THE BADGER 



hounds and bolting foxes when I was hunt- 

 ing, and my constant and daily companion, 

 accompanying me into every county when I 

 made an expedition against the badger. I 

 was once amused by the remarks made about 

 Worry by an old shoemaker who sometimes 

 accompanied us with a good terrier when we 

 were ratting. " Si' the (see thee), lads, 

 Worry's t' yan (the one) fer (for) pickin' t' wick 

 (the life) out on 'em," as she threw five 

 or six big rats over her shoulder in half 

 as many seconds. She died a terrible death, 

 but game and uncomplaining to the last. 

 She had a knack of squeezing herself through 

 almost any kennel bars, and I had had to put 

 her into a kennel for a time, and had the bars 

 made narrower and covered with mesh wire 

 netting. An hour after I had put her in I 

 went to see her, and I was horror-struck to 

 find that she was half through the bars 

 nipped as in a vice, the wire torn with her 

 teeth, and herself covered with blood and 

 wounds, with one eye hanging out, blood 

 flowing from her mouth, still fighting her 



way on — without a sound except her panting 



104 



