TERRIERS AT WORK. 81 



They are a pack of rough and smooth mixed, and 

 are all bred for gameness. A striking proof of 

 their mettle was given when five and a half couple 

 of them found and killed a badger of nearly 23 

 lb. -weight in a dense black-thorn covert before any 

 one could get to them, not one of the terriers 

 having ever seen a badger before. A grand couple 

 of Miss Guest's workers are Redskin and Rachel, 

 by my own Redtop ex Pixie ; and Rachel's son 

 Ruler, by Monarch, by the old Devonshire Teaser, 

 is considered by his mistress to be the best terrier 

 she has. Lydia, a granddaughter of old Dick's, is 

 another as keen as a razor, whilst Merrilies is famed 

 for her cleverness in marking ferrets when laid up, 

 for where she marks you are safe to find them. 

 Old Meg, her dam, is another good one, and she 

 has grown very cunning now that she is in the 

 sere and yellow leaf. As Meg finds some difficulty 

 in keeping pace with the younger members of the 

 pack, she makes for the large earths as soon as the 

 running begins. Backing in, she waits with her 

 head out to receive poor Bunny, who literally puts 

 his head into the lion's mouth and gets quickly 

 despatched. Among the puppies. Playmate and 

 Passion are two promising ones, and the smartly 

 coloured Vagabond, although a big one, is a rare 

 dog to drive, and never lets go of anything he 

 once gets hold of. 



A mark of Miss Guest's terriers is that all she 

 has bred have their natural length of tail, for she 



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