234 STUBBS THE BADGER 
Only when he had put two feet of earth between 
himself and his assailant did he slink to the bottom 
of the burrow to lick his wounds. 
Rip climbed the barricade time after time. Then, 
when he was finally convinced that it was useless, 
he dragged himself to the light of day once more, 
tattered and torn, with his eyes and nose full of 
sand. But they could see that he had fought a 
great fight, and Dennis the Whip vowed that he 
should never go underground any more. Indeed, 
he never could do so, but limped on one leg to the 
end of his days. 
How Greybrush ultimately escaped from the 
badgers I do not know, but he was not seen abroad 
in Knockdane for several days. However, after the 
battle the badgers ceased to try and evict him. 
Instead, they dug a new and deeper gallery at right 
angles to their former one, and dwelt there. So 
that if you go to Knockdane and ask Paddy Magragh, 
he will show you the Larch Hill ' earth/ and tell 
you that foxes live in the upper tunnels and badgers 
in the lower. And if you could creep down, where 
even Paddy Magragh cannot go, you might hear 
the rumbling snores of Stubbs from a side dormitory ; 
and in the deepest chamber of all, well lined and 
cosy, the maternal snorts of Grunter, and the 
squeals of her new-born cubs. 
