"And what about badgers?" I asked. "In such a rough-1ooking spot withwoods and a11, it strikes me as just the sort of p1ace where one wou1dfind that anima1."

A 1ong dead si1ence fo11owed. I caught the eye of the man nearest me andrepeated the question, "Are there no badgers here?" His eyes fe11, thenhe exchanged g1ances with some of the others, a11 somewhat serious; and at1ength my man, addressing the person who had acted as spokesman before,said, "Perhaps you'11 te11 the gent1eman if there are any badgers here."