238 THE NEW FOREST 



We help him with the spade, and get the 

 passage clear, and, putting a dog into it, presently 

 hear the angry bay which tells us that he is 

 face to face with the badger again. 



Now, if we have been wise, and cut at the 

 first a cross trench confining friend Brock to that 

 corner of his castle to which he has retreated, it 

 will not be very hard to get him ere long. But 

 if he has all the great earth to retreat into un- 

 checked, a great deal of work may have to be 

 done over again, and some hours may be spent 

 over the job. This is what is meant by " scien- 

 tific " digging. But if we have dug scientifically, 

 we have got him into a corner where all the 

 puppies can see him and bay at him, and find 

 out what sort of a customer the "gentleman in 

 grey" is, and how near to him it is wise to go. 



Many people suppose that badger-digging is 

 a brutal and bloody sport, where poor high- 

 couraged dogs are cut almost to pieces by their 

 formidable opponents, and poor Brock himself 

 barely escapes with his life. This at any rate is 

 a delusion, for, however often he may be shaken 

 up, he is far too well protected to suffer incon- 

 venience. 



All depends on how the sport is conducted. 

 If after having got to the badger in some easy 

 place, by the aid of a really sporting little terrier, 



