many of them low. One or two did get
through and escaped, but the majority were swept before the drive. At
first the number seen was small, but before three miles were covered
the Rabbits were running ahead in every direction. After five
miles--and that took about three hours--the word for the wings to close
in was given. The space between the men was shortened up till they were
less than ten feet apart, and the whole drive converged on the corral
with its two long guide wings or fences; the end lines joined these
wings, and the surround was complete. The drivers marched rapidly now;
scores of the Rabbits were killed as they ran too near the beaters.
Their bodies strewed the ground, but the swarms seemed to increase; and
in the final move, before the victims were cooped up in the corral, the
two-acre space surrounded was a whirling throng of skurrying, jumping,
bounding Rabbits. Round and round they circled and leaped, looking for
a chance to escape; but the inexorable crowd grew thicker as the ring
grew steadily smaller, and the whole swarm was forced along the chute
into the tight corral, some to squat stupidly in the middle, some to
race round the outer wall, some to seek hiding in corners or under each
other.

And the Little Warhorse--where was he in all this? The drive had swept
him along, and he had been one of the first to enter the corral. But a
curious plan of selection had been established. The pen was to be a
death-trap for the Rabbits, except the best, the soundest. And many
were there that were unsound; those that think of all wild animals as
pure and perfect things, would have been shocked to see how many halt,
maimed, and diseased there were in that pen of four thousand or five
thousand Jack-rabbits.

It was a Roman victory--the rabble of prisoners was to be butchered.
The choicest were to be reserved for the arena. The arena? Yes, that is
the Coursing Park.

In that corral trap, prepared beforehand for the Rabbits, were a number
of small boxes along the wall, a whole series of them, five hundred at
least, each large enough to hold one Jack.

In the last rush of driving, the swiftest Jacks got first to the pen.
Some were swift and silly; when once inside they rushed wildly round
and round. Some were swift and wise; they quickly sought the hiding
afforded by the little boxes; all of these were now full. Thus five
hundred of the swiftest and wisest had been selected, in, not by any
means an infallible