150 
GRIMALKIN THE CAT 
behind the ear. But that instant proved his 
undoing. Grimalkin, roused from his stupor by 
the prick of a new wound, rose with a sudden con- 
vulsive effort. His enemy was off his guard, and 
left his side exposed. Instantly Grimalkin buried 
his teeth in it. He held on grimly, crushing the 
life out of the slender writhing form until it ceased 
to quiver and throb, and hung limp. Then he flung 
it aside, and Keen, his white chest stained scarlet, 
lay stretched on the grass beside the dead rabbit. 
Grimalkin did not stay to look at this, his 
record kill. It was no time to triumph. His life- 
blood had been drained freely, he felt weary and 
strangely weak. He crawled to the hedgerow, 
and sought an old lair of his, a deserted rabbit 
burrow. Dead leaves had drifted in, and it was 
dry and safe. Here Grimalkin lay and nursed his 
wounds, until the sunshine striking on the hedge side, 
and the singing of the flies over the grey and brown 
spots in the grass, brought home to him the fact that 
he was hungry, and must go out and hunt in the 
woods again. 
