Stránka:book 1912.djvu/228

196 The Book of Woodcraft we had brought in the hope that we might run to earth a rabbit; and this particular ferret was, Hke everything his owner had, "absolutely the best in Canada." He claimed that it could kill rats, six at a time; that it could drive a fox out of its hole; that it was not afraid of a coon; while a skunk or a mink was simply beneath its notice. I now suggested that this greatest of ferrets be turned in after the mink, while we watched around the pile of logs. I never did like a ferret. He is such an imp of murder incarnate. It always gives me the creeps to see the blood- thirsty brute, like a four-legged snake, dive into some hole, Skunk track /i'n — I with death and slaughter as his job. I hate him; but, after all, there is something thrilHng and admirable about his perfectly diabolical courage. How would one of us like to be sent alone into a dark cave, to find out and fight some unknown monster, much larger than ourselves, and able, for aught we know, to tear us into pieces in a moment! But the ferret never faltered; he dived into the log laby- rinth. It was a small ferret and a big mink; I awaited anxiously. After a long silence, we saw our four-footed partner at the farther end, unruffled, calm and sinuous.