210 STUBBS THE BADGER 
underneath were bricks, bricks nothing but bricks : 
not a chink or cranny to give purchase to his claws. 
In fear and trembling he hid in the cask again, 
where the mild light of the summer morning could 
not filter ; and there, ostrich-like, he believed 
himself safe. 
That day was a holiday, and therefore it was 
arranged that, in the afternoon, the cur dogs of the 
neighbourhood should have an opportunity of 
trying their mettle against Stubbs' formidable 
teeth and claws. It was very hot, and the badger, 
accustomed to the fresh mildness of the hours of 
darkness and the cool of the burrows, gasped in the 
stuffy barn. There had been a pan of water in 
the place, but in his first terrified scamper he had 
upset this, and it had not been refilled. He panted, 
and watched a dusty streak of sunlight creep from 
west to east along the wall. Every time that he 
heard a louder voice or step outside, he fled into the 
barrel ; for hitherto he had known nothing but 
the silence and shadows of the woods at night, and 
noise and light were both terrible to him. 
At last he heard footsteps clatter up to the barn. 
The door was flung open, and a flood of sunlight 
poured in. 
' All right ! he 's in the tub,' said Borrigan, 
