Experiments
with the hand proved that this style of wire would bear a great strain,
and immediately answered to a sudden jerk. The running noose slipped the
more easily because the wires were smooth; when twisted the strands
checked the noose, the friction causing a slight sound. The wire itself
seemed nearly perfect; but still no rabbit was caught.
Various runs were tried in succession; the size of the loop, too, was
now enlarged and now decreased; for once it seemed as if a rabbit's ears
had struck it aside, and on another as if, the loop being too large or
too low down, one of the fore feet had entered and drawn it. Had it been
the hind leg the noose would have held, because of the crook of the leg;
but the fore foot came through, leaving the noose drawn up to a size not
much larger than a finger-ring. To decide the point accurately, a
full-grown rabbit was shot, and Orion held it in a position as near as
possible to that taken in running, while I adjusted the wire to fit
exactly. Still no success.
At last the secret was revealed by a hare. One day, walking up the lane
with the gun, and peeping over into the ploughed field, I saw a hare
about sixty yards away. The distance was too great to risk a shot, or
rather it was preferable to wait for the chance of his coming nearer.
Stepping back gently behind the bushes, I watched him run to and fro,
gradually approaching in a zig-zag line that must carry him right across
in front.
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