THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 27 



I believe ; but will you promise not to begin upon it with 

 him until we come in to dessert?" Mr. Raby smiled, 

 and said nothing ; but doubtless his heart responded to 

 the call of his favourite son. 



One of the leading characteristics of a young sportsman 

 is the pursuit of all animals which come under the de- 

 nomination of vermin ; and, indeed, for the preservation 

 of game, poultry, and many other things, the destruction 

 of them, as of many of the feathered race, is necessary. 

 There is, however, one animal included in this list, which, 

 as far as the evils of his ways are taken into account, is 

 entitled to an exemption, for they are few, if any. This 

 animal is the badger, neither a depredator nor a thief ; 

 but subsisting chiefly on pig nuts, beech mast, and roots ; 

 in fact, on anything that pigs eat in the woods ; and, 

 moreover, of service to the sportsman, by drawing earths 

 for foxes, although he sometimes, by making them too 

 strong, increases the expense of stopping. The badger, 

 however, possesses two very extraordinary properties 

 the prodigious strength of his nose in burrowing, and the 

 ferocity with which he defends himself when attacked by 

 dogs. Drawing badgers from their burrows is one test 

 of courage, or pluck, in terriers, and dogs of that descrip- 

 tion, for which purpose many are kept, to the discredit of 

 those who keep them. 



" What have you been doing to-day, Francis ? " inquired 

 Mr. Egerton, on the morrow after the hare hunt. "I 

 saw you coming to the house with Jem Perren, who was 

 carrying something in a bag." "We had been drawing 

 a badger, sir, in the big wood, and you would have been 

 pleased to see how well Pickle and Vixen behaved." 

 " Indeed," replied Mr. Egerton, " I should not. It would 

 have afforded me no pleasure to have seen animals tor- 

 menting each other for your pleasure, and merely that 

 you might get possession of a worthless, ^though harmless 

 creature." " Not worthless, sir," resumed Frank ; " we 

 mean to have a burrow made for him to enter the young 

 terriers at him, for Jem Perren thinks those out of Trinket 

 are not thorough-bred by the father's side." " Indeed, 

 Francis," exclaimed the tutor, " you shall do no such 

 thing ; at least with my knowledge. You have signalized 

 yourself, in your own estimation, by having drawn a wild 

 badger from his burrow, which, no doubt, you think much 

 of ; but let once doing so suffice. I shall walk with you 



