The Hog 93 



hounds as they come at him. In the ring, 

 where there is no chance of escaping his tusks, 

 he is well nigh invincible. Experienced dogs 

 never venture upon a direct charge. They 

 halt a little way off, leaping and howling an- 

 grily. Then, when the quarry makes his rush, 

 the aim is to leap aside, and, as he passes, 

 wheel, and nip him by the ear. A game dog 

 with good ear-hold may worry down his hog, 

 but the chances are against it. Once his 

 blood is well up, a boar will commonly kill 

 or disable half a dozen dogs before giving up 

 the fight. 



When a pig did not thrive properly, or a 

 hog looked pinched and rough. Major Baker 

 knew something was wrong with the devil- 

 marks. The marks are rows of tiny indenta- 

 tions, no bigger than small peas, running down 

 the inside of each fore leg. Countryside super- 

 stition has it that the marks commemorate the 

 devils which went into the herd of swine, and 

 made the swine rush violently down into the 

 sea. However that may be, nobody quite 

 understands what end they serve. They are 

 hairless, and without secretion of any sort, yet 

 if they get full of extraneous matter the hog 

 shows it very soon. He eats as well as ever, 

 and roots actively, but does no credit to his 

 keeping until the marks are cleared. 



Hogs have sensitive palates. Joe thought 



