218 STUBBS THE BADGER 
crack, and that a very little one ; nevertheless he 
worked his claws into the interstice and dug. 
Some minutes' hard labour, and then the loosened 
brick fell out. Inside, the mortar had crumbled a 
little, and broke away in cakes ; nevertheless the 
bricks were sound, and now and then one jammed 
obliquely across the opening, and it gave him much 
trouble to dislodge it. At the end of two hours he 
had made quite a creditable breach in the masonry ; 
but the wall was far more strongly built than that 
of most Irish barns, and he seemed as far as ever 
from the fresh air. Time after time he drew back 
panting, his tongue dry with dust ; but nothing in 
the woods is stouter than a badger's claws except 
a badger's heart, and he always fell to work again. 
By and by he came to a place where the bricks 
had broken, and he tore them away more easily, 
scraping them out behind him with his sturdy hind- 
legs. Once a shrewd kick sent one flying across 
the barn with a clatter, and Stubbs scurried into 
the straw, in terror lest the men should be upon him 
again ; but luckily Borrigan slept soundly, and never 
dreamed of how his captive was employing the 
night. 
The moonlight began to fade, and the breeze 
which heralds the dawn sighed around the farm. 
Stubbs knew instinctively that morning was not 
