CURIOUS MISFORTUNE WITFI A BADGER. IGl 



feeling for my knife to brush him, and stood about fifty- 

 yards from the mouth of the drain to allow the pack to 

 have a clear run at him as he came out ; with breath- 

 less anxiety we watched the clouded water as it streamed 

 out over the greensward, — here he comes ! here he 

 comes ! here he comes ! and sure enough he did come, 

 attended by his three sons. 



Tally ho ! by Jove, we'er beat again ; our old friend 

 slipped through the next hedge, and the hounds hung 

 to a fresh one, we could not stop them until too late, 

 and found ourselves at five o'clock at night in a great 

 woodland without blood ; I can only add I have always 

 since taken better care in similar cases. Another 

 time we were beat in a very singular manner, we had 

 run a cub to ground early in the morning in Ryton 

 Wood, and as the sun was getting up and little proba- 

 bility of getting blood on that day, excepting by 

 digging the fox which we had marked, it was resolved 

 to have him out ; the spout was not a very deep one, 

 and the hounds had marked the end of it and had 

 scratched down upon the fox, while I was keeping the 

 other hole safe by standing in it until one of the whips 

 returned with a spade. The baying of the hounds at 

 the further end so alarmed an old badger, who was the 

 lawful possessor of the said earth, that he immediately 

 determined to make his exist at my end, and charging 

 me with all the force he could muster, and getting 

 between my legs, fairly put me on my back ; the 

 hounds of course seized him before he had run fifty 

 yards, and the cub taking this opportunity of de- 

 camping, effected his escape, to the great mortification 

 of the whole party. 



M 



