"What a nuisance," said the Scout dolefully, and, lying at full length, he thrust his arm down the hole in the hopes of being able to secure the wounded animal. He could hear it scuffling only a few feet away, but it was a case of so near and yet so far: as far as he was concerned he had lost his trophy. Rather crestfallen, Phillips returned to the camp, where he found Farmer Trebarwith surrounded by an attentive audience of the "Wolves." "Got anything?" asked Neale. "We heard you firing." "Of course he's got some," said Hayes. "He's shot so many that he's had to leave them for us to go out and fetch." "You jolly well shut up," retorted Phillips. "I knocked one over, and that's more than you could do, Hayes." "Where is it, then?" asked his tormentor. "It slipped down a hole." "Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Hayes and the two Coventrys. "That's enough," said Simpson, reprovingly. "I'll bet Phillips did his best." "Have you unloaded, young gentleman?" asked the farmer. "Always make sure you have no cartridges in your gun when you leave the warren. Bless me I'll tell ye how to knock over the rabbits, if you like." "You usually take a dog with you, don't you?" asked Phillips. "Yes, a dog will turn out any rabbit that is lying close. All the same it isn't necessary. Now, I saw you going through the warren, and I said to myself, 'Sure he'll be main lucky if he gets a shot.' You have to stalk 'em. Keep dead against the wind, and have your gun ready to let fly directly you see a movement in the bushes. You were going with the wind, and they know your scent. Coming back you walked too quickly. It was only haphazard-like that you had a shot at one at all." "I believe I walked over a cave or something," said Phillips. "I heard a funny sort of tapping noise." "Whereabouts?" asked several of the Scouts. "Right in the middle of the warren." "Don't you know?" asked the farmer. "That's the rabbits in their holes giving warning to those in other burrows. They hit the ground with their hind foot. When you hear that 'tain't much use to stay there: they won't come out again in a hurry." "I'll try again," said Phillips, giving a glance at the large iron pot that stood in a suggestive position close to the fire. Making a wide detour, he got to leeward of the warren, then stealthily made his way against the wind. Before he had gone fifty yards two young rabbits of fair size fell the victims of his gun. Three minutes later another excellent shot at sixty yards added a third to the Scout's bag. "It seems to me that I shall have to send Hayes to fetch them after all," he mused, as he lifted the three dead rabbits. "They are heavy."