging this time still slower 

 because Little John was afraid lest the edge of his tool 

 should suddenly slip through and cut his ferret on the 

 head, and perhaps kill it. At last the place was 

 reached and the ferret drawn forth still clinging to its 

 victim. The rabbit was almost beyond recognition 

 as a rabbit. The poor creature had been stopped 

 by a cut de sac, and the ferret came upon him from 

 behind. 



As the hole was small the rabbit's body completely 

 filled it, and the ferret could not scramble past to get 

 at the spot behind the ear where it usually seizes. The 

 ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the hind- 

 quarters and so bored a passage. The ferret being so 

 gorged was useless for further hunting and was re- 



