STUBBS THE BADGER 227 
but one little wisp, which, however, she carried 
underground, and deposited with as much care as 
if she had housed the whole collection. At this rate 
the badgers' progress was naturally slow, and it 
was nearly a week before all was arranged to their 
satisfaction. 
Alas ! the first wet night found the evicted 
lodger back in his former quarters, and the badgers, 
seriously perturbed, prepared to give battle. They 
found the smaller gallery empty, but a snarl from 
the passage beyond told them where the intruder 
had ensconced himself, and they had perforce to 
retire baffled. This happened not once but many 
times. Stubbs never came to close grips with his 
enemy ; the fox was too clever to be caught napping, 
and at the sound of shuffling pads in the gallery, 
he used to back hastily into the old rabbit burrow, 
which was too small for the badger's comfort. 
So matters dragged on for more than a month, 
and then the hounds came to Knockdane, and 
precipitated the crisis. 
One night the fox went out betimes, but it was 
damp and raw, and the badgers slept longer than 
usual, for their winter slothfulness was creeping 
over them. The weather also accounted for the 
fact that Paddy Magragh, the earthstopper, went 
his rounds before moonrise that he might return 
the sooner to his warm cabin. It was only eight 
