J. C. Tregarthen

“ Luckily for her, Andrew has got over a fit of sneezing, and she passes the bush unconscious of his presence. When her footsteps die away, night and its shy denizens claim the earth for their own. A rabbit runs along the space between the wheel-ruts and pauses for a moment on the further bright space. To the Earthstopper its ears are in a line with a big stone that holds the gate leading into a rough meadow bordering the stream. The rabbit has scarcely passed out of sight before a stoat follows, like a murderer on the trail of his victim, and is lost to view in the shadow of a hedgerow. ”

“ All the way across the heather to his cottage, Andrew thought of what the Squire had said, but reflection did not shake the confidence he felt in his plan. More than once, when he had lain hidden on the bank of the stream, an otter had swum past within a few feet of him without betraying the least alarm. Of course, he had kept as still as death. Almost in the twinkling of an eye the Earthstopper can become as rigid as a rock, and so disarm the suspicion of the shyest of wild creatures, provided they don’t get wind of him. ”

“ He is looking towards the lower side of the moor, over the shoulder of which lies the sea, fringed with surf where it frets the black precipice of a headland. He is watching a bird that flies close to the stunted furze. The white of its plumage gleams as the sun catches it. Threading the sinuous lanes between the bushes, appearing at the distance almost like the shadow of the overhanging magpie, is the hunted game; and though Tregellas cannot hear the chattering of the bird, he knows that it is mobbing the fox whose mask is set in the direction of Deadman. ”

“ The valley is awakening. The sunbeams that slant over the lichened cairn now bright as with outcropping gold, bathe stem, leaf and petal, and dance on the rippled surface of the lake. Hushed, indeed, are the weird voices of night; but from spinney and brake come the songs of finch and warbler, moor-hens call amongst the reeds, doves coo in the pines, and a robin sings on a branch of the willow. Even the midges, inspired by the joy that moves all creatures at the return of brightsome day, have resumed their gambols around the gladdening ray up in the turret of the otter’s lair. ”

“ But when he gets there, no sign of fugitive, white or grey, meets his disappointed gaze. Climbing a rock he looks down on the somewhat sparse brake, his eyes searching the motionless furze and waving bents to detect by tell-tale movements of bush or withered grass the whereabouts of the quarry. If it is stealing away under their shelter, the cover keeps its secret well. From its unresponsive surface the Earthstopper gleans no inkling of its presence, and with surprise, so quickly have the hours sped, sees that the gathering shadows are stealing over the base of the sunlight slope. ”

“ Only by a miracle can the slow-footed creature cover the two miles to it, before he is overtaken. Look at him as he hurries along under the shelter of that stone wall, as he threads his way among the furze bushes, as he glides like a monster eel through the coarse grasses, where the dew lies heavy. You are conscious of the great effort he is making to save his life. That dark spot below the high bank is the rock he is making for, and it is the silver thread of the stream surrounding it that you see sparkling here and there at the foot of the rugged slope. ”

“ The old man is wondering where the otter, if it has not returned to the cliffs, may be lying up. His eyes wander to the likely places; to the island, to the hollow banks, to the clump of bushes, to the reed-bed over which a mist hangs, half veiling the blush of morning on the stems of the pines beyond. He does not waste a glance on the bare bank opposite, or its solitary willow whose tender green foliage stands out against the sombre hillside. Turning his head he sees the hounds coming down the hill below the cairn. They are not very wide of the line taken by the otter at dawn. ”

“ It is the shout of the crofter he hears, and then the dog comes through the open gate and runs up the hill towards the spot where he is crouching. The cow takes little notice of the noisy lurcher, but the otter steals back along his own tracks towards the cairn.
The garish hues of furze bloom, lichen and pine stem, the dewdrops that jewel every blade, disconcert the belated wildling of the night, as with reluctant steps he steals towards the lake whose shelter instinct has warned him to shun. It is true that he knows its wild surroundings well, its hollow banks, its reedy hovers ”

“ By way of response the Squire winks his right eye as though to say “I can hear him.” A sharp struggle succeeds, and the yell of the dog echoes along the winding way. At last the Earthstopper catches what he has been listening for, the welcome yap, yap, yap . . . coming always from the same spot, which tells him that the terrier is face to face with the badger in an end of its earth.
Without a moment’s delay, Sir Bevil instructs the miners where to sink a shaft to intercept the badger and cut it off from its galleries. ”

“ One lantern he suspends from a rude granite slab spanning the stream, so that it hangs within a few inches of the rippling water. The other he fastens to a branch of a blackthorn on the far side of the croft. This done he climbs a mound amidst the furze and looks towards the lake now barely a furlong away. The surface is like a sheet of silver. No glimpse of living creature does he get, no sound reaches his ears but the voice of the fall and the song of a sedge-warbler. Retracing his steps he takes up a position on the rugged slope near the corner of the park. ”

“ The cry of the huntsman in the bottoms at once hushes the hum of the crowd. Ears strain to catch the first whimper, and eager eyes search every yard of open ground to view the stealthy movements of a fox. Under the shelter of a boulder, apart from the crowd, sits Jim Roscruge, the old mining pioneer, and near him a man in velveteen coat and sealskin cap who looks the incarnation of vigilance.
Surely we have seen that cheery face before—it’s Andrew the Earthstopper, looking little the worse for his night’s adventures. The leading hounds had come through the brake. ”

“ There was no pool of water there, no spring, as far as I could see; and a small cave at the foot of the high bank was dry, for, boylike, I peeped in over the drift that half-filled its mouth.
Leaving the field, we made for Trevean farmhouse. The snow in the unfrequented lane that we followed was unmarked by any footprint except the track of a hare. Soon we could smell the reek of burning furze, and as we came in sight of the high stone chimney, we heard the mooing of the cattle that had been driven in from the wild moors around. ”

“ With the lake now more than a mile behind, a posse of constables should not make him deviate from his line. But hark! Faint though the cry be, the otter hears it. Full well he knows that his escape has been discovered, that at every stride the hounds are gaining, and that there is no twist or turn on his hot trail to check them; but he cannot add to his best pace. Look, he has left the furze and bracken that hid his movements and is about to enter the reedy swamp which separates him from the stream. On landing he does not, like the fox, dwell to listen. ”

“ The rest of the pack follows, Sir Bevil cheering them on. Swimming close to the bank, they make for the head of the lake, the valley resounding with their music as they pick up the scent left by the otter in his night’s fishing. They are a pretty sight as they skirt the wall of pale green reeds fringing the nearest creek and leave the water to enter the yielding cover. Evidently the varmint has not been there, for excepting the sing-song voices of the Welsh hounds, the pack is silent. Leaving the reed-bed they cross the furthest creek and are lost to sight under the dense rhododendron bushes. ”

“ Everything wild he liked, ay, loved; the sea-pinks, the golden samphire, the sea-holly, the ferns in the zawns, the seaweed in the pools, the shells on the beach. And when he was unable to move out of the house—he lived to eighty-two—he used to sit up in the little bay-window, where he could see the sun set, and watch for my return, and then he’d ask what birds I’d seen, and about the flowers. The speedwell, the scarlet pimpernel, and the forget-me-not were especial favourites of his, and I’d always bring home one or the other in my fishing-basket. ”

“ What dread of its enemy the beast must have, to hesitate thus on the skirt of this rude track in the depth of night! It cannot be that it winds the Earthstopper, for the breeze that rustles the leaves of the ash, fans his flushed face, and stirs his bushy eyebrows. At length the creature comes noiselessly across the open space, as if making for the furze-bush, the moonbeams catching the glossy hair on its arched back, and lighting the dust it raises. ”

“ In the hollow immediately below us, an old labourer, with a big faggot of furze on his back, was staggering across a yard, his feet sinking at every step deeper and deeper into the snow, as he made for the closed door of the farmhouse against which it had drifted. It must be admitted that the snowfall, heavy as it was, could not be compared to the great blizzard of later years, which blocked the railway, isolated the dwellers in the country, and but for his knowledge of the position of a starveling tree on the edge of a quarry, would probably have cost the Earthstopper his life. ”

“ The stems of the furze have swept off his cap; so bareheaded, but triumphant, he goes straight to Sir Bevil, holding up between the forefinger and the thumb of his right hand the precious evidence. The men crowd round Squire and Earthstopper with amazement written on their faces as they behold the white bristle—for such it is—and ready for whatever exertion may be needed to secure the trophy. The Squire, suppressing the excitement he feels, orders the bushes that screen the earth to be cleared away. ”

“ He is sitting in the lewth with his back against one of the boulders of a stone circle, set like a coronet on the brow of a hill commanding the steep slope over against him, down which the hounds will come on their way to the meet.
The sun that reddens the East has lifted the veil of night from the valley, revealing the smoke rising from a few chimneys where white-washed homesteads dot the countryside. Some cows, released from milking, are waiting for a boy to open the gate of a meadow; a flock of geese is making its way to a pool in the bottoms. ”

“ At this moment the man who had been shovelling comes up with another miner, with candles stuck in their hats, Shellal and the coachman, from the mouth of the tunnel, see the twinkling lights come and go as the miners make their way across the cave, and a spark or two struck by hobnailed boots, and they start at Andrew’s scream of encouragement to the dog, and the echoes it awakes. ”

“ The horn recalls the reluctant hounds, revelling in the scent that the stream carries down. There they come past the Earthstopper. See how eagerly they are drawing the banks, how impatient the check makes them. Gellert, who has the best nose of the pack, is getting close to the clump of iris; the next moment his tell-tale tongue warns the pack that he has discovered the line of the quarry, and with triumphant clamour they breast the hillside on its hot trail. ”

“ To have a clear view of the ground, with his clasp knife he cut two peepholes in the furze, through which he could see the rough track on his left and a smooth pool on his right. An ivy-clad ash cast a deep shadow on the stream and track, but bright belts of lighted ground lay on each side of it, and the pool shone like quicksilver. Seldom does the footfall of wayfarer disturb the silence of the spot at night. ”

“ Trevaskis is holding a tubbal in one hand and—yes, a furze-chopper in the other; picks and shovels are piled in front of the miners; Shellal is holding two buckets, no doubt containing water for the terriers; and, by all that’s good, it is a pair of badger-tongs that the Squire has just brought out of the house, his fingers fidgeting with the guard. In short, a more completely equipped party for an assault on a badger’s fortress and, judging by the laughter, a more merry one, it would be difficult to imagine. But the high spirits of Squire, farmer, and miner are not shared by the Earthstopper. ”

“ Full well the otter knows these harbingers of the sun that will expose him to the eye of man, whose voice he dreads, whose footfall he shrinks from, whose smell taints the air and chills the blood. He turns his lissom head and looks back at the valley of terror. The deep-cut bottom lies in gloom. Banks, creeks, island and marsh invite him to their dusky shelter. He can discern tree, bush, reed-bed and the sinuous outline of the placid lake, as he shifts his gaze from blot to blot of darkest umbrage. ”

“ The light that scared him, though it is so near the edge of the bog, is no pixie’s light, no lantern held by shadowy hands; the feeble rays he saw, flicker on the path of as human a being as ever trod the earth. He should have known who it was, for there is but one man whose lonesome duty could bring him there in the small hours of the morning, when the watch-dog sleeps, and the fox is tyrant of the farmyard. ”

“ A barren space, it might be twenty yards wide, lies in the badger’s path; and there Andrew awaits. He is only just in time. A movement of the furze, and its sharp muzzle protrudes, then the eyes are seen—they were not pink—then the massive body. Vixen and Nell, bleeding from their wounds, make feints at it, one on each side. Listen to the snapping of the jaws as the badger bites right and left at them. Clear of the bush, not a tussock screens the plucky, friendless creature. ”

“ His first home was amidst a clump of rushes bordering a lonely pool on the high ground between two of the Cornish heights. Even when maternal instinct is strongest, fear of detection kept doe and leveret apart during the day; but she never failed to suckle him at nightfall and before sunrise, on her way back from the feeding-ground on the lowland. From dawn to dusk the leveret lay in the snuggest of couches in the trough between the hills, and when not asleep would watch the reeds waving over the shallows, or the moor-hen, whose nest was on the opposite bank, swim on the open water. ”

“ The dogs too, good as they are at sticking a badger up in its earth, game as they are at meeting its terrible rushes underground, are powerless to hold such a monster as that brushing on there through the bushes and treating their savage attentions with disdain. Through close furze and brambly thicket it presses forward as if through gossamer, stopping but to make the terriers yell with pain.
Ned now arrives breathless with the sack, and not a minute too soon, for Andrew, despite his excitement, sees that the beast is heading for an old drain in the valley, in which it would find safe refuge. ”