'LITTLE GENTLEMAN IN BLACK VELVET COAT' 



worms to this mole, so that it should not eat 

 them all at once and then go short. By doing 

 this it was not only kept alive, but very well 

 and lively. It was quite an accident I got it 

 — a trap had been set in a fence, and I was going 

 by as it went off. I soon let the mole go, but 

 could not hold her (it was a small one and 

 therefore I believed it to be a female), so put 

 her into the only thing at hand, namely, my 

 glove, where she scratched and struggled, 

 squeaking loudly all the way home. It was 

 a funny sound, something like the squeak of 

 a shrew, but not so shrill. The tub being 

 handy I put her in it, covering the bottom with 

 about eighteen inches of soil. First she dashed 

 frantically round and round, trying repeatedly 

 to climb out ; then she buried herself, when the 

 heaving told how she was exploring the bottom 

 of the tub. When she went down into the 

 earth she flung the soil out behind her with 

 her hind feet, while her fore paws pressed it 

 back on either side. It is rather difficult to 

 understand how the earth we see heaved up into 

 hillocks in the fields can be thrown out. From 

 what I have seen of moles at work, I think 

 they push forward through the earth, throwing 

 back loose soil behind them, then turn round, 



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