Ole bull he comes for me, wi's head down. But I didn't flinch... I went fo 'e.
'Twas him as did th' flinchin'.
Flora Thompson, Lark RiseWhen Hazel stamped, Dandelion leaped instinctively from the grass verge. Ifthere had been a hole he would have made for it. For the briefest instant helooked up and down the gravel. Then the dog was rushing upon him and heturned and made for the raised barn. But before he reached it he realized that hemust not take refuge under the floor. If he did, the dog would check: very likely aman would call it back. He had to get it out of the farmyard and down to the road.
He altered direction and raced up the lane toward the elms.
He had not expected the dog to be so close behind him. He could hear itsbreath and the loose gravel flying under its paws.
"It's too fast for me!" he thought. "It's going to catch me!" In another momentit would be on him and then it would roll him over, snapping his back and bitingout his life. He knew that hares, when overtaken, dodge by turning more quicklyand neatly than the pursuing dog and doubling back on their track. "I shall haveto double," he thought desperately. "But if I do, it will hunt me up and down thelane and the man will call it off, or else I shall have to lose it by going through thehedge: then the whole plan will fail."He tore over the crest and down toward the cattle shed. When Hazel had toldhim what he was to do, it had seemed to him that his task would consist ofleading the dog on and persuading it to follow him. Now he was running simplyto save his life, and that at a speed he had never touched before, a speed he knewhe could not keep up.
In actual fact Dandelion covered three hundred yards to the cattle shed in agood deal less than half a minute. But as he reached the straw at the entrance itseemed to him that he had run forever. Hazel and the farmyard were long, longago. He had never done anything in his life but run in terror down the lane,feeling the dog's breath at his haunches. Inside the gate a big rat ran across infront of him and the dog checked at it for a moment. Dandelion gained thenearest shed and went headlong between two bales of straw at the foot of a pile. Itwas a narrow place and he turned round only with some difficulty. The dog wasimmediately outside, scratching eagerly, whining and throwing up loose straw asit sniffed along the foot of the bales.
"Sit tight," said a young rat, from the straw close beside him. "It'll be off in aminute. They're not like cats, you know.""That's the trouble," said Dandelion, panting and rolling the whites of his eyes.
"It mustn't lose me; and time's everything.""What?" said the rat, puzzled. "What you say?"Without answering, Dandelion slipped along to another crack, gatheredhimself a moment and then broke cover, running across the yard to the oppositeshed. It was open-fronted and he went straight through to the boarding along theback. There was a gap under the broken end of a board and here he crept into thefield beyond. The dog, following, thrust its head into the gap and pushed, barkingwith excitement. Gradually the loose board levered open like a trapdoor until itwas able to force its way through.
Now that he had a better start, Dandelion kept in the open and ran down thefield to the hedge beside the road. He knew he was slower, but the dog seemedslower, too. Choosing a thick part, he went through the hedge and crossed theroad. Blackberry came to meet him, scuttering down the further bank. Dandeliondropped exhausted in the ditch. The dog was not twenty feet away on the otherside of the hedge. It could not find a big enough gap.
"It's faster than ever I thought," gasped Dandelion, "but I've taken the edge offit. I can't do any more. I must go to ground. I'm finished."It was plain that Blackberry was frightened.
"Frith help me!" he whispered. "I'll never do it!""Go on, quick," said Dandelion, "before it loses interest. I'll overtake you andhelp if I can."Blackberry hopped deliberately into the road and sat up. Seeing him, the dogyelped and thrust its weight against the hedge. Blackberry ran slowly along theroad toward a pair of gates that stood opposite each other further down. The dogstayed level with him. As soon as he was sure that it had seen the gate on its ownside and meant to go to it, Blackberry turned and climbed the bank. Out in thestubble he waited for the dog to reappear.
It was a long time coming; and when at last it pushed its way between thegatepost and the bank into the field, it paid him no attention. It nosed along thefoot of the bank, put up a partridge and bounced after it and then began toscratch about in a clump of dock plants. For some time Blackberry felt tooterrified to move. Then, in desperation, he hopped slowly toward it, trying to actas though he had not noticed that it was there. It dashed after him, but almost atonce seemed to lose interest and returned to its nosing and sniffing over theground. Finally, when he was utterly at a loss, it set off over the field of its ownaccord, padding easily along beside one of the rows of threshed straw, trailing thebroken cord and pouncing in and out at every squeak and rustle. Blackberry,sheltering behind a parallel row, kept level with it. In this manner they coveredthe distance to the pylon line, halfway to the foot of the down. It was here thatDandelion caught up with him.
"It's not fast enough, Blackberry! We must get on. Bigwig may be dead.""I know, but at least it's going the right way. I couldn't get it to move at all, tostart with. Can't we--""It's got to come up the down at speed or there'll be no surprise. Come on, we'lldraw it together. We'll have to get ahead of it first, though."They ran fast through the stubble until they neared the trees. Then they turnedand crossed the dog's line in full view. This time it pursued instantly and the tworabbits reached the undergrowth at the bottom of the steep with no more thanten yards to spare. As they began to climb they heard the dog crashing throughthe brittle elders. It barked once and then they were out on the open slope withthe dog running mute behind them.
-<*>-The blood ran over Bigwig's neck and down his foreleg. He watchedWoundwort steadily where he crouched on the earth pile, expecting him to leapforward at any moment. He could hear a rabbit moving behind him, but the runwas so narrow that he could not have turned even if it had been safe to do so.
"Everyone all right?" he asked.
"They're all right," replied Holly. "Come on, Bigwig, let me take your placenow. You need a rest.""Can't," panted Bigwig. "You couldn't get past me here -- no room -- and if I goback that brute'll follow -- next thing you'd know he'd be loose in the burrows.
You leave it to me. I know what I'm doing."It had occurred to Bigwig that in the narrow run even his dead body would be aconsiderable obstacle. The Efrafans would either have to get it out or dig round itand this would mean more delay. In the burrow behind him he could hearBluebell, who was apparently telling the does a story. "Good idea," he thought.
"Keep 'em happy. More than I could do if I had to sit there.""So then El-ahrairah said to the fox, 'Fox you may smell and fox you may be,but I can tell your fortune in the water.'"Suddenly Woundwort spoke.
"Thlayli," he said, "why do you want to throw your life away? I can send onefresh rabbit after another into this run if I choose. You're too good to be killed.
Come back to Efrafa. I promise I'll give you the command of any Mark you like. Igive you my word.""Silflay hraka, u embleer rah," replied Bigwig.
"'Ah ha,' said the fox, 'tell my fortune, eh? And what do you see in the water,my friend? Fat rabbits running through the grass, yes, yes?'""Very well," said Woundwort. "But remember, Thlayli, you yourself can stopthis nonsense whenever you wish.""'No,' replied El-ahrairah, 'it is not fat rabbits that I see in the water, but swifthounds on the scent and my enemy flying for his life.'"Bigwig realized that Woundwort also knew that in the run his body would benearly as great a hindrance dead as alive. "He wants me to come out on my feet,"he thought. "But it's Inlé, not Efrafa, that I shall go to from here."Suddenly Woundwort leaped forward in a single bound and landed full againstBigwig like a branch falling from a tree. He made no attempt to use his claws. Hisgreat weight was pushing, chest to chest, against Bigwig's. With heads side by sidethey bit and snapped at each other's shoulders. Bigwig felt himself sliding slowlybackward. He could not resist the tremendous pressure. His back legs, with clawsextended, furrowed the floor of the run as he gave ground. In a few moments hewould be pushed bodily into the burrow behind. Putting his last strength into theeffort to remain where he was, he loosed his teeth from Woundwort's shoulderand dropped his head, like a cart horse straining at a load. Still he was slipping.
Then, very gradually it seemed, the terrible pressure began to slacken. His clawshad a hold of the ground. Woundwort, teeth sunk in his back, was snuffling andchoking. Though Bigwig did not know it, his earlier blows had torn Woundwortacross the nose. His nostrils were full of his own blood, and with jaws closed inBigwig's fur he could not draw his breath. A moment more and he let go his hold.
Bigwig, utterly exhausted, lay where he was. After a few moments he tried to getup, but a faintness came over him and a feeling of turning over and over in a ditchof leaves. He closed his eyes. There was silence and then, quite clearly, he heardFiver speaking in the long grass. "You are closer to death than I. You are closer todeath than I.""The wire!" squealed Bigwig. He jerked himself up and opened his eyes. Therun was empty. General Woundwort was gone.
-<*>-Woundwort clambered out into the Honeycomb, now dimly lit............