STUBBS THE BADGER 191 
dawn she took them below ground again ; even 
before Father Badger had returned home, grunting, 
to his solitary dormitory. 
The next night, however, they went as far as the 
Hollow Field. Mother went first, and the cubs, 
their eyes fixed upon her shaggy, bumping quarters, 
followed her closely in single file. Her feet made no 
sound ; but now and then one of the little ones, less 
used to tread where the least rustle aroused the 
whole woodside, snapped a twig. That was their 
first real hunting. Last night by the ' earth ' had 
merely been play, but now they learned the science 
of smells, for a badger relies very greatly upon his 
nose. They learned that, as the night wore on, 
the scent grew stronger or fainter according to the 
dew-fall and the wind and the state of the ground, 
and to what different smells belonged. A strong 
taint blew aslant the hedge that was fox. Mother 
Badger sampled it scientifically, and the cubs 
dutifully followed her example. The rabbit trails 
intersected one another in a labyrinth, but the 
badger has no dealings with grown rabbits, and 
they passed these by. Every tree and herb and 
bird and beast has its own particular odour, and, 
as there is no directory of scent in the woods but 
that which each of the Fur Folk compiles for himself, 
the little badgers had to learn each separately. 
