THE END OF POACHER BOB. 79 



where I was, and now I heard them send the 

 dog round to look for me ; first here, and then 

 there, saying : " Try for him, good dog." 

 They peered into the badger's earth close by, 

 looked into the chalk pit, searched the roof of 

 the hay-stack and all round it, and then sent 

 Bob up the side of the hedge where the snares 

 w^ere set to look for me, once more. On 

 arriving at the end, the dog looked back at the 

 men, as if for further orders, when Jones called 

 to him to " go over;" he thereupon jumped 

 the hedge and came down the other side, all 

 the way to the chalk pit, where the men stood. 

 I heard them say that it was alright, and one of 

 them immediately made for the rabbit and 

 took it out of the snare, when to their surprise 

 I appeared. On seeing me, the man with the 

 rabbit gave leg bail towards Fox's Mill and 

 Chesham, the route by which they had come. 

 I made chase, and caught up with him after a 

 run of a couple of hundred yards or so, only to 

 find that he was a stranger to me. He refused 

 to give me his name, and kept on walking 

 towards the town, I keeping up with him. 



