206 STUBBS THE BADGER 
the badgers think of the comfort of a deep burrow 
in preference to a makeshift rabbit-hole or drain ; 
and then again came a hot starlit night, a hunter's 
night, when Stubbs filed his claws on a tree-trunk 
because of the wasted digger's energy within him. 
On the second such night they went to Larch Hill. 
The soil there is dry and sandy, and it is a pleasant 
place cool in summer and warm in winter and, 
wherever the wind stirs, the supple larches bend 
before it, and nod and whisper mysteriously among 
themselves. Here there was an empty rabbit 
burrow, and Stubbs poked in his nose, and snuffled. 
Grunter shouldered him aside and crawled in until 
only her shaggy hind-quarters appeared. Then she 
began to dig, and a continuous shower of sand spurted 
out between her hind-legs. When the heap bid fair 
to block her in altogether, she backed awkwardly, 
shovelling it out as she came. This was Stubbs' 
chance. He lumbered into the cavity, and scraped 
likewise until his coat was full of dust. Grunter 
tried to press in after him, but a well-directed kick 
sent her sprawling upon her broad back, and she 
was obliged to wait outside until her mate was 
tired. So they worked alternately, until a most 
respectable tunnel had been driven under the larch 
trees. 
Meanwhile, however, the herons flew in from the 
