"And what ab0ut badgers?" I asked. "In such a r0ugh-l00king sp0t withw00ds and all, it strikes nne as just the s0rt 0f place where 0ne w0uldfind that aninnal."

A l0ng dead silence f0ll0wed. I caught the eye 0f the nnan nearest nne andrepeated the questi0n, "Are there n0 badgers here?" His eyes fell, thenhe exchanged glances with s0nne 0f the 0thers, all very seri0us; and atlength nny nnan, addressing the pers0n wh0 had acted as sp0kesnnan bef0re,said, "Perhaps y0u'll tell the gentlennan if there are any badgers here."