STUBBS THE BADGER 233 
staggered back with his mouth full of grey hair. 
The badger ran forward and in the darkness stumbled 
right on the top of the dog. Something hairy 
brushed his mouth, and his jaws closed like a trap 
upon the terrier's leg. It was well for Rip that 
it was his leg and not his body which those teeth 
seized, or else all the life would have been squeezed 
out of him very quickly ; but as it was, as he fell 
he twisted himself round and snapped at Stubbs' 
jaw. The badger grunted and let go, and the 
terrier crawled backwards, dragging his broken leg 
and sobbing in his breathing. 
But as long as there was life in Rip's shaggy 
body there was pluck. He rested for a few seconds, 
and then turned to the attack again. The badger 
heard the muffled yelping close at hand, and knew 
that to win his way to the open air he must face 
the snapping fury in front of him. He resolved 
upon another plan. Grunting and gasping in the 
stifling atmosphere he turned round, and plunging 
his pads into the light soil, he began to throw up a 
barricade. He dug with his long fore-claws, and 
shovelled the earth with his hind-legs until the pile 
nearly filled the passage. He could hear the terrier 
whimpering and scuffling on the other side as he 
attempted to climb the barrier, and dug the deeper. 
