8 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



In the deepest part of the coombe, in the middle 

 of the village, there was a well where the cottagers 

 drew their water ; and in the summer evenings the 

 youths and maidens came there, with or without 

 jugs and buckets, to indulge in conversation which 

 was mostly of the rustic bantering kind, mixed with 

 a good deal of loud laughter. Close by was the inn, 

 where the men sat on benches in the tap-room in 

 grave discourse over their pipes and beer. 



Wishing to make their acquaintance I went in and 

 sat down among them, and found them a little shy, 

 not to say standoffish, at first. Rustics are often 

 suspicious of the stranger within their gates; but 

 after paying for beer all round the frost melted and 

 we were soon deep in talk about the wild life of the 

 place, always a safe and pleasant subject in a village. 

 One rough-looking, brown-faced man with iron-grey 

 hair became a sort of spokesman for the company 

 and replied to most of my questions. 



" And what about badgers i " I asked. " In such 

 a rough-looking spot with woods and all, it strikes 

 me as just the sort of place where one would find 

 that animal." 



A long dead silence followed. I caught the eye 

 of the man nearest me and repeated the question, 

 " Are there no badgers here t " His eyes fell ; then 

 he exchanged glances with some of the others, all 

 very serious ; and at length my man, addressing 



