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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13730-0.txt b/13730-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6bc2b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/13730-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5168 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13730 *** + +The Amateur Poacher + +by Richard Jefferies + + +Contents + + PREFACE + CHAPTER I. THE FIRST GUN + CHAPTER II. THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE” + CHAPTER III. TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + CHAPTER IV. EGG-TIME: A “GIP”-TRAP + CHAPTER V. WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + CHAPTER VI. LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK” + CHAPTER VII. OBY, AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR + CHAPTER VIII. CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + CHAPTER IX. LUKE, THE RABBIT-CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK PATH + CHAPTER X. FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE-SHOOTING + CHAPTER XI. FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + CHAPTER XII. A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: +PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK VERSUS BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + + + +PREFACE + + +The following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of time, +beginning with the first gun, and attempts at shooting. Then come the +fields, the first hills, and woods explored, often without a gun, or +any thought of destruction: and next the poachers, and other odd +characters observed at their work. Perhaps the idea of shooting with a +matchlock, or wheel-lock, might, if put in practice, at least afford +some little novelty. + +R.J. + + + + +THE AMATEUR POACHER + + + + +CHAPTER I +THE FIRST GUN + + +They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the +garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. +Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did +not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so +perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so +magnificent a brush as he had too. But there he stood, and mounted +guard over the old flintlock that was so powerful a magnet to us in +those days. Though to go up there alone was no slight trial of moral +courage after listening to the horrible tales of the carters in the +stable, or the old women who used to sit under the hedge in the shade, +on an armful of hay, munching their crusts at luncheon time. + +The great cavernous place was full of shadows in the brightest summer +day; for the light came only through the chinks in the shutters. These +were flush with the floor and bolted firmly. The silence was intense, +it being so near the roof and so far away from the inhabited parts of +the house. Yet there were sometimes strange acoustical effects—as when +there came a low tapping at the shutters, enough to make your heart +stand still. There was then nothing for it but to dash through the +doorway into the empty cheese-room adjoining, which was better lighted. +No doubt it was nothing but the labourers knocking the stakes in for +the railing round the rickyard, but why did it sound just exactly +outside the shutters? When that ceased the staircase creaked, or the +pear-tree boughs rustled against the window. The staircase always +waited till you had forgotten all about it before the loose worm-eaten +planks sprang back to their place. + +Had it not been for the merry whistling of the starlings on the thatch +above, it would not have been possible to face the gloom and the teeth +of Reynard, ever in the act to snap, and the mystic noises, and the +sense of guilt—for the gun was forbidden. Besides which there was the +black mouth of the open trapdoor overhead yawning fearfully—a standing +terror and temptation; for there was a legend of a pair of pistols +thrown up there out of the way—a treasure-trove tempting enough to make +us face anything. But Orion must have the credit of the courage; I call +him Orion because he was a hunter and had a famous dog. The last I +heard of him he had just ridden through a prairie fire, and says the +people out there think nothing of it. + +We dragged an ancient linen-press under the trapdoor, and put some +boxes on that, and finally a straight-backed oaken chair. One or two of +those chairs were split up and helped to do the roasting on the kitchen +hearth. So, climbing the pile, we emerged under the rafters, and could +see daylight faintly in several places coming through the starlings’ +holes. One or two bats fluttered to and fro as we groped among the +lumber, but no pistols could be discovered; nothing but a cannon-ball, +rusty enough and about as big as an orange, which they say was found in +the wood, where there was a brush in Oliver’s time. + +In the middle of our expedition there came the well-known whistle, +echoing about the chimneys, with which it was the custom to recall us +to dinner. How else could you make people hear who might be cutting a +knobbed stick in the copse half a mile away or bathing in the lake? We +had to jump down with a run; and then came the difficulty; for black +dusty cobwebs, the growth of fifty years, clothed us from head to foot. +There was no brushing or picking them off, with that loud whistle +repeated every two minutes. + +The fact where we had been was patent to all; and so the chairs got +burned—but one, which was rickety. After which a story crept out, of a +disjointed skeleton lying in a corner under the thatch. Though just a +little suspicious that this might be a _ruse_ to frighten us from a +second attempt, we yet could not deny the possibility of its being +true. Sometimes in the dusk, when I sat poring over “Koenigsmark, the +Robber,” by the little window in the cheese-room, a skull seemed to +peer down the trapdoor. But then I had the flintlock by me for +protection. + +There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no +modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his +shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, +a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of +the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, +and a “bead” could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the +fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was +levelled at them. At least this practice and drill had one useful +effect—the eye got accustomed to the flash from the pan, instead of +blinking the discharge, which ruins the shooting. Almost everybody and +everything on the place got shot dead in this way without knowing it. + +It was not so easy as might be supposed to find proper flints. The best +time to look for them was after a heavy storm of rain had washed a +shallow channel beside the road, when you might select some hardy +splinters which had lain hidden under the dust. How we were found out +is not quite clear: perhaps the powder left a smell of sulphur for any +one who chanced to go up in the garret. + +But, however that may be, one day, as we came in unexpectedly from a +voyage in the punt, something was discovered burning among the logs on +the kitchen hearth; and, though a desperate rescue was attempted, +nothing was left but the barrel of our precious gun and some crooked +iron representing the remains of the lock. There are things that are +never entirely forgotten, though the impression may become fainter as +years go by. The sense of the cruel injustice of that act will never +quite depart. + +But they could not burn the barrel, and we almost succeeded in fitting +it to a stock of elder. Elder has a thick pith running down the centre: +by removing that the gouge and chisel had not much work to do to make a +groove for the old bell-mouthed barrel to lie in. The matchlock, for as +such it was intended, was nearly finished when our hopes were dashed to +the ground by a piece of unnatural cunning. One morning the breechpiece +that screwed in was missing. This was fatal. A barrel without a +breechpiece is like a cup without a bottom. It was all over. + +There are days in spring when the white clouds go swiftly past, with +occasional breaks of bright sunshine lighting up a spot in the +landscape. That is like the memory of one’s youth. There is a long dull +blank, and then a brilliant streak of recollection. Doubtless it was a +year or two afterwards when, seeing that the natural instinct could not +be suppressed but had better be recognised, they produced a real gun +(single-barrel) for me from the clock-case. + +It stood on the landing just at the bottom of the dark flight that led +to the garret. An oaken case six feet high or more, and a vast dial, +with a mysterious picture of a full moon and a ship in full sail that +somehow indicated the quarters of the year, if you had been imitating +Rip Van Winkle and after a sleep of six months wanted to know whether +it was spring or autumn. But only to think that all the while we were +puzzling over the moon and the ship and the queer signs on the dial a +gun was hidden inside! The case was locked, it is true; but there are +ways of opening locks, and we were always handy with tools. + +This gun was almost, but not quite so long as the other. That dated +from the time between Stuart and Hanover; this might not have been more +than seventy years old. And a beautiful piece of workmanship it was: my +new double breechloader is a coarse common thing to compare with it. +Long and slender and light as a feather, it came to the shoulder with +wonderful ease. Then there was a groove on the barrel at the breech and +for some inches up which caught the eye and guided the glance like a +trough to the sight at the muzzle and thence to the bird. The stock was +shod with brass, and the trigger-guard was of brass, with a kind of +flange stretching half-way down to the butt and inserted in the wood. +After a few minutes’ polishing it shone like gold, and to see the +sunlight flash on it was a joy. + +You might note the grain of the barrel, for it had not been browned; +and it took a good deal of sand to get the rust off. By aid of a little +oil and careful wiping after a shower it was easy to keep it bright. +Those browned barrels only encourage idleness. The lock was a trifle +dull at first, simply from lack of use. A small screwdriver soon had it +to pieces, and it speedily clicked again sweet as a flute. If the +hammer came back rather far when at full-cock, that was because the +lock had been converted from a flint, and you could not expect it to be +absolutely perfect. Besides which, as the fall was longer the blow was +heavier, and the cap was sure to explode. + +By old farmhouses, mostly in exposed places (for which there is a +reason), one or more huge walnut trees may be found. The provident folk +of those days planted them with the purpose of having their own +gunstocks cut out of the wood when the tree was thrown. They could then +be sure it was really walnut, and a choice piece of timber thoroughly +well seasoned. I like to think of those times, when men settled +themselves down, and planted and planned and laid out their gardens and +orchards and woods, as if they and their sons and sons’ sons, to the +twentieth generation, were sure to enjoy the fruit of their labour. + +The reason why the walnuts are put in exposed places, on the slope of a +rise, with open aspect to the east and north, is because the walnut is +a foolish tree that will not learn by experience. If it feels the +warmth of a few genial days in early spring, it immediately protrudes +its buds; and the next morning a bitter frost cuts down every hope of +fruit for that year, leaving the leaf as black as may be. Wherefore the +east wind is desirable to keep it as backward as possible. + +There was a story that the stock of this gun had been cut out of a +walnut tree that was thrown on the place by my great-grandfather, who +saw it well seasoned, being a connoisseur of timber, which is, indeed, +a sort of instinct in all his descendants. And a vast store of +philosophy there is in timber if you study it aright. + +After cleaning the gun and trying it at a mark, the next thing was to +get a good shot with it. Now there was an elm that stood out from the +hedge a little, almost at the top of the meadow, not above +five-and-twenty yards from the other hedge that bounded the field. Two +mounds could therefore be commanded by any one in ambush behind the +elm, and all the angular corner of the mead was within range. + +It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression +there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the +roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, +with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms +and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the +verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by. + +The rabbits had scratched the yellow sand right out into the grass—it +is always very much brighter in colour where they have just been at +work—and the fern, already almost yellow too, shaded the mouths of +their buries. Thick bramble bushes grew out from the mound and filled +the space between it and the elm: there were a few late flowers on them +still, but the rest were hardening into red sour berries. Westwards, +the afternoon sun, with all his autumn heat, shone full against the +hedge and into the recess, and there was not the shadow of a leaf for +shelter on that side. + +The gun was on the turf, and the little hoppers kept jumping out of the +grass on to the stock: once their king, a grasshopper, alighted on it +and rested, his green limbs tipped with red rising above his back. +About the distant wood and the hills there was a soft faint haze, which +is what Nature finishes her pictures with. Something in the atmosphere +which made it almost visible: all the trees seemed to stand in a liquid +light—the sunbeams were suspended in the air instead of passing +through. The butterflies even were very idle in the slumberous warmth; +and the great green dragon-fly rested on a leaf, his tail arched a +little downwards, just as he puts it when he wishes to stop suddenly in +his flight. + +The broad glittering trigger-guard got quite hot in the sun, and the +stock was warm when I felt it every now and then. The grain of the +walnut-wood showed plainly through the light polish: it was not +varnished like the stock of the double-barrel they kept padlocked to +the rack over the high mantelpiece indoors. Still you could see the +varnish. It was of a rich dark horse-chestnut colour, and yet so bright +and clear that if held close you could see your face in it. Behind it +the grain of the wood was just perceptible; especially at the grip, +where hard hands had worn it away somewhat. The secret of that varnish +is lost—like that of the varnish on the priceless old violins. + +But you could feel the wood more in my gun: so that it was difficult to +keep the hand off it, though the rabbits would not come out; and the +shadowless recess grew like a furnace, for it focussed the rays of the +sun. The heat on the sunny side of a thick hedge between three and four +in the afternoon is almost tropical if you remain still, because the +air is motionless: the only relief is to hold your hat loose; or tilt +it against your head, the other edge of the brim on the ground. Then +the grass-blades rise up level with the forehead. There is a delicious +smell in growing grass, and a sweetness comes up from the earth. + +Still it got hotter and hotter; and it was not possible to move in the +least degree, lest a brown creature sitting on the sand at the mouth of +his hole, and hidden himself by the fern, should immediately note it. +And Orion was waiting in the rickyard for the sound of the report, and +very likely the shepherd too. We knew that men in Africa, watched by +lions, had kept still in the sunshine till, reflected from the rock, it +literally scorched them, not daring to move; and we knew all about the +stoicism of the Red Indians. But Ulysses was ever my pattern and model: +that man of infinite patience and resource. + +So, though the sun might burn and the air become suffocating in that +close corner, and the quivering line of heat across the meadow make the +eyes dizzy to watch, yet not a limb must be moved. The black flies came +in crowds; but they are not so tormenting if you plunge your face in +the grass, though they titillate the back of the hand as they run over +it. Under the bramble bush was a bury that did not look much used; and +once or twice a great blue fly came out of it, the buzz at first +sounding hollow and afar off and becoming clearer as it approached the +mouth of the hole. There was the carcass of a dead rabbit inside no +doubt. + +A humble-bee wandering along—they are restless things—buzzed right +under my hat, and became entangled in the grass by my ear. Now we knew +by experience in taking their honey that they could sting sharply if +irritated, though good-tempered by nature. How he “burred” and buzzed +and droned!—till by-and-by, crawling up the back of my head, he found +an open space and sailed away. Then, looking out again, there was a +pair of ears in the grass not ten yards distant: a rabbit had come out +at last. But the first delight was quickly over: the ears were short +and sharply pointed, and almost pinkly transparent. + +What would the shepherd say if I brought home one of his hated enemies +no bigger than a rat? The young rabbit made waiting still more painful, +being far enough from the hedge to get a clear view into the recess if +anything attracted his notice. Why the shepherd hated rabbits was +because the sheep would not feed where they had worn their runs in the +grass. Not the least movement was possible now—not even that little +shifting which makes a position just endurable: the heat seemed to +increase; the thought of Ulysses could hardly restrain the almost +irresistible desire to stir. + +When, suddenly, there was a slight rustling among the boughs of an oak +in the other hedge, as of wings against twigs: it was a woodpigeon, +better game than a rabbit. He would, I knew, first look round before he +settled himself to preen his feathers on the branch, and, if everything +was still while that keen inspection lasted, would never notice me. +This is their habit—and the closer you are underneath them the less +chance of their perceiving you: for a pigeon perched rarely looks +straight downwards. If flying, it is just the reverse; for then they +seem to see under them quicker than in any other direction. + +Slowly lifting the long barrel of the gun—it was fortunate the sunlight +glancing on the bright barrel was not reflected towards the oak—I got +it to bear upon the bird; but then came a doubt. It was all +eight-and-twenty yards across the angle of the meadow to the oak—a +tremendous long shot under the circumstances. For they would not trust +us with the large copper powder-flask, but only with a little +pistol-flask (it had belonged to the pair of pistols we tried to find), +and we were ordered not to use more than a charge and a half at a time. +That was quite enough to kill blackbirds. (The noise of the report was +always a check in this way; such a trifle of powder only made a slight +puff.) + +Shot there was in plenty—a whole tobacco-pipe bowl full, carefully +measured out of the old yellow canvas money-bag that did for a shot +belt. A starling could be knocked off the chimney with this charge +easily, and so could a blackbird roosting in a bush at night. But a +woodpigeon nearly thirty yards distant was another matter; for the old +folk (and the birdkeepers too) said that their quills were so hard the +shot would glance aside unless it came with great force. Very likely +the pigeon would escape, and all the rabbits in the buries would be too +frightened to come out at all. + +A beautiful bird he was on the bough, perched well in view and clearly +defined against the sky behind; and my eye travelled along the groove +on the breech and up the barrel, and so to the sight and across to him; +and the finger, which always would keep time with the eye, pulled at +the trigger. + +A mere puff of a report, and then a desperate fluttering in the tree +and a cloud of white feathers floating above the hedge, and a heavy +fall among the bushes. He was down, and Orion’s spaniel (that came +racing like mad from the rickyard the instant he heard the discharge) +had him in a moment. Orion followed quickly. Then the shepherd came up, +rather stiff on his legs from rheumatism, and stepped the distance, +declaring it was thirty yards good; after which we all walked home in +triumph. + +Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she +would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready +to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they +scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking +back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes. + +“You mind you chaws the shot well, measter,” said the shepherd, “afore +you loads th’ gun. The more you chaws it the better it sticks +the-gither, an’ the furder it kills um;” a theory of gunnery that which +was devoutly believed in in his time and long anticipated the wire +cartridges. And the old soldiers that used to come round to haymaking, +glad of a job to supplement their pensions, were very positive that if +you bit the bullet and indented it with your teeth, it was perfectly +fatal, no matter to what part of the body its billet took it. + +In the midst of this talk as we moved on, I carrying the gun at the +trail with the muzzle downwards, the old ramrod, long disused and +shrunken, slipped half out; the end caught the ground, and it snapped +short off in a second. A terrible disaster this, turning everything to +bitterness: Orion was especially wroth, for it was his right next to +shoot. However, we went down to the smithy at the inn, to take counsel +of the blacksmith, a man of knowledge and a trusty friend. “Aha!” said +he, “it’s not the first time I’ve made a ramrod. There’s a piece of +lancewood in the store overhead which I keep on purpose; it’s as tough +as a bow—they make carriage-shafts of it; you shall have a better rod +than was ever fitted to a Joe Manton.” So we took him down some +pippins, and he set to work on it that evening. + + + + +CHAPTER II +THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE” + + +The sculls of our punt, being short and stout, answered very well as +levers to heave the clumsy old craft off the sand into which it sank so +deeply. That sheltered corner of the mere, with a shelving sandy shore, +and a steep bank behind covered with trees, was one of the best places +to fish for roach: you could see them playing under the punt in shoals +any sunny day. + +There was a projecting bar almost enclosing the creek, which was quite +still, even when the surf whitened the stony strand without, driven +before a wet and stormy south-wester. It was the merest routine to +carry the painter ashore and twist the rotten rope round an exposed +root of the great willow tree; for there was not the slightest chance +of that ancient craft breaking adrift. All our strength and the +leverage of the sculls could scarcely move her, so much had she +settled. But we had determined to sail that lovely day to visit the +island of Calypso, and had got all our arms and munitions of war +aboard, besides being provisioned and carrying some fruit for fear of +scurvy. There was of course the gun, placed so as not to get wet; for +the boat leaked, and had to be frequently baled out with a tin mug—one +that the haymakers used. + +Indeed, if we had not caulked her with some dried moss and some stiff +clay, it is doubtful if she would have floated far. The well was full +of dead leaves that had been killed by the caterpillars and the blight, +and had fallen from the trees before their time; and there were one or +two bunches of grass growing at the stern part from between the +decaying planks. + +Besides the gun there was the Indian bow, scooped out inside in a +curious way, and covered with strange designs or coloured +hieroglyphics: it had been brought home by one of our people years +before. There was but one man in the place who could bend that bow +effectually; so that though we valued it highly we could not use it. By +it lay another of briar, which was pliable enough and had brought down +more than one bird. + +Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, +and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn +out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; +you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey +the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture +of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft. It was really +a dangerous weapon. He had also made us a small anchor according to +plan; nor did he dip too deeply into our pocket-money. + +Then the mast and square-sail, fitted out of a window-blind, took up a +considerable space; for although it was perfectly calm, a breeze might +arise. And what with these and the pole for punting occasionally, the +deck of the vessel was in that approved state of confusion which always +characterises a ship on the point of departure. Nor must Orion’s +fishing-rod and gear be forgotten, nor the cigar-box at the stern (a +present from the landlady at the inn) which contained a chart of the +mere and a compass. + +With a “yeo—heave-ho!” we levered her an inch at a time, and then +loosened her by working her from side to side, and so, panting and +struggling, shoved the punt towards the deep. Slowly a course was +shaped out of the creek—past the bar and then along the edge of the +thick weeds, stretching so far out into the water that the moorhen +feeding near the land was beyond reach of shot. From the green matted +mass through which a boat could scarcely have been forced came a slight +uncertain sound, now here now yonder, a faint “suck-sock;” and the +dragon-flies were darting to and fro. + +The only ripple of the surface, till broken by the sculls, was where +the swallows dipped as they glided, leaving a circle of tiny wavelets +that barely rolled a yard. Past the low but steep bluff of sand rising +sheer out of the water, drilled with martins’ holes and topped by a +sapling oak in the midst of a great furze bush: yellow bloom of the +furze, tall brake fern nestling under the young branches, woodbine +climbing up and bearing sweet coronals of flower. + +Past the barley that came down to the willows by the shore—ripe and +white under the bright sunshine, but yonder beneath the shadow of the +elms with a pale tint of amber. Past broad rising meadows, where under +the oaks on the upper ground the cattle were idly lying out of the +sultry heat. + +Then the barren islands, strewn with stone and mussel-shells glistening +in the sunshine, over which in a gale the waves made a clean sweep, +rendered the navigation intricate; and the vessel had to be worked in +and out, now scraping against rocky walls of sandstone, now grounding +and churning up the bottom, till presently she floated in the bay +beneath the firs. There a dark shadow hung over the black water—still +and silent, so still that even the aspens rested from their rustling. + +Out again into the sunshine by the wide mouth of the Green River, as +the chart named the brook whose level stream scarce moved into the +lake. A streak of blue shot up it between the banks, and a shrill pipe +came back as the kingfisher hastened away. By the huge boulder of +sarsen, whose shoulder projected but a few inches—in stormy times a +dangerous rock to mariners—and then into the unknown narrow seas +between the endless osier-beds and withy-covered isles. + +There the chart failed; and the known landmarks across the open +waters—the firs and elms, the green knoll with the cattle—were shut out +by thick branches on either hand. In and out and round the islets, +sounding the depth before advancing, winding now this way, now that, +till all idea of the course was lost, and it became a mere struggle to +get forward. Drooping boughs swept along the gunwales, thick-matted +weeds cumbered the way; “snags,” jagged stumps of trees, threatened to +thrust their tops through the bottom; and, finally, panting and weary +of poling through the maze, we emerged in a narrow creek all walled in +and enclosed with vegetation. + +Running her ashore on the soft oozy ground, we rested under a great +hawthorn bush that grew at the very edge, and, looking upwards, could +see in the canopy above the black interlaced twigs of a dove’s nest. +Tall willow poles rose up all around, and above them was the deep blue +of the sky. On the willow stems that were sometimes under water the +bark had peeled in scales; beneath the surface bunches of red fibrous +roots stretched out their slender filaments tipped with white, as if +feeling like a living thing for prey. + +A dreamy, slumberous place, where the sedges slept, and the green flags +bowed their pointed heads. Under the bushes in the distant nook the +moorhen, reassured by the silence, came out from the grey-green grass +and the rushes. Surely Calypso’s cave could not be far distant, where +she + + with work and song the time divides, +And through the loom the golden shuttle guides. + + +For the Immortals are hiding somewhere still in the woods; even now I +do not weary searching for them. + +But as we rested a shadow fell from a cloud that covered the sun, and +immediately a faint sigh arose from among the sedges and the reeds, and +two pale yellow leaves fell from the willows on the water. A gentle +breeze followed the cloud, chasing its shadow. Orion touched his rod +meaningly. So I stepped ashore with the gun to see if a channel could +be found into the open water, and pushed through the bush. Briar and +bramble choked the path, and hollow willow stoles; but, holding the gun +upright, it was possible to force through, till, pushing between a belt +of reeds and round an elder thicket, I came suddenly on a deep, clear +pool—all but walking into it. Up rose a large bird out of the water +with a bustling of wings and splashing, compelled to “rocket” by the +thick bushes and willow poles. There was no time to aim; but the old +gun touched the shoulder and went off without conscious volition on my +part. + +The bird flew over the willows, but the next moment there was a heavy +splash somewhere beyond out of sight. Then came an echo of the report +sent back from the woods adjoining, and another, and a third and +fourth, as the sound rolled along the side of the hill, caught in the +coombes and thrown to and fro like a ball in a tennis-court. Wild with +anxiety, we forced the punt at the bulrushes, in the corner where it +looked most open, and with all our might heaved it over the weeds and +the mud, and so round the islet into the next pool, and thence into the +open water. It was a wild duck, and was speedily on board. + +Stepping the mast and hoisting the sail, we drifted before the faint +breath of air that now just curled the surface, steering straight +across the open for the stony barren islands at the mouth of the bay. +The chart drawn in pencil—what labour it cost us!—said that there, a +few yards from the steep shore, was a shoal with deep water round it. +For some reason there always seemed a slight movement or current—a set +of the water there, as if it flowed into the little bay. + +In swimming we often came suddenly out of a cold into a stratum of warm +water (at the surface); and perhaps the difference in the temperature +may have caused the drift, for the bay was in shadow half the day. Now, +wherever there is motion there will fish assemble; so as the punt +approached the shoal the sail was doused, and at twenty yards’ distance +I _put_ the anchor into the water—not dropping it, to avoid the +splash—and let it slip gently to the bottom. + +Then, paying out the cable, we drifted to the edge of the shoal without +the least disturbance, and there brought up. Orion had his bait +ready—he threw his line right to windward, so that the float might drag +the worm naturally with the wind and slight current towards the shoal. + +The tiny blue buoy dances up and down on the miniature waves; beyond it +a dazzling path of gold stretches away to the distant osier-islands—a +path down which we came without seeing it till we looked back. The +wavelets strike with a faint “sock-sock” against the bluff overhanging +bow, and then roll on to the lee-shore close at hand. + +It rises steep; then a broad green ledge; and after that, still +steeper, the face of a long-deserted sand-pit, where high up a rabbit +sits at the mouth of his hole, within range, but certain to escape even +if hit, and therefore safe. On the turf below is a round black spot, +still showing, though a twelvemonth has gone by since we landed with +half a dozen perch, lit a fire and cooked the fishes. For Molly never +could “a-bear” perch, because of the hardness of the scales, saying she +would as soon “scrape a vlint;” and they laughed to scorn our idea of +skinning them as you do moorhens, whose “dowl” no fingers can pick. + +So we lit a fire and blew it up, lying on the soft short grass in a +state of nature after a swim, there being none to see us but the +glorious sun. The skinned perch were sweeter than any I have tasted +since. + +“Look!” whispers Orion, suddenly. The quill above the blue buoy nods as +it lifts over the wavelets—nods again, sinks a little, jerks up, and +then goes down out of sight. Orion feels the weight. “Two pounds, if +he’s an ounce!” he shouts: soon after a splendid perch is in the boat, +nearer three pounds perhaps than two. Flop! whop! how he leaps up and +down on the planks, soiled by the mud, dulling his broad back and +barred sides on the grit and sand. + +Roaming about like this with the gun, now on the water in the punt, and +now on land, we gradually came to notice very closely the game we +wished to shoot. We saw, for instance, that the rabbit when feeding or +moving freely, unless quickened by alarm, has a peculiar way of +dwelling upon his path. It almost resembles creeping; for both fore +feet stop while the hinder come up—one hinder foot slightly behind the +other, and rather wide apart. + +When a fall of snow presents a perfect impression of his passage, it +appears as if the animal had walked slowly backwards. This deceives +many who at such times go out to pick up anything that comes in their +way; for they trace the trail in the wrong direction. The truth is, +that when the rabbit pauses for the hinder feet to come up he again +rests momentarily upon these before the two foremost are put forth, and +so presses not only the paw proper but the whole first joint of the +hind leg upon the snow. A glance at the hind feet of a rabbit will show +what I mean: they will be found to display plain signs of friction +against the ground. + +The habit has given the creature considerable power of standing up on +the hinder feet; he can not only sit on his haunches, but raise himself +almost upright, and remain in that position to listen for some little +time. For the same reason he can bark the ash saplings higher up than +would be imagined: where he cannot reach, the mice climb up and nibble +straight lines across the young pole, as if done with a single stroke +from a saw that scraped away the rind but did not reach the wood. + +In front of a large rabbit bury the grass will be found discoloured +with sand at some distance from the mouth of the hole. This is +explained by particles adherent to the rabbits’ hind feet, and rubbing +off against the grass blades. Country people call this peculiar gait +“sloppetting;” and one result of it is that the rabbits wear away the +grass where they are numerous almost as much as they eat it away. + +There was such a space worn by the attrition of feet sprinkled with +sand before the extensive burrow at the top of the meadow where I shot +the woodpigeon. These marks suggested to us that we should attempt some +more wholesale system of capture than shooting. It was not for the mere +desire of destruction, but for a special purpose, that we turned our +attention to wiring. The punt, though much beloved, was, like all +punts, a very bad sailer. A boat with a keel that could tack, and so +work into the wind’s eye, was our ambition. + +The blacksmith Ikey readily purchased every rabbit we obtained at +sixpence each. Rabbits were not so dear then as now; but of course he +made a large profit even then. The same rabbits at present would be +worth fifteen or eighteen pence. Every sixpence was carefully saved, +but it was clear that a long time must elapse before the goal was +attained. The blacksmith started the idea of putting up a +“turnpike”—_i.e._ a wire—but professed ignorance as to the method of +setting it. That was a piece of his cunning—that he might escape +responsibility. + +The shepherd, too, when obliquely questioned, shook his head, pursed +his lips, threw his pitching-bar over his shoulder, and marched off +with a mysterious hint that our friend Ikey would some day put his “vut +in it.” It did not surprise us that the shepherd should turn his back +on anything of the kind; for he was a leading man among the “Ranters,” +and frequently exhorted them in his cottage. + +The carter’s lad was about at the time, and for the moment we thought +of applying to him. He was standing on the threshold of the stable, +under the horseshoes and weasles’ feet nailed up to keep the witches +away, teasing a bat that he had found under the tiles. But suddenly the +dusky thing bit him sharply, and he uttered an oath; while the +creature, released, flew aimlessly into the elms. It was better to +avoid him. + +Indoors, they would have put a very heavy hand upon the notion had they +known of it: so we had to rely solely upon the teaching of experiment. +In the first attempt, a stick that had been put by for the thatcher, +but which he had not yet split, was cut short and sharpened for the +plug that prevents the animal carrying away the wire when snared. This +is driven into the earth; at the projecting end a notch was cut to hold +the string attached to the end of the wire away from the run. + +A smaller stick supported the wire above the ground; this latter only +just sufficiently thrust into the sward to stand firmly upright. Willow +was used for this at first; but it is a feeble wood: it split too much, +or bent and gave way instead of holding the wire in its place. The best +for the purpose we found were the nut-tree rods that shoot up among the +hazel thickets, no larger than the shaft of an arrow, and almost as +straight. A slit about half an inch deep was made in the upper end, and +in this slit the shank of the wire was sunk. Once or twice the upright +was peeled; but this was a mistake, for the white wand was then too +conspicuous. The bark should be left on. + +Three copper wires twisted tight formed the snare itself; we twisted +them like the strands of a rope, thinking it would give more strength. +The wire projected horizontally, the loop curling downwards. It was +first set up at a spot where a very broad and much-worn run—more like a +footpath than a rabbit track—forked into several lesser runs, and at +about five yards from the hedge. But though adjusted, as we thought, +with the utmost nicety, no rabbit would put his neck into it—not even +in the darkness of the night. By day they all played round it in +perfect safety. + +After waiting some time it was removed and reset just over a hole—the +loop close to the opening. It looked scarcely possible for a rabbit to +creep out without being caught, the loop being enlarged to correspond +with the mouth of the hole. For a while it seemed as if the rabbits +declined to use the hole at all; presently, however, the loop was +pushed back, showing that one must have got his nose between it and the +bank and so made a safe passage sideways. A run that crossed the field +was then selected, and the wire erected at about the middle of it, +equidistant from either hedge. Near the entrance of the buries the +rabbits moved slowly, sniffing their way along and pausing every yard +or so. But they often increased their speed farther away, and sometimes +raced from one mound to the other. When going at that rate it appeared +natural to conclude that they would be less careful to pick and choose +their road. + +The theory proved so far correct that next day the upright was down, +but the wire had snapped and the rabbit was gone. The character of the +fracture clearly indicated how it had happened: the rabbit, so soon as +he found his head in the noose, had rolled and tumbled till the wire, +already twisted tight, parted. Too much twisting, therefore, weakened +instead of strengthening. Next a single wire, somewhat thicker, was +used, and set up nearly in the same place; but it broke again. + +Finally, two strands of medium size, placed side by side, but only +twisted once—that is, just enough to keep them together—were employed. +The lesser loop—the slip-knot, as it might be called—was at the same +time eased in order to run quicker and take a closer grip. 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. I was positive that he had not seen me, and felt sure +of bagging him; when suddenly—without any apparent cause—up went his +head, he glanced round, and was off like the wind. + +Yet there had not been the faintest noise, and I could not understand +it, till all at once it occurred to me that it must be the scent. The +slight, scarcely perceptible, breeze blew in that direction: instantly +he crossed the current from me he detected it and fled. Afterwards I +noticed that in the dusky twilight, if the wind is behind him, a hare +will run straight at you as if about to deliberately charge your legs. +This incident by the ploughed field explained the failure of the wire. +Every other care had been taken, but we had forgotten to allow for the +extreme delicacy of a wild animal’s sense of smell. + +In walking to the spot selected for the snare it is best to avoid even +stepping on the run, and while setting it up to stand back as far as +convenient and lean forward. The grass that grows near must not be +touched by the hand, which seems to impart a very strong scent. The +stick that has been carried in the hand must not be allowed to fall +across the run: and be careful that your handkerchief does not drop out +of your pocket on or near it. If a bunch of grass grows very tall and +requires parting, part it with the end (not the handle) of your stick. + +The same holds good with gins, especially if placed for a rat. Some +persons strew a little freshly plucked grass over the pan and teeth of +the trap, thinking to hide it; but it not only smells of the hand, but +withers up and turns brown, and acts as a warning to that wary +creature. It is a better plan if any dead leaves are lying near to turn +them over and over with the end of a twig till they fall on the trap, +that is if they are dry: if wet (unless actually raining at the time), +should one chance to be left with the drier under surface uppermost, +the rat may pause on the brink. Now that the remotest chance of leaving +a scent was avoided the wire became a deadly instrument. Almost every +morning two or three rabbits were taken: we set up a dozen snares when +we had mastered the trick. They were found lying at full length in the +crisp white grass, for we often rose to visit the wires while yet the +stars were visible. Thus extended a person might have passed within a +few yards and never noticed them, unless he had an out-of-doors eye; +for the whiter fur of the belly as they lay aside was barely +distinguishable from the hoar frost. The blacksmith Ikey sauntered down +the lane every evening, and glanced casually behind the ash tree—the +northern side of whose trunk was clothed with dark green velvet-like +moss—to see if a bag was lying for him there among the nettles in the +ditch. The rabbits were put in the bag, which was pushed through the +hedge. + + + + +CHAPTER III +TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + + +Just on the verge and borderland of the territory that could be ranged +in safety there grew a stunted oak in a mound beside the brook. Perhaps +the roots had been checked by the water; for the tree, instead of +increasing in bulk, had expended its vigour in branches so crooked that +they appeared entangled in each other. This oak was a favourite +perching-place, because of its position: it could also be more easily +climbed than straight-grown timber, having many boughs low down the +trunk. With a gun it is difficult to ascend a smooth tree; these boughs +therefore were a great advantage. + +One warm afternoon late in the summer I got up into this oak; and took +a seat astride a large limb, with the main trunk behind like the back +of a chair and about twenty feet above the mound. Some lesser branches +afforded a fork on which the gun could be securely lodged, and a limb +of considerable size came across in front. Leaning both arms on this, a +view could be obtained below and on three sides easily and without +effort. + +The mound immediately beneath was grown over with thick blackthorn, a +species of cover that gives great confidence to game. A kick or blow +upon the bushes with a stick will not move anything in an old +blackthorn thicket. A man can scarcely push through it: nothing but a +dog can manage to get about. On the meadow side there was no ditch, +only a narrow fringe of tall pointed grass and rushes, with one or two +small furze bushes projecting out upon the sward. Behind such bushes, +on the slope of the mound, is rather a favourite place for a rabbit to +sit out, or a hare to have a form. + +The brook was shallow towards the hedge, and bordered with flags, among +which rose up one tall bunch of beautiful reeds. Some little way up the +brook a pond opened from it. At the entrance the bar of mud had hardly +an inch of water; within there was a clear small space, and the rest +all weeds, with moorhens’ tracks. The farther side of the pond was +covered with bramble bushes. It is a good plan to send the dogs into +bushes growing on the banks of ponds; for though rabbits dislike water +itself they are fond of sitting out in such cover near it. A low +railing enclosed the side towards me: the posts had slipped by the +giving way of the soil, and hung over the still pool. + +One of the rails—of willow—was eaten out into hollow cavities by the +wasps, which came to it generation after generation for the materials +of their nests. The particles they detach are formed into a kind of +paste or paper: in time they will quite honeycomb a pole. The third +side of the pond shelved to the “leaze,” that the cattle might drink. +From it a narrow track went across the broad field up the rising ground +to the distant gateway leading to the meadows, where they grazed on the +aftermath. Marching day by day, one after the other in single file, to +the drinking-place, the hoofs of the herd had cut a clean path in the +turf, two or three inches deep and trodden hard. The reddish soil thus +exposed marked the winding line athwart the field, through the tussocky +bunches. + +By the pond stood a low three-sided merestone or landmark, the initials +on which were hidden under moss. Up in the tree, near the gun, there +was a dead branch that had decayed in the curious manner that seems +peculiar to oak. Where it joined the trunk the bark still remained, +though covered with lichen, and for a foot or so out; then there was a +long space where the bark and much of the wood had mouldered away; +finally, near the end the bough retained its original size and the bark +adhered. At the junction with the trunk and at the extremity its +diameter was perhaps three inches; in the middle rather less than half +as much. The grey central piece, larger and darker at either end, +suggested the thought of the bare neck of a vulture. + +Far away, just rising above the slope of the leaze, the distant tops of +elms, crowded with rooks’ nests (not then occupied), showed the site of +the residence of an old gentleman of whom at that time we stood in much +fear. The “Squire” of Southlands alarmed even the hardened carters’ +lads as much by the prestige of a singular character as by the +chastisement he personally gave those who ventured into his domain. Not +a bird’s nest, not a nut, must be touched: still less anything that +could be called game. The watch kept was so much the stricter because +he took a personal part in it, and was often round the fields himself +armed with a great oak staff. It seemed, indeed, as if the preservation +of the game was of far greater importance to him than the shooting of +it afterwards. All the fowls of the air flocked to Southlands, as if it +had been a refuge; yet it was not a large estate. Into the forest we +had been, but Southlands was a mystery, a forbidden garden of delight, +with the terror of an oaken staff (and unknown penalties) turning this +way and that. Therefore the stunted old oak on the verge—the moss-grown +merestone by the pond marked the limit—was so favourite a +perching-place. + +That beautiful afternoon I leaned both arms idly on the great bough +that crossed in front of the seat and listened to the “Caw—caw!” of the +rooks as they looked to see if the acorns were yet ripening. A dead +branch that had dropped partly into the brook was swayed continually up +and down by the current, the water as it chafed against it causing a +delicious murmur. This lulled me to sleep. + +I woke with a start, and had it not been for the bough crossing in +front must have fallen twenty feet. Looking down into the meadow as +soon as my eyes were thoroughly open, I instantly noticed a covey of +young partridges a little way up beside the hedge among the molehills. +The neighbourhood of those hillocks has an attraction for many birds, +especially in winter. Then fieldfares, redwings, starlings, and others +prefer the meadows that are dotted with them. In a frost if you see a +thrush on a molehill it is very likely to thaw shortly. Moles seem to +feel the least change in the temperature of the earth; if it slackens +they begin to labour, and cast up, unwittingly, food for the thrushes. + +It would have been easy to kill three or four of the covey, which was a +small one, at a single shot; but it had been a late summer, and they +were not full-grown. Besides which, they roosted, I knew, about the +middle of the meadow, and to shoot them near the roost would be certain +to break them up, and perhaps drive them into Southlands. “Good +poachers preserve their own game:” so the birds fed safely, though a +pot shot would not have seemed the crime then that it would now. While +I watched them suddenly the old bird “quat,” and ran swiftly into the +hedge, followed by the rest. A kestrel was hovering in the next meadow: +when the beat of his wings ceased he slid forward and downwards, then +rose and came over me in a bold curve. Well those little brown birds in +the blackthorn knew that, fierce as he was, he dared not swoop even on +a comparatively open bush, much less such thick covert, for fear of +ruffling his proud feathers and beating them out. Nor could he follow +them through the intricate hidden passages. + +In the open water of the pond a large jack was basking in the sunshine, +just beneath the surface; and though the shot would scatter somewhat +before reaching him, he was within range. If a fish lies a few inches +under water he is quite safe from shot unless the muzzle of the gun is +so close that the pellets travel together like a bullet. At a distance +the shot is supposed to glance as it strikes the water at an angle; for +that reason the elevation of the tree was an advantage, since from it +the charge would plunge into the pool. A jack may be killed in some +depth of water when the gun is nearly perpendicularly above the mark; +but in any case the aim must be taken two inches or more, according to +circumstances, beneath the apparent position of the fish, to allow for +refraction. + +Sometimes the jack when hit comes to the surface belly upwards, but +sometimes keeps down or sinks, and floats a considerable distance away +from the spot; so that in the muddy water disturbed by the shot it is +difficult to find him. If a snake be shot at while swimming he will +sometimes sink like a stone, and can be seen lying motionless at the +bottom. After we got hold of a small deer rifle we used to practise at +the snakes in the mere—aiming at the head, which is about the size of a +nut, and shows above the surface wobbling as they move. I recollect +cutting a snake’s head clean off with a ball from a pistol as he +hastened away through the grass. + +In winter, when the jacks came up and lay immediately under the ice, +they could be easily shot. The pellets cut a round hole through an inch +and a half of ice. The jack now basking in the pond was the more +tempting because we had often tried to wire him in vain. The difficulty +was to get him if hit. While I was deliberating a crow came flying low +down the leaze, and alighted by the pond. His object, no doubt, was a +mussel. He could not have seen me, and yet no sooner did he touch the +ground than he looked uneasily about, sprang up, and flew straight +away, as if he had smelt danger. Had he stayed he would have been shot, +though it would have spoiled my ambush: the idea of the crows picking +out the eyes of dying creatures was always peculiarly revolting to me. + +If the pond was a haunt of his, it was too near the young partridges, +which were weakly that season. A kestrel is harmless compared to a +crow. Surely the translators have wrongly rendered Don Quixote’s remark +that the English did not kill crows, believing that King Arthur, +instead of dying, was by enchantment turned into one, and so fearing to +injure the hero. Must he not have meant a rook?* + +[Note: It has since been pointed out to me that the Don may have meant +a raven] + + +Soon afterwards something moved out of the mound into the meadow a long +distance up: it was a hare. He came slowly along beside the hedge +towards me—now stopping and looking into it as if seeking a convenient +place for a form, having doubtless been disturbed from that he had +first chosen. It was some minutes before he came within range: had I +been on the ground most likely he would have scented me, the light air +going that way; but being in the tree the wind that passed went high +over him. For this reason a tree ambush is deadly. It was necessary to +get the line of sight clear of twigs, which check and divert shot, and +to take a steady aim; for I had no second barrel, no dog, and had to +descend the tree before running. Some leaves were blackened by the +flame: the hare simply fell back, stretched his hind legs, quivered, +and lay still. Part of the leaf of a plant was fixed in his teeth; he +had just had a nibble. + +With this success I was satisfied that day; but the old oak was always +a favourite resort, even when nothing particular was in hand. From +thence, too, as a base of operations, we made expeditions varying in +their object with the season of the year. + +Some distance beyond the stunted oak the thick blackthorn hedge was +succeeded by a continuous strip of withy-bed bordering the brook. It +often occurred to us that by entering these withies it would be +possible to reconnoitre one side of Southlands; for the stream skirted +the lower grounds: the tall willows would conceal any one passing +through them. So one spring morning the attempt was made. + +It was necessary to go on hands and knees through the mowing grass for +some yards while passing an open space where the blackthorn cover +ended, and then to leap a broad ditch that divided the withy-beds from +the meadow. The lissom willow wands parted easily and sprang back to +their places behind, leaving scarce a trace. Their slender tops rose +overhead; beneath, long dead grasses, not yet quite supplanted by the +spring growth, filled the space between. These rustled a little under +foot, but so faint a sound could scarcely have been audible outside; +and had any one noticed it it would have been attributed to a hare or a +fox moving: both are fond of lying in withy-beds when the ground is +dry. + +The way to walk noiselessly is to feel with the foot before letting +your weight press on it; then the dead stick or fallen hemlock is +discovered and avoided. A dead stick cracks; the dry hollow hemlock +gives a splintering sound when crushed. These old hemlock stems were +numerous in places, together with “gicksies,” as the haymakers call a +plant that resembles it, but has a ribbed or fluted instead of a smooth +stalk. The lads use a long “gicks” cut between the joints as a tube to +blow haws or peggles at the girls. When thirsty, and no ale is handy, +the men search for one to suck up water with from the brook. It is +difficult to find one free from insects, which seem to be remarkably +fond of anything hollow. The haymakers do not use the hemlock, thinking +it would poison the water; they think, too, that drinking through a +tube is safer when they are in a great heat from the sun than any other +way. + +Nor is it so easy to drink from a stream without this simple aid. If +the bank be flat it is wet, and what looks like the grass of the meadow +really grows out of the water; so that there it is not possible to be +at full length. If the bank be dry the level of the water is several +inches lower, and in endeavouring to drink the forehead is immersed; +often the water is so much lower than its banks that it is quite +impossible to drink from it lying. By the edge grasses, +water-plantains, forget-me-nots, frequently fill the space within +reach. If you brush these aside it disturbs the bottom, and the mud +rises, or a patch of brown “scum” comes up and floats away. A cup, +though gently used, generally draws some insects in with the water, +though the liquid itself be pure. Lapping with the hollowed palm +requires practice, and, unless the spot be free from weeds and of some +little depth, soon disturbs the bottom. But the tube can be inserted in +the smallest clear place, and interferes with nothing. + +Each of us carried a long hazel rod, and the handle of a “squailer” +projected from Orion’s coat-pocket. For making a “squailer” a teacup +was the best mould: the cups then in use in the country were rather +larger than those at present in fashion. A ground ash sapling with the +bark on, about as thick as the little finger, pliant and tough, formed +the shaft, which was about fifteen inches long. This was held upright +in the middle of a teacup, while the mould was filled with molten lead. +It soon cooled, and left a heavy conical knob on the end of the stick. +If rightly thrown it was a deadly missile, and would fly almost as true +as a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret could thus be knocked over; and it +was peculiarly adapted for fetching a squirrel out of a tree, because, +being so heavy at one end, it rarely lodged on the boughs, as an +ordinary stick would, but overbalanced and came down. + +From the outlook of the oak some aspen trees could be seen far up in +the withy-beds; and it had been agreed that there the first essay of +the stream should be made. On arriving at these trees we paused, and +began to fix the wires on the hazel rods. The wire for fish must slip +very easily, and the thinner it is, if strong enough, the better, +because it takes a firmer grip. A single wire will do; but two thin +ones are preferable. Thin copper wire is as flexible as thread. Brass +wire is not so good; it is stiffer, and too conspicuous in the water. + +At the shank end a stout string is attached in the middle of its +length. Then the wire is placed against the rod, lying flat upon it for +about six inches. The strings are now wound round tightly in opposite +directions, binding it to the stick, so that at the top the ends cross +and are in position to tie in the slight notch cut for the purpose. A +loop that will allow four fingers to enter together is about large +enough, though of course it must be varied according to the size of the +jack in view. Heavy jacks are not often wired, and scarcely ever in +brooks. + +For jack the shape of the loop should be circular; for trout it should +be oval, and considerably larger in proportion to the apparent bulk of +the fish. Jack are straight-grown and do not thicken much in the +middle; with trout it is different. The noose should be about six +inches from the top of the rod. Orion said he would go twenty yards +farther up; I went direct from the centre of the withy-bed to the +stream. + +The bank rose a little above the level of the withy-bed; it was a broad +mound full of ash stoles and willow—the sort that is grown for poles. +At that spot the vines of wild hops had killed all the underwood, +leaving open spaces between the stoles; the vines were matted so +thickly that they hid the ground. This was too exposed a place, so I +went back and farther up till I could just hear Orion rustling through +the hemlocks. Here the dead grass and some elder bushes afforded +shelter, and the water could be approached unseen. + +It was about six or eight inches deep; the opposite shore was bordered +for several yards out with flags and rushes. The cattle nibbled their +tender tops off, as far as they could reach; farther out they were +pushing up straight and pointed. The rib and groove of the flag so +closely resemble those of the ancient bayonet that it might be supposed +the weapon was modelled from the plant. Indoors among the lumber there +was a rusty old bayonet that immediately called forth the comparison: +the modern make seem more triangular. + +The rushes grew nearer the shore of the meadow—the old ones yellow, the +young green: in places this fringe of rush and sedge and flag must have +been five or six yards wide, and it extended as far as could be seen up +the brook. No doubt the cattle trod in the edge of the firm ground by +degrees every year to get at the water, and thus widened the marsh. It +was easy to understand now why all the water-fowl, teal and duck, +moorhen and snipe, seemed in winter to make in this direction. + +The ducks especially exercised all our ingenuity and quite exhausted +our patience in the effort to get near them in winter. In the large +water-meadows a small flock sometimes remained all day: it was possible +to approach near enough by stalking behind the hedges to see the colour +of the mallards; but they were always out of gunshot. This place must +be full of teal then; as for moorhens, there were signs of them +everywhere, and several feeding in the grass. The thought of the sport +to be got here when the frosty days came was enough to make one wild. + +After a long look across, I began to examine the stream near at hand: +the rushes and flags had forced the clear sweet current away from the +meadow, so that it ran just under the bank. I was making out the brown +sticks at the bottom, when there was a slight splash—caused by Orion +about ten yards farther up—and almost at the same instant something +shot down the brook towards me. He had doubtless landed a jack, and its +fellow rushed away. Under a large dead bough that had fallen across its +top in the stream I saw the long slender fish lying a few feet from the +bank, motionless save for the gentle curving wave of the tail edges. So +faint was that waving curl that it seemed caused rather by the flow of +the current than the volition of the fish. The wings of the swallow +work the whole of the longest summer day, but the fins of the fish in +running water are never still: day and night they move continuously. + +By slow degrees I advanced the hazel rod, keeping it at first near to +and parallel with the bank, because jack do not like anything that +stretches across them; and I imagine other fish have the same dislike +to right angles. The straight shadow even seems to arouse suspicion—no +boughs are ever straight. Perhaps, if it were possible to angle without +a rod, there would be more success, particularly in small streams. But +after getting the stick almost out far enough, it became evident that +the dead branch would not let me slip the wire into the water in front +of the jack in the usual way. So I had to draw it back again as +gradually as it had been put forth. + +With fish everything must be done gradually and without a jerk. A +sudden jerking movement immediately alarms them. If you walk gently by +they remain still, but start or lift the arm quickly and they dart for +deep water. The object of withdrawing the rod was to get at and enlarge +the loop in order that it might be slipped over his tail, since the +head was protected by the bough. It is a more delicate operation to +pass the wire up from behind; it has to go farther before the spot that +allows a firm grip is reached, and fish are well aware that natural +objects such as twigs float down with the current. Anything, therefore, +approaching from behind or rubbing upwards is suspicious. As this fish +had just been startled, it would not do to let the wire touch him at +all. + +After enlarging the loop I put the rod slowly forth again, worked the +wire up stream, slipped the noose over his tail, and gently got it up +to the balance of the fish. Waiting a moment to get the elbow over the +end of the rod so as to have a good leverage, I gave a sudden jerk +upwards, and felt the weight instantly. But the top of the rod struck +the overhanging bough, and there was my fish, hung indeed, but still in +the water near the surface. Nor could I throw it on the bank, because +of the elder bushes. So I shortened the rod, pulling it in towards me +quickly and dragging the jack through the water. The pliant wire had +cut into the scales and skin—he might have been safely left suspended +over the stream all day; but in the eagerness of the moment I was not +satisfied till I had him up on the mound. + +We did not see much of Southlands, because the withy-beds were on the +lowest ground; but there were six jacks strung on a twisted withy when +we got back to the stunted oak and rested there tasting acid sorrel +leaves. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +EGG-TIME. A “GIP”-TRAP + + +There is no sweeter time in the woods than just before the nesting +begins in earnest. Is it the rising sap that causes a pleasant odour to +emanate from every green thing? Idling along the hedgerows towards the +woodlands there may perchance be seen small tufts of white rabbit’s fur +in the grass, torn from herself by the doe to form a warm lining to the +hole in which her litter will appear: a “sign” this that often guides a +robber to her nest. + +Yonder on the rising ground, towering even in their fall over the low +(lately cut) ash plantation, lie the giant limbs of the mighty oaks, +thrown just as they felt the quickening heat. The bark has been +stripped from the trunk and branches; the sun has turned the exposed +surface to a deep buff colour, which contrasts with the fresh green of +the underwood around and renders them visible afar. + +When the oak first puts forth its buds the woods take a ruddy tint. +Gradually the background of green comes to the front, and the +oak-apples swell, streaked with rosy stains, whence their semblance to +the edible fruit of the orchard. All unconscious of the white or red +cross daubed on the rough bark, the tree prepares its glory of leaf, +though doomed the while by that sad mark to the axe. + +Cutting away the bushes with his billhook, the woodman next swings the +cumbrous grub-axe, whose wide edge clears the earth from the larger +roots. Then he puts his pipe in his pocket, and settles to the serious +work of the “great axe,” as he calls it. I never could use this +ungainly tool aright: a top-heavy, clumsy, awkward thing, it rules you +instead of you ruling it. The handle, too, is flat—almost with an edge +itself sometimes—and is quite beyond the grasp of any but hands of +iron. Now the American axe feels balanced like a sword; this is because +of the peculiar curve of the handle. To strike you stand with the left +foot slightly forward, and the left hand uppermost: the “S” curve (it +is of course not nearly so crooked as the letter) of the American axe +adjusts itself to the anatomy of the attitude, so to speak. + +The straight English handle does not; it is stiff, and strains the +muscles; but the common “great axe” has the advantage that it is also +used for splitting logs and gnarled “butts.” An American axe is too +beautiful a tool for that rude work. The American was designed to +strike at the trunk of the tree several feet from the ground, the +English axe is always directed to the great roots at the base. + +A dexterous woodman can swing his tool alternately left hand or right +hand uppermost. The difference looks trifling; but try it, and you will +be astonished at the difficulty. The blows echo and the chips fly, till +the base of the tree, that naturally is much larger, is reduced to the +size of the trunk or less. Now a pause, while one swarms up to “line” +it—_i.e._ to attach a rope as high as possible to guide the “stick” in +its fall. + +It is commonly said that in climbing it is best to look up—a maxim that +has been used for moral illustrations; but it is a mistake. In +ascending a tree you should never look higher than the brim of your +hat, unless when quite still and resting on a branch; temporary +blindness would be the penalty in this case. Particles of decayed bark, +the borings of insects in dead wood, dust, and fragments of twigs, rush +down in little streams and fill the eyes. The quantity of woody powder +that adheres to a tree is surprising; every motion dislodges it from a +thousand minute crevices. As for firs, in climbing a fir one cannot +look up at all—dead sticks, needles, and dust pour down, and the +branches are so thick together that the head has to be forced through +them. The line fixed, the saw is applied, and by slow degrees the butt +cut nearly through. Unless much overbalanced on one side by the limbs, +an oak will stand on a still day when almost off. + +Some now seize the rope, and alternately pull and slacken, which gives +the tree a tottering movement. One more daring than the rest drives a +wedge into the saw-cut as it opens when the tree sways. It sways—it +staggers; a loud crack as the fibres part, then with a slow heave over +it goes, and, descending, twists upon the base. The vast limbs plough +into the sward; the twigs are crushed; the boughs, after striking the +earth, rebound and swish upwards. See that you stand clear, for the +least branch will thresh you down. The flat surface of the exposed butt +is blue with stains from the steel of the saw. + +Light taps with a small sharp axe, that cut the rind but no deeper, +ring the trunk at intervals. Then the barking irons are inserted; they +are rods of iron forged at the top something like a narrow shallow +spoon. The bark from the trunk comes off in huge semi-cylinders almost +large enough for a canoe. But that from the branches is best. You may +mark how at the base the bark is two inches thick, lessening to a few +lines on the topmost boughs. If it sticks a little, hammer it with the +iron: it peels with a peculiar sound, and the juicy sap glistens white +between. It is this that, drying in the sun, gives the barked tree its +colour: in time the wood bleaches paler, and after a winter becomes +grey. Inside, the bark is white streaked with brown; presently it will +be all brown. While some strip it, others collect the pieces, and with +them build toy-like sheds of bark, which is the manner of stacking it. + +From the peeled tree there rises a sweet odour of sap: the green mead, +the green underwood and hawthorn around, are all lit up with the genial +sunbeams. The beautiful wind-anemones are gone, too tender and lovely +for so rude an earth; but the wild hyacinths droop their blue bells +under the wood, and the cowslips rise in the grass. The nightingale +sings without ceasing; the soft “coo-coo” of the dove sounds hard by; +the merry cuckoo calls as he flies from elm to elm; the wood-pigeons +rise and smite their wings together over the firs. In the mere below +the coots are at play; they chase each other along the surface of the +water and indulge in wild evolutions. Everything is happy. As the +plough-boys stroll along they pluck the young succulent hawthorn leaves +and nibble them. + +It is the sweetest time of all for wandering in the wood. The brambles +have not yet grown so bushy as to check the passage; the thistles that +in autumn will be as tall as the shoulder and thick as a walking-stick +are as yet no bar; burrs do not attach themselves at every step, though +the broad burdock leaves are spreading wide. In its full development +the burdock is almost a shrub rather than a plant, with a woody stem an +inch or more in diameter. + +Up in the fir trees the nests of the pigeons are sometimes so big that +it appears as if they must use the same year after year, adding fresh +twigs, else they could hardly attain such bulk. Those in the ash-poles +are not nearly so large. In the open drives blue cartridge-cases lie +among the grass, the brass part tarnished by the rain, thrown hurriedly +aside from the smoking breech last autumn. But the guns are silent in +the racks, though the keeper still carries his gun to shoot the vermin, +which are extremely busy at this season. Vermin, however, do not quite +agree among themselves: weasels and stoats are deadly enemies of mice +and rats. Where rats are plentiful there they are sure to come; they +will follow a rat into a dwelling-house. + +Here the green drive shows traces of the poaching it received from the +thick-planted hoofs of the hunt when the leaves were off and the blast +of the horn sounded fitfully as the gale carried the sound away. The +vixen is now at peace, though perhaps it would scarcely be safe to +wander too near the close-shaven mead where the keeper is occupied more +and more every day with his pheasant-hatching. And far down on the +lonely outlying farms, where even in fox-hunting England the music of +the hounds is hardly heard in three years (because no great coverts +cause the run to take that way), foul murder is sometimes done on +Reynard or his family. A hedge-cutter marks the sleeping-place in the +withies where the fox curls up by day; and with his rusty gun, that +sometimes slaughters a roaming pheasant, sends the shot through the red +side of the slumbering animal. Then, thrust ignobly into a sack, he +shoulders the fox and marches round from door to door, tumbling the +limp body rudely down on the pitching stones to prove that the fowls +will now be safe, and to be rewarded with beer and small coin. A dead +fox is profit to him for a fortnight. These evil deeds of course are +cloaked as far as possible. + +Leaving now the wood for the lane that wanders through the meadows, a +mower comes sidling up, and, looking mysteriously around with his hand +behind under his coat, “You med have un for sixpence,” he says, and +produces a partridge into whose body the point of the scythe ran as she +sat on her nest in the grass, and whose struggles were ended by a blow +from the rubber or whetstone flung at her head. He has got the eggs +somewhere hidden under a swathe. + +The men that are so expert at finding partridges’ eggs to sell to the +keepers know well beforehand whereabouts the birds are likely to lay. +If a stranger who had made no previous observations went into the +fields to find these eggs, with full permission to do so, he would +probably wander in vain. The grass is long, and the nest has little to +distinguish it from the ground; the old bird will sit so close that one +may pass almost over her. Without a right of search in open daylight +the difficulty is of course much greater. A man cannot quarter the +fields when the crop is high and leave no trail. + +Farmers object to the trampling and damage of their property; and a +keeper does not like to see a labourer loafing about, because he is not +certain that the eggs when found will be conscientiously delivered to +him. They may be taken elsewhere, or they may even be broken out of +spite if the finder thinks he has a grudge to repay. Now that every +field is enclosed, and for the most part well cultivated and looked +after, the business of the egg-stealer is considerably diminished. He +cannot roam over the country at his fancy; his egg-finding is nearly +restricted to the locality of which he possesses minute knowledge. + +Thus workmen engaged in the towns, but sleeping several miles out in +the villages, can keep a register of the slight indications they +observe morning after morning as they cross the fields by the footpath +to their labour. Early in the spring they notice that the partridges +have paired: as time advances they see the pair day after day in the +same meadow, and mark the spot. Those who work in the fields, again, +have still better opportunities: the bird-keeping lads too have little +else to do at that season than watch for nests. In the meadows the +labourer as he walks to and fro with the “bush” passes over every inch +of the ground. The “bush” is a mass of thorn bushes fixed in a frame +and drawn by a horse; it acts like a light harrow, and leaves the +meadow in strips like the pile of green velvet, stroked in narrow +bands, one this way, one that, laying the grass blades in the +directions it travels. Solitary work of this kind—for it requires but +one man—is very favourable to observation. When the proper time arrives +the searcher knows within a little where the nest must be, and has but +a small space to beat. + +The pheasant being so large a bird, its motions are easy to watch; and +the nest is speedily found, because, being in the hedge or under +bushes, there is a definite place in which to look, instead of the +broad surface of the field. Pheasants will get out of the preserves in +the breeding season and wander into the mounds, so that the space the +keeper has to range is then enlarged threefold. Both pheasants and +partridges are frequently killed on their nests; when the eggs are hard +the birds remain to the last moment, and are often knocked over. + +Besides poachers, the eggs have to run the chance of being destroyed by +carrion crows, and occasionally by rooks. Rooks, though generally +cleanly feeders, will at times eat almost anything, from a mussel to a +fledgeling bird. Magpies and jays are accused of being equally +dangerous enemies of eggs and young birds, and so too are snakes. +Weasels, stoats, and rats spare neither egg, parents, nor offspring. +Some of the dogs that run wild will devour eggs; and hawks pounce on +the brood if they see an opportunity. Owls are said to do the same. The +fitchew, the badger, and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation; +but the first is rare, the second almost exterminated in many +districts; the third—the poor hedgehog—is common, and some keepers have +a bitter dislike to them. Swine are credited, with the same mischief as +the worst of vermin at this particular season; but nowadays swine are +not allowed to run wild in cultivated districts, except in the autumn +when the acorns are falling. + +As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly accessible, and the +eggs, being large, are tempting. Perhaps the mowing machine is as +destructive as anything; and after all these there is the risk of a wet +season and of disease. Let the care exercised be never so great, a +certain amount of mortality must occur. + +While the young partridges gradually become strong and swift, the nuts +are increasing in size, and ripening upon the bough. The very hazel has +a pleasant sound—not a nut-tree hedge existed in the neighbourhood that +we did not know and visit. We noted the progress of the bushes from the +earliest spring, and the catkins to the perfect nut. + +There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the hazel in February, +though the gloom of winter lingers and the “Shuck—a—sheck!” of the +fieldfare fleeing before the snow sounds overhead. On the slender +branches grow green ovals, from whose tips tiny scarlet plumes rise and +curl over. + +It often happens that while the tall rods with speckled bark grow +vigorously the stole is hollow and decaying when the hardy fern +flourishes around it. Before the summer ricks are all carted the nuts +are full of sweet milky matter, and the shell begins to harden. A hazel +bough with a good crook is then sought by the men that are thinking of +the wheat harvest: they trim it for a “vagging” stick, with which to +pull the straw towards them. True reaping is now never seen: “vagging” +makes the short stubble that forces the partridges into the turnips. +Maple boughs, whose bark is so strongly ribbed, are also good for +“vagging” sticks. + +Nut-tree is used for bonds to tie up faggots, and split for the +shepherds’ hurdles. In winter sometimes a store of nuts and acorns may +be seen fallen in a stream down the side of a bank, scratched out from +a mouse’s hole, as they say, by Reynard, who devours the little +provident creature without regard for its wisdom. So that man and wild +animals derive pleasure or use from the hazel in many ways. When the +nuts are ripe the carters’ lads do not care to ride sideways on the +broad backs of the horses as they jog homewards along the lane, but are +ever in the hedges. + +There were plenty in the double-mounds to which we had access; but the +shepherd, who had learned his craft on the Downs, said that the nuts +grew there in such immense quantities as determined us to see them. +Sitting on the felled ash under the shade of the hawthorn hedge, where +the butcher-birds every year used to stick the humble-bees on the +thorns, he described the route—a mere waggon track—and the situation of +the largest copses. + +The waggon track we found crossed the elevated plains close under and +between the Downs, following at the foot, as it seemed, for an endless +distance the curve of a range. The slope bounded the track on one side: +on the other it was enclosed by a low bank covered with dead thorn +thickly entangled, which enclosed the cornfields. The space between the +hedge and the hill was as far as we could throw one of the bleached +flints lying on the sward. It was dotted with hawthorn trees and furze, +and full of dry brown grass. A few scattered firs, the remnants of +extinct plantations, grew on the slope, and green “fairy rings” marked +it here and there. + +These fairy rings have a somewhat different appearance from the dark +green semicircles found in the meadows and called by the same name: the +latter are often only segments of circles, are found near hedges, and +almost always either under a tree or where a tree has been. There were +more mushrooms on the side of the hill than we cared to carry. Some eat +mushrooms raw—fresh as taken from the ground, with a little salt: to me +the taste is then too strong. Of the many ways of cooking them the +simplest is the best; that is, on a gridiron over wood embers on the +hearth. + +Every few minutes a hare started out of the dry grass: he always +scampered up the Down and stopped to look at us from the ridge. The +hare runs faster up hill than down. By the cornfields there were wire +nettings to stop them; but nothing is easier than for any passer-by who +feels an interest in hares and rabbits, and does not like to see them +jealously excluded, to open a gap. Hares were very numerous—temptingly +so. Not far from where the track crossed a lonely road was a gipsy +encampment; that swarthy people are ever about when anything is going +on, and the reapers were busy in the corn. The dead dry thorns of the +hedge answered very well to boil their pot with. Their tents, formed by +thrusting the ends of long bent rods like half-hoops into the turf, +looked dark like the canvas of a barge. + +These “gips”—country folk do not say gipsy—were unknown to us; but we +were on terms with some members of a tribe who called at our house +several times in the course of the year to buy willow. The men wore +golden earrings, and bought “Black Sally,” a withy that has a dark +bark, for pegs, and “bolts” of osier for basket-making. A bolt is a +bundle of forty inches in circumference. Though the women tell +fortunes, and mix the “dark man” and the “light man,” the “journey” and +the “letter” to perfection, till the ladies half believe, I doubt if +they know much of true palmistry. The magic of the past always had a +charm for me. I had learned to know the lines, from that which winds +along at the base of the thumb-ball and if clear means health and long +life, to that which crosses close to the fingers and indicates the +course of love, and had traced them on many a delicate palm. So that +the “gips” could tell me nothing new. + +The women are the hardiest in the country; they simply ignore the +weather. Even the hedgers and ditchers and the sturdiest labourers +choose the lee side of the hedge when they pause to eat their +luncheons; but the “gips” do not trouble to seek such shelter. Passing +over the hills one winter’s day, when the Downs looked all alike, being +covered with snow, I came across a “gip” family sitting on the ground +in a lane, old and young exposed to the blast. In that there was +nothing remarkable, but I recollect it because the young mother, +handsome in the style of her race, had her neck and brown bust quite +bare, and the white snowflakes drove thickly aslant upon her. Their +complexion looks more dusky in winter, so that the contrast of the +colours made me wish for an artist to paint it. And he might have put +the grey embers of a fire gone out, and the twisted stem of a hawthorn +bush with red haws above. + +A mile beyond the gipsy tents we entered among the copses: scattered +ash plantations, and hazel thickets with narrow green tracks between. +Further in, the nut-tree bushes were more numerous, and we became +separated though within call. Presently a low whistle like the peewit’s +(our signal) called me to Orion. On the border of a thicket, near an +open field of swedes, he had found a hare in a wire. It was a +beauty—the soft fur smooth to stroke, not so much as a shot-hole in the +black-marked ears. Wired or netted hares and rabbits are much preferred +by the dealers to those that have been shot—and so, too, netted +partridges—because they look so clean and tempt the purchaser. The +blacksmith Ikey, who bought our rabbits, used to sew up the shot wounds +when they were much knocked about, and trimmed up the shattered ones in +the cleverest way. + +To pull up the plug and take wire and hare too was the first impulse; +yet we hesitated. Why did the man who set the snare let his game lie +till that hour of the day? He should have visited it long before: it +had a suspicious look altogether. It would also have been nearly +impossible to carry the hare so many miles by daylight and past +villages: even with the largest pockets it would have been doubtful, +for the hare had stiffened as he lay stretched out. So, carefully +replacing him just as we found him, we left the spot and re-entered the +copse. + +The shepherd certainly was right; the quantity of nuts was immense: the +best and largest bunches grew at the edge of the thickets, perhaps +because they received more air and light than the bushes within that +were surrounded by boughs. It thus happened that we were in the green +pathway when some one suddenly spoke from behind, and, turning, there +was a man in a velveteen jacket who had just stepped out of the bushes. +The keeper was pleasant enough and readily allowed us to handle his +gun—a very good weapon, though a little thin at the muzzle—for a man +likes to see his gun admired. He said there were finer nuts in a valley +he pointed out, and then carefully instructed us how to get back into +the waggon track without returning by the same path. An old barn was +the landmark; and, with a request from him not to break the bushes, he +left us. + +Down in the wooded vale we paused. The whole thing was now clear: the +hare in the wire was a trap laid for the “gips” whose camp was below. +The keeper had been waiting about doubtless where he could command the +various tracks up the hill, had seen us come that way, and did not wish +us to return in the same direction; because if the “gip” saw any one at +all he would not approach his snare. Whether the hare had actually been +caught by the wire, or had been put in by the keeper, it was not easy +to tell. + +We wandered on in the valley wood, going from bush to bush, little +heeding whither we went. There are no woods so silent as the nut-tree; +there is scarce a sound in them at that time except the occasional +rustle of a rabbit, and the “thump, thump” they sometimes make +underground in their buries after a sudden fright. So that the keen +plaintive whistle of a kingfisher was almost startling. But we soon +found the stream in the hollow. Broader than a brook and yet not quite +a river, it flowed swift and clear, so that every flint at the bottom +was visible. The nut-tree bushes came down to the edge: the ground was +too firm for much rush or sedge; the streams that come out of the chalk +are not so thickly fringed with vegetation as others. + +Some little way along there was a rounded sarsen boulder not far from +shore, whose brown top was so nearly on a level with the surface that +at one moment the water just covered it, and the next left it exposed. +By it we spied a trout; but the hill above gave “Velvet” the command of +the hollow; and it was too risky even to think of. After that the nuts +were tame; there was nothing left but to turn homewards. As for +trout-fishing, there is nothing so easy. Take the top joint off the +rod, and put the wire on the second, which is stronger, fill the +basket, and replace the fly. There were fellows who used to paddle in +canoes up a certain river (not this little stream), pick out the +largest trout, and shoot them with pistols, under pretence of +practising at water-rats. + + + + +CHAPTER V +WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + + +In a hedge that joined a wood, and about a hundred yards from it, there +was a pleasant hiding-place beside a pollard ash. The bank was hollow +with rabbit-buries: the summer heat had hardened the clay of the mound +and caused it to crack and crumble wherever their excavations left a +precipitous edge. Some way up the trunk of the tree an immense flat +fungus projected, roughly resembling the protruding lip of a savage +enlarged by the insertion of a piece of wood. It formed a black ledge +standing out seven or eight inches, two or three inches thick, and +extending for a foot or more round the bark. The pollard, indeed, was +dead inside, and near the ground the black touch-wood showed. Ash +timber must become rarer year by year: for, being so useful, it is +constantly cut down, while few new saplings are planted or encouraged +to become trees. + +In front a tangled mass of bramble arched over the dry ditch; it was +possible to see some distance down the bank, for nothing grew on the +top itself, the bushes all rising from either side—a peculiarity of +clay mounds. This narrow space was a favourite promenade of the +rabbits; they usually came out there for a few minutes first, looking +about before venturing forth into the meadows. Except a little moss, +scarcely any vegetation other than underwood clothed the bare hard soil +of the mound; and for this reason every tiny aperture that suited their +purpose was occupied by wasps. + +They much prefer a clear space about the entrance to their nests, +affording an unencumbered passage: there were two nests within a few +yards of the ash. Though so generally dreaded, wasps are really +inoffensive insects, never attacking unless previously buffeted. You +may sit close to a wasps’ nest for hours, and, if you keep still, +receive no injury. Humble-bees, too, congregate in special localities: +along one hedge half a dozen nests may be found, while other fields are +searched for them in vain. + +The best time to enter such a hiding-place is a little before the sun +sinks: for as his beams turn red all the creatures that rest during the +day begin to stir. Then the hares start down from the uplands and +appear on the short stubble, where the level rays throw exaggerated +shadows behind them. When six or eight hares are thus seen near the +centre of a single field, they and their shadows seem to take +possession of and occupy it. + +Pheasants, though they retire to roost on the trees, often before +rising come forth into the meadows adjacent to the coverts. The sward +in front of the pollard ash sloped upwards gradually to the foot of a +low hill planted with firs, and just outside these about half a dozen +pheasants regularly appeared in the early evening. As the sun sank +below the hill, and the shadow of the great beeches some distance away +began to extend into the mead, they went back one by one into the firs. +There they were nearly safe, for no trees give so much difficulty to +the poacher. It is not easy even to shoot anything inside a fir +plantation at night: as for the noose, it is almost impossible to use +it. The lowest pheasant is taken first, and then the next above, like +fowls perched on the rungs of a ladder; and, indeed, it is not unlikely +that those who excel in this kind of work base their operations upon +previous experiences in the hen roost. + +The wood pigeons begin to come home, and the wood is filled with their +hollow notes: now here, now yonder, for as one ceases another takes it +up. They cannot settle for some time: each as he arrives perches +awhile, and then rises and tries a fresh place, so that there is a +constant clattering. The green woodpecker approaches at a rapid +pace—now opening, now closing his wings, and seeming to throw himself +forward rather than to fly. He rushes at the trees in the hedge as +though he could pierce the thick branches like a bullet. Other birds +rise over or pass at the side: he goes through, arrow-like, avoiding +the boughs. Instead of at once entering the wood, he stays awhile on +the sward of the mead in the open. + +As the pheasants generally feed in a straight line along the ground, so +the lesser pied woodpecker travels across the fields from tree to tree, +rarely staying on more than one branch in each, but, after examining +it, leaves all that may be on other boughs and seeks another ahead. He +rises round and round the dead branch in the elm, tapping it with blows +that succeed each other with marvellous rapidity. He taps for the +purpose of sounding the wood to see if it be hollow or bored by grubs, +and to startle the insects and make them run out for his convenience. +He will ascend dead branches barely half an inch thick that vibrate as +he springs from them, and proceeds down the hedge towards the wood. The +“snop-top” sounds in every elm, and grows fainter as he recedes. The +sound is often heard, but in the thick foliage of summer the bird +escapes unseen, unless you are sitting almost under the tree when he +arrives in it. + +Then the rooks come drifting slowly to the beeches: they are uncertain +in their hour at this season—some, indeed, scarce care to return at +all; and even when quite dusk and the faint stars of summer rather show +themselves than shine, twos and threes come occasionally through the +gloom. A pair of doves pass swiftly, flying for the lower wood, where +the ashpoles grow. The grasshoppers sing in the grass, and will +continue till the dew descends. As the little bats flutter swiftly to +and fro just without the hedge, the faint sound of their wings is +audible as they turn: their membranes are not so silent as feathers, +and they agitate them with extreme velocity. Beetles go by with a loud +hum, rising from those isolated bunches of grass that may be seen in +every field; for the cows will not eat the rank green blades that grow +over and hide dried dung. + +A large white spot, ill-defined and shapeless in the distance and the +dimness, glides along the edge of the wood, then across in front before +the fir plantation, next down the hedge to the left, and presently +passes within two yards, going towards the wood again along this mound. +It is a white owl: he flies about five feet from the ground and +absolutely without a sound. So when you are walking at night it is +quite startling to have one come overhead, approaching from behind and +suddenly appearing. This owl is almost fearless; unless purposely +alarmed he will scarcely notice you, and not at all if you are still. + +As he reaches the wood he leaves the hedge, having gone all round the +field, and crosses to a small detached circular fir plantation in the +centre. There he goes out of sight a minute or two; but presently +appears skirting the low shed and rickyard yonder, and is finally lost +behind the hedges. This round he will go every evening, and almost +exactly at the same time—that is, in reference to the sun, which is the +clock of nature. + +Step never so quietly out from the mound, the small birds that +unnoticed have come to roost in the bushes will hear it and fly off in +alarm. The rabbits that are near the hedge rush in; those that are far +from home crouch in the furrows and the bunches. Crossing the open +field, they suddenly start as it seems from under your feet—one white +tail goes dapping up and down this way, another jerks over the “lands” +that way. The moonbeams now glisten on the double-barrel; and a bright +sparkle glitters here and there as a dewdrop catches a ray. + +Upon the grass a faint halo appears; it is a narrow band of light +encircling the path, an oval ring—perhaps rather horseshoe shape than +oval. It glides in front, keeping ever at the same distance as you +walk, as if there the eye was focussed. This is only seen when the +grass is wet with dew, and better in short grass than long. Where it +shines the grass looks a paler green. Passing gently along a hedge +thickly timbered with oak and elms, a hawk may perhaps start forth: +hawks sometimes linger by the hedges till late, but it is not often +that you can shoot one at roost except in spring. Then they invariably +return to roost in the nest tree, and are watched there, and so shot, a +gunner approaching on each side of the hedge. In the lane dark +objects—rabbits—hasten away, and presently the footpath crosses the +still motionless brook near where it flows into the mere. + +The low brick parapet of the bridge is overgrown with mosses; great +hedges grow each side, and the willows, long uncut, almost meet in the +centre. In one hedge an opening leads to a drinking-place for cattle: +peering noiselessly over the parapet between the boughs, the coots and +moorhens may be seen there feeding by the shore. They have come up from +the mere as the ducks and teal do in the winter. The broader waters can +scarcely be netted without a boat, but the brook here is the very place +for a moonlight haul. The net is stretched first across the widest spot +nearest to the pool, that no fish may escape. They swim up here in the +daytime in shoals, perch especially; but the night poachers are often +disappointed, for the fish seem to retire to deeper waters as the +darkness comes on. A black mass of mud-coated sticks, rotten twigs, and +thorn bushes, entangled in the meshes, is often the only result of much +toil. + +Once now and then, as when a preserved pond is netted, a tremendous +take occurs; but nets are rather gone by, being so unwieldy and +requiring several men to manage effectually. If they are not hung out +to dry properly after being used, they soon rot. Now, a large net +stretched along railings or a hedge is rather a conspicuous object, and +brings suspicion on the owner. It is also so heavy after use that until +wrung, which takes time, a strong man can barely carry it; and if a +sudden alarm comes it must be abandoned. + +It is pleasant to rest awhile on the parapet in the shadow of the +bushes. The low thud-thud of sculls in the rowlocks of a distant punt +travels up the water. By-and-by a hare comes along, enters on the +bridge, and almost reaches the gate in the middle before he spies +anything suspicious. Such a spot, and, indeed, any gateway, used to be +a favourite place to set a net, and then drive the hares towards it +with a cur dog that ran silent. Bold must be the man that would set a +net in a footpath now, with almost every field preserved by owner or +tenant. With a bound the hare hies back and across the meadow: the gun +comes to the shoulder as swiftly. + +On the grass lit by the moon the hare looked quite distinct, but the +moment the gaze is concentrated up the barrel he becomes a dim object +with no defined outline. In shooting on the ground by twilight or in +the moonbeams, waste no time in endeavouring to aim, but think of the +hare’s ears—say a couple of feet in front of his tail—and the moment +the gun feels steady pull the trigger. The flash and report come +together; there is a dull indescribable sound ahead, as some of the +shot strikes home in fur and some drills into the turf, and then a +rustling in the grass. The moorhens dive, and the coots scuttle down +the brook towards the mere at the flash. While yet the sulphurous smoke +lingers, slow to disperse, over the cool dewy sward, there comes back +an echo from the wood behind, then another from the mere, then another +and another beyond. + +The distant sculls have ceased to work in the rowlocks—those in the +punt are listening to the echoes; most likely they have been fishing +for tench in the deep holes under the black shadow of the aspens. +(Tench feed in the dark: if you wish to take a big one wait till it is +necessary to fix a piece of white paper on the float.) Now put the +empty cartridge in your pocket instead of throwing it aside; pull the +hare’s neck across your knee, and hurry off. But you may safely stay to +harle him; for those very echoes that have been heard a mile round +about are the best safeguard: not one man in a thousand could tell the +true direction whence the sound of the explosion originated. + +The pleasure of wandering in a wood was so great that it could never be +resisted, and did not solely arise from the instinct of shooting. Many +expeditions were made without a gun, or any implement of destruction, +simply to enjoy the trees and thickets. There was one large wood very +carefully preserved, and so situate in an open country as not to be +easily entered. But a little observation showed that the keeper had a +“habit.” He used to come out across the wheatfields to a small wayside +“public,” and his route passed by a lonely barn and rickyard. One warm +summer day I saw him come as usual to the “public,” and while he was +there quietly slipped as far as the barn and hid in it. + +In July such a rickyard is very hot; heat radiates from every straw. +The ground itself is dry and hard, each crevice choked with particles +of white chaff; so that even the couch can hardly grow except close +under the low hedge where the pink flower of the pimpernel opens to the +sky. White stone staddles—short conical pillars with broad +capitals—stand awaiting the load of sheaves that will shortly press on +them. Every now and then a rustling in the heaps of straw indicates the +presence of mice. From straw and stone and bare earth heat seems to +rise up. The glare of the sunlight pours from above. The black pitched +wooden walls of the barn and sheds prevent the circulation of air. +There are no trees for shadow—nothing but a few elder bushes, which are +crowded at intervals of a few minutes with sparrows rushing with a +whirr of wings up from the standing corn. + +But the high pitched roof of the barn and of the lesser sheds has a +beauty of its own—the minute vegetation that has covered the tiles +having changed the original dull red to an orange hue. From ridge to +eaves, from end to end, it is a wide expanse of colour, only varying so +much in shade as to save it from monotony. It stands out glowing, +distinct against the deep blue of the sky. The “cheep” of fledgeling +sparrows comes from the crevices above; but swallows do not frequent +solitary buildings so much as those by dwelling-houses, being +especially fond of cattle-sheds where cows are milked. + +The proximity of animals apparently attracts them: perhaps in the more +exposed places there may be dangers from birds of prey. As for the +sparrows, they are innumerable. Some are marked with white patches—a +few so much so as to make quite a show when they fly. One handsome cock +bird has a white ring half round his neck, and his wings are a +beautiful partridge-brown. He looks larger than the common sort; and +there are several more here that likewise appear to exceed in size, and +to have the same peculiar brown. + +After a while there came the sound of footsteps and a low but cheerful +whistle. The keeper having slaked a thirst very natural on such a +sultry day returned, and re-entered the wood. I had decided that it +would be the best plan to follow in his rear, because then there would +be little chance of crossing his course haphazard, and the dogs would +not sniff any strange footsteps, since the footsteps would not be there +till they had gone by. To hide from the eyes of a man is comparatively +easy; but a dog will detect an unwonted presence in the thickest bush, +and run in and set up a yelping, especially if it is a puppy. + +It was not more than forty yards from the barn to the wood: there was +no mound or hedge, but a narrow, deep, and dry watercourse, a surface +drain, ran across. Stooping a little and taking off my hat, I walked in +this, so that the wheat each side rose above me and gave a perfect +shelter. This precaution was necessary, because on the right there rose +a steep Down, from whose summit the level wheat-fields could be easily +surveyed. So near was it that I could distinguish the tracks of the +hares worn in the short grass. But if you take off your hat no one can +distinguish you in a wheat-field, more particularly if your hair is +light: nor even in a hedge. + +Where the drain or furrow entered the wood was a wire-netting firmly +fixed, and over it tall pitched palings, sharp at the top. The wood was +enclosed with a thick hawthorn hedge that looked impassable; but the +keeper’s footsteps, treading down the hedge-parsley and brushing aside +the “gicks,” guided me behind a bush where was a very convenient gap. +These signs and the smooth-worn bark of an ash against which it was +needful to push proved that this quiet path was used somewhat +frequently. + +Inside the wood the grass and the bluebell leaves—the bloom past and +ripening to seed—so hung over the trail that it was difficult to +follow. It wound about the ash stoles in the most circuitous manner—now +to avoid the thistles, now a bramble thicket, or a hollow filled with +nettles. Then the ash poles were clothed with the glory of the +woodbine—one mass of white and yellow wax-like flowers to a height of +eight or nine feet, and forming a curtain of bloom from branch to +branch. + +After awhile I became aware that the trail was approaching the hill. At +the foot it branched; and the question arose whether to follow the fork +that zig-zagged up among the thickets or that which seemed to plunge +into the recesses beneath. I had never been in this wood before—the +time was selected because it was probable that the keeper would be +extremely occupied with his pheasant chicks. Though the earth was so +hard in the exposed rick-yard, here the clayey ground was still moist +under the shadow of the leaves. Examining the path more closely, I +easily distinguished the impression of the keeper’s boot: the iron +toe-plate has left an almost perfect impression, and there were the +deep grooves formed by the claws of his dog as it had scrambled up the +declivity and the pad slipped on the clay. + +As he had taken the upward path, no doubt it led direct to the +pheasants, which was sure to be on the hill itself, or a dry and +healthy slope. I therefore took the other trail, since I must otherwise +have overtaken him; for he would stay long among his chicks: just as an +old-fashioned farmer lingers at a gate, gazing on his sheep. Advancing +along the lower path, after some fifteen minutes it turned sharply to +the right, and I stood under the precipitous cliff-like edge of the +hill in a narrow coombe. The earth at the top hung over the verge, and +beech-trees stood as it seemed in the act to topple, their exposed +roots twisting to and fro before they re-entered the face of the +precipice. Large masses of chalky rubble had actually fallen, and +others were all but detached. The coombe, of course, could be +overlooked from thence; but a moment’s reflection convinced me there +was no risk, for who would dare to go near enough to the edge to look +down? + +The coombe was full of fir-trees; and by them stood a long narrow +shed—the roof ruinous, but the plank walls intact. It had originally +been erected in a field, since planted for covers. This long shed, a +greenish grey from age and mouldering wood, became a place of much +interest. Along the back there were three rows of weasels and stoats +nailed through the head or neck to the planks. There had been a hundred +in each row—about three hundred altogether. The lapse of time had +entirely dissipated the substance of many on the upper row; nothing +remained but the grim and rusty nail. Further along there hung small +strips without shape. Beyond these the nails supported something that +had a rough outline still of the animal. In the second row the dried +and shrivelled creatures were closely wrapped in nature’s mummy-cloth +of green; in the third, some of those last exposed still retained a +dull brown colour. None were recent. Above, under the eaves, the +spiders’ webs had thickly gathered; beneath, the nettles flourished. + +But the end of the shed was the place where the more distinguished +offenders were gibbeted. A footpath, well worn and evidently much used, +went by this end, and, as I afterwards ascertained, communicated with +the mansion above and the keeper’s cottage some distance below. Every +passenger between must pass the gallows where the show of more noble +traitors gave proof of the keeper’s loyal activity. Four shorter rows +rose in tiers. To the nails at the top strong beaks and black feathers +adhered, much bedraggled and ruffled by weather. These crows had long +been dead; the keeper when he shot a crow did not trouble to have it +carried home, unless a nail was conspicuously vacant. The ignoble bird +was left where he fell. + +On the next row the black and white of magpies and the blue of jays +alternated. Many of the magpies had been despoiled of their tails, and +some of their wings, the feathers being saleable. The jays were more +numerous, and untouched; they were slain in such numbers that the +market for their plumage was glutted. Though the bodies were shrunken, +the feathers were in fair condition. Magpies’ nests are so large that +in winter, when the leaves are off the trees, they cannot but be seen, +and, the spot being marked, in the summer old and young are easily +destroyed. Hawks filled the third row. The kestrels were the most +numerous, but there were many sparrow-hawks. These made a great show, +and were stuck so closely that a feather could hardly be thrust between +them. In the midst, quite smothered under their larger wings, were the +remains of a smaller bird—probably a merlin. But the last and lowest +row, that was also nearest, or on a level with the face of a person +looking at the gallows, was the most striking. + +This grand tier was crowded with owls—not arranged in any order, but +haphazard, causing a fine mixture of colour. Clearly this gallery was +constantly renewed. The white owl gave the prevalent tint, side by side +with the brown wood owls, and scattered among the rest, a few long +horned owls—a mingling of white, yellowish brown, and tawny feathers. +Though numerous here, yet trap and gun have so reduced the wood owls +that you may listen half the night by a cover and never hear the +“Who-hoo” that seems to demand your name. + +The barn owls are more liable to be shot, because they are more +conspicuous; but, on the other hand, as they often breed and reside +away from covers, they seem to escape. For months past one of these has +sailed by my window every evening uttering a hissing “skir-r-r.” Here, +some were nailed with their backs to the wall, that they might not hide +their guilty faces. + +The delicate texture of the owl’s feathers is very remarkable: these +birds remind me of a huge moth. The owls were more showy than the +hawks, though it is commonly said that without sunlight there is no +colour—as in the case of plants grown in darkness. Yet the hawks are +day birds, while the owls fly by night. There came the sound of +footsteps; and I retreated, casting one glance backward at the black +and white, the blue and brown colours that streaked the wall, while the +dull green weasels were in perpetual shadow. By night the bats would +flit round and about that gloomy place. It would not do to return by +the same path, lest another keeper might be coming up it; so I stepped +into the wood itself. To those who walk only in the roads, hawks and +owls seem almost rare. But a wood is a place to which they all flock; +and any wanderer from the north or west naturally tends thither. This +wood is of large extent; but even to the smaller plantations of the +Downs it is wonderful what a number come in the course of a year. +Besides the shed just visited, there would be certain to be another +more or less ornamented near the keeper’s cottage, and probably others +scattered about, where the commoner vermin could be nailed without the +trouble of carrying them far away. Only the owls and hawks, magpies, +and such more striking evidences of slaughter were collected here, and +almost daily renewed. + +To get into the wood was much easier than to get out, on account of the +thick hedge, palings, and high sharp-sparred gates; but I found a dry +ditch where it was possible to creep under the bushes into a meadow +where was a footpath. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK” + + +The time of the apple-bloom is the most delicious season in Sarsen +village. It is scarcely possible to obtain a view of the place, +although it is built on the last slope of the Downs, because just where +the ground drops and the eye expects an open space, plantations of fir +and the tops of tall poplars and elms intercept the glance. In +ascending from the level meadows of the vale thick double mounds, +heavily timbered with elm, hide the houses until you are actually in +their midst. + +Those only know a country who are acquainted with its footpaths. By the +roads, indeed, the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go through +the heart of the land. There are routes by which mile after mile may be +travelled without leaving the sward. So you may pass from village to +village; now crossing green meads, now cornfields, over brooks, past +woods, through farmyard and rick “barken.” But such tracks are not +mapped, and a stranger misses them altogether unless under the guidance +of an old inhabitant. + +At Sarsen the dusty road enters the more modern part of the village at +once, where the broad signs hang from the taverns at the cross-ways and +where the loafers steadily gaze at the new comer. The Lower Path, after +stile and hedge and elm, and grass that glows with golden buttercups, +quietly leaves the side of the double mounds and goes straight through +the orchards. There are fewer flowers under the trees, and the grass +grows so long and rank that it has already fallen aslant of its own +weight. It is choked, too, by masses of clog-weed, that springs up +profusely over the site of old foundations; so that here ancient +masonry may be hidden under the earth. Indeed, these orchards are a +survival from the days when the monks laboured in vineyard and garden, +and mayhap even of earlier times. When once a locality has got into the +habit of growing a certain crop it continues to produce it for century +after century; and thus there are villages famous for apple or pear or +cherry, while the district at large is not at all given to such +culture. + +The trunks of the trees succeed each other in endless ranks, like +columns that support the most beautiful roof of pink and white. Here +the bloom is rosy, there white prevails: the young green is hidden +under the petals that are far more numerous than leaves, or even than +leaves will be. Though the path really is in shadow as the branches +shut out the sun, yet it seems brighter here than in the open, as if +the place were illuminated by a million tiny lamps shedding the softest +lustre. The light is reflected and apparently increased by the +countless flowers overhead. + +The forest of bloom extends acre after acre, and only ceases where +hedges divide, to commence again beyond the boundary. A wicket gate, +all green with a film of vegetation over the decaying wood, opens under +the very eaves of a cottage, and the path goes by the door—across a +narrow meadow where deep and broad trenches, green now, show where +ancient stews or fishponds existed, and then through a farmyard into a +lane. Tall poplars rise on either hand, but there seem to be no houses; +they stand, in fact, a field’s breadth back from the lane, and are +approached by footpaths that every few yards necessitate a stile in the +hedge. + +When a low thatched farmhouse does abut upon the way, the blank white +wall of the rear part faces the road, and the front door opens on +precisely the other side. Hard by is a row of beehives. Though the +modern hives are at once more economical and humane, they have not the +old associations that cling about the straw domes topped with broken +earthenware to shoot off the heavy downfall of a thunderstorm. + +Everywhere the apple-bloom; the hum of bees; children sitting on the +green beside the road, their laps full of flowers; the song of finches; +and the low murmur of water that glides over flint and stone so +shadowed by plants and grasses that the sunbeams cannot reach and +glisten on it. Thus the straggling flower-strewn village stretches +along beneath the hill and rises up the slope, and the swallows wheel +and twitter over the gables where are their hereditary nesting-places. +The lane ends on a broad dusty road, and, opposite, a quiet thatched +house of the larger sort stands, endways to the street, with an open +pitching before the windows. There, too, the swallows’ nests are +crowded under the eaves, flowers are trained against the wall, and in +the garden stand the same beautiful apple-trees. But within, the lower +part of the windows—that have recess seats—are guarded by horizontal +rods of iron, polished by the backs of many men. It is an inn, and the +rods are to save the panes from the impact of an excited toper’s arm. + +The talk to-day, as the brown brandy, which the paler cognac has not +yet superseded, is consumed, and the fumes of coarse tobacco and the +smell of spilt beer and the faint sickly odour of evaporating spirits +overpower the flowers, is of horses. The stable lads from the training +stables far up on the Downs drop in or call at the door without +dismounting. Once or twice in the day a tout calls and takes his +“grub,” and scribbles a report in the little back parlour. Sporting +papers, beer-stained and thumb-marked, lie on the tables; framed +portraits of racers hang on the walls. Burly men, who certainly cannot +ride a race, but who have horse in every feature, puff cigars and chat +in jerky monosyllables that to an outsider are perfectly +incomprehensible. But the glib way in which heavy sums of money are +spoken of conveys the impression that they dabble in enormous wealth. + +There are dogs under the tables and chairs; dogs in the window-seat; +dogs panting on the stone flags of the passage, after a sharp trot +behind a trap, choosing the coolest spot to loll their red tongues out; +dogs outside in the road; dogs standing on hind legs, and painfully +lapping the water in the horse-trough; and there is a yapping of +puppies in the distance. The cushions of the sofa are strewn with dogs’ +hairs, and once now and then a dog leisurely hops up the staircase. + +Customers are served by the landlady, a decent body enough in her way: +her son, the man of the house, is up in the “orchut” at the rear, +feeding his dogs. Where the “orchut” ends in a paddock stands a small +shed: in places the thatch on the roof has fallen through in the course +of years and revealed the bare rafters. The bottom part of the door has +decayed, and the long nose of a greyhound is thrust out sniffing +through a hole. Dickon, the said son, is delighted to undo the padlock +for a visitor who is “square.” In an instant the long hounds leap up, +half a dozen at a time, and I stagger backwards, forced by the sheer +vigour of their caresses against the doorpost. Dickon cannot quell the +uproarious pack: he kicks the door open, and away they scamper round +and round the paddock at headlong speed. + +What a joy it is to them to stretch their limbs! I forget the squalor +of the kennel in watching their happy gambols. I cannot drink more than +one tumbler of brown brandy and water; but Dickon overlooks that +weakness, feeling that I admire his greyhounds. It is arranged that I +am to see them work in the autumn. + +The months pass, and in his trap with the famous trotter in the shafts +we roll up the village street. Apple-bloom and golden fruit too are +gone, and the houses show more now among the bare trees; but as the rim +of the ruddy November sun comes forth from the edge of a cloud there +appears a buff tint everywhere in the background. When elm and ash are +bare the oaks retain their leaves, and these are illumined by the +autumn beams. Over-topped by tall elms and hidden by the orchards, the +oaks were hardly seen in summer; now they are found to be numerous and +give the prevailing hue to the place. + +Dickon taps the dashboard as the mare at last tops the hill, and away +she speeds along the level plateau for the Downs. Two greyhounds are +with us; two more have gone on under charge of a boy. Skirting the +hills a mile or two, we presently leave the road and drive over the +turf: there is no track, but Dickon knows his way. The rendezvous is a +small fir plantation, the young trees in which are but shoulder-high. +Below is a plain entirely surrounded by the hills, and partly green +with root crops: more than one flock of sheep is down there, and two +teams ploughing the stubble. Neither the ploughmen nor the shepherds +take the least heed of us, except to watch for the sport. The spare +couple are fastened in the trap; the boy jumps up and takes the reins. +Dickon puts the slip on the couple that are to run first, and we begin +to range. + +Just at the foot of the hill the grass is tall and grey; there, too, +are the dead dry stalks of many plants that cultivation has driven from +the ploughed fields and that find a refuge at the edge. A hare starts +from the very verge and makes up the Downs. Dickon slips the hounds, +and a faint halloo comes from the shepherds and the ploughmen. It is a +beautiful sight to see the hounds bound over the sward; the sinewy back +bends like a bow, but a bow that, instead of an arrow, shoots itself; +the deep chests drink the air. Is there any moment so joyful in life as +the second when the chase begins? As we gaze, before we even step +forward, the hare is over the ridge and out of sight. Then we race and +tear up the slope; then the boy in the trap flaps the reins and away +goes the mare out of sight too. + +Dickon is long and rawboned, a powerful fellow, strong of limb, and +twice my build; but he sips too often at the brown brandy, and after +the first burst I can head him. But he knows the hills and the route +the hare will take, so that I have but to keep pace. In five minutes as +we cross a ridge we see the game again; the hare is circling back—she +passes under us not fifty yards away, as we stand panting on the hill. +The youngest hound gains, and runs right over her; she doubles, the +older hound picks up the running. By a furze-bush she doubles again; +but the young one turns her—the next moment she is in the jaws of the +old dog. + +Again and again the hounds are slipped, now one couple, now the other: +we pant, and can scarcely speak with running, but the wild excitement +of the hour and the sweet pure air of the Downs supply fresh strength. +The little lad brings the mare anywhere: through the furze, among the +flint-pits, jolting over the ruts, she rattles along with sure +alacrity. There are five hares in the sack under the straw when at last +we get up and slowly drive down to the highway, reaching it some two +miles from where we left it. Dickon sends the dogs home by the boy on +foot; we drive round and return to the village by a different route, +entering it from the opposite direction. + +The reason of these things is that Sarsen has no great landlord. There +are fifty small proprietors, and not a single resident magistrate. +Besides the small farmers, there are scores of cottage owners, every +one of whom is perfectly independent. Nobody cares for anybody. It is a +republic, without even the semblance of a Government. It is liberty, +equality, and swearing. As it is just within the limit of a borough, +almost all the cottagers have votes, and are not to be trifled with. +The proximity of horse-racing establishments adds to the general +atmosphere of dissipation. Betting, card-playing, ferret-breeding and +dog-fancying, poaching and politics, are the occupations of the +populace. A little illicit badger-baiting is varied by a little +vicar-baiting; the mass of the inhabitants are the reddest of Reds. Que +voulez-vous? + +The edges of some large estates come up near, but the owners would +hardly like to institute a persecution of these turbulent folk. If they +did, where would be their influence at the next election? If a landlord +makes himself unpopular, his own personal value depreciates. He is a +nonentity in the committee-room, and his help rather deprecated by the +party than desired. The Sarsen fellows are not such fools as to break +pheasant preserves in the vale; as they are resident, that would not +answer. They keep outside the _sanctum sanctorum_ of the pheasant +coverts. But with ferret, dog, and gun, and now and then a partridge +net along the edge of the standing barley, they excel. So, too, with +the wire; and the broad open Downs are their happy hunting grounds, +especially in misty weather. + +This is the village of the apple-bloom, the loveliest spot imaginable. +After all, they are not such desperately bad fellows if you deduct +their sins against the game laws. They are a jovial lot, and free with +their money; they stand by one another—a great virtue in these +cold-blooded days. If one gets in trouble with the law the rest +subscribe the fine. They are full of knowledge of a certain sort, and +you may learn anything, from the best way to hang a dog upwards. + +When we reach the inn, and Dickon calls for the brown brandy, there in +the bar sits a gamekeeper, whose rubicund countenance beams with good +humour. He is never called upon to pay his score. Good fellow! in +addition he is popular, and every one asks him to drink: besides which, +a tip for a race now and then makes this world wear a smiling aspect to +him. + +Dickon’s “unconscious education”—absorbed rather than learnt in +boyhood—had not been acquired under conditions likely to lead him to +admire scenery. But, rough as he was, he was a good-natured fellow, and +it was through him that I became acquainted with a very beautiful +place. + +The footpath to The Park went for about half a mile under the shadow of +elm trees, and in spring time there was a continual noise of young +rooks in the nests above. Occasionally dead twigs, either dislodged +from the nests or broken off by the motions of the old birds, came +rustling down. One or two nests that had been blown out strewed the +sward with half a bushel of dead sticks. After the rookery the path +passed a lonely dairy, where the polished brazen vessels in the +skilling glittered like gold in the sunshine. Farther on came wide open +meadows with numerous oak-trees scattered in the midst—the outposts of +the great wood at hand. The elms were flourishing and vigorous; but +these detached oaks were decaying, and some dead, their hoar antiquity +contrasting with the green grass and flowers of the mead. + +The mansion was hidden by elm and chestnut, pines and sombre cedars. +From the edge of the lawn the steep slope of the Down rose, planted +with all manner of shrubs, the walks through which were inches deep in +dead leaves, needles, and fir-cones. Long neglect had permitted these +to accumulate, and the yew hedges had almost grown together and covered +the walk they bordered. + +The woods and preserves extended along the Downs, between the hills and +the meadows beneath. There was one path through these woods that led +into a narrow steep-sided coombe, one side of which was planted with +firs. On the other was a little grass, but so thin as scarcely to cover +the chalk. This side jutted out from the general line of the hills, and +formed a bold bluff, whose white precipitous cliff was a landmark for +many miles. In climbing the coombe, it was sometimes necessary to grasp +the bunches of grass; for it would have been impossible to recover from +a slip till, bruised and shaken, you rolled to the bottom, and perhaps +into the little streamlet flowing through the hollow. + +The summit was of small extent, but the view beautiful. A low fence of +withy had long since decayed, nothing but a few rotten stakes remaining +at the very verge of the precipice. Steep as it was, there were some +ledges that the rabbits frequented, making their homes in mid-air. +Further along, the slope, a little less perpendicular, was covered with +nut-tree bushes, where you could scramble down by holding to the +boughs. There was a tradition of a fox-hunter, in the excitement of the +chase, forcing his horse to descend through these bushes and actually +reaching the level meadows below in safety. + +Impossible as it seemed, yet when the hounds were in full cry beneath +it was easy to understand that in the eagerness of the moment a +horseman at the top might feel tempted to join the stirring scene at +any risk: for the fox frequently ran just below, making along the line +of coverts; and from that narrow perch on the cliff the whole field +came into sight at once. There was Reynard slipping ahead, and two or +more fields behind the foremost of the pack, while the rest, rushing +after, made the hills resound with their chiding. The leaders taking +the hedges, the main squadron splashing through a marshy place, the +outsiders straining to come up, and the last man behind, who rode +harder than any—all could be seen at the same time. + +It was a lovely spot, too, for dreaming on a summer’s day, reclining on +the turf, with the harebells swinging in the faint breeze. The extreme +solitude was its charm: no lanes or tracks other than those purely +pastoral came near. There were woods on either hand; in the fir +plantations the jays chattered unceasingly. The broad landscape +stretched out to the illimitable distance, till the power of the eye +failed and could trace it no farther. But if the gaze was lifted it +looked into blue space—the azure heaven not only overhead, but, as it +seemed, all around. + +Dickon was always to and fro the mansion here, and took me with him. +His object was ostensibly business: now it was a horse to buy, now a +fat bullock or sheep; now it was an acre or two of wood that was to be +cut. The people of the mansion were so much from home that their +existence was almost forgotten, and they were spoken of vaguely as “on +the Continent.” There was, in fact, a lack of ready-money, perhaps from +the accumulation of settlements, that reduced the nominal income of the +head to a tithe of what it should have been. + +Yet they were too proud to have in the modern builder, the modern +upholsterer, and, most dreadful of all, the modern “gardener,” to put +in French sashes, gilding and mirrors, and to root up the fine old yew +hedges and level the grand old trees. Such is the usual preparation +before an advertisement appears that a mansion of “historic +association,” and “replete with every modern convenience,” is to let, +with some thousand of acres of shooting, &c. + +They still kept up an establishment of servants—after a fashion—who did +much as they pleased. Dickon was a great favourite. As for myself, a +mere dreamy lad, I could go into the woods and wander as I liked, which +was sufficient. But I recollect the immense kitchen very well, and the +polished relics of the ancient turnspit machinery. There was a door +from it opening on a square stone-flagged court with a vertical +sun-dial on the wall; and beyond that ranges of disused +coach-houses—all cloudy, as it were, with cobwebs hanging on +old-fashioned post-chaises. Dickon was in love with one of the maids, a +remarkably handsome girl. + +She showed me the famous mantelpiece, a vast carved work, under which +you could stand upright. The legend was that once a year on a certain +night a sable horse and cloaked horseman rode across that great +apartment, flames snorting from the horse’s nostrils, and into the +fireplace, disappearing with a clap of thunder. She brought me, too, an +owl from the coach-houses, holding the bird by the legs firmly, her +hand defended by her apron from the claws. + +The butler was a little merry fellow, extremely fond of a gun, and +expert in using it. He seemed to have nothing to do but tell tales and +sing, except at the rare intervals when some of the family returned +unexpectedly. The keeper was always up there in the kitchen; he was as +pleasant and jovial as a man could well be, though full of oaths on +occasion. He was a man of one tale—of a somewhat enigmatical character. +He would ask a stranger if they had ever heard of such-and-such a +village where water set fire to a barn, ducks were drowned, and pigs +cut their own throats, all in a single day. + +It seemed that some lime had been stored in the barn, when the brook +rose and flooded the place; this slaked the lime and fired the straw, +and so the barn. Something of the same kind happens occasionally on the +river barges. The ducks were in a coop fastened down, so that they +could not swim on the surface of the flood, which passed over and +drowned them. The pigs were floated out of the sty, and in swimming +their sharp-edged hoofs struck their fat jowls just behind the ear at +every stroke till they cut into the artery, and so bled to death. Where +he got this history from I do not know. + +One bright October morning (towards the end of the month) Dickon drove +me over to the old place with his fast trotter—our double-barrels +hidden under some sacks in the trap. The keeper was already waiting in +the kitchen, sipping a glass of hot purl; the butler was filling every +pocket with cartridges. After some comparison of their betting-books, +for Dickon, on account of his acquaintance with the training +establishments, was up to most moves, we started. The keeper had to +send a certain number of pheasants and other game to the absent family +and their friends every now and then, and this duty was his pretext. +There was plenty of shooting to be got elsewhere, but the spice of +naughtiness about this was alluring. To reach that part of the wood +where it was proposed to shoot the shortest way led across some arable +fields. + +Fieldfares and redwings rose out of the hedges and flew away in their +peculiarly scattered manner—their flocks, though proceeding in the same +direction, seeming all loose and disordered. Where the ploughs had been +at work already the deep furrows were full of elm leaves, wafted as +they fell from the trees in such quantities as to make the groove left +by the share level with the ridges. A flock of lapwings were on the +clods in an adjacent field, near enough to be seen, but far beyond +gunshot. There might perhaps have been fifty birds, all facing one way +and all perfectly motionless. They were, in fact, watching us intently, +although not apparently looking towards us: they act so much in concert +as to seem drilled. So soon as the possibility of danger had gone by +each would begin to feed, moving ahead. + +The path then passed through the little meadows that joined the wood: +and the sunlight glistened on the dew, or rather on the hoar frost that +had melted and clung in heavy drops to the grass. Here one flashed +emerald; there ruby; another a pure brilliance like a diamond. Under +foot by the stiles the fallen acorns crunched as they split into halves +beneath the sudden pressure. + +The leaves still left on the sycamores were marked with large black +spots: the horse-chestnuts were quite bare; and already the tips of the +branches carried the varnish-coloured sheaths of the buds that were to +appear the following spring. These stuck to the finger if touched, as +if they really had been varnished. Through the long months of winter +they would remain, till under April showers and sunshine the sheath +fell back and the green leaflets pushed up, the two forming together a +rude cross for a short time. + +The day was perfectly still, and the colours of the leaves still left +glowed in the sunbeams. Beneath, the dank bronzed fern that must soon +shrivel was wet, and hung with spiders’ webs that like a slender +netting upheld the dew. The keeper swore a good deal about a certain +gentleman farmer whose lands adjoined the estate, but who held under a +different proprietor. Between these two there was a constant +bickering—the tenant angry about the damage done to his crops by the +hares and rabbits, and the keeper bitterly resenting the tenant’s watch +on his movements, and warnings to his employer that all was not quite +as it should be. + +The tenant had the right to shoot, and he was always about in the +turnips—a terrible thorn in the side of Dickon’s friend. The tenant +roundly declared the keeper a rascal, and told his master so in written +communications. The keeper declared the tenant set gins by the wood, in +which the pheasants stepped and had their legs smashed. Then the tenant +charged the keeper with trespassing; the other retorted that he decoyed +the pheasants by leaving peas till they dropped out of the pods. In +short, their hatred was always showing itself in some act of guerrilla +warfare. As we approached the part of the woods fixed on, two of the +keeper’s assistants, carrying thick sticks, stepped from behind a +hedge, and reported that they had kept a good watch, and the old fox +(the tenant) had not been seen that morning. So these fellows went +round to beat, and the guns were got ready. + +Sometimes you could hear the pheasants running before they reached the +low-cropped hawthorn hedge at the side of the plantation; sometimes +they came so quietly as to appear suddenly out from the ditch, having +crept through. Others came with a tremendous rush through the painted +leaves, rising just before the hedge; and now and then one flew +screaming high over the tops of the firs and ash-poles, his glossy neck +glowing in the sunlight and his long tail floating behind. These last +pleased me most, for when the shot struck the great bird going at that +rate even death could not at once arrest his progress. The impetus +carried him yards, gradually slanting downwards till he rolled in the +green rush bunches. + +Then a hare slipped out and ran the gauntlet, and filled the hollow +with his cries when the shot broke his hindquarters, till the dog had +him. Jays came in couples, and green woodpeckers singly: the magpies +cunningly flew aside instead of straight ahead; they never could do +anything straightforward. A stoat peeped out, but went back directly +when a rabbit whose retreat had been cut off bolted over his most +insidious enemy. Every now and then Dickon’s shot when he fired high +cut the twigs out of the ash by me. Then came the distant noise of the +beaters’ sticks, and the pheasants, at last thoroughly disturbed, flew +out in twos and threes at a time. Now the firing grew fierce, and the +roll of the volleys ceaseless. It was impossible to jam the cartridges +fast enough in the breech. + +A subtle flavour of sulphur filled the mouth, and the lips became dry. +Sunshine and gleaming leaves and sky and grass seemed to all disappear +in the fever of the moment. The gun burned the hands, all blackened by +the powder; the metal got hotter and hotter; the sward was poached and +trampled and dotted with cases; shot hissed through the air and +pattered in showers on the opposite plantation; the eyes, bleared and +bloodshot with the smoke, could scarce see to point the tube. Pheasants +fell, and no one heeded; pheasants escaped, and none noticed it; +pheasants were but just winged and ran wounded into the distant hedges; +pheasants were blown out of all living shape and could hardly be +gathered up. Not a word spoken: a breathless haste to load and blaze; a +storm of shot and smoke and slaughter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII +OBY AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR + + +One dark night, as I was walking on a lonely road, I kicked against +something, and but just saved myself from a fall. It was an intoxicated +man lying at full length. As a rule, it is best to let such people +alone; but it occurred to me that the mail-cart was due; with two +horses harnessed tandem-fashion, and travelling at full speed, the mail +would probably go over him. So I seized the fellow by the collar and +dragged him out of the way. Then he sat up, and asked in a very +threatening tone who I was. I mentioned my name: he grunted, and fell +back on the turf, where I left him. + +The incident passed out of my mind, when one afternoon a labourer +called, asking for me in a mysterious manner, and refusing to +communicate his business to any one else. When admitted, he produced a +couple of cock pheasants from under his coat, the tail feathers much +crumpled, but otherwise in fine condition. These he placed on the +table, remarking, “I ain’t forgot as you drawed I out of the raud thuck +night.” I made him understand that such presents were too embarrassing; +but he seemed anxious to do “summat,” so I asked him to find me a few +ferns and rare plants. + +This he did from time to time; and thus a species of acquaintanceship +grew up, and I learned all about him. He was always called “Oby” +(_i.e._ Obadiah), and was the most determined poacher of a neighbouring +district—a notorious fighting man—hardened against shame, an Ishmaelite +openly contemning authority and yet not insensible to kindness. I give +his history in his own language—softening only the pronunciation, that +would otherwise be unintelligible. + +“I lives with my granny in Thorney-lane: it be outside the village. My +mother be married agen, you see, to the smith: her have got a cottage +as belongs to her. My brother have got a van and travels the country; +and sometimes I and my wife goes with him. I larned to set up a wire +when I went to plough when I were a boy, but never took to it regular +till I went a-navigating [navvying] and seed what a spree it were. + +“There ain’t no such chaps for poaching as they navigators in all +England: I means where there be a railway a-making. I’ve knowed forty +of ’em go out together on a Sunday, and every man had a dog, and some +two; and good dogs too—lots of ’em as you wouldn’t buy for ten quid. +They used to spread out like, and sweep the fields as clean as the +crownd of your hat. Keepers weren’t no good at all, and besides they +never knowed which place us was going to make for. One of the chaps +gave I a puppy, and he growed into the finest greyhound as you’d find +in a day’s walk. The first time I was took up before the bench I had to +go to gaol, because the contractor had broke and the works was stopped, +so that my mates hadn’t no money to pay the fine. + +“The dog was took away home to granny by my butty [comrade], but one of +the gentlemen as seed it in the court sent his groom over and got it +off the old woman for five pound. She thought if I hadn’t the hound I +should give it up, and she come and paid me out of gaol. It was a +wonder as I didn’t break her neck; only her was a good woman, you see, +to I. But I wouldn’t have parted with that hound for a quart-full of +sovereigns. Many’s a time I’ve seed his name—they changed his name, of +course—in the papers for winning coursing matches. But we let that gent +as bought him have it warm; we harried his pheasants and killed the +most of ’em. + +“After that I came home, and took to it regular. It ain’t no use unless +you do it regular. If a man goes out into the fields now and then +chance-like he don’t get much, and is most sure to be caught—very +likely in the place of somebody else the keepers were waiting for and +as didn’t come. I goes to work every day the same as the rest, only I +always take piece-work, which I can come to when I fancy, and stay as +late in the evening as suits me with a good excuse. As I knows +navigating, I do a main bit of draining and water-furrowing, and I gets +good wages all the year round, and never wants for a job. You see, I +knows more than the fellows as have never been at nothing but plough. + +“The reason I gets on so well poaching is because I’m always at work +out in the fields, except when I goes with the van. I watches +everything as goes on, and marks the hare’s tracks and the rabbit +buries, and the double mounds and little copses as the pheasants +wanders off to in the autumn. I keeps a nation good look-out after the +keeper and his men, and sees their dodges—which way they walks, and how +they comes back sudden and unexpected on purpose. There’s mostly one +about with his eyes on me—when they sees me working on a farm they puts +a man special to look after me. I never does nothing close round where +I’m at work, so he waits about a main bit for nothing. + +“You see by going out piece-work I visits every farm in the parish. The +other men they works for one farmer for two or three or maybe twenty +years; but I goes very nigh all round the place—a fortnight here and a +week there, and then a month somewhere else. So I knows every hare in +the parish, and all his runs and all the double mounds and copses, and +the little covers in the corners of the fields. When I be at work on +one place I sets my wires about half a mile away on a farm as I ain’t +been working on for a month, and where the keeper don’t keep no special +look-out now I be gone. As I goes all round, I knows the ways of all +the farmers, and them as bides out late at night at their friends’, and +they as goes to bed early; and so I knows what paths to follow and what +fields I can walk about in and never meet nobody. + +“The dodge is always to be in the fields and to know everybody’s ways. +Then you may do just as you be a-mind. All of ’em knows I be +a-poaching; but that don’t make no difference for work; I can use my +tools, and do it as well as any man in the country, and they be glad to +get me on for ’em. They farmers as have got their shooting be sharper +than the keepers, and you can’t do much there; but they as haven’t got +the shooting don’t take no notice. They sees my wires in the grass, and +just looks the other way. If they sees I with a gun I puts un in ditch +till they be gone by, and they don’t look among the nettles. + +“Some of them as got land by the wood would like I to be there all day +and night. You see, their clover and corn feeds the hares and +pheasants; and then some day when they goes into the market and passes +the poultry-shop there be four or five score pheasants a-hanging up +with their long tails a-sweeping in the faces of them as fed ’em. The +same with the hares and the rabbits; and so they’d just as soon as I +had ’em—and a dalled deal sooner—out of spite. Lord bless you! if I was +to walk through their courtyards at night with a sack over my shoulders +full of you knows what, and met one of ’em, he’d tell his dog to stop +that yowling, and go in doors rather than see me. As for the rabbits, +they hates they worse than poison. They knocks a hare over now and then +themselves on the quiet—bless you! I could tell tales on a main few, +but I bean’t such a fellow as that. + +“But, you see I don’t run no risk except from the keeper hisself, the +men as helps un, and two or three lickspittles as be always messing +round after a ferreting job or some wood-cutting, and the Christmas +charities. It be enough to make a man sick to see they. This yer parish +be a very big un, and a be preserved very high, and I can do three +times as much in he as in the next un, as ain’t much preserved. So I +sticks to this un. + +“Of course they tried to drive I out of un, and wanted the cottage; but +granny had all the receipts for the quit-rent, and my lard and all the +lawyers couldn’t shove us out, and there we means to bide. You have +seed that row of oaks as grows in the hedge behind our house. One of +’em leaned over the roof, and one of the limbs was like to fall; but +they wouldn’t cut him, just to spite us, and the rain dripping spoilt +the thatch. So I just had another chimney built at that end for an +oven, and kept up the smoke till all the tree that side died. I’ve had +more than one pheasant through them oaks, as draws ’em: I had one in a +gin as I put in the ditch by my garden. + +“They started a tale as ’twas I as stole the lambs a year or two ago, +and they had me up for it; but they couldn’t prove nothing agen me. +Then they had me for unhinging the gates and drowning ’em in the water, +but when they was going to try the case they two young farmers as you +know of come and said as they did it when they was tight, and so I got +off. They said as ’twas I that put the poison for the hounds when three +on ’em took it and died while the hunt was on. It were the dalledest +lie! I wouldn’t hurt a dog not for nothing. The keeper hisself put that +poison, I knows, ’cause he couldn’t bear the pack coming to upset the +pheasants. Yes, they been down upon I a main bit, but I means to bide. +All the farmers knows as I never touched no lamb, nor even pulled a +turmot, and they never couldn’t get no witnesses. + +“After a bit I catched the keeper hisself and the policeman at it; and +there be another as knows it, and who do you think that be? It be the +man in town as got the licence to sell game as haves most of my hares; +the keeper selled he a lot as the money never got to my lard’s pocket +and the steward never knowed of. Look at that now! So now he shuts his +eye and axes me to drink, and give me the ferreting job in Longlands +Mound; but, Lord bless ’ee, I bean’t so soft as he thinks for. + +“They used to try and get me to fight the keeper when they did catch me +with a wire, but I knowed as hitting is transporting, and just put my +hands in my pockets and let ’em do as they liked. _They_ knows I bean’t +afraid of ’em in the road; I’ve threshed more than one of ’em, but I +ain’t going to jump into _that_ trap. I’ve been before the bench, at +one place and t’other, heaps of times, and paid the fine for trespass. +Last time the chairman said to I, ‘So you be here again, Oby; we hear a +good deal about you.’ I says, ‘Yes, my lard, I be here agen, but people +never don’t hear nothing about _you_.’ That shut the old duffer up. +Nobody never heard nothing of he, except at rent-audit. + +“However, they all knows me now—my lard and the steward, and the keeper +and the bailies, and the farmers; and they don’t take half the notice +of I as they used to. The keeper he don’t dare, nor the policeman as I +telled you, and the rest be got used to me and my ways. And I does very +well one week with t’other. One week I don’t take nothing, and the next +I haves a good haul, chiefly hares and rabbits; ’cause of course I +never goes into the wood, nor the plantations. It wants eight or ten +with crape masks on for that job. + +“I sets up about four wires, sometimes only two; if you haves so many +it is a job to look after ’em. I stops the hare’s other runs, so that +she is sure to come along mine where I’ve got the turnpike up: the +trick is to rub your hand along the runs as you want to stop, or spit +on ’em, or summat like that; for a hare won’t pass nothing of that +sort. So pussy goes back and comes by the run as I’ve chose: if she +comes quick she don’t holler; if she comes slow she squeals a bit +sometimes before the wire hangs her. Very often I bean’t fur off and +stops the squealing. That’s why I can’t use a gin—it makes ’em holler +so. I ferrets a goodish few rabbits on bright nights in winter. + +“As for the pheasants, I gets them mostly about acorn-time; they comes +out of the plantations then. I keeps clear of the plantations, because, +besides the men a-watching, they have got dogs chained up, and +alarm-guns as goes off if you steps on the spring; and some have got a +string stretched along as you be pretty sure to kick against, and then, +bang! and all the dogs sets up a yowling. Of course it’s only powder, +but it brings the keepers along. But when the acorns and the berries be +ripe, the pheasants comes out along the hedges after ’em, and gets up +at the haws and such like. They wanders for miles, and as they don’t +care to go all the way back to roost they bides in the little copses as +I told you of. They come to the same copses every year, which is +curious, as most of them as will come this year will be shot before +next. + +“If I can’t get ’em the fust night, I just throws a handful or two of +peas about the place, and they’ll be sure to stay, and likely enough +bring two or three more. I mostly shoots ’em with just a little puff of +powder as you wouldn’t hear across one field, especially if it’s a +windy night. I had a air-gun, as was took from me, but he weren’t much +go: I likes a gun as throws the shot wide, but I never shoots any but +roosters, unless I catch ’em standing still. + +“All as I can tell you is as the dodge is this: you watch everybody, +and be always in the fields, and always work one parish till you knows +every hare in un, and always work by yourself and don’t have no mates.” + +There were several other curious characters whom we frequently saw at +work. The mouchers were about all the year round, and seemed to live +in, or by the hedges, as much as the mice. These men probably see more +than the most careful observer, without giving it a thought. + +In January the ice that freezes in the ditches appears of a dark +colour, because it lies without intervening water on the dead brown +leaves. Their tint shows through the translucent crystal, but near the +edge of the ice three white lines or bands run round. If by any chance +the ice gets broken or upturned, these white bands are seen to be +caused by flanges projecting from the under surface, almost like +stands. They are sometimes connected in such a way that the parallel +flanges appear like the letter “h” with the two down-strokes much +prolonged. In the morning the chalky rubble brought from the pits upon +the Downs and used for mending gateways leading into the fields +glistens brightly. Upon the surface of each piece of rubble there +adheres a thin coating of ice: if this be lightly struck it falls off, +and with it a flake of the chalk. As it melts, too, the chalk splits +and crumbles; and thus in an ordinary gateway the same process may be +seen that disintegrates the most majestic cliff. + +The stubbles—those that still remain—are full of linnets, upon which +the mouching fowler preys in the late autumn. And when at the end of +January the occasional sunbeams give some faint hope of spring, he +wanders through the lanes carrying a decoy bird in a darkened cage, and +a few boughs of privet studded with black berries and bound round with +rushes for the convenience of handling. + +The female yellow-hammers, whose hues are not so brilliant as those of +the male birds, seem as winter approaches to flock together, and roam +the hedges and stubble fields in bevies. Where loads of corn have +passed through gates the bushes often catch some straws, and the tops +of the gateposts, being decayed and ragged, hold others. These are +neglected while the seeds among the stubble, the charlock, and the +autumn dandelion are plentiful and while the ears left by the gleaners +may still be found. But in the shadowless winter days, hard and cold, +each scattered straw is sought for. + +A few days before the new year [1879] opened I saw a yellow-hammer +attacking, in a very ingenious manner, a straw that hung pendent, the +ear downwards, from the post of a windy gateway. She fluttered up from +the ground, clung to the ear, and outspread her wings, keeping them +rigid. The draught acted on the wings, just as the breeze does on a +paper kite, and there the bird remained supported without an effort +while the ear was picked. Now and then the balance was lost, but she +was soon up again, and again used the wind to maintain her position. +The brilliant cockbirds return in the early spring, or at least appear +to do so, for the habits of birds are sometimes quite local. + +It is probable that in severe and continued frost many hedgehogs die. +On January 19 [1879], in the midst of the sharp weather, a hedgehog +came to the door opening on the garden at night, and was taken in. +Though carefully tended, the poor creature died next day: it was so +weak it could scarcely roll itself into a ball. As the vital heat +declined the fleas deserted their host and issued from among the +spines. In February, unless it be a mild season, the mounds are still +bare; and then under the bushes the ground may be sometimes seen strewn +with bulbous roots, apparently of the blue-bell, lying thickly together +and entirely exposed. + +The moucher now carries a bill-hook, and as he shambles along the road +keeps a sharp look-out for briars. When he sees one the roots of which +are not difficult to get at, and whose tall upright stem is green—if +dark it is too old—he hacks it off with as much of the root as +possible. The lesser branches are cut, and the stem generally trimmed; +it is then sold to the gardeners as the stock on which to graft +standard roses. In a few hours as he travels he will get together quite +a bundle of such briars. He also collects moss, which is sold for the +purpose of placing in flowerpots to hide the earth. The moss preferred +is that growing on and round stoles. + +The melting of the snow and the rains in February cause the ditches to +overflow and form shallow pools in the level meadows. Into these +sometimes the rooks wade as far as the length of their legs allows +them, till the discoloured yellow water almost touches the lower part +of the breast. The moucher searches for small shell snails, of which +quantities are sold as food for cage birds, and cuts small “turfs” a +few inches square from the green by the roadside. These are in great +request for larks, especially at this time of the year, when they begin +to sing with all their might. + +Large flocks of woodpigeons are now in every field where the tender +swede and turnip tops are sprouting green and succulent. These “tops” +are the moucher’s first great crop of the year. The time that they +appear varies with the weather: in a mild winter some may be found +early in January; if the frost has been severe there may be none till +March. These the moucher gathers by stealth; he speedily fills a sack, +and goes off with it to the nearest town. Turnip tops are much more in +demand now than formerly, and the stealing of them a more serious +matter. This trade lasts some time, till the tops become too large and +garden greens take their place. + +In going to and fro the fields the moucher searches the banks and digs +out primrose “mars,” and ferns with the root attached, which he hawks +from door to door in the town. He also gathers quantities of spring +flowers, as violets. This spring [1879], owing to the severity of the +season, there were practically none to gather, and when the weather +moderated the garden flowers preceded those of the hedge. Till the 10th +of March not a spot of colour was to be seen. About that time bright +yellow flowers appeared suddenly on the clayey banks and waste places, +and among the hard clay lumps of fields ploughed but not sown. + +The brilliant yellow formed a striking contrast to the dull brown of +the clods, there being no green leaf to moderate the extremes of tint. +These were the blossoms of the coltsfoot, that sends up a stalk +surrounded with faintly rosy scales. Several such stalks often spring +from a single clod: lift the heavy clod, and you have half a dozen +flowers, a whole bunch, without a single leaf. Usually the young +grasses and the seed-leaves of plants have risen up and supply a +general green; but this year the coltsfoot bloomed unsupported, +studding the dark ground with gold. + +Now the frogs are busy, and the land lizards come forth. Even these the +moucher sometimes captures; for there is nothing so strange but that +some one selects it for a pet. The mad March hares scamper about in +broad daylight over the corn, whose pale green blades rise in straight +lines a few inches above the soil. They are chasing their skittish +loves, instead of soberly dreaming the day away in a bunch of grass. +The ploughman walks in the furrow his share has made, and presently +stops to measure the “lands” with the spud. His horses halt dead in the +tenth of a second at the sound of his voice, glad to rest for a minute +from their toil. Work there is in plenty now, for stone-picking, +hoeing, and other matters must be attended to; but the moucher lounges +in the road decoying chaffinches, or perhaps earns a shilling by +driving some dealer’s cattle home from fair and market. + +By April his second great crop is ready—the watercress; the precise +time of course varies very much, and at first the quantities are small. +The hedges are now fast putting on the robe of green that gradually +hides the wreck of last year’s growth. The withered head of the teazle, +black from the rain, falls and disappears. Great burdock stems lie +prostrate. Thick and hard as they are while the sap is still in them, +in winter the wet ground rots the lower part till the blast overthrows +the stalk. The hollow “gicks” too, that lately stood almost to the +shoulder, is down, or slanting, temporarily supported by some branch. +Just between the root and the stalk it has decayed till nothing but a +narrow strip connects the dry upper part with the earth. The moucher +sells the nests and eggs of small birds to townsfolk who cannot +themselves wander among the fields, but who love to see something that +reminds them of the green meadows. + +As the season advances and the summer comes he gathers vast quantities +of dandelion leaves, parsley, sowthistle, clover, and so forth, as food +for the tame rabbits kept in towns. If his haunt be not far from a +river, he spends hours collecting bait—worm and grub and fly—for the +boatmen, who sell them again to the anglers. + +Again there is work in the meadows—the haymaking is about, and the +farmers are anxious for men. But the moucher passes by and looks for +quaking grass, bunches of which have a ready sale. Fledgeling +goldfinches and linnets, young rabbits, young squirrels, even the nest +of the harvest-trow mouse, and occasionally a snake, bring him in a +little money. He picks the forget-me-nots from the streams and the +“blue-bottle” from the corn: bunches of the latter are sometimes sold +in London at a price that seems extravagant to those who have seen +whole fields tinted with its beautiful azure. By-and-by the golden +wheat calls for an army of workers; but the moucher passes on and +gathers groundsel. + +Then come the mushrooms: he knows the best places, and soon fills a +basket full of “buttons” picking them very early in the morning. These +are then put in “punnets” by the greengrocers and retailed at a high +price. Later the blackberries ripen and form his third great crop; the +quantity he brings in to the town is astonishing, and still there is +always a customer. The blackberry harvest lasts for several weeks, as +the berries do not all ripen at once, but successively, and is +supplemented by elderberries and sloes. The moucher sometimes sleeps on +the heaps of disused tan in a tanyard; tanyards are generally on the +banks of small rivers. The tan is said to possess the property of +preserving those who sleep on it from chills and cold, though they may +lie quite exposed to the weather. + +There is generally at least one such a man as this about the outskirts +of market towns, and he is an “original” best defined by negatives. He +is not a tramp, for he never enters the casual wards and never +begs—that is, of strangers; though there are certain farmhouses where +he calls once now and then and gets a slice of bread and cheese and a +pint of ale. He brings to the farmhouse a duck’s egg that has been +dropped in the brook by some negligent bird, or carries intelligence of +the nest made by some roaming goose in a distant withy-bed. Or once, +perhaps, he found a sheep on its back in a narrow furrow, unable to get +up and likely to die if not assisted, and by helping the animal to gain +its legs earned a title to the owner’s gratitude. + +He is not a thief; apples and plums and so on are quite safe, though +the turnip-tops are not: there is a subtle casuistry involved here—the +distinction between the quasi-wild and the garden product. He is not a +poacher in the sense of entering coverts, or even snaring a rabbit. If +the pheasants are so numerous and so tame that passing carters have to +whip them out of the way of the horses, it is hardly wonderful if one +should disappear now and then. Nor is he like the Running Jack that +used to accompany the more famous packs of fox-hounds, opening gates, +holding horses, and a hundred other little services, and who kept up +with the hunt by sheer fleetness of foot. + +Yet he is fleet of foot in his way, though never seen to run; he _pads_ +along on naked feet like an animal, never straightening the leg, but +always keeping the knee a little bent. With a basket of watercress +slung at his back by a piece of tar-cord, he travels rapidly in this +way; his feet go “pad, pad” on the thick white dust, and he easily +overtakes a good walker and keeps up the pace for miles without +exertion. The watercress is a great staple, because it lasts for so +many months. Seeing the nimble way in which he gathers it, thrusting +aside the brook-lime, breaking off the coarser sprays, snipping away +pieces of root, sorting and washing, and thinking of the amount of work +to be got through before a shilling is earned, one would imagine that +the slow, idling life of the labourer, with his regular wages, would be +far more enticing. + +Near the stream the ground is perhaps peaty: little black pools appear +between tufts of grass, some of them streaked with a reddish or +yellowish slime that glistens on the surface of the dark water; and as +you step there is a hissing sound as the spongy earth yields, and a +tiny spout is forced forth several yards distant. Some of the drier +part of the soil the moucher takes to sell for use in gardens and +flower-pots as peat. + +The years roll on, and he grows old. But no feebleness of body or mind +can induce him to enter the workhouse; he cannot quit his old haunts. +Let it rain or sleet, or let the furious gale drive broken boughs +across the road, he still sleeps in some shed or under a straw-rick. In +sheer pity he is committed every now and then to prison for +vagabondage—not for punishment, but in order to save him from himself. +It is in vain: the moment he is out he returns to his habits. All he +wants is a little beer—he is not a drunkard—and a little tobacco, and +the hedges. Some chilly evening, as the shadows thicken, he shambles +out of the town, and seeks the limekiln in the ploughed field, where, +the substratum being limestone, the farmer burns it. Near the top of +the kiln the ground is warm; there he reclines and sleeps. + +The night goes on. Out from the broken blocks of stone now and again +there rises a lambent flame, to shine like a meteor for a moment and +then disappear. The rain falls. The moucher moves uneasily in his +sleep; instinctively he rolls or crawls towards the warmth, and +presently lies extended on the top of the kiln. The wings of the +water-fowl hurtle in the air as they go over; by-and-by the heron +utters his loud call. + +Very early in the morning the quarryman comes to tend his fire, and +starts to see on the now redhot and glowing stones, sunk below the rim, +the presentment of a skeleton formed of the purest white ashes—a +ghastly spectacle in the grey of the dawn, as the mist rises and the +peewit plaintively whistles over the marshy meadow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + + +The tower of the church at Essant Hill was so low that it scarcely +seemed to rise above the maples in the hedges. It could not be seen +until the last stile in the footpath across the meadows was passed. +Church and tower then came into view together on the opposite side of a +large open field. A few aged hawthorn trees dotted the sward, and +beyond the church the outskirts of a wood were visible, but no +dwellings could be seen. Upon a second and more careful glance, +however, the chimney of a cottage appeared above a hedge, so covered +with ivy as hardly to be separated from the green of the boughs. + +There were houses of course somewhere in Essant, but they were so +scattered that a stranger might doubt the existence of the village. A +few farmsteads long distances apart, and some cottages standing in +green lanes and at the corners of the fields, were nearly all; there +was nothing resembling a “street”—not so much as a row. The church was +in effect the village, and the church was simply the mausoleum of the +Dessant family, the owners of the place. Essant Hill as a name had been +rather a problem to the archæologists, there being no hill: the ground +was quite level. The explanation at last admitted was that Essant Hill +was a corruption of D’Essantville. + +It seemed probable that the population had greatly diminished; because, +although the church was of great antiquity, there was space still for +interments in the yard. A yew tree of immense size stood in one corner, +and was by tradition associated with the fortunes of the family. Though +the old trunk was much decayed, yet there were still green and +flourishing shoots; so that the superstitious elders said the luck of +the house was returning. + +Within, the walls of the church were covered with marble slabs, and the +space was reduced by the tombs of the Dessants, one with a recumbent +figure; there were two brasses level with the pavement, and in the +chancel hung the faded hatchments of the dead. For the pedigree went +back to the Battle of Hastings, and there was scarce room for more +heraldry. From week’s end to week’s end the silent nave and aisles +remained empty; the chirp of the sparrows was the only sound to be +heard there. There being no house attached to the living, the holder +could not reside; so the old church slumbered in the midst of the +meadows, the hedges, and woods, day after day, year after year. + +You could sit on the low churchyard wall in early summer under the +shade of the elms in the hedge, whose bushes and briars came right +over, and listen to the whistling of the blackbirds or the varied note +of the thrush; you might see the whitethroat rise and sing just over +the hedge, or look upwards and watch the swallows and swifts wheeling, +wheeling, wheeling in the sky. No one would pass to disturb your +meditations, whether simply dreaming of nothing in the genial summer +warmth, or thinking over the course of history since the prows of the +Norman ships grounded on the beach. If we suppose the time, instead of +June, to be August or September, there would not even be the singing of +the birds. But as you sat on the wall, by-and-by the pheasants, tame as +chickens, would come up the hedge and over into the churchyard. + +Leaving the church to stroll by the footpath across the meadow towards +the wood, at the first gateway half-a-dozen more pheasants scatter +aside, just far enough to let you pass. In the short dusty lane more +pheasants; and again at the edge of the cornfield. None of these show +any signs of alarm, and only move just far enough to avoid being +trodden on. Approaching the wood there are yet more pheasants, +especially near the fir plantations that come up to the keeper’s +cottage and form one side of the enclosure of his garden. The pheasants +come up to the door to pick up what they can—not long since they were +fed there—and then wander away between the slender fir trunks, and +beyond them out into the fields. + +The path leads presently into a beautiful park, the only defect of +which is that it is without undulation. It is quite level; but still +the clumps of noble timber are pleasant to gaze upon. In one spot there +still stands the grey wall and buttress of some ancient building, +doubtless the relic of an ecclesiastical foundation. The present +mansion is not far distant; it is of large size, but lacks elegance. +Inside, nothing that modern skill can supply to render a residence +comfortable, convenient, and (as art is understood in furniture) +artistic has been neglected. + +Behind the fir plantations there is an extensive range of stabling, +recently erected, with all the latest improvements. A telegraph wire +connects the house with the stable, so that carriage or horse may be +instantly summoned. Another wire has been carried to the nearest +junction with the general telegraphic system; so that the resident in +this retired spot may communicate his wishes without a moment’s delay +to any part of the world. + +In the gardens and pleasure-grounds near the house all manner of +ornamental shrubs are planted. There are conservatories, vineries, +pineries; all the refinements of horticulture. The pheasants stray +about the gravel walks and across the close-mown lawn where no daisy +dares to lift its head. Yet, with all this precision of luxury, one +thing is lacking—_the_ one thing, the keystone of English country +life—_i.e._ a master whose heart is in the land. + +The estate is in process of “nursing” for a minor. The revenues had +become practically sequestrated to a considerable extent in consequence +of careless living when the minor nominally succeeded. It happened that +the steward appointed was not only a lawyer of keen intelligence, but a +conscientious man. He did his duty thoroughly. Every penny was got out +of the estate that could be got, and every penny was saved. + +First, the rents were raised to the modern standard, many of them not +having been increased for years. Then the tenants were in effect +ordered to farm to the highest pitch, and to improve the soil itself by +liberal investment. Buildings, drains, and so forth were provided for +them; they only had to pay a small percentage upon the money expended +in construction. In this there was nothing that could be complained of; +but the hard, mechanical, unbending spirit in which it was done—the +absence of all kind of sympathy—caused a certain amount of discontent. +The steward next proceeded to turn the mansion, the park, home farm, +and preserves into revenue. + +Everything was prepared to attract the wealthy man who wanted the +temporary use of a good country house, first-class shooting and +hunting. He succeeded in doing what few gentlemen have accomplished: he +made the pheasants pay. One reason, of course, was that gentlemen have +expenses outside and beyond breeding and keeping: the shooting party +itself is expensive; whereas here the shooting party paid hard cash for +their amusement. The steward had no knowledge of pheasants; but he had +a wide experience of one side of human nature, and he understood +accounts. + +The keepers were checked by figures at every turn, finding it +impossible to elude the businesslike arrangements that were made. In +revenue the result was highly successful. The mansion with the +first-class shooting, hunting, and lovely woodlands—every modern +convenience and comfort in the midst of the most rural scenery—let at a +high price to good tenants. There was an income from what had +previously been profitless. Under this shrewd management the estate was +fast recovering. + +At the same time the whole parish groaned in spirit. The farmers +grumbled at the moral pressure which forced them to progress in spite +of themselves. They grumbled at the strange people who took up their +residence in their midst and suddenly claimed all the loyalty which was +the due of the old family. These people hunted over their fields, +jumped over the hedges, glanced at them superciliously, and seemed +astonished if every hat was not raised when they came in sight. The +farmers felt that they were regarded as ignorant barbarians, and +resented the town-bred insolence of people who aped the country +gentleman. + +They grumbled about the over-preservation of game, and they grumbled +about the rabbits. The hunt had its grumble too because some of the +finest coverts were closed to the hounds, and because they wanted to +know what became of the foxes that formerly lived in those coverts. +Here was a beautiful place—a place that one might dream life away +in—filled with all manner of discontent. + +Everything was done with the best intention. But the keystone was +wanting—the landlord, the master, who had grown up in the traditions of +the spot, and between whom and the people there would have been, even +despite of grievances, a certain amount of sympathy. So true is it that +in England, under the existing system of land tenure, an estate cannot +be worked like the machinery of a factory. + +At first, when the pheasant-preserving began to reach such a height, +there was a great deal of poaching by the resident labourers. The +temptation was thrust so closely before their faces they could not +resist it. When pheasants came wandering into the cottage gardens, and +could even be enticed into the sheds and so secured by simply shutting +the door, men who would not have gone out of their way to poach were +led to commit themselves. + +There followed a succession of prosecutions and fines, till the place +began to get a reputation for that sort of thing. It was at last +intimated to the steward by certain gentlemen that this course of +prosecution was extremely injudicious. For it is a fact—a fact +carefully ignored sometimes—that resident gentlemen object to +prosecutions, and, so far from being anxious to fine or imprison +poachers, would very much rather not. The steward took the hint, and +instead increased his watchers. But by this time the novelty of +pheasants roaming about like fowls had begun to wear off, and their +services were hardly needed. Men went by pheasants with as much +indifference as they would pass a tame duck by the roadside. + +Such poachers as visited the woods came from a distance. Two determined +raids were carried out by strangers, who escaped. Every now and then +wires were found that had been abandoned, but the poaching ceased to be +more than is usual on most properties. So far as the inhabitants of the +parish were concerned it almost ceased altogether; but every now and +then the strollers, gipsies, and similar characters carried off a +pheasant or a hare, or half a dozen rabbits. These offenders when +detected were usually charged before the Bench at a market town not +many miles distant. Let us follow one there. + +The little town of L——, which has not even a branch railway, mainly +consists of a long street. In one part this street widens out, so that +the houses are some forty yards or more apart, and it then again +contracts. This irregularly shaped opening is the market-place, and +here in the centre stands a rude-looking building. It is supported upon +thick short pillars, and was perhaps preceded by a wooden structure. +Under these pillars there is usually a shabby chaise or two run in for +cover, and the spot is the general rendezvous of all the dogs in the +town. + +This morning there are a few loafers hanging round the place; and the +tame town pigeons have fluttered down, and walk with nodding heads +almost up to them. These pigeons always come to the edge of a group of +people, mindful of the stray grain and peas that fall from the hands of +farmers and dealers examining samples on market days. Presently, two +constables come across carrying a heavy, clumsy box between them. They +unlock a door, and take the box upstairs into the hall over the +pillars. After them saunters a seedy man, evidently a clerk, with a +rusty black bag; and after him again—for the magistrates’ Clerk’s clerk +must have _his_ clerk—a boy with some leather-bound books. + +Some of the loafers touch their hats as a gentleman—a magistrate—rides +up the street. But although the church clock is striking the hour fixed +for the sessions to begin he does not come over to the hall upon +dismounting in the inn-yard, but quietly strolls away to transact some +business with the wine-merchant or the saddler. There really is not the +least hurry. The Clerk stands in the inn porch calmly enjoying the +September sunshine, and chatting with the landlord. Two or three more +magistrates drive up; presently the chairman strolls over on foot from +his house, which is almost in the town, to the inn, and joins in the +pleasant gossip going on there, of course in a private apartment. + +Up in the justice-room the seedy Clerk’s clerk is leaning out of the +window and conversing with a man below who has come along with a +barrow-load of vegetables from his allotment. Some boys are spinning +tops under the pillars. On the stone steps that lead up to the hall a +young mother sits nursing her infant; she is waiting to “swear” the +child. In the room itself several gipsy-looking men and women lounge in +a corner. At one end is a broad table and some comfortable chairs +behind it. In front of each chair, on the table, two sheets of clean +foolscap have been placed on a sheet of blotting-paper. These and a +variety of printed forms were taken from the clumsy box that is now +open. + +At last there is a slight stir as a group is seen to emerge from the +inn, and the magistrates take their seats. An elderly man who sits by +the chair cocks his felt hat on the back of his head: the clerical +magistrate very tenderly places his beaver in safety on the broad +mantelpiece, that no irreverent sleeve may ruffle its gloss: several +others who rarely do more than nod assent range themselves on the +flanks; one younger man who looks as if he understood horses pulls out +his toothpick. The chairman, stout and gouty, seizes a quill and +sternly looks over the list of cases. + +Half a dozen summonses for non-payment of rates come first; then a +dispute between a farmer and his man. After this the young mother +“swears” her child; and, indeed, there is some very hard swearing here +on both sides. A wrangle between two women—neighbours—who accuse each +other of assault, and scream and chatter their loudest, comes next. +Before they decide it, the Bench retire, and are absent a long time. + +By degrees a buzz arises, till the justice-room is as noisy as a +market. Suddenly the door of the private room opens, and the Clerk +comes out; instantly the buzz subsides, and in the silence those who +are nearest catch something about the odds and the St. Leger, and an +anything but magisterial roar of laughter. The chairman appears, +rigidly compressing his features, and begins to deliver his sentence +before he can sit down, but the solemn effect is much marred by the +passing of a steam ploughing engine. The audience, too, tend away +towards the windows to see whose engine it is. + +“Silence!” cries the Clerk, who has himself been looking out of window; +the shuffling of feet ceases, and it is found that after this long +consultation the Bench have dismissed both charges. The next case on +the list is poaching; and at the call of his name one of the +gipsy-looking men advances, and is ordered to stand before that part of +the table which by consent represents the bar. + +“Oby Bottleton,” says the Clerk, half reading, half extemporizing, and +shuffling his papers to conceal certain slips of technicality; “you are +charged with trespassing in pursuit of game at Essant Hill—that you did +use a wire on the estate—on land in the occupation of Johnson.”—“It’s a +lie!” cries a good-looking, dark-complexioned woman, who has come up +behind the defendant (the whilome navvy), and carries a child so +wrapped in a shawl as to be invisible. “Silence! or you’ll have to go +outside the court. Mr. Dalton Dessant will leave the Bench during the +hearing of this case.” Mr. Dalton Dessant, one of the silent +magistrates already alluded to, bows to the chairman, and wriggles his +chair back about two feet from the table. There he gazes at the +ceiling. He is one of the trustees of the Essant Hill property; and the +Bench are very careful to consult public opinion in L—— borough. + +The first witness is an assistant keeper: the head keeper stands behind +him—a fine man, still upright and hearty-looking, but evidently at the +beginning of the vale of years; he holds his hat in his hand; the +sunlight falls through the casement on his worn velveteen jacket. The +assistant, with the aid of a few questions from the Clerk, gives his +evidence very clear and fairly. “I saw the defendant’s van go down the +lane,” he says: + +“It bean’t my van,” interrupts the defendant; “it’s my brother’s.” + +“You’ll have an opportunity of speaking presently,” says the Clerk. “Go +on” (to the witness). + +“After the van went down the lane, it stopped by the highway-road, and +the horse was taken out. The women left the van with baskets, and went +towards the village.” + +“Yes, yes; come to the point. Did you hide yourself by order of the +head keeper?” + +“I did—in the nutwood hedge by Three Corner Piece; after a bit I saw +the defendant.” + +“Had you any reason for watching there?” + +“There was a wire and a rabbit in it.” + +“Well, what happened?” + +“I waited a long time, and presently the defendant got over the gate. +He was very particular not to step on the soft mud by the gate—he kind +of leaped over it, not to leave the mark of his boots. He had a lurcher +with him, and I was afraid the dog would scent me in the hedge.” + +“You rascal!” (from the defendant’s wife). + +“But he didn’t, and, after looking carefully round, the defendant +picked up the rabbit, and put it and the wire in his pocket.” + +“What did you do then?” + +“I got out of the hedge and came towards him. Directly he saw me he ran +across the field; I whistled as loud as I could, and he” (jerking a +thumb back towards the head keeper) “came out of the firs into the lane +and stopped him. We found the wire and the rabbit in his pocket, and +two more wires. I produce the wires.” + +This was the sum of the evidence; the head keeper simply confirmed the +latter part of it. Oby replied that it was all false from beginning to +end. He had not got corduroy trousers on that day, as stated. He was +not there at all: he was in the village, and he could call witnesses to +prove it. The Clerk reminded the audience that there was such a thing +as imprisonment for perjury. + +Then the defendant turned savagely on the first witness, and admitted +the truth of his statement by asking what he said when collared in the +lane. “You said you had had a good lot lately, and didn’t care if you +was nailed this time.” + +“Oh, what awful lies!” cried the wife. “It’s a wonder you don’t fall +dead!” + +“You were not there,” the Clerk remarked quietly. “Now, Oby, what is +your defence? Have you got any witnesses?” + +“No; I ain’t got no witnesses. All as I did, I know I walked up the +hedge to look for mushrooms. I saw one of them things”—meaning the +wires on the table—“and I just stooped down to see what it was, ’cos I +didn’t know. I never seed one afore; and I was just going to pick it up +and look at it” (the magistrates glance at each other, and cannot +suppress a smile at this profound innocence), “when this fellow jumped +out and frightened me. I never seed no rabbit.” + +“Why, you put the rabbit in your pocket,” interrupts the first witness. + +“Never mind,” said the Clerk to the witness; “let him go on.” + +“That’s all as I got to say,” continues the defendant. “I never seed no +such things afore; and if he hadn’t come I should have put it down +again.” + +“But you were trespassing,” said the Clerk. + +“I didn’t know it. There wasn’t no notice-board.” + +“Now, Oby,” cried the head keeper, “you know you’ve been along that +lane this ten years.” + +“That will do” (from the chairman); “is there any more evidence?” + +As none was forthcoming, the Bench turned a little aside and spoke in +low tones. The defendant’s wife immediately set up a sobbing, varied +occasionally by a shriek; the infant woke up and cried, and two or +three women of the same party behind began to talk in excited tones +about “Shame.” The sentence was 2_l_. and costs—an announcement that +caused a perfect storm of howling and crying. + +The defendant put his hands in his pockets with the complacent +expression of a martyr. “I must go to gaol a’ spose; none of ourn ever +went thur afore: a’ spose _I_ must go.” “Come,” said the Clerk, “why, +you or your brother bought a piece of land and a cottage not long +ago,”—then to the Bench, “They’re not real gipsies: he is a grandson of +old Bottleton who had the tollgate; you recollect, Sir.” + +But the defendant declares he has no money; his friends shake their +heads gloomily; and amid the shrieking of his wife and the crying of +the child he is removed in the custody of two constables, to be +presently conveyed to gaol. With ferocious glances at the Bench, as if +they would like to tear the chairman’s eyes out, the women leave the +court. + +“Next case,” calls the Clerk. The court sits about two hours longer, +having taken some five hours to get through six cases. Just as the +chairman rises the poacher’s wife returns to the table, without her +child, angrily pulls out a dirty canvas bag, and throws down three or +four sovereigns before the seedy Clerk’s clerk. The canvas bag is +evidently half-full of money—the gleam of silver and gold is visible +within it. The Bench stay to note this proceeding with an amused +expression on their features. The woman looks at them as bold as brass, +and stalks off with her man. + +Half an hour afterwards, two of the magistrates riding away from the +town pass a small tavern on the outskirts. A travelling van is outside, +and from the chimney on its roof thin smoke arises. There is a little +group at the doorway, and among them stands the late prisoner. Oby +holds a foaming tankard in one hand, and touches his battered hat, as +the magistrates go by, with a gesture of sly humility. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +LUKE, THE RABBIT CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK-PATH + + +The waggon-track leading to the Upper Woods almost always presented +something of interest, and often of beauty. The solitude of the place +seemed to have attracted flowers and ferns as well as wild animals and +birds. For though flowers have no power of motion, yet seeds have a +negative choice and lie dormant where they do not find a kindly +welcome. But those carried hither by the birds or winds took root and +flourished, secure from the rude ploughshare or the sharp scythe. + +The slow rumble of waggon-wheels seldom disturbed the dreamy silence, +or interrupted the song of the birds; so seldom that large docks and +thistles grew calmly beside the ruts untouched by hoofs. From the thick +hedges on either side trailing brambles and briars stretched far out, +and here and there was a fallen branch, broken off by the winds, whose +leaves had turned brown and withered while all else was green. Round +sarsen stones had been laid down in the marshy places to form a firm +road, but the turf had long since covered most of them. Where the +smooth brown surfaces did project mosses had lined the base, and rushes +leaned over and hid the rest. + +In the ditches, under the shade of the brambles, the hart’s-tongue fern +extended its long blade of dark glossy green. By the decaying stoles +the hardy fern flourished, under the trees on the mounds the lady fern +could be found, and farther up nearer the wood the tall brake almost +supplanted the bushes. Oak and ash boughs reached across: in the ash +the wood-pigeons lingered. Every now and then the bright colours of the +green woodpeckers flashed to and fro their nest in a tree hard by. They +would not have chosen it had not the place been nearly as quiet as the +wood itself. + +Blackthorn bushes jealously encroached on the narrow stile that entered +the lane from a meadow—a mere rail thrust across a gap. The gates, set +in deep recesses—short lanes themselves cut through the mounds—were +rotten and decayed, so as to scarcely hold together, and not to be +moved without care. Hawthorn branches on each side pushed forward and +lessened the opening; on the ground, where the gateposts had rotted +nearly off, fungi came up in thick bunches. + +The little meadows to which they led were rich in oaks, growing on the +“shore” of the ditches, tree after tree. The grass in them was not +plentiful, but the flowers were many; in the spring the orchis sent up +its beautiful purple, and in the heat of summer the bird’s-foot lotus +flourished in the sunny places. Farther up, nearer the wood, the lane +became hollow—worn down between high banks, at first clothed with fern, +and then, as the hill got steeper, with fir trees. + +Where firs are tall and thick together the sunbeams that fall aslant +between them seem to be made more visible than under other trees, by +the motes or wood dust in the air. Still farther the banks became even +steeper, till nothing but scanty ash stoles could grow upon them, the +fir plantations skirting along the summit. Then suddenly, at a turn, +the ground sank into a deep hollow, where in spring the eye rested with +relief and pleasure on the tops of young firs, acre after acre, just +freshly tinted with the most delicate green. From thence the track went +into the wood. + +By day all through the summer months there was always something to be +seen in the lane—a squirrel, a stoat; always a song-bird to listen to, +a flower or fern to gather. By night the goatsucker visited it, and the +bat, and the white owl gliding down the slope. In winter when the +clouds hung low the darkness in the hollow between the high banks, +where the light was shut out by the fir trees, was like that of a +cavern. It was then that night after night a strange procession wended +down it. + +First came an old man, walking stiffly—not so much from age as +rheumatism—and helping his unsteady steps on the slippery sarsen stones +with a stout ground-ash staff. Behind him followed a younger man, and +in the rear a boy. Sometimes there was an extra assistant, making four; +sometimes there was only the old man and one companion. Each had a long +and strong ash stick across his shoulder, on which a load of rabbits +was slung, an equal number in front and behind, to balance. The old +fellow, who was dressed shabbily even for a labourer, was the +contractor for the rabbits shot or ferreted in these woods. + +He took the whole number at a certain fixed price all round, and made +what he could out of them. Every evening in the season he went to the +woods to fetch those that had been captured during the day, conveying +them to his cottage on the outskirts of the village. From thence they +went by carrier’s cart to the railway. Old Luke’s books, such as they +were, were quite beyond the understanding of any one but himself and +his wife; nor could even they themselves tell you exactly how many +dozen he purchased in the year. But in his cups the wicked old +hypocrite had often been known to boast that he paid the lord of the +manor as much money as the rent of a small farm. + +One of Luke’s eyes was closed with a kind of watery rheum, and was +never opened except when he thought a rabbit was about to jump into a +net. The other was but half open, and so overhung with a thick grey +eyebrow as to be barely visible. His cheeks were the hue of clay, his +chin scrubby, and a lanky black forelock depended over one temple. A +battered felt hat, a ragged discoloured slop, and corduroys stained +with the clay of the banks completed his squalid costume. + +A more miserable object or one apparently more deserving of pity it +would be hard to imagine. To see him crawl with slow and feeble steps +across the fields in winter, gradually working his way in the teeth of +a driving rain, was enough to arouse compassion in the hardest heart: +there was something so utterly woebegone in his whole aspect—so +weather-beaten, as if he had been rained upon ever since childhood. He +seemed humbled to the ground—crushed and spiritless. + +Now and then Luke was employed by some of the farmers to do their +ferreting for them and to catch the rabbits in the banks by the +roadside. More than once benevolent people driving by in their cosy +cushioned carriages, and seeing this lonely wretch in the bitter wind +watching a rabbit’s hole as if he were a dog well beaten and thrashed, +had been known to stop and call the poor old fellow to the carriage +door. Then Luke would lay his hand on his knee, shake his head, and +sorrowfully state his pains and miseries: “Aw, I be ter-rable bad, I +be,” he would say; “I be most terrable bad: I can’t but just drag my +leg out of this yer ditch. It be a dull job, bless ’ee, this yer.” The +tone, the look of the man, the dreary winter landscape all so +thoroughly agreed together that a few small silver coins would drop +into his hand, and Luke, with a deep groaning sigh of thankfulness, +would bow and scrape and go back to his “dull job.” + +Luke, indeed, somehow or other was always in favour with the “quality.” +He was as firmly fixed in his business as if he had been the most +clever courtier. It was not of the least use for any one else to offer +to take the rabbits, even if they would give more money. No, Luke was +the trusty man; Luke, and nobody else, was worthy. So he grovelled on +from year to year, blinking about the place. When some tenant found a +gin in the turnip field, or a wire by the clover, and quietly waited +till Luke came fumbling by and picked up the hare or rabbit, it did not +make the slightest difference though he went straight to the keeper and +made a formal statement. + +Luke had an answer always ready: he had not set the wire, but had +stumbled on it unawares, and was going to take it to the keeper; or he +had noticed a colony of rats about, and had put the gin for them. Now, +the same excuse might have been made by any other poacher; the +difference lay in this—that Luke was believed. At all events, such +little trifles were forgotten, and Luke went on as before. He did a +good deal of the ferreting in the hedges outside the woods himself: if +he took home three dozen from the mound and only paid for two dozen, +that scarcely concerned the world at large. + +If in coming down the dark and slippery lane at night somebody with a +heavy sack stepped out from the shadow at the stile, and if the +contents of the sack were rapidly transferred to the shoulder-sticks, +or the bag itself bodily taken along—why, there was nobody there to +see. As for the young man and the boy who helped, those discreet +persons had always a rabbit for their own pot, or even for a friend; +and indeed it was often remarked that old Luke could always get plenty +of men to work for him. No one ever hinted at searching the dirty shed +at the side of his cottage that was always locked by day, or looking +inside the disused oven that it covered. But if fur or feathers had +been found there, was not he the contractor? And clearly if a pheasant +_was_ there he could not be held responsible for the unauthorised acts +of his assistants. + +The truth was that Luke was the most thorough-paced poacher in the +place—or, rather, he was a wholesale receiver. His success lay in +making it pleasant for everybody all round. It was pleasant for the +keeper, who could always dispose of a few hares or pheasants if he +wanted a little money. The keeper, in ways known to himself, made it +pleasant for the bailiff. It was equally pleasant for the +under-keepers, who had what they wanted (in reason), and enjoyed a +little by-play on their own account. It was pleasant for his men; and +it was pleasant—specially pleasant—at a little wayside inn kept by +Luke’s nephew, and, as was believed, with Luke’s money. Everybody +concerned in the business could always procure refreshment there, +including the policeman. + +There was only one class of persons whom Luke could not conciliate; and +they were the tenants. These very inconsiderate folk argued that it was +the keepers’ and Luke’s interest to maintain a very large stock of +rabbits, which meant great inroads on their crops. There seemed to be +even something like truth in their complaints; and once or twice the +more independent carried their grievances to headquarters so +effectually as to elicit an order for the destruction of the rabbits +forthwith on their farms. But of what avail was such an order when the +execution of it was entrusted to Luke himself? + +In time the tenants got to put up with Luke; and the wiser of them +turned round and tried to make it still more pleasant for _him_: they +spoke a good word for him; they gave him a quart of ale, and put little +things in his way, such as a chance to buy and sell faggots at a small +profit. Not to be ungrateful, Luke kept their rabbits within reasonable +bounds; and he had this great recommendation—that whether they bullied +him or whether they gave him ale and bread-and-cheese, Luke was always +humble and always touched his hat. + +His wife kept a small shop for the sale of the coarser groceries and a +little bacon. He had also rather extensive gardens, from which he sold +quantities of vegetables. It was more than suspected that the carrier’s +cart was really Luke’s—that is, he found the money for horsing it, and +could take possession if he liked. The carrier’s cart took his rabbits, +and the game he purchased of poachers, to the railway, and the +vegetables from the gardens to the customers in town. + +At least one cottage besides his own belonged to him; and some would +have it that this was one of the reasons of his success with the +“quality.” The people at the great house, anxious to increase their +influence, wished to buy every cottage and spare piece of land. This +was well known, and many small owners prided themselves upon spiting +the big people at the great house by refusing to sell, or selling to +another person. The great house was believed to have secured the first +“refuse” of Luke’s property, if ever he thought of selling. Luke, in +fact, among the lower classes was looked upon as a capitalist—a miser +with an unknown hoard. The old man used to sit of a winter’s evening, +after he had brought down the rabbits, by the hearth, making +rabbit-nets of twine. Almost everybody who came along the road, home +from the market town, stopped, lifted the latch without knocking, and +looked in to tell the news or hear it. But Luke’s favourite manoeuvre +was to take out his snuff-box, tap it, and offer it to the person +addressing him. This he would do to a farmer, even though it were the +largest tenant of all. For this snuff-box was a present from the lady +at the great house, who took an interest in poor old Luke’s +infirmities, and gave him the snuff-box, a really good piece of +workmanship, well filled with the finest snuff, to console his +wretchedness. + +Of this box Luke was as proud as if it had been the insignia of the +Legion of Honour, and never lost an opportunity of showing it to every +one of standing. When the village heard of this kindly present it ran +over in its mind all that it knew about the stile, and the sacks, and +the disused oven. Then the village very quietly shrugged its shoulders, +and though it knew not the word irony, well understood what that term +conveys. + +At the foot of the hill on which the Upper Woods were situate there +extended a level tract of meadows with some cornfields. Through these +there flowed a large slow brook, often flooded in winter by the water +rushing down from the higher lands. It was pleasant in the early year +to walk now and then along the footpath that followed the brook, noting +the gradual changes in the hedges. + +When the first swallow of the spring wheels over the watery places the +dry sedges of last year still stand as they grew. They are supported by +the bushes beside the meadow ditch where it widens to join the brook, +and the water it brings down from the furrows scarcely moves through +the belt of willow lining the larger stream. As the soft west wind runs +along the hedge it draws a sigh from the dead dry stalks and leaves +that will no more feel the rising sap. + +By the wet furrows the ground has still a brownish tint, for there the +floods lingered and discoloured the grass. Near the ditch pointed flags +are springing up, and the thick stems of the marsh marigold. From +bunches of dark green leaves slender stalks arise and bear the golden +petals of the marsh buttercups, the lesser celandine. If the wind blows +cold and rainy they will close, and open again to the sunshine. + +At the outside of the withies, where the earth is drier, stand tall +horse-chestnut trees, aspen, and beech. The leaflets of the +horse-chestnut are already opening; but on the ground, half-hidden +under beech leaves not yet decayed, and sycamore leaves reduced to +imperfect grey skeletons, there lies a chestnut shell. It is sodden, +and has lost its original green—the prickles, too, have decayed and +disappeared; yet at a touch it falls apart, and discloses two +chestnuts, still of a rich, deep polished brown. + +On the very bank of the brook there grows a beech whose bare boughs +droop over, almost dipping in the water, where it comes with a swift +rush from the narrow arches of a small bridge whose bricks are green +with moss. The current is still slightly turbid, for the floods have +not long subsided, and the soaked meadows and ploughed fields send +their rills to swell the brook and stain it with sand and earth. On the +surface float down twigs and small branches forced from the trees by +the gales: sometimes an entangled mass of aquatic weeds—long, slender +green filaments twisted and matted together—comes more slowly because +heavy and deep in the water. + +A little bird comes flitting silently from the willows and perches on +the drooping beech branch. It is a delicate little creature, the breast +of a faint and dull yellowy green, the wings the lightest brown, and +there is a pencilled streak over the eye. The beak is so slender it +scarce seems capable of the work it should do, the legs and feet so +tiny that they are barely visible. Hardly has he perched than the keen +eyes detect a small black speck that has just issued from the arch, +floating fast on the surface of the stream and borne round and round in +a tiny whirlpool. + +He darts from the branch, hovers just above the water, and in a second +has seized the black speck and returned to the branch. A moment or two +passes, and again he darts and takes something—this time invisible—from +the water. A third time he hovers, and on this occasion just brushes +the surface. Then, suddenly finding that these movements are watched, +he flits—all too soon—up high into the beech and away into the narrow +copse. The general tint and shape of the bird are those of the willow +wren, but it is difficult to identify the species in so brief a glance +and without hearing its note. + +The path now trends somewhat away from the stream and skirts a ploughed +field, where the hedges are cropped close and the elms stripped of the +lesser boughs about the trunks, that the sparrows may not find shelter. +But all the same there are birds here too—one in the thick low hedge, +two or three farther on, another in the ditch perching on the dead +white stems of last year’s plants that can hardly support an ounce +weight, and all calling to each other. It is six marsh tits, as busy as +they can well be. + +One rises from the ditch to the trunk of an elm where the thick bark is +green with lichen: he goes up the tree like a woodpecker, and peers +into every crevice. His little beak strikes, peck, peck, at a place +where something is hidden: then he proceeds farther up the trunk: next +he descends a few steps in a sidelong way, and finally hops down some +three inches head foremost, and alights again on the all but +perpendicular bark. But his tail does not touch the tree, and in +another minute down he flies again to the ditch. + +A shrill and yet low note that sounds something like “skeek-skeek” +comes from a birch, and another “skeek-skeek” answers from an elm. It +is like the friction of iron against iron without oil on the bearings. +This is the tree-climber calling to his mate. He creeps over the boles +of the birch, and where the larger limbs join the trunk, trailing his +tail along the bark, and clinging so closely that but for the sharp +note he would be passed. Even when that has called attention, the +colour of his back so little differs from the colour of bark that if he +is some height up the tree it is not easy to detect him. + +The days go on and the hedges become green—the sun shines, and the +blackbirds whistle in the trees. They leave the hedge, and mount into +the elm or ash to deliver their song; then, after a pause, dive down +again to the bushes. Up from the pale green corn that is yet but a few +inches high rises a little brown bird, mounting till he has attained to +the elevation of the adjacent oak. Then, beginning his song, he extends +his wings, lifts his tail, and gradually descends slanting +forward—slowly, like a parachute—sing, sing, singing all the while till +the little legs, that can be seen against the sky somewhat depending, +touch the earth and the wheat hides him. Still from the clod comes the +finishing bar of his music. + +In a short time up he rises again, and this time from the summit of his +flight sinks in a similar manner singing to a branch of the oak. There +he sings again; and, again rising, comes back almost to the same bough +singing as he descends. But he is not alone: from an elm hard by come +the same notes, and from yet another tree they are also repeated. They +cannot rest—now one flits from the topmost bough of an elm to another +topmost bough; now a second comes up from feeding, and cries from the +branches. They are tree-pipits; and though the call is monotonous, yet +it is so cheerful and pleasing that one cannot choose but stay and +listen. + +Suddenly, two that have been vigorously calling start forward together +and meet in mid-air. They buffet each other with their wings; their +little beaks fiercely strike; their necks are extended; they manoeuvre +round each other, trying for an advantage. They descend, heedless in +the rage of their tiny hearts, within a few yards of the watcher, and +then in alarm separate. But one flies to the oak branch and defiantly +calls immediately. + +Over the meadows comes the distant note of the cuckoo. When he first +calls his voice is short and somewhat rough, but in a few days it gains +power. Then the second syllable has a mellow ring: and as he cries from +the tree, the note, swiftly repeated and echoed by the wood, dwells on +the ear something like the “hum” or vibration of a beautiful bell. + +As the hedges become green the ivy leaves turn brown at the edge and +fall; the wild ivy is often curiously variegated. At the foot of the +tree up which it climbs the leaves are five-angled, higher up they lose +the angles and become rounded, though growing on the same plant. +Sometimes they have a grey tint, especially those that trail along the +bank; sometimes the leaves are a reddish brown with pale green ribs. + +By the brook now the meadow has become of a rich bright green, the +stream has sunk and is clear, and the sunlight dances on the ripples. +The grasses at the edge—the turf—curl over and begin to grow down the +steep side that a little while since was washed by the current. Where +there is a ledge of mud and sand the yellow wagtail runs; he stands on +a stone and jerks his tail. + +The ploughed field that comes down almost to the brook—a mere strip of +meadow between—is green too with rising wheat, high enough now to hide +the partridges. Before it got so tall it was pleasant to watch the pair +that frequent it; they were so confident that they did not even trouble +to cower. At any other time of year they would have run, or flown; but +then, though scarcely forty yards away and perfectly visible, they +simply ceased feeding but showed no further alarm. + +Upon the plough birds in general should look as their best friend, for +it provides them with the staff of life as much as it does man. The +earth turned up under the share yields them grubs and insects and +worms: the seed is sown and the clods harrowed, and they take a second +toll; the weeds are hoed or pulled up, and at their roots there are +more insects; from the stalk and ears and the bloom of the rising corn +they seize caterpillars; when it is ripe they enjoy the grain; when it +is cut and carried there are ears in the stubble, and they can then +feast on the seeds of the innumerable plants that flowered among it; +finally comes the plough again. It is as if the men and horses worked +for the birds. + +The horse-chestnut trees in the narrow copse bloom; the bees are +humming everywhere and summer is at hand. Presently the brown +cockchafers will come almost like an army of locusts, as suddenly +appearing without a sign. They seem to be particularly numerous where +there is much maple in the hedges. + +Resting now on the sward by the stream—contracted in seeming by the +weeds and flags and fresh sedges—there comes the distant murmur of +voices and the musical laugh of girls. The ear tries to distinguish the +words and gather the meaning; but the syllables are intertangled—it is +like listening to a low sweet song in a language all unknown. This is +the water falling gently over the mossy hatch and splashing faintly on +the stones beneath; the blue dragon-flies dart over the smooth surface +or alight on a broad leaf—these blue dragon-flies when thus resting +curl the tail upwards. + +Farther up above the mere there is a spot where the pool itself ends, +or rather imperceptibly disappears among a vast mass of aquatic weeds. +To these on the soft oozy mud succeed acres of sedge and rush and great +turfs of greyish grass. Low willows are scattered about, and alder at +the edge and where the ground is firmer. This is the home of the +dragon-flies, of the coots, whose white bald foreheads distinguish them +at a distance, and of the moorhens. + +A narrow lane crosses it on a low bank or causeway but just raised +above the level of the floods. It is bordered on either side by thick +hawthorn hedges, and these again are further rendered more impassable +by the rankest growth of hemlocks, “gicks,” nettles, hedge-parsley, and +similar coarse plants. In these the nettle-creeper (white-throat) hides +her nest, and they have so encroached that the footpath is almost +threatened. This lane leads from the Upper Woods across the marshy +level to the cornfields, being a branch from that down which Luke the +contractor carried his rabbits. + +Now a hare coming from the uplands beyond the woods, or from the woods, +and desirous of visiting the cornfields of the level grounds below, +found it difficult to pass the water. For besides the marsh itself, the +mere, and the brook, another slow, stagnant stream, quite choked with +sedges and flags, uncut for years, ran into it, or rather joined it, +and before doing so meandered along the very foot of the hill-side over +which the woods grew. To a hare or a rabbit, therefore, there was but +one path or exit without taking to the water in this direction for +nearly a mile, and that was across this narrow raised causeway. The +pheasants frequently used it, as if preferring to walk than to fly. +Partridges came too, to seat themselves in the dry dust—a thing they do +daily in warm weather. + +Hares were constantly passing from the cornfields to the wood, and the +wood to the cornfields; and they had another reason for using this +track, because so many herbs and plants, whose leaves they like better +than grass, flourished at the sides of the hedges. No scythe cuts them +down, as it does by the hedges in the meadows; nor was a man sent round +with a reaping hook to chop them off, as is often done round the arable +fields. There was, therefore, always a feast here, to which, also, the +rabbits came. + +The poachers were perfectly well aware of all this, and as a +consequence this narrow lane became a most favourite haunt of theirs. A +wire set in the runs that led to the causeway, or in the causeway +itself, was almost certain to be thrown. At one time it was +occasionally netted; and now and then a bolder fellow hid himself in +the bushes with a gun, and took his choice of pheasant, partridge, +hare, or rabbit. These practices were possible, because although so +secluded, there was a public right-of-way along the lane. + +But of recent years, as game became more valued and the keepers were +increased, a check was put upon it, though even now wires are +frequently found which poachers have been obliged to abandon. They are +loth to give up a place that has a kind of poaching reputation. As if +in revenge for the interference, they have so ransacked the marsh every +spring for the eggs of the waterfowl that the wild duck will not lay +there, but seek spots safer from such enemies. The marsh is left to the +coots and moorhens that from thence stock the brooks. + + + + +CHAPTER X +FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE SHOOTING + + +One October morning towards the end of the month, Orion and I started +to beat over Redcote Farm upon the standing invitation of the occupier. +There was a certainty of sport of some kind, because the place had +remained almost unchanged for the last century. It is “improvement” +that drives away game and necessitates the pheasant preserve. + +The low whitewashed walls of the house were of a dull yellowish hue +from the beating of the weather. They supported a vast breadth of +thatched roof drilled by sparrows and starlings. Under the eaves the +swallows’ nests adhered, and projecting shelves were fixed to prevent +any inconvenience from them. Some of the narrow windows were still +darkened with the black boarding put up in the days of the window tax. + +In the courtyard a number of stout forked stakes were used for putting +the dairy buckets on, after being cleaned, to dry. No attempt was made +to separate the business from the inner life of the house. Here in +front these oaken buckets, scoured till nearly white, their iron +handles polished like silver, were close under the eyes of any one +looking out. By the front door a besom leaned against the wall that +every comer might clean the mud from his boots; and you stepped at once +from the threshold into the sitting-room. A lane led past the garden, +if that could be called a lane which widened into a field and after +rain was flooded so deeply as to be impassable to foot passengers. + +The morning we had chosen was fine; and after shaking hands with old +Farmer “Willum,” whose shooting days were over, we entered the lane, +and by it the fields. The meadows were small, enclosed with +double-mounds, and thickly timbered, so that as the ground was level +you could not see beyond the field in which you stood, and upon looking +over the gate might surprise a flock of pigeons, a covey of partridges, +or a rabbit out feeding. Though the tinted leaves were fast falling, +the hedges were still full of plants and vegetation that prevented +seeing through them. The “kuck-kuck” of the redwings came from the +bushes—the first note of approaching winter—and the tips of the rushes +were dead. Red haws on the hawthorn and hips on the briar sprinkled the +hedge with bright spots of colour. + +The two spaniels went with such an eager rush into a thick +double-mound, dashing heedlessly through the nettles and under the +brambles, that we hastened to get one on each side of the hedge. A +rustling—a short bark; another, then a movement among the rushes in the +ditch, evidently not made by the dogs; then a silence. But the dogs +come back, and as they give tongue the rabbit rushes past a bare spot +on the slope of the bank. I fire—a snap shot—and cut out some fur, but +do no further harm; the pellets bury themselves in the earth. But, +startled and perhaps just stung by a stray shot, the rabbit bolts +fairly at last twenty yards in front of Orion, the spaniel tearing at +his heels. + +Up goes the double-barrel with a bright gleam as the sunlight glances +on it. A second of suspense: then from the black muzzle darts a +cylinder of tawny flame and an opening cone of white smoke: a sharp +report rings on the ear. The rabbit rolls over and over, and is dead +before the dog can seize him. After harling the rabbit, Orion hangs him +high on a projecting branch, so that the man who is following us at a +distance may easily find the game. He is a labourer, and we object to +have him with us, as we know he would be certain to get in the way. + +We then tried a corner where two of these large mounds, meeting, formed +a small copse in which grew a quantity of withy and the thick grasses +that always border the stoles. A hare bolted almost directly the dogs +went in: hares trust in their speed, rabbits in doubling for cover. I +fired right and left, and missed: fairly missed with both barrels. +Orion jumped upon the mound from the other side, and from that +elevation sent a third cartridge after her. + +It was a long, a very long shot, but the hare perceptibly winced. +Still, she drew easily away from the dogs, going straight for a distant +gateway. But before it was reached the pace slackened; she made +ineffectual attempts to double as the slow spaniels overtook her, but +her strength was ebbing, and they quickly ran in. Reloading, and in +none of the best of tempers, I followed the mound. The miss was of +course the gun’s fault—it was foul; or the cartridges, or the bad +quality of the powder. + +We passed the well-remembered hollow ash pollard, whence, years before, +we had taken the young owls, and in which we had hidden the old +single-barrel gun one sultry afternoon when it suddenly came on to +thunder. The flashes were so vivid and the discharges seemingly so near +that we became afraid to hold the gun, knowing that metal attracted +electricity. So it was put in the hollow tree out of the wet, and with +it the powder-flask, while we crouched under an adjacent hawthorn till +the storm ceased. + +Then by the much-patched and heavy gate where I shot my first snipe, +that rose out of the little stream and went straight up over the top +bar. The emotion, for it was more than excitement, of that moment will +never pass from memory. It was the bird of all others that I longed to +kill, and certainly to a lad the most difficult. Day after day I went +down into the water-meadows; first thinking over the problem of the +snipe’s peculiar twisting flight. At one time I determined that I would +control the almost irresistible desire to fire till the bird had +completed his burst of zig-zag and settled to something like a straight +line. At another I as firmly resolved to shoot the moment the snipe +rose before he could begin to twist. But some unforeseen circumstance +always interfered with the execution of these resolutions. + +Now the snipe got up unexpectedly right under foot; now one rose thirty +yards ahead; now he towered straight up, forced to do so by the tall +willows; and occasionally four or five rising together and calling +“sceap, sceap” in as many different directions, made me hesitate at +which to aim. The continual dwelling upon the problem rendered me +nervous, so that I scarcely knew when I pulled the trigger. + +But one day, in passing this gateway, which was a long distance from +the particular water-meadows where I had practised, and not thinking of +snipes, suddenly one got up, and with a loud “sceap” darted over the +gate. The long slender gun—the old single-barrel—came to the shoulder +instinctively, without premeditation, and the snipe fell. + +Coming now to the brook, which was broad and bordered by a hedge on the +opposite side, I held Orion’s gun while he leaped over. The bank was +steep and awkward, but he had planned his leap so as to alight just +where he could at once grasp an ash branch and so save himself from +falling back into the water. He could not, however, stay suspended +there, but had to scramble over the hedge, and then called for his gun. +I leaned mine against a hollow withy pollard, and called “ready.” + +Taking his gun a few inches above the trigger guard (and with the guard +towards his side), holding it lightly just where it seemed to balance +in a perpendicular position, I gave it a slow heave rather than a +throw, and it rose into the air. This peculiar _feeling_ hoist, as it +were, caused it to retain the perpendicular position as it passed over +brook and hedge in a low curve. As it descended it did indeed slope a +little, and Orion caught it with one hand easily. The hedge being low +he could see it coming; but guns are sometimes heaved in this way over +hedges that have not been cropped for years. Then the gun suddenly +appears in the air, perhaps fifteen feet high, while the catch depends +not only upon the dexterity of the hand but the ear—to judge correctly +where the person who throws it is standing, as he is invisible. + +The spaniels plunged in the brook among the flags, but though they made +a great splashing nothing came of it till we approached a marshy place +where was a pond. A moorhen then rose and scuttled down the brook, her +legs dragging along the surface some distance before she could get up, +and the sunshine sparkling on the water that dropped from her. I fired +and knocked her over: at the sound of the discharge a bird rose from +the low mound by the pond some forty yards ahead. My second barrel was +empty in an instant. + +Both Orion’s followed; but the distance, the intervening pollard +willows, or our excitement spoilt the aim. The woodcock flew off +untouched, and made straight away from the territories we could beat +into those that were jealously guarded by a certain keeper with whom +Farmer “Willum” had waged war for years. “Come on!” shouted Orion as +soon as he had marked the cock down in a mound two fields away. +Throwing him my gun, I leaped the brook; and we at first raced, but on +second thoughts walked slowly, for the mound. Running disturbs accuracy +of fire, and a woodcock was much too rare a visitor for the slightest +chance to be lost. + +As we approached we considered that very probably the cock would either +lie close till we had walked past, and get up behind, or he would rise +out of gunshot. What we were afraid of was his making for the +preserves, which were not far off. So we tossed for the best position, +and I lost. I had therefore to get over on the side of the hedge +towards the preserves and to walk down somewhat faster than Orion, who +was to keep (on his side) about thirty yards behind. The object was to +flush the cock on his side, so that if missed the bird might return +towards our territories. In a double-mound like this it is impossible +to tell what a woodcock will do, but this was the best thing we could +think of. + +About half-way down the hedge I heard Orion fire both barrels in quick +succession—the mound was so thick I could not see through. The next +instant the cock came over the top of the hedge just above my head. +Startled at seeing me so close, he flew straight down along the summit +of the bushes—a splendid chance to look at from a distance; but in +throwing up the gun a projecting briar caught the barrels, and before I +could recover it the bird came down at the side of the hedge. + +It was another magnificent chance; but again three pollard willows +interfered, and as I fired the bark flew off one of them in small +strips. Quickened by the whistling pellets, the cock suddenly lifted +himself again to the top of the hedge to go over, and for a moment came +full in view, and quite fifty yards away. I fired a snap shot as a +forlorn hope, and lost sight of him; but the next instant I heard Orion +call, “He’s down!” One single chance pellet had dropped the cock—he +fell on the other side just under the hedge. + +We hastened back to the brook, thinking that the shooting would attract +the keepers, and did not stay to look at the bird till safe over the +water. The long beak, the plumage that seems painted almost in the +exact tints of the dead brown leaves he loves so well, the eyes large +by comparison and so curiously placed towards the poll of the head as +if to see behind him—there was not a point that did not receive its +share of admiration. We shot about half a dozen rabbits, two more +hares, and a woodpigeon afterwards; but all these were nothing compared +with the woodcock. + +How Farmer “Willum” chuckled over it—especially to think that we had +cut out the game from the very batteries of the enemy! It was the one +speck of bitterness in the old man’s character—his hatred of this +keeper. Disabled himself by age and rheumatism from walking far, he +heard daily reports from his men of this fellow coming over the +boundary to shoot, or drive pheasant or partridge away. It was a sight +to see Farmer “Willum” stretch his bulky length in his old armchair, +right before the middle of the great fire of logs on the hearth, +twiddling his huge thumbs, and every now and then indulging in a hearty +laugh, followed by a sip at the “straight-cup.” + +There was a stag’s horn over the staircase: “Willum” loved to tell how +it came there. One severe winter long since, the deer in the forest +many miles away broke cover, forced by hunger, and came into the +rickyards and even the gardens. Most of them were got back, but one or +two wandered beyond trace. Those who had guns were naturally on the +look-out; indeed, a regular hunt was got up—“Willum,” then young and +active, in it of course. This chase was not successful; but early one +morning, going to look for wild geese in the water-meadow with his +long-barrelled gun, he saw something in a lonely rickyard. Creeping +cautiously up, he rested the heavy gun on an ash stole, and the big +duck-shot tore its way into the stag’s shoulder. Those days were gone, +but still his interest in shooting was unabated. + +Nothing had been altered on the place since he was a boy: the rent even +was the same. But all that is now changed—swept away before modern +improvements; and the rare old man is gone too, and I think his only +enemy also. + +There was nothing I used to look forward to, as the summer waned, with +so much delight as the snipe shooting. Regularly as the swallow to the +eaves in spring, the snipe comes back with the early frosts of autumn +to the same well-known spots—to the bend of the brook or the boggy +corner in the ploughed field—but in most uncertain numbers. Sometimes +flocks of ten or twenty, sometimes only twos and threes are seen, but +always haunting particular places. + +They have a special affection for peaty ground, black and spongy, where +every footstep seems to squeeze water out of the soil with a slight +hissing sound, and the boot cuts through the soft turf. There, where a +slow stream winds in and out, unmarked by willow or bush, but fringed +with green aquatic grasses growing on a margin of ooze, the snipe finds +tempting food; or in the meadows where a little spring breaks forth in +the ditch and does not freeze—for water which has just bubbled out of +the earth possesses this peculiarity, and is therefore favourable to +low forms of insect or slug life in winter—the snipe may be found when +the ponds are bound with ice. + +Some of the old country folk used to make as much mystery about this +bird as the cuckoo. Because it was seldom seen till the first fogs the +belief was that it had lost its way in the mist at sea, and come inland +by mistake. + +Just as in the early part of the year green buds and opening flowers +welcome swallow and cuckoo, so the colours of the dying leaf prepare +the way for the second feathered immigration in autumn. Once now and +then the tints of autumn are so beautiful that the artist can hardly +convey what he sees to canvas. The maples are aglow with orange, the +oaks one mass of buff, the limes light gold, the elms a soft yellow. In +the hawthorn thickets bronze spots abound; here and there a bramble +leaf has turned a brilliant crimson (though many bramble leaves will +remain a dull green all the winter through); the edible chestnut sheds +leaves of a dark fawn hue, but all, scattered by the winds, presently +resolve into a black pulp upon the earth. Noting these signs the +sportsman gets out his dust-shot for the snipe, and the farmer, as he +sees the fieldfare flying over after a voyage from Norway, +congratulates himself that last month was reasonably dry, and enabled +him to sow his winter seed. + +“Sceap—sceap!” and very often the snipe successfully carries out the +intention expressed in his odd-sounding cry, and does escape in +reality. Although I could not at first put my theory into practice, yet +I found by experience that it was correct. He is the exception to the +golden rule that the safest way lies in the middle, and that therefore +you should fire not too soon nor too late, but half-way between. But +the snipe must either be knocked over the instant he rises from the +ground, and before he has time to commence his puzzling zig-zag flight, +or else you must wait till he has finished his corkscrew burst. + +Then there is a moment just before he passes out of range when he +glides in a straight line and may be hit. This singular zig-zag flight +so deceives the eye as almost to produce the idea of a spiral movement. +No barrel can ever be jerked from side to side swiftly enough, no +hair-trigger is fine enough, to catch him then, except by the chance of +a vast scattering over-charge, which has nothing to do with sport. If +he rises at some little distance, then fire instantly, because by the +time the zig-zag is done the range will be too great; if he starts up +under your feet, out of a bunch of rushes, as is often the case, then +give him law till his eccentric twist is finished. + +When the smoke has cleared away in the crisp air, there he lies, the +yet warm breast on the frozen ground, to be lifted up not without a +passing pity and admiration. The brown feathers are exquisitely shaded, +and so exactly resemble the hue of the rough dead aquatic grass out of +which he sprang that if you cast the bird among it you will have some +trouble to find it again. To discover a living snipe on the ground is +indeed a test of good eyesight; for as he slips in and out among the +brown withered flags and the grey grass it requires not only a quick +eye but the inbred sportsman’s instinct of perception (if such a phrase +is permissible) to mark him out. + +If your shot has missed and merely splashed up the water or rattled +against bare branches, then step swiftly behind a tree-trunk, and stay +in ambuscade, keeping a sharp watch on him as he circles round high up +in the air. Very often in a few minutes he will come back in a wide +sweep, and drop scarcely a gun-shot distant in the same watercourse, +when a second shot may be obtained. The little jack snipe, when +flushed, will never fly far, if shot at several times in succession, +still settling fifty or sixty yards farther on, and is easily bagged. + +Coming silently as possible round a corner, treading gently on the +grass still white with hoar-frost in the shadow of the bushes, you may +chance to spring a stray woodcock, which bird, if you lose a moment, +will put the hedge between him and you. Artists used to seek for +certain feathers which he carries, one in each wing, thinking to make +of them a more delicate brush than the finest camel’s hair. + +In the evening I used to hide in the osier-beds on the edge of a great +water-meadow; for now that the marshes are drained, and the black earth +of the fens yields a harvest of yellow corn, the broad level meads +which are irrigated to fertilise them are among the chief inland +resorts of wild fowl. When the bright moon is rising, you walk in among +the tapering osier-wands, the rustling sedges, and dead dry hemlock +stems, and wait behind an aspen tree. + +In the thick blackthorn bush a round dark ball indicates the blackbird, +who has puffed out his feathers to shield him from the frost, and who +will sit so close and quiet that you may see the moonlight glitter on +his eye. Presently comes a whistling noise of wings, and a loud “quack, +quack!” as a string of ducks, their long necks stretched out, pass over +not twenty yards high, slowly slanting downwards to the water. This is +the favourable moment for the gun, because their big bodies are well +defined against the sky, and aim can be taken; but to shoot anything on +the ground at night, even a rabbit, whose white tail as he hops away is +fairly visible, is most difficult. + +The baffling shadows and the moonbeams on the barrel, and the faint +reflection from the dew or hoar-frost on the grass, prevent more than a +general direction being given to the gun, even with the tiny piece of +white paper which some affix to the muzzle-sight as a guide. From a +punt with a swivel gun it is different, because the game is swimming +and visible as black dots on the surface, and half a pound of shot is +sure to hit something. But in the water-meadows the ducks get among the +grass, and the larger water-carriers where they can swim usually have +small raised banks, so that at a distance only the heads of the birds +appear above them. + +So that the best time to shoot a duck is just as he slopes down to +settle—first, because he is distinctly visible against the sky; next, +because he is within easy range; and lastly, his flight is steady. If +you attempt to have ducks driven towards you, though they may go right +overhead, yet it will often be too high—for they rise at a sharp angle +when frightened; and men who are excellent judges of distance when it +is a hare running across the fallow, find themselves all at fault +trying to shoot at any elevation. Perhaps this arises from the +peculiarity of the human eye which draughtsmen are fond of illustrating +by asking a tyro to correctly bisect a vertical line: a thing that +looks easy, and is really only to be done by long practice. + +To make certain of selecting the right spot in the osiers over which +the ducks will pass, for one or two evenings previously a look-out +should be kept and their usual course observed; for all birds and +animals, even the wildest wild fowl, are creatures of habit and custom, +and having once followed a particular path will continue to use it +until seriously disturbed. Evening after evening the ducks will rise +above the horizon at the same place and almost at the same time, and +fly straight to their favourite feeding place. + +If hit, the mallard falls with a thud on the earth, for he is a heavy +bird; and few are more worthy of powder and shot either for his savoury +flavour, far surpassing the tame duck, or the beauty of his burnished +neck. With the ducks come teal and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy +meadow resounds with their strange cries. When ponds and lakes are +frozen hard is the best time for sport in these irrigated fields. All +day long the ducks will stand or waddle to and fro on the ice in the +centre of the lake or mere, far out of reach and ready to rise at the +slightest alarm. But at night they seek the meadow where the water, +running swiftly in the carriers, never entirely freezes, and where, if +the shallow spots become ice, the rising current flows over it and +floods another place. + +There is, moreover, never any difficulty in getting the game when hit, +because the water, except in the main carriers, which you can leap +across, hardly rises to the ankle, and ordinary water-tight boots will +enable you to wade wherever necessary. This is a great advantage with +wild fowl, which are sometimes shot and lost in deep ooze and strong +currents and eddies, and on thin ice where men cannot go and even good +dogs are puzzled. + + + + +CHAPTER XI +FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + + +The ferreting season commences when the frosts have caused the leaves +to drop, and the rabbits grow fat from feeding on bark. Early one +December morning, Orion and I started, with our man Little John, to +ferret a double-mound for our old friend Farmer “Willum” at Redcote. + +Little John was a labourer—one of those frequently working at odd times +for Luke, the Rabbit-Contractor. We had nicknamed him Little John +because of his great size and unwieldy proportions. He was the most +useful man we knew for such work; his heart was so thoroughly in it. + +He was waiting for us before we had finished breakfast, with his tools +and implements, having carefully prepared these while yet it was dark +at home in his cottage. The nets require looking to before starting, as +they are apt to get into a tangle, and there is nothing so annoying as +to have to unravel strings with chilled fingers in a ditch. Some have +to be mended, having been torn; some are cast aside altogether because +weak and rotten. The twine having been frequently saturated with water +has decayed. All the nets are of a light yellow colour from the clay +and sand that has worked into the string. + +These nets almost filled a sack, into which he also cast a pair of +“owl-catchers,” gloves of stout white leather, thick enough to turn a +thorn while handling bushes, or to withstand the claws of an owl +furiously resisting capture. His ferrets cost him much thought, which +to take and which to leave behind. He had also to be particular how he +fed them—they must be eager for prey, and yet they must not be starved, +else they would gorge on the blood of the first rabbit, and become +useless for hunting. + +Two had to be muzzled—an operation of some difficulty that generally +results in a scratched hand. A small piece of small but strong twine is +passed through the jaws behind the tusk-like teeth, and tightly tied +round, so tightly as almost to cut into the skin. This is the old way +of muzzling a ferret, handed down from generations: Little John scorns +the muzzles that can be bought at shops, and still more despises the +tiny bells to hang round the neck. The first he says often come off, +and the second embarrass the ferret and sometimes catch in projecting +rootlets and hold it fast. He has, too, a line—many yards of stout +twine wound about a short stick—to line a ferret if necessary. + +The ferrets are placed in a smaller bag, tightly tied at the top—for +they will work through and get out if any aperture be left. Inside the +bag is a little hay for them to lay on. He prefers the fitchew ferret +as he calls it; that is the sort that are coloured like a polecat. He +says they are fiercer, larger of make and more powerful. But he has +also a couple of white ones with pink eyes. Besides the sack of nets, +the bag of ferrets, and a small bundle in a knotted handkerchief—his +“nuncheon”—which in themselves make a tolerable load, he has brought a +billhook, and a “navigator,” or draining-tool. + +This is a narrow spade of specially stout make; the blade is hollow and +resembles an exaggerated gouge, and the advantage is that in digging +out a rabbit the tool is very apt to catch under a root, when an +ordinary spade may bend and become useless. The “navigator” will stand +anything, and being narrow is also more handy. All these implements +Little John has prepared by the dim light of a horn lantern in the shed +at the back of his cottage. A mug of ale while we get our guns greatly +cheers him, and unlooses his tongue. + +All the way to Redcote he impresses on us the absolute necessity of +silence while ferreting, and congratulates us on having a nearly still +day. He is a little doubtful about Orion’s spaniel and whether it will +keep quiet or not. + +When we reach the double-mound, his talk entirely ceases: he is as +silent and as rugged as a pollard oak. By the top of the mound the sack +of nets is thrown down on the sward and opened. As there are more holes +on the other side of the hedge Orion goes over with Little John, and I +proceed to set up the nets on mine. + +I found some difficulty in getting at the bank, the bushes being so +thick, and had to use the billhook and chop a way in: I heard Little +John growling about this in a whisper to Orion. Very often before going +with the ferrets, people send a man or two a few hours previously to +chop and clear the bushes. The effect is that the rabbits will not bolt +freely. They hear the men chopping, and the vibration of the earth as +they clumsily climb over the banks, and will not come out till +absolutely forced. If it is done at all, it should be done a week +beforehand. That was why Little John grumbled at my chopping though he +knew it was necessary. + +To set up a rabbit net you must arrange it so that it covers the whole +of the mouth of the hole, for if there is any opening between it and +the bank the rabbit will slip through. He will not face the net unless +obliged to. Along the upper part, if the bank is steep, so that the net +will not lie on it of itself, two or three little twigs should be +thrust through the meshes into the earth to suspend it. + +These twigs should be no larger than are used by birds in constructing +their nests; just strong enough to hold the net in place and no more. +On the other hand, care must be taken that no stout projecting root +catches a corner of the net, else it will not draw up properly and the +rabbit will escape. + +Little John, not satisfied with my assurance that I had netted all the +holes my side, now came over—crawling on hands and knees that he might +not jar the bank—to examine for himself. His practised eye detected two +holes that I had missed: one on the top of the mound much overhung by +dead grass, and one under a stole. These he attended to. He then +crawled up on the mound two or three yards below the end of the bury, +and with his own hands stretched a larger net right across the top of +the bank, so that if a rabbit did escape he would run into this. To be +still more sure he stretched another similar net across the whole width +of the mound at the other end of the bury. + +He then undid the mouth of the ferret-bag, holding it between his +knees—the ferrets immediately attempted to struggle out: he selected +two and then tied it up again. With both these in his own hands, for he +would trust nothing to another, he slipped quietly back to Orion’s +side, and so soon as he saw I was standing well back placed them in +different holes. + +Almost the next instant one came out my side disarranging a net. I got +into the ditch, hastily reset the net, and put the ferret to an +adjacent hole, lifting up the corner of the net there for it to creep +in. Unlike the weasel, a ferret once outside a hole seems at a loss, +and wanders slowly about, till chance brings him to a second. The +weasel used to hunting is no sooner out of one hole than he darts away +to the next. But this power the ferret has partially lost from +confinement. + +For a moment the ferret hesitated inside the hole, as if undecided +which of two passages to take: then he started, and I lost sight of his +tail. Hardly had I got back to my stand than I heard Little John leap +into the ditch his side: the next minute I saw the body of the rabbit +which he had killed thrown out into the field. + +I stood behind a somewhat advanced bush that came out into the meadow +like a buttress, and kept an eye on the holes along the bank. It is +essential to stand well back from the holes, and, if possible, out of +sight. In a few moments something moved, and I saw the head of a rabbit +at the mouth of a hole just behind the net. He looked through the +meshes as through a lattice, and I could see his nostrils work, as he +considered within himself how to pass this thing. It was but for a +moment; the ferret came behind, and wild with hereditary fear, the +rabbit leaped into the net. + +The force of the spring not only drew the net together, but dragged out +the peg, and rabbit and net inextricably entangled rolled down the bank +to the bottom of the ditch. I jumped into the ditch and seized the net; +when there came a hoarse whisper: “Look sharp you, measter: put up +another net fust—_he_ can’t get out; hould un under your arm, _or in +your teeth_.” + +I looked up, and saw Little John’s face peering over the mound. He had +thrust himself up under the bushes; his hat was off; his weather-beaten +face bleeding from a briar, but he could not feel the scratch so +anxious was he that nothing should escape. I pulled another net from my +pocket, and spread it roughly over the hole; then more slowly took the +rabbit from the other net. + +You should never hold a rabbit up till you have got fast hold of his +hind legs; he will so twist and work himself as to get free from any +other grasp. But when held by the hind legs and lifted from the ground +he can do nothing. I now returned to my buttress of bushes and waited. +The rabbits did not bolt my side again for a while. Every now and then +I saw, or heard, Orion or Little John leap into their ditch, and well +knew what it meant before the dead rabbit was cast out to fall with a +helpless thud upon the sward. + +Once I saw a rabbit’s head at the mouth of a hole, and momentarily +expected him to dart forth driven by the same panic fear. But either +the ferret passed, or there was another side-tunnel—the rabbit went +back. Some few minutes afterwards Little John exclaimed: “Look out, +you; ferret’s out!” One of the ferrets had come out of a hole and was +aimlessly—as it appeared—roaming along the bank. + +As he came nearest my side, I got quietly into the ditch and seized +him, and put him into a hole. To my surprise he refused to go in—I +pushed him: he returned and continued to try to come out till I gave +him a sharp fillip with the finger, when he shook the dust and +particles of dry earth from his fur with a shiver, as if in protest, +and slowly disappeared inside the hole. + +As I was creeping out of the deep ditch on hands and knees, I heard +Orion call angrily to the spaniel to come to heel. Hitherto the spaniel +had sat on his haunches behind Orion fairly quiet and still, though not +without an occasional restless movement. But now he broke suddenly from +all control, and disregarding Orion’s anger—though with hanging +tail—rushed into the hedge, and along the top of the mound where there +was a thick mass of dead grass. Little John hurled a clod of clay at +him, but before I was quite out of the ditch the spaniel gave tongue, +and at the same moment I saw a rabbit come from the ditch and run like +mad across the field. + +The dog gave chase—I rushed for my gun, which was some yards off, +placed against a hollow withy tree. The haste disconcerted the aim—the +rabbit too was almost fifty yards away when I fired. But the shot broke +one hind leg—it trailed behind—and the spaniel had him instantly. “Look +at yer nets,” said Little John in a tone of suppressed indignation, for +he disliked the noise of a gun, as all other noises. + +I did look, and found that one net had been partly pushed aside; yet to +so small an extent that I should hardly have believed it possible for +the rabbit to have crept through. He must have slipped out without the +slightest sound and quietly got on the top of the mound without being +seen. But there, alas! he found a wide net stretched right across the +bank so that to slip down the mound on the top was impossible. This +would certainly have been his course had not the net been there. + +It was now doubtless that the spaniel caught wind of him, and the scent +was so strong that it overcame his obedience. The moment the dog got on +the bank, the rabbit slipped down into the rushes in the ditch—I did +not see him because my back was turned in the act to scramble out. +Then, directly the spaniel gave tongue the rabbit darted for the open, +hoping to reach the buries in the hedge on the opposite side of the +meadow. + +This incident explained why the ferret seemed so loth to go back into +the hole. He had crept out some few moments behind the rabbit and in +his aimless uncertain manner was trying to follow the scent along the +bank. He did not like being compelled to give up this scent and to +search again for another. “Us must be main careful how us fixes our +nets, you,” said Little John, going as far as he could in reproof of my +negligence. + +The noise of the gun, the barking, and talking was of course heard by +the rabbits still in the bury, and as if to show that Little John was +right, for a while they ceased to bolt. Standing behind the +bushes—against which I now placed the gun to be nearer at hand—I +watched the nets till my eye was caught by the motions of the +ferret-bag. It lay on the grass and had hitherto been inert. But now +the bag reared itself up, and then rolled over, to again rise and again +tumble. The ferrets left in it in reserve were eager to get out—sharp +set on account of a scanty breakfast—and their motions caused the bag +to roll along a short distance. + +I could see Orion on the other side of the mound tolerably well because +he was standing up and the leaves had fallen from the upper part of the +bushes. Little John was crouched in the ditch: the dead grasses, +“gicks,” withered vines of bryony, the thistles, and dark shrivelled +fern concealed him. + +There was a round black sloe on the blackthorn beside me, the beautiful +gloss, or bloom, on it made it look like a tiny plum. It tasted not +only sour, but seemed to positively fill the mouth with a rough acid. +Overhead light grey clouds, closely packed but not rainy, drifted very +slowly before a N.E. upper current. Occasionally a brief puff of wind +came through the bushes rustling the dead leaves that still remained on +the oaks. + +Despite the cold, something of Little John’s intense concentration +communicated itself to us: we waited and watched with eager patience. +After a while he got out of the ditch where he had been listening with +his ear close against the bank, and asked me to pass him the +ferret-bag. He took out another ferret and lined it—that is, attached +one end of a long string to its neck, and then sent it in. + +He watched which way the ferret turned, and then again placed his head +upon the hard clay to listen. Orion had to come and hold the line, +while he went two or three yards farther down, got into the ditch and +once more listened carefully. “He be about the middle of the mound +you,” he said to me; “he be between you and I. Lor! look out.” + +There was a low rumbling sound—I expected to see a rabbit bolt into one +of my nets, I heard Little John moving some leaves, and then he +shouted, “Give I a net, you—quick. Lor! here be another hole: he’s +coming!” I looked over the mound and saw Little John, his teeth set and +staring at a hole which had no net, his great hands open ready to +pounce instantly like some wild animal on its prey. In an instant the +rabbit bolted—he clutched it and clasped it tight to his chest. There +was a moment of struggling, the next the rabbit was held up for a +moment and then cast across his knee. + +It was always a sight to see Little John’s keen delight in “wristing” +their necks. He affected utter unconsciousness of what he was doing, +looked you in the face, and spoke about some indifferent subject. But +all the while he was feeling the rabbit’s muscles stretch before the +terrible grasp of his hands, and an expression of complacent +satisfaction flitted over his features as the neck gave with a sudden +looseness, and in a moment what had been a living straining creature +became limp. + +The ferret came out after the rabbit; he immediately caught it and +thrust it into his pocket. There were still two ferrets in—one that was +suspected to be gorging on a rabbit in a _cul de sac_, and the other +lined, and which had gone to join that sanguinary feast. The use of the +line was to trace where the loose ferret lay. “Chuck I the show’l, +measter,” said Little John. + +I gave the “navigator” tool a heave over the hedge; it fell and stuck +upright in the sward. Orion handed it to him. He first filled up the +hole from which a rabbit had just bolted with a couple of “spits,” +_i.e._ spadefuls, and then began to dig on the top of the mound. + +This digging was very tedious. The roots of the thorn bushes and trees +constantly impeded it, and had to be cut. Then upon at last getting +down to the hole, it was found that the right place had not been hit by +several feet. Here was the line and the lined ferret—he had got hitched +in a projecting root, and was furiously struggling to go forward to the +feast of blood. + +Another spell of digging—this time still slower because Little John was +afraid lest the edge of his tool should suddenly slip through and cut +his ferret on the head, and perhaps kill it. At last the place was +reached and the ferret drawn forth still clinging to its victim. The +rabbit was almost beyond recognition as a rabbit. The poor creature had +been stopped by a _cul de sac_, and the ferret came upon him from +behind. + +As the hole was small the rabbit’s body completely filled it, and the +ferret could not scramble past to get at the spot behind the ear where +it usually seizes. The ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the +hindquarters and so bored a passage. The ferret being so gorged was +useless for further hunting and was replaced in the bag. But Little +John gave him a drink of water first from the bottom of the ditch. + +Orion and I, wearied with the digging, now insisted on removing to the +next bury, for we felt sure that the remaining rabbits in this one +would not bolt. Little John had no choice but to comply, but he did so +with much reluctance and many rueful glances back at the holes from +which he took the nets. He was sure, he said, that there were at least +half-a-dozen still in the bury: he only wished he might have all that +he could get out of it. But we imperiously ordered a removal. + +We went some thirty yards down the mound, passing many smaller buries, +and chose a spot perfectly drilled with holes. While Little John was in +the ditch putting up nets, we slily undid the ferret-bag and turned +three ferrets at once loose into the holes. “Lor! measter, measter, +what be you at?” cried Little John, quite beside himself. “You’ll spoil +all on it. Lor!” + +A sharp report as Orion fired at a rabbit that bolted almost under +Little John’s fingers drowned his remonstrances, and he had to scramble +out of the way quick. Bang! bang! right and left: the firing became +rapid. There being no nets to alarm the rabbits and three ferrets +hunting them, they tumbled out in all directions as fast as we could +load. Now the cartridges struck branches and shattered them. Now the +shot flattened itself against sarsen stones imbedded in the mound. The +rabbits had scarce a yard to bolt from one hole to another, so that it +was sharp work. + +Little John now gave up all hope, and only pleaded piteously for his +ferrets. “Mind as you doan’t hit ’em, measter; doant’ee shoot into a +hole, you.” For half an hour we had some really good shooting: then it +began to slacken, and we told him to catch his ferrets and go on to the +next bury. I am not sure that he would not have rebelled outright but +just then a boy came up carrying a basket of provisions, and a large +earthenware jar with a bung cork, full of humming ale. Farmer Willum +had sent this, and the strong liquor quite restored Little John’s good +humour. It really was ale—such as is not to be got for money. + +The boy said that he had seen Farmer Willum’s hereditary enemy, the +keeper, watching us from his side of the boundary, doubtless attracted +by the sound of the firing. He said also that there was a pheasant in a +little copse beside the brook. We sent him out again to reconnoitre: he +returned and repeated that the keeper had gone, and that he thought he +saw him enter the distant fir plantations. So we left the boy to help +Little John at the next bury—a commission that made him grin with +delight, and suited the other very well, since the noisy guns were +going away, and he could use his nets. + +We took the lined ferret with us, and started after the pheasant. Just +as we approached the copse, the spaniel gave tongue on the other side +of the hedge. Orion had tied him up to a bush, wishing to leave him +with Little John. But the spaniel tore and twisted till he got loose +and had followed us—keeping out of sight—till now crossing the scent of +a rabbit he set up his bark. We called him to heel, and I am afraid he +got a kick. But the pheasant was alarmed, and rose before we could +properly enfilade the little copse, where we should most certainly have +had him. He flew high and straight for the fir plantations, where it +was useless to follow. + +However, we leaped the brook and entered the keeper’s territory under +shelter of a thick double-mound. We slipped the lined ferret into a +small bury, and succeeded in knocking over a couple of rabbits. The +object of using the lined ferret was because we could easily recover +it. This was pure mischief, for there were scores of rabbits on our own +side. But then there was just a little spice of risk in this, and we +knew Willum would gloat over it. + +After firing these two shots we got back again as speedily as possible, +and once more assisted Little John. We could not, however, quite resist +the pleasure of shooting a rabbit occasionally and so tormenting him. +We left one hole each side without a net, and insisted on the removal +of the net that stretched across the top of the bank. This gave us a +shot now and then, and the removal of the cross net allowed the rabbit +some little law. + +Notwithstanding these drawbacks—to him—Little John succeeded in making +a good bag. He stayed till it was quite dark to dig out a ferret that +had killed a rabbit in the hole. He took his money for his day’s work +with indifference: but when we presented him with two couple of clean +rabbits his gratitude was too much for him to express. The gnawn and +“blown” rabbits [by shot] were his perquisite, the clean rabbits an +unexpected gift. It was not their monetary value; it was the fact that +they were rabbits. + +The man’s instinct for hunting was so strong that it seemed to overcome +everything else. He would walk miles—after a long day’s farm work—just +to help old Luke, the rabbit contractor, bring home the rabbits in the +evening from the Upper Woods. He worked regularly for one farmer, and +did his work well: he was a sober man too as men go, that is he did not +get drunk more than once a month. A strong man must drink now and then: +but he was not a sot, and took nine-tenths of his money faithfully home +to his wife and children. + +In the winter when farm work is not so pressing he was allowed a week +off now and then, which he spent in ferreting for the farmers, and +sometimes for Luke, and of course he was only too glad to get such an +engagement as we gave him. Sometimes he made a good thing of his +ferreting: sometimes when the weather was bad it was a failure. But +although a few shillings were of consequence to him, it really did not +seem to be the money-value but the sport that he loved. To him that +sport was all-absorbing. + +His ferrets were well looked after, and he sometimes sold one for a +good price to keepers. As a rule a man who keeps ferrets is suspected: +but Little John was too well understood, and he had no difficulty in +begging a little milk for them. + +His tenacity in pursuit of a rabbit was always a source of wonder to +me. In rain, in wind, in frost; his feet up to the ankle in the +ice-cold slush at the bottom of a ditch: no matter what the weather or +how rough, he patiently stood to his nets. I have known him stand the +whole day long in a snowstorm—the snow on the ground and in the holes, +the flakes drifting against his face—and never once show impatience. +All he disliked was wind—not on account of discomfort, but because the +creaking of the branches and the howling of the blast made such a noise +that it was impossible to tell where the rabbit would bolt. + +He congratulated himself that evening because he had recovered all his +ferrets. Sometimes one will lie in and defy all efforts to bring it +out. One plan is to place a dead fresh rabbit at the mouth of the hole +which may tempt the ferret to come and seize it. In large woods there +are generally one or more ferrets wandering loose in the season, that +have escaped from the keepers or poachers. + +If the keeper sees one he tries to catch it; failing that, he puts a +charge of shot into it. Some keepers think nothing of shooting their +own ferrets if they will not come when called by the chirrup with the +lips, or displease them in other ways. They do not care, because they +can have as many as they like. Little John made pets of his: they +obeyed him very well as a rule. + +Poaching men are sometimes charged with stealing ferrets, _i.e._ with +picking up and carrying off those that keepers have lost. A ferret is, +however, a difficult thing to identify and swear to. + +Those who go poaching with ferrets choose a moonlight night: if it is +dark it is difficult to find the holes. Small buries are best because +so much more easily managed, and the ferret is usually lined. If a +large bury is attempted, they take the first half-dozen that bolt and +then move on to another. The first rabbits come out rapidly; the rest +linger as if warned by the fate of their companions. Instead of wasting +time over them it is best to move to another place. + +Unless a keeper should chance to pass up the hedgerow there is +comparatively little risk, for the men are in the ditch and invisible +ten yards away under the bushes and make no noise. It is more difficult +to get home with the game: but it is managed. Very small buries with +not more than four or five holes may be ferreted even on the darkest +nights by carefully observing beforehand where the holes are situate. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK _versus_ +BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + +When the moon is full and nearly at the zenith it seems to move so +slowly that the shadows scarcely change their position. In winter, when +the branches are bare, a light that is nearly vertical over a tree can +cast but little shadow, and that falls immediately around the trunk. So +that the smallness of the shadow itself and the slowness of its motion +together tend to conceal it. + +The snow on the ground increases the sense of light, and in approaching +the wood the scene is even more distinct than during the gloomy day. +The tips of the short stubble that has not yet been ploughed in places +just protrude above the surface, and the snow, frozen hard, crunches +with a low sound under foot. But for that all is perfectly still. The +level upland cornfields stretch away white and vacant to the +hills—white, too, and clear against the sky. The plain is silent, and +nothing that can be seen moves upon its surface. + +On the verge of the wood which occupies the sloping ground there stands +a great oak tree, and down one side of its trunk is a narrow white +streak of snow. Leaning against the oak and looking upwards, every +branch and twig is visible, lit up by the moon. Overhead the stars are +dimmed, but they shine more brightly yonder above the hills. Such +leaves as have not yet fallen hang motionless: those that are lying on +the ground are covered by the snow, and thus held fast from rustling +even were the wind to blow. But there is not the least breath—a great +frost is always quiet, profoundly quiet—and the silence is undisturbed +even by the fall of a leaf. The frost that kills them holds the leaves +till it melts, and then they drop. + +The tall ash poles behind in the wood stand stark and straight, +pointing upwards, and it is possible to see for some distance between +them. No lesser bats flit to and fro outside the fence under the +branches; no larger ones pass above the tops _of_ the trees. There +seems, indeed, a total absence of life. The pheasants are at roost in +the warmer covers; and the woodpigeons are also perched—some in the +detached oaks of the hedgerows, particularly those that are thickly +grown with ivy about the upper branches. Up in the great beeches the +rooks are still and silent; sometimes the boughs are encrusted with +rime about their very claws. + +Leaving the oak now and skirting the wood, after a while the meadows on +the lower ground are reached; and here perhaps the slight scampering +sound of a rabbit may be heard. But as they can see and hear you so far +in the bright light and silence, they will most likely be gone before +you can get near. They are restless—very restless; first because of the +snow, and next because of the moonlight. The hares, unable to find +anything on the hills or the level white plain above, have come down +here and search along the sheltered hedgerows for leaf and blade. +To-night the rabbits will run almost like the hares, to and fro, hither +and thither. + +In the thickest hawthorns the blackbirds and lesser feathered creatures +are roosting, preferring the hedgerow to the more open wood. Some of +the lesser birds have crept into the ivy around the elms, and which +crowns the tops of the withy pollards. Wrens and sparrows have gone to +the hayricks, roosting in little holes in the sides under the slightly +projecting thatch. They have taken refuge too in the nest-holes made in +the thatched eaves of the sheds: tits are there also; and sometimes two +or three of the latter are captured at once in such holes. + +A dark line across the lower meadows marks the course of the brook; it +is dark because the snow falling on the water melted. Even now there is +a narrow stream unfrozen; though the banks against which it chafes are +hard, and will not take the impression of the moorhen’s foot. The +water-rats that in summertime played and fed along the margin among the +flags are rarely seen in winter. In walking in daylight by the brook +now their plunge into the water will not be heard, nor can they be seen +travelling at the bottom. + +They lay up a store of food in a hole away from the stream, generally +choosing the banks or higher ground in the withy-beds—places that are +not often flooded. Their ordinary holes, which are half, and sometimes +quite, under water, will not do for winter; they would be frozen in +them, and perhaps their store of food would be spoiled; besides which +the floods cause the stream to rise above its banks, and they could not +exist under water for weeks together. + +Still further down, where the wood ends in scattered bushes and +withy-beds, the level shore of the shallow mere succeeds. The once +soft, oozy ground is now firm; the rushes are frozen stiff, and the ice +for some distance out is darkened by the aquatic weeds frozen in it. +From here the wood, rising up the slope, comes into view at once—the +dark trees, the ash poles, the distant beeches, the white crest of the +hill—all still and calm under the moonlight. The level white plain of +ice behind stretches away, its real extent concealed by the islands of +withy and the dark pines along the distant shore; while elsewhere the +ice is not distinguishable from the almost equally level fields that +join it. Looking now more closely on the snow, the tracks of hares and +rabbits that have crossed and recrossed the ice are visible. + +In passing close to the withy-beds to return to the wood some branches +have to be pushed aside and cause a slight noise. Immediately a crowd +of birds rise out of the withies, where they have been roosting, and +scatter into the night. They are redwings and thrushes; every withy-bed +is full of them. After wheeling about in the air they will presently +return—first one, then three or four, and finally the flock, to their +roosting-place. + +It is easy now to walk through the wood without making a noise: there +is room to pass between the stoles of ash; and the dead sticks that +would have cracked under foot are covered with snow. But be careful how +you step; for in some places the snow has fallen upon a mass of leaves +filling a swampy hollow. Above there is a thin crust of snow, but under +the leaves the oozy ground is still soft. + +Upon the dark pines the snow has lodged, making the boughs bend +downwards. Where the slope becomes a hill the ash stoles and nut-tree +bushes are far apart and thinner, so that there are wide white spaces +around them. Regaining now the top of the hill where the plain comes to +the verge of the wood, there is a clear view down across the ash poles +to the withies, the white mere, and the meadows below. Everywhere +silence, stillness, sleep. + +In the high trees slumbering creatures; in the hedgerows, in the +bushes, and the withies birds with feathers puffed out, slumbering; in +the banks, under the very ground, dormant animals. A quiet cold that at +first does not seem cold because it is so quiet, but which gradually +seizes on and stills the sap of plants and the blood of living things. +A ruthless frost, still, subtle, and irresistible, that will slay the +bird on its perch and weaken the swift hare. + +The most cruel of all things this snow and frost, because of the +torture of hunger which the birds must feel even in their sleep. But +how beautiful the round full moon, the brilliant light, the white +landscape, the graceful lines of the pine brought out by the snow, the +hills yonder, and the stars rising above them! + +It was on just such a night as this that some years since a most +successful raid was made upon this wood by a band of poachers coming +from a distance. The pheasants had been kept later than usual to be +shot by a Christmas party, and perhaps this had caused a relaxation of +vigilance. The band came in a cart of some kind; the marks of the +wheels were found on the snow where it had been driven off the highway +and across a field to some ricks. There, no doubt, the horse and cart +were kept out of sight behind the ricks, while the men, who were +believed to have worn smock-frocks, entered the wood. + +The bright moonlight made it easy to find the pheasants, and they were +potted in plenty. Finding that there was no opposition, the gang +crossed from the wood to some outlying plantations and continued their +work there. The keeper never heard a sound. He was an old man—a man who +had been on the estate all his life—and had come in late in the evening +after a long round. He sat by the fire of split logs and enjoyed the +warmth after the bitter cold and frost; and, as he himself confessed, +took an extra glass in consideration of the severity of the weather. + +His wife was old and deaf. Neither of them heard the guns nor the dogs. +Those in the kennels close to the cottage, and very likely one or more +indoors, must have barked at the noise of the shooting. But if any dim +sense of the uproar did reach the keeper’s ear he put it down to the +moon, at which dogs will bay. As for his assistants, they had quietly +gone home, so soon as they felt sure that the keeper was housed for the +night. Long immunity from attack had bred over-confidence; the staff +also was too small for the extent of the place, and this had doubtless +become known. No one sleeps so soundly as an agricultural labourer; and +as the nearest hamlet was at some distance it is not surprising that +they did not wake. + +In the early morning a fogger going to fodder his cattle came across a +pheasant lying dead on the path, the snow stained with its blood. He +picked it up, and put it under his smock-frock, and carried it to the +pen, where he hid it under some litter, intending to take it home. But +afterwards, as he crossed the fields towards the farm, he passed near +the wood and observed the tracks of many feet and a gap in the fence. +He looked through the gap and saw that the track went into the +preserves. On second thoughts he went back for the pheasant and took it +to his master. + +The farmer, who was sitting down to table, quietly ate his breakfast, +and then strolled over to the keeper’s cottage with the bird. This was +the first intimation: the keeper could hardly believe it, till he +himself went down and followed the trail of foot-marks. There was not +the least difficulty in tracing the course of the poachers through the +wood; the feathers were lying about; the scorched paper (for they used +muzzle-loaders), broken boughs, and shot-marks were all too plain. But +by this time the gang were well away, and none were captured or +identified. + +The extreme severity of the frost naturally caused people to stay +indoors, so that no one noticed the cart going through the village; nor +could the track of its wheels be discerned from others on the snow of +the highway beaten down firm. Even had the poachers been disturbed, it +is doubtful if so small a staff of keepers could have done anything to +stop them. As it was, they not only made a good haul—the largest made +for years in that locality—but quite spoiled the shooting. + +There are no white figures passing through the peaceful wood to-night +and firing up into the trees. It is perfectly still. The broad moon +moves slow, and the bright rays light up tree and bush, so that it is +easy to see through, except where the brambles retain their leaves and +are fringed with the dead ferns. + +The poaching of the present day is carried on with a few appliances +only. An old-fashioned poacher could employ a variety of “engines,” but +the modern has scarcely any choice. There was, for instance, a very +effective mode of setting a wire with a springe or bow. A stout stick +was thrust into the ground, and then bent over into an arch. When the +wire was thrown it instantly released the springe, which sprang up and +drew it fast round the neck of the hare or rabbit, whose fore feet were +lifted from the earth. Sometimes a growing sapling was bent down for +the bow if it chanced to stand conveniently near a run. The hare no +sooner put her head into the noose than she was suspended and +strangled. + +I tried the springe several times for rabbits, and found it answer; but +the poacher cannot use it because it is so conspicuous. The stick +itself, rising above the grass, is visible at some distance, and when +thrown it holds the hare or rabbit up for any one to see that passes +by. With a wire set in the present manner the captured animal lies +extended, and often rolls into a furrow and is further hidden. + +The springe was probably last employed by the mole-catchers. Their +wooden traps were in the shape of a small tunnel, with a wire in the +middle which, when the mole passed through, set free a bent stick. This +stick pulled the wire and hung the mole. Such mole-catchers’ bows or +springes used to be seen in every meadow, but are now superseded by the +iron trap. + +Springes with horsehair nooses on the ground were also set for +woodcocks and for wild ducks. It is said that a springe of somewhat +similar construction was used for pheasants. Horsehair nooses are still +applied for capturing woodpeckers and the owls that spend the day in +hollow trees, being set round the hole by which they leave the tree. A +more delicate horsehair noose is sometimes set for finches and small +birds. I tried it for bullfinches, but did not succeed from lack of the +dexterity required. The modes of using bird-lime were numerous, and +many of them are in use for taking song-birds. + +But the enclosure of open lands, the strict definition of footpaths, +closer cultivation, and the increased value of game have so checked the +poacher’s operations with nets that in many districts the net may be +said to be extinct. It is no longer necessary to bush the stubbles +immediately after reaping. Brambles are said to have been the best for +hindering the net, which frequently swept away an entire covey, old +birds and young together. Stubbles are now so short that no birds will +lie in them, and the net would not be successful there if it were +tried. + +The net used to be so favourite an “engine” because partridges and +pheasants will run rather than fly. In the case of partridges the +poacher had first to ascertain the haunt of the covey, which he could +do by looking for where they roost at night: the spot is often worn +almost bare of grass and easily found. Or he could listen in the +evening for the calling of the birds as they run together. The net +being set, he walked very slowly down the wind towards the covey. It +could not be done too quietly or gently, because if one got up all the +rest would immediately take wing; for partridges act in concert. If he +took his time and let them run in front of him he secured the whole +number. That was the principle; but the nets were of many kinds: the +partridges were sometimes driven in by a dog. The partridges that +appear in the market on the morning of the 1st of September are said to +be netted, though probably by those who have a right to do so. These +birds by nature lend themselves to such tricks, being so timid. It is +said that if continually driven to and fro they will at last cower, and +can be taken by hand or knocked over with a stick. + +The sight of a paper kite in the air makes them motionless till forced +to rise; and there was an old dodge of ringing a bell at night, which +so alarmed the covey that they remained still till the net was ready, +when a sudden flash of light drove them into it. Imagine a poacher +ringing a bell nowadays! Then, partridges were peculiarly liable to be +taken; now, perhaps, they escape better than any other kind of game. +Except with a gun the poacher can hardly touch them, and after the +coveys have been broken up it is not worth his while to risk a shot +very often. If only their eggs could be protected there should be +little difficulty with partridges. + +Pheasants are more individual in their ways, and act less together; but +they have the same habit of running instead of flying, and if a poacher +did but dare he could take them with nets as easily as possible. They +form runs through the woods—just as fowls will wander day after day +down a hedge, till they have made quite a path. So that, having found +the run and knowing the position of the birds, the rest is simplicity +itself. The net being stretched, the pheasants were driven in. A cur +dog was sometimes sent round to disturb the birds. Being a cur, he did +not bark, for which reason a strain of cur is preferred to this day by +the mouchers who keep dogs. Now that the woods are regularly watched +such a plan has become impracticable. It might indeed be done once, but +surely not twice where competent keepers were about. + +Nets were also used for hares and rabbits, which were driven in by a +dog; but, the scent of these animals being so good, it was necessary to +work in such a manner that the wind might not blow from the net, +meeting them as they approached it. Pheasants, as every one knows, +roost on trees, but often do not ascend very high; and, indeed, before +the leaves are off they are said to be sometimes taken by hand—sliding +it along the bough till the legs are grasped, just as you might fowls +perched at night on a rail across the beams of a shed. + +The spot where they roost is easily found out, because of the peculiar +noise they make upon flying up; and with a little precaution the trees +may be approached without startling them. Years ago the poacher carried +a sulphur match and lit it under the tree, when the fumes, ascending, +stupefied the birds, which fell to the ground. The process strongly +resembled the way in which old-fashioned folk stifled their bees by +placing the hive at night, when the insects were still, over a piece of +brown paper dipped in molten brimstone and ignited. The apparently dead +bees were afterwards shaken out and buried; but upon moving the earth +with a spade some of them would crawl out, even after two or three +days. + +Sulphur fumes were likewise used for compelling rabbits to bolt from +their buries without a ferret. I tried an experiment in a bury once +with a mixture the chief component of which was gunpowder, so managed +as to burn slowly and give a great smoke. The rabbits did, indeed, just +hop out and hop in again; but it is a most clumsy expedient, because +the fire must be lit on the windward side, and the rabbits will only +come out to leeward. The smoke hangs, and does not penetrate into half +the tunnels; or else it blows through quickly, when you must stop half +the holes with a spade. It is a wretched substitute for a ferret. + +When cock-fighting was common the bellicose inclinations of the +cock-pheasants were sometimes excited to their destruction. A gamecock +was first armed with the sharp spur made from the best razors, and then +put down near where a pheasant-cock had been observed to crow. The +pheasant cock is so thoroughly game that he will not allow any rival +crowing in his locality, and the two quickly met in battle. Like a keen +poniard the game-cock’s spur either slew the pheasant outright or got +fixed in the pheasant’s feathers, when he was captured. + +A pheasant, too, as he ran deeper into the wood upon an alarm, +occasionally found his neck in a noose suspended across his path. For +rabbiting, the lurcher was and is the dog of all others. He is as +cunning and wily in approaching his game as if he had a cross of feline +nature in his character. Other dogs trust to speed; but the lurcher +steals on his prey without a sound. He enters into the purpose of his +master, and if any one appears in sight remains quietly in the hedge +with the rabbit or leveret in his mouth till a sign bids him approach. +If half the stories told of the docility and intelligence of the +lurcher are true, the poacher needs no other help than one of these +dogs for ground game. But the dogs called lurchers nowadays are mostly +of degenerate and impure breed; still, even these are capable of a good +deal. + +There is a way of fishing with rod and line, but without a bait. The +rod should be in one piece, or else a stout one—the line also very +strong and short, the hook of large size. When the fish is discovered +the hook is quietly dropped into the water and allowed to float, in +seeming, along, till close under it. The rod is then jerked up, and the +barb enters the body of the fish and drags it out. + +This plan requires, of course, that the fish should be visible, and if +stationary is more easily practised; but it is also effective even +against small fish that swim together in large shoals, for if the hook +misses one it strikes another. The most fatal time for fish is when +they spawn: roach, jack, and trout alike are then within reach, and if +the poacher dares to visit the water he is certain of a haul. + +Even in the present day and in the south a fawn is now and then stolen +from parks and forests where deer are kept. Being small, it is not much +more difficult to hide than a couple of hares; and once in the +carrier’s cart and at a little distance no one asks any questions. Such +game always finds a ready sale; and when a savoury dish is on the table +those who are about to eat it do not inquire whence it came any more +than the old folk did centuries ago. A nod and a wink are the best +sauce. As the keepers are allowed to sell a certain number of fawns (or +say they are), it is not possible for any one at a distance to know +whether the game was poached or not. An ordinary single-barrel +muzzle-loader of the commonest kind with a charge of common shot will +kill a fawn. + +I once started to stalk a pheasant that was feeding in the corner of a +meadow. Beyond the meadow there was a cornfield which extended across +to a preserved wood. But the open stubble afforded no cover—any one +walking in it could be seen—so that the pheasant had to be got at from +one side only. It was necessary also that he should be shot dead +without fluttering of wings, the wood being so near. + +The afternoon sun, shining in a cloudless sky—it was a still October +day—beat hot against the western side of the hedge as I noiselessly +walked beside it. In the aftermath, green but flowerless, a small flock +of sheep were feeding—one with a long briar clinging to his wool. They +moved slowly before me; a thing I wanted; for behind sheep almost any +game can be approached. + +I have also frequently shot rabbits that were out feeding, by the aid +of a herd of cows. It does not seem to be so much the actual cover as +the scent of the animals; for a man of course can be seen over sheep, +and under the legs of cattle. But the breath and odour of sheep or cows +prevent the game from scenting him, and, what is equally effective, the +cattle, to which they are accustomed, throw them off their guard. + +The cart-horses in the fields do not answer so well: if you try to use +one for stalking, unless he knows you he will sheer off and set up a +clumsy gallop, being afraid of capture and a return to work. But cows +will feed steadily in front, and a flock of sheep, very slowly driven, +move on with a gentle “tinkle, tinkle.” Wild creatures show no fear of +what they are accustomed to, and the use of which they understand. + +If a solitary hurdle be set up in a meadow as a hiding-place from +behind which to shoot the rabbits of a burrow, not one will come out +within gun-shot that evening. They know-that it is something strange, +the use of which they do not understand and therefore avoid. When I +first began to shoot, the difficulty was to judge the distances, and to +know how far a rabbit was from a favourite hiding-place. I once +carefully dropped small green boughs, just broken off, at twenty, +thirty, and forty yards, measuring by paces. This was in the morning. + +In the evening not a rabbit would come out anywhere near these boughs; +they were shy of them even when the leaves had withered and turned +brown; so that I took them away. Yet of the green boughs blown off by a +gale, or the dead grey branches that fall of their own weight, they +take no notice. + +First, then, they must have heard me in their burrows pacing by; +secondly, they scented the boughs as having been handled, and connected +the two circumstances together; and, thirdly, though aware that the +boughs themselves were harmless, they felt that harm was intended. The +pheasant had been walking about in the corner where the hedges met, but +now he went in; still, as he entered the hedge in a quiet way, he did +not appear to be alarmed. The sheep, tired of being constantly driven +from their food, now sheered out from the hedge, and allowed me to go +by. + +As I passed I gathered a few haws and ate them. The reason why birds do +not care much for berries before they are forced to take to them by +frost is because of the stone within, so that the food afforded by the +berries is really small. Yew-berries are an exception; they have a +stone, but the covering to it is sweet, succulent, and thick, and +dearly loved by thrushes. In the ditch the tall grasses, having escaped +the scythe, bowed low with the weight of their own awn-like seeds. + +The corner was not far off now; and I waited awhile behind a large +hawthorn bush growing on the “shore” of the ditch, thinking that I +might see the pheasant on the mound, or that at least he would recover +confidence if he had previously heard anything. Inside the bush was a +nest already partly filled with fallen leaves, like a little basket. + +A rabbit had been feeding on the other side, but now, suspicious, came +over the bank, and, seeing me, suddenly stopped and lifted himself up. +In that moment I could have shot him, being so near, without putting +the gun to the shoulder, by the sense of direction in the hands; the +next he dived into a burrow. Looking round the bush, I now saw the +pheasant in the hedge, that crossed at right angles in front; this was +fortunate, because through that hedge there was another meadow. It was +full of nut-tree bushes, very tall and thick at the top, but lower down +thin, as is usually the case when poles grow high. To fill the space a +fence had been made of stakes and bushes woven between them, and on +this the pheasant stood. + +It was too far for a safe shot; in a minute he went down into the +meadow on the other side. I then crept on hands and knees towards the +nut-bushes: as I got nearer there was a slight rustle and a low hiss in +the grass, and I had to pause while a snake went by hastening for the +ditch. A few moments afterwards, being close to the hedge, I rose +partly up, and looked carefully over the fence between the hazel wands. +There was the pheasant not fifteen yards away, his back somewhat +towards me, and quietly questing about. + +In lifting the gun I had to push aside a bough—the empty hoods, from +which a bunch of brown nuts had fallen, rested against the barrel as I +looked along it. I aimed at the head—knowing that it would mean instant +death, and would also avoid shattering the bird at so short a range; +besides which there would be fewer scattered feathers to collect and +thrust out of sight into a rabbit bury. A reason why people frequently +miss pheasants in cover-shooting, despite of their size, is because +they look at the body, the wings, and the tail. But if they looked only +at the head, and thought of that, very few would escape. My finger felt +the trigger, and the least increase of pressure would have been fatal; +but in the act I hesitated, dropped the barrel, and watched the +beautiful bird. + +That watching so often stayed the shot that at last it grew to be a +habit: the mere simple pleasure of seeing birds and animals, when they +were quite unconscious that they were observed, being too great to be +spoilt by the discharge. After carefully getting a wire over a jack; +after waiting in a tree till a hare came along; after sitting in a +mound till the partridges began to run together to roost; in the end +the wire or gun remained unused. The same feeling has equally checked +my hand in legitimate shooting: time after time I have flushed +partridges without firing, and have let the hare bound over the furrow +free. + +I have entered many woods just for the pleasure of creeping through the +brake and the thickets. Destruction in itself was not the motive; it +was an overpowering instinct for woods and fields. Yet woods and fields +lose half their interest without a gun—I like the power to shoot, even +though I may not use it. The very perfection of our modern guns is to +me one of their drawbacks: the use of them is so easy and so certain of +effect that it takes away the romance of sport. + +There could be no greater pleasure to me than to wander with a +matchlock through one of the great forests or wild tracts that still +remain in England. A hare a day, a brace of partridges, or a wild duck +would be ample in the way of actual shooting. The weapon itself, +whether matchlock, wheel-lock, or even a cross-bow, would be a delight. +Some of the antique wheel-lock guns are really beautiful specimens of +design. The old powder-horns are often gems of workmanship—hunting +scenes cut out in ivory, and the minutest detail of hoof or antler +rendered with life-like accuracy. How pleasant these carvings feel to +the fingers! It is delightful to handle such weapons and such +implements. + +The matchlocks, too, are inlaid or the stocks carved. There is +slaughter in every line of our modern guns—mechanical slaughter. But +were I offered participation in the bloodiest battue ever arranged, or +the freedom of an English forest or mountain tract, to go forth at any +time untrammelled by attendant, but only to shoot with matchlock, +wheel-lock, or cross-bow, my choice would be unhesitating. + +There would be pleasure in winding up the lock with the spanner; +pleasure in adjusting the priming; or with the matchlock in lighting +the match. To wander out into the brake, to creep from tree to tree so +noiselessly that the woodpecker should not cease to tap—in that there +is joy. The consciousness that everything depends upon your own +personal skill, and that you have no second resource if that fails you, +gives the real zest to sport. + +If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly; if the priming had not +been kept dry or the match not properly blown, or the cross-bow set +exactly accurate, then the care of approach would be lost. You must +hold the gun steady, too, while the slow priming ignites the charge. + +An imperfect weapon—yes; but the imperfect weapon would accord with the +great oaks, the beech trees full of knot-holes, the mysterious +thickets, the tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase would +become a real chase: not, as now, a foregone conclusion. And there +would be time for pondering and dreaming. + +Let us be always out of doors among trees and grass, and rain and wind +and sun. There the breeze comes and strikes the cheek and sets it +aglow: the gale increases and the trees creak and roar, but it is only +a ruder music. A calm follows, the sun shines in the sky, and it is the +time to sit under an oak, leaning against the bark, while the birds +sing and the air is soft and sweet. By night the stars shine, and there +is no fathoming the dark spaces between those brilliant points, nor the +thoughts that come as it were between the fixed stars and landmarks of +the mind. + +Or it is the morning on the hills, when hope is as wide as the world; +or it is the evening on the shore. A red sun sinks, and the foam-tipped +waves are crested with crimson; the booming surge breaks, and the spray +flies afar, sprinkling the face watching under the pale cliffs. Let us +get out of these indoor narrow modern days, whose twelve hours somehow +have become shortened, into the sunlight and the pure wind. A something +that the ancients called divine can be found and felt there still. + +THE END + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13730 *** diff --git a/13730-h/13730-h.htm b/13730-h/13730-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dc9c546 --- /dev/null +++ b/13730-h/13730-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5995 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Amateur Poacher, by Richard Jefferies</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13730 ***</div> + +<h1>The Amateur Poacher</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Richard Jefferies</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">PREFACE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. THE FIRST GUN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. EGG-TIME: A “GIP”-TRAP</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. OBY, AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. LUKE, THE RABBIT-CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK PATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE-SHOOTING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: +PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK VERSUS BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>PREFACE</h2> + +<p> +The following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of time, beginning with +the first gun, and attempts at shooting. Then come the fields, the first hills, +and woods explored, often without a gun, or any thought of destruction: and +next the poachers, and other odd characters observed at their work. Perhaps the +idea of shooting with a matchlock, or wheel-lock, might, if put in practice, at +least afford some little novelty. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +R.J. +</p> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>THE AMATEUR POACHER</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> +THE FIRST GUN</h2> + +<p> +They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, +close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason +why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death +fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he +put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too. +But there he stood, and mounted guard over the old flintlock that was so +powerful a magnet to us in those days. Though to go up there alone was no +slight trial of moral courage after listening to the horrible tales of the +carters in the stable, or the old women who used to sit under the hedge in the +shade, on an armful of hay, munching their crusts at luncheon time. +</p> + +<p> +The great cavernous place was full of shadows in the brightest summer day; for +the light came only through the chinks in the shutters. These were flush with +the floor and bolted firmly. The silence was intense, it being so near the roof +and so far away from the inhabited parts of the house. Yet there were sometimes +strange acoustical effects—as when there came a low tapping at the +shutters, enough to make your heart stand still. There was then nothing for it +but to dash through the doorway into the empty cheese-room adjoining, which was +better lighted. No doubt it was nothing but the labourers knocking the stakes +in for the railing round the rickyard, but why did it sound just exactly +outside the shutters? When that ceased the staircase creaked, or the pear-tree +boughs rustled against the window. The staircase always waited till you had +forgotten all about it before the loose worm-eaten planks sprang back to their +place. +</p> + +<p> +Had it not been for the merry whistling of the starlings on the thatch above, +it would not have been possible to face the gloom and the teeth of Reynard, +ever in the act to snap, and the mystic noises, and the sense of +guilt—for the gun was forbidden. Besides which there was the black mouth +of the open trapdoor overhead yawning fearfully—a standing terror and +temptation; for there was a legend of a pair of pistols thrown up there out of +the way—a treasure-trove tempting enough to make us face anything. But +Orion must have the credit of the courage; I call him Orion because he was a +hunter and had a famous dog. The last I heard of him he had just ridden through +a prairie fire, and says the people out there think nothing of it. +</p> + +<p> +We dragged an ancient linen-press under the trapdoor, and put some boxes on +that, and finally a straight-backed oaken chair. One or two of those chairs +were split up and helped to do the roasting on the kitchen hearth. So, climbing +the pile, we emerged under the rafters, and could see daylight faintly in +several places coming through the starlings’ holes. One or two bats +fluttered to and fro as we groped among the lumber, but no pistols could be +discovered; nothing but a cannon-ball, rusty enough and about as big as an +orange, which they say was found in the wood, where there was a brush in +Oliver’s time. +</p> + +<p> +In the middle of our expedition there came the well-known whistle, echoing +about the chimneys, with which it was the custom to recall us to dinner. How +else could you make people hear who might be cutting a knobbed stick in the +copse half a mile away or bathing in the lake? We had to jump down with a run; +and then came the difficulty; for black dusty cobwebs, the growth of fifty +years, clothed us from head to foot. There was no brushing or picking them off, +with that loud whistle repeated every two minutes. +</p> + +<p> +The fact where we had been was patent to all; and so the chairs got +burned—but one, which was rickety. After which a story crept out, of a +disjointed skeleton lying in a corner under the thatch. Though just a little +suspicious that this might be a <i>ruse</i> to frighten us from a second +attempt, we yet could not deny the possibility of its being true. Sometimes in +the dusk, when I sat poring over “Koenigsmark, the Robber,” by the +little window in the cheese-room, a skull seemed to peer down the trapdoor. But +then I had the flintlock by me for protection. +</p> + +<p> +There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern +mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The +linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good +gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the +old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a “bead” +could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, +little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them. At least this +practice and drill had one useful effect—the eye got accustomed to the +flash from the pan, instead of blinking the discharge, which ruins the +shooting. Almost everybody and everything on the place got shot dead in this +way without knowing it. +</p> + +<p> +It was not so easy as might be supposed to find proper flints. The best time to +look for them was after a heavy storm of rain had washed a shallow channel +beside the road, when you might select some hardy splinters which had lain +hidden under the dust. How we were found out is not quite clear: perhaps the +powder left a smell of sulphur for any one who chanced to go up in the garret. +</p> + +<p> +But, however that may be, one day, as we came in unexpectedly from a voyage in +the punt, something was discovered burning among the logs on the kitchen +hearth; and, though a desperate rescue was attempted, nothing was left but the +barrel of our precious gun and some crooked iron representing the remains of +the lock. There are things that are never entirely forgotten, though the +impression may become fainter as years go by. The sense of the cruel injustice +of that act will never quite depart. +</p> + +<p> +But they could not burn the barrel, and we almost succeeded in fitting it to a +stock of elder. Elder has a thick pith running down the centre: by removing +that the gouge and chisel had not much work to do to make a groove for the old +bell-mouthed barrel to lie in. The matchlock, for as such it was intended, was +nearly finished when our hopes were dashed to the ground by a piece of +unnatural cunning. One morning the breechpiece that screwed in was missing. +This was fatal. A barrel without a breechpiece is like a cup without a bottom. +It was all over. +</p> + +<p> +There are days in spring when the white clouds go swiftly past, with occasional +breaks of bright sunshine lighting up a spot in the landscape. That is like the +memory of one’s youth. There is a long dull blank, and then a brilliant +streak of recollection. Doubtless it was a year or two afterwards when, seeing +that the natural instinct could not be suppressed but had better be recognised, +they produced a real gun (single-barrel) for me from the clock-case. +</p> + +<p> +It stood on the landing just at the bottom of the dark flight that led to the +garret. An oaken case six feet high or more, and a vast dial, with a mysterious +picture of a full moon and a ship in full sail that somehow indicated the +quarters of the year, if you had been imitating Rip Van Winkle and after a +sleep of six months wanted to know whether it was spring or autumn. But only to +think that all the while we were puzzling over the moon and the ship and the +queer signs on the dial a gun was hidden inside! The case was locked, it is +true; but there are ways of opening locks, and we were always handy with tools. +</p> + +<p> +This gun was almost, but not quite so long as the other. That dated from the +time between Stuart and Hanover; this might not have been more than seventy +years old. And a beautiful piece of workmanship it was: my new double +breechloader is a coarse common thing to compare with it. Long and slender and +light as a feather, it came to the shoulder with wonderful ease. Then there was +a groove on the barrel at the breech and for some inches up which caught the +eye and guided the glance like a trough to the sight at the muzzle and thence +to the bird. The stock was shod with brass, and the trigger-guard was of brass, +with a kind of flange stretching half-way down to the butt and inserted in the +wood. After a few minutes’ polishing it shone like gold, and to see the +sunlight flash on it was a joy. +</p> + +<p> +You might note the grain of the barrel, for it had not been browned; and it +took a good deal of sand to get the rust off. By aid of a little oil and +careful wiping after a shower it was easy to keep it bright. Those browned +barrels only encourage idleness. The lock was a trifle dull at first, simply +from lack of use. A small screwdriver soon had it to pieces, and it speedily +clicked again sweet as a flute. If the hammer came back rather far when at +full-cock, that was because the lock had been converted from a flint, and you +could not expect it to be absolutely perfect. Besides which, as the fall was +longer the blow was heavier, and the cap was sure to explode. +</p> + +<p> +By old farmhouses, mostly in exposed places (for which there is a reason), one +or more huge walnut trees may be found. The provident folk of those days +planted them with the purpose of having their own gunstocks cut out of the wood +when the tree was thrown. They could then be sure it was really walnut, and a +choice piece of timber thoroughly well seasoned. I like to think of those +times, when men settled themselves down, and planted and planned and laid out +their gardens and orchards and woods, as if they and their sons and sons’ +sons, to the twentieth generation, were sure to enjoy the fruit of their +labour. +</p> + +<p> +The reason why the walnuts are put in exposed places, on the slope of a rise, +with open aspect to the east and north, is because the walnut is a foolish tree +that will not learn by experience. If it feels the warmth of a few genial days +in early spring, it immediately protrudes its buds; and the next morning a +bitter frost cuts down every hope of fruit for that year, leaving the leaf as +black as may be. Wherefore the east wind is desirable to keep it as backward as +possible. +</p> + +<p> +There was a story that the stock of this gun had been cut out of a walnut tree +that was thrown on the place by my great-grandfather, who saw it well seasoned, +being a connoisseur of timber, which is, indeed, a sort of instinct in all his +descendants. And a vast store of philosophy there is in timber if you study it +aright. +</p> + +<p> +After cleaning the gun and trying it at a mark, the next thing was to get a +good shot with it. Now there was an elm that stood out from the hedge a little, +almost at the top of the meadow, not above five-and-twenty yards from the other +hedge that bounded the field. Two mounds could therefore be commanded by any +one in ambush behind the elm, and all the angular corner of the mead was within +range. +</p> + +<p> +It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and +the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest +hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the +rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it +was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close +by. +</p> + +<p> +The rabbits had scratched the yellow sand right out into the grass—it is +always very much brighter in colour where they have just been at work—and +the fern, already almost yellow too, shaded the mouths of their buries. Thick +bramble bushes grew out from the mound and filled the space between it and the +elm: there were a few late flowers on them still, but the rest were hardening +into red sour berries. Westwards, the afternoon sun, with all his autumn heat, +shone full against the hedge and into the recess, and there was not the shadow +of a leaf for shelter on that side. +</p> + +<p> +The gun was on the turf, and the little hoppers kept jumping out of the grass +on to the stock: once their king, a grasshopper, alighted on it and rested, his +green limbs tipped with red rising above his back. About the distant wood and +the hills there was a soft faint haze, which is what Nature finishes her +pictures with. Something in the atmosphere which made it almost visible: all +the trees seemed to stand in a liquid light—the sunbeams were suspended +in the air instead of passing through. The butterflies even were very idle in +the slumberous warmth; and the great green dragon-fly rested on a leaf, his +tail arched a little downwards, just as he puts it when he wishes to stop +suddenly in his flight. +</p> + +<p> +The broad glittering trigger-guard got quite hot in the sun, and the stock was +warm when I felt it every now and then. The grain of the walnut-wood showed +plainly through the light polish: it was not varnished like the stock of the +double-barrel they kept padlocked to the rack over the high mantelpiece +indoors. Still you could see the varnish. It was of a rich dark horse-chestnut +colour, and yet so bright and clear that if held close you could see your face +in it. Behind it the grain of the wood was just perceptible; especially at the +grip, where hard hands had worn it away somewhat. The secret of that varnish is +lost—like that of the varnish on the priceless old violins. +</p> + +<p> +But you could feel the wood more in my gun: so that it was difficult to keep +the hand off it, though the rabbits would not come out; and the shadowless +recess grew like a furnace, for it focussed the rays of the sun. The heat on +the sunny side of a thick hedge between three and four in the afternoon is +almost tropical if you remain still, because the air is motionless: the only +relief is to hold your hat loose; or tilt it against your head, the other edge +of the brim on the ground. Then the grass-blades rise up level with the +forehead. There is a delicious smell in growing grass, and a sweetness comes up +from the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Still it got hotter and hotter; and it was not possible to move in the least +degree, lest a brown creature sitting on the sand at the mouth of his hole, and +hidden himself by the fern, should immediately note it. And Orion was waiting +in the rickyard for the sound of the report, and very likely the shepherd too. +We knew that men in Africa, watched by lions, had kept still in the sunshine +till, reflected from the rock, it literally scorched them, not daring to move; +and we knew all about the stoicism of the Red Indians. But Ulysses was ever my +pattern and model: that man of infinite patience and resource. +</p> + +<p> +So, though the sun might burn and the air become suffocating in that close +corner, and the quivering line of heat across the meadow make the eyes dizzy to +watch, yet not a limb must be moved. The black flies came in crowds; but they +are not so tormenting if you plunge your face in the grass, though they +titillate the back of the hand as they run over it. Under the bramble bush was +a bury that did not look much used; and once or twice a great blue fly came out +of it, the buzz at first sounding hollow and afar off and becoming clearer as +it approached the mouth of the hole. There was the carcass of a dead rabbit +inside no doubt. +</p> + +<p> +A humble-bee wandering along—they are restless things—buzzed right +under my hat, and became entangled in the grass by my ear. Now we knew by +experience in taking their honey that they could sting sharply if irritated, +though good-tempered by nature. How he “burred” and buzzed and +droned!—till by-and-by, crawling up the back of my head, he found an open +space and sailed away. Then, looking out again, there was a pair of ears in the +grass not ten yards distant: a rabbit had come out at last. But the first +delight was quickly over: the ears were short and sharply pointed, and almost +pinkly transparent. +</p> + +<p> +What would the shepherd say if I brought home one of his hated enemies no +bigger than a rat? The young rabbit made waiting still more painful, being far +enough from the hedge to get a clear view into the recess if anything attracted +his notice. Why the shepherd hated rabbits was because the sheep would not feed +where they had worn their runs in the grass. Not the least movement was +possible now—not even that little shifting which makes a position just +endurable: the heat seemed to increase; the thought of Ulysses could hardly +restrain the almost irresistible desire to stir. +</p> + +<p> +When, suddenly, there was a slight rustling among the boughs of an oak in the +other hedge, as of wings against twigs: it was a woodpigeon, better game than a +rabbit. He would, I knew, first look round before he settled himself to preen +his feathers on the branch, and, if everything was still while that keen +inspection lasted, would never notice me. This is their habit—and the +closer you are underneath them the less chance of their perceiving you: for a +pigeon perched rarely looks straight downwards. If flying, it is just the +reverse; for then they seem to see under them quicker than in any other +direction. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly lifting the long barrel of the gun—it was fortunate the sunlight +glancing on the bright barrel was not reflected towards the oak—I got it +to bear upon the bird; but then came a doubt. It was all eight-and-twenty yards +across the angle of the meadow to the oak—a tremendous long shot under +the circumstances. For they would not trust us with the large copper +powder-flask, but only with a little pistol-flask (it had belonged to the pair +of pistols we tried to find), and we were ordered not to use more than a charge +and a half at a time. That was quite enough to kill blackbirds. (The noise of +the report was always a check in this way; such a trifle of powder only made a +slight puff.) +</p> + +<p> +Shot there was in plenty—a whole tobacco-pipe bowl full, carefully +measured out of the old yellow canvas money-bag that did for a shot belt. A +starling could be knocked off the chimney with this charge easily, and so could +a blackbird roosting in a bush at night. But a woodpigeon nearly thirty yards +distant was another matter; for the old folk (and the birdkeepers too) said +that their quills were so hard the shot would glance aside unless it came with +great force. Very likely the pigeon would escape, and all the rabbits in the +buries would be too frightened to come out at all. +</p> + +<p> +A beautiful bird he was on the bough, perched well in view and clearly defined +against the sky behind; and my eye travelled along the groove on the breech and +up the barrel, and so to the sight and across to him; and the finger, which +always would keep time with the eye, pulled at the trigger. +</p> + +<p> +A mere puff of a report, and then a desperate fluttering in the tree and a +cloud of white feathers floating above the hedge, and a heavy fall among the +bushes. He was down, and Orion’s spaniel (that came racing like mad from +the rickyard the instant he heard the discharge) had him in a moment. Orion +followed quickly. Then the shepherd came up, rather stiff on his legs from +rheumatism, and stepped the distance, declaring it was thirty yards good; after +which we all walked home in triumph. +</p> + +<p> +Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would +pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do +anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so +for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she +had very beautiful brown eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“You mind you chaws the shot well, measter,” said the shepherd, +“afore you loads th’ gun. The more you chaws it the better it +sticks the-gither, an’ the furder it kills um;” a theory of gunnery +that which was devoutly believed in in his time and long anticipated the wire +cartridges. And the old soldiers that used to come round to haymaking, glad of +a job to supplement their pensions, were very positive that if you bit the +bullet and indented it with your teeth, it was perfectly fatal, no matter to +what part of the body its billet took it. +</p> + +<p> +In the midst of this talk as we moved on, I carrying the gun at the trail with +the muzzle downwards, the old ramrod, long disused and shrunken, slipped half +out; the end caught the ground, and it snapped short off in a second. A +terrible disaster this, turning everything to bitterness: Orion was especially +wroth, for it was his right next to shoot. However, we went down to the smithy +at the inn, to take counsel of the blacksmith, a man of knowledge and a trusty +friend. “Aha!” said he, “it’s not the first time +I’ve made a ramrod. There’s a piece of lancewood in the store +overhead which I keep on purpose; it’s as tough as a bow—they make +carriage-shafts of it; you shall have a better rod than was ever fitted to a +Joe Manton.” So we took him down some pippins, and he set to work on it +that evening. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> +THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE”</h2> + +<p> +The sculls of our punt, being short and stout, answered very well as levers to +heave the clumsy old craft off the sand into which it sank so deeply. That +sheltered corner of the mere, with a shelving sandy shore, and a steep bank +behind covered with trees, was one of the best places to fish for roach: you +could see them playing under the punt in shoals any sunny day. +</p> + +<p> +There was a projecting bar almost enclosing the creek, which was quite still, +even when the surf whitened the stony strand without, driven before a wet and +stormy south-wester. It was the merest routine to carry the painter ashore and +twist the rotten rope round an exposed root of the great willow tree; for there +was not the slightest chance of that ancient craft breaking adrift. All our +strength and the leverage of the sculls could scarcely move her, so much had +she settled. But we had determined to sail that lovely day to visit the island +of Calypso, and had got all our arms and munitions of war aboard, besides being +provisioned and carrying some fruit for fear of scurvy. There was of course the +gun, placed so as not to get wet; for the boat leaked, and had to be frequently +baled out with a tin mug—one that the haymakers used. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, if we had not caulked her with some dried moss and some stiff clay, it +is doubtful if she would have floated far. The well was full of dead leaves +that had been killed by the caterpillars and the blight, and had fallen from +the trees before their time; and there were one or two bunches of grass growing +at the stern part from between the decaying planks. +</p> + +<p> +Besides the gun there was the Indian bow, scooped out inside in a curious way, +and covered with strange designs or coloured hieroglyphics: it had been brought +home by one of our people years before. There was but one man in the place who +could bend that bow effectually; so that though we valued it highly we could +not use it. By it lay another of briar, which was pliable enough and had +brought down more than one bird. +</p> + +<p> +Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, +struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, +a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it +barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey the blacksmith had forged +us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a +rake-handle served as a shaft. It was really a dangerous weapon. He had also +made us a small anchor according to plan; nor did he dip too deeply into our +pocket-money. +</p> + +<p> +Then the mast and square-sail, fitted out of a window-blind, took up a +considerable space; for although it was perfectly calm, a breeze might arise. +And what with these and the pole for punting occasionally, the deck of the +vessel was in that approved state of confusion which always characterises a +ship on the point of departure. Nor must Orion’s fishing-rod and gear be +forgotten, nor the cigar-box at the stern (a present from the landlady at the +inn) which contained a chart of the mere and a compass. +</p> + +<p> +With a “yeo—heave-ho!” we levered her an inch at a time, and +then loosened her by working her from side to side, and so, panting and +struggling, shoved the punt towards the deep. Slowly a course was shaped out of +the creek—past the bar and then along the edge of the thick weeds, +stretching so far out into the water that the moorhen feeding near the land was +beyond reach of shot. From the green matted mass through which a boat could +scarcely have been forced came a slight uncertain sound, now here now yonder, a +faint “suck-sock;” and the dragon-flies were darting to and fro. +</p> + +<p> +The only ripple of the surface, till broken by the sculls, was where the +swallows dipped as they glided, leaving a circle of tiny wavelets that barely +rolled a yard. Past the low but steep bluff of sand rising sheer out of the +water, drilled with martins’ holes and topped by a sapling oak in the +midst of a great furze bush: yellow bloom of the furze, tall brake fern +nestling under the young branches, woodbine climbing up and bearing sweet +coronals of flower. +</p> + +<p> +Past the barley that came down to the willows by the shore—ripe and white +under the bright sunshine, but yonder beneath the shadow of the elms with a +pale tint of amber. Past broad rising meadows, where under the oaks on the +upper ground the cattle were idly lying out of the sultry heat. +</p> + +<p> +Then the barren islands, strewn with stone and mussel-shells glistening in the +sunshine, over which in a gale the waves made a clean sweep, rendered the +navigation intricate; and the vessel had to be worked in and out, now scraping +against rocky walls of sandstone, now grounding and churning up the bottom, +till presently she floated in the bay beneath the firs. There a dark shadow +hung over the black water—still and silent, so still that even the aspens +rested from their rustling. +</p> + +<p> +Out again into the sunshine by the wide mouth of the Green River, as the chart +named the brook whose level stream scarce moved into the lake. A streak of blue +shot up it between the banks, and a shrill pipe came back as the kingfisher +hastened away. By the huge boulder of sarsen, whose shoulder projected but a +few inches—in stormy times a dangerous rock to mariners—and then +into the unknown narrow seas between the endless osier-beds and withy-covered +isles. +</p> + +<p> +There the chart failed; and the known landmarks across the open +waters—the firs and elms, the green knoll with the cattle—were shut +out by thick branches on either hand. In and out and round the islets, sounding +the depth before advancing, winding now this way, now that, till all idea of +the course was lost, and it became a mere struggle to get forward. Drooping +boughs swept along the gunwales, thick-matted weeds cumbered the way; +“snags,” jagged stumps of trees, threatened to thrust their tops +through the bottom; and, finally, panting and weary of poling through the maze, +we emerged in a narrow creek all walled in and enclosed with vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +Running her ashore on the soft oozy ground, we rested under a great hawthorn +bush that grew at the very edge, and, looking upwards, could see in the canopy +above the black interlaced twigs of a dove’s nest. Tall willow poles rose +up all around, and above them was the deep blue of the sky. On the willow stems +that were sometimes under water the bark had peeled in scales; beneath the +surface bunches of red fibrous roots stretched out their slender filaments +tipped with white, as if feeling like a living thing for prey. +</p> + +<p> +A dreamy, slumberous place, where the sedges slept, and the green flags bowed +their pointed heads. Under the bushes in the distant nook the moorhen, +reassured by the silence, came out from the grey-green grass and the rushes. +Surely Calypso’s cave could not be far distant, where she +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + with work and song the time divides,<br/> +And through the loom the golden shuttle guides. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +For the Immortals are hiding somewhere still in the woods; even now I do not +weary searching for them. +</p> + +<p> +But as we rested a shadow fell from a cloud that covered the sun, and +immediately a faint sigh arose from among the sedges and the reeds, and two +pale yellow leaves fell from the willows on the water. A gentle breeze followed +the cloud, chasing its shadow. Orion touched his rod meaningly. So I stepped +ashore with the gun to see if a channel could be found into the open water, and +pushed through the bush. Briar and bramble choked the path, and hollow willow +stoles; but, holding the gun upright, it was possible to force through, till, +pushing between a belt of reeds and round an elder thicket, I came suddenly on +a deep, clear pool—all but walking into it. Up rose a large bird out of +the water with a bustling of wings and splashing, compelled to +“rocket” by the thick bushes and willow poles. There was no time to +aim; but the old gun touched the shoulder and went off without conscious +volition on my part. +</p> + +<p> +The bird flew over the willows, but the next moment there was a heavy splash +somewhere beyond out of sight. Then came an echo of the report sent back from +the woods adjoining, and another, and a third and fourth, as the sound rolled +along the side of the hill, caught in the coombes and thrown to and fro like a +ball in a tennis-court. Wild with anxiety, we forced the punt at the bulrushes, +in the corner where it looked most open, and with all our might heaved it over +the weeds and the mud, and so round the islet into the next pool, and thence +into the open water. It was a wild duck, and was speedily on board. +</p> + +<p> +Stepping the mast and hoisting the sail, we drifted before the faint breath of +air that now just curled the surface, steering straight across the open for the +stony barren islands at the mouth of the bay. The chart drawn in +pencil—what labour it cost us!—said that there, a few yards from +the steep shore, was a shoal with deep water round it. For some reason there +always seemed a slight movement or current—a set of the water there, as +if it flowed into the little bay. +</p> + +<p> +In swimming we often came suddenly out of a cold into a stratum of warm water +(at the surface); and perhaps the difference in the temperature may have caused +the drift, for the bay was in shadow half the day. Now, wherever there is +motion there will fish assemble; so as the punt approached the shoal the sail +was doused, and at twenty yards’ distance I <i>put</i> the anchor into +the water—not dropping it, to avoid the splash—and let it slip +gently to the bottom. +</p> + +<p> +Then, paying out the cable, we drifted to the edge of the shoal without the +least disturbance, and there brought up. Orion had his bait ready—he +threw his line right to windward, so that the float might drag the worm +naturally with the wind and slight current towards the shoal. +</p> + +<p> +The tiny blue buoy dances up and down on the miniature waves; beyond it a +dazzling path of gold stretches away to the distant osier-islands—a path +down which we came without seeing it till we looked back. The wavelets strike +with a faint “sock-sock” against the bluff overhanging bow, and +then roll on to the lee-shore close at hand. +</p> + +<p> +It rises steep; then a broad green ledge; and after that, still steeper, the +face of a long-deserted sand-pit, where high up a rabbit sits at the mouth of +his hole, within range, but certain to escape even if hit, and therefore safe. +On the turf below is a round black spot, still showing, though a twelvemonth +has gone by since we landed with half a dozen perch, lit a fire and cooked the +fishes. For Molly never could “a-bear” perch, because of the +hardness of the scales, saying she would as soon “scrape a vlint;” +and they laughed to scorn our idea of skinning them as you do moorhens, whose +“dowl” no fingers can pick. +</p> + +<p> +So we lit a fire and blew it up, lying on the soft short grass in a state of +nature after a swim, there being none to see us but the glorious sun. The +skinned perch were sweeter than any I have tasted since. +</p> + +<p> +“Look!” whispers Orion, suddenly. The quill above the blue buoy +nods as it lifts over the wavelets—nods again, sinks a little, jerks up, +and then goes down out of sight. Orion feels the weight. “Two pounds, if +he’s an ounce!” he shouts: soon after a splendid perch is in the +boat, nearer three pounds perhaps than two. Flop! whop! how he leaps up and +down on the planks, soiled by the mud, dulling his broad back and barred sides +on the grit and sand. +</p> + +<p> +Roaming about like this with the gun, now on the water in the punt, and now on +land, we gradually came to notice very closely the game we wished to shoot. We +saw, for instance, that the rabbit when feeding or moving freely, unless +quickened by alarm, has a peculiar way of dwelling upon his path. It almost +resembles creeping; for both fore feet stop while the hinder come up—one +hinder foot slightly behind the other, and rather wide apart. +</p> + +<p> +When a fall of snow presents a perfect impression of his passage, it appears as +if the animal had walked slowly backwards. This deceives many who at such times +go out to pick up anything that comes in their way; for they trace the trail in +the wrong direction. The truth is, that when the rabbit pauses for the hinder +feet to come up he again rests momentarily upon these before the two foremost +are put forth, and so presses not only the paw proper but the whole first joint +of the hind leg upon the snow. A glance at the hind feet of a rabbit will show +what I mean: they will be found to display plain signs of friction against the +ground. +</p> + +<p> +The habit has given the creature considerable power of standing up on the +hinder feet; he can not only sit on his haunches, but raise himself almost +upright, and remain in that position to listen for some little time. For the +same reason he can bark the ash saplings higher up than would be imagined: +where he cannot reach, the mice climb up and nibble straight lines across the +young pole, as if done with a single stroke from a saw that scraped away the +rind but did not reach the wood. +</p> + +<p> +In front of a large rabbit bury the grass will be found discoloured with sand +at some distance from the mouth of the hole. This is explained by particles +adherent to the rabbits’ hind feet, and rubbing off against the grass +blades. Country people call this peculiar gait “sloppetting;” and +one result of it is that the rabbits wear away the grass where they are +numerous almost as much as they eat it away. +</p> + +<p> +There was such a space worn by the attrition of feet sprinkled with sand before +the extensive burrow at the top of the meadow where I shot the woodpigeon. +These marks suggested to us that we should attempt some more wholesale system +of capture than shooting. It was not for the mere desire of destruction, but +for a special purpose, that we turned our attention to wiring. The punt, though +much beloved, was, like all punts, a very bad sailer. A boat with a keel that +could tack, and so work into the wind’s eye, was our ambition. +</p> + +<p> +The blacksmith Ikey readily purchased every rabbit we obtained at sixpence +each. Rabbits were not so dear then as now; but of course he made a large +profit even then. The same rabbits at present would be worth fifteen or +eighteen pence. Every sixpence was carefully saved, but it was clear that a +long time must elapse before the goal was attained. The blacksmith started the +idea of putting up a “turnpike”—<i>i.e.</i> a wire—but +professed ignorance as to the method of setting it. That was a piece of his +cunning—that he might escape responsibility. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd, too, when obliquely questioned, shook his head, pursed his lips, +threw his pitching-bar over his shoulder, and marched off with a mysterious +hint that our friend Ikey would some day put his “vut in it.” It +did not surprise us that the shepherd should turn his back on anything of the +kind; for he was a leading man among the “Ranters,” and frequently +exhorted them in his cottage. +</p> + +<p> +The carter’s lad was about at the time, and for the moment we thought of +applying to him. He was standing on the threshold of the stable, under the +horseshoes and weasles’ feet nailed up to keep the witches away, teasing +a bat that he had found under the tiles. But suddenly the dusky thing bit him +sharply, and he uttered an oath; while the creature, released, flew aimlessly +into the elms. It was better to avoid him. +</p> + +<p> +Indoors, they would have put a very heavy hand upon the notion had they known +of it: so we had to rely solely upon the teaching of experiment. In the first +attempt, a stick that had been put by for the thatcher, but which he had not +yet split, was cut short and sharpened for the plug that prevents the animal +carrying away the wire when snared. This is driven into the earth; at the +projecting end a notch was cut to hold the string attached to the end of the +wire away from the run. +</p> + +<p> +A smaller stick supported the wire above the ground; this latter only just +sufficiently thrust into the sward to stand firmly upright. Willow was used for +this at first; but it is a feeble wood: it split too much, or bent and gave way +instead of holding the wire in its place. The best for the purpose we found +were the nut-tree rods that shoot up among the hazel thickets, no larger than +the shaft of an arrow, and almost as straight. A slit about half an inch deep +was made in the upper end, and in this slit the shank of the wire was sunk. +Once or twice the upright was peeled; but this was a mistake, for the white +wand was then too conspicuous. The bark should be left on. +</p> + +<p> +Three copper wires twisted tight formed the snare itself; we twisted them like +the strands of a rope, thinking it would give more strength. The wire projected +horizontally, the loop curling downwards. It was first set up at a spot where a +very broad and much-worn run—more like a footpath than a rabbit +track—forked into several lesser runs, and at about five yards from the +hedge. But though adjusted, as we thought, with the utmost nicety, no rabbit +would put his neck into it—not even in the darkness of the night. By day +they all played round it in perfect safety. +</p> + +<p> +After waiting some time it was removed and reset just over a hole—the +loop close to the opening. It looked scarcely possible for a rabbit to creep +out without being caught, the loop being enlarged to correspond with the mouth +of the hole. For a while it seemed as if the rabbits declined to use the hole +at all; presently, however, the loop was pushed back, showing that one must +have got his nose between it and the bank and so made a safe passage sideways. +A run that crossed the field was then selected, and the wire erected at about +the middle of it, equidistant from either hedge. Near the entrance of the +buries the rabbits moved slowly, sniffing their way along and pausing every +yard or so. But they often increased their speed farther away, and sometimes +raced from one mound to the other. When going at that rate it appeared natural +to conclude that they would be less careful to pick and choose their road. +</p> + +<p> +The theory proved so far correct that next day the upright was down, but the +wire had snapped and the rabbit was gone. The character of the fracture clearly +indicated how it had happened: the rabbit, so soon as he found his head in the +noose, had rolled and tumbled till the wire, already twisted tight, parted. Too +much twisting, therefore, weakened instead of strengthening. Next a single +wire, somewhat thicker, was used, and set up nearly in the same place; but it +broke again. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, two strands of medium size, placed side by side, but only twisted +once—that is, just enough to keep them together—were employed. The +lesser loop—the slip-knot, as it might be called—was at the same +time eased in order to run quicker and take a closer grip. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. I was positive that he +had not seen me, and felt sure of bagging him; when suddenly—without any +apparent cause—up went his head, he glanced round, and was off like the +wind. +</p> + +<p> +Yet there had not been the faintest noise, and I could not understand it, till +all at once it occurred to me that it must be the scent. The slight, scarcely +perceptible, breeze blew in that direction: instantly he crossed the current +from me he detected it and fled. Afterwards I noticed that in the dusky +twilight, if the wind is behind him, a hare will run straight at you as if +about to deliberately charge your legs. This incident by the ploughed field +explained the failure of the wire. Every other care had been taken, but we had +forgotten to allow for the extreme delicacy of a wild animal’s sense of +smell. +</p> + +<p> +In walking to the spot selected for the snare it is best to avoid even stepping +on the run, and while setting it up to stand back as far as convenient and lean +forward. The grass that grows near must not be touched by the hand, which seems +to impart a very strong scent. The stick that has been carried in the hand must +not be allowed to fall across the run: and be careful that your handkerchief +does not drop out of your pocket on or near it. If a bunch of grass grows very +tall and requires parting, part it with the end (not the handle) of your stick. +</p> + +<p> +The same holds good with gins, especially if placed for a rat. Some persons +strew a little freshly plucked grass over the pan and teeth of the trap, +thinking to hide it; but it not only smells of the hand, but withers up and +turns brown, and acts as a warning to that wary creature. It is a better plan +if any dead leaves are lying near to turn them over and over with the end of a +twig till they fall on the trap, that is if they are dry: if wet (unless +actually raining at the time), should one chance to be left with the drier +under surface uppermost, the rat may pause on the brink. Now that the remotest +chance of leaving a scent was avoided the wire became a deadly instrument. +Almost every morning two or three rabbits were taken: we set up a dozen snares +when we had mastered the trick. They were found lying at full length in the +crisp white grass, for we often rose to visit the wires while yet the stars +were visible. Thus extended a person might have passed within a few yards and +never noticed them, unless he had an out-of-doors eye; for the whiter fur of +the belly as they lay aside was barely distinguishable from the hoar frost. The +blacksmith Ikey sauntered down the lane every evening, and glanced casually +behind the ash tree—the northern side of whose trunk was clothed with +dark green velvet-like moss—to see if a bag was lying for him there among +the nettles in the ditch. The rabbits were put in the bag, which was pushed +through the hedge. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> +TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION</h2> + +<p> +Just on the verge and borderland of the territory that could be ranged in +safety there grew a stunted oak in a mound beside the brook. Perhaps the roots +had been checked by the water; for the tree, instead of increasing in bulk, had +expended its vigour in branches so crooked that they appeared entangled in each +other. This oak was a favourite perching-place, because of its position: it +could also be more easily climbed than straight-grown timber, having many +boughs low down the trunk. With a gun it is difficult to ascend a smooth tree; +these boughs therefore were a great advantage. +</p> + +<p> +One warm afternoon late in the summer I got up into this oak; and took a seat +astride a large limb, with the main trunk behind like the back of a chair and +about twenty feet above the mound. Some lesser branches afforded a fork on +which the gun could be securely lodged, and a limb of considerable size came +across in front. Leaning both arms on this, a view could be obtained below and +on three sides easily and without effort. +</p> + +<p> +The mound immediately beneath was grown over with thick blackthorn, a species +of cover that gives great confidence to game. A kick or blow upon the bushes +with a stick will not move anything in an old blackthorn thicket. A man can +scarcely push through it: nothing but a dog can manage to get about. On the +meadow side there was no ditch, only a narrow fringe of tall pointed grass and +rushes, with one or two small furze bushes projecting out upon the sward. +Behind such bushes, on the slope of the mound, is rather a favourite place for +a rabbit to sit out, or a hare to have a form. +</p> + +<p> +The brook was shallow towards the hedge, and bordered with flags, among which +rose up one tall bunch of beautiful reeds. Some little way up the brook a pond +opened from it. At the entrance the bar of mud had hardly an inch of water; +within there was a clear small space, and the rest all weeds, with +moorhens’ tracks. The farther side of the pond was covered with bramble +bushes. It is a good plan to send the dogs into bushes growing on the banks of +ponds; for though rabbits dislike water itself they are fond of sitting out in +such cover near it. A low railing enclosed the side towards me: the posts had +slipped by the giving way of the soil, and hung over the still pool. +</p> + +<p> +One of the rails—of willow—was eaten out into hollow cavities by +the wasps, which came to it generation after generation for the materials of +their nests. The particles they detach are formed into a kind of paste or +paper: in time they will quite honeycomb a pole. The third side of the pond +shelved to the “leaze,” that the cattle might drink. From it a +narrow track went across the broad field up the rising ground to the distant +gateway leading to the meadows, where they grazed on the aftermath. Marching +day by day, one after the other in single file, to the drinking-place, the +hoofs of the herd had cut a clean path in the turf, two or three inches deep +and trodden hard. The reddish soil thus exposed marked the winding line athwart +the field, through the tussocky bunches. +</p> + +<p> +By the pond stood a low three-sided merestone or landmark, the initials on +which were hidden under moss. Up in the tree, near the gun, there was a dead +branch that had decayed in the curious manner that seems peculiar to oak. Where +it joined the trunk the bark still remained, though covered with lichen, and +for a foot or so out; then there was a long space where the bark and much of +the wood had mouldered away; finally, near the end the bough retained its +original size and the bark adhered. At the junction with the trunk and at the +extremity its diameter was perhaps three inches; in the middle rather less than +half as much. The grey central piece, larger and darker at either end, +suggested the thought of the bare neck of a vulture. +</p> + +<p> +Far away, just rising above the slope of the leaze, the distant tops of elms, +crowded with rooks’ nests (not then occupied), showed the site of the +residence of an old gentleman of whom at that time we stood in much fear. The +“Squire” of Southlands alarmed even the hardened carters’ +lads as much by the prestige of a singular character as by the chastisement he +personally gave those who ventured into his domain. Not a bird’s nest, +not a nut, must be touched: still less anything that could be called game. The +watch kept was so much the stricter because he took a personal part in it, and +was often round the fields himself armed with a great oak staff. It seemed, +indeed, as if the preservation of the game was of far greater importance to him +than the shooting of it afterwards. All the fowls of the air flocked to +Southlands, as if it had been a refuge; yet it was not a large estate. Into the +forest we had been, but Southlands was a mystery, a forbidden garden of +delight, with the terror of an oaken staff (and unknown penalties) turning this +way and that. Therefore the stunted old oak on the verge—the moss-grown +merestone by the pond marked the limit—was so favourite a perching-place. +</p> + +<p> +That beautiful afternoon I leaned both arms idly on the great bough that +crossed in front of the seat and listened to the “Caw—caw!” +of the rooks as they looked to see if the acorns were yet ripening. A dead +branch that had dropped partly into the brook was swayed continually up and +down by the current, the water as it chafed against it causing a delicious +murmur. This lulled me to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +I woke with a start, and had it not been for the bough crossing in front must +have fallen twenty feet. Looking down into the meadow as soon as my eyes were +thoroughly open, I instantly noticed a covey of young partridges a little way +up beside the hedge among the molehills. The neighbourhood of those hillocks +has an attraction for many birds, especially in winter. Then fieldfares, +redwings, starlings, and others prefer the meadows that are dotted with them. +In a frost if you see a thrush on a molehill it is very likely to thaw shortly. +Moles seem to feel the least change in the temperature of the earth; if it +slackens they begin to labour, and cast up, unwittingly, food for the thrushes. +</p> + +<p> +It would have been easy to kill three or four of the covey, which was a small +one, at a single shot; but it had been a late summer, and they were not +full-grown. Besides which, they roosted, I knew, about the middle of the +meadow, and to shoot them near the roost would be certain to break them up, and +perhaps drive them into Southlands. “Good poachers preserve their own +game:” so the birds fed safely, though a pot shot would not have seemed +the crime then that it would now. While I watched them suddenly the old bird +“quat,” and ran swiftly into the hedge, followed by the rest. A +kestrel was hovering in the next meadow: when the beat of his wings ceased he +slid forward and downwards, then rose and came over me in a bold curve. Well +those little brown birds in the blackthorn knew that, fierce as he was, he +dared not swoop even on a comparatively open bush, much less such thick covert, +for fear of ruffling his proud feathers and beating them out. Nor could he +follow them through the intricate hidden passages. +</p> + +<p> +In the open water of the pond a large jack was basking in the sunshine, just +beneath the surface; and though the shot would scatter somewhat before reaching +him, he was within range. If a fish lies a few inches under water he is quite +safe from shot unless the muzzle of the gun is so close that the pellets travel +together like a bullet. At a distance the shot is supposed to glance as it +strikes the water at an angle; for that reason the elevation of the tree was an +advantage, since from it the charge would plunge into the pool. A jack may be +killed in some depth of water when the gun is nearly perpendicularly above the +mark; but in any case the aim must be taken two inches or more, according to +circumstances, beneath the apparent position of the fish, to allow for +refraction. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes the jack when hit comes to the surface belly upwards, but sometimes +keeps down or sinks, and floats a considerable distance away from the spot; so +that in the muddy water disturbed by the shot it is difficult to find him. If a +snake be shot at while swimming he will sometimes sink like a stone, and can be +seen lying motionless at the bottom. After we got hold of a small deer rifle we +used to practise at the snakes in the mere—aiming at the head, which is +about the size of a nut, and shows above the surface wobbling as they move. I +recollect cutting a snake’s head clean off with a ball from a pistol as +he hastened away through the grass. +</p> + +<p> +In winter, when the jacks came up and lay immediately under the ice, they could +be easily shot. The pellets cut a round hole through an inch and a half of ice. +The jack now basking in the pond was the more tempting because we had often +tried to wire him in vain. The difficulty was to get him if hit. While I was +deliberating a crow came flying low down the leaze, and alighted by the pond. +His object, no doubt, was a mussel. He could not have seen me, and yet no +sooner did he touch the ground than he looked uneasily about, sprang up, and +flew straight away, as if he had smelt danger. Had he stayed he would have been +shot, though it would have spoiled my ambush: the idea of the crows picking out +the eyes of dying creatures was always peculiarly revolting to me. +</p> + +<p> +If the pond was a haunt of his, it was too near the young partridges, which +were weakly that season. A kestrel is harmless compared to a crow. Surely the +translators have wrongly rendered Don Quixote’s remark that the English +did not kill crows, believing that King Arthur, instead of dying, was by +enchantment turned into one, and so fearing to injure the hero. Must he not +have meant a rook?* +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Note: It has since been pointed out to me that the Don may have meant a raven] +</p> + +<p> +Soon afterwards something moved out of the mound into the meadow a long +distance up: it was a hare. He came slowly along beside the hedge towards +me—now stopping and looking into it as if seeking a convenient place for +a form, having doubtless been disturbed from that he had first chosen. It was +some minutes before he came within range: had I been on the ground most likely +he would have scented me, the light air going that way; but being in the tree +the wind that passed went high over him. For this reason a tree ambush is +deadly. It was necessary to get the line of sight clear of twigs, which check +and divert shot, and to take a steady aim; for I had no second barrel, no dog, +and had to descend the tree before running. Some leaves were blackened by the +flame: the hare simply fell back, stretched his hind legs, quivered, and lay +still. Part of the leaf of a plant was fixed in his teeth; he had just had a +nibble. +</p> + +<p> +With this success I was satisfied that day; but the old oak was always a +favourite resort, even when nothing particular was in hand. From thence, too, +as a base of operations, we made expeditions varying in their object with the +season of the year. +</p> + +<p> +Some distance beyond the stunted oak the thick blackthorn hedge was succeeded +by a continuous strip of withy-bed bordering the brook. It often occurred to us +that by entering these withies it would be possible to reconnoitre one side of +Southlands; for the stream skirted the lower grounds: the tall willows would +conceal any one passing through them. So one spring morning the attempt was +made. +</p> + +<p> +It was necessary to go on hands and knees through the mowing grass for some +yards while passing an open space where the blackthorn cover ended, and then to +leap a broad ditch that divided the withy-beds from the meadow. The lissom +willow wands parted easily and sprang back to their places behind, leaving +scarce a trace. Their slender tops rose overhead; beneath, long dead grasses, +not yet quite supplanted by the spring growth, filled the space between. These +rustled a little under foot, but so faint a sound could scarcely have been +audible outside; and had any one noticed it it would have been attributed to a +hare or a fox moving: both are fond of lying in withy-beds when the ground is +dry. +</p> + +<p> +The way to walk noiselessly is to feel with the foot before letting your weight +press on it; then the dead stick or fallen hemlock is discovered and avoided. A +dead stick cracks; the dry hollow hemlock gives a splintering sound when +crushed. These old hemlock stems were numerous in places, together with +“gicksies,” as the haymakers call a plant that resembles it, but +has a ribbed or fluted instead of a smooth stalk. The lads use a long +“gicks” cut between the joints as a tube to blow haws or peggles at +the girls. When thirsty, and no ale is handy, the men search for one to suck up +water with from the brook. It is difficult to find one free from insects, which +seem to be remarkably fond of anything hollow. The haymakers do not use the +hemlock, thinking it would poison the water; they think, too, that drinking +through a tube is safer when they are in a great heat from the sun than any +other way. +</p> + +<p> +Nor is it so easy to drink from a stream without this simple aid. If the bank +be flat it is wet, and what looks like the grass of the meadow really grows out +of the water; so that there it is not possible to be at full length. If the +bank be dry the level of the water is several inches lower, and in endeavouring +to drink the forehead is immersed; often the water is so much lower than its +banks that it is quite impossible to drink from it lying. By the edge grasses, +water-plantains, forget-me-nots, frequently fill the space within reach. If you +brush these aside it disturbs the bottom, and the mud rises, or a patch of +brown “scum” comes up and floats away. A cup, though gently used, +generally draws some insects in with the water, though the liquid itself be +pure. Lapping with the hollowed palm requires practice, and, unless the spot be +free from weeds and of some little depth, soon disturbs the bottom. But the +tube can be inserted in the smallest clear place, and interferes with nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Each of us carried a long hazel rod, and the handle of a “squailer” +projected from Orion’s coat-pocket. For making a “squailer” a +teacup was the best mould: the cups then in use in the country were rather +larger than those at present in fashion. A ground ash sapling with the bark on, +about as thick as the little finger, pliant and tough, formed the shaft, which +was about fifteen inches long. This was held upright in the middle of a teacup, +while the mould was filled with molten lead. It soon cooled, and left a heavy +conical knob on the end of the stick. If rightly thrown it was a deadly +missile, and would fly almost as true as a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret +could thus be knocked over; and it was peculiarly adapted for fetching a +squirrel out of a tree, because, being so heavy at one end, it rarely lodged on +the boughs, as an ordinary stick would, but overbalanced and came down. +</p> + +<p> +From the outlook of the oak some aspen trees could be seen far up in the +withy-beds; and it had been agreed that there the first essay of the stream +should be made. On arriving at these trees we paused, and began to fix the +wires on the hazel rods. The wire for fish must slip very easily, and the +thinner it is, if strong enough, the better, because it takes a firmer grip. A +single wire will do; but two thin ones are preferable. Thin copper wire is as +flexible as thread. Brass wire is not so good; it is stiffer, and too +conspicuous in the water. +</p> + +<p> +At the shank end a stout string is attached in the middle of its length. Then +the wire is placed against the rod, lying flat upon it for about six inches. +The strings are now wound round tightly in opposite directions, binding it to +the stick, so that at the top the ends cross and are in position to tie in the +slight notch cut for the purpose. A loop that will allow four fingers to enter +together is about large enough, though of course it must be varied according to +the size of the jack in view. Heavy jacks are not often wired, and scarcely +ever in brooks. +</p> + +<p> +For jack the shape of the loop should be circular; for trout it should be oval, +and considerably larger in proportion to the apparent bulk of the fish. Jack +are straight-grown and do not thicken much in the middle; with trout it is +different. The noose should be about six inches from the top of the rod. Orion +said he would go twenty yards farther up; I went direct from the centre of the +withy-bed to the stream. +</p> + +<p> +The bank rose a little above the level of the withy-bed; it was a broad mound +full of ash stoles and willow—the sort that is grown for poles. At that +spot the vines of wild hops had killed all the underwood, leaving open spaces +between the stoles; the vines were matted so thickly that they hid the ground. +This was too exposed a place, so I went back and farther up till I could just +hear Orion rustling through the hemlocks. Here the dead grass and some elder +bushes afforded shelter, and the water could be approached unseen. +</p> + +<p> +It was about six or eight inches deep; the opposite shore was bordered for +several yards out with flags and rushes. The cattle nibbled their tender tops +off, as far as they could reach; farther out they were pushing up straight and +pointed. The rib and groove of the flag so closely resemble those of the +ancient bayonet that it might be supposed the weapon was modelled from the +plant. Indoors among the lumber there was a rusty old bayonet that immediately +called forth the comparison: the modern make seem more triangular. +</p> + +<p> +The rushes grew nearer the shore of the meadow—the old ones yellow, the +young green: in places this fringe of rush and sedge and flag must have been +five or six yards wide, and it extended as far as could be seen up the brook. +No doubt the cattle trod in the edge of the firm ground by degrees every year +to get at the water, and thus widened the marsh. It was easy to understand now +why all the water-fowl, teal and duck, moorhen and snipe, seemed in winter to +make in this direction. +</p> + +<p> +The ducks especially exercised all our ingenuity and quite exhausted our +patience in the effort to get near them in winter. In the large water-meadows a +small flock sometimes remained all day: it was possible to approach near enough +by stalking behind the hedges to see the colour of the mallards; but they were +always out of gunshot. This place must be full of teal then; as for moorhens, +there were signs of them everywhere, and several feeding in the grass. The +thought of the sport to be got here when the frosty days came was enough to +make one wild. +</p> + +<p> +After a long look across, I began to examine the stream near at hand: the +rushes and flags had forced the clear sweet current away from the meadow, so +that it ran just under the bank. I was making out the brown sticks at the +bottom, when there was a slight splash—caused by Orion about ten yards +farther up—and almost at the same instant something shot down the brook +towards me. He had doubtless landed a jack, and its fellow rushed away. Under a +large dead bough that had fallen across its top in the stream I saw the long +slender fish lying a few feet from the bank, motionless save for the gentle +curving wave of the tail edges. So faint was that waving curl that it seemed +caused rather by the flow of the current than the volition of the fish. The +wings of the swallow work the whole of the longest summer day, but the fins of +the fish in running water are never still: day and night they move +continuously. +</p> + +<p> +By slow degrees I advanced the hazel rod, keeping it at first near to and +parallel with the bank, because jack do not like anything that stretches across +them; and I imagine other fish have the same dislike to right angles. The +straight shadow even seems to arouse suspicion—no boughs are ever +straight. Perhaps, if it were possible to angle without a rod, there would be +more success, particularly in small streams. But after getting the stick almost +out far enough, it became evident that the dead branch would not let me slip +the wire into the water in front of the jack in the usual way. So I had to draw +it back again as gradually as it had been put forth. +</p> + +<p> +With fish everything must be done gradually and without a jerk. A sudden +jerking movement immediately alarms them. If you walk gently by they remain +still, but start or lift the arm quickly and they dart for deep water. The +object of withdrawing the rod was to get at and enlarge the loop in order that +it might be slipped over his tail, since the head was protected by the bough. +It is a more delicate operation to pass the wire up from behind; it has to go +farther before the spot that allows a firm grip is reached, and fish are well +aware that natural objects such as twigs float down with the current. Anything, +therefore, approaching from behind or rubbing upwards is suspicious. As this +fish had just been startled, it would not do to let the wire touch him at all. +</p> + +<p> +After enlarging the loop I put the rod slowly forth again, worked the wire up +stream, slipped the noose over his tail, and gently got it up to the balance of +the fish. Waiting a moment to get the elbow over the end of the rod so as to +have a good leverage, I gave a sudden jerk upwards, and felt the weight +instantly. But the top of the rod struck the overhanging bough, and there was +my fish, hung indeed, but still in the water near the surface. Nor could I +throw it on the bank, because of the elder bushes. So I shortened the rod, +pulling it in towards me quickly and dragging the jack through the water. The +pliant wire had cut into the scales and skin—he might have been safely +left suspended over the stream all day; but in the eagerness of the moment I +was not satisfied till I had him up on the mound. +</p> + +<p> +We did not see much of Southlands, because the withy-beds were on the lowest +ground; but there were six jacks strung on a twisted withy when we got back to +the stunted oak and rested there tasting acid sorrel leaves. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> +EGG-TIME. A “GIP”-TRAP</h2> + +<p> +There is no sweeter time in the woods than just before the nesting begins in +earnest. Is it the rising sap that causes a pleasant odour to emanate from +every green thing? Idling along the hedgerows towards the woodlands there may +perchance be seen small tufts of white rabbit’s fur in the grass, torn +from herself by the doe to form a warm lining to the hole in which her litter +will appear: a “sign” this that often guides a robber to her nest. +</p> + +<p> +Yonder on the rising ground, towering even in their fall over the low (lately +cut) ash plantation, lie the giant limbs of the mighty oaks, thrown just as +they felt the quickening heat. The bark has been stripped from the trunk and +branches; the sun has turned the exposed surface to a deep buff colour, which +contrasts with the fresh green of the underwood around and renders them visible +afar. +</p> + +<p> +When the oak first puts forth its buds the woods take a ruddy tint. Gradually +the background of green comes to the front, and the oak-apples swell, streaked +with rosy stains, whence their semblance to the edible fruit of the orchard. +All unconscious of the white or red cross daubed on the rough bark, the tree +prepares its glory of leaf, though doomed the while by that sad mark to the +axe. +</p> + +<p> +Cutting away the bushes with his billhook, the woodman next swings the cumbrous +grub-axe, whose wide edge clears the earth from the larger roots. Then he puts +his pipe in his pocket, and settles to the serious work of the “great +axe,” as he calls it. I never could use this ungainly tool aright: a +top-heavy, clumsy, awkward thing, it rules you instead of you ruling it. The +handle, too, is flat—almost with an edge itself sometimes—and is +quite beyond the grasp of any but hands of iron. Now the American axe feels +balanced like a sword; this is because of the peculiar curve of the handle. To +strike you stand with the left foot slightly forward, and the left hand +uppermost: the “S” curve (it is of course not nearly so crooked as +the letter) of the American axe adjusts itself to the anatomy of the attitude, +so to speak. +</p> + +<p> +The straight English handle does not; it is stiff, and strains the muscles; but +the common “great axe” has the advantage that it is also used for +splitting logs and gnarled “butts.” An American axe is too +beautiful a tool for that rude work. The American was designed to strike at the +trunk of the tree several feet from the ground, the English axe is always +directed to the great roots at the base. +</p> + +<p> +A dexterous woodman can swing his tool alternately left hand or right hand +uppermost. The difference looks trifling; but try it, and you will be +astonished at the difficulty. The blows echo and the chips fly, till the base +of the tree, that naturally is much larger, is reduced to the size of the trunk +or less. Now a pause, while one swarms up to “line” +it—<i>i.e.</i> to attach a rope as high as possible to guide the +“stick” in its fall. +</p> + +<p> +It is commonly said that in climbing it is best to look up—a maxim that +has been used for moral illustrations; but it is a mistake. In ascending a tree +you should never look higher than the brim of your hat, unless when quite still +and resting on a branch; temporary blindness would be the penalty in this case. +Particles of decayed bark, the borings of insects in dead wood, dust, and +fragments of twigs, rush down in little streams and fill the eyes. The quantity +of woody powder that adheres to a tree is surprising; every motion dislodges it +from a thousand minute crevices. As for firs, in climbing a fir one cannot look +up at all—dead sticks, needles, and dust pour down, and the branches are +so thick together that the head has to be forced through them. The line fixed, +the saw is applied, and by slow degrees the butt cut nearly through. Unless +much overbalanced on one side by the limbs, an oak will stand on a still day +when almost off. +</p> + +<p> +Some now seize the rope, and alternately pull and slacken, which gives the tree +a tottering movement. One more daring than the rest drives a wedge into the +saw-cut as it opens when the tree sways. It sways—it staggers; a loud +crack as the fibres part, then with a slow heave over it goes, and, descending, +twists upon the base. The vast limbs plough into the sward; the twigs are +crushed; the boughs, after striking the earth, rebound and swish upwards. See +that you stand clear, for the least branch will thresh you down. The flat +surface of the exposed butt is blue with stains from the steel of the saw. +</p> + +<p> +Light taps with a small sharp axe, that cut the rind but no deeper, ring the +trunk at intervals. Then the barking irons are inserted; they are rods of iron +forged at the top something like a narrow shallow spoon. The bark from the +trunk comes off in huge semi-cylinders almost large enough for a canoe. But +that from the branches is best. You may mark how at the base the bark is two +inches thick, lessening to a few lines on the topmost boughs. If it sticks a +little, hammer it with the iron: it peels with a peculiar sound, and the juicy +sap glistens white between. It is this that, drying in the sun, gives the +barked tree its colour: in time the wood bleaches paler, and after a winter +becomes grey. Inside, the bark is white streaked with brown; presently it will +be all brown. While some strip it, others collect the pieces, and with them +build toy-like sheds of bark, which is the manner of stacking it. +</p> + +<p> +From the peeled tree there rises a sweet odour of sap: the green mead, the +green underwood and hawthorn around, are all lit up with the genial sunbeams. +The beautiful wind-anemones are gone, too tender and lovely for so rude an +earth; but the wild hyacinths droop their blue bells under the wood, and the +cowslips rise in the grass. The nightingale sings without ceasing; the soft +“coo-coo” of the dove sounds hard by; the merry cuckoo calls as he +flies from elm to elm; the wood-pigeons rise and smite their wings together +over the firs. In the mere below the coots are at play; they chase each other +along the surface of the water and indulge in wild evolutions. Everything is +happy. As the plough-boys stroll along they pluck the young succulent hawthorn +leaves and nibble them. +</p> + +<p> +It is the sweetest time of all for wandering in the wood. The brambles have not +yet grown so bushy as to check the passage; the thistles that in autumn will be +as tall as the shoulder and thick as a walking-stick are as yet no bar; burrs +do not attach themselves at every step, though the broad burdock leaves are +spreading wide. In its full development the burdock is almost a shrub rather +than a plant, with a woody stem an inch or more in diameter. +</p> + +<p> +Up in the fir trees the nests of the pigeons are sometimes so big that it +appears as if they must use the same year after year, adding fresh twigs, else +they could hardly attain such bulk. Those in the ash-poles are not nearly so +large. In the open drives blue cartridge-cases lie among the grass, the brass +part tarnished by the rain, thrown hurriedly aside from the smoking breech last +autumn. But the guns are silent in the racks, though the keeper still carries +his gun to shoot the vermin, which are extremely busy at this season. Vermin, +however, do not quite agree among themselves: weasels and stoats are deadly +enemies of mice and rats. Where rats are plentiful there they are sure to come; +they will follow a rat into a dwelling-house. +</p> + +<p> +Here the green drive shows traces of the poaching it received from the +thick-planted hoofs of the hunt when the leaves were off and the blast of the +horn sounded fitfully as the gale carried the sound away. The vixen is now at +peace, though perhaps it would scarcely be safe to wander too near the +close-shaven mead where the keeper is occupied more and more every day with his +pheasant-hatching. And far down on the lonely outlying farms, where even in +fox-hunting England the music of the hounds is hardly heard in three years +(because no great coverts cause the run to take that way), foul murder is +sometimes done on Reynard or his family. A hedge-cutter marks the +sleeping-place in the withies where the fox curls up by day; and with his rusty +gun, that sometimes slaughters a roaming pheasant, sends the shot through the +red side of the slumbering animal. Then, thrust ignobly into a sack, he +shoulders the fox and marches round from door to door, tumbling the limp body +rudely down on the pitching stones to prove that the fowls will now be safe, +and to be rewarded with beer and small coin. A dead fox is profit to him for a +fortnight. These evil deeds of course are cloaked as far as possible. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving now the wood for the lane that wanders through the meadows, a mower +comes sidling up, and, looking mysteriously around with his hand behind under +his coat, “You med have un for sixpence,” he says, and produces a +partridge into whose body the point of the scythe ran as she sat on her nest in +the grass, and whose struggles were ended by a blow from the rubber or +whetstone flung at her head. He has got the eggs somewhere hidden under a +swathe. +</p> + +<p> +The men that are so expert at finding partridges’ eggs to sell to the +keepers know well beforehand whereabouts the birds are likely to lay. If a +stranger who had made no previous observations went into the fields to find +these eggs, with full permission to do so, he would probably wander in vain. +The grass is long, and the nest has little to distinguish it from the ground; +the old bird will sit so close that one may pass almost over her. Without a +right of search in open daylight the difficulty is of course much greater. A +man cannot quarter the fields when the crop is high and leave no trail. +</p> + +<p> +Farmers object to the trampling and damage of their property; and a keeper does +not like to see a labourer loafing about, because he is not certain that the +eggs when found will be conscientiously delivered to him. They may be taken +elsewhere, or they may even be broken out of spite if the finder thinks he has +a grudge to repay. Now that every field is enclosed, and for the most part well +cultivated and looked after, the business of the egg-stealer is considerably +diminished. He cannot roam over the country at his fancy; his egg-finding is +nearly restricted to the locality of which he possesses minute knowledge. +</p> + +<p> +Thus workmen engaged in the towns, but sleeping several miles out in the +villages, can keep a register of the slight indications they observe morning +after morning as they cross the fields by the footpath to their labour. Early +in the spring they notice that the partridges have paired: as time advances +they see the pair day after day in the same meadow, and mark the spot. Those +who work in the fields, again, have still better opportunities: the +bird-keeping lads too have little else to do at that season than watch for +nests. In the meadows the labourer as he walks to and fro with the +“bush” passes over every inch of the ground. The “bush” +is a mass of thorn bushes fixed in a frame and drawn by a horse; it acts like a +light harrow, and leaves the meadow in strips like the pile of green velvet, +stroked in narrow bands, one this way, one that, laying the grass blades in the +directions it travels. Solitary work of this kind—for it requires but one +man—is very favourable to observation. When the proper time arrives the +searcher knows within a little where the nest must be, and has but a small +space to beat. +</p> + +<p> +The pheasant being so large a bird, its motions are easy to watch; and the nest +is speedily found, because, being in the hedge or under bushes, there is a +definite place in which to look, instead of the broad surface of the field. +Pheasants will get out of the preserves in the breeding season and wander into +the mounds, so that the space the keeper has to range is then enlarged +threefold. Both pheasants and partridges are frequently killed on their nests; +when the eggs are hard the birds remain to the last moment, and are often +knocked over. +</p> + +<p> +Besides poachers, the eggs have to run the chance of being destroyed by carrion +crows, and occasionally by rooks. Rooks, though generally cleanly feeders, will +at times eat almost anything, from a mussel to a fledgeling bird. Magpies and +jays are accused of being equally dangerous enemies of eggs and young birds, +and so too are snakes. Weasels, stoats, and rats spare neither egg, parents, +nor offspring. Some of the dogs that run wild will devour eggs; and hawks +pounce on the brood if they see an opportunity. Owls are said to do the same. +The fitchew, the badger, and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation; but +the first is rare, the second almost exterminated in many districts; the +third—the poor hedgehog—is common, and some keepers have a bitter +dislike to them. Swine are credited, with the same mischief as the worst of +vermin at this particular season; but nowadays swine are not allowed to run +wild in cultivated districts, except in the autumn when the acorns are falling. +</p> + +<p> +As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly accessible, and the eggs, +being large, are tempting. Perhaps the mowing machine is as destructive as +anything; and after all these there is the risk of a wet season and of disease. +Let the care exercised be never so great, a certain amount of mortality must +occur. +</p> + +<p> +While the young partridges gradually become strong and swift, the nuts are +increasing in size, and ripening upon the bough. The very hazel has a pleasant +sound—not a nut-tree hedge existed in the neighbourhood that we did not +know and visit. We noted the progress of the bushes from the earliest spring, +and the catkins to the perfect nut. +</p> + +<p> +There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the hazel in February, though the +gloom of winter lingers and the “Shuck—a—sheck!” of the +fieldfare fleeing before the snow sounds overhead. On the slender branches grow +green ovals, from whose tips tiny scarlet plumes rise and curl over. +</p> + +<p> +It often happens that while the tall rods with speckled bark grow vigorously +the stole is hollow and decaying when the hardy fern flourishes around it. +Before the summer ricks are all carted the nuts are full of sweet milky matter, +and the shell begins to harden. A hazel bough with a good crook is then sought +by the men that are thinking of the wheat harvest: they trim it for a +“vagging” stick, with which to pull the straw towards them. True +reaping is now never seen: “vagging” makes the short stubble that +forces the partridges into the turnips. Maple boughs, whose bark is so strongly +ribbed, are also good for “vagging” sticks. +</p> + +<p> +Nut-tree is used for bonds to tie up faggots, and split for the +shepherds’ hurdles. In winter sometimes a store of nuts and acorns may be +seen fallen in a stream down the side of a bank, scratched out from a +mouse’s hole, as they say, by Reynard, who devours the little provident +creature without regard for its wisdom. So that man and wild animals derive +pleasure or use from the hazel in many ways. When the nuts are ripe the +carters’ lads do not care to ride sideways on the broad backs of the +horses as they jog homewards along the lane, but are ever in the hedges. +</p> + +<p> +There were plenty in the double-mounds to which we had access; but the +shepherd, who had learned his craft on the Downs, said that the nuts grew there +in such immense quantities as determined us to see them. Sitting on the felled +ash under the shade of the hawthorn hedge, where the butcher-birds every year +used to stick the humble-bees on the thorns, he described the route—a +mere waggon track—and the situation of the largest copses. +</p> + +<p> +The waggon track we found crossed the elevated plains close under and between +the Downs, following at the foot, as it seemed, for an endless distance the +curve of a range. The slope bounded the track on one side: on the other it was +enclosed by a low bank covered with dead thorn thickly entangled, which +enclosed the cornfields. The space between the hedge and the hill was as far as +we could throw one of the bleached flints lying on the sward. It was dotted +with hawthorn trees and furze, and full of dry brown grass. A few scattered +firs, the remnants of extinct plantations, grew on the slope, and green +“fairy rings” marked it here and there. +</p> + +<p> +These fairy rings have a somewhat different appearance from the dark green +semicircles found in the meadows and called by the same name: the latter are +often only segments of circles, are found near hedges, and almost always either +under a tree or where a tree has been. There were more mushrooms on the side of +the hill than we cared to carry. Some eat mushrooms raw—fresh as taken +from the ground, with a little salt: to me the taste is then too strong. Of the +many ways of cooking them the simplest is the best; that is, on a gridiron over +wood embers on the hearth. +</p> + +<p> +Every few minutes a hare started out of the dry grass: he always scampered up +the Down and stopped to look at us from the ridge. The hare runs faster up hill +than down. By the cornfields there were wire nettings to stop them; but nothing +is easier than for any passer-by who feels an interest in hares and rabbits, +and does not like to see them jealously excluded, to open a gap. Hares were +very numerous—temptingly so. Not far from where the track crossed a +lonely road was a gipsy encampment; that swarthy people are ever about when +anything is going on, and the reapers were busy in the corn. The dead dry +thorns of the hedge answered very well to boil their pot with. Their tents, +formed by thrusting the ends of long bent rods like half-hoops into the turf, +looked dark like the canvas of a barge. +</p> + +<p> +These “gips”—country folk do not say gipsy—were unknown +to us; but we were on terms with some members of a tribe who called at our +house several times in the course of the year to buy willow. The men wore +golden earrings, and bought “Black Sally,” a withy that has a dark +bark, for pegs, and “bolts” of osier for basket-making. A bolt is a +bundle of forty inches in circumference. Though the women tell fortunes, and +mix the “dark man” and the “light man,” the +“journey” and the “letter” to perfection, till the +ladies half believe, I doubt if they know much of true palmistry. The magic of +the past always had a charm for me. I had learned to know the lines, from that +which winds along at the base of the thumb-ball and if clear means health and +long life, to that which crosses close to the fingers and indicates the course +of love, and had traced them on many a delicate palm. So that the +“gips” could tell me nothing new. +</p> + +<p> +The women are the hardiest in the country; they simply ignore the weather. Even +the hedgers and ditchers and the sturdiest labourers choose the lee side of the +hedge when they pause to eat their luncheons; but the “gips” do not +trouble to seek such shelter. Passing over the hills one winter’s day, +when the Downs looked all alike, being covered with snow, I came across a +“gip” family sitting on the ground in a lane, old and young exposed +to the blast. In that there was nothing remarkable, but I recollect it because +the young mother, handsome in the style of her race, had her neck and brown +bust quite bare, and the white snowflakes drove thickly aslant upon her. Their +complexion looks more dusky in winter, so that the contrast of the colours made +me wish for an artist to paint it. And he might have put the grey embers of a +fire gone out, and the twisted stem of a hawthorn bush with red haws above. +</p> + +<p> +A mile beyond the gipsy tents we entered among the copses: scattered ash +plantations, and hazel thickets with narrow green tracks between. Further in, +the nut-tree bushes were more numerous, and we became separated though within +call. Presently a low whistle like the peewit’s (our signal) called me to +Orion. On the border of a thicket, near an open field of swedes, he had found a +hare in a wire. It was a beauty—the soft fur smooth to stroke, not so +much as a shot-hole in the black-marked ears. Wired or netted hares and rabbits +are much preferred by the dealers to those that have been shot—and so, +too, netted partridges—because they look so clean and tempt the +purchaser. The blacksmith Ikey, who bought our rabbits, used to sew up the shot +wounds when they were much knocked about, and trimmed up the shattered ones in +the cleverest way. +</p> + +<p> +To pull up the plug and take wire and hare too was the first impulse; yet we +hesitated. Why did the man who set the snare let his game lie till that hour of +the day? He should have visited it long before: it had a suspicious look +altogether. It would also have been nearly impossible to carry the hare so many +miles by daylight and past villages: even with the largest pockets it would +have been doubtful, for the hare had stiffened as he lay stretched out. So, +carefully replacing him just as we found him, we left the spot and re-entered +the copse. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd certainly was right; the quantity of nuts was immense: the best +and largest bunches grew at the edge of the thickets, perhaps because they +received more air and light than the bushes within that were surrounded by +boughs. It thus happened that we were in the green pathway when some one +suddenly spoke from behind, and, turning, there was a man in a velveteen jacket +who had just stepped out of the bushes. The keeper was pleasant enough and +readily allowed us to handle his gun—a very good weapon, though a little +thin at the muzzle—for a man likes to see his gun admired. He said there +were finer nuts in a valley he pointed out, and then carefully instructed us +how to get back into the waggon track without returning by the same path. An +old barn was the landmark; and, with a request from him not to break the +bushes, he left us. +</p> + +<p> +Down in the wooded vale we paused. The whole thing was now clear: the hare in +the wire was a trap laid for the “gips” whose camp was below. The +keeper had been waiting about doubtless where he could command the various +tracks up the hill, had seen us come that way, and did not wish us to return in +the same direction; because if the “gip” saw any one at all he +would not approach his snare. Whether the hare had actually been caught by the +wire, or had been put in by the keeper, it was not easy to tell. +</p> + +<p> +We wandered on in the valley wood, going from bush to bush, little heeding +whither we went. There are no woods so silent as the nut-tree; there is scarce +a sound in them at that time except the occasional rustle of a rabbit, and the +“thump, thump” they sometimes make underground in their buries +after a sudden fright. So that the keen plaintive whistle of a kingfisher was +almost startling. But we soon found the stream in the hollow. Broader than a +brook and yet not quite a river, it flowed swift and clear, so that every flint +at the bottom was visible. The nut-tree bushes came down to the edge: the +ground was too firm for much rush or sedge; the streams that come out of the +chalk are not so thickly fringed with vegetation as others. +</p> + +<p> +Some little way along there was a rounded sarsen boulder not far from shore, +whose brown top was so nearly on a level with the surface that at one moment +the water just covered it, and the next left it exposed. By it we spied a +trout; but the hill above gave “Velvet” the command of the hollow; +and it was too risky even to think of. After that the nuts were tame; there was +nothing left but to turn homewards. As for trout-fishing, there is nothing so +easy. Take the top joint off the rod, and put the wire on the second, which is +stronger, fill the basket, and replace the fly. There were fellows who used to +paddle in canoes up a certain river (not this little stream), pick out the +largest trout, and shoot them with pistols, under pretence of practising at +water-rats. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> +WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET</h2> + +<p> +In a hedge that joined a wood, and about a hundred yards from it, there was a +pleasant hiding-place beside a pollard ash. The bank was hollow with +rabbit-buries: the summer heat had hardened the clay of the mound and caused it +to crack and crumble wherever their excavations left a precipitous edge. Some +way up the trunk of the tree an immense flat fungus projected, roughly +resembling the protruding lip of a savage enlarged by the insertion of a piece +of wood. It formed a black ledge standing out seven or eight inches, two or +three inches thick, and extending for a foot or more round the bark. The +pollard, indeed, was dead inside, and near the ground the black touch-wood +showed. Ash timber must become rarer year by year: for, being so useful, it is +constantly cut down, while few new saplings are planted or encouraged to become +trees. +</p> + +<p> +In front a tangled mass of bramble arched over the dry ditch; it was possible +to see some distance down the bank, for nothing grew on the top itself, the +bushes all rising from either side—a peculiarity of clay mounds. This +narrow space was a favourite promenade of the rabbits; they usually came out +there for a few minutes first, looking about before venturing forth into the +meadows. Except a little moss, scarcely any vegetation other than underwood +clothed the bare hard soil of the mound; and for this reason every tiny +aperture that suited their purpose was occupied by wasps. +</p> + +<p> +They much prefer a clear space about the entrance to their nests, affording an +unencumbered passage: there were two nests within a few yards of the ash. +Though so generally dreaded, wasps are really inoffensive insects, never +attacking unless previously buffeted. You may sit close to a wasps’ nest +for hours, and, if you keep still, receive no injury. Humble-bees, too, +congregate in special localities: along one hedge half a dozen nests may be +found, while other fields are searched for them in vain. +</p> + +<p> +The best time to enter such a hiding-place is a little before the sun sinks: +for as his beams turn red all the creatures that rest during the day begin to +stir. Then the hares start down from the uplands and appear on the short +stubble, where the level rays throw exaggerated shadows behind them. When six +or eight hares are thus seen near the centre of a single field, they and their +shadows seem to take possession of and occupy it. +</p> + +<p> +Pheasants, though they retire to roost on the trees, often before rising come +forth into the meadows adjacent to the coverts. The sward in front of the +pollard ash sloped upwards gradually to the foot of a low hill planted with +firs, and just outside these about half a dozen pheasants regularly appeared in +the early evening. As the sun sank below the hill, and the shadow of the great +beeches some distance away began to extend into the mead, they went back one by +one into the firs. There they were nearly safe, for no trees give so much +difficulty to the poacher. It is not easy even to shoot anything inside a fir +plantation at night: as for the noose, it is almost impossible to use it. The +lowest pheasant is taken first, and then the next above, like fowls perched on +the rungs of a ladder; and, indeed, it is not unlikely that those who excel in +this kind of work base their operations upon previous experiences in the hen +roost. +</p> + +<p> +The wood pigeons begin to come home, and the wood is filled with their hollow +notes: now here, now yonder, for as one ceases another takes it up. They cannot +settle for some time: each as he arrives perches awhile, and then rises and +tries a fresh place, so that there is a constant clattering. The green +woodpecker approaches at a rapid pace—now opening, now closing his wings, +and seeming to throw himself forward rather than to fly. He rushes at the trees +in the hedge as though he could pierce the thick branches like a bullet. Other +birds rise over or pass at the side: he goes through, arrow-like, avoiding the +boughs. Instead of at once entering the wood, he stays awhile on the sward of +the mead in the open. +</p> + +<p> +As the pheasants generally feed in a straight line along the ground, so the +lesser pied woodpecker travels across the fields from tree to tree, rarely +staying on more than one branch in each, but, after examining it, leaves all +that may be on other boughs and seeks another ahead. He rises round and round +the dead branch in the elm, tapping it with blows that succeed each other with +marvellous rapidity. He taps for the purpose of sounding the wood to see if it +be hollow or bored by grubs, and to startle the insects and make them run out +for his convenience. He will ascend dead branches barely half an inch thick +that vibrate as he springs from them, and proceeds down the hedge towards the +wood. The “snop-top” sounds in every elm, and grows fainter as he +recedes. The sound is often heard, but in the thick foliage of summer the bird +escapes unseen, unless you are sitting almost under the tree when he arrives in +it. +</p> + +<p> +Then the rooks come drifting slowly to the beeches: they are uncertain in their +hour at this season—some, indeed, scarce care to return at all; and even +when quite dusk and the faint stars of summer rather show themselves than +shine, twos and threes come occasionally through the gloom. A pair of doves +pass swiftly, flying for the lower wood, where the ashpoles grow. The +grasshoppers sing in the grass, and will continue till the dew descends. As the +little bats flutter swiftly to and fro just without the hedge, the faint sound +of their wings is audible as they turn: their membranes are not so silent as +feathers, and they agitate them with extreme velocity. Beetles go by with a +loud hum, rising from those isolated bunches of grass that may be seen in every +field; for the cows will not eat the rank green blades that grow over and hide +dried dung. +</p> + +<p> +A large white spot, ill-defined and shapeless in the distance and the dimness, +glides along the edge of the wood, then across in front before the fir +plantation, next down the hedge to the left, and presently passes within two +yards, going towards the wood again along this mound. It is a white owl: he +flies about five feet from the ground and absolutely without a sound. So when +you are walking at night it is quite startling to have one come overhead, +approaching from behind and suddenly appearing. This owl is almost fearless; +unless purposely alarmed he will scarcely notice you, and not at all if you are +still. +</p> + +<p> +As he reaches the wood he leaves the hedge, having gone all round the field, +and crosses to a small detached circular fir plantation in the centre. There he +goes out of sight a minute or two; but presently appears skirting the low shed +and rickyard yonder, and is finally lost behind the hedges. This round he will +go every evening, and almost exactly at the same time—that is, in +reference to the sun, which is the clock of nature. +</p> + +<p> +Step never so quietly out from the mound, the small birds that unnoticed have +come to roost in the bushes will hear it and fly off in alarm. The rabbits that +are near the hedge rush in; those that are far from home crouch in the furrows +and the bunches. Crossing the open field, they suddenly start as it seems from +under your feet—one white tail goes dapping up and down this way, another +jerks over the “lands” that way. The moonbeams now glisten on the +double-barrel; and a bright sparkle glitters here and there as a dewdrop +catches a ray. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the grass a faint halo appears; it is a narrow band of light encircling +the path, an oval ring—perhaps rather horseshoe shape than oval. It +glides in front, keeping ever at the same distance as you walk, as if there the +eye was focussed. This is only seen when the grass is wet with dew, and better +in short grass than long. Where it shines the grass looks a paler green. +Passing gently along a hedge thickly timbered with oak and elms, a hawk may +perhaps start forth: hawks sometimes linger by the hedges till late, but it is +not often that you can shoot one at roost except in spring. Then they +invariably return to roost in the nest tree, and are watched there, and so +shot, a gunner approaching on each side of the hedge. In the lane dark +objects—rabbits—hasten away, and presently the footpath crosses the +still motionless brook near where it flows into the mere. +</p> + +<p> +The low brick parapet of the bridge is overgrown with mosses; great hedges grow +each side, and the willows, long uncut, almost meet in the centre. In one hedge +an opening leads to a drinking-place for cattle: peering noiselessly over the +parapet between the boughs, the coots and moorhens may be seen there feeding by +the shore. They have come up from the mere as the ducks and teal do in the +winter. The broader waters can scarcely be netted without a boat, but the brook +here is the very place for a moonlight haul. The net is stretched first across +the widest spot nearest to the pool, that no fish may escape. They swim up here +in the daytime in shoals, perch especially; but the night poachers are often +disappointed, for the fish seem to retire to deeper waters as the darkness +comes on. A black mass of mud-coated sticks, rotten twigs, and thorn bushes, +entangled in the meshes, is often the only result of much toil. +</p> + +<p> +Once now and then, as when a preserved pond is netted, a tremendous take +occurs; but nets are rather gone by, being so unwieldy and requiring several +men to manage effectually. If they are not hung out to dry properly after being +used, they soon rot. Now, a large net stretched along railings or a hedge is +rather a conspicuous object, and brings suspicion on the owner. It is also so +heavy after use that until wrung, which takes time, a strong man can barely +carry it; and if a sudden alarm comes it must be abandoned. +</p> + +<p> +It is pleasant to rest awhile on the parapet in the shadow of the bushes. The +low thud-thud of sculls in the rowlocks of a distant punt travels up the water. +By-and-by a hare comes along, enters on the bridge, and almost reaches the gate +in the middle before he spies anything suspicious. Such a spot, and, indeed, +any gateway, used to be a favourite place to set a net, and then drive the +hares towards it with a cur dog that ran silent. Bold must be the man that +would set a net in a footpath now, with almost every field preserved by owner +or tenant. With a bound the hare hies back and across the meadow: the gun comes +to the shoulder as swiftly. +</p> + +<p> +On the grass lit by the moon the hare looked quite distinct, but the moment the +gaze is concentrated up the barrel he becomes a dim object with no defined +outline. In shooting on the ground by twilight or in the moonbeams, waste no +time in endeavouring to aim, but think of the hare’s ears—say a +couple of feet in front of his tail—and the moment the gun feels steady +pull the trigger. The flash and report come together; there is a dull +indescribable sound ahead, as some of the shot strikes home in fur and some +drills into the turf, and then a rustling in the grass. The moorhens dive, and +the coots scuttle down the brook towards the mere at the flash. While yet the +sulphurous smoke lingers, slow to disperse, over the cool dewy sward, there +comes back an echo from the wood behind, then another from the mere, then +another and another beyond. +</p> + +<p> +The distant sculls have ceased to work in the rowlocks—those in the punt +are listening to the echoes; most likely they have been fishing for tench in +the deep holes under the black shadow of the aspens. (Tench feed in the dark: +if you wish to take a big one wait till it is necessary to fix a piece of white +paper on the float.) Now put the empty cartridge in your pocket instead of +throwing it aside; pull the hare’s neck across your knee, and hurry off. +But you may safely stay to harle him; for those very echoes that have been +heard a mile round about are the best safeguard: not one man in a thousand +could tell the true direction whence the sound of the explosion originated. +</p> + +<p> +The pleasure of wandering in a wood was so great that it could never be +resisted, and did not solely arise from the instinct of shooting. Many +expeditions were made without a gun, or any implement of destruction, simply to +enjoy the trees and thickets. There was one large wood very carefully +preserved, and so situate in an open country as not to be easily entered. But a +little observation showed that the keeper had a “habit.” He used to +come out across the wheatfields to a small wayside “public,” and +his route passed by a lonely barn and rickyard. One warm summer day I saw him +come as usual to the “public,” and while he was there quietly +slipped as far as the barn and hid in it. +</p> + +<p> +In July such a rickyard is very hot; heat radiates from every straw. The ground +itself is dry and hard, each crevice choked with particles of white chaff; so +that even the couch can hardly grow except close under the low hedge where the +pink flower of the pimpernel opens to the sky. White stone staddles—short +conical pillars with broad capitals—stand awaiting the load of sheaves +that will shortly press on them. Every now and then a rustling in the heaps of +straw indicates the presence of mice. From straw and stone and bare earth heat +seems to rise up. The glare of the sunlight pours from above. The black pitched +wooden walls of the barn and sheds prevent the circulation of air. There are no +trees for shadow—nothing but a few elder bushes, which are crowded at +intervals of a few minutes with sparrows rushing with a whirr of wings up from +the standing corn. +</p> + +<p> +But the high pitched roof of the barn and of the lesser sheds has a beauty of +its own—the minute vegetation that has covered the tiles having changed +the original dull red to an orange hue. From ridge to eaves, from end to end, +it is a wide expanse of colour, only varying so much in shade as to save it +from monotony. It stands out glowing, distinct against the deep blue of the +sky. The “cheep” of fledgeling sparrows comes from the crevices +above; but swallows do not frequent solitary buildings so much as those by +dwelling-houses, being especially fond of cattle-sheds where cows are milked. +</p> + +<p> +The proximity of animals apparently attracts them: perhaps in the more exposed +places there may be dangers from birds of prey. As for the sparrows, they are +innumerable. Some are marked with white patches—a few so much so as to +make quite a show when they fly. One handsome cock bird has a white ring half +round his neck, and his wings are a beautiful partridge-brown. He looks larger +than the common sort; and there are several more here that likewise appear to +exceed in size, and to have the same peculiar brown. +</p> + +<p> +After a while there came the sound of footsteps and a low but cheerful whistle. +The keeper having slaked a thirst very natural on such a sultry day returned, +and re-entered the wood. I had decided that it would be the best plan to follow +in his rear, because then there would be little chance of crossing his course +haphazard, and the dogs would not sniff any strange footsteps, since the +footsteps would not be there till they had gone by. To hide from the eyes of a +man is comparatively easy; but a dog will detect an unwonted presence in the +thickest bush, and run in and set up a yelping, especially if it is a puppy. +</p> + +<p> +It was not more than forty yards from the barn to the wood: there was no mound +or hedge, but a narrow, deep, and dry watercourse, a surface drain, ran across. +Stooping a little and taking off my hat, I walked in this, so that the wheat +each side rose above me and gave a perfect shelter. This precaution was +necessary, because on the right there rose a steep Down, from whose summit the +level wheat-fields could be easily surveyed. So near was it that I could +distinguish the tracks of the hares worn in the short grass. But if you take +off your hat no one can distinguish you in a wheat-field, more particularly if +your hair is light: nor even in a hedge. +</p> + +<p> +Where the drain or furrow entered the wood was a wire-netting firmly fixed, and +over it tall pitched palings, sharp at the top. The wood was enclosed with a +thick hawthorn hedge that looked impassable; but the keeper’s footsteps, +treading down the hedge-parsley and brushing aside the “gicks,” +guided me behind a bush where was a very convenient gap. These signs and the +smooth-worn bark of an ash against which it was needful to push proved that +this quiet path was used somewhat frequently. +</p> + +<p> +Inside the wood the grass and the bluebell leaves—the bloom past and +ripening to seed—so hung over the trail that it was difficult to follow. +It wound about the ash stoles in the most circuitous manner—now to avoid +the thistles, now a bramble thicket, or a hollow filled with nettles. Then the +ash poles were clothed with the glory of the woodbine—one mass of white +and yellow wax-like flowers to a height of eight or nine feet, and forming a +curtain of bloom from branch to branch. +</p> + +<p> +After awhile I became aware that the trail was approaching the hill. At the +foot it branched; and the question arose whether to follow the fork that +zig-zagged up among the thickets or that which seemed to plunge into the +recesses beneath. I had never been in this wood before—the time was +selected because it was probable that the keeper would be extremely occupied +with his pheasant chicks. Though the earth was so hard in the exposed +rick-yard, here the clayey ground was still moist under the shadow of the +leaves. Examining the path more closely, I easily distinguished the impression +of the keeper’s boot: the iron toe-plate has left an almost perfect +impression, and there were the deep grooves formed by the claws of his dog as +it had scrambled up the declivity and the pad slipped on the clay. +</p> + +<p> +As he had taken the upward path, no doubt it led direct to the pheasants, which +was sure to be on the hill itself, or a dry and healthy slope. I therefore took +the other trail, since I must otherwise have overtaken him; for he would stay +long among his chicks: just as an old-fashioned farmer lingers at a gate, +gazing on his sheep. Advancing along the lower path, after some fifteen minutes +it turned sharply to the right, and I stood under the precipitous cliff-like +edge of the hill in a narrow coombe. The earth at the top hung over the verge, +and beech-trees stood as it seemed in the act to topple, their exposed roots +twisting to and fro before they re-entered the face of the precipice. Large +masses of chalky rubble had actually fallen, and others were all but detached. +The coombe, of course, could be overlooked from thence; but a moment’s +reflection convinced me there was no risk, for who would dare to go near enough +to the edge to look down? +</p> + +<p> +The coombe was full of fir-trees; and by them stood a long narrow +shed—the roof ruinous, but the plank walls intact. It had originally been +erected in a field, since planted for covers. This long shed, a greenish grey +from age and mouldering wood, became a place of much interest. Along the back +there were three rows of weasels and stoats nailed through the head or neck to +the planks. There had been a hundred in each row—about three hundred +altogether. The lapse of time had entirely dissipated the substance of many on +the upper row; nothing remained but the grim and rusty nail. Further along +there hung small strips without shape. Beyond these the nails supported +something that had a rough outline still of the animal. In the second row the +dried and shrivelled creatures were closely wrapped in nature’s +mummy-cloth of green; in the third, some of those last exposed still retained a +dull brown colour. None were recent. Above, under the eaves, the spiders’ +webs had thickly gathered; beneath, the nettles flourished. +</p> + +<p> +But the end of the shed was the place where the more distinguished offenders +were gibbeted. A footpath, well worn and evidently much used, went by this end, +and, as I afterwards ascertained, communicated with the mansion above and the +keeper’s cottage some distance below. Every passenger between must pass +the gallows where the show of more noble traitors gave proof of the +keeper’s loyal activity. Four shorter rows rose in tiers. To the nails at +the top strong beaks and black feathers adhered, much bedraggled and ruffled by +weather. These crows had long been dead; the keeper when he shot a crow did not +trouble to have it carried home, unless a nail was conspicuously vacant. The +ignoble bird was left where he fell. +</p> + +<p> +On the next row the black and white of magpies and the blue of jays alternated. +Many of the magpies had been despoiled of their tails, and some of their wings, +the feathers being saleable. The jays were more numerous, and untouched; they +were slain in such numbers that the market for their plumage was glutted. +Though the bodies were shrunken, the feathers were in fair condition. +Magpies’ nests are so large that in winter, when the leaves are off the +trees, they cannot but be seen, and, the spot being marked, in the summer old +and young are easily destroyed. Hawks filled the third row. The kestrels were +the most numerous, but there were many sparrow-hawks. These made a great show, +and were stuck so closely that a feather could hardly be thrust between them. +In the midst, quite smothered under their larger wings, were the remains of a +smaller bird—probably a merlin. But the last and lowest row, that was +also nearest, or on a level with the face of a person looking at the gallows, +was the most striking. +</p> + +<p> +This grand tier was crowded with owls—not arranged in any order, but +haphazard, causing a fine mixture of colour. Clearly this gallery was +constantly renewed. The white owl gave the prevalent tint, side by side with +the brown wood owls, and scattered among the rest, a few long horned +owls—a mingling of white, yellowish brown, and tawny feathers. Though +numerous here, yet trap and gun have so reduced the wood owls that you may +listen half the night by a cover and never hear the “Who-hoo” that +seems to demand your name. +</p> + +<p> +The barn owls are more liable to be shot, because they are more conspicuous; +but, on the other hand, as they often breed and reside away from covers, they +seem to escape. For months past one of these has sailed by my window every +evening uttering a hissing “skir-r-r.” Here, some were nailed with +their backs to the wall, that they might not hide their guilty faces. +</p> + +<p> +The delicate texture of the owl’s feathers is very remarkable: these +birds remind me of a huge moth. The owls were more showy than the hawks, though +it is commonly said that without sunlight there is no colour—as in the +case of plants grown in darkness. Yet the hawks are day birds, while the owls +fly by night. There came the sound of footsteps; and I retreated, casting one +glance backward at the black and white, the blue and brown colours that +streaked the wall, while the dull green weasels were in perpetual shadow. By +night the bats would flit round and about that gloomy place. It would not do to +return by the same path, lest another keeper might be coming up it; so I +stepped into the wood itself. To those who walk only in the roads, hawks and +owls seem almost rare. But a wood is a place to which they all flock; and any +wanderer from the north or west naturally tends thither. This wood is of large +extent; but even to the smaller plantations of the Downs it is wonderful what a +number come in the course of a year. Besides the shed just visited, there would +be certain to be another more or less ornamented near the keeper’s +cottage, and probably others scattered about, where the commoner vermin could +be nailed without the trouble of carrying them far away. Only the owls and +hawks, magpies, and such more striking evidences of slaughter were collected +here, and almost daily renewed. +</p> + +<p> +To get into the wood was much easier than to get out, on account of the thick +hedge, palings, and high sharp-sparred gates; but I found a dry ditch where it +was possible to creep under the bushes into a meadow where was a footpath. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> +LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK”</h2> + +<p> +The time of the apple-bloom is the most delicious season in Sarsen village. It +is scarcely possible to obtain a view of the place, although it is built on the +last slope of the Downs, because just where the ground drops and the eye +expects an open space, plantations of fir and the tops of tall poplars and elms +intercept the glance. In ascending from the level meadows of the vale thick +double mounds, heavily timbered with elm, hide the houses until you are +actually in their midst. +</p> + +<p> +Those only know a country who are acquainted with its footpaths. By the roads, +indeed, the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go through the heart of the +land. There are routes by which mile after mile may be travelled without +leaving the sward. So you may pass from village to village; now crossing green +meads, now cornfields, over brooks, past woods, through farmyard and rick +“barken.” But such tracks are not mapped, and a stranger misses +them altogether unless under the guidance of an old inhabitant. +</p> + +<p> +At Sarsen the dusty road enters the more modern part of the village at once, +where the broad signs hang from the taverns at the cross-ways and where the +loafers steadily gaze at the new comer. The Lower Path, after stile and hedge +and elm, and grass that glows with golden buttercups, quietly leaves the side +of the double mounds and goes straight through the orchards. There are fewer +flowers under the trees, and the grass grows so long and rank that it has +already fallen aslant of its own weight. It is choked, too, by masses of +clog-weed, that springs up profusely over the site of old foundations; so that +here ancient masonry may be hidden under the earth. Indeed, these orchards are +a survival from the days when the monks laboured in vineyard and garden, and +mayhap even of earlier times. When once a locality has got into the habit of +growing a certain crop it continues to produce it for century after century; +and thus there are villages famous for apple or pear or cherry, while the +district at large is not at all given to such culture. +</p> + +<p> +The trunks of the trees succeed each other in endless ranks, like columns that +support the most beautiful roof of pink and white. Here the bloom is rosy, +there white prevails: the young green is hidden under the petals that are far +more numerous than leaves, or even than leaves will be. Though the path really +is in shadow as the branches shut out the sun, yet it seems brighter here than +in the open, as if the place were illuminated by a million tiny lamps shedding +the softest lustre. The light is reflected and apparently increased by the +countless flowers overhead. +</p> + +<p> +The forest of bloom extends acre after acre, and only ceases where hedges +divide, to commence again beyond the boundary. A wicket gate, all green with a +film of vegetation over the decaying wood, opens under the very eaves of a +cottage, and the path goes by the door—across a narrow meadow where deep +and broad trenches, green now, show where ancient stews or fishponds existed, +and then through a farmyard into a lane. Tall poplars rise on either hand, but +there seem to be no houses; they stand, in fact, a field’s breadth back +from the lane, and are approached by footpaths that every few yards necessitate +a stile in the hedge. +</p> + +<p> +When a low thatched farmhouse does abut upon the way, the blank white wall of +the rear part faces the road, and the front door opens on precisely the other +side. Hard by is a row of beehives. Though the modern hives are at once more +economical and humane, they have not the old associations that cling about the +straw domes topped with broken earthenware to shoot off the heavy downfall of a +thunderstorm. +</p> + +<p> +Everywhere the apple-bloom; the hum of bees; children sitting on the green +beside the road, their laps full of flowers; the song of finches; and the low +murmur of water that glides over flint and stone so shadowed by plants and +grasses that the sunbeams cannot reach and glisten on it. Thus the straggling +flower-strewn village stretches along beneath the hill and rises up the slope, +and the swallows wheel and twitter over the gables where are their hereditary +nesting-places. The lane ends on a broad dusty road, and, opposite, a quiet +thatched house of the larger sort stands, endways to the street, with an open +pitching before the windows. There, too, the swallows’ nests are crowded +under the eaves, flowers are trained against the wall, and in the garden stand +the same beautiful apple-trees. But within, the lower part of the +windows—that have recess seats—are guarded by horizontal rods of +iron, polished by the backs of many men. It is an inn, and the rods are to save +the panes from the impact of an excited toper’s arm. +</p> + +<p> +The talk to-day, as the brown brandy, which the paler cognac has not yet +superseded, is consumed, and the fumes of coarse tobacco and the smell of spilt +beer and the faint sickly odour of evaporating spirits overpower the flowers, +is of horses. The stable lads from the training stables far up on the Downs +drop in or call at the door without dismounting. Once or twice in the day a +tout calls and takes his “grub,” and scribbles a report in the +little back parlour. Sporting papers, beer-stained and thumb-marked, lie on the +tables; framed portraits of racers hang on the walls. Burly men, who certainly +cannot ride a race, but who have horse in every feature, puff cigars and chat +in jerky monosyllables that to an outsider are perfectly incomprehensible. But +the glib way in which heavy sums of money are spoken of conveys the impression +that they dabble in enormous wealth. +</p> + +<p> +There are dogs under the tables and chairs; dogs in the window-seat; dogs +panting on the stone flags of the passage, after a sharp trot behind a trap, +choosing the coolest spot to loll their red tongues out; dogs outside in the +road; dogs standing on hind legs, and painfully lapping the water in the +horse-trough; and there is a yapping of puppies in the distance. The cushions +of the sofa are strewn with dogs’ hairs, and once now and then a dog +leisurely hops up the staircase. +</p> + +<p> +Customers are served by the landlady, a decent body enough in her way: her son, +the man of the house, is up in the “orchut” at the rear, feeding +his dogs. Where the “orchut” ends in a paddock stands a small shed: +in places the thatch on the roof has fallen through in the course of years and +revealed the bare rafters. The bottom part of the door has decayed, and the +long nose of a greyhound is thrust out sniffing through a hole. Dickon, the +said son, is delighted to undo the padlock for a visitor who is +“square.” In an instant the long hounds leap up, half a dozen at a +time, and I stagger backwards, forced by the sheer vigour of their caresses +against the doorpost. Dickon cannot quell the uproarious pack: he kicks the +door open, and away they scamper round and round the paddock at headlong speed. +</p> + +<p> +What a joy it is to them to stretch their limbs! I forget the squalor of the +kennel in watching their happy gambols. I cannot drink more than one tumbler of +brown brandy and water; but Dickon overlooks that weakness, feeling that I +admire his greyhounds. It is arranged that I am to see them work in the autumn. +</p> + +<p> +The months pass, and in his trap with the famous trotter in the shafts we roll +up the village street. Apple-bloom and golden fruit too are gone, and the +houses show more now among the bare trees; but as the rim of the ruddy November +sun comes forth from the edge of a cloud there appears a buff tint everywhere +in the background. When elm and ash are bare the oaks retain their leaves, and +these are illumined by the autumn beams. Over-topped by tall elms and hidden by +the orchards, the oaks were hardly seen in summer; now they are found to be +numerous and give the prevailing hue to the place. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon taps the dashboard as the mare at last tops the hill, and away she +speeds along the level plateau for the Downs. Two greyhounds are with us; two +more have gone on under charge of a boy. Skirting the hills a mile or two, we +presently leave the road and drive over the turf: there is no track, but Dickon +knows his way. The rendezvous is a small fir plantation, the young trees in +which are but shoulder-high. Below is a plain entirely surrounded by the hills, +and partly green with root crops: more than one flock of sheep is down there, +and two teams ploughing the stubble. Neither the ploughmen nor the shepherds +take the least heed of us, except to watch for the sport. The spare couple are +fastened in the trap; the boy jumps up and takes the reins. Dickon puts the +slip on the couple that are to run first, and we begin to range. +</p> + +<p> +Just at the foot of the hill the grass is tall and grey; there, too, are the +dead dry stalks of many plants that cultivation has driven from the ploughed +fields and that find a refuge at the edge. A hare starts from the very verge +and makes up the Downs. Dickon slips the hounds, and a faint halloo comes from +the shepherds and the ploughmen. It is a beautiful sight to see the hounds +bound over the sward; the sinewy back bends like a bow, but a bow that, instead +of an arrow, shoots itself; the deep chests drink the air. Is there any moment +so joyful in life as the second when the chase begins? As we gaze, before we +even step forward, the hare is over the ridge and out of sight. Then we race +and tear up the slope; then the boy in the trap flaps the reins and away goes +the mare out of sight too. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon is long and rawboned, a powerful fellow, strong of limb, and twice my +build; but he sips too often at the brown brandy, and after the first burst I +can head him. But he knows the hills and the route the hare will take, so that +I have but to keep pace. In five minutes as we cross a ridge we see the game +again; the hare is circling back—she passes under us not fifty yards +away, as we stand panting on the hill. The youngest hound gains, and runs right +over her; she doubles, the older hound picks up the running. By a furze-bush +she doubles again; but the young one turns her—the next moment she is in +the jaws of the old dog. +</p> + +<p> +Again and again the hounds are slipped, now one couple, now the other: we pant, +and can scarcely speak with running, but the wild excitement of the hour and +the sweet pure air of the Downs supply fresh strength. The little lad brings +the mare anywhere: through the furze, among the flint-pits, jolting over the +ruts, she rattles along with sure alacrity. There are five hares in the sack +under the straw when at last we get up and slowly drive down to the highway, +reaching it some two miles from where we left it. Dickon sends the dogs home by +the boy on foot; we drive round and return to the village by a different route, +entering it from the opposite direction. +</p> + +<p> +The reason of these things is that Sarsen has no great landlord. There are +fifty small proprietors, and not a single resident magistrate. Besides the +small farmers, there are scores of cottage owners, every one of whom is +perfectly independent. Nobody cares for anybody. It is a republic, without even +the semblance of a Government. It is liberty, equality, and swearing. As it is +just within the limit of a borough, almost all the cottagers have votes, and +are not to be trifled with. The proximity of horse-racing establishments adds +to the general atmosphere of dissipation. Betting, card-playing, +ferret-breeding and dog-fancying, poaching and politics, are the occupations of +the populace. A little illicit badger-baiting is varied by a little +vicar-baiting; the mass of the inhabitants are the reddest of Reds. Que +voulez-vous? +</p> + +<p> +The edges of some large estates come up near, but the owners would hardly like +to institute a persecution of these turbulent folk. If they did, where would be +their influence at the next election? If a landlord makes himself unpopular, +his own personal value depreciates. He is a nonentity in the committee-room, +and his help rather deprecated by the party than desired. The Sarsen fellows +are not such fools as to break pheasant preserves in the vale; as they are +resident, that would not answer. They keep outside the <i>sanctum sanctorum</i> +of the pheasant coverts. But with ferret, dog, and gun, and now and then a +partridge net along the edge of the standing barley, they excel. So, too, with +the wire; and the broad open Downs are their happy hunting grounds, especially +in misty weather. +</p> + +<p> +This is the village of the apple-bloom, the loveliest spot imaginable. After +all, they are not such desperately bad fellows if you deduct their sins against +the game laws. They are a jovial lot, and free with their money; they stand by +one another—a great virtue in these cold-blooded days. If one gets in +trouble with the law the rest subscribe the fine. They are full of knowledge of +a certain sort, and you may learn anything, from the best way to hang a dog +upwards. +</p> + +<p> +When we reach the inn, and Dickon calls for the brown brandy, there in the bar +sits a gamekeeper, whose rubicund countenance beams with good humour. He is +never called upon to pay his score. Good fellow! in addition he is popular, and +every one asks him to drink: besides which, a tip for a race now and then makes +this world wear a smiling aspect to him. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon’s “unconscious education”—absorbed rather than +learnt in boyhood—had not been acquired under conditions likely to lead +him to admire scenery. But, rough as he was, he was a good-natured fellow, and +it was through him that I became acquainted with a very beautiful place. +</p> + +<p> +The footpath to The Park went for about half a mile under the shadow of elm +trees, and in spring time there was a continual noise of young rooks in the +nests above. Occasionally dead twigs, either dislodged from the nests or broken +off by the motions of the old birds, came rustling down. One or two nests that +had been blown out strewed the sward with half a bushel of dead sticks. After +the rookery the path passed a lonely dairy, where the polished brazen vessels +in the skilling glittered like gold in the sunshine. Farther on came wide open +meadows with numerous oak-trees scattered in the midst—the outposts of +the great wood at hand. The elms were flourishing and vigorous; but these +detached oaks were decaying, and some dead, their hoar antiquity contrasting +with the green grass and flowers of the mead. +</p> + +<p> +The mansion was hidden by elm and chestnut, pines and sombre cedars. From the +edge of the lawn the steep slope of the Down rose, planted with all manner of +shrubs, the walks through which were inches deep in dead leaves, needles, and +fir-cones. Long neglect had permitted these to accumulate, and the yew hedges +had almost grown together and covered the walk they bordered. +</p> + +<p> +The woods and preserves extended along the Downs, between the hills and the +meadows beneath. There was one path through these woods that led into a narrow +steep-sided coombe, one side of which was planted with firs. On the other was a +little grass, but so thin as scarcely to cover the chalk. This side jutted out +from the general line of the hills, and formed a bold bluff, whose white +precipitous cliff was a landmark for many miles. In climbing the coombe, it was +sometimes necessary to grasp the bunches of grass; for it would have been +impossible to recover from a slip till, bruised and shaken, you rolled to the +bottom, and perhaps into the little streamlet flowing through the hollow. +</p> + +<p> +The summit was of small extent, but the view beautiful. A low fence of withy +had long since decayed, nothing but a few rotten stakes remaining at the very +verge of the precipice. Steep as it was, there were some ledges that the +rabbits frequented, making their homes in mid-air. Further along, the slope, a +little less perpendicular, was covered with nut-tree bushes, where you could +scramble down by holding to the boughs. There was a tradition of a fox-hunter, +in the excitement of the chase, forcing his horse to descend through these +bushes and actually reaching the level meadows below in safety. +</p> + +<p> +Impossible as it seemed, yet when the hounds were in full cry beneath it was +easy to understand that in the eagerness of the moment a horseman at the top +might feel tempted to join the stirring scene at any risk: for the fox +frequently ran just below, making along the line of coverts; and from that +narrow perch on the cliff the whole field came into sight at once. There was +Reynard slipping ahead, and two or more fields behind the foremost of the pack, +while the rest, rushing after, made the hills resound with their chiding. The +leaders taking the hedges, the main squadron splashing through a marshy place, +the outsiders straining to come up, and the last man behind, who rode harder +than any—all could be seen at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +It was a lovely spot, too, for dreaming on a summer’s day, reclining on +the turf, with the harebells swinging in the faint breeze. The extreme solitude +was its charm: no lanes or tracks other than those purely pastoral came near. +There were woods on either hand; in the fir plantations the jays chattered +unceasingly. The broad landscape stretched out to the illimitable distance, +till the power of the eye failed and could trace it no farther. But if the gaze +was lifted it looked into blue space—the azure heaven not only overhead, +but, as it seemed, all around. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon was always to and fro the mansion here, and took me with him. His object +was ostensibly business: now it was a horse to buy, now a fat bullock or sheep; +now it was an acre or two of wood that was to be cut. The people of the mansion +were so much from home that their existence was almost forgotten, and they were +spoken of vaguely as “on the Continent.” There was, in fact, a lack +of ready-money, perhaps from the accumulation of settlements, that reduced the +nominal income of the head to a tithe of what it should have been. +</p> + +<p> +Yet they were too proud to have in the modern builder, the modern upholsterer, +and, most dreadful of all, the modern “gardener,” to put in French +sashes, gilding and mirrors, and to root up the fine old yew hedges and level +the grand old trees. Such is the usual preparation before an advertisement +appears that a mansion of “historic association,” and +“replete with every modern convenience,” is to let, with some +thousand of acres of shooting, &c. +</p> + +<p> +They still kept up an establishment of servants—after a fashion—who +did much as they pleased. Dickon was a great favourite. As for myself, a mere +dreamy lad, I could go into the woods and wander as I liked, which was +sufficient. But I recollect the immense kitchen very well, and the polished +relics of the ancient turnspit machinery. There was a door from it opening on a +square stone-flagged court with a vertical sun-dial on the wall; and beyond +that ranges of disused coach-houses—all cloudy, as it were, with cobwebs +hanging on old-fashioned post-chaises. Dickon was in love with one of the +maids, a remarkably handsome girl. +</p> + +<p> +She showed me the famous mantelpiece, a vast carved work, under which you could +stand upright. The legend was that once a year on a certain night a sable horse +and cloaked horseman rode across that great apartment, flames snorting from the +horse’s nostrils, and into the fireplace, disappearing with a clap of +thunder. She brought me, too, an owl from the coach-houses, holding the bird by +the legs firmly, her hand defended by her apron from the claws. +</p> + +<p> +The butler was a little merry fellow, extremely fond of a gun, and expert in +using it. He seemed to have nothing to do but tell tales and sing, except at +the rare intervals when some of the family returned unexpectedly. The keeper +was always up there in the kitchen; he was as pleasant and jovial as a man +could well be, though full of oaths on occasion. He was a man of one +tale—of a somewhat enigmatical character. He would ask a stranger if they +had ever heard of such-and-such a village where water set fire to a barn, ducks +were drowned, and pigs cut their own throats, all in a single day. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed that some lime had been stored in the barn, when the brook rose and +flooded the place; this slaked the lime and fired the straw, and so the barn. +Something of the same kind happens occasionally on the river barges. The ducks +were in a coop fastened down, so that they could not swim on the surface of the +flood, which passed over and drowned them. The pigs were floated out of the +sty, and in swimming their sharp-edged hoofs struck their fat jowls just behind +the ear at every stroke till they cut into the artery, and so bled to death. +Where he got this history from I do not know. +</p> + +<p> +One bright October morning (towards the end of the month) Dickon drove me over +to the old place with his fast trotter—our double-barrels hidden under +some sacks in the trap. The keeper was already waiting in the kitchen, sipping +a glass of hot purl; the butler was filling every pocket with cartridges. After +some comparison of their betting-books, for Dickon, on account of his +acquaintance with the training establishments, was up to most moves, we +started. The keeper had to send a certain number of pheasants and other game to +the absent family and their friends every now and then, and this duty was his +pretext. There was plenty of shooting to be got elsewhere, but the spice of +naughtiness about this was alluring. To reach that part of the wood where it +was proposed to shoot the shortest way led across some arable fields. +</p> + +<p> +Fieldfares and redwings rose out of the hedges and flew away in their +peculiarly scattered manner—their flocks, though proceeding in the same +direction, seeming all loose and disordered. Where the ploughs had been at work +already the deep furrows were full of elm leaves, wafted as they fell from the +trees in such quantities as to make the groove left by the share level with the +ridges. A flock of lapwings were on the clods in an adjacent field, near enough +to be seen, but far beyond gunshot. There might perhaps have been fifty birds, +all facing one way and all perfectly motionless. They were, in fact, watching +us intently, although not apparently looking towards us: they act so much in +concert as to seem drilled. So soon as the possibility of danger had gone by +each would begin to feed, moving ahead. +</p> + +<p> +The path then passed through the little meadows that joined the wood: and the +sunlight glistened on the dew, or rather on the hoar frost that had melted and +clung in heavy drops to the grass. Here one flashed emerald; there ruby; +another a pure brilliance like a diamond. Under foot by the stiles the fallen +acorns crunched as they split into halves beneath the sudden pressure. +</p> + +<p> +The leaves still left on the sycamores were marked with large black spots: the +horse-chestnuts were quite bare; and already the tips of the branches carried +the varnish-coloured sheaths of the buds that were to appear the following +spring. These stuck to the finger if touched, as if they really had been +varnished. Through the long months of winter they would remain, till under +April showers and sunshine the sheath fell back and the green leaflets pushed +up, the two forming together a rude cross for a short time. +</p> + +<p> +The day was perfectly still, and the colours of the leaves still left glowed in +the sunbeams. Beneath, the dank bronzed fern that must soon shrivel was wet, +and hung with spiders’ webs that like a slender netting upheld the dew. +The keeper swore a good deal about a certain gentleman farmer whose lands +adjoined the estate, but who held under a different proprietor. Between these +two there was a constant bickering—the tenant angry about the damage done +to his crops by the hares and rabbits, and the keeper bitterly resenting the +tenant’s watch on his movements, and warnings to his employer that all +was not quite as it should be. +</p> + +<p> +The tenant had the right to shoot, and he was always about in the +turnips—a terrible thorn in the side of Dickon’s friend. The tenant +roundly declared the keeper a rascal, and told his master so in written +communications. The keeper declared the tenant set gins by the wood, in which +the pheasants stepped and had their legs smashed. Then the tenant charged the +keeper with trespassing; the other retorted that he decoyed the pheasants by +leaving peas till they dropped out of the pods. In short, their hatred was +always showing itself in some act of guerrilla warfare. As we approached the +part of the woods fixed on, two of the keeper’s assistants, carrying +thick sticks, stepped from behind a hedge, and reported that they had kept a +good watch, and the old fox (the tenant) had not been seen that morning. So +these fellows went round to beat, and the guns were got ready. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes you could hear the pheasants running before they reached the +low-cropped hawthorn hedge at the side of the plantation; sometimes they came +so quietly as to appear suddenly out from the ditch, having crept through. +Others came with a tremendous rush through the painted leaves, rising just +before the hedge; and now and then one flew screaming high over the tops of the +firs and ash-poles, his glossy neck glowing in the sunlight and his long tail +floating behind. These last pleased me most, for when the shot struck the great +bird going at that rate even death could not at once arrest his progress. The +impetus carried him yards, gradually slanting downwards till he rolled in the +green rush bunches. +</p> + +<p> +Then a hare slipped out and ran the gauntlet, and filled the hollow with his +cries when the shot broke his hindquarters, till the dog had him. Jays came in +couples, and green woodpeckers singly: the magpies cunningly flew aside instead +of straight ahead; they never could do anything straightforward. A stoat peeped +out, but went back directly when a rabbit whose retreat had been cut off bolted +over his most insidious enemy. Every now and then Dickon’s shot when he +fired high cut the twigs out of the ash by me. Then came the distant noise of +the beaters’ sticks, and the pheasants, at last thoroughly disturbed, +flew out in twos and threes at a time. Now the firing grew fierce, and the roll +of the volleys ceaseless. It was impossible to jam the cartridges fast enough +in the breech. +</p> + +<p> +A subtle flavour of sulphur filled the mouth, and the lips became dry. Sunshine +and gleaming leaves and sky and grass seemed to all disappear in the fever of +the moment. The gun burned the hands, all blackened by the powder; the metal +got hotter and hotter; the sward was poached and trampled and dotted with +cases; shot hissed through the air and pattered in showers on the opposite +plantation; the eyes, bleared and bloodshot with the smoke, could scarce see to +point the tube. Pheasants fell, and no one heeded; pheasants escaped, and none +noticed it; pheasants were but just winged and ran wounded into the distant +hedges; pheasants were blown out of all living shape and could hardly be +gathered up. Not a word spoken: a breathless haste to load and blaze; a storm +of shot and smoke and slaughter. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> +OBY AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR</h2> + +<p> +One dark night, as I was walking on a lonely road, I kicked against something, +and but just saved myself from a fall. It was an intoxicated man lying at full +length. As a rule, it is best to let such people alone; but it occurred to me +that the mail-cart was due; with two horses harnessed tandem-fashion, and +travelling at full speed, the mail would probably go over him. So I seized the +fellow by the collar and dragged him out of the way. Then he sat up, and asked +in a very threatening tone who I was. I mentioned my name: he grunted, and fell +back on the turf, where I left him. +</p> + +<p> +The incident passed out of my mind, when one afternoon a labourer called, +asking for me in a mysterious manner, and refusing to communicate his business +to any one else. When admitted, he produced a couple of cock pheasants from +under his coat, the tail feathers much crumpled, but otherwise in fine +condition. These he placed on the table, remarking, “I ain’t forgot +as you drawed I out of the raud thuck night.” I made him understand that +such presents were too embarrassing; but he seemed anxious to do +“summat,” so I asked him to find me a few ferns and rare plants. +</p> + +<p> +This he did from time to time; and thus a species of acquaintanceship grew up, +and I learned all about him. He was always called “Oby” +(<i>i.e.</i> Obadiah), and was the most determined poacher of a neighbouring +district—a notorious fighting man—hardened against shame, an +Ishmaelite openly contemning authority and yet not insensible to kindness. I +give his history in his own language—softening only the pronunciation, +that would otherwise be unintelligible. +</p> + +<p> +“I lives with my granny in Thorney-lane: it be outside the village. My +mother be married agen, you see, to the smith: her have got a cottage as +belongs to her. My brother have got a van and travels the country; and +sometimes I and my wife goes with him. I larned to set up a wire when I went to +plough when I were a boy, but never took to it regular till I went a-navigating +[navvying] and seed what a spree it were. +</p> + +<p> +“There ain’t no such chaps for poaching as they navigators in all +England: I means where there be a railway a-making. I’ve knowed forty of +’em go out together on a Sunday, and every man had a dog, and some two; +and good dogs too—lots of ’em as you wouldn’t buy for ten +quid. They used to spread out like, and sweep the fields as clean as the crownd +of your hat. Keepers weren’t no good at all, and besides they never +knowed which place us was going to make for. One of the chaps gave I a puppy, +and he growed into the finest greyhound as you’d find in a day’s +walk. The first time I was took up before the bench I had to go to gaol, +because the contractor had broke and the works was stopped, so that my mates +hadn’t no money to pay the fine. +</p> + +<p> +“The dog was took away home to granny by my butty [comrade], but one of +the gentlemen as seed it in the court sent his groom over and got it off the +old woman for five pound. She thought if I hadn’t the hound I should give +it up, and she come and paid me out of gaol. It was a wonder as I didn’t +break her neck; only her was a good woman, you see, to I. But I wouldn’t +have parted with that hound for a quart-full of sovereigns. Many’s a time +I’ve seed his name—they changed his name, of course—in the +papers for winning coursing matches. But we let that gent as bought him have it +warm; we harried his pheasants and killed the most of ’em. +</p> + +<p> +“After that I came home, and took to it regular. It ain’t no use +unless you do it regular. If a man goes out into the fields now and then +chance-like he don’t get much, and is most sure to be caught—very +likely in the place of somebody else the keepers were waiting for and as +didn’t come. I goes to work every day the same as the rest, only I always +take piece-work, which I can come to when I fancy, and stay as late in the +evening as suits me with a good excuse. As I knows navigating, I do a main bit +of draining and water-furrowing, and I gets good wages all the year round, and +never wants for a job. You see, I knows more than the fellows as have never +been at nothing but plough. +</p> + +<p> +“The reason I gets on so well poaching is because I’m always at +work out in the fields, except when I goes with the van. I watches everything +as goes on, and marks the hare’s tracks and the rabbit buries, and the +double mounds and little copses as the pheasants wanders off to in the autumn. +I keeps a nation good look-out after the keeper and his men, and sees their +dodges—which way they walks, and how they comes back sudden and +unexpected on purpose. There’s mostly one about with his eyes on +me—when they sees me working on a farm they puts a man special to look +after me. I never does nothing close round where I’m at work, so he waits +about a main bit for nothing. +</p> + +<p> +“You see by going out piece-work I visits every farm in the parish. The +other men they works for one farmer for two or three or maybe twenty years; but +I goes very nigh all round the place—a fortnight here and a week there, +and then a month somewhere else. So I knows every hare in the parish, and all +his runs and all the double mounds and copses, and the little covers in the +corners of the fields. When I be at work on one place I sets my wires about +half a mile away on a farm as I ain’t been working on for a month, and +where the keeper don’t keep no special look-out now I be gone. As I goes +all round, I knows the ways of all the farmers, and them as bides out late at +night at their friends’, and they as goes to bed early; and so I knows +what paths to follow and what fields I can walk about in and never meet nobody. +</p> + +<p> +“The dodge is always to be in the fields and to know everybody’s +ways. Then you may do just as you be a-mind. All of ’em knows I be +a-poaching; but that don’t make no difference for work; I can use my +tools, and do it as well as any man in the country, and they be glad to get me +on for ’em. They farmers as have got their shooting be sharper than the +keepers, and you can’t do much there; but they as haven’t got the +shooting don’t take no notice. They sees my wires in the grass, and just +looks the other way. If they sees I with a gun I puts un in ditch till they be +gone by, and they don’t look among the nettles. +</p> + +<p> +“Some of them as got land by the wood would like I to be there all day +and night. You see, their clover and corn feeds the hares and pheasants; and +then some day when they goes into the market and passes the poultry-shop there +be four or five score pheasants a-hanging up with their long tails a-sweeping +in the faces of them as fed ’em. The same with the hares and the rabbits; +and so they’d just as soon as I had ’em—and a dalled deal +sooner—out of spite. Lord bless you! if I was to walk through their +courtyards at night with a sack over my shoulders full of you knows what, and +met one of ’em, he’d tell his dog to stop that yowling, and go in +doors rather than see me. As for the rabbits, they hates they worse than +poison. They knocks a hare over now and then themselves on the +quiet—bless you! I could tell tales on a main few, but I bean’t +such a fellow as that. +</p> + +<p> +“But, you see I don’t run no risk except from the keeper hisself, +the men as helps un, and two or three lickspittles as be always messing round +after a ferreting job or some wood-cutting, and the Christmas charities. It be +enough to make a man sick to see they. This yer parish be a very big un, and a +be preserved very high, and I can do three times as much in he as in the next +un, as ain’t much preserved. So I sticks to this un. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course they tried to drive I out of un, and wanted the cottage; but +granny had all the receipts for the quit-rent, and my lard and all the lawyers +couldn’t shove us out, and there we means to bide. You have seed that row +of oaks as grows in the hedge behind our house. One of ’em leaned over +the roof, and one of the limbs was like to fall; but they wouldn’t cut +him, just to spite us, and the rain dripping spoilt the thatch. So I just had +another chimney built at that end for an oven, and kept up the smoke till all +the tree that side died. I’ve had more than one pheasant through them +oaks, as draws ’em: I had one in a gin as I put in the ditch by my +garden. +</p> + +<p> +“They started a tale as ’twas I as stole the lambs a year or two +ago, and they had me up for it; but they couldn’t prove nothing agen me. +Then they had me for unhinging the gates and drowning ’em in the water, +but when they was going to try the case they two young farmers as you know of +come and said as they did it when they was tight, and so I got off. They said +as ’twas I that put the poison for the hounds when three on ’em +took it and died while the hunt was on. It were the dalledest lie! I +wouldn’t hurt a dog not for nothing. The keeper hisself put that poison, +I knows, ’cause he couldn’t bear the pack coming to upset the +pheasants. Yes, they been down upon I a main bit, but I means to bide. All the +farmers knows as I never touched no lamb, nor even pulled a turmot, and they +never couldn’t get no witnesses. +</p> + +<p> +“After a bit I catched the keeper hisself and the policeman at it; and +there be another as knows it, and who do you think that be? It be the man in +town as got the licence to sell game as haves most of my hares; the keeper +selled he a lot as the money never got to my lard’s pocket and the +steward never knowed of. Look at that now! So now he shuts his eye and axes me +to drink, and give me the ferreting job in Longlands Mound; but, Lord bless +’ee, I bean’t so soft as he thinks for. +</p> + +<p> +“They used to try and get me to fight the keeper when they did catch me +with a wire, but I knowed as hitting is transporting, and just put my hands in +my pockets and let ’em do as they liked. <i>They</i> knows I bean’t +afraid of ’em in the road; I’ve threshed more than one of +’em, but I ain’t going to jump into <i>that</i> trap. I’ve +been before the bench, at one place and t’other, heaps of times, and paid +the fine for trespass. Last time the chairman said to I, ‘So you be here +again, Oby; we hear a good deal about you.’ I says, ‘Yes, my lard, +I be here agen, but people never don’t hear nothing about +<i>you</i>.’ That shut the old duffer up. Nobody never heard nothing of +he, except at rent-audit. +</p> + +<p> +“However, they all knows me now—my lard and the steward, and the +keeper and the bailies, and the farmers; and they don’t take half the +notice of I as they used to. The keeper he don’t dare, nor the policeman +as I telled you, and the rest be got used to me and my ways. And I does very +well one week with t’other. One week I don’t take nothing, and the +next I haves a good haul, chiefly hares and rabbits; ’cause of course I +never goes into the wood, nor the plantations. It wants eight or ten with crape +masks on for that job. +</p> + +<p> +“I sets up about four wires, sometimes only two; if you haves so many it +is a job to look after ’em. I stops the hare’s other runs, so that +she is sure to come along mine where I’ve got the turnpike up: the trick +is to rub your hand along the runs as you want to stop, or spit on ’em, +or summat like that; for a hare won’t pass nothing of that sort. So pussy +goes back and comes by the run as I’ve chose: if she comes quick she +don’t holler; if she comes slow she squeals a bit sometimes before the +wire hangs her. Very often I bean’t fur off and stops the squealing. +That’s why I can’t use a gin—it makes ’em holler so. I +ferrets a goodish few rabbits on bright nights in winter. +</p> + +<p> +“As for the pheasants, I gets them mostly about acorn-time; they comes +out of the plantations then. I keeps clear of the plantations, because, besides +the men a-watching, they have got dogs chained up, and alarm-guns as goes off +if you steps on the spring; and some have got a string stretched along as you +be pretty sure to kick against, and then, bang! and all the dogs sets up a +yowling. Of course it’s only powder, but it brings the keepers along. But +when the acorns and the berries be ripe, the pheasants comes out along the +hedges after ’em, and gets up at the haws and such like. They wanders for +miles, and as they don’t care to go all the way back to roost they bides +in the little copses as I told you of. They come to the same copses every year, +which is curious, as most of them as will come this year will be shot before +next. +</p> + +<p> +“If I can’t get ’em the fust night, I just throws a handful +or two of peas about the place, and they’ll be sure to stay, and likely +enough bring two or three more. I mostly shoots ’em with just a little +puff of powder as you wouldn’t hear across one field, especially if +it’s a windy night. I had a air-gun, as was took from me, but he +weren’t much go: I likes a gun as throws the shot wide, but I never +shoots any but roosters, unless I catch ’em standing still. +</p> + +<p> +“All as I can tell you is as the dodge is this: you watch everybody, and +be always in the fields, and always work one parish till you knows every hare +in un, and always work by yourself and don’t have no mates.” +</p> + +<p> +There were several other curious characters whom we frequently saw at work. The +mouchers were about all the year round, and seemed to live in, or by the +hedges, as much as the mice. These men probably see more than the most careful +observer, without giving it a thought. +</p> + +<p> +In January the ice that freezes in the ditches appears of a dark colour, +because it lies without intervening water on the dead brown leaves. Their tint +shows through the translucent crystal, but near the edge of the ice three white +lines or bands run round. If by any chance the ice gets broken or upturned, +these white bands are seen to be caused by flanges projecting from the under +surface, almost like stands. They are sometimes connected in such a way that +the parallel flanges appear like the letter “h” with the two +down-strokes much prolonged. In the morning the chalky rubble brought from the +pits upon the Downs and used for mending gateways leading into the fields +glistens brightly. Upon the surface of each piece of rubble there adheres a +thin coating of ice: if this be lightly struck it falls off, and with it a +flake of the chalk. As it melts, too, the chalk splits and crumbles; and thus +in an ordinary gateway the same process may be seen that disintegrates the most +majestic cliff. +</p> + +<p> +The stubbles—those that still remain—are full of linnets, upon +which the mouching fowler preys in the late autumn. And when at the end of +January the occasional sunbeams give some faint hope of spring, he wanders +through the lanes carrying a decoy bird in a darkened cage, and a few boughs of +privet studded with black berries and bound round with rushes for the +convenience of handling. +</p> + +<p> +The female yellow-hammers, whose hues are not so brilliant as those of the male +birds, seem as winter approaches to flock together, and roam the hedges and +stubble fields in bevies. Where loads of corn have passed through gates the +bushes often catch some straws, and the tops of the gateposts, being decayed +and ragged, hold others. These are neglected while the seeds among the stubble, +the charlock, and the autumn dandelion are plentiful and while the ears left by +the gleaners may still be found. But in the shadowless winter days, hard and +cold, each scattered straw is sought for. +</p> + +<p> +A few days before the new year [1879] opened I saw a yellow-hammer attacking, +in a very ingenious manner, a straw that hung pendent, the ear downwards, from +the post of a windy gateway. She fluttered up from the ground, clung to the +ear, and outspread her wings, keeping them rigid. The draught acted on the +wings, just as the breeze does on a paper kite, and there the bird remained +supported without an effort while the ear was picked. Now and then the balance +was lost, but she was soon up again, and again used the wind to maintain her +position. The brilliant cockbirds return in the early spring, or at least +appear to do so, for the habits of birds are sometimes quite local. +</p> + +<p> +It is probable that in severe and continued frost many hedgehogs die. On +January 19 [1879], in the midst of the sharp weather, a hedgehog came to the +door opening on the garden at night, and was taken in. Though carefully tended, +the poor creature died next day: it was so weak it could scarcely roll itself +into a ball. As the vital heat declined the fleas deserted their host and +issued from among the spines. In February, unless it be a mild season, the +mounds are still bare; and then under the bushes the ground may be sometimes +seen strewn with bulbous roots, apparently of the blue-bell, lying thickly +together and entirely exposed. +</p> + +<p> +The moucher now carries a bill-hook, and as he shambles along the road keeps a +sharp look-out for briars. When he sees one the roots of which are not +difficult to get at, and whose tall upright stem is green—if dark it is +too old—he hacks it off with as much of the root as possible. The lesser +branches are cut, and the stem generally trimmed; it is then sold to the +gardeners as the stock on which to graft standard roses. In a few hours as he +travels he will get together quite a bundle of such briars. He also collects +moss, which is sold for the purpose of placing in flowerpots to hide the earth. +The moss preferred is that growing on and round stoles. +</p> + +<p> +The melting of the snow and the rains in February cause the ditches to overflow +and form shallow pools in the level meadows. Into these sometimes the rooks +wade as far as the length of their legs allows them, till the discoloured +yellow water almost touches the lower part of the breast. The moucher searches +for small shell snails, of which quantities are sold as food for cage birds, +and cuts small “turfs” a few inches square from the green by the +roadside. These are in great request for larks, especially at this time of the +year, when they begin to sing with all their might. +</p> + +<p> +Large flocks of woodpigeons are now in every field where the tender swede and +turnip tops are sprouting green and succulent. These “tops” are the +moucher’s first great crop of the year. The time that they appear varies +with the weather: in a mild winter some may be found early in January; if the +frost has been severe there may be none till March. These the moucher gathers +by stealth; he speedily fills a sack, and goes off with it to the nearest town. +Turnip tops are much more in demand now than formerly, and the stealing of them +a more serious matter. This trade lasts some time, till the tops become too +large and garden greens take their place. +</p> + +<p> +In going to and fro the fields the moucher searches the banks and digs out +primrose “mars,” and ferns with the root attached, which he hawks +from door to door in the town. He also gathers quantities of spring flowers, as +violets. This spring [1879], owing to the severity of the season, there were +practically none to gather, and when the weather moderated the garden flowers +preceded those of the hedge. Till the 10th of March not a spot of colour was to +be seen. About that time bright yellow flowers appeared suddenly on the clayey +banks and waste places, and among the hard clay lumps of fields ploughed but +not sown. +</p> + +<p> +The brilliant yellow formed a striking contrast to the dull brown of the clods, +there being no green leaf to moderate the extremes of tint. These were the +blossoms of the coltsfoot, that sends up a stalk surrounded with faintly rosy +scales. Several such stalks often spring from a single clod: lift the heavy +clod, and you have half a dozen flowers, a whole bunch, without a single leaf. +Usually the young grasses and the seed-leaves of plants have risen up and +supply a general green; but this year the coltsfoot bloomed unsupported, +studding the dark ground with gold. +</p> + +<p> +Now the frogs are busy, and the land lizards come forth. Even these the moucher +sometimes captures; for there is nothing so strange but that some one selects +it for a pet. The mad March hares scamper about in broad daylight over the +corn, whose pale green blades rise in straight lines a few inches above the +soil. They are chasing their skittish loves, instead of soberly dreaming the +day away in a bunch of grass. The ploughman walks in the furrow his share has +made, and presently stops to measure the “lands” with the spud. His +horses halt dead in the tenth of a second at the sound of his voice, glad to +rest for a minute from their toil. Work there is in plenty now, for +stone-picking, hoeing, and other matters must be attended to; but the moucher +lounges in the road decoying chaffinches, or perhaps earns a shilling by +driving some dealer’s cattle home from fair and market. +</p> + +<p> +By April his second great crop is ready—the watercress; the precise time +of course varies very much, and at first the quantities are small. The hedges +are now fast putting on the robe of green that gradually hides the wreck of +last year’s growth. The withered head of the teazle, black from the rain, +falls and disappears. Great burdock stems lie prostrate. Thick and hard as they +are while the sap is still in them, in winter the wet ground rots the lower +part till the blast overthrows the stalk. The hollow “gicks” too, +that lately stood almost to the shoulder, is down, or slanting, temporarily +supported by some branch. Just between the root and the stalk it has decayed +till nothing but a narrow strip connects the dry upper part with the earth. The +moucher sells the nests and eggs of small birds to townsfolk who cannot +themselves wander among the fields, but who love to see something that reminds +them of the green meadows. +</p> + +<p> +As the season advances and the summer comes he gathers vast quantities of +dandelion leaves, parsley, sowthistle, clover, and so forth, as food for the +tame rabbits kept in towns. If his haunt be not far from a river, he spends +hours collecting bait—worm and grub and fly—for the boatmen, who +sell them again to the anglers. +</p> + +<p> +Again there is work in the meadows—the haymaking is about, and the +farmers are anxious for men. But the moucher passes by and looks for quaking +grass, bunches of which have a ready sale. Fledgeling goldfinches and linnets, +young rabbits, young squirrels, even the nest of the harvest-trow mouse, and +occasionally a snake, bring him in a little money. He picks the forget-me-nots +from the streams and the “blue-bottle” from the corn: bunches of +the latter are sometimes sold in London at a price that seems extravagant to +those who have seen whole fields tinted with its beautiful azure. By-and-by the +golden wheat calls for an army of workers; but the moucher passes on and +gathers groundsel. +</p> + +<p> +Then come the mushrooms: he knows the best places, and soon fills a basket full +of “buttons” picking them very early in the morning. These are then +put in “punnets” by the greengrocers and retailed at a high price. +Later the blackberries ripen and form his third great crop; the quantity he +brings in to the town is astonishing, and still there is always a customer. The +blackberry harvest lasts for several weeks, as the berries do not all ripen at +once, but successively, and is supplemented by elderberries and sloes. The +moucher sometimes sleeps on the heaps of disused tan in a tanyard; tanyards are +generally on the banks of small rivers. The tan is said to possess the property +of preserving those who sleep on it from chills and cold, though they may lie +quite exposed to the weather. +</p> + +<p> +There is generally at least one such a man as this about the outskirts of +market towns, and he is an “original” best defined by negatives. He +is not a tramp, for he never enters the casual wards and never begs—that +is, of strangers; though there are certain farmhouses where he calls once now +and then and gets a slice of bread and cheese and a pint of ale. He brings to +the farmhouse a duck’s egg that has been dropped in the brook by some +negligent bird, or carries intelligence of the nest made by some roaming goose +in a distant withy-bed. Or once, perhaps, he found a sheep on its back in a +narrow furrow, unable to get up and likely to die if not assisted, and by +helping the animal to gain its legs earned a title to the owner’s +gratitude. +</p> + +<p> +He is not a thief; apples and plums and so on are quite safe, though the +turnip-tops are not: there is a subtle casuistry involved here—the +distinction between the quasi-wild and the garden product. He is not a poacher +in the sense of entering coverts, or even snaring a rabbit. If the pheasants +are so numerous and so tame that passing carters have to whip them out of the +way of the horses, it is hardly wonderful if one should disappear now and then. +Nor is he like the Running Jack that used to accompany the more famous packs of +fox-hounds, opening gates, holding horses, and a hundred other little services, +and who kept up with the hunt by sheer fleetness of foot. +</p> + +<p> +Yet he is fleet of foot in his way, though never seen to run; he <i>pads</i> +along on naked feet like an animal, never straightening the leg, but always +keeping the knee a little bent. With a basket of watercress slung at his back +by a piece of tar-cord, he travels rapidly in this way; his feet go “pad, +pad” on the thick white dust, and he easily overtakes a good walker and +keeps up the pace for miles without exertion. The watercress is a great staple, +because it lasts for so many months. Seeing the nimble way in which he gathers +it, thrusting aside the brook-lime, breaking off the coarser sprays, snipping +away pieces of root, sorting and washing, and thinking of the amount of work to +be got through before a shilling is earned, one would imagine that the slow, +idling life of the labourer, with his regular wages, would be far more +enticing. +</p> + +<p> +Near the stream the ground is perhaps peaty: little black pools appear between +tufts of grass, some of them streaked with a reddish or yellowish slime that +glistens on the surface of the dark water; and as you step there is a hissing +sound as the spongy earth yields, and a tiny spout is forced forth several +yards distant. Some of the drier part of the soil the moucher takes to sell for +use in gardens and flower-pots as peat. +</p> + +<p> +The years roll on, and he grows old. But no feebleness of body or mind can +induce him to enter the workhouse; he cannot quit his old haunts. Let it rain +or sleet, or let the furious gale drive broken boughs across the road, he still +sleeps in some shed or under a straw-rick. In sheer pity he is committed every +now and then to prison for vagabondage—not for punishment, but in order +to save him from himself. It is in vain: the moment he is out he returns to his +habits. All he wants is a little beer—he is not a drunkard—and a +little tobacco, and the hedges. Some chilly evening, as the shadows thicken, he +shambles out of the town, and seeks the limekiln in the ploughed field, where, +the substratum being limestone, the farmer burns it. Near the top of the kiln +the ground is warm; there he reclines and sleeps. +</p> + +<p> +The night goes on. Out from the broken blocks of stone now and again there +rises a lambent flame, to shine like a meteor for a moment and then disappear. +The rain falls. The moucher moves uneasily in his sleep; instinctively he rolls +or crawls towards the warmth, and presently lies extended on the top of the +kiln. The wings of the water-fowl hurtle in the air as they go over; by-and-by +the heron utters his loud call. +</p> + +<p> +Very early in the morning the quarryman comes to tend his fire, and starts to +see on the now redhot and glowing stones, sunk below the rim, the presentment +of a skeleton formed of the purest white ashes—a ghastly spectacle in the +grey of the dawn, as the mist rises and the peewit plaintively whistles over +the marshy meadow. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> +CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH</h2> + +<p> +The tower of the church at Essant Hill was so low that it scarcely seemed to +rise above the maples in the hedges. It could not be seen until the last stile +in the footpath across the meadows was passed. Church and tower then came into +view together on the opposite side of a large open field. A few aged hawthorn +trees dotted the sward, and beyond the church the outskirts of a wood were +visible, but no dwellings could be seen. Upon a second and more careful glance, +however, the chimney of a cottage appeared above a hedge, so covered with ivy +as hardly to be separated from the green of the boughs. +</p> + +<p> +There were houses of course somewhere in Essant, but they were so scattered +that a stranger might doubt the existence of the village. A few farmsteads long +distances apart, and some cottages standing in green lanes and at the corners +of the fields, were nearly all; there was nothing resembling a +“street”—not so much as a row. The church was in effect the +village, and the church was simply the mausoleum of the Dessant family, the +owners of the place. Essant Hill as a name had been rather a problem to the +archæologists, there being no hill: the ground was quite level. The explanation +at last admitted was that Essant Hill was a corruption of D’Essantville. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed probable that the population had greatly diminished; because, +although the church was of great antiquity, there was space still for +interments in the yard. A yew tree of immense size stood in one corner, and was +by tradition associated with the fortunes of the family. Though the old trunk +was much decayed, yet there were still green and flourishing shoots; so that +the superstitious elders said the luck of the house was returning. +</p> + +<p> +Within, the walls of the church were covered with marble slabs, and the space +was reduced by the tombs of the Dessants, one with a recumbent figure; there +were two brasses level with the pavement, and in the chancel hung the faded +hatchments of the dead. For the pedigree went back to the Battle of Hastings, +and there was scarce room for more heraldry. From week’s end to +week’s end the silent nave and aisles remained empty; the chirp of the +sparrows was the only sound to be heard there. There being no house attached to +the living, the holder could not reside; so the old church slumbered in the +midst of the meadows, the hedges, and woods, day after day, year after year. +</p> + +<p> +You could sit on the low churchyard wall in early summer under the shade of the +elms in the hedge, whose bushes and briars came right over, and listen to the +whistling of the blackbirds or the varied note of the thrush; you might see the +whitethroat rise and sing just over the hedge, or look upwards and watch the +swallows and swifts wheeling, wheeling, wheeling in the sky. No one would pass +to disturb your meditations, whether simply dreaming of nothing in the genial +summer warmth, or thinking over the course of history since the prows of the +Norman ships grounded on the beach. If we suppose the time, instead of June, to +be August or September, there would not even be the singing of the birds. But +as you sat on the wall, by-and-by the pheasants, tame as chickens, would come +up the hedge and over into the churchyard. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the church to stroll by the footpath across the meadow towards the +wood, at the first gateway half-a-dozen more pheasants scatter aside, just far +enough to let you pass. In the short dusty lane more pheasants; and again at +the edge of the cornfield. None of these show any signs of alarm, and only move +just far enough to avoid being trodden on. Approaching the wood there are yet +more pheasants, especially near the fir plantations that come up to the +keeper’s cottage and form one side of the enclosure of his garden. The +pheasants come up to the door to pick up what they can—not long since +they were fed there—and then wander away between the slender fir trunks, +and beyond them out into the fields. +</p> + +<p> +The path leads presently into a beautiful park, the only defect of which is +that it is without undulation. It is quite level; but still the clumps of noble +timber are pleasant to gaze upon. In one spot there still stands the grey wall +and buttress of some ancient building, doubtless the relic of an ecclesiastical +foundation. The present mansion is not far distant; it is of large size, but +lacks elegance. Inside, nothing that modern skill can supply to render a +residence comfortable, convenient, and (as art is understood in furniture) +artistic has been neglected. +</p> + +<p> +Behind the fir plantations there is an extensive range of stabling, recently +erected, with all the latest improvements. A telegraph wire connects the house +with the stable, so that carriage or horse may be instantly summoned. Another +wire has been carried to the nearest junction with the general telegraphic +system; so that the resident in this retired spot may communicate his wishes +without a moment’s delay to any part of the world. +</p> + +<p> +In the gardens and pleasure-grounds near the house all manner of ornamental +shrubs are planted. There are conservatories, vineries, pineries; all the +refinements of horticulture. The pheasants stray about the gravel walks and +across the close-mown lawn where no daisy dares to lift its head. Yet, with all +this precision of luxury, one thing is lacking—<i>the</i> one thing, the +keystone of English country life—<i>i.e.</i> a master whose heart is in +the land. +</p> + +<p> +The estate is in process of “nursing” for a minor. The revenues had +become practically sequestrated to a considerable extent in consequence of +careless living when the minor nominally succeeded. It happened that the +steward appointed was not only a lawyer of keen intelligence, but a +conscientious man. He did his duty thoroughly. Every penny was got out of the +estate that could be got, and every penny was saved. +</p> + +<p> +First, the rents were raised to the modern standard, many of them not having +been increased for years. Then the tenants were in effect ordered to farm to +the highest pitch, and to improve the soil itself by liberal investment. +Buildings, drains, and so forth were provided for them; they only had to pay a +small percentage upon the money expended in construction. In this there was +nothing that could be complained of; but the hard, mechanical, unbending spirit +in which it was done—the absence of all kind of sympathy—caused a +certain amount of discontent. The steward next proceeded to turn the mansion, +the park, home farm, and preserves into revenue. +</p> + +<p> +Everything was prepared to attract the wealthy man who wanted the temporary use +of a good country house, first-class shooting and hunting. He succeeded in +doing what few gentlemen have accomplished: he made the pheasants pay. One +reason, of course, was that gentlemen have expenses outside and beyond breeding +and keeping: the shooting party itself is expensive; whereas here the shooting +party paid hard cash for their amusement. The steward had no knowledge of +pheasants; but he had a wide experience of one side of human nature, and he +understood accounts. +</p> + +<p> +The keepers were checked by figures at every turn, finding it impossible to +elude the businesslike arrangements that were made. In revenue the result was +highly successful. The mansion with the first-class shooting, hunting, and +lovely woodlands—every modern convenience and comfort in the midst of the +most rural scenery—let at a high price to good tenants. There was an +income from what had previously been profitless. Under this shrewd management +the estate was fast recovering. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time the whole parish groaned in spirit. The farmers grumbled at +the moral pressure which forced them to progress in spite of themselves. They +grumbled at the strange people who took up their residence in their midst and +suddenly claimed all the loyalty which was the due of the old family. These +people hunted over their fields, jumped over the hedges, glanced at them +superciliously, and seemed astonished if every hat was not raised when they +came in sight. The farmers felt that they were regarded as ignorant barbarians, +and resented the town-bred insolence of people who aped the country gentleman. +</p> + +<p> +They grumbled about the over-preservation of game, and they grumbled about the +rabbits. The hunt had its grumble too because some of the finest coverts were +closed to the hounds, and because they wanted to know what became of the foxes +that formerly lived in those coverts. Here was a beautiful place—a place +that one might dream life away in—filled with all manner of discontent. +</p> + +<p> +Everything was done with the best intention. But the keystone was +wanting—the landlord, the master, who had grown up in the traditions of +the spot, and between whom and the people there would have been, even despite +of grievances, a certain amount of sympathy. So true is it that in England, +under the existing system of land tenure, an estate cannot be worked like the +machinery of a factory. +</p> + +<p> +At first, when the pheasant-preserving began to reach such a height, there was +a great deal of poaching by the resident labourers. The temptation was thrust +so closely before their faces they could not resist it. When pheasants came +wandering into the cottage gardens, and could even be enticed into the sheds +and so secured by simply shutting the door, men who would not have gone out of +their way to poach were led to commit themselves. +</p> + +<p> +There followed a succession of prosecutions and fines, till the place began to +get a reputation for that sort of thing. It was at last intimated to the +steward by certain gentlemen that this course of prosecution was extremely +injudicious. For it is a fact—a fact carefully ignored +sometimes—that resident gentlemen object to prosecutions, and, so far +from being anxious to fine or imprison poachers, would very much rather not. +The steward took the hint, and instead increased his watchers. But by this time +the novelty of pheasants roaming about like fowls had begun to wear off, and +their services were hardly needed. Men went by pheasants with as much +indifference as they would pass a tame duck by the roadside. +</p> + +<p> +Such poachers as visited the woods came from a distance. Two determined raids +were carried out by strangers, who escaped. Every now and then wires were found +that had been abandoned, but the poaching ceased to be more than is usual on +most properties. So far as the inhabitants of the parish were concerned it +almost ceased altogether; but every now and then the strollers, gipsies, and +similar characters carried off a pheasant or a hare, or half a dozen rabbits. +These offenders when detected were usually charged before the Bench at a market +town not many miles distant. Let us follow one there. +</p> + +<p> +The little town of L——, which has not even a branch railway, mainly +consists of a long street. In one part this street widens out, so that the +houses are some forty yards or more apart, and it then again contracts. This +irregularly shaped opening is the market-place, and here in the centre stands a +rude-looking building. It is supported upon thick short pillars, and was +perhaps preceded by a wooden structure. Under these pillars there is usually a +shabby chaise or two run in for cover, and the spot is the general rendezvous +of all the dogs in the town. +</p> + +<p> +This morning there are a few loafers hanging round the place; and the tame town +pigeons have fluttered down, and walk with nodding heads almost up to them. +These pigeons always come to the edge of a group of people, mindful of the +stray grain and peas that fall from the hands of farmers and dealers examining +samples on market days. Presently, two constables come across carrying a heavy, +clumsy box between them. They unlock a door, and take the box upstairs into the +hall over the pillars. After them saunters a seedy man, evidently a clerk, with +a rusty black bag; and after him again—for the magistrates’ +Clerk’s clerk must have <i>his</i> clerk—a boy with some +leather-bound books. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the loafers touch their hats as a gentleman—a +magistrate—rides up the street. But although the church clock is striking +the hour fixed for the sessions to begin he does not come over to the hall upon +dismounting in the inn-yard, but quietly strolls away to transact some business +with the wine-merchant or the saddler. There really is not the least hurry. The +Clerk stands in the inn porch calmly enjoying the September sunshine, and +chatting with the landlord. Two or three more magistrates drive up; presently +the chairman strolls over on foot from his house, which is almost in the town, +to the inn, and joins in the pleasant gossip going on there, of course in a +private apartment. +</p> + +<p> +Up in the justice-room the seedy Clerk’s clerk is leaning out of the +window and conversing with a man below who has come along with a barrow-load of +vegetables from his allotment. Some boys are spinning tops under the pillars. +On the stone steps that lead up to the hall a young mother sits nursing her +infant; she is waiting to “swear” the child. In the room itself +several gipsy-looking men and women lounge in a corner. At one end is a broad +table and some comfortable chairs behind it. In front of each chair, on the +table, two sheets of clean foolscap have been placed on a sheet of +blotting-paper. These and a variety of printed forms were taken from the clumsy +box that is now open. +</p> + +<p> +At last there is a slight stir as a group is seen to emerge from the inn, and +the magistrates take their seats. An elderly man who sits by the chair cocks +his felt hat on the back of his head: the clerical magistrate very tenderly +places his beaver in safety on the broad mantelpiece, that no irreverent sleeve +may ruffle its gloss: several others who rarely do more than nod assent range +themselves on the flanks; one younger man who looks as if he understood horses +pulls out his toothpick. The chairman, stout and gouty, seizes a quill and +sternly looks over the list of cases. +</p> + +<p> +Half a dozen summonses for non-payment of rates come first; then a dispute +between a farmer and his man. After this the young mother “swears” +her child; and, indeed, there is some very hard swearing here on both sides. A +wrangle between two women—neighbours—who accuse each other of +assault, and scream and chatter their loudest, comes next. Before they decide +it, the Bench retire, and are absent a long time. +</p> + +<p> +By degrees a buzz arises, till the justice-room is as noisy as a market. +Suddenly the door of the private room opens, and the Clerk comes out; instantly +the buzz subsides, and in the silence those who are nearest catch something +about the odds and the St. Leger, and an anything but magisterial roar of +laughter. The chairman appears, rigidly compressing his features, and begins to +deliver his sentence before he can sit down, but the solemn effect is much +marred by the passing of a steam ploughing engine. The audience, too, tend away +towards the windows to see whose engine it is. +</p> + +<p> +“Silence!” cries the Clerk, who has himself been looking out of +window; the shuffling of feet ceases, and it is found that after this long +consultation the Bench have dismissed both charges. The next case on the list +is poaching; and at the call of his name one of the gipsy-looking men advances, +and is ordered to stand before that part of the table which by consent +represents the bar. +</p> + +<p> +“Oby Bottleton,” says the Clerk, half reading, half extemporizing, +and shuffling his papers to conceal certain slips of technicality; “you +are charged with trespassing in pursuit of game at Essant Hill—that you +did use a wire on the estate—on land in the occupation of +Johnson.”—“It’s a lie!” cries a good-looking, +dark-complexioned woman, who has come up behind the defendant (the whilome +navvy), and carries a child so wrapped in a shawl as to be invisible. +“Silence! or you’ll have to go outside the court. Mr. Dalton +Dessant will leave the Bench during the hearing of this case.” Mr. Dalton +Dessant, one of the silent magistrates already alluded to, bows to the +chairman, and wriggles his chair back about two feet from the table. There he +gazes at the ceiling. He is one of the trustees of the Essant Hill property; +and the Bench are very careful to consult public opinion in L—— +borough. +</p> + +<p> +The first witness is an assistant keeper: the head keeper stands behind +him—a fine man, still upright and hearty-looking, but evidently at the +beginning of the vale of years; he holds his hat in his hand; the sunlight +falls through the casement on his worn velveteen jacket. The assistant, with +the aid of a few questions from the Clerk, gives his evidence very clear and +fairly. “I saw the defendant’s van go down the lane,” he +says: +</p> + +<p> +“It bean’t my van,” interrupts the defendant; +“it’s my brother’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll have an opportunity of speaking presently,” says the +Clerk. “Go on” (to the witness). +</p> + +<p> +“After the van went down the lane, it stopped by the highway-road, and +the horse was taken out. The women left the van with baskets, and went towards +the village.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes; come to the point. Did you hide yourself by order of the head +keeper?” +</p> + +<p> +“I did—in the nutwood hedge by Three Corner Piece; after a bit I +saw the defendant.” +</p> + +<p> +“Had you any reason for watching there?” +</p> + +<p> +“There was a wire and a rabbit in it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what happened?” +</p> + +<p> +“I waited a long time, and presently the defendant got over the gate. He +was very particular not to step on the soft mud by the gate—he kind of +leaped over it, not to leave the mark of his boots. He had a lurcher with him, +and I was afraid the dog would scent me in the hedge.” +</p> + +<p> +“You rascal!” (from the defendant’s wife). +</p> + +<p> +“But he didn’t, and, after looking carefully round, the defendant +picked up the rabbit, and put it and the wire in his pocket.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did you do then?” +</p> + +<p> +“I got out of the hedge and came towards him. Directly he saw me he ran +across the field; I whistled as loud as I could, and he” (jerking a thumb +back towards the head keeper) “came out of the firs into the lane and +stopped him. We found the wire and the rabbit in his pocket, and two more +wires. I produce the wires.” +</p> + +<p> +This was the sum of the evidence; the head keeper simply confirmed the latter +part of it. Oby replied that it was all false from beginning to end. He had not +got corduroy trousers on that day, as stated. He was not there at all: he was +in the village, and he could call witnesses to prove it. The Clerk reminded the +audience that there was such a thing as imprisonment for perjury. +</p> + +<p> +Then the defendant turned savagely on the first witness, and admitted the truth +of his statement by asking what he said when collared in the lane. “You +said you had had a good lot lately, and didn’t care if you was nailed +this time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, what awful lies!” cried the wife. “It’s a wonder +you don’t fall dead!” +</p> + +<p> +“You were not there,” the Clerk remarked quietly. “Now, Oby, +what is your defence? Have you got any witnesses?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I ain’t got no witnesses. All as I did, I know I walked up the +hedge to look for mushrooms. I saw one of them things”—meaning the +wires on the table—“and I just stooped down to see what it was, +’cos I didn’t know. I never seed one afore; and I was just going to +pick it up and look at it” (the magistrates glance at each other, and +cannot suppress a smile at this profound innocence), “when this fellow +jumped out and frightened me. I never seed no rabbit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, you put the rabbit in your pocket,” interrupts the first +witness. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind,” said the Clerk to the witness; “let him go +on.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s all as I got to say,” continues the defendant. +“I never seed no such things afore; and if he hadn’t come I should +have put it down again.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you were trespassing,” said the Clerk. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t know it. There wasn’t no notice-board.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Oby,” cried the head keeper, “you know you’ve +been along that lane this ten years.” +</p> + +<p> +“That will do” (from the chairman); “is there any more +evidence?” +</p> + +<p> +As none was forthcoming, the Bench turned a little aside and spoke in low +tones. The defendant’s wife immediately set up a sobbing, varied +occasionally by a shriek; the infant woke up and cried, and two or three women +of the same party behind began to talk in excited tones about +“Shame.” The sentence was 2_l_. and costs—an announcement +that caused a perfect storm of howling and crying. +</p> + +<p> +The defendant put his hands in his pockets with the complacent expression of a +martyr. “I must go to gaol a’ spose; none of ourn ever went thur +afore: a’ spose <i>I</i> must go.” “Come,” said the +Clerk, “why, you or your brother bought a piece of land and a cottage not +long ago,”—then to the Bench, “They’re not real +gipsies: he is a grandson of old Bottleton who had the tollgate; you recollect, +Sir.” +</p> + +<p> +But the defendant declares he has no money; his friends shake their heads +gloomily; and amid the shrieking of his wife and the crying of the child he is +removed in the custody of two constables, to be presently conveyed to gaol. +With ferocious glances at the Bench, as if they would like to tear the +chairman’s eyes out, the women leave the court. +</p> + +<p> +“Next case,” calls the Clerk. The court sits about two hours +longer, having taken some five hours to get through six cases. Just as the +chairman rises the poacher’s wife returns to the table, without her +child, angrily pulls out a dirty canvas bag, and throws down three or four +sovereigns before the seedy Clerk’s clerk. The canvas bag is evidently +half-full of money—the gleam of silver and gold is visible within it. The +Bench stay to note this proceeding with an amused expression on their features. +The woman looks at them as bold as brass, and stalks off with her man. +</p> + +<p> +Half an hour afterwards, two of the magistrates riding away from the town pass +a small tavern on the outskirts. A travelling van is outside, and from the +chimney on its roof thin smoke arises. There is a little group at the doorway, +and among them stands the late prisoner. Oby holds a foaming tankard in one +hand, and touches his battered hat, as the magistrates go by, with a gesture of +sly humility. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> +LUKE, THE RABBIT CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK-PATH</h2> + +<p> +The waggon-track leading to the Upper Woods almost always presented something +of interest, and often of beauty. The solitude of the place seemed to have +attracted flowers and ferns as well as wild animals and birds. For though +flowers have no power of motion, yet seeds have a negative choice and lie +dormant where they do not find a kindly welcome. But those carried hither by +the birds or winds took root and flourished, secure from the rude ploughshare +or the sharp scythe. +</p> + +<p> +The slow rumble of waggon-wheels seldom disturbed the dreamy silence, or +interrupted the song of the birds; so seldom that large docks and thistles grew +calmly beside the ruts untouched by hoofs. From the thick hedges on either side +trailing brambles and briars stretched far out, and here and there was a fallen +branch, broken off by the winds, whose leaves had turned brown and withered +while all else was green. Round sarsen stones had been laid down in the marshy +places to form a firm road, but the turf had long since covered most of them. +Where the smooth brown surfaces did project mosses had lined the base, and +rushes leaned over and hid the rest. +</p> + +<p> +In the ditches, under the shade of the brambles, the hart’s-tongue fern +extended its long blade of dark glossy green. By the decaying stoles the hardy +fern flourished, under the trees on the mounds the lady fern could be found, +and farther up nearer the wood the tall brake almost supplanted the bushes. Oak +and ash boughs reached across: in the ash the wood-pigeons lingered. Every now +and then the bright colours of the green woodpeckers flashed to and fro their +nest in a tree hard by. They would not have chosen it had not the place been +nearly as quiet as the wood itself. +</p> + +<p> +Blackthorn bushes jealously encroached on the narrow stile that entered the +lane from a meadow—a mere rail thrust across a gap. The gates, set in +deep recesses—short lanes themselves cut through the mounds—were +rotten and decayed, so as to scarcely hold together, and not to be moved +without care. Hawthorn branches on each side pushed forward and lessened the +opening; on the ground, where the gateposts had rotted nearly off, fungi came +up in thick bunches. +</p> + +<p> +The little meadows to which they led were rich in oaks, growing on the +“shore” of the ditches, tree after tree. The grass in them was not +plentiful, but the flowers were many; in the spring the orchis sent up its +beautiful purple, and in the heat of summer the bird’s-foot lotus +flourished in the sunny places. Farther up, nearer the wood, the lane became +hollow—worn down between high banks, at first clothed with fern, and +then, as the hill got steeper, with fir trees. +</p> + +<p> +Where firs are tall and thick together the sunbeams that fall aslant between +them seem to be made more visible than under other trees, by the motes or wood +dust in the air. Still farther the banks became even steeper, till nothing but +scanty ash stoles could grow upon them, the fir plantations skirting along the +summit. Then suddenly, at a turn, the ground sank into a deep hollow, where in +spring the eye rested with relief and pleasure on the tops of young firs, acre +after acre, just freshly tinted with the most delicate green. From thence the +track went into the wood. +</p> + +<p> +By day all through the summer months there was always something to be seen in +the lane—a squirrel, a stoat; always a song-bird to listen to, a flower +or fern to gather. By night the goatsucker visited it, and the bat, and the +white owl gliding down the slope. In winter when the clouds hung low the +darkness in the hollow between the high banks, where the light was shut out by +the fir trees, was like that of a cavern. It was then that night after night a +strange procession wended down it. +</p> + +<p> +First came an old man, walking stiffly—not so much from age as +rheumatism—and helping his unsteady steps on the slippery sarsen stones +with a stout ground-ash staff. Behind him followed a younger man, and in the +rear a boy. Sometimes there was an extra assistant, making four; sometimes +there was only the old man and one companion. Each had a long and strong ash +stick across his shoulder, on which a load of rabbits was slung, an equal +number in front and behind, to balance. The old fellow, who was dressed +shabbily even for a labourer, was the contractor for the rabbits shot or +ferreted in these woods. +</p> + +<p> +He took the whole number at a certain fixed price all round, and made what he +could out of them. Every evening in the season he went to the woods to fetch +those that had been captured during the day, conveying them to his cottage on +the outskirts of the village. From thence they went by carrier’s cart to +the railway. Old Luke’s books, such as they were, were quite beyond the +understanding of any one but himself and his wife; nor could even they +themselves tell you exactly how many dozen he purchased in the year. But in his +cups the wicked old hypocrite had often been known to boast that he paid the +lord of the manor as much money as the rent of a small farm. +</p> + +<p> +One of Luke’s eyes was closed with a kind of watery rheum, and was never +opened except when he thought a rabbit was about to jump into a net. The other +was but half open, and so overhung with a thick grey eyebrow as to be barely +visible. His cheeks were the hue of clay, his chin scrubby, and a lanky black +forelock depended over one temple. A battered felt hat, a ragged discoloured +slop, and corduroys stained with the clay of the banks completed his squalid +costume. +</p> + +<p> +A more miserable object or one apparently more deserving of pity it would be +hard to imagine. To see him crawl with slow and feeble steps across the fields +in winter, gradually working his way in the teeth of a driving rain, was enough +to arouse compassion in the hardest heart: there was something so utterly +woebegone in his whole aspect—so weather-beaten, as if he had been rained +upon ever since childhood. He seemed humbled to the ground—crushed and +spiritless. +</p> + +<p> +Now and then Luke was employed by some of the farmers to do their ferreting for +them and to catch the rabbits in the banks by the roadside. More than once +benevolent people driving by in their cosy cushioned carriages, and seeing this +lonely wretch in the bitter wind watching a rabbit’s hole as if he were a +dog well beaten and thrashed, had been known to stop and call the poor old +fellow to the carriage door. Then Luke would lay his hand on his knee, shake +his head, and sorrowfully state his pains and miseries: “Aw, I be +ter-rable bad, I be,” he would say; “I be most terrable bad: I +can’t but just drag my leg out of this yer ditch. It be a dull job, bless +’ee, this yer.” The tone, the look of the man, the dreary winter +landscape all so thoroughly agreed together that a few small silver coins would +drop into his hand, and Luke, with a deep groaning sigh of thankfulness, would +bow and scrape and go back to his “dull job.” +</p> + +<p> +Luke, indeed, somehow or other was always in favour with the +“quality.” He was as firmly fixed in his business as if he had been +the most clever courtier. It was not of the least use for any one else to offer +to take the rabbits, even if they would give more money. No, Luke was the +trusty man; Luke, and nobody else, was worthy. So he grovelled on from year to +year, blinking about the place. When some tenant found a gin in the turnip +field, or a wire by the clover, and quietly waited till Luke came fumbling by +and picked up the hare or rabbit, it did not make the slightest difference +though he went straight to the keeper and made a formal statement. +</p> + +<p> +Luke had an answer always ready: he had not set the wire, but had stumbled on +it unawares, and was going to take it to the keeper; or he had noticed a colony +of rats about, and had put the gin for them. Now, the same excuse might have +been made by any other poacher; the difference lay in this—that Luke was +believed. At all events, such little trifles were forgotten, and Luke went on +as before. He did a good deal of the ferreting in the hedges outside the woods +himself: if he took home three dozen from the mound and only paid for two +dozen, that scarcely concerned the world at large. +</p> + +<p> +If in coming down the dark and slippery lane at night somebody with a heavy +sack stepped out from the shadow at the stile, and if the contents of the sack +were rapidly transferred to the shoulder-sticks, or the bag itself bodily taken +along—why, there was nobody there to see. As for the young man and the +boy who helped, those discreet persons had always a rabbit for their own pot, +or even for a friend; and indeed it was often remarked that old Luke could +always get plenty of men to work for him. No one ever hinted at searching the +dirty shed at the side of his cottage that was always locked by day, or looking +inside the disused oven that it covered. But if fur or feathers had been found +there, was not he the contractor? And clearly if a pheasant <i>was</i> there he +could not be held responsible for the unauthorised acts of his assistants. +</p> + +<p> +The truth was that Luke was the most thorough-paced poacher in the +place—or, rather, he was a wholesale receiver. His success lay in making +it pleasant for everybody all round. It was pleasant for the keeper, who could +always dispose of a few hares or pheasants if he wanted a little money. The +keeper, in ways known to himself, made it pleasant for the bailiff. It was +equally pleasant for the under-keepers, who had what they wanted (in reason), +and enjoyed a little by-play on their own account. It was pleasant for his men; +and it was pleasant—specially pleasant—at a little wayside inn kept +by Luke’s nephew, and, as was believed, with Luke’s money. +Everybody concerned in the business could always procure refreshment there, +including the policeman. +</p> + +<p> +There was only one class of persons whom Luke could not conciliate; and they +were the tenants. These very inconsiderate folk argued that it was the +keepers’ and Luke’s interest to maintain a very large stock of +rabbits, which meant great inroads on their crops. There seemed to be even +something like truth in their complaints; and once or twice the more +independent carried their grievances to headquarters so effectually as to +elicit an order for the destruction of the rabbits forthwith on their farms. +But of what avail was such an order when the execution of it was entrusted to +Luke himself? +</p> + +<p> +In time the tenants got to put up with Luke; and the wiser of them turned round +and tried to make it still more pleasant for <i>him</i>: they spoke a good word +for him; they gave him a quart of ale, and put little things in his way, such +as a chance to buy and sell faggots at a small profit. Not to be ungrateful, +Luke kept their rabbits within reasonable bounds; and he had this great +recommendation—that whether they bullied him or whether they gave him ale +and bread-and-cheese, Luke was always humble and always touched his hat. +</p> + +<p> +His wife kept a small shop for the sale of the coarser groceries and a little +bacon. He had also rather extensive gardens, from which he sold quantities of +vegetables. It was more than suspected that the carrier’s cart was really +Luke’s—that is, he found the money for horsing it, and could take +possession if he liked. The carrier’s cart took his rabbits, and the game +he purchased of poachers, to the railway, and the vegetables from the gardens +to the customers in town. +</p> + +<p> +At least one cottage besides his own belonged to him; and some would have it +that this was one of the reasons of his success with the “quality.” +The people at the great house, anxious to increase their influence, wished to +buy every cottage and spare piece of land. This was well known, and many small +owners prided themselves upon spiting the big people at the great house by +refusing to sell, or selling to another person. The great house was believed to +have secured the first “refuse” of Luke’s property, if ever +he thought of selling. Luke, in fact, among the lower classes was looked upon +as a capitalist—a miser with an unknown hoard. The old man used to sit of +a winter’s evening, after he had brought down the rabbits, by the hearth, +making rabbit-nets of twine. Almost everybody who came along the road, home +from the market town, stopped, lifted the latch without knocking, and looked in +to tell the news or hear it. But Luke’s favourite manoeuvre was to take +out his snuff-box, tap it, and offer it to the person addressing him. This he +would do to a farmer, even though it were the largest tenant of all. For this +snuff-box was a present from the lady at the great house, who took an interest +in poor old Luke’s infirmities, and gave him the snuff-box, a really good +piece of workmanship, well filled with the finest snuff, to console his +wretchedness. +</p> + +<p> +Of this box Luke was as proud as if it had been the insignia of the Legion of +Honour, and never lost an opportunity of showing it to every one of standing. +When the village heard of this kindly present it ran over in its mind all that +it knew about the stile, and the sacks, and the disused oven. Then the village +very quietly shrugged its shoulders, and though it knew not the word irony, +well understood what that term conveys. +</p> + +<p> +At the foot of the hill on which the Upper Woods were situate there extended a +level tract of meadows with some cornfields. Through these there flowed a large +slow brook, often flooded in winter by the water rushing down from the higher +lands. It was pleasant in the early year to walk now and then along the +footpath that followed the brook, noting the gradual changes in the hedges. +</p> + +<p> +When the first swallow of the spring wheels over the watery places the dry +sedges of last year still stand as they grew. They are supported by the bushes +beside the meadow ditch where it widens to join the brook, and the water it +brings down from the furrows scarcely moves through the belt of willow lining +the larger stream. As the soft west wind runs along the hedge it draws a sigh +from the dead dry stalks and leaves that will no more feel the rising sap. +</p> + +<p> +By the wet furrows the ground has still a brownish tint, for there the floods +lingered and discoloured the grass. Near the ditch pointed flags are springing +up, and the thick stems of the marsh marigold. From bunches of dark green +leaves slender stalks arise and bear the golden petals of the marsh buttercups, +the lesser celandine. If the wind blows cold and rainy they will close, and +open again to the sunshine. +</p> + +<p> +At the outside of the withies, where the earth is drier, stand tall +horse-chestnut trees, aspen, and beech. The leaflets of the horse-chestnut are +already opening; but on the ground, half-hidden under beech leaves not yet +decayed, and sycamore leaves reduced to imperfect grey skeletons, there lies a +chestnut shell. It is sodden, and has lost its original green—the +prickles, too, have decayed and disappeared; yet at a touch it falls apart, and +discloses two chestnuts, still of a rich, deep polished brown. +</p> + +<p> +On the very bank of the brook there grows a beech whose bare boughs droop over, +almost dipping in the water, where it comes with a swift rush from the narrow +arches of a small bridge whose bricks are green with moss. The current is still +slightly turbid, for the floods have not long subsided, and the soaked meadows +and ploughed fields send their rills to swell the brook and stain it with sand +and earth. On the surface float down twigs and small branches forced from the +trees by the gales: sometimes an entangled mass of aquatic weeds—long, +slender green filaments twisted and matted together—comes more slowly +because heavy and deep in the water. +</p> + +<p> +A little bird comes flitting silently from the willows and perches on the +drooping beech branch. It is a delicate little creature, the breast of a faint +and dull yellowy green, the wings the lightest brown, and there is a pencilled +streak over the eye. The beak is so slender it scarce seems capable of the work +it should do, the legs and feet so tiny that they are barely visible. Hardly +has he perched than the keen eyes detect a small black speck that has just +issued from the arch, floating fast on the surface of the stream and borne +round and round in a tiny whirlpool. +</p> + +<p> +He darts from the branch, hovers just above the water, and in a second has +seized the black speck and returned to the branch. A moment or two passes, and +again he darts and takes something—this time invisible—from the +water. A third time he hovers, and on this occasion just brushes the surface. +Then, suddenly finding that these movements are watched, he flits—all too +soon—up high into the beech and away into the narrow copse. The general +tint and shape of the bird are those of the willow wren, but it is difficult to +identify the species in so brief a glance and without hearing its note. +</p> + +<p> +The path now trends somewhat away from the stream and skirts a ploughed field, +where the hedges are cropped close and the elms stripped of the lesser boughs +about the trunks, that the sparrows may not find shelter. But all the same +there are birds here too—one in the thick low hedge, two or three farther +on, another in the ditch perching on the dead white stems of last year’s +plants that can hardly support an ounce weight, and all calling to each other. +It is six marsh tits, as busy as they can well be. +</p> + +<p> +One rises from the ditch to the trunk of an elm where the thick bark is green +with lichen: he goes up the tree like a woodpecker, and peers into every +crevice. His little beak strikes, peck, peck, at a place where something is +hidden: then he proceeds farther up the trunk: next he descends a few steps in +a sidelong way, and finally hops down some three inches head foremost, and +alights again on the all but perpendicular bark. But his tail does not touch +the tree, and in another minute down he flies again to the ditch. +</p> + +<p> +A shrill and yet low note that sounds something like “skeek-skeek” +comes from a birch, and another “skeek-skeek” answers from an elm. +It is like the friction of iron against iron without oil on the bearings. This +is the tree-climber calling to his mate. He creeps over the boles of the birch, +and where the larger limbs join the trunk, trailing his tail along the bark, +and clinging so closely that but for the sharp note he would be passed. Even +when that has called attention, the colour of his back so little differs from +the colour of bark that if he is some height up the tree it is not easy to +detect him. +</p> + +<p> +The days go on and the hedges become green—the sun shines, and the +blackbirds whistle in the trees. They leave the hedge, and mount into the elm +or ash to deliver their song; then, after a pause, dive down again to the +bushes. Up from the pale green corn that is yet but a few inches high rises a +little brown bird, mounting till he has attained to the elevation of the +adjacent oak. Then, beginning his song, he extends his wings, lifts his tail, +and gradually descends slanting forward—slowly, like a +parachute—sing, sing, singing all the while till the little legs, that +can be seen against the sky somewhat depending, touch the earth and the wheat +hides him. Still from the clod comes the finishing bar of his music. +</p> + +<p> +In a short time up he rises again, and this time from the summit of his flight +sinks in a similar manner singing to a branch of the oak. There he sings again; +and, again rising, comes back almost to the same bough singing as he descends. +But he is not alone: from an elm hard by come the same notes, and from yet +another tree they are also repeated. They cannot rest—now one flits from +the topmost bough of an elm to another topmost bough; now a second comes up +from feeding, and cries from the branches. They are tree-pipits; and though the +call is monotonous, yet it is so cheerful and pleasing that one cannot choose +but stay and listen. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly, two that have been vigorously calling start forward together and meet +in mid-air. They buffet each other with their wings; their little beaks +fiercely strike; their necks are extended; they manoeuvre round each other, +trying for an advantage. They descend, heedless in the rage of their tiny +hearts, within a few yards of the watcher, and then in alarm separate. But one +flies to the oak branch and defiantly calls immediately. +</p> + +<p> +Over the meadows comes the distant note of the cuckoo. When he first calls his +voice is short and somewhat rough, but in a few days it gains power. Then the +second syllable has a mellow ring: and as he cries from the tree, the note, +swiftly repeated and echoed by the wood, dwells on the ear something like the +“hum” or vibration of a beautiful bell. +</p> + +<p> +As the hedges become green the ivy leaves turn brown at the edge and fall; the +wild ivy is often curiously variegated. At the foot of the tree up which it +climbs the leaves are five-angled, higher up they lose the angles and become +rounded, though growing on the same plant. Sometimes they have a grey tint, +especially those that trail along the bank; sometimes the leaves are a reddish +brown with pale green ribs. +</p> + +<p> +By the brook now the meadow has become of a rich bright green, the stream has +sunk and is clear, and the sunlight dances on the ripples. The grasses at the +edge—the turf—curl over and begin to grow down the steep side that +a little while since was washed by the current. Where there is a ledge of mud +and sand the yellow wagtail runs; he stands on a stone and jerks his tail. +</p> + +<p> +The ploughed field that comes down almost to the brook—a mere strip of +meadow between—is green too with rising wheat, high enough now to hide +the partridges. Before it got so tall it was pleasant to watch the pair that +frequent it; they were so confident that they did not even trouble to cower. At +any other time of year they would have run, or flown; but then, though scarcely +forty yards away and perfectly visible, they simply ceased feeding but showed +no further alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the plough birds in general should look as their best friend, for it +provides them with the staff of life as much as it does man. The earth turned +up under the share yields them grubs and insects and worms: the seed is sown +and the clods harrowed, and they take a second toll; the weeds are hoed or +pulled up, and at their roots there are more insects; from the stalk and ears +and the bloom of the rising corn they seize caterpillars; when it is ripe they +enjoy the grain; when it is cut and carried there are ears in the stubble, and +they can then feast on the seeds of the innumerable plants that flowered among +it; finally comes the plough again. It is as if the men and horses worked for +the birds. +</p> + +<p> +The horse-chestnut trees in the narrow copse bloom; the bees are humming +everywhere and summer is at hand. Presently the brown cockchafers will come +almost like an army of locusts, as suddenly appearing without a sign. They seem +to be particularly numerous where there is much maple in the hedges. +</p> + +<p> +Resting now on the sward by the stream—contracted in seeming by the weeds +and flags and fresh sedges—there comes the distant murmur of voices and +the musical laugh of girls. The ear tries to distinguish the words and gather +the meaning; but the syllables are intertangled—it is like listening to a +low sweet song in a language all unknown. This is the water falling gently over +the mossy hatch and splashing faintly on the stones beneath; the blue +dragon-flies dart over the smooth surface or alight on a broad leaf—these +blue dragon-flies when thus resting curl the tail upwards. +</p> + +<p> +Farther up above the mere there is a spot where the pool itself ends, or rather +imperceptibly disappears among a vast mass of aquatic weeds. To these on the +soft oozy mud succeed acres of sedge and rush and great turfs of greyish grass. +Low willows are scattered about, and alder at the edge and where the ground is +firmer. This is the home of the dragon-flies, of the coots, whose white bald +foreheads distinguish them at a distance, and of the moorhens. +</p> + +<p> +A narrow lane crosses it on a low bank or causeway but just raised above the +level of the floods. It is bordered on either side by thick hawthorn hedges, +and these again are further rendered more impassable by the rankest growth of +hemlocks, “gicks,” nettles, hedge-parsley, and similar coarse +plants. In these the nettle-creeper (white-throat) hides her nest, and they +have so encroached that the footpath is almost threatened. This lane leads from +the Upper Woods across the marshy level to the cornfields, being a branch from +that down which Luke the contractor carried his rabbits. +</p> + +<p> +Now a hare coming from the uplands beyond the woods, or from the woods, and +desirous of visiting the cornfields of the level grounds below, found it +difficult to pass the water. For besides the marsh itself, the mere, and the +brook, another slow, stagnant stream, quite choked with sedges and flags, uncut +for years, ran into it, or rather joined it, and before doing so meandered +along the very foot of the hill-side over which the woods grew. To a hare or a +rabbit, therefore, there was but one path or exit without taking to the water +in this direction for nearly a mile, and that was across this narrow raised +causeway. The pheasants frequently used it, as if preferring to walk than to +fly. Partridges came too, to seat themselves in the dry dust—a thing they +do daily in warm weather. +</p> + +<p> +Hares were constantly passing from the cornfields to the wood, and the wood to +the cornfields; and they had another reason for using this track, because so +many herbs and plants, whose leaves they like better than grass, flourished at +the sides of the hedges. No scythe cuts them down, as it does by the hedges in +the meadows; nor was a man sent round with a reaping hook to chop them off, as +is often done round the arable fields. There was, therefore, always a feast +here, to which, also, the rabbits came. +</p> + +<p> +The poachers were perfectly well aware of all this, and as a consequence this +narrow lane became a most favourite haunt of theirs. A wire set in the runs +that led to the causeway, or in the causeway itself, was almost certain to be +thrown. At one time it was occasionally netted; and now and then a bolder +fellow hid himself in the bushes with a gun, and took his choice of pheasant, +partridge, hare, or rabbit. These practices were possible, because although so +secluded, there was a public right-of-way along the lane. +</p> + +<p> +But of recent years, as game became more valued and the keepers were increased, +a check was put upon it, though even now wires are frequently found which +poachers have been obliged to abandon. They are loth to give up a place that +has a kind of poaching reputation. As if in revenge for the interference, they +have so ransacked the marsh every spring for the eggs of the waterfowl that the +wild duck will not lay there, but seek spots safer from such enemies. The marsh +is left to the coots and moorhens that from thence stock the brooks. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> +FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE SHOOTING</h2> + +<p> +One October morning towards the end of the month, Orion and I started to beat +over Redcote Farm upon the standing invitation of the occupier. There was a +certainty of sport of some kind, because the place had remained almost +unchanged for the last century. It is “improvement” that drives +away game and necessitates the pheasant preserve. +</p> + +<p> +The low whitewashed walls of the house were of a dull yellowish hue from the +beating of the weather. They supported a vast breadth of thatched roof drilled +by sparrows and starlings. Under the eaves the swallows’ nests adhered, +and projecting shelves were fixed to prevent any inconvenience from them. Some +of the narrow windows were still darkened with the black boarding put up in the +days of the window tax. +</p> + +<p> +In the courtyard a number of stout forked stakes were used for putting the +dairy buckets on, after being cleaned, to dry. No attempt was made to separate +the business from the inner life of the house. Here in front these oaken +buckets, scoured till nearly white, their iron handles polished like silver, +were close under the eyes of any one looking out. By the front door a besom +leaned against the wall that every comer might clean the mud from his boots; +and you stepped at once from the threshold into the sitting-room. A lane led +past the garden, if that could be called a lane which widened into a field and +after rain was flooded so deeply as to be impassable to foot passengers. +</p> + +<p> +The morning we had chosen was fine; and after shaking hands with old Farmer +“Willum,” whose shooting days were over, we entered the lane, and +by it the fields. The meadows were small, enclosed with double-mounds, and +thickly timbered, so that as the ground was level you could not see beyond the +field in which you stood, and upon looking over the gate might surprise a flock +of pigeons, a covey of partridges, or a rabbit out feeding. Though the tinted +leaves were fast falling, the hedges were still full of plants and vegetation +that prevented seeing through them. The “kuck-kuck” of the redwings +came from the bushes—the first note of approaching winter—and the +tips of the rushes were dead. Red haws on the hawthorn and hips on the briar +sprinkled the hedge with bright spots of colour. +</p> + +<p> +The two spaniels went with such an eager rush into a thick double-mound, +dashing heedlessly through the nettles and under the brambles, that we hastened +to get one on each side of the hedge. A rustling—a short bark; another, +then a movement among the rushes in the ditch, evidently not made by the dogs; +then a silence. But the dogs come back, and as they give tongue the rabbit +rushes past a bare spot on the slope of the bank. I fire—a snap +shot—and cut out some fur, but do no further harm; the pellets bury +themselves in the earth. But, startled and perhaps just stung by a stray shot, +the rabbit bolts fairly at last twenty yards in front of Orion, the spaniel +tearing at his heels. +</p> + +<p> +Up goes the double-barrel with a bright gleam as the sunlight glances on it. A +second of suspense: then from the black muzzle darts a cylinder of tawny flame +and an opening cone of white smoke: a sharp report rings on the ear. The rabbit +rolls over and over, and is dead before the dog can seize him. After harling +the rabbit, Orion hangs him high on a projecting branch, so that the man who is +following us at a distance may easily find the game. He is a labourer, and we +object to have him with us, as we know he would be certain to get in the way. +</p> + +<p> +We then tried a corner where two of these large mounds, meeting, formed a small +copse in which grew a quantity of withy and the thick grasses that always +border the stoles. A hare bolted almost directly the dogs went in: hares trust +in their speed, rabbits in doubling for cover. I fired right and left, and +missed: fairly missed with both barrels. Orion jumped upon the mound from the +other side, and from that elevation sent a third cartridge after her. +</p> + +<p> +It was a long, a very long shot, but the hare perceptibly winced. Still, she +drew easily away from the dogs, going straight for a distant gateway. But +before it was reached the pace slackened; she made ineffectual attempts to +double as the slow spaniels overtook her, but her strength was ebbing, and they +quickly ran in. Reloading, and in none of the best of tempers, I followed the +mound. The miss was of course the gun’s fault—it was foul; or the +cartridges, or the bad quality of the powder. +</p> + +<p> +We passed the well-remembered hollow ash pollard, whence, years before, we had +taken the young owls, and in which we had hidden the old single-barrel gun one +sultry afternoon when it suddenly came on to thunder. The flashes were so vivid +and the discharges seemingly so near that we became afraid to hold the gun, +knowing that metal attracted electricity. So it was put in the hollow tree out +of the wet, and with it the powder-flask, while we crouched under an adjacent +hawthorn till the storm ceased. +</p> + +<p> +Then by the much-patched and heavy gate where I shot my first snipe, that rose +out of the little stream and went straight up over the top bar. The emotion, +for it was more than excitement, of that moment will never pass from memory. It +was the bird of all others that I longed to kill, and certainly to a lad the +most difficult. Day after day I went down into the water-meadows; first +thinking over the problem of the snipe’s peculiar twisting flight. At one +time I determined that I would control the almost irresistible desire to fire +till the bird had completed his burst of zig-zag and settled to something like +a straight line. At another I as firmly resolved to shoot the moment the snipe +rose before he could begin to twist. But some unforeseen circumstance always +interfered with the execution of these resolutions. +</p> + +<p> +Now the snipe got up unexpectedly right under foot; now one rose thirty yards +ahead; now he towered straight up, forced to do so by the tall willows; and +occasionally four or five rising together and calling “sceap, +sceap” in as many different directions, made me hesitate at which to aim. +The continual dwelling upon the problem rendered me nervous, so that I scarcely +knew when I pulled the trigger. +</p> + +<p> +But one day, in passing this gateway, which was a long distance from the +particular water-meadows where I had practised, and not thinking of snipes, +suddenly one got up, and with a loud “sceap” darted over the gate. +The long slender gun—the old single-barrel—came to the shoulder +instinctively, without premeditation, and the snipe fell. +</p> + +<p> +Coming now to the brook, which was broad and bordered by a hedge on the +opposite side, I held Orion’s gun while he leaped over. The bank was +steep and awkward, but he had planned his leap so as to alight just where he +could at once grasp an ash branch and so save himself from falling back into +the water. He could not, however, stay suspended there, but had to scramble +over the hedge, and then called for his gun. I leaned mine against a hollow +withy pollard, and called “ready.” +</p> + +<p> +Taking his gun a few inches above the trigger guard (and with the guard towards +his side), holding it lightly just where it seemed to balance in a +perpendicular position, I gave it a slow heave rather than a throw, and it rose +into the air. This peculiar <i>feeling</i> hoist, as it were, caused it to +retain the perpendicular position as it passed over brook and hedge in a low +curve. As it descended it did indeed slope a little, and Orion caught it with +one hand easily. The hedge being low he could see it coming; but guns are +sometimes heaved in this way over hedges that have not been cropped for years. +Then the gun suddenly appears in the air, perhaps fifteen feet high, while the +catch depends not only upon the dexterity of the hand but the ear—to +judge correctly where the person who throws it is standing, as he is invisible. +</p> + +<p> +The spaniels plunged in the brook among the flags, but though they made a great +splashing nothing came of it till we approached a marshy place where was a +pond. A moorhen then rose and scuttled down the brook, her legs dragging along +the surface some distance before she could get up, and the sunshine sparkling +on the water that dropped from her. I fired and knocked her over: at the sound +of the discharge a bird rose from the low mound by the pond some forty yards +ahead. My second barrel was empty in an instant. +</p> + +<p> +Both Orion’s followed; but the distance, the intervening pollard willows, +or our excitement spoilt the aim. The woodcock flew off untouched, and made +straight away from the territories we could beat into those that were jealously +guarded by a certain keeper with whom Farmer “Willum” had waged war +for years. “Come on!” shouted Orion as soon as he had marked the +cock down in a mound two fields away. Throwing him my gun, I leaped the brook; +and we at first raced, but on second thoughts walked slowly, for the mound. +Running disturbs accuracy of fire, and a woodcock was much too rare a visitor +for the slightest chance to be lost. +</p> + +<p> +As we approached we considered that very probably the cock would either lie +close till we had walked past, and get up behind, or he would rise out of +gunshot. What we were afraid of was his making for the preserves, which were +not far off. So we tossed for the best position, and I lost. I had therefore to +get over on the side of the hedge towards the preserves and to walk down +somewhat faster than Orion, who was to keep (on his side) about thirty yards +behind. The object was to flush the cock on his side, so that if missed the +bird might return towards our territories. In a double-mound like this it is +impossible to tell what a woodcock will do, but this was the best thing we +could think of. +</p> + +<p> +About half-way down the hedge I heard Orion fire both barrels in quick +succession—the mound was so thick I could not see through. The next +instant the cock came over the top of the hedge just above my head. Startled at +seeing me so close, he flew straight down along the summit of the +bushes—a splendid chance to look at from a distance; but in throwing up +the gun a projecting briar caught the barrels, and before I could recover it +the bird came down at the side of the hedge. +</p> + +<p> +It was another magnificent chance; but again three pollard willows interfered, +and as I fired the bark flew off one of them in small strips. Quickened by the +whistling pellets, the cock suddenly lifted himself again to the top of the +hedge to go over, and for a moment came full in view, and quite fifty yards +away. I fired a snap shot as a forlorn hope, and lost sight of him; but the +next instant I heard Orion call, “He’s down!” One single +chance pellet had dropped the cock—he fell on the other side just under +the hedge. +</p> + +<p> +We hastened back to the brook, thinking that the shooting would attract the +keepers, and did not stay to look at the bird till safe over the water. The +long beak, the plumage that seems painted almost in the exact tints of the dead +brown leaves he loves so well, the eyes large by comparison and so curiously +placed towards the poll of the head as if to see behind him—there was not +a point that did not receive its share of admiration. We shot about half a +dozen rabbits, two more hares, and a woodpigeon afterwards; but all these were +nothing compared with the woodcock. +</p> + +<p> +How Farmer “Willum” chuckled over it—especially to think that +we had cut out the game from the very batteries of the enemy! It was the one +speck of bitterness in the old man’s character—his hatred of this +keeper. Disabled himself by age and rheumatism from walking far, he heard daily +reports from his men of this fellow coming over the boundary to shoot, or drive +pheasant or partridge away. It was a sight to see Farmer “Willum” +stretch his bulky length in his old armchair, right before the middle of the +great fire of logs on the hearth, twiddling his huge thumbs, and every now and +then indulging in a hearty laugh, followed by a sip at the +“straight-cup.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a stag’s horn over the staircase: “Willum” loved to +tell how it came there. One severe winter long since, the deer in the forest +many miles away broke cover, forced by hunger, and came into the rickyards and +even the gardens. Most of them were got back, but one or two wandered beyond +trace. Those who had guns were naturally on the look-out; indeed, a regular +hunt was got up—“Willum,” then young and active, in it of +course. This chase was not successful; but early one morning, going to look for +wild geese in the water-meadow with his long-barrelled gun, he saw something in +a lonely rickyard. Creeping cautiously up, he rested the heavy gun on an ash +stole, and the big duck-shot tore its way into the stag’s shoulder. Those +days were gone, but still his interest in shooting was unabated. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing had been altered on the place since he was a boy: the rent even was the +same. But all that is now changed—swept away before modern improvements; +and the rare old man is gone too, and I think his only enemy also. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing I used to look forward to, as the summer waned, with so much +delight as the snipe shooting. Regularly as the swallow to the eaves in spring, +the snipe comes back with the early frosts of autumn to the same well-known +spots—to the bend of the brook or the boggy corner in the ploughed +field—but in most uncertain numbers. Sometimes flocks of ten or twenty, +sometimes only twos and threes are seen, but always haunting particular places. +</p> + +<p> +They have a special affection for peaty ground, black and spongy, where every +footstep seems to squeeze water out of the soil with a slight hissing sound, +and the boot cuts through the soft turf. There, where a slow stream winds in +and out, unmarked by willow or bush, but fringed with green aquatic grasses +growing on a margin of ooze, the snipe finds tempting food; or in the meadows +where a little spring breaks forth in the ditch and does not freeze—for +water which has just bubbled out of the earth possesses this peculiarity, and +is therefore favourable to low forms of insect or slug life in winter—the +snipe may be found when the ponds are bound with ice. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the old country folk used to make as much mystery about this bird as +the cuckoo. Because it was seldom seen till the first fogs the belief was that +it had lost its way in the mist at sea, and come inland by mistake. +</p> + +<p> +Just as in the early part of the year green buds and opening flowers welcome +swallow and cuckoo, so the colours of the dying leaf prepare the way for the +second feathered immigration in autumn. Once now and then the tints of autumn +are so beautiful that the artist can hardly convey what he sees to canvas. The +maples are aglow with orange, the oaks one mass of buff, the limes light gold, +the elms a soft yellow. In the hawthorn thickets bronze spots abound; here and +there a bramble leaf has turned a brilliant crimson (though many bramble leaves +will remain a dull green all the winter through); the edible chestnut sheds +leaves of a dark fawn hue, but all, scattered by the winds, presently resolve +into a black pulp upon the earth. Noting these signs the sportsman gets out his +dust-shot for the snipe, and the farmer, as he sees the fieldfare flying over +after a voyage from Norway, congratulates himself that last month was +reasonably dry, and enabled him to sow his winter seed. +</p> + +<p> +“Sceap—sceap!” and very often the snipe successfully carries +out the intention expressed in his odd-sounding cry, and does escape in +reality. Although I could not at first put my theory into practice, yet I found +by experience that it was correct. He is the exception to the golden rule that +the safest way lies in the middle, and that therefore you should fire not too +soon nor too late, but half-way between. But the snipe must either be knocked +over the instant he rises from the ground, and before he has time to commence +his puzzling zig-zag flight, or else you must wait till he has finished his +corkscrew burst. +</p> + +<p> +Then there is a moment just before he passes out of range when he glides in a +straight line and may be hit. This singular zig-zag flight so deceives the eye +as almost to produce the idea of a spiral movement. No barrel can ever be +jerked from side to side swiftly enough, no hair-trigger is fine enough, to +catch him then, except by the chance of a vast scattering over-charge, which +has nothing to do with sport. If he rises at some little distance, then fire +instantly, because by the time the zig-zag is done the range will be too great; +if he starts up under your feet, out of a bunch of rushes, as is often the +case, then give him law till his eccentric twist is finished. +</p> + +<p> +When the smoke has cleared away in the crisp air, there he lies, the yet warm +breast on the frozen ground, to be lifted up not without a passing pity and +admiration. The brown feathers are exquisitely shaded, and so exactly resemble +the hue of the rough dead aquatic grass out of which he sprang that if you cast +the bird among it you will have some trouble to find it again. To discover a +living snipe on the ground is indeed a test of good eyesight; for as he slips +in and out among the brown withered flags and the grey grass it requires not +only a quick eye but the inbred sportsman’s instinct of perception (if +such a phrase is permissible) to mark him out. +</p> + +<p> +If your shot has missed and merely splashed up the water or rattled against +bare branches, then step swiftly behind a tree-trunk, and stay in ambuscade, +keeping a sharp watch on him as he circles round high up in the air. Very often +in a few minutes he will come back in a wide sweep, and drop scarcely a +gun-shot distant in the same watercourse, when a second shot may be obtained. +The little jack snipe, when flushed, will never fly far, if shot at several +times in succession, still settling fifty or sixty yards farther on, and is +easily bagged. +</p> + +<p> +Coming silently as possible round a corner, treading gently on the grass still +white with hoar-frost in the shadow of the bushes, you may chance to spring a +stray woodcock, which bird, if you lose a moment, will put the hedge between +him and you. Artists used to seek for certain feathers which he carries, one in +each wing, thinking to make of them a more delicate brush than the finest +camel’s hair. +</p> + +<p> +In the evening I used to hide in the osier-beds on the edge of a great +water-meadow; for now that the marshes are drained, and the black earth of the +fens yields a harvest of yellow corn, the broad level meads which are irrigated +to fertilise them are among the chief inland resorts of wild fowl. When the +bright moon is rising, you walk in among the tapering osier-wands, the rustling +sedges, and dead dry hemlock stems, and wait behind an aspen tree. +</p> + +<p> +In the thick blackthorn bush a round dark ball indicates the blackbird, who has +puffed out his feathers to shield him from the frost, and who will sit so close +and quiet that you may see the moonlight glitter on his eye. Presently comes a +whistling noise of wings, and a loud “quack, quack!” as a string of +ducks, their long necks stretched out, pass over not twenty yards high, slowly +slanting downwards to the water. This is the favourable moment for the gun, +because their big bodies are well defined against the sky, and aim can be +taken; but to shoot anything on the ground at night, even a rabbit, whose white +tail as he hops away is fairly visible, is most difficult. +</p> + +<p> +The baffling shadows and the moonbeams on the barrel, and the faint reflection +from the dew or hoar-frost on the grass, prevent more than a general direction +being given to the gun, even with the tiny piece of white paper which some +affix to the muzzle-sight as a guide. From a punt with a swivel gun it is +different, because the game is swimming and visible as black dots on the +surface, and half a pound of shot is sure to hit something. But in the +water-meadows the ducks get among the grass, and the larger water-carriers +where they can swim usually have small raised banks, so that at a distance only +the heads of the birds appear above them. +</p> + +<p> +So that the best time to shoot a duck is just as he slopes down to +settle—first, because he is distinctly visible against the sky; next, +because he is within easy range; and lastly, his flight is steady. If you +attempt to have ducks driven towards you, though they may go right overhead, +yet it will often be too high—for they rise at a sharp angle when +frightened; and men who are excellent judges of distance when it is a hare +running across the fallow, find themselves all at fault trying to shoot at any +elevation. Perhaps this arises from the peculiarity of the human eye which +draughtsmen are fond of illustrating by asking a tyro to correctly bisect a +vertical line: a thing that looks easy, and is really only to be done by long +practice. +</p> + +<p> +To make certain of selecting the right spot in the osiers over which the ducks +will pass, for one or two evenings previously a look-out should be kept and +their usual course observed; for all birds and animals, even the wildest wild +fowl, are creatures of habit and custom, and having once followed a particular +path will continue to use it until seriously disturbed. Evening after evening +the ducks will rise above the horizon at the same place and almost at the same +time, and fly straight to their favourite feeding place. +</p> + +<p> +If hit, the mallard falls with a thud on the earth, for he is a heavy bird; and +few are more worthy of powder and shot either for his savoury flavour, far +surpassing the tame duck, or the beauty of his burnished neck. With the ducks +come teal and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy meadow resounds with their +strange cries. When ponds and lakes are frozen hard is the best time for sport +in these irrigated fields. All day long the ducks will stand or waddle to and +fro on the ice in the centre of the lake or mere, far out of reach and ready to +rise at the slightest alarm. But at night they seek the meadow where the water, +running swiftly in the carriers, never entirely freezes, and where, if the +shallow spots become ice, the rising current flows over it and floods another +place. +</p> + +<p> +There is, moreover, never any difficulty in getting the game when hit, because +the water, except in the main carriers, which you can leap across, hardly rises +to the ankle, and ordinary water-tight boots will enable you to wade wherever +necessary. This is a great advantage with wild fowl, which are sometimes shot +and lost in deep ooze and strong currents and eddies, and on thin ice where men +cannot go and even good dogs are puzzled. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/> +FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER</h2> + +<p> +The ferreting season commences when the frosts have caused the leaves to drop, +and the rabbits grow fat from feeding on bark. Early one December morning, +Orion and I started, with our man Little John, to ferret a double-mound for our +old friend Farmer “Willum” at Redcote. +</p> + +<p> +Little John was a labourer—one of those frequently working at odd times +for Luke, the Rabbit-Contractor. We had nicknamed him Little John because of +his great size and unwieldy proportions. He was the most useful man we knew for +such work; his heart was so thoroughly in it. +</p> + +<p> +He was waiting for us before we had finished breakfast, with his tools and +implements, having carefully prepared these while yet it was dark at home in +his cottage. The nets require looking to before starting, as they are apt to +get into a tangle, and there is nothing so annoying as to have to unravel +strings with chilled fingers in a ditch. Some have to be mended, having been +torn; some are cast aside altogether because weak and rotten. The twine having +been frequently saturated with water has decayed. All the nets are of a light +yellow colour from the clay and sand that has worked into the string. +</p> + +<p> +These nets almost filled a sack, into which he also cast a pair of +“owl-catchers,” gloves of stout white leather, thick enough to turn +a thorn while handling bushes, or to withstand the claws of an owl furiously +resisting capture. His ferrets cost him much thought, which to take and which +to leave behind. He had also to be particular how he fed them—they must +be eager for prey, and yet they must not be starved, else they would gorge on +the blood of the first rabbit, and become useless for hunting. +</p> + +<p> +Two had to be muzzled—an operation of some difficulty that generally +results in a scratched hand. A small piece of small but strong twine is passed +through the jaws behind the tusk-like teeth, and tightly tied round, so tightly +as almost to cut into the skin. This is the old way of muzzling a ferret, +handed down from generations: Little John scorns the muzzles that can be bought +at shops, and still more despises the tiny bells to hang round the neck. The +first he says often come off, and the second embarrass the ferret and sometimes +catch in projecting rootlets and hold it fast. He has, too, a line—many +yards of stout twine wound about a short stick—to line a ferret if +necessary. +</p> + +<p> +The ferrets are placed in a smaller bag, tightly tied at the top—for they +will work through and get out if any aperture be left. Inside the bag is a +little hay for them to lay on. He prefers the fitchew ferret as he calls it; +that is the sort that are coloured like a polecat. He says they are fiercer, +larger of make and more powerful. But he has also a couple of white ones with +pink eyes. Besides the sack of nets, the bag of ferrets, and a small bundle in +a knotted handkerchief—his “nuncheon”—which in +themselves make a tolerable load, he has brought a billhook, and a +“navigator,” or draining-tool. +</p> + +<p> +This is a narrow spade of specially stout make; the blade is hollow and +resembles an exaggerated gouge, and the advantage is that in digging out a +rabbit the tool is very apt to catch under a root, when an ordinary spade may +bend and become useless. The “navigator” will stand anything, and +being narrow is also more handy. All these implements Little John has prepared +by the dim light of a horn lantern in the shed at the back of his cottage. A +mug of ale while we get our guns greatly cheers him, and unlooses his tongue. +</p> + +<p> +All the way to Redcote he impresses on us the absolute necessity of silence +while ferreting, and congratulates us on having a nearly still day. He is a +little doubtful about Orion’s spaniel and whether it will keep quiet or +not. +</p> + +<p> +When we reach the double-mound, his talk entirely ceases: he is as silent and +as rugged as a pollard oak. By the top of the mound the sack of nets is thrown +down on the sward and opened. As there are more holes on the other side of the +hedge Orion goes over with Little John, and I proceed to set up the nets on +mine. +</p> + +<p> +I found some difficulty in getting at the bank, the bushes being so thick, and +had to use the billhook and chop a way in: I heard Little John growling about +this in a whisper to Orion. Very often before going with the ferrets, people +send a man or two a few hours previously to chop and clear the bushes. The +effect is that the rabbits will not bolt freely. They hear the men chopping, +and the vibration of the earth as they clumsily climb over the banks, and will +not come out till absolutely forced. If it is done at all, it should be done a +week beforehand. That was why Little John grumbled at my chopping though he +knew it was necessary. +</p> + +<p> +To set up a rabbit net you must arrange it so that it covers the whole of the +mouth of the hole, for if there is any opening between it and the bank the +rabbit will slip through. He will not face the net unless obliged to. Along the +upper part, if the bank is steep, so that the net will not lie on it of itself, +two or three little twigs should be thrust through the meshes into the earth to +suspend it. +</p> + +<p> +These twigs should be no larger than are used by birds in constructing their +nests; just strong enough to hold the net in place and no more. On the other +hand, care must be taken that no stout projecting root catches a corner of the +net, else it will not draw up properly and the rabbit will escape. +</p> + +<p> +Little John, not satisfied with my assurance that I had netted all the holes my +side, now came over—crawling on hands and knees that he might not jar the +bank—to examine for himself. His practised eye detected two holes that I +had missed: one on the top of the mound much overhung by dead grass, and one +under a stole. These he attended to. He then crawled up on the mound two or +three yards below the end of the bury, and with his own hands stretched a +larger net right across the top of the bank, so that if a rabbit did escape he +would run into this. To be still more sure he stretched another similar net +across the whole width of the mound at the other end of the bury. +</p> + +<p> +He then undid the mouth of the ferret-bag, holding it between his +knees—the ferrets immediately attempted to struggle out: he selected two +and then tied it up again. With both these in his own hands, for he would trust +nothing to another, he slipped quietly back to Orion’s side, and so soon +as he saw I was standing well back placed them in different holes. +</p> + +<p> +Almost the next instant one came out my side disarranging a net. I got into the +ditch, hastily reset the net, and put the ferret to an adjacent hole, lifting +up the corner of the net there for it to creep in. Unlike the weasel, a ferret +once outside a hole seems at a loss, and wanders slowly about, till chance +brings him to a second. The weasel used to hunting is no sooner out of one hole +than he darts away to the next. But this power the ferret has partially lost +from confinement. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the ferret hesitated inside the hole, as if undecided which of two +passages to take: then he started, and I lost sight of his tail. Hardly had I +got back to my stand than I heard Little John leap into the ditch his side: the +next minute I saw the body of the rabbit which he had killed thrown out into +the field. +</p> + +<p> +I stood behind a somewhat advanced bush that came out into the meadow like a +buttress, and kept an eye on the holes along the bank. It is essential to stand +well back from the holes, and, if possible, out of sight. In a few moments +something moved, and I saw the head of a rabbit at the mouth of a hole just +behind the net. He looked through the meshes as through a lattice, and I could +see his nostrils work, as he considered within himself how to pass this thing. +It was but for a moment; the ferret came behind, and wild with hereditary fear, +the rabbit leaped into the net. +</p> + +<p> +The force of the spring not only drew the net together, but dragged out the +peg, and rabbit and net inextricably entangled rolled down the bank to the +bottom of the ditch. I jumped into the ditch and seized the net; when there +came a hoarse whisper: “Look sharp you, measter: put up another net +fust—<i>he</i> can’t get out; hould un under your arm, <i>or in +your teeth</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked up, and saw Little John’s face peering over the mound. He had +thrust himself up under the bushes; his hat was off; his weather-beaten face +bleeding from a briar, but he could not feel the scratch so anxious was he that +nothing should escape. I pulled another net from my pocket, and spread it +roughly over the hole; then more slowly took the rabbit from the other net. +</p> + +<p> +You should never hold a rabbit up till you have got fast hold of his hind legs; +he will so twist and work himself as to get free from any other grasp. But when +held by the hind legs and lifted from the ground he can do nothing. I now +returned to my buttress of bushes and waited. The rabbits did not bolt my side +again for a while. Every now and then I saw, or heard, Orion or Little John +leap into their ditch, and well knew what it meant before the dead rabbit was +cast out to fall with a helpless thud upon the sward. +</p> + +<p> +Once I saw a rabbit’s head at the mouth of a hole, and momentarily +expected him to dart forth driven by the same panic fear. But either the ferret +passed, or there was another side-tunnel—the rabbit went back. Some few +minutes afterwards Little John exclaimed: “Look out, you; ferret’s +out!” One of the ferrets had come out of a hole and was +aimlessly—as it appeared—roaming along the bank. +</p> + +<p> +As he came nearest my side, I got quietly into the ditch and seized him, and +put him into a hole. To my surprise he refused to go in—I pushed him: he +returned and continued to try to come out till I gave him a sharp fillip with +the finger, when he shook the dust and particles of dry earth from his fur with +a shiver, as if in protest, and slowly disappeared inside the hole. +</p> + +<p> +As I was creeping out of the deep ditch on hands and knees, I heard Orion call +angrily to the spaniel to come to heel. Hitherto the spaniel had sat on his +haunches behind Orion fairly quiet and still, though not without an occasional +restless movement. But now he broke suddenly from all control, and disregarding +Orion’s anger—though with hanging tail—rushed into the hedge, +and along the top of the mound where there was a thick mass of dead grass. +Little John hurled a clod of clay at him, but before I was quite out of the +ditch the spaniel gave tongue, and at the same moment I saw a rabbit come from +the ditch and run like mad across the field. +</p> + +<p> +The dog gave chase—I rushed for my gun, which was some yards off, placed +against a hollow withy tree. The haste disconcerted the aim—the rabbit +too was almost fifty yards away when I fired. But the shot broke one hind +leg—it trailed behind—and the spaniel had him instantly. +“Look at yer nets,” said Little John in a tone of suppressed +indignation, for he disliked the noise of a gun, as all other noises. +</p> + +<p> +I did look, and found that one net had been partly pushed aside; yet to so +small an extent that I should hardly have believed it possible for the rabbit +to have crept through. He must have slipped out without the slightest sound and +quietly got on the top of the mound without being seen. But there, alas! he +found a wide net stretched right across the bank so that to slip down the mound +on the top was impossible. This would certainly have been his course had not +the net been there. +</p> + +<p> +It was now doubtless that the spaniel caught wind of him, and the scent was so +strong that it overcame his obedience. The moment the dog got on the bank, the +rabbit slipped down into the rushes in the ditch—I did not see him +because my back was turned in the act to scramble out. Then, directly the +spaniel gave tongue the rabbit darted for the open, hoping to reach the buries +in the hedge on the opposite side of the meadow. +</p> + +<p> +This incident explained why the ferret seemed so loth to go back into the hole. +He had crept out some few moments behind the rabbit and in his aimless +uncertain manner was trying to follow the scent along the bank. He did not like +being compelled to give up this scent and to search again for another. +“Us must be main careful how us fixes our nets, you,” said Little +John, going as far as he could in reproof of my negligence. +</p> + +<p> +The noise of the gun, the barking, and talking was of course heard by the +rabbits still in the bury, and as if to show that Little John was right, for a +while they ceased to bolt. Standing behind the bushes—against which I now +placed the gun to be nearer at hand—I watched the nets till my eye was +caught by the motions of the ferret-bag. It lay on the grass and had hitherto +been inert. But now the bag reared itself up, and then rolled over, to again +rise and again tumble. The ferrets left in it in reserve were eager to get +out—sharp set on account of a scanty breakfast—and their motions +caused the bag to roll along a short distance. +</p> + +<p> +I could see Orion on the other side of the mound tolerably well because he was +standing up and the leaves had fallen from the upper part of the bushes. Little +John was crouched in the ditch: the dead grasses, “gicks,” withered +vines of bryony, the thistles, and dark shrivelled fern concealed him. +</p> + +<p> +There was a round black sloe on the blackthorn beside me, the beautiful gloss, +or bloom, on it made it look like a tiny plum. It tasted not only sour, but +seemed to positively fill the mouth with a rough acid. Overhead light grey +clouds, closely packed but not rainy, drifted very slowly before a N.E. upper +current. Occasionally a brief puff of wind came through the bushes rustling the +dead leaves that still remained on the oaks. +</p> + +<p> +Despite the cold, something of Little John’s intense concentration +communicated itself to us: we waited and watched with eager patience. After a +while he got out of the ditch where he had been listening with his ear close +against the bank, and asked me to pass him the ferret-bag. He took out another +ferret and lined it—that is, attached one end of a long string to its +neck, and then sent it in. +</p> + +<p> +He watched which way the ferret turned, and then again placed his head upon the +hard clay to listen. Orion had to come and hold the line, while he went two or +three yards farther down, got into the ditch and once more listened carefully. +“He be about the middle of the mound you,” he said to me; “he +be between you and I. Lor! look out.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a low rumbling sound—I expected to see a rabbit bolt into one +of my nets, I heard Little John moving some leaves, and then he shouted, +“Give I a net, you—quick. Lor! here be another hole: he’s +coming!” I looked over the mound and saw Little John, his teeth set and +staring at a hole which had no net, his great hands open ready to pounce +instantly like some wild animal on its prey. In an instant the rabbit +bolted—he clutched it and clasped it tight to his chest. There was a +moment of struggling, the next the rabbit was held up for a moment and then +cast across his knee. +</p> + +<p> +It was always a sight to see Little John’s keen delight in +“wristing” their necks. He affected utter unconsciousness of what +he was doing, looked you in the face, and spoke about some indifferent subject. +But all the while he was feeling the rabbit’s muscles stretch before the +terrible grasp of his hands, and an expression of complacent satisfaction +flitted over his features as the neck gave with a sudden looseness, and in a +moment what had been a living straining creature became limp. +</p> + +<p> +The ferret came out after the rabbit; he immediately caught it and thrust it +into his pocket. There were still two ferrets in—one that was suspected +to be gorging on a rabbit in a <i>cul de sac</i>, and the other lined, and +which had gone to join that sanguinary feast. The use of the line was to trace +where the loose ferret lay. “Chuck I the show’l, measter,” +said Little John. +</p> + +<p> +I gave the “navigator” tool a heave over the hedge; it fell and +stuck upright in the sward. Orion handed it to him. He first filled up the hole +from which a rabbit had just bolted with a couple of “spits,” +<i>i.e.</i> spadefuls, and then began to dig on the top of the mound. +</p> + +<p> +This digging was very tedious. The roots of the thorn bushes and trees +constantly impeded it, and had to be cut. Then upon at last getting down to the +hole, it was found that the right place had not been hit by several feet. Here +was the line and the lined ferret—he had got hitched in a projecting +root, and was furiously struggling to go forward to the feast of blood. +</p> + +<p> +Another spell of digging—this time still slower because Little John was +afraid lest the edge of his tool should suddenly slip through and cut his +ferret on the head, and perhaps kill it. At last the place was reached and the +ferret drawn forth still clinging to its victim. The rabbit was almost beyond +recognition as a rabbit. The poor creature had been stopped by a <i>cul de +sac</i>, and the ferret came upon him from behind. +</p> + +<p> +As the hole was small the rabbit’s body completely filled it, and the +ferret could not scramble past to get at the spot behind the ear where it +usually seizes. The ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the +hindquarters and so bored a passage. The ferret being so gorged was useless for +further hunting and was replaced in the bag. But Little John gave him a drink +of water first from the bottom of the ditch. +</p> + +<p> +Orion and I, wearied with the digging, now insisted on removing to the next +bury, for we felt sure that the remaining rabbits in this one would not bolt. +Little John had no choice but to comply, but he did so with much reluctance and +many rueful glances back at the holes from which he took the nets. He was sure, +he said, that there were at least half-a-dozen still in the bury: he only +wished he might have all that he could get out of it. But we imperiously +ordered a removal. +</p> + +<p> +We went some thirty yards down the mound, passing many smaller buries, and +chose a spot perfectly drilled with holes. While Little John was in the ditch +putting up nets, we slily undid the ferret-bag and turned three ferrets at once +loose into the holes. “Lor! measter, measter, what be you at?” +cried Little John, quite beside himself. “You’ll spoil all on it. +Lor!” +</p> + +<p> +A sharp report as Orion fired at a rabbit that bolted almost under Little +John’s fingers drowned his remonstrances, and he had to scramble out of +the way quick. Bang! bang! right and left: the firing became rapid. There being +no nets to alarm the rabbits and three ferrets hunting them, they tumbled out +in all directions as fast as we could load. Now the cartridges struck branches +and shattered them. Now the shot flattened itself against sarsen stones +imbedded in the mound. The rabbits had scarce a yard to bolt from one hole to +another, so that it was sharp work. +</p> + +<p> +Little John now gave up all hope, and only pleaded piteously for his ferrets. +“Mind as you doan’t hit ’em, measter; doant’ee shoot +into a hole, you.” For half an hour we had some really good shooting: +then it began to slacken, and we told him to catch his ferrets and go on to the +next bury. I am not sure that he would not have rebelled outright but just then +a boy came up carrying a basket of provisions, and a large earthenware jar with +a bung cork, full of humming ale. Farmer Willum had sent this, and the strong +liquor quite restored Little John’s good humour. It really was +ale—such as is not to be got for money. +</p> + +<p> +The boy said that he had seen Farmer Willum’s hereditary enemy, the +keeper, watching us from his side of the boundary, doubtless attracted by the +sound of the firing. He said also that there was a pheasant in a little copse +beside the brook. We sent him out again to reconnoitre: he returned and +repeated that the keeper had gone, and that he thought he saw him enter the +distant fir plantations. So we left the boy to help Little John at the next +bury—a commission that made him grin with delight, and suited the other +very well, since the noisy guns were going away, and he could use his nets. +</p> + +<p> +We took the lined ferret with us, and started after the pheasant. Just as we +approached the copse, the spaniel gave tongue on the other side of the hedge. +Orion had tied him up to a bush, wishing to leave him with Little John. But the +spaniel tore and twisted till he got loose and had followed us—keeping +out of sight—till now crossing the scent of a rabbit he set up his bark. +We called him to heel, and I am afraid he got a kick. But the pheasant was +alarmed, and rose before we could properly enfilade the little copse, where we +should most certainly have had him. He flew high and straight for the fir +plantations, where it was useless to follow. +</p> + +<p> +However, we leaped the brook and entered the keeper’s territory under +shelter of a thick double-mound. We slipped the lined ferret into a small bury, +and succeeded in knocking over a couple of rabbits. The object of using the +lined ferret was because we could easily recover it. This was pure mischief, +for there were scores of rabbits on our own side. But then there was just a +little spice of risk in this, and we knew Willum would gloat over it. +</p> + +<p> +After firing these two shots we got back again as speedily as possible, and +once more assisted Little John. We could not, however, quite resist the +pleasure of shooting a rabbit occasionally and so tormenting him. We left one +hole each side without a net, and insisted on the removal of the net that +stretched across the top of the bank. This gave us a shot now and then, and the +removal of the cross net allowed the rabbit some little law. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding these drawbacks—to him—Little John succeeded in +making a good bag. He stayed till it was quite dark to dig out a ferret that +had killed a rabbit in the hole. He took his money for his day’s work +with indifference: but when we presented him with two couple of clean rabbits +his gratitude was too much for him to express. The gnawn and +“blown” rabbits [by shot] were his perquisite, the clean rabbits an +unexpected gift. It was not their monetary value; it was the fact that they +were rabbits. +</p> + +<p> +The man’s instinct for hunting was so strong that it seemed to overcome +everything else. He would walk miles—after a long day’s farm +work—just to help old Luke, the rabbit contractor, bring home the rabbits +in the evening from the Upper Woods. He worked regularly for one farmer, and +did his work well: he was a sober man too as men go, that is he did not get +drunk more than once a month. A strong man must drink now and then: but he was +not a sot, and took nine-tenths of his money faithfully home to his wife and +children. +</p> + +<p> +In the winter when farm work is not so pressing he was allowed a week off now +and then, which he spent in ferreting for the farmers, and sometimes for Luke, +and of course he was only too glad to get such an engagement as we gave him. +Sometimes he made a good thing of his ferreting: sometimes when the weather was +bad it was a failure. But although a few shillings were of consequence to him, +it really did not seem to be the money-value but the sport that he loved. To +him that sport was all-absorbing. +</p> + +<p> +His ferrets were well looked after, and he sometimes sold one for a good price +to keepers. As a rule a man who keeps ferrets is suspected: but Little John was +too well understood, and he had no difficulty in begging a little milk for +them. +</p> + +<p> +His tenacity in pursuit of a rabbit was always a source of wonder to me. In +rain, in wind, in frost; his feet up to the ankle in the ice-cold slush at the +bottom of a ditch: no matter what the weather or how rough, he patiently stood +to his nets. I have known him stand the whole day long in a snowstorm—the +snow on the ground and in the holes, the flakes drifting against his +face—and never once show impatience. All he disliked was wind—not +on account of discomfort, but because the creaking of the branches and the +howling of the blast made such a noise that it was impossible to tell where the +rabbit would bolt. +</p> + +<p> +He congratulated himself that evening because he had recovered all his ferrets. +Sometimes one will lie in and defy all efforts to bring it out. One plan is to +place a dead fresh rabbit at the mouth of the hole which may tempt the ferret +to come and seize it. In large woods there are generally one or more ferrets +wandering loose in the season, that have escaped from the keepers or poachers. +</p> + +<p> +If the keeper sees one he tries to catch it; failing that, he puts a charge of +shot into it. Some keepers think nothing of shooting their own ferrets if they +will not come when called by the chirrup with the lips, or displease them in +other ways. They do not care, because they can have as many as they like. +Little John made pets of his: they obeyed him very well as a rule. +</p> + +<p> +Poaching men are sometimes charged with stealing ferrets, <i>i.e.</i> with +picking up and carrying off those that keepers have lost. A ferret is, however, +a difficult thing to identify and swear to. +</p> + +<p> +Those who go poaching with ferrets choose a moonlight night: if it is dark it +is difficult to find the holes. Small buries are best because so much more +easily managed, and the ferret is usually lined. If a large bury is attempted, +they take the first half-dozen that bolt and then move on to another. The first +rabbits come out rapidly; the rest linger as if warned by the fate of their +companions. Instead of wasting time over them it is best to move to another +place. +</p> + +<p> +Unless a keeper should chance to pass up the hedgerow there is comparatively +little risk, for the men are in the ditch and invisible ten yards away under +the bushes and make no noise. It is more difficult to get home with the game: +but it is managed. Very small buries with not more than four or five holes may +be ferreted even on the darkest nights by carefully observing beforehand where +the holes are situate. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br/> +A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK <i>versus</i> +BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION</h2> + +<p> +When the moon is full and nearly at the zenith it seems to move so slowly that +the shadows scarcely change their position. In winter, when the branches are +bare, a light that is nearly vertical over a tree can cast but little shadow, +and that falls immediately around the trunk. So that the smallness of the +shadow itself and the slowness of its motion together tend to conceal it. +</p> + +<p> +The snow on the ground increases the sense of light, and in approaching the +wood the scene is even more distinct than during the gloomy day. The tips of +the short stubble that has not yet been ploughed in places just protrude above +the surface, and the snow, frozen hard, crunches with a low sound under foot. +But for that all is perfectly still. The level upland cornfields stretch away +white and vacant to the hills—white, too, and clear against the sky. The +plain is silent, and nothing that can be seen moves upon its surface. +</p> + +<p> +On the verge of the wood which occupies the sloping ground there stands a great +oak tree, and down one side of its trunk is a narrow white streak of snow. +Leaning against the oak and looking upwards, every branch and twig is visible, +lit up by the moon. Overhead the stars are dimmed, but they shine more brightly +yonder above the hills. Such leaves as have not yet fallen hang motionless: +those that are lying on the ground are covered by the snow, and thus held fast +from rustling even were the wind to blow. But there is not the least +breath—a great frost is always quiet, profoundly quiet—and the +silence is undisturbed even by the fall of a leaf. The frost that kills them +holds the leaves till it melts, and then they drop. +</p> + +<p> +The tall ash poles behind in the wood stand stark and straight, pointing +upwards, and it is possible to see for some distance between them. No lesser +bats flit to and fro outside the fence under the branches; no larger ones pass +above the tops <i>of</i> the trees. There seems, indeed, a total absence of +life. The pheasants are at roost in the warmer covers; and the woodpigeons are +also perched—some in the detached oaks of the hedgerows, particularly +those that are thickly grown with ivy about the upper branches. Up in the great +beeches the rooks are still and silent; sometimes the boughs are encrusted with +rime about their very claws. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the oak now and skirting the wood, after a while the meadows on the +lower ground are reached; and here perhaps the slight scampering sound of a +rabbit may be heard. But as they can see and hear you so far in the bright +light and silence, they will most likely be gone before you can get near. They +are restless—very restless; first because of the snow, and next because +of the moonlight. The hares, unable to find anything on the hills or the level +white plain above, have come down here and search along the sheltered hedgerows +for leaf and blade. To-night the rabbits will run almost like the hares, to and +fro, hither and thither. +</p> + +<p> +In the thickest hawthorns the blackbirds and lesser feathered creatures are +roosting, preferring the hedgerow to the more open wood. Some of the lesser +birds have crept into the ivy around the elms, and which crowns the tops of the +withy pollards. Wrens and sparrows have gone to the hayricks, roosting in +little holes in the sides under the slightly projecting thatch. They have taken +refuge too in the nest-holes made in the thatched eaves of the sheds: tits are +there also; and sometimes two or three of the latter are captured at once in +such holes. +</p> + +<p> +A dark line across the lower meadows marks the course of the brook; it is dark +because the snow falling on the water melted. Even now there is a narrow stream +unfrozen; though the banks against which it chafes are hard, and will not take +the impression of the moorhen’s foot. The water-rats that in summertime +played and fed along the margin among the flags are rarely seen in winter. In +walking in daylight by the brook now their plunge into the water will not be +heard, nor can they be seen travelling at the bottom. +</p> + +<p> +They lay up a store of food in a hole away from the stream, generally choosing +the banks or higher ground in the withy-beds—places that are not often +flooded. Their ordinary holes, which are half, and sometimes quite, under +water, will not do for winter; they would be frozen in them, and perhaps their +store of food would be spoiled; besides which the floods cause the stream to +rise above its banks, and they could not exist under water for weeks together. +</p> + +<p> +Still further down, where the wood ends in scattered bushes and withy-beds, the +level shore of the shallow mere succeeds. The once soft, oozy ground is now +firm; the rushes are frozen stiff, and the ice for some distance out is +darkened by the aquatic weeds frozen in it. From here the wood, rising up the +slope, comes into view at once—the dark trees, the ash poles, the distant +beeches, the white crest of the hill—all still and calm under the +moonlight. The level white plain of ice behind stretches away, its real extent +concealed by the islands of withy and the dark pines along the distant shore; +while elsewhere the ice is not distinguishable from the almost equally level +fields that join it. Looking now more closely on the snow, the tracks of hares +and rabbits that have crossed and recrossed the ice are visible. +</p> + +<p> +In passing close to the withy-beds to return to the wood some branches have to +be pushed aside and cause a slight noise. Immediately a crowd of birds rise out +of the withies, where they have been roosting, and scatter into the night. They +are redwings and thrushes; every withy-bed is full of them. After wheeling +about in the air they will presently return—first one, then three or +four, and finally the flock, to their roosting-place. +</p> + +<p> +It is easy now to walk through the wood without making a noise: there is room +to pass between the stoles of ash; and the dead sticks that would have cracked +under foot are covered with snow. But be careful how you step; for in some +places the snow has fallen upon a mass of leaves filling a swampy hollow. Above +there is a thin crust of snow, but under the leaves the oozy ground is still +soft. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the dark pines the snow has lodged, making the boughs bend downwards. +Where the slope becomes a hill the ash stoles and nut-tree bushes are far apart +and thinner, so that there are wide white spaces around them. Regaining now the +top of the hill where the plain comes to the verge of the wood, there is a +clear view down across the ash poles to the withies, the white mere, and the +meadows below. Everywhere silence, stillness, sleep. +</p> + +<p> +In the high trees slumbering creatures; in the hedgerows, in the bushes, and +the withies birds with feathers puffed out, slumbering; in the banks, under the +very ground, dormant animals. A quiet cold that at first does not seem cold +because it is so quiet, but which gradually seizes on and stills the sap of +plants and the blood of living things. A ruthless frost, still, subtle, and +irresistible, that will slay the bird on its perch and weaken the swift hare. +</p> + +<p> +The most cruel of all things this snow and frost, because of the torture of +hunger which the birds must feel even in their sleep. But how beautiful the +round full moon, the brilliant light, the white landscape, the graceful lines +of the pine brought out by the snow, the hills yonder, and the stars rising +above them! +</p> + +<p> +It was on just such a night as this that some years since a most successful +raid was made upon this wood by a band of poachers coming from a distance. The +pheasants had been kept later than usual to be shot by a Christmas party, and +perhaps this had caused a relaxation of vigilance. The band came in a cart of +some kind; the marks of the wheels were found on the snow where it had been +driven off the highway and across a field to some ricks. There, no doubt, the +horse and cart were kept out of sight behind the ricks, while the men, who were +believed to have worn smock-frocks, entered the wood. +</p> + +<p> +The bright moonlight made it easy to find the pheasants, and they were potted +in plenty. Finding that there was no opposition, the gang crossed from the wood +to some outlying plantations and continued their work there. The keeper never +heard a sound. He was an old man—a man who had been on the estate all his +life—and had come in late in the evening after a long round. He sat by +the fire of split logs and enjoyed the warmth after the bitter cold and frost; +and, as he himself confessed, took an extra glass in consideration of the +severity of the weather. +</p> + +<p> +His wife was old and deaf. Neither of them heard the guns nor the dogs. Those +in the kennels close to the cottage, and very likely one or more indoors, must +have barked at the noise of the shooting. But if any dim sense of the uproar +did reach the keeper’s ear he put it down to the moon, at which dogs will +bay. As for his assistants, they had quietly gone home, so soon as they felt +sure that the keeper was housed for the night. Long immunity from attack had +bred over-confidence; the staff also was too small for the extent of the place, +and this had doubtless become known. No one sleeps so soundly as an +agricultural labourer; and as the nearest hamlet was at some distance it is not +surprising that they did not wake. +</p> + +<p> +In the early morning a fogger going to fodder his cattle came across a pheasant +lying dead on the path, the snow stained with its blood. He picked it up, and +put it under his smock-frock, and carried it to the pen, where he hid it under +some litter, intending to take it home. But afterwards, as he crossed the +fields towards the farm, he passed near the wood and observed the tracks of +many feet and a gap in the fence. He looked through the gap and saw that the +track went into the preserves. On second thoughts he went back for the pheasant +and took it to his master. +</p> + +<p> +The farmer, who was sitting down to table, quietly ate his breakfast, and then +strolled over to the keeper’s cottage with the bird. This was the first +intimation: the keeper could hardly believe it, till he himself went down and +followed the trail of foot-marks. There was not the least difficulty in tracing +the course of the poachers through the wood; the feathers were lying about; the +scorched paper (for they used muzzle-loaders), broken boughs, and shot-marks +were all too plain. But by this time the gang were well away, and none were +captured or identified. +</p> + +<p> +The extreme severity of the frost naturally caused people to stay indoors, so +that no one noticed the cart going through the village; nor could the track of +its wheels be discerned from others on the snow of the highway beaten down +firm. Even had the poachers been disturbed, it is doubtful if so small a staff +of keepers could have done anything to stop them. As it was, they not only made +a good haul—the largest made for years in that locality—but quite +spoiled the shooting. +</p> + +<p> +There are no white figures passing through the peaceful wood to-night and +firing up into the trees. It is perfectly still. The broad moon moves slow, and +the bright rays light up tree and bush, so that it is easy to see through, +except where the brambles retain their leaves and are fringed with the dead +ferns. +</p> + +<p> +The poaching of the present day is carried on with a few appliances only. An +old-fashioned poacher could employ a variety of “engines,” but the +modern has scarcely any choice. There was, for instance, a very effective mode +of setting a wire with a springe or bow. A stout stick was thrust into the +ground, and then bent over into an arch. When the wire was thrown it instantly +released the springe, which sprang up and drew it fast round the neck of the +hare or rabbit, whose fore feet were lifted from the earth. Sometimes a growing +sapling was bent down for the bow if it chanced to stand conveniently near a +run. The hare no sooner put her head into the noose than she was suspended and +strangled. +</p> + +<p> +I tried the springe several times for rabbits, and found it answer; but the +poacher cannot use it because it is so conspicuous. The stick itself, rising +above the grass, is visible at some distance, and when thrown it holds the hare +or rabbit up for any one to see that passes by. With a wire set in the present +manner the captured animal lies extended, and often rolls into a furrow and is +further hidden. +</p> + +<p> +The springe was probably last employed by the mole-catchers. Their wooden traps +were in the shape of a small tunnel, with a wire in the middle which, when the +mole passed through, set free a bent stick. This stick pulled the wire and hung +the mole. Such mole-catchers’ bows or springes used to be seen in every +meadow, but are now superseded by the iron trap. +</p> + +<p> +Springes with horsehair nooses on the ground were also set for woodcocks and +for wild ducks. It is said that a springe of somewhat similar construction was +used for pheasants. Horsehair nooses are still applied for capturing +woodpeckers and the owls that spend the day in hollow trees, being set round +the hole by which they leave the tree. A more delicate horsehair noose is +sometimes set for finches and small birds. I tried it for bullfinches, but did +not succeed from lack of the dexterity required. The modes of using bird-lime +were numerous, and many of them are in use for taking song-birds. +</p> + +<p> +But the enclosure of open lands, the strict definition of footpaths, closer +cultivation, and the increased value of game have so checked the +poacher’s operations with nets that in many districts the net may be said +to be extinct. It is no longer necessary to bush the stubbles immediately after +reaping. Brambles are said to have been the best for hindering the net, which +frequently swept away an entire covey, old birds and young together. Stubbles +are now so short that no birds will lie in them, and the net would not be +successful there if it were tried. +</p> + +<p> +The net used to be so favourite an “engine” because partridges and +pheasants will run rather than fly. In the case of partridges the poacher had +first to ascertain the haunt of the covey, which he could do by looking for +where they roost at night: the spot is often worn almost bare of grass and +easily found. Or he could listen in the evening for the calling of the birds as +they run together. The net being set, he walked very slowly down the wind +towards the covey. It could not be done too quietly or gently, because if one +got up all the rest would immediately take wing; for partridges act in concert. +If he took his time and let them run in front of him he secured the whole +number. That was the principle; but the nets were of many kinds: the partridges +were sometimes driven in by a dog. The partridges that appear in the market on +the morning of the 1st of September are said to be netted, though probably by +those who have a right to do so. These birds by nature lend themselves to such +tricks, being so timid. It is said that if continually driven to and fro they +will at last cower, and can be taken by hand or knocked over with a stick. +</p> + +<p> +The sight of a paper kite in the air makes them motionless till forced to rise; +and there was an old dodge of ringing a bell at night, which so alarmed the +covey that they remained still till the net was ready, when a sudden flash of +light drove them into it. Imagine a poacher ringing a bell nowadays! Then, +partridges were peculiarly liable to be taken; now, perhaps, they escape better +than any other kind of game. Except with a gun the poacher can hardly touch +them, and after the coveys have been broken up it is not worth his while to +risk a shot very often. If only their eggs could be protected there should be +little difficulty with partridges. +</p> + +<p> +Pheasants are more individual in their ways, and act less together; but they +have the same habit of running instead of flying, and if a poacher did but dare +he could take them with nets as easily as possible. They form runs through the +woods—just as fowls will wander day after day down a hedge, till they +have made quite a path. So that, having found the run and knowing the position +of the birds, the rest is simplicity itself. The net being stretched, the +pheasants were driven in. A cur dog was sometimes sent round to disturb the +birds. Being a cur, he did not bark, for which reason a strain of cur is +preferred to this day by the mouchers who keep dogs. Now that the woods are +regularly watched such a plan has become impracticable. It might indeed be done +once, but surely not twice where competent keepers were about. +</p> + +<p> +Nets were also used for hares and rabbits, which were driven in by a dog; but, +the scent of these animals being so good, it was necessary to work in such a +manner that the wind might not blow from the net, meeting them as they +approached it. Pheasants, as every one knows, roost on trees, but often do not +ascend very high; and, indeed, before the leaves are off they are said to be +sometimes taken by hand—sliding it along the bough till the legs are +grasped, just as you might fowls perched at night on a rail across the beams of +a shed. +</p> + +<p> +The spot where they roost is easily found out, because of the peculiar noise +they make upon flying up; and with a little precaution the trees may be +approached without startling them. Years ago the poacher carried a sulphur +match and lit it under the tree, when the fumes, ascending, stupefied the +birds, which fell to the ground. The process strongly resembled the way in +which old-fashioned folk stifled their bees by placing the hive at night, when +the insects were still, over a piece of brown paper dipped in molten brimstone +and ignited. The apparently dead bees were afterwards shaken out and buried; +but upon moving the earth with a spade some of them would crawl out, even after +two or three days. +</p> + +<p> +Sulphur fumes were likewise used for compelling rabbits to bolt from their +buries without a ferret. I tried an experiment in a bury once with a mixture +the chief component of which was gunpowder, so managed as to burn slowly and +give a great smoke. The rabbits did, indeed, just hop out and hop in again; but +it is a most clumsy expedient, because the fire must be lit on the windward +side, and the rabbits will only come out to leeward. The smoke hangs, and does +not penetrate into half the tunnels; or else it blows through quickly, when you +must stop half the holes with a spade. It is a wretched substitute for a +ferret. +</p> + +<p> +When cock-fighting was common the bellicose inclinations of the cock-pheasants +were sometimes excited to their destruction. A gamecock was first armed with +the sharp spur made from the best razors, and then put down near where a +pheasant-cock had been observed to crow. The pheasant cock is so thoroughly +game that he will not allow any rival crowing in his locality, and the two +quickly met in battle. Like a keen poniard the game-cock’s spur either +slew the pheasant outright or got fixed in the pheasant’s feathers, when +he was captured. +</p> + +<p> +A pheasant, too, as he ran deeper into the wood upon an alarm, occasionally +found his neck in a noose suspended across his path. For rabbiting, the lurcher +was and is the dog of all others. He is as cunning and wily in approaching his +game as if he had a cross of feline nature in his character. Other dogs trust +to speed; but the lurcher steals on his prey without a sound. He enters into +the purpose of his master, and if any one appears in sight remains quietly in +the hedge with the rabbit or leveret in his mouth till a sign bids him +approach. If half the stories told of the docility and intelligence of the +lurcher are true, the poacher needs no other help than one of these dogs for +ground game. But the dogs called lurchers nowadays are mostly of degenerate and +impure breed; still, even these are capable of a good deal. +</p> + +<p> +There is a way of fishing with rod and line, but without a bait. The rod should +be in one piece, or else a stout one—the line also very strong and short, +the hook of large size. When the fish is discovered the hook is quietly dropped +into the water and allowed to float, in seeming, along, till close under it. +The rod is then jerked up, and the barb enters the body of the fish and drags +it out. +</p> + +<p> +This plan requires, of course, that the fish should be visible, and if +stationary is more easily practised; but it is also effective even against +small fish that swim together in large shoals, for if the hook misses one it +strikes another. The most fatal time for fish is when they spawn: roach, jack, +and trout alike are then within reach, and if the poacher dares to visit the +water he is certain of a haul. +</p> + +<p> +Even in the present day and in the south a fawn is now and then stolen from +parks and forests where deer are kept. Being small, it is not much more +difficult to hide than a couple of hares; and once in the carrier’s cart +and at a little distance no one asks any questions. Such game always finds a +ready sale; and when a savoury dish is on the table those who are about to eat +it do not inquire whence it came any more than the old folk did centuries ago. +A nod and a wink are the best sauce. As the keepers are allowed to sell a +certain number of fawns (or say they are), it is not possible for any one at a +distance to know whether the game was poached or not. An ordinary single-barrel +muzzle-loader of the commonest kind with a charge of common shot will kill a +fawn. +</p> + +<p> +I once started to stalk a pheasant that was feeding in the corner of a meadow. +Beyond the meadow there was a cornfield which extended across to a preserved +wood. But the open stubble afforded no cover—any one walking in it could +be seen—so that the pheasant had to be got at from one side only. It was +necessary also that he should be shot dead without fluttering of wings, the +wood being so near. +</p> + +<p> +The afternoon sun, shining in a cloudless sky—it was a still October +day—beat hot against the western side of the hedge as I noiselessly +walked beside it. In the aftermath, green but flowerless, a small flock of +sheep were feeding—one with a long briar clinging to his wool. They moved +slowly before me; a thing I wanted; for behind sheep almost any game can be +approached. +</p> + +<p> +I have also frequently shot rabbits that were out feeding, by the aid of a herd +of cows. It does not seem to be so much the actual cover as the scent of the +animals; for a man of course can be seen over sheep, and under the legs of +cattle. But the breath and odour of sheep or cows prevent the game from +scenting him, and, what is equally effective, the cattle, to which they are +accustomed, throw them off their guard. +</p> + +<p> +The cart-horses in the fields do not answer so well: if you try to use one for +stalking, unless he knows you he will sheer off and set up a clumsy gallop, +being afraid of capture and a return to work. But cows will feed steadily in +front, and a flock of sheep, very slowly driven, move on with a gentle +“tinkle, tinkle.” Wild creatures show no fear of what they are +accustomed to, and the use of which they understand. +</p> + +<p> +If a solitary hurdle be set up in a meadow as a hiding-place from behind which +to shoot the rabbits of a burrow, not one will come out within gun-shot that +evening. They know-that it is something strange, the use of which they do not +understand and therefore avoid. When I first began to shoot, the difficulty was +to judge the distances, and to know how far a rabbit was from a favourite +hiding-place. I once carefully dropped small green boughs, just broken off, at +twenty, thirty, and forty yards, measuring by paces. This was in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +In the evening not a rabbit would come out anywhere near these boughs; they +were shy of them even when the leaves had withered and turned brown; so that I +took them away. Yet of the green boughs blown off by a gale, or the dead grey +branches that fall of their own weight, they take no notice. +</p> + +<p> +First, then, they must have heard me in their burrows pacing by; secondly, they +scented the boughs as having been handled, and connected the two circumstances +together; and, thirdly, though aware that the boughs themselves were harmless, +they felt that harm was intended. The pheasant had been walking about in the +corner where the hedges met, but now he went in; still, as he entered the hedge +in a quiet way, he did not appear to be alarmed. The sheep, tired of being +constantly driven from their food, now sheered out from the hedge, and allowed +me to go by. +</p> + +<p> +As I passed I gathered a few haws and ate them. The reason why birds do not +care much for berries before they are forced to take to them by frost is +because of the stone within, so that the food afforded by the berries is really +small. Yew-berries are an exception; they have a stone, but the covering to it +is sweet, succulent, and thick, and dearly loved by thrushes. In the ditch the +tall grasses, having escaped the scythe, bowed low with the weight of their own +awn-like seeds. +</p> + +<p> +The corner was not far off now; and I waited awhile behind a large hawthorn +bush growing on the “shore” of the ditch, thinking that I might see +the pheasant on the mound, or that at least he would recover confidence if he +had previously heard anything. Inside the bush was a nest already partly filled +with fallen leaves, like a little basket. +</p> + +<p> +A rabbit had been feeding on the other side, but now, suspicious, came over the +bank, and, seeing me, suddenly stopped and lifted himself up. In that moment I +could have shot him, being so near, without putting the gun to the shoulder, by +the sense of direction in the hands; the next he dived into a burrow. Looking +round the bush, I now saw the pheasant in the hedge, that crossed at right +angles in front; this was fortunate, because through that hedge there was +another meadow. It was full of nut-tree bushes, very tall and thick at the top, +but lower down thin, as is usually the case when poles grow high. To fill the +space a fence had been made of stakes and bushes woven between them, and on +this the pheasant stood. +</p> + +<p> +It was too far for a safe shot; in a minute he went down into the meadow on the +other side. I then crept on hands and knees towards the nut-bushes: as I got +nearer there was a slight rustle and a low hiss in the grass, and I had to +pause while a snake went by hastening for the ditch. A few moments afterwards, +being close to the hedge, I rose partly up, and looked carefully over the fence +between the hazel wands. There was the pheasant not fifteen yards away, his +back somewhat towards me, and quietly questing about. +</p> + +<p> +In lifting the gun I had to push aside a bough—the empty hoods, from +which a bunch of brown nuts had fallen, rested against the barrel as I looked +along it. I aimed at the head—knowing that it would mean instant death, +and would also avoid shattering the bird at so short a range; besides which +there would be fewer scattered feathers to collect and thrust out of sight into +a rabbit bury. A reason why people frequently miss pheasants in cover-shooting, +despite of their size, is because they look at the body, the wings, and the +tail. But if they looked only at the head, and thought of that, very few would +escape. My finger felt the trigger, and the least increase of pressure would +have been fatal; but in the act I hesitated, dropped the barrel, and watched +the beautiful bird. +</p> + +<p> +That watching so often stayed the shot that at last it grew to be a habit: the +mere simple pleasure of seeing birds and animals, when they were quite +unconscious that they were observed, being too great to be spoilt by the +discharge. After carefully getting a wire over a jack; after waiting in a tree +till a hare came along; after sitting in a mound till the partridges began to +run together to roost; in the end the wire or gun remained unused. The same +feeling has equally checked my hand in legitimate shooting: time after time I +have flushed partridges without firing, and have let the hare bound over the +furrow free. +</p> + +<p> +I have entered many woods just for the pleasure of creeping through the brake +and the thickets. Destruction in itself was not the motive; it was an +overpowering instinct for woods and fields. Yet woods and fields lose half +their interest without a gun—I like the power to shoot, even though I may +not use it. The very perfection of our modern guns is to me one of their +drawbacks: the use of them is so easy and so certain of effect that it takes +away the romance of sport. +</p> + +<p> +There could be no greater pleasure to me than to wander with a matchlock +through one of the great forests or wild tracts that still remain in England. A +hare a day, a brace of partridges, or a wild duck would be ample in the way of +actual shooting. The weapon itself, whether matchlock, wheel-lock, or even a +cross-bow, would be a delight. Some of the antique wheel-lock guns are really +beautiful specimens of design. The old powder-horns are often gems of +workmanship—hunting scenes cut out in ivory, and the minutest detail of +hoof or antler rendered with life-like accuracy. How pleasant these carvings +feel to the fingers! It is delightful to handle such weapons and such +implements. +</p> + +<p> +The matchlocks, too, are inlaid or the stocks carved. There is slaughter in +every line of our modern guns—mechanical slaughter. But were I offered +participation in the bloodiest battue ever arranged, or the freedom of an +English forest or mountain tract, to go forth at any time untrammelled by +attendant, but only to shoot with matchlock, wheel-lock, or cross-bow, my +choice would be unhesitating. +</p> + +<p> +There would be pleasure in winding up the lock with the spanner; pleasure in +adjusting the priming; or with the matchlock in lighting the match. To wander +out into the brake, to creep from tree to tree so noiselessly that the +woodpecker should not cease to tap—in that there is joy. The +consciousness that everything depends upon your own personal skill, and that +you have no second resource if that fails you, gives the real zest to sport. +</p> + +<p> +If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly; if the priming had not been +kept dry or the match not properly blown, or the cross-bow set exactly +accurate, then the care of approach would be lost. You must hold the gun +steady, too, while the slow priming ignites the charge. +</p> + +<p> +An imperfect weapon—yes; but the imperfect weapon would accord with the +great oaks, the beech trees full of knot-holes, the mysterious thickets, the +tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase would become a real chase: +not, as now, a foregone conclusion. And there would be time for pondering and +dreaming. +</p> + +<p> +Let us be always out of doors among trees and grass, and rain and wind and sun. +There the breeze comes and strikes the cheek and sets it aglow: the gale +increases and the trees creak and roar, but it is only a ruder music. A calm +follows, the sun shines in the sky, and it is the time to sit under an oak, +leaning against the bark, while the birds sing and the air is soft and sweet. +By night the stars shine, and there is no fathoming the dark spaces between +those brilliant points, nor the thoughts that come as it were between the fixed +stars and landmarks of the mind. +</p> + +<p> +Or it is the morning on the hills, when hope is as wide as the world; or it is +the evening on the shore. A red sun sinks, and the foam-tipped waves are +crested with crimson; the booming surge breaks, and the spray flies afar, +sprinkling the face watching under the pale cliffs. Let us get out of these +indoor narrow modern days, whose twelve hours somehow have become shortened, +into the sunlight and the pure wind. A something that the ancients called +divine can be found and felt there still. +</p> + +<p class="center">THE END +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13730 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + + diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0cc8c84 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #13730 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13730) diff --git a/old/13730-0.txt b/old/13730-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f14372 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13730-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5544 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Amateur Poacher, by Richard Jefferies + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Amateur Poacher + +Author: Richard Jefferies + +Release Date: October 12, 2004 [eBook #13730] +[Most recently updated: August 6, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Malcolm Farmer and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER *** + + + + +The Amateur Poacher + +by Richard Jefferies + + +Contents + + PREFACE + CHAPTER I. THE FIRST GUN + CHAPTER II. THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE” + CHAPTER III. TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + CHAPTER IV. EGG-TIME: A “GIP”-TRAP + CHAPTER V. WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + CHAPTER VI. LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK” + CHAPTER VII. OBY, AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR + CHAPTER VIII. CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + CHAPTER IX. LUKE, THE RABBIT-CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK PATH + CHAPTER X. FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE-SHOOTING + CHAPTER XI. FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + CHAPTER XII. A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: +PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK VERSUS BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + + + +PREFACE + + +The following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of time, +beginning with the first gun, and attempts at shooting. Then come the +fields, the first hills, and woods explored, often without a gun, or +any thought of destruction: and next the poachers, and other odd +characters observed at their work. Perhaps the idea of shooting with a +matchlock, or wheel-lock, might, if put in practice, at least afford +some little novelty. + +R.J. + + + + +THE AMATEUR POACHER + + + + +CHAPTER I +THE FIRST GUN + + +They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the +garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. +Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did +not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so +perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so +magnificent a brush as he had too. But there he stood, and mounted +guard over the old flintlock that was so powerful a magnet to us in +those days. Though to go up there alone was no slight trial of moral +courage after listening to the horrible tales of the carters in the +stable, or the old women who used to sit under the hedge in the shade, +on an armful of hay, munching their crusts at luncheon time. + +The great cavernous place was full of shadows in the brightest summer +day; for the light came only through the chinks in the shutters. These +were flush with the floor and bolted firmly. The silence was intense, +it being so near the roof and so far away from the inhabited parts of +the house. Yet there were sometimes strange acoustical effects—as when +there came a low tapping at the shutters, enough to make your heart +stand still. There was then nothing for it but to dash through the +doorway into the empty cheese-room adjoining, which was better lighted. +No doubt it was nothing but the labourers knocking the stakes in for +the railing round the rickyard, but why did it sound just exactly +outside the shutters? When that ceased the staircase creaked, or the +pear-tree boughs rustled against the window. The staircase always +waited till you had forgotten all about it before the loose worm-eaten +planks sprang back to their place. + +Had it not been for the merry whistling of the starlings on the thatch +above, it would not have been possible to face the gloom and the teeth +of Reynard, ever in the act to snap, and the mystic noises, and the +sense of guilt—for the gun was forbidden. Besides which there was the +black mouth of the open trapdoor overhead yawning fearfully—a standing +terror and temptation; for there was a legend of a pair of pistols +thrown up there out of the way—a treasure-trove tempting enough to make +us face anything. But Orion must have the credit of the courage; I call +him Orion because he was a hunter and had a famous dog. The last I +heard of him he had just ridden through a prairie fire, and says the +people out there think nothing of it. + +We dragged an ancient linen-press under the trapdoor, and put some +boxes on that, and finally a straight-backed oaken chair. One or two of +those chairs were split up and helped to do the roasting on the kitchen +hearth. So, climbing the pile, we emerged under the rafters, and could +see daylight faintly in several places coming through the starlings’ +holes. One or two bats fluttered to and fro as we groped among the +lumber, but no pistols could be discovered; nothing but a cannon-ball, +rusty enough and about as big as an orange, which they say was found in +the wood, where there was a brush in Oliver’s time. + +In the middle of our expedition there came the well-known whistle, +echoing about the chimneys, with which it was the custom to recall us +to dinner. How else could you make people hear who might be cutting a +knobbed stick in the copse half a mile away or bathing in the lake? We +had to jump down with a run; and then came the difficulty; for black +dusty cobwebs, the growth of fifty years, clothed us from head to foot. +There was no brushing or picking them off, with that loud whistle +repeated every two minutes. + +The fact where we had been was patent to all; and so the chairs got +burned—but one, which was rickety. After which a story crept out, of a +disjointed skeleton lying in a corner under the thatch. Though just a +little suspicious that this might be a _ruse_ to frighten us from a +second attempt, we yet could not deny the possibility of its being +true. Sometimes in the dusk, when I sat poring over “Koenigsmark, the +Robber,” by the little window in the cheese-room, a skull seemed to +peer down the trapdoor. But then I had the flintlock by me for +protection. + +There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no +modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his +shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, +a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of +the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, +and a “bead” could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the +fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was +levelled at them. At least this practice and drill had one useful +effect—the eye got accustomed to the flash from the pan, instead of +blinking the discharge, which ruins the shooting. Almost everybody and +everything on the place got shot dead in this way without knowing it. + +It was not so easy as might be supposed to find proper flints. The best +time to look for them was after a heavy storm of rain had washed a +shallow channel beside the road, when you might select some hardy +splinters which had lain hidden under the dust. How we were found out +is not quite clear: perhaps the powder left a smell of sulphur for any +one who chanced to go up in the garret. + +But, however that may be, one day, as we came in unexpectedly from a +voyage in the punt, something was discovered burning among the logs on +the kitchen hearth; and, though a desperate rescue was attempted, +nothing was left but the barrel of our precious gun and some crooked +iron representing the remains of the lock. There are things that are +never entirely forgotten, though the impression may become fainter as +years go by. The sense of the cruel injustice of that act will never +quite depart. + +But they could not burn the barrel, and we almost succeeded in fitting +it to a stock of elder. Elder has a thick pith running down the centre: +by removing that the gouge and chisel had not much work to do to make a +groove for the old bell-mouthed barrel to lie in. The matchlock, for as +such it was intended, was nearly finished when our hopes were dashed to +the ground by a piece of unnatural cunning. One morning the breechpiece +that screwed in was missing. This was fatal. A barrel without a +breechpiece is like a cup without a bottom. It was all over. + +There are days in spring when the white clouds go swiftly past, with +occasional breaks of bright sunshine lighting up a spot in the +landscape. That is like the memory of one’s youth. There is a long dull +blank, and then a brilliant streak of recollection. Doubtless it was a +year or two afterwards when, seeing that the natural instinct could not +be suppressed but had better be recognised, they produced a real gun +(single-barrel) for me from the clock-case. + +It stood on the landing just at the bottom of the dark flight that led +to the garret. An oaken case six feet high or more, and a vast dial, +with a mysterious picture of a full moon and a ship in full sail that +somehow indicated the quarters of the year, if you had been imitating +Rip Van Winkle and after a sleep of six months wanted to know whether +it was spring or autumn. But only to think that all the while we were +puzzling over the moon and the ship and the queer signs on the dial a +gun was hidden inside! The case was locked, it is true; but there are +ways of opening locks, and we were always handy with tools. + +This gun was almost, but not quite so long as the other. That dated +from the time between Stuart and Hanover; this might not have been more +than seventy years old. And a beautiful piece of workmanship it was: my +new double breechloader is a coarse common thing to compare with it. +Long and slender and light as a feather, it came to the shoulder with +wonderful ease. Then there was a groove on the barrel at the breech and +for some inches up which caught the eye and guided the glance like a +trough to the sight at the muzzle and thence to the bird. The stock was +shod with brass, and the trigger-guard was of brass, with a kind of +flange stretching half-way down to the butt and inserted in the wood. +After a few minutes’ polishing it shone like gold, and to see the +sunlight flash on it was a joy. + +You might note the grain of the barrel, for it had not been browned; +and it took a good deal of sand to get the rust off. By aid of a little +oil and careful wiping after a shower it was easy to keep it bright. +Those browned barrels only encourage idleness. The lock was a trifle +dull at first, simply from lack of use. A small screwdriver soon had it +to pieces, and it speedily clicked again sweet as a flute. If the +hammer came back rather far when at full-cock, that was because the +lock had been converted from a flint, and you could not expect it to be +absolutely perfect. Besides which, as the fall was longer the blow was +heavier, and the cap was sure to explode. + +By old farmhouses, mostly in exposed places (for which there is a +reason), one or more huge walnut trees may be found. The provident folk +of those days planted them with the purpose of having their own +gunstocks cut out of the wood when the tree was thrown. They could then +be sure it was really walnut, and a choice piece of timber thoroughly +well seasoned. I like to think of those times, when men settled +themselves down, and planted and planned and laid out their gardens and +orchards and woods, as if they and their sons and sons’ sons, to the +twentieth generation, were sure to enjoy the fruit of their labour. + +The reason why the walnuts are put in exposed places, on the slope of a +rise, with open aspect to the east and north, is because the walnut is +a foolish tree that will not learn by experience. If it feels the +warmth of a few genial days in early spring, it immediately protrudes +its buds; and the next morning a bitter frost cuts down every hope of +fruit for that year, leaving the leaf as black as may be. Wherefore the +east wind is desirable to keep it as backward as possible. + +There was a story that the stock of this gun had been cut out of a +walnut tree that was thrown on the place by my great-grandfather, who +saw it well seasoned, being a connoisseur of timber, which is, indeed, +a sort of instinct in all his descendants. And a vast store of +philosophy there is in timber if you study it aright. + +After cleaning the gun and trying it at a mark, the next thing was to +get a good shot with it. Now there was an elm that stood out from the +hedge a little, almost at the top of the meadow, not above +five-and-twenty yards from the other hedge that bounded the field. Two +mounds could therefore be commanded by any one in ambush behind the +elm, and all the angular corner of the mead was within range. + +It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression +there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the +roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, +with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms +and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the +verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by. + +The rabbits had scratched the yellow sand right out into the grass—it +is always very much brighter in colour where they have just been at +work—and the fern, already almost yellow too, shaded the mouths of +their buries. Thick bramble bushes grew out from the mound and filled +the space between it and the elm: there were a few late flowers on them +still, but the rest were hardening into red sour berries. Westwards, +the afternoon sun, with all his autumn heat, shone full against the +hedge and into the recess, and there was not the shadow of a leaf for +shelter on that side. + +The gun was on the turf, and the little hoppers kept jumping out of the +grass on to the stock: once their king, a grasshopper, alighted on it +and rested, his green limbs tipped with red rising above his back. +About the distant wood and the hills there was a soft faint haze, which +is what Nature finishes her pictures with. Something in the atmosphere +which made it almost visible: all the trees seemed to stand in a liquid +light—the sunbeams were suspended in the air instead of passing +through. The butterflies even were very idle in the slumberous warmth; +and the great green dragon-fly rested on a leaf, his tail arched a +little downwards, just as he puts it when he wishes to stop suddenly in +his flight. + +The broad glittering trigger-guard got quite hot in the sun, and the +stock was warm when I felt it every now and then. The grain of the +walnut-wood showed plainly through the light polish: it was not +varnished like the stock of the double-barrel they kept padlocked to +the rack over the high mantelpiece indoors. Still you could see the +varnish. It was of a rich dark horse-chestnut colour, and yet so bright +and clear that if held close you could see your face in it. Behind it +the grain of the wood was just perceptible; especially at the grip, +where hard hands had worn it away somewhat. The secret of that varnish +is lost—like that of the varnish on the priceless old violins. + +But you could feel the wood more in my gun: so that it was difficult to +keep the hand off it, though the rabbits would not come out; and the +shadowless recess grew like a furnace, for it focussed the rays of the +sun. The heat on the sunny side of a thick hedge between three and four +in the afternoon is almost tropical if you remain still, because the +air is motionless: the only relief is to hold your hat loose; or tilt +it against your head, the other edge of the brim on the ground. Then +the grass-blades rise up level with the forehead. There is a delicious +smell in growing grass, and a sweetness comes up from the earth. + +Still it got hotter and hotter; and it was not possible to move in the +least degree, lest a brown creature sitting on the sand at the mouth of +his hole, and hidden himself by the fern, should immediately note it. +And Orion was waiting in the rickyard for the sound of the report, and +very likely the shepherd too. We knew that men in Africa, watched by +lions, had kept still in the sunshine till, reflected from the rock, it +literally scorched them, not daring to move; and we knew all about the +stoicism of the Red Indians. But Ulysses was ever my pattern and model: +that man of infinite patience and resource. + +So, though the sun might burn and the air become suffocating in that +close corner, and the quivering line of heat across the meadow make the +eyes dizzy to watch, yet not a limb must be moved. The black flies came +in crowds; but they are not so tormenting if you plunge your face in +the grass, though they titillate the back of the hand as they run over +it. Under the bramble bush was a bury that did not look much used; and +once or twice a great blue fly came out of it, the buzz at first +sounding hollow and afar off and becoming clearer as it approached the +mouth of the hole. There was the carcass of a dead rabbit inside no +doubt. + +A humble-bee wandering along—they are restless things—buzzed right +under my hat, and became entangled in the grass by my ear. Now we knew +by experience in taking their honey that they could sting sharply if +irritated, though good-tempered by nature. How he “burred” and buzzed +and droned!—till by-and-by, crawling up the back of my head, he found +an open space and sailed away. Then, looking out again, there was a +pair of ears in the grass not ten yards distant: a rabbit had come out +at last. But the first delight was quickly over: the ears were short +and sharply pointed, and almost pinkly transparent. + +What would the shepherd say if I brought home one of his hated enemies +no bigger than a rat? The young rabbit made waiting still more painful, +being far enough from the hedge to get a clear view into the recess if +anything attracted his notice. Why the shepherd hated rabbits was +because the sheep would not feed where they had worn their runs in the +grass. Not the least movement was possible now—not even that little +shifting which makes a position just endurable: the heat seemed to +increase; the thought of Ulysses could hardly restrain the almost +irresistible desire to stir. + +When, suddenly, there was a slight rustling among the boughs of an oak +in the other hedge, as of wings against twigs: it was a woodpigeon, +better game than a rabbit. He would, I knew, first look round before he +settled himself to preen his feathers on the branch, and, if everything +was still while that keen inspection lasted, would never notice me. +This is their habit—and the closer you are underneath them the less +chance of their perceiving you: for a pigeon perched rarely looks +straight downwards. If flying, it is just the reverse; for then they +seem to see under them quicker than in any other direction. + +Slowly lifting the long barrel of the gun—it was fortunate the sunlight +glancing on the bright barrel was not reflected towards the oak—I got +it to bear upon the bird; but then came a doubt. It was all +eight-and-twenty yards across the angle of the meadow to the oak—a +tremendous long shot under the circumstances. For they would not trust +us with the large copper powder-flask, but only with a little +pistol-flask (it had belonged to the pair of pistols we tried to find), +and we were ordered not to use more than a charge and a half at a time. +That was quite enough to kill blackbirds. (The noise of the report was +always a check in this way; such a trifle of powder only made a slight +puff.) + +Shot there was in plenty—a whole tobacco-pipe bowl full, carefully +measured out of the old yellow canvas money-bag that did for a shot +belt. A starling could be knocked off the chimney with this charge +easily, and so could a blackbird roosting in a bush at night. But a +woodpigeon nearly thirty yards distant was another matter; for the old +folk (and the birdkeepers too) said that their quills were so hard the +shot would glance aside unless it came with great force. Very likely +the pigeon would escape, and all the rabbits in the buries would be too +frightened to come out at all. + +A beautiful bird he was on the bough, perched well in view and clearly +defined against the sky behind; and my eye travelled along the groove +on the breech and up the barrel, and so to the sight and across to him; +and the finger, which always would keep time with the eye, pulled at +the trigger. + +A mere puff of a report, and then a desperate fluttering in the tree +and a cloud of white feathers floating above the hedge, and a heavy +fall among the bushes. He was down, and Orion’s spaniel (that came +racing like mad from the rickyard the instant he heard the discharge) +had him in a moment. Orion followed quickly. Then the shepherd came up, +rather stiff on his legs from rheumatism, and stepped the distance, +declaring it was thirty yards good; after which we all walked home in +triumph. + +Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she +would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready +to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they +scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking +back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes. + +“You mind you chaws the shot well, measter,” said the shepherd, “afore +you loads th’ gun. The more you chaws it the better it sticks +the-gither, an’ the furder it kills um;” a theory of gunnery that which +was devoutly believed in in his time and long anticipated the wire +cartridges. And the old soldiers that used to come round to haymaking, +glad of a job to supplement their pensions, were very positive that if +you bit the bullet and indented it with your teeth, it was perfectly +fatal, no matter to what part of the body its billet took it. + +In the midst of this talk as we moved on, I carrying the gun at the +trail with the muzzle downwards, the old ramrod, long disused and +shrunken, slipped half out; the end caught the ground, and it snapped +short off in a second. A terrible disaster this, turning everything to +bitterness: Orion was especially wroth, for it was his right next to +shoot. However, we went down to the smithy at the inn, to take counsel +of the blacksmith, a man of knowledge and a trusty friend. “Aha!” said +he, “it’s not the first time I’ve made a ramrod. There’s a piece of +lancewood in the store overhead which I keep on purpose; it’s as tough +as a bow—they make carriage-shafts of it; you shall have a better rod +than was ever fitted to a Joe Manton.” So we took him down some +pippins, and he set to work on it that evening. + + + + +CHAPTER II +THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE” + + +The sculls of our punt, being short and stout, answered very well as +levers to heave the clumsy old craft off the sand into which it sank so +deeply. That sheltered corner of the mere, with a shelving sandy shore, +and a steep bank behind covered with trees, was one of the best places +to fish for roach: you could see them playing under the punt in shoals +any sunny day. + +There was a projecting bar almost enclosing the creek, which was quite +still, even when the surf whitened the stony strand without, driven +before a wet and stormy south-wester. It was the merest routine to +carry the painter ashore and twist the rotten rope round an exposed +root of the great willow tree; for there was not the slightest chance +of that ancient craft breaking adrift. All our strength and the +leverage of the sculls could scarcely move her, so much had she +settled. But we had determined to sail that lovely day to visit the +island of Calypso, and had got all our arms and munitions of war +aboard, besides being provisioned and carrying some fruit for fear of +scurvy. There was of course the gun, placed so as not to get wet; for +the boat leaked, and had to be frequently baled out with a tin mug—one +that the haymakers used. + +Indeed, if we had not caulked her with some dried moss and some stiff +clay, it is doubtful if she would have floated far. The well was full +of dead leaves that had been killed by the caterpillars and the blight, +and had fallen from the trees before their time; and there were one or +two bunches of grass growing at the stern part from between the +decaying planks. + +Besides the gun there was the Indian bow, scooped out inside in a +curious way, and covered with strange designs or coloured +hieroglyphics: it had been brought home by one of our people years +before. There was but one man in the place who could bend that bow +effectually; so that though we valued it highly we could not use it. By +it lay another of briar, which was pliable enough and had brought down +more than one bird. + +Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, +and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn +out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; +you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey +the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture +of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft. It was really +a dangerous weapon. He had also made us a small anchor according to +plan; nor did he dip too deeply into our pocket-money. + +Then the mast and square-sail, fitted out of a window-blind, took up a +considerable space; for although it was perfectly calm, a breeze might +arise. And what with these and the pole for punting occasionally, the +deck of the vessel was in that approved state of confusion which always +characterises a ship on the point of departure. Nor must Orion’s +fishing-rod and gear be forgotten, nor the cigar-box at the stern (a +present from the landlady at the inn) which contained a chart of the +mere and a compass. + +With a “yeo—heave-ho!” we levered her an inch at a time, and then +loosened her by working her from side to side, and so, panting and +struggling, shoved the punt towards the deep. Slowly a course was +shaped out of the creek—past the bar and then along the edge of the +thick weeds, stretching so far out into the water that the moorhen +feeding near the land was beyond reach of shot. From the green matted +mass through which a boat could scarcely have been forced came a slight +uncertain sound, now here now yonder, a faint “suck-sock;” and the +dragon-flies were darting to and fro. + +The only ripple of the surface, till broken by the sculls, was where +the swallows dipped as they glided, leaving a circle of tiny wavelets +that barely rolled a yard. Past the low but steep bluff of sand rising +sheer out of the water, drilled with martins’ holes and topped by a +sapling oak in the midst of a great furze bush: yellow bloom of the +furze, tall brake fern nestling under the young branches, woodbine +climbing up and bearing sweet coronals of flower. + +Past the barley that came down to the willows by the shore—ripe and +white under the bright sunshine, but yonder beneath the shadow of the +elms with a pale tint of amber. Past broad rising meadows, where under +the oaks on the upper ground the cattle were idly lying out of the +sultry heat. + +Then the barren islands, strewn with stone and mussel-shells glistening +in the sunshine, over which in a gale the waves made a clean sweep, +rendered the navigation intricate; and the vessel had to be worked in +and out, now scraping against rocky walls of sandstone, now grounding +and churning up the bottom, till presently she floated in the bay +beneath the firs. There a dark shadow hung over the black water—still +and silent, so still that even the aspens rested from their rustling. + +Out again into the sunshine by the wide mouth of the Green River, as +the chart named the brook whose level stream scarce moved into the +lake. A streak of blue shot up it between the banks, and a shrill pipe +came back as the kingfisher hastened away. By the huge boulder of +sarsen, whose shoulder projected but a few inches—in stormy times a +dangerous rock to mariners—and then into the unknown narrow seas +between the endless osier-beds and withy-covered isles. + +There the chart failed; and the known landmarks across the open +waters—the firs and elms, the green knoll with the cattle—were shut out +by thick branches on either hand. In and out and round the islets, +sounding the depth before advancing, winding now this way, now that, +till all idea of the course was lost, and it became a mere struggle to +get forward. Drooping boughs swept along the gunwales, thick-matted +weeds cumbered the way; “snags,” jagged stumps of trees, threatened to +thrust their tops through the bottom; and, finally, panting and weary +of poling through the maze, we emerged in a narrow creek all walled in +and enclosed with vegetation. + +Running her ashore on the soft oozy ground, we rested under a great +hawthorn bush that grew at the very edge, and, looking upwards, could +see in the canopy above the black interlaced twigs of a dove’s nest. +Tall willow poles rose up all around, and above them was the deep blue +of the sky. On the willow stems that were sometimes under water the +bark had peeled in scales; beneath the surface bunches of red fibrous +roots stretched out their slender filaments tipped with white, as if +feeling like a living thing for prey. + +A dreamy, slumberous place, where the sedges slept, and the green flags +bowed their pointed heads. Under the bushes in the distant nook the +moorhen, reassured by the silence, came out from the grey-green grass +and the rushes. Surely Calypso’s cave could not be far distant, where +she + + with work and song the time divides, +And through the loom the golden shuttle guides. + + +For the Immortals are hiding somewhere still in the woods; even now I +do not weary searching for them. + +But as we rested a shadow fell from a cloud that covered the sun, and +immediately a faint sigh arose from among the sedges and the reeds, and +two pale yellow leaves fell from the willows on the water. A gentle +breeze followed the cloud, chasing its shadow. Orion touched his rod +meaningly. So I stepped ashore with the gun to see if a channel could +be found into the open water, and pushed through the bush. Briar and +bramble choked the path, and hollow willow stoles; but, holding the gun +upright, it was possible to force through, till, pushing between a belt +of reeds and round an elder thicket, I came suddenly on a deep, clear +pool—all but walking into it. Up rose a large bird out of the water +with a bustling of wings and splashing, compelled to “rocket” by the +thick bushes and willow poles. There was no time to aim; but the old +gun touched the shoulder and went off without conscious volition on my +part. + +The bird flew over the willows, but the next moment there was a heavy +splash somewhere beyond out of sight. Then came an echo of the report +sent back from the woods adjoining, and another, and a third and +fourth, as the sound rolled along the side of the hill, caught in the +coombes and thrown to and fro like a ball in a tennis-court. Wild with +anxiety, we forced the punt at the bulrushes, in the corner where it +looked most open, and with all our might heaved it over the weeds and +the mud, and so round the islet into the next pool, and thence into the +open water. It was a wild duck, and was speedily on board. + +Stepping the mast and hoisting the sail, we drifted before the faint +breath of air that now just curled the surface, steering straight +across the open for the stony barren islands at the mouth of the bay. +The chart drawn in pencil—what labour it cost us!—said that there, a +few yards from the steep shore, was a shoal with deep water round it. +For some reason there always seemed a slight movement or current—a set +of the water there, as if it flowed into the little bay. + +In swimming we often came suddenly out of a cold into a stratum of warm +water (at the surface); and perhaps the difference in the temperature +may have caused the drift, for the bay was in shadow half the day. Now, +wherever there is motion there will fish assemble; so as the punt +approached the shoal the sail was doused, and at twenty yards’ distance +I _put_ the anchor into the water—not dropping it, to avoid the +splash—and let it slip gently to the bottom. + +Then, paying out the cable, we drifted to the edge of the shoal without +the least disturbance, and there brought up. Orion had his bait +ready—he threw his line right to windward, so that the float might drag +the worm naturally with the wind and slight current towards the shoal. + +The tiny blue buoy dances up and down on the miniature waves; beyond it +a dazzling path of gold stretches away to the distant osier-islands—a +path down which we came without seeing it till we looked back. The +wavelets strike with a faint “sock-sock” against the bluff overhanging +bow, and then roll on to the lee-shore close at hand. + +It rises steep; then a broad green ledge; and after that, still +steeper, the face of a long-deserted sand-pit, where high up a rabbit +sits at the mouth of his hole, within range, but certain to escape even +if hit, and therefore safe. On the turf below is a round black spot, +still showing, though a twelvemonth has gone by since we landed with +half a dozen perch, lit a fire and cooked the fishes. For Molly never +could “a-bear” perch, because of the hardness of the scales, saying she +would as soon “scrape a vlint;” and they laughed to scorn our idea of +skinning them as you do moorhens, whose “dowl” no fingers can pick. + +So we lit a fire and blew it up, lying on the soft short grass in a +state of nature after a swim, there being none to see us but the +glorious sun. The skinned perch were sweeter than any I have tasted +since. + +“Look!” whispers Orion, suddenly. The quill above the blue buoy nods as +it lifts over the wavelets—nods again, sinks a little, jerks up, and +then goes down out of sight. Orion feels the weight. “Two pounds, if +he’s an ounce!” he shouts: soon after a splendid perch is in the boat, +nearer three pounds perhaps than two. Flop! whop! how he leaps up and +down on the planks, soiled by the mud, dulling his broad back and +barred sides on the grit and sand. + +Roaming about like this with the gun, now on the water in the punt, and +now on land, we gradually came to notice very closely the game we +wished to shoot. We saw, for instance, that the rabbit when feeding or +moving freely, unless quickened by alarm, has a peculiar way of +dwelling upon his path. It almost resembles creeping; for both fore +feet stop while the hinder come up—one hinder foot slightly behind the +other, and rather wide apart. + +When a fall of snow presents a perfect impression of his passage, it +appears as if the animal had walked slowly backwards. This deceives +many who at such times go out to pick up anything that comes in their +way; for they trace the trail in the wrong direction. The truth is, +that when the rabbit pauses for the hinder feet to come up he again +rests momentarily upon these before the two foremost are put forth, and +so presses not only the paw proper but the whole first joint of the +hind leg upon the snow. A glance at the hind feet of a rabbit will show +what I mean: they will be found to display plain signs of friction +against the ground. + +The habit has given the creature considerable power of standing up on +the hinder feet; he can not only sit on his haunches, but raise himself +almost upright, and remain in that position to listen for some little +time. For the same reason he can bark the ash saplings higher up than +would be imagined: where he cannot reach, the mice climb up and nibble +straight lines across the young pole, as if done with a single stroke +from a saw that scraped away the rind but did not reach the wood. + +In front of a large rabbit bury the grass will be found discoloured +with sand at some distance from the mouth of the hole. This is +explained by particles adherent to the rabbits’ hind feet, and rubbing +off against the grass blades. Country people call this peculiar gait +“sloppetting;” and one result of it is that the rabbits wear away the +grass where they are numerous almost as much as they eat it away. + +There was such a space worn by the attrition of feet sprinkled with +sand before the extensive burrow at the top of the meadow where I shot +the woodpigeon. These marks suggested to us that we should attempt some +more wholesale system of capture than shooting. It was not for the mere +desire of destruction, but for a special purpose, that we turned our +attention to wiring. The punt, though much beloved, was, like all +punts, a very bad sailer. A boat with a keel that could tack, and so +work into the wind’s eye, was our ambition. + +The blacksmith Ikey readily purchased every rabbit we obtained at +sixpence each. Rabbits were not so dear then as now; but of course he +made a large profit even then. The same rabbits at present would be +worth fifteen or eighteen pence. Every sixpence was carefully saved, +but it was clear that a long time must elapse before the goal was +attained. The blacksmith started the idea of putting up a +“turnpike”—_i.e._ a wire—but professed ignorance as to the method of +setting it. That was a piece of his cunning—that he might escape +responsibility. + +The shepherd, too, when obliquely questioned, shook his head, pursed +his lips, threw his pitching-bar over his shoulder, and marched off +with a mysterious hint that our friend Ikey would some day put his “vut +in it.” It did not surprise us that the shepherd should turn his back +on anything of the kind; for he was a leading man among the “Ranters,” +and frequently exhorted them in his cottage. + +The carter’s lad was about at the time, and for the moment we thought +of applying to him. He was standing on the threshold of the stable, +under the horseshoes and weasles’ feet nailed up to keep the witches +away, teasing a bat that he had found under the tiles. But suddenly the +dusky thing bit him sharply, and he uttered an oath; while the +creature, released, flew aimlessly into the elms. It was better to +avoid him. + +Indoors, they would have put a very heavy hand upon the notion had they +known of it: so we had to rely solely upon the teaching of experiment. +In the first attempt, a stick that had been put by for the thatcher, +but which he had not yet split, was cut short and sharpened for the +plug that prevents the animal carrying away the wire when snared. This +is driven into the earth; at the projecting end a notch was cut to hold +the string attached to the end of the wire away from the run. + +A smaller stick supported the wire above the ground; this latter only +just sufficiently thrust into the sward to stand firmly upright. Willow +was used for this at first; but it is a feeble wood: it split too much, +or bent and gave way instead of holding the wire in its place. The best +for the purpose we found were the nut-tree rods that shoot up among the +hazel thickets, no larger than the shaft of an arrow, and almost as +straight. A slit about half an inch deep was made in the upper end, and +in this slit the shank of the wire was sunk. Once or twice the upright +was peeled; but this was a mistake, for the white wand was then too +conspicuous. The bark should be left on. + +Three copper wires twisted tight formed the snare itself; we twisted +them like the strands of a rope, thinking it would give more strength. +The wire projected horizontally, the loop curling downwards. It was +first set up at a spot where a very broad and much-worn run—more like a +footpath than a rabbit track—forked into several lesser runs, and at +about five yards from the hedge. But though adjusted, as we thought, +with the utmost nicety, no rabbit would put his neck into it—not even +in the darkness of the night. By day they all played round it in +perfect safety. + +After waiting some time it was removed and reset just over a hole—the +loop close to the opening. It looked scarcely possible for a rabbit to +creep out without being caught, the loop being enlarged to correspond +with the mouth of the hole. For a while it seemed as if the rabbits +declined to use the hole at all; presently, however, the loop was +pushed back, showing that one must have got his nose between it and the +bank and so made a safe passage sideways. A run that crossed the field +was then selected, and the wire erected at about the middle of it, +equidistant from either hedge. Near the entrance of the buries the +rabbits moved slowly, sniffing their way along and pausing every yard +or so. But they often increased their speed farther away, and sometimes +raced from one mound to the other. When going at that rate it appeared +natural to conclude that they would be less careful to pick and choose +their road. + +The theory proved so far correct that next day the upright was down, +but the wire had snapped and the rabbit was gone. The character of the +fracture clearly indicated how it had happened: the rabbit, so soon as +he found his head in the noose, had rolled and tumbled till the wire, +already twisted tight, parted. Too much twisting, therefore, weakened +instead of strengthening. Next a single wire, somewhat thicker, was +used, and set up nearly in the same place; but it broke again. + +Finally, two strands of medium size, placed side by side, but only +twisted once—that is, just enough to keep them together—were employed. +The lesser loop—the slip-knot, as it might be called—was at the same +time eased in order to run quicker and take a closer grip. 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. I was positive that he had not seen me, and felt sure +of bagging him; when suddenly—without any apparent cause—up went his +head, he glanced round, and was off like the wind. + +Yet there had not been the faintest noise, and I could not understand +it, till all at once it occurred to me that it must be the scent. The +slight, scarcely perceptible, breeze blew in that direction: instantly +he crossed the current from me he detected it and fled. Afterwards I +noticed that in the dusky twilight, if the wind is behind him, a hare +will run straight at you as if about to deliberately charge your legs. +This incident by the ploughed field explained the failure of the wire. +Every other care had been taken, but we had forgotten to allow for the +extreme delicacy of a wild animal’s sense of smell. + +In walking to the spot selected for the snare it is best to avoid even +stepping on the run, and while setting it up to stand back as far as +convenient and lean forward. The grass that grows near must not be +touched by the hand, which seems to impart a very strong scent. The +stick that has been carried in the hand must not be allowed to fall +across the run: and be careful that your handkerchief does not drop out +of your pocket on or near it. If a bunch of grass grows very tall and +requires parting, part it with the end (not the handle) of your stick. + +The same holds good with gins, especially if placed for a rat. Some +persons strew a little freshly plucked grass over the pan and teeth of +the trap, thinking to hide it; but it not only smells of the hand, but +withers up and turns brown, and acts as a warning to that wary +creature. It is a better plan if any dead leaves are lying near to turn +them over and over with the end of a twig till they fall on the trap, +that is if they are dry: if wet (unless actually raining at the time), +should one chance to be left with the drier under surface uppermost, +the rat may pause on the brink. Now that the remotest chance of leaving +a scent was avoided the wire became a deadly instrument. Almost every +morning two or three rabbits were taken: we set up a dozen snares when +we had mastered the trick. They were found lying at full length in the +crisp white grass, for we often rose to visit the wires while yet the +stars were visible. Thus extended a person might have passed within a +few yards and never noticed them, unless he had an out-of-doors eye; +for the whiter fur of the belly as they lay aside was barely +distinguishable from the hoar frost. The blacksmith Ikey sauntered down +the lane every evening, and glanced casually behind the ash tree—the +northern side of whose trunk was clothed with dark green velvet-like +moss—to see if a bag was lying for him there among the nettles in the +ditch. The rabbits were put in the bag, which was pushed through the +hedge. + + + + +CHAPTER III +TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + + +Just on the verge and borderland of the territory that could be ranged +in safety there grew a stunted oak in a mound beside the brook. Perhaps +the roots had been checked by the water; for the tree, instead of +increasing in bulk, had expended its vigour in branches so crooked that +they appeared entangled in each other. This oak was a favourite +perching-place, because of its position: it could also be more easily +climbed than straight-grown timber, having many boughs low down the +trunk. With a gun it is difficult to ascend a smooth tree; these boughs +therefore were a great advantage. + +One warm afternoon late in the summer I got up into this oak; and took +a seat astride a large limb, with the main trunk behind like the back +of a chair and about twenty feet above the mound. Some lesser branches +afforded a fork on which the gun could be securely lodged, and a limb +of considerable size came across in front. Leaning both arms on this, a +view could be obtained below and on three sides easily and without +effort. + +The mound immediately beneath was grown over with thick blackthorn, a +species of cover that gives great confidence to game. A kick or blow +upon the bushes with a stick will not move anything in an old +blackthorn thicket. A man can scarcely push through it: nothing but a +dog can manage to get about. On the meadow side there was no ditch, +only a narrow fringe of tall pointed grass and rushes, with one or two +small furze bushes projecting out upon the sward. Behind such bushes, +on the slope of the mound, is rather a favourite place for a rabbit to +sit out, or a hare to have a form. + +The brook was shallow towards the hedge, and bordered with flags, among +which rose up one tall bunch of beautiful reeds. Some little way up the +brook a pond opened from it. At the entrance the bar of mud had hardly +an inch of water; within there was a clear small space, and the rest +all weeds, with moorhens’ tracks. The farther side of the pond was +covered with bramble bushes. It is a good plan to send the dogs into +bushes growing on the banks of ponds; for though rabbits dislike water +itself they are fond of sitting out in such cover near it. A low +railing enclosed the side towards me: the posts had slipped by the +giving way of the soil, and hung over the still pool. + +One of the rails—of willow—was eaten out into hollow cavities by the +wasps, which came to it generation after generation for the materials +of their nests. The particles they detach are formed into a kind of +paste or paper: in time they will quite honeycomb a pole. The third +side of the pond shelved to the “leaze,” that the cattle might drink. +From it a narrow track went across the broad field up the rising ground +to the distant gateway leading to the meadows, where they grazed on the +aftermath. Marching day by day, one after the other in single file, to +the drinking-place, the hoofs of the herd had cut a clean path in the +turf, two or three inches deep and trodden hard. The reddish soil thus +exposed marked the winding line athwart the field, through the tussocky +bunches. + +By the pond stood a low three-sided merestone or landmark, the initials +on which were hidden under moss. Up in the tree, near the gun, there +was a dead branch that had decayed in the curious manner that seems +peculiar to oak. Where it joined the trunk the bark still remained, +though covered with lichen, and for a foot or so out; then there was a +long space where the bark and much of the wood had mouldered away; +finally, near the end the bough retained its original size and the bark +adhered. At the junction with the trunk and at the extremity its +diameter was perhaps three inches; in the middle rather less than half +as much. The grey central piece, larger and darker at either end, +suggested the thought of the bare neck of a vulture. + +Far away, just rising above the slope of the leaze, the distant tops of +elms, crowded with rooks’ nests (not then occupied), showed the site of +the residence of an old gentleman of whom at that time we stood in much +fear. The “Squire” of Southlands alarmed even the hardened carters’ +lads as much by the prestige of a singular character as by the +chastisement he personally gave those who ventured into his domain. Not +a bird’s nest, not a nut, must be touched: still less anything that +could be called game. The watch kept was so much the stricter because +he took a personal part in it, and was often round the fields himself +armed with a great oak staff. It seemed, indeed, as if the preservation +of the game was of far greater importance to him than the shooting of +it afterwards. All the fowls of the air flocked to Southlands, as if it +had been a refuge; yet it was not a large estate. Into the forest we +had been, but Southlands was a mystery, a forbidden garden of delight, +with the terror of an oaken staff (and unknown penalties) turning this +way and that. Therefore the stunted old oak on the verge—the moss-grown +merestone by the pond marked the limit—was so favourite a +perching-place. + +That beautiful afternoon I leaned both arms idly on the great bough +that crossed in front of the seat and listened to the “Caw—caw!” of the +rooks as they looked to see if the acorns were yet ripening. A dead +branch that had dropped partly into the brook was swayed continually up +and down by the current, the water as it chafed against it causing a +delicious murmur. This lulled me to sleep. + +I woke with a start, and had it not been for the bough crossing in +front must have fallen twenty feet. Looking down into the meadow as +soon as my eyes were thoroughly open, I instantly noticed a covey of +young partridges a little way up beside the hedge among the molehills. +The neighbourhood of those hillocks has an attraction for many birds, +especially in winter. Then fieldfares, redwings, starlings, and others +prefer the meadows that are dotted with them. In a frost if you see a +thrush on a molehill it is very likely to thaw shortly. Moles seem to +feel the least change in the temperature of the earth; if it slackens +they begin to labour, and cast up, unwittingly, food for the thrushes. + +It would have been easy to kill three or four of the covey, which was a +small one, at a single shot; but it had been a late summer, and they +were not full-grown. Besides which, they roosted, I knew, about the +middle of the meadow, and to shoot them near the roost would be certain +to break them up, and perhaps drive them into Southlands. “Good +poachers preserve their own game:” so the birds fed safely, though a +pot shot would not have seemed the crime then that it would now. While +I watched them suddenly the old bird “quat,” and ran swiftly into the +hedge, followed by the rest. A kestrel was hovering in the next meadow: +when the beat of his wings ceased he slid forward and downwards, then +rose and came over me in a bold curve. Well those little brown birds in +the blackthorn knew that, fierce as he was, he dared not swoop even on +a comparatively open bush, much less such thick covert, for fear of +ruffling his proud feathers and beating them out. Nor could he follow +them through the intricate hidden passages. + +In the open water of the pond a large jack was basking in the sunshine, +just beneath the surface; and though the shot would scatter somewhat +before reaching him, he was within range. If a fish lies a few inches +under water he is quite safe from shot unless the muzzle of the gun is +so close that the pellets travel together like a bullet. At a distance +the shot is supposed to glance as it strikes the water at an angle; for +that reason the elevation of the tree was an advantage, since from it +the charge would plunge into the pool. A jack may be killed in some +depth of water when the gun is nearly perpendicularly above the mark; +but in any case the aim must be taken two inches or more, according to +circumstances, beneath the apparent position of the fish, to allow for +refraction. + +Sometimes the jack when hit comes to the surface belly upwards, but +sometimes keeps down or sinks, and floats a considerable distance away +from the spot; so that in the muddy water disturbed by the shot it is +difficult to find him. If a snake be shot at while swimming he will +sometimes sink like a stone, and can be seen lying motionless at the +bottom. After we got hold of a small deer rifle we used to practise at +the snakes in the mere—aiming at the head, which is about the size of a +nut, and shows above the surface wobbling as they move. I recollect +cutting a snake’s head clean off with a ball from a pistol as he +hastened away through the grass. + +In winter, when the jacks came up and lay immediately under the ice, +they could be easily shot. The pellets cut a round hole through an inch +and a half of ice. The jack now basking in the pond was the more +tempting because we had often tried to wire him in vain. The difficulty +was to get him if hit. While I was deliberating a crow came flying low +down the leaze, and alighted by the pond. His object, no doubt, was a +mussel. He could not have seen me, and yet no sooner did he touch the +ground than he looked uneasily about, sprang up, and flew straight +away, as if he had smelt danger. Had he stayed he would have been shot, +though it would have spoiled my ambush: the idea of the crows picking +out the eyes of dying creatures was always peculiarly revolting to me. + +If the pond was a haunt of his, it was too near the young partridges, +which were weakly that season. A kestrel is harmless compared to a +crow. Surely the translators have wrongly rendered Don Quixote’s remark +that the English did not kill crows, believing that King Arthur, +instead of dying, was by enchantment turned into one, and so fearing to +injure the hero. Must he not have meant a rook?* + +[Note: It has since been pointed out to me that the Don may have meant +a raven] + + +Soon afterwards something moved out of the mound into the meadow a long +distance up: it was a hare. He came slowly along beside the hedge +towards me—now stopping and looking into it as if seeking a convenient +place for a form, having doubtless been disturbed from that he had +first chosen. It was some minutes before he came within range: had I +been on the ground most likely he would have scented me, the light air +going that way; but being in the tree the wind that passed went high +over him. For this reason a tree ambush is deadly. It was necessary to +get the line of sight clear of twigs, which check and divert shot, and +to take a steady aim; for I had no second barrel, no dog, and had to +descend the tree before running. Some leaves were blackened by the +flame: the hare simply fell back, stretched his hind legs, quivered, +and lay still. Part of the leaf of a plant was fixed in his teeth; he +had just had a nibble. + +With this success I was satisfied that day; but the old oak was always +a favourite resort, even when nothing particular was in hand. From +thence, too, as a base of operations, we made expeditions varying in +their object with the season of the year. + +Some distance beyond the stunted oak the thick blackthorn hedge was +succeeded by a continuous strip of withy-bed bordering the brook. It +often occurred to us that by entering these withies it would be +possible to reconnoitre one side of Southlands; for the stream skirted +the lower grounds: the tall willows would conceal any one passing +through them. So one spring morning the attempt was made. + +It was necessary to go on hands and knees through the mowing grass for +some yards while passing an open space where the blackthorn cover +ended, and then to leap a broad ditch that divided the withy-beds from +the meadow. The lissom willow wands parted easily and sprang back to +their places behind, leaving scarce a trace. Their slender tops rose +overhead; beneath, long dead grasses, not yet quite supplanted by the +spring growth, filled the space between. These rustled a little under +foot, but so faint a sound could scarcely have been audible outside; +and had any one noticed it it would have been attributed to a hare or a +fox moving: both are fond of lying in withy-beds when the ground is +dry. + +The way to walk noiselessly is to feel with the foot before letting +your weight press on it; then the dead stick or fallen hemlock is +discovered and avoided. A dead stick cracks; the dry hollow hemlock +gives a splintering sound when crushed. These old hemlock stems were +numerous in places, together with “gicksies,” as the haymakers call a +plant that resembles it, but has a ribbed or fluted instead of a smooth +stalk. The lads use a long “gicks” cut between the joints as a tube to +blow haws or peggles at the girls. When thirsty, and no ale is handy, +the men search for one to suck up water with from the brook. It is +difficult to find one free from insects, which seem to be remarkably +fond of anything hollow. The haymakers do not use the hemlock, thinking +it would poison the water; they think, too, that drinking through a +tube is safer when they are in a great heat from the sun than any other +way. + +Nor is it so easy to drink from a stream without this simple aid. If +the bank be flat it is wet, and what looks like the grass of the meadow +really grows out of the water; so that there it is not possible to be +at full length. If the bank be dry the level of the water is several +inches lower, and in endeavouring to drink the forehead is immersed; +often the water is so much lower than its banks that it is quite +impossible to drink from it lying. By the edge grasses, +water-plantains, forget-me-nots, frequently fill the space within +reach. If you brush these aside it disturbs the bottom, and the mud +rises, or a patch of brown “scum” comes up and floats away. A cup, +though gently used, generally draws some insects in with the water, +though the liquid itself be pure. Lapping with the hollowed palm +requires practice, and, unless the spot be free from weeds and of some +little depth, soon disturbs the bottom. But the tube can be inserted in +the smallest clear place, and interferes with nothing. + +Each of us carried a long hazel rod, and the handle of a “squailer” +projected from Orion’s coat-pocket. For making a “squailer” a teacup +was the best mould: the cups then in use in the country were rather +larger than those at present in fashion. A ground ash sapling with the +bark on, about as thick as the little finger, pliant and tough, formed +the shaft, which was about fifteen inches long. This was held upright +in the middle of a teacup, while the mould was filled with molten lead. +It soon cooled, and left a heavy conical knob on the end of the stick. +If rightly thrown it was a deadly missile, and would fly almost as true +as a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret could thus be knocked over; and it +was peculiarly adapted for fetching a squirrel out of a tree, because, +being so heavy at one end, it rarely lodged on the boughs, as an +ordinary stick would, but overbalanced and came down. + +From the outlook of the oak some aspen trees could be seen far up in +the withy-beds; and it had been agreed that there the first essay of +the stream should be made. On arriving at these trees we paused, and +began to fix the wires on the hazel rods. The wire for fish must slip +very easily, and the thinner it is, if strong enough, the better, +because it takes a firmer grip. A single wire will do; but two thin +ones are preferable. Thin copper wire is as flexible as thread. Brass +wire is not so good; it is stiffer, and too conspicuous in the water. + +At the shank end a stout string is attached in the middle of its +length. Then the wire is placed against the rod, lying flat upon it for +about six inches. The strings are now wound round tightly in opposite +directions, binding it to the stick, so that at the top the ends cross +and are in position to tie in the slight notch cut for the purpose. A +loop that will allow four fingers to enter together is about large +enough, though of course it must be varied according to the size of the +jack in view. Heavy jacks are not often wired, and scarcely ever in +brooks. + +For jack the shape of the loop should be circular; for trout it should +be oval, and considerably larger in proportion to the apparent bulk of +the fish. Jack are straight-grown and do not thicken much in the +middle; with trout it is different. The noose should be about six +inches from the top of the rod. Orion said he would go twenty yards +farther up; I went direct from the centre of the withy-bed to the +stream. + +The bank rose a little above the level of the withy-bed; it was a broad +mound full of ash stoles and willow—the sort that is grown for poles. +At that spot the vines of wild hops had killed all the underwood, +leaving open spaces between the stoles; the vines were matted so +thickly that they hid the ground. This was too exposed a place, so I +went back and farther up till I could just hear Orion rustling through +the hemlocks. Here the dead grass and some elder bushes afforded +shelter, and the water could be approached unseen. + +It was about six or eight inches deep; the opposite shore was bordered +for several yards out with flags and rushes. The cattle nibbled their +tender tops off, as far as they could reach; farther out they were +pushing up straight and pointed. The rib and groove of the flag so +closely resemble those of the ancient bayonet that it might be supposed +the weapon was modelled from the plant. Indoors among the lumber there +was a rusty old bayonet that immediately called forth the comparison: +the modern make seem more triangular. + +The rushes grew nearer the shore of the meadow—the old ones yellow, the +young green: in places this fringe of rush and sedge and flag must have +been five or six yards wide, and it extended as far as could be seen up +the brook. No doubt the cattle trod in the edge of the firm ground by +degrees every year to get at the water, and thus widened the marsh. It +was easy to understand now why all the water-fowl, teal and duck, +moorhen and snipe, seemed in winter to make in this direction. + +The ducks especially exercised all our ingenuity and quite exhausted +our patience in the effort to get near them in winter. In the large +water-meadows a small flock sometimes remained all day: it was possible +to approach near enough by stalking behind the hedges to see the colour +of the mallards; but they were always out of gunshot. This place must +be full of teal then; as for moorhens, there were signs of them +everywhere, and several feeding in the grass. The thought of the sport +to be got here when the frosty days came was enough to make one wild. + +After a long look across, I began to examine the stream near at hand: +the rushes and flags had forced the clear sweet current away from the +meadow, so that it ran just under the bank. I was making out the brown +sticks at the bottom, when there was a slight splash—caused by Orion +about ten yards farther up—and almost at the same instant something +shot down the brook towards me. He had doubtless landed a jack, and its +fellow rushed away. Under a large dead bough that had fallen across its +top in the stream I saw the long slender fish lying a few feet from the +bank, motionless save for the gentle curving wave of the tail edges. So +faint was that waving curl that it seemed caused rather by the flow of +the current than the volition of the fish. The wings of the swallow +work the whole of the longest summer day, but the fins of the fish in +running water are never still: day and night they move continuously. + +By slow degrees I advanced the hazel rod, keeping it at first near to +and parallel with the bank, because jack do not like anything that +stretches across them; and I imagine other fish have the same dislike +to right angles. The straight shadow even seems to arouse suspicion—no +boughs are ever straight. Perhaps, if it were possible to angle without +a rod, there would be more success, particularly in small streams. But +after getting the stick almost out far enough, it became evident that +the dead branch would not let me slip the wire into the water in front +of the jack in the usual way. So I had to draw it back again as +gradually as it had been put forth. + +With fish everything must be done gradually and without a jerk. A +sudden jerking movement immediately alarms them. If you walk gently by +they remain still, but start or lift the arm quickly and they dart for +deep water. The object of withdrawing the rod was to get at and enlarge +the loop in order that it might be slipped over his tail, since the +head was protected by the bough. It is a more delicate operation to +pass the wire up from behind; it has to go farther before the spot that +allows a firm grip is reached, and fish are well aware that natural +objects such as twigs float down with the current. Anything, therefore, +approaching from behind or rubbing upwards is suspicious. As this fish +had just been startled, it would not do to let the wire touch him at +all. + +After enlarging the loop I put the rod slowly forth again, worked the +wire up stream, slipped the noose over his tail, and gently got it up +to the balance of the fish. Waiting a moment to get the elbow over the +end of the rod so as to have a good leverage, I gave a sudden jerk +upwards, and felt the weight instantly. But the top of the rod struck +the overhanging bough, and there was my fish, hung indeed, but still in +the water near the surface. Nor could I throw it on the bank, because +of the elder bushes. So I shortened the rod, pulling it in towards me +quickly and dragging the jack through the water. The pliant wire had +cut into the scales and skin—he might have been safely left suspended +over the stream all day; but in the eagerness of the moment I was not +satisfied till I had him up on the mound. + +We did not see much of Southlands, because the withy-beds were on the +lowest ground; but there were six jacks strung on a twisted withy when +we got back to the stunted oak and rested there tasting acid sorrel +leaves. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +EGG-TIME. A “GIP”-TRAP + + +There is no sweeter time in the woods than just before the nesting +begins in earnest. Is it the rising sap that causes a pleasant odour to +emanate from every green thing? Idling along the hedgerows towards the +woodlands there may perchance be seen small tufts of white rabbit’s fur +in the grass, torn from herself by the doe to form a warm lining to the +hole in which her litter will appear: a “sign” this that often guides a +robber to her nest. + +Yonder on the rising ground, towering even in their fall over the low +(lately cut) ash plantation, lie the giant limbs of the mighty oaks, +thrown just as they felt the quickening heat. The bark has been +stripped from the trunk and branches; the sun has turned the exposed +surface to a deep buff colour, which contrasts with the fresh green of +the underwood around and renders them visible afar. + +When the oak first puts forth its buds the woods take a ruddy tint. +Gradually the background of green comes to the front, and the +oak-apples swell, streaked with rosy stains, whence their semblance to +the edible fruit of the orchard. All unconscious of the white or red +cross daubed on the rough bark, the tree prepares its glory of leaf, +though doomed the while by that sad mark to the axe. + +Cutting away the bushes with his billhook, the woodman next swings the +cumbrous grub-axe, whose wide edge clears the earth from the larger +roots. Then he puts his pipe in his pocket, and settles to the serious +work of the “great axe,” as he calls it. I never could use this +ungainly tool aright: a top-heavy, clumsy, awkward thing, it rules you +instead of you ruling it. The handle, too, is flat—almost with an edge +itself sometimes—and is quite beyond the grasp of any but hands of +iron. Now the American axe feels balanced like a sword; this is because +of the peculiar curve of the handle. To strike you stand with the left +foot slightly forward, and the left hand uppermost: the “S” curve (it +is of course not nearly so crooked as the letter) of the American axe +adjusts itself to the anatomy of the attitude, so to speak. + +The straight English handle does not; it is stiff, and strains the +muscles; but the common “great axe” has the advantage that it is also +used for splitting logs and gnarled “butts.” An American axe is too +beautiful a tool for that rude work. The American was designed to +strike at the trunk of the tree several feet from the ground, the +English axe is always directed to the great roots at the base. + +A dexterous woodman can swing his tool alternately left hand or right +hand uppermost. The difference looks trifling; but try it, and you will +be astonished at the difficulty. The blows echo and the chips fly, till +the base of the tree, that naturally is much larger, is reduced to the +size of the trunk or less. Now a pause, while one swarms up to “line” +it—_i.e._ to attach a rope as high as possible to guide the “stick” in +its fall. + +It is commonly said that in climbing it is best to look up—a maxim that +has been used for moral illustrations; but it is a mistake. In +ascending a tree you should never look higher than the brim of your +hat, unless when quite still and resting on a branch; temporary +blindness would be the penalty in this case. Particles of decayed bark, +the borings of insects in dead wood, dust, and fragments of twigs, rush +down in little streams and fill the eyes. The quantity of woody powder +that adheres to a tree is surprising; every motion dislodges it from a +thousand minute crevices. As for firs, in climbing a fir one cannot +look up at all—dead sticks, needles, and dust pour down, and the +branches are so thick together that the head has to be forced through +them. The line fixed, the saw is applied, and by slow degrees the butt +cut nearly through. Unless much overbalanced on one side by the limbs, +an oak will stand on a still day when almost off. + +Some now seize the rope, and alternately pull and slacken, which gives +the tree a tottering movement. One more daring than the rest drives a +wedge into the saw-cut as it opens when the tree sways. It sways—it +staggers; a loud crack as the fibres part, then with a slow heave over +it goes, and, descending, twists upon the base. The vast limbs plough +into the sward; the twigs are crushed; the boughs, after striking the +earth, rebound and swish upwards. See that you stand clear, for the +least branch will thresh you down. The flat surface of the exposed butt +is blue with stains from the steel of the saw. + +Light taps with a small sharp axe, that cut the rind but no deeper, +ring the trunk at intervals. Then the barking irons are inserted; they +are rods of iron forged at the top something like a narrow shallow +spoon. The bark from the trunk comes off in huge semi-cylinders almost +large enough for a canoe. But that from the branches is best. You may +mark how at the base the bark is two inches thick, lessening to a few +lines on the topmost boughs. If it sticks a little, hammer it with the +iron: it peels with a peculiar sound, and the juicy sap glistens white +between. It is this that, drying in the sun, gives the barked tree its +colour: in time the wood bleaches paler, and after a winter becomes +grey. Inside, the bark is white streaked with brown; presently it will +be all brown. While some strip it, others collect the pieces, and with +them build toy-like sheds of bark, which is the manner of stacking it. + +From the peeled tree there rises a sweet odour of sap: the green mead, +the green underwood and hawthorn around, are all lit up with the genial +sunbeams. The beautiful wind-anemones are gone, too tender and lovely +for so rude an earth; but the wild hyacinths droop their blue bells +under the wood, and the cowslips rise in the grass. The nightingale +sings without ceasing; the soft “coo-coo” of the dove sounds hard by; +the merry cuckoo calls as he flies from elm to elm; the wood-pigeons +rise and smite their wings together over the firs. In the mere below +the coots are at play; they chase each other along the surface of the +water and indulge in wild evolutions. Everything is happy. As the +plough-boys stroll along they pluck the young succulent hawthorn leaves +and nibble them. + +It is the sweetest time of all for wandering in the wood. The brambles +have not yet grown so bushy as to check the passage; the thistles that +in autumn will be as tall as the shoulder and thick as a walking-stick +are as yet no bar; burrs do not attach themselves at every step, though +the broad burdock leaves are spreading wide. In its full development +the burdock is almost a shrub rather than a plant, with a woody stem an +inch or more in diameter. + +Up in the fir trees the nests of the pigeons are sometimes so big that +it appears as if they must use the same year after year, adding fresh +twigs, else they could hardly attain such bulk. Those in the ash-poles +are not nearly so large. In the open drives blue cartridge-cases lie +among the grass, the brass part tarnished by the rain, thrown hurriedly +aside from the smoking breech last autumn. But the guns are silent in +the racks, though the keeper still carries his gun to shoot the vermin, +which are extremely busy at this season. Vermin, however, do not quite +agree among themselves: weasels and stoats are deadly enemies of mice +and rats. Where rats are plentiful there they are sure to come; they +will follow a rat into a dwelling-house. + +Here the green drive shows traces of the poaching it received from the +thick-planted hoofs of the hunt when the leaves were off and the blast +of the horn sounded fitfully as the gale carried the sound away. The +vixen is now at peace, though perhaps it would scarcely be safe to +wander too near the close-shaven mead where the keeper is occupied more +and more every day with his pheasant-hatching. And far down on the +lonely outlying farms, where even in fox-hunting England the music of +the hounds is hardly heard in three years (because no great coverts +cause the run to take that way), foul murder is sometimes done on +Reynard or his family. A hedge-cutter marks the sleeping-place in the +withies where the fox curls up by day; and with his rusty gun, that +sometimes slaughters a roaming pheasant, sends the shot through the red +side of the slumbering animal. Then, thrust ignobly into a sack, he +shoulders the fox and marches round from door to door, tumbling the +limp body rudely down on the pitching stones to prove that the fowls +will now be safe, and to be rewarded with beer and small coin. A dead +fox is profit to him for a fortnight. These evil deeds of course are +cloaked as far as possible. + +Leaving now the wood for the lane that wanders through the meadows, a +mower comes sidling up, and, looking mysteriously around with his hand +behind under his coat, “You med have un for sixpence,” he says, and +produces a partridge into whose body the point of the scythe ran as she +sat on her nest in the grass, and whose struggles were ended by a blow +from the rubber or whetstone flung at her head. He has got the eggs +somewhere hidden under a swathe. + +The men that are so expert at finding partridges’ eggs to sell to the +keepers know well beforehand whereabouts the birds are likely to lay. +If a stranger who had made no previous observations went into the +fields to find these eggs, with full permission to do so, he would +probably wander in vain. The grass is long, and the nest has little to +distinguish it from the ground; the old bird will sit so close that one +may pass almost over her. Without a right of search in open daylight +the difficulty is of course much greater. A man cannot quarter the +fields when the crop is high and leave no trail. + +Farmers object to the trampling and damage of their property; and a +keeper does not like to see a labourer loafing about, because he is not +certain that the eggs when found will be conscientiously delivered to +him. They may be taken elsewhere, or they may even be broken out of +spite if the finder thinks he has a grudge to repay. Now that every +field is enclosed, and for the most part well cultivated and looked +after, the business of the egg-stealer is considerably diminished. He +cannot roam over the country at his fancy; his egg-finding is nearly +restricted to the locality of which he possesses minute knowledge. + +Thus workmen engaged in the towns, but sleeping several miles out in +the villages, can keep a register of the slight indications they +observe morning after morning as they cross the fields by the footpath +to their labour. Early in the spring they notice that the partridges +have paired: as time advances they see the pair day after day in the +same meadow, and mark the spot. Those who work in the fields, again, +have still better opportunities: the bird-keeping lads too have little +else to do at that season than watch for nests. In the meadows the +labourer as he walks to and fro with the “bush” passes over every inch +of the ground. The “bush” is a mass of thorn bushes fixed in a frame +and drawn by a horse; it acts like a light harrow, and leaves the +meadow in strips like the pile of green velvet, stroked in narrow +bands, one this way, one that, laying the grass blades in the +directions it travels. Solitary work of this kind—for it requires but +one man—is very favourable to observation. When the proper time arrives +the searcher knows within a little where the nest must be, and has but +a small space to beat. + +The pheasant being so large a bird, its motions are easy to watch; and +the nest is speedily found, because, being in the hedge or under +bushes, there is a definite place in which to look, instead of the +broad surface of the field. Pheasants will get out of the preserves in +the breeding season and wander into the mounds, so that the space the +keeper has to range is then enlarged threefold. Both pheasants and +partridges are frequently killed on their nests; when the eggs are hard +the birds remain to the last moment, and are often knocked over. + +Besides poachers, the eggs have to run the chance of being destroyed by +carrion crows, and occasionally by rooks. Rooks, though generally +cleanly feeders, will at times eat almost anything, from a mussel to a +fledgeling bird. Magpies and jays are accused of being equally +dangerous enemies of eggs and young birds, and so too are snakes. +Weasels, stoats, and rats spare neither egg, parents, nor offspring. +Some of the dogs that run wild will devour eggs; and hawks pounce on +the brood if they see an opportunity. Owls are said to do the same. The +fitchew, the badger, and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation; +but the first is rare, the second almost exterminated in many +districts; the third—the poor hedgehog—is common, and some keepers have +a bitter dislike to them. Swine are credited, with the same mischief as +the worst of vermin at this particular season; but nowadays swine are +not allowed to run wild in cultivated districts, except in the autumn +when the acorns are falling. + +As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly accessible, and the +eggs, being large, are tempting. Perhaps the mowing machine is as +destructive as anything; and after all these there is the risk of a wet +season and of disease. Let the care exercised be never so great, a +certain amount of mortality must occur. + +While the young partridges gradually become strong and swift, the nuts +are increasing in size, and ripening upon the bough. The very hazel has +a pleasant sound—not a nut-tree hedge existed in the neighbourhood that +we did not know and visit. We noted the progress of the bushes from the +earliest spring, and the catkins to the perfect nut. + +There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the hazel in February, +though the gloom of winter lingers and the “Shuck—a—sheck!” of the +fieldfare fleeing before the snow sounds overhead. On the slender +branches grow green ovals, from whose tips tiny scarlet plumes rise and +curl over. + +It often happens that while the tall rods with speckled bark grow +vigorously the stole is hollow and decaying when the hardy fern +flourishes around it. Before the summer ricks are all carted the nuts +are full of sweet milky matter, and the shell begins to harden. A hazel +bough with a good crook is then sought by the men that are thinking of +the wheat harvest: they trim it for a “vagging” stick, with which to +pull the straw towards them. True reaping is now never seen: “vagging” +makes the short stubble that forces the partridges into the turnips. +Maple boughs, whose bark is so strongly ribbed, are also good for +“vagging” sticks. + +Nut-tree is used for bonds to tie up faggots, and split for the +shepherds’ hurdles. In winter sometimes a store of nuts and acorns may +be seen fallen in a stream down the side of a bank, scratched out from +a mouse’s hole, as they say, by Reynard, who devours the little +provident creature without regard for its wisdom. So that man and wild +animals derive pleasure or use from the hazel in many ways. When the +nuts are ripe the carters’ lads do not care to ride sideways on the +broad backs of the horses as they jog homewards along the lane, but are +ever in the hedges. + +There were plenty in the double-mounds to which we had access; but the +shepherd, who had learned his craft on the Downs, said that the nuts +grew there in such immense quantities as determined us to see them. +Sitting on the felled ash under the shade of the hawthorn hedge, where +the butcher-birds every year used to stick the humble-bees on the +thorns, he described the route—a mere waggon track—and the situation of +the largest copses. + +The waggon track we found crossed the elevated plains close under and +between the Downs, following at the foot, as it seemed, for an endless +distance the curve of a range. The slope bounded the track on one side: +on the other it was enclosed by a low bank covered with dead thorn +thickly entangled, which enclosed the cornfields. The space between the +hedge and the hill was as far as we could throw one of the bleached +flints lying on the sward. It was dotted with hawthorn trees and furze, +and full of dry brown grass. A few scattered firs, the remnants of +extinct plantations, grew on the slope, and green “fairy rings” marked +it here and there. + +These fairy rings have a somewhat different appearance from the dark +green semicircles found in the meadows and called by the same name: the +latter are often only segments of circles, are found near hedges, and +almost always either under a tree or where a tree has been. There were +more mushrooms on the side of the hill than we cared to carry. Some eat +mushrooms raw—fresh as taken from the ground, with a little salt: to me +the taste is then too strong. Of the many ways of cooking them the +simplest is the best; that is, on a gridiron over wood embers on the +hearth. + +Every few minutes a hare started out of the dry grass: he always +scampered up the Down and stopped to look at us from the ridge. The +hare runs faster up hill than down. By the cornfields there were wire +nettings to stop them; but nothing is easier than for any passer-by who +feels an interest in hares and rabbits, and does not like to see them +jealously excluded, to open a gap. Hares were very numerous—temptingly +so. Not far from where the track crossed a lonely road was a gipsy +encampment; that swarthy people are ever about when anything is going +on, and the reapers were busy in the corn. The dead dry thorns of the +hedge answered very well to boil their pot with. Their tents, formed by +thrusting the ends of long bent rods like half-hoops into the turf, +looked dark like the canvas of a barge. + +These “gips”—country folk do not say gipsy—were unknown to us; but we +were on terms with some members of a tribe who called at our house +several times in the course of the year to buy willow. The men wore +golden earrings, and bought “Black Sally,” a withy that has a dark +bark, for pegs, and “bolts” of osier for basket-making. A bolt is a +bundle of forty inches in circumference. Though the women tell +fortunes, and mix the “dark man” and the “light man,” the “journey” and +the “letter” to perfection, till the ladies half believe, I doubt if +they know much of true palmistry. The magic of the past always had a +charm for me. I had learned to know the lines, from that which winds +along at the base of the thumb-ball and if clear means health and long +life, to that which crosses close to the fingers and indicates the +course of love, and had traced them on many a delicate palm. So that +the “gips” could tell me nothing new. + +The women are the hardiest in the country; they simply ignore the +weather. Even the hedgers and ditchers and the sturdiest labourers +choose the lee side of the hedge when they pause to eat their +luncheons; but the “gips” do not trouble to seek such shelter. Passing +over the hills one winter’s day, when the Downs looked all alike, being +covered with snow, I came across a “gip” family sitting on the ground +in a lane, old and young exposed to the blast. In that there was +nothing remarkable, but I recollect it because the young mother, +handsome in the style of her race, had her neck and brown bust quite +bare, and the white snowflakes drove thickly aslant upon her. Their +complexion looks more dusky in winter, so that the contrast of the +colours made me wish for an artist to paint it. And he might have put +the grey embers of a fire gone out, and the twisted stem of a hawthorn +bush with red haws above. + +A mile beyond the gipsy tents we entered among the copses: scattered +ash plantations, and hazel thickets with narrow green tracks between. +Further in, the nut-tree bushes were more numerous, and we became +separated though within call. Presently a low whistle like the peewit’s +(our signal) called me to Orion. On the border of a thicket, near an +open field of swedes, he had found a hare in a wire. It was a +beauty—the soft fur smooth to stroke, not so much as a shot-hole in the +black-marked ears. Wired or netted hares and rabbits are much preferred +by the dealers to those that have been shot—and so, too, netted +partridges—because they look so clean and tempt the purchaser. The +blacksmith Ikey, who bought our rabbits, used to sew up the shot wounds +when they were much knocked about, and trimmed up the shattered ones in +the cleverest way. + +To pull up the plug and take wire and hare too was the first impulse; +yet we hesitated. Why did the man who set the snare let his game lie +till that hour of the day? He should have visited it long before: it +had a suspicious look altogether. It would also have been nearly +impossible to carry the hare so many miles by daylight and past +villages: even with the largest pockets it would have been doubtful, +for the hare had stiffened as he lay stretched out. So, carefully +replacing him just as we found him, we left the spot and re-entered the +copse. + +The shepherd certainly was right; the quantity of nuts was immense: the +best and largest bunches grew at the edge of the thickets, perhaps +because they received more air and light than the bushes within that +were surrounded by boughs. It thus happened that we were in the green +pathway when some one suddenly spoke from behind, and, turning, there +was a man in a velveteen jacket who had just stepped out of the bushes. +The keeper was pleasant enough and readily allowed us to handle his +gun—a very good weapon, though a little thin at the muzzle—for a man +likes to see his gun admired. He said there were finer nuts in a valley +he pointed out, and then carefully instructed us how to get back into +the waggon track without returning by the same path. An old barn was +the landmark; and, with a request from him not to break the bushes, he +left us. + +Down in the wooded vale we paused. The whole thing was now clear: the +hare in the wire was a trap laid for the “gips” whose camp was below. +The keeper had been waiting about doubtless where he could command the +various tracks up the hill, had seen us come that way, and did not wish +us to return in the same direction; because if the “gip” saw any one at +all he would not approach his snare. Whether the hare had actually been +caught by the wire, or had been put in by the keeper, it was not easy +to tell. + +We wandered on in the valley wood, going from bush to bush, little +heeding whither we went. There are no woods so silent as the nut-tree; +there is scarce a sound in them at that time except the occasional +rustle of a rabbit, and the “thump, thump” they sometimes make +underground in their buries after a sudden fright. So that the keen +plaintive whistle of a kingfisher was almost startling. But we soon +found the stream in the hollow. Broader than a brook and yet not quite +a river, it flowed swift and clear, so that every flint at the bottom +was visible. The nut-tree bushes came down to the edge: the ground was +too firm for much rush or sedge; the streams that come out of the chalk +are not so thickly fringed with vegetation as others. + +Some little way along there was a rounded sarsen boulder not far from +shore, whose brown top was so nearly on a level with the surface that +at one moment the water just covered it, and the next left it exposed. +By it we spied a trout; but the hill above gave “Velvet” the command of +the hollow; and it was too risky even to think of. After that the nuts +were tame; there was nothing left but to turn homewards. As for +trout-fishing, there is nothing so easy. Take the top joint off the +rod, and put the wire on the second, which is stronger, fill the +basket, and replace the fly. There were fellows who used to paddle in +canoes up a certain river (not this little stream), pick out the +largest trout, and shoot them with pistols, under pretence of +practising at water-rats. + + + + +CHAPTER V +WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + + +In a hedge that joined a wood, and about a hundred yards from it, there +was a pleasant hiding-place beside a pollard ash. The bank was hollow +with rabbit-buries: the summer heat had hardened the clay of the mound +and caused it to crack and crumble wherever their excavations left a +precipitous edge. Some way up the trunk of the tree an immense flat +fungus projected, roughly resembling the protruding lip of a savage +enlarged by the insertion of a piece of wood. It formed a black ledge +standing out seven or eight inches, two or three inches thick, and +extending for a foot or more round the bark. The pollard, indeed, was +dead inside, and near the ground the black touch-wood showed. Ash +timber must become rarer year by year: for, being so useful, it is +constantly cut down, while few new saplings are planted or encouraged +to become trees. + +In front a tangled mass of bramble arched over the dry ditch; it was +possible to see some distance down the bank, for nothing grew on the +top itself, the bushes all rising from either side—a peculiarity of +clay mounds. This narrow space was a favourite promenade of the +rabbits; they usually came out there for a few minutes first, looking +about before venturing forth into the meadows. Except a little moss, +scarcely any vegetation other than underwood clothed the bare hard soil +of the mound; and for this reason every tiny aperture that suited their +purpose was occupied by wasps. + +They much prefer a clear space about the entrance to their nests, +affording an unencumbered passage: there were two nests within a few +yards of the ash. Though so generally dreaded, wasps are really +inoffensive insects, never attacking unless previously buffeted. You +may sit close to a wasps’ nest for hours, and, if you keep still, +receive no injury. Humble-bees, too, congregate in special localities: +along one hedge half a dozen nests may be found, while other fields are +searched for them in vain. + +The best time to enter such a hiding-place is a little before the sun +sinks: for as his beams turn red all the creatures that rest during the +day begin to stir. Then the hares start down from the uplands and +appear on the short stubble, where the level rays throw exaggerated +shadows behind them. When six or eight hares are thus seen near the +centre of a single field, they and their shadows seem to take +possession of and occupy it. + +Pheasants, though they retire to roost on the trees, often before +rising come forth into the meadows adjacent to the coverts. The sward +in front of the pollard ash sloped upwards gradually to the foot of a +low hill planted with firs, and just outside these about half a dozen +pheasants regularly appeared in the early evening. As the sun sank +below the hill, and the shadow of the great beeches some distance away +began to extend into the mead, they went back one by one into the firs. +There they were nearly safe, for no trees give so much difficulty to +the poacher. It is not easy even to shoot anything inside a fir +plantation at night: as for the noose, it is almost impossible to use +it. The lowest pheasant is taken first, and then the next above, like +fowls perched on the rungs of a ladder; and, indeed, it is not unlikely +that those who excel in this kind of work base their operations upon +previous experiences in the hen roost. + +The wood pigeons begin to come home, and the wood is filled with their +hollow notes: now here, now yonder, for as one ceases another takes it +up. They cannot settle for some time: each as he arrives perches +awhile, and then rises and tries a fresh place, so that there is a +constant clattering. The green woodpecker approaches at a rapid +pace—now opening, now closing his wings, and seeming to throw himself +forward rather than to fly. He rushes at the trees in the hedge as +though he could pierce the thick branches like a bullet. Other birds +rise over or pass at the side: he goes through, arrow-like, avoiding +the boughs. Instead of at once entering the wood, he stays awhile on +the sward of the mead in the open. + +As the pheasants generally feed in a straight line along the ground, so +the lesser pied woodpecker travels across the fields from tree to tree, +rarely staying on more than one branch in each, but, after examining +it, leaves all that may be on other boughs and seeks another ahead. He +rises round and round the dead branch in the elm, tapping it with blows +that succeed each other with marvellous rapidity. He taps for the +purpose of sounding the wood to see if it be hollow or bored by grubs, +and to startle the insects and make them run out for his convenience. +He will ascend dead branches barely half an inch thick that vibrate as +he springs from them, and proceeds down the hedge towards the wood. The +“snop-top” sounds in every elm, and grows fainter as he recedes. The +sound is often heard, but in the thick foliage of summer the bird +escapes unseen, unless you are sitting almost under the tree when he +arrives in it. + +Then the rooks come drifting slowly to the beeches: they are uncertain +in their hour at this season—some, indeed, scarce care to return at +all; and even when quite dusk and the faint stars of summer rather show +themselves than shine, twos and threes come occasionally through the +gloom. A pair of doves pass swiftly, flying for the lower wood, where +the ashpoles grow. The grasshoppers sing in the grass, and will +continue till the dew descends. As the little bats flutter swiftly to +and fro just without the hedge, the faint sound of their wings is +audible as they turn: their membranes are not so silent as feathers, +and they agitate them with extreme velocity. Beetles go by with a loud +hum, rising from those isolated bunches of grass that may be seen in +every field; for the cows will not eat the rank green blades that grow +over and hide dried dung. + +A large white spot, ill-defined and shapeless in the distance and the +dimness, glides along the edge of the wood, then across in front before +the fir plantation, next down the hedge to the left, and presently +passes within two yards, going towards the wood again along this mound. +It is a white owl: he flies about five feet from the ground and +absolutely without a sound. So when you are walking at night it is +quite startling to have one come overhead, approaching from behind and +suddenly appearing. This owl is almost fearless; unless purposely +alarmed he will scarcely notice you, and not at all if you are still. + +As he reaches the wood he leaves the hedge, having gone all round the +field, and crosses to a small detached circular fir plantation in the +centre. There he goes out of sight a minute or two; but presently +appears skirting the low shed and rickyard yonder, and is finally lost +behind the hedges. This round he will go every evening, and almost +exactly at the same time—that is, in reference to the sun, which is the +clock of nature. + +Step never so quietly out from the mound, the small birds that +unnoticed have come to roost in the bushes will hear it and fly off in +alarm. The rabbits that are near the hedge rush in; those that are far +from home crouch in the furrows and the bunches. Crossing the open +field, they suddenly start as it seems from under your feet—one white +tail goes dapping up and down this way, another jerks over the “lands” +that way. The moonbeams now glisten on the double-barrel; and a bright +sparkle glitters here and there as a dewdrop catches a ray. + +Upon the grass a faint halo appears; it is a narrow band of light +encircling the path, an oval ring—perhaps rather horseshoe shape than +oval. It glides in front, keeping ever at the same distance as you +walk, as if there the eye was focussed. This is only seen when the +grass is wet with dew, and better in short grass than long. Where it +shines the grass looks a paler green. Passing gently along a hedge +thickly timbered with oak and elms, a hawk may perhaps start forth: +hawks sometimes linger by the hedges till late, but it is not often +that you can shoot one at roost except in spring. Then they invariably +return to roost in the nest tree, and are watched there, and so shot, a +gunner approaching on each side of the hedge. In the lane dark +objects—rabbits—hasten away, and presently the footpath crosses the +still motionless brook near where it flows into the mere. + +The low brick parapet of the bridge is overgrown with mosses; great +hedges grow each side, and the willows, long uncut, almost meet in the +centre. In one hedge an opening leads to a drinking-place for cattle: +peering noiselessly over the parapet between the boughs, the coots and +moorhens may be seen there feeding by the shore. They have come up from +the mere as the ducks and teal do in the winter. The broader waters can +scarcely be netted without a boat, but the brook here is the very place +for a moonlight haul. The net is stretched first across the widest spot +nearest to the pool, that no fish may escape. They swim up here in the +daytime in shoals, perch especially; but the night poachers are often +disappointed, for the fish seem to retire to deeper waters as the +darkness comes on. A black mass of mud-coated sticks, rotten twigs, and +thorn bushes, entangled in the meshes, is often the only result of much +toil. + +Once now and then, as when a preserved pond is netted, a tremendous +take occurs; but nets are rather gone by, being so unwieldy and +requiring several men to manage effectually. If they are not hung out +to dry properly after being used, they soon rot. Now, a large net +stretched along railings or a hedge is rather a conspicuous object, and +brings suspicion on the owner. It is also so heavy after use that until +wrung, which takes time, a strong man can barely carry it; and if a +sudden alarm comes it must be abandoned. + +It is pleasant to rest awhile on the parapet in the shadow of the +bushes. The low thud-thud of sculls in the rowlocks of a distant punt +travels up the water. By-and-by a hare comes along, enters on the +bridge, and almost reaches the gate in the middle before he spies +anything suspicious. Such a spot, and, indeed, any gateway, used to be +a favourite place to set a net, and then drive the hares towards it +with a cur dog that ran silent. Bold must be the man that would set a +net in a footpath now, with almost every field preserved by owner or +tenant. With a bound the hare hies back and across the meadow: the gun +comes to the shoulder as swiftly. + +On the grass lit by the moon the hare looked quite distinct, but the +moment the gaze is concentrated up the barrel he becomes a dim object +with no defined outline. In shooting on the ground by twilight or in +the moonbeams, waste no time in endeavouring to aim, but think of the +hare’s ears—say a couple of feet in front of his tail—and the moment +the gun feels steady pull the trigger. The flash and report come +together; there is a dull indescribable sound ahead, as some of the +shot strikes home in fur and some drills into the turf, and then a +rustling in the grass. The moorhens dive, and the coots scuttle down +the brook towards the mere at the flash. While yet the sulphurous smoke +lingers, slow to disperse, over the cool dewy sward, there comes back +an echo from the wood behind, then another from the mere, then another +and another beyond. + +The distant sculls have ceased to work in the rowlocks—those in the +punt are listening to the echoes; most likely they have been fishing +for tench in the deep holes under the black shadow of the aspens. +(Tench feed in the dark: if you wish to take a big one wait till it is +necessary to fix a piece of white paper on the float.) Now put the +empty cartridge in your pocket instead of throwing it aside; pull the +hare’s neck across your knee, and hurry off. But you may safely stay to +harle him; for those very echoes that have been heard a mile round +about are the best safeguard: not one man in a thousand could tell the +true direction whence the sound of the explosion originated. + +The pleasure of wandering in a wood was so great that it could never be +resisted, and did not solely arise from the instinct of shooting. Many +expeditions were made without a gun, or any implement of destruction, +simply to enjoy the trees and thickets. There was one large wood very +carefully preserved, and so situate in an open country as not to be +easily entered. But a little observation showed that the keeper had a +“habit.” He used to come out across the wheatfields to a small wayside +“public,” and his route passed by a lonely barn and rickyard. One warm +summer day I saw him come as usual to the “public,” and while he was +there quietly slipped as far as the barn and hid in it. + +In July such a rickyard is very hot; heat radiates from every straw. +The ground itself is dry and hard, each crevice choked with particles +of white chaff; so that even the couch can hardly grow except close +under the low hedge where the pink flower of the pimpernel opens to the +sky. White stone staddles—short conical pillars with broad +capitals—stand awaiting the load of sheaves that will shortly press on +them. Every now and then a rustling in the heaps of straw indicates the +presence of mice. From straw and stone and bare earth heat seems to +rise up. The glare of the sunlight pours from above. The black pitched +wooden walls of the barn and sheds prevent the circulation of air. +There are no trees for shadow—nothing but a few elder bushes, which are +crowded at intervals of a few minutes with sparrows rushing with a +whirr of wings up from the standing corn. + +But the high pitched roof of the barn and of the lesser sheds has a +beauty of its own—the minute vegetation that has covered the tiles +having changed the original dull red to an orange hue. From ridge to +eaves, from end to end, it is a wide expanse of colour, only varying so +much in shade as to save it from monotony. It stands out glowing, +distinct against the deep blue of the sky. The “cheep” of fledgeling +sparrows comes from the crevices above; but swallows do not frequent +solitary buildings so much as those by dwelling-houses, being +especially fond of cattle-sheds where cows are milked. + +The proximity of animals apparently attracts them: perhaps in the more +exposed places there may be dangers from birds of prey. As for the +sparrows, they are innumerable. Some are marked with white patches—a +few so much so as to make quite a show when they fly. One handsome cock +bird has a white ring half round his neck, and his wings are a +beautiful partridge-brown. He looks larger than the common sort; and +there are several more here that likewise appear to exceed in size, and +to have the same peculiar brown. + +After a while there came the sound of footsteps and a low but cheerful +whistle. The keeper having slaked a thirst very natural on such a +sultry day returned, and re-entered the wood. I had decided that it +would be the best plan to follow in his rear, because then there would +be little chance of crossing his course haphazard, and the dogs would +not sniff any strange footsteps, since the footsteps would not be there +till they had gone by. To hide from the eyes of a man is comparatively +easy; but a dog will detect an unwonted presence in the thickest bush, +and run in and set up a yelping, especially if it is a puppy. + +It was not more than forty yards from the barn to the wood: there was +no mound or hedge, but a narrow, deep, and dry watercourse, a surface +drain, ran across. Stooping a little and taking off my hat, I walked in +this, so that the wheat each side rose above me and gave a perfect +shelter. This precaution was necessary, because on the right there rose +a steep Down, from whose summit the level wheat-fields could be easily +surveyed. So near was it that I could distinguish the tracks of the +hares worn in the short grass. But if you take off your hat no one can +distinguish you in a wheat-field, more particularly if your hair is +light: nor even in a hedge. + +Where the drain or furrow entered the wood was a wire-netting firmly +fixed, and over it tall pitched palings, sharp at the top. The wood was +enclosed with a thick hawthorn hedge that looked impassable; but the +keeper’s footsteps, treading down the hedge-parsley and brushing aside +the “gicks,” guided me behind a bush where was a very convenient gap. +These signs and the smooth-worn bark of an ash against which it was +needful to push proved that this quiet path was used somewhat +frequently. + +Inside the wood the grass and the bluebell leaves—the bloom past and +ripening to seed—so hung over the trail that it was difficult to +follow. It wound about the ash stoles in the most circuitous manner—now +to avoid the thistles, now a bramble thicket, or a hollow filled with +nettles. Then the ash poles were clothed with the glory of the +woodbine—one mass of white and yellow wax-like flowers to a height of +eight or nine feet, and forming a curtain of bloom from branch to +branch. + +After awhile I became aware that the trail was approaching the hill. At +the foot it branched; and the question arose whether to follow the fork +that zig-zagged up among the thickets or that which seemed to plunge +into the recesses beneath. I had never been in this wood before—the +time was selected because it was probable that the keeper would be +extremely occupied with his pheasant chicks. Though the earth was so +hard in the exposed rick-yard, here the clayey ground was still moist +under the shadow of the leaves. Examining the path more closely, I +easily distinguished the impression of the keeper’s boot: the iron +toe-plate has left an almost perfect impression, and there were the +deep grooves formed by the claws of his dog as it had scrambled up the +declivity and the pad slipped on the clay. + +As he had taken the upward path, no doubt it led direct to the +pheasants, which was sure to be on the hill itself, or a dry and +healthy slope. I therefore took the other trail, since I must otherwise +have overtaken him; for he would stay long among his chicks: just as an +old-fashioned farmer lingers at a gate, gazing on his sheep. Advancing +along the lower path, after some fifteen minutes it turned sharply to +the right, and I stood under the precipitous cliff-like edge of the +hill in a narrow coombe. The earth at the top hung over the verge, and +beech-trees stood as it seemed in the act to topple, their exposed +roots twisting to and fro before they re-entered the face of the +precipice. Large masses of chalky rubble had actually fallen, and +others were all but detached. The coombe, of course, could be +overlooked from thence; but a moment’s reflection convinced me there +was no risk, for who would dare to go near enough to the edge to look +down? + +The coombe was full of fir-trees; and by them stood a long narrow +shed—the roof ruinous, but the plank walls intact. It had originally +been erected in a field, since planted for covers. This long shed, a +greenish grey from age and mouldering wood, became a place of much +interest. Along the back there were three rows of weasels and stoats +nailed through the head or neck to the planks. There had been a hundred +in each row—about three hundred altogether. The lapse of time had +entirely dissipated the substance of many on the upper row; nothing +remained but the grim and rusty nail. Further along there hung small +strips without shape. Beyond these the nails supported something that +had a rough outline still of the animal. In the second row the dried +and shrivelled creatures were closely wrapped in nature’s mummy-cloth +of green; in the third, some of those last exposed still retained a +dull brown colour. None were recent. Above, under the eaves, the +spiders’ webs had thickly gathered; beneath, the nettles flourished. + +But the end of the shed was the place where the more distinguished +offenders were gibbeted. A footpath, well worn and evidently much used, +went by this end, and, as I afterwards ascertained, communicated with +the mansion above and the keeper’s cottage some distance below. Every +passenger between must pass the gallows where the show of more noble +traitors gave proof of the keeper’s loyal activity. Four shorter rows +rose in tiers. To the nails at the top strong beaks and black feathers +adhered, much bedraggled and ruffled by weather. These crows had long +been dead; the keeper when he shot a crow did not trouble to have it +carried home, unless a nail was conspicuously vacant. The ignoble bird +was left where he fell. + +On the next row the black and white of magpies and the blue of jays +alternated. Many of the magpies had been despoiled of their tails, and +some of their wings, the feathers being saleable. The jays were more +numerous, and untouched; they were slain in such numbers that the +market for their plumage was glutted. Though the bodies were shrunken, +the feathers were in fair condition. Magpies’ nests are so large that +in winter, when the leaves are off the trees, they cannot but be seen, +and, the spot being marked, in the summer old and young are easily +destroyed. Hawks filled the third row. The kestrels were the most +numerous, but there were many sparrow-hawks. These made a great show, +and were stuck so closely that a feather could hardly be thrust between +them. In the midst, quite smothered under their larger wings, were the +remains of a smaller bird—probably a merlin. But the last and lowest +row, that was also nearest, or on a level with the face of a person +looking at the gallows, was the most striking. + +This grand tier was crowded with owls—not arranged in any order, but +haphazard, causing a fine mixture of colour. Clearly this gallery was +constantly renewed. The white owl gave the prevalent tint, side by side +with the brown wood owls, and scattered among the rest, a few long +horned owls—a mingling of white, yellowish brown, and tawny feathers. +Though numerous here, yet trap and gun have so reduced the wood owls +that you may listen half the night by a cover and never hear the +“Who-hoo” that seems to demand your name. + +The barn owls are more liable to be shot, because they are more +conspicuous; but, on the other hand, as they often breed and reside +away from covers, they seem to escape. For months past one of these has +sailed by my window every evening uttering a hissing “skir-r-r.” Here, +some were nailed with their backs to the wall, that they might not hide +their guilty faces. + +The delicate texture of the owl’s feathers is very remarkable: these +birds remind me of a huge moth. The owls were more showy than the +hawks, though it is commonly said that without sunlight there is no +colour—as in the case of plants grown in darkness. Yet the hawks are +day birds, while the owls fly by night. There came the sound of +footsteps; and I retreated, casting one glance backward at the black +and white, the blue and brown colours that streaked the wall, while the +dull green weasels were in perpetual shadow. By night the bats would +flit round and about that gloomy place. It would not do to return by +the same path, lest another keeper might be coming up it; so I stepped +into the wood itself. To those who walk only in the roads, hawks and +owls seem almost rare. But a wood is a place to which they all flock; +and any wanderer from the north or west naturally tends thither. This +wood is of large extent; but even to the smaller plantations of the +Downs it is wonderful what a number come in the course of a year. +Besides the shed just visited, there would be certain to be another +more or less ornamented near the keeper’s cottage, and probably others +scattered about, where the commoner vermin could be nailed without the +trouble of carrying them far away. Only the owls and hawks, magpies, +and such more striking evidences of slaughter were collected here, and +almost daily renewed. + +To get into the wood was much easier than to get out, on account of the +thick hedge, palings, and high sharp-sparred gates; but I found a dry +ditch where it was possible to creep under the bushes into a meadow +where was a footpath. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK” + + +The time of the apple-bloom is the most delicious season in Sarsen +village. It is scarcely possible to obtain a view of the place, +although it is built on the last slope of the Downs, because just where +the ground drops and the eye expects an open space, plantations of fir +and the tops of tall poplars and elms intercept the glance. In +ascending from the level meadows of the vale thick double mounds, +heavily timbered with elm, hide the houses until you are actually in +their midst. + +Those only know a country who are acquainted with its footpaths. By the +roads, indeed, the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go through +the heart of the land. There are routes by which mile after mile may be +travelled without leaving the sward. So you may pass from village to +village; now crossing green meads, now cornfields, over brooks, past +woods, through farmyard and rick “barken.” But such tracks are not +mapped, and a stranger misses them altogether unless under the guidance +of an old inhabitant. + +At Sarsen the dusty road enters the more modern part of the village at +once, where the broad signs hang from the taverns at the cross-ways and +where the loafers steadily gaze at the new comer. The Lower Path, after +stile and hedge and elm, and grass that glows with golden buttercups, +quietly leaves the side of the double mounds and goes straight through +the orchards. There are fewer flowers under the trees, and the grass +grows so long and rank that it has already fallen aslant of its own +weight. It is choked, too, by masses of clog-weed, that springs up +profusely over the site of old foundations; so that here ancient +masonry may be hidden under the earth. Indeed, these orchards are a +survival from the days when the monks laboured in vineyard and garden, +and mayhap even of earlier times. When once a locality has got into the +habit of growing a certain crop it continues to produce it for century +after century; and thus there are villages famous for apple or pear or +cherry, while the district at large is not at all given to such +culture. + +The trunks of the trees succeed each other in endless ranks, like +columns that support the most beautiful roof of pink and white. Here +the bloom is rosy, there white prevails: the young green is hidden +under the petals that are far more numerous than leaves, or even than +leaves will be. Though the path really is in shadow as the branches +shut out the sun, yet it seems brighter here than in the open, as if +the place were illuminated by a million tiny lamps shedding the softest +lustre. The light is reflected and apparently increased by the +countless flowers overhead. + +The forest of bloom extends acre after acre, and only ceases where +hedges divide, to commence again beyond the boundary. A wicket gate, +all green with a film of vegetation over the decaying wood, opens under +the very eaves of a cottage, and the path goes by the door—across a +narrow meadow where deep and broad trenches, green now, show where +ancient stews or fishponds existed, and then through a farmyard into a +lane. Tall poplars rise on either hand, but there seem to be no houses; +they stand, in fact, a field’s breadth back from the lane, and are +approached by footpaths that every few yards necessitate a stile in the +hedge. + +When a low thatched farmhouse does abut upon the way, the blank white +wall of the rear part faces the road, and the front door opens on +precisely the other side. Hard by is a row of beehives. Though the +modern hives are at once more economical and humane, they have not the +old associations that cling about the straw domes topped with broken +earthenware to shoot off the heavy downfall of a thunderstorm. + +Everywhere the apple-bloom; the hum of bees; children sitting on the +green beside the road, their laps full of flowers; the song of finches; +and the low murmur of water that glides over flint and stone so +shadowed by plants and grasses that the sunbeams cannot reach and +glisten on it. Thus the straggling flower-strewn village stretches +along beneath the hill and rises up the slope, and the swallows wheel +and twitter over the gables where are their hereditary nesting-places. +The lane ends on a broad dusty road, and, opposite, a quiet thatched +house of the larger sort stands, endways to the street, with an open +pitching before the windows. There, too, the swallows’ nests are +crowded under the eaves, flowers are trained against the wall, and in +the garden stand the same beautiful apple-trees. But within, the lower +part of the windows—that have recess seats—are guarded by horizontal +rods of iron, polished by the backs of many men. It is an inn, and the +rods are to save the panes from the impact of an excited toper’s arm. + +The talk to-day, as the brown brandy, which the paler cognac has not +yet superseded, is consumed, and the fumes of coarse tobacco and the +smell of spilt beer and the faint sickly odour of evaporating spirits +overpower the flowers, is of horses. The stable lads from the training +stables far up on the Downs drop in or call at the door without +dismounting. Once or twice in the day a tout calls and takes his +“grub,” and scribbles a report in the little back parlour. Sporting +papers, beer-stained and thumb-marked, lie on the tables; framed +portraits of racers hang on the walls. Burly men, who certainly cannot +ride a race, but who have horse in every feature, puff cigars and chat +in jerky monosyllables that to an outsider are perfectly +incomprehensible. But the glib way in which heavy sums of money are +spoken of conveys the impression that they dabble in enormous wealth. + +There are dogs under the tables and chairs; dogs in the window-seat; +dogs panting on the stone flags of the passage, after a sharp trot +behind a trap, choosing the coolest spot to loll their red tongues out; +dogs outside in the road; dogs standing on hind legs, and painfully +lapping the water in the horse-trough; and there is a yapping of +puppies in the distance. The cushions of the sofa are strewn with dogs’ +hairs, and once now and then a dog leisurely hops up the staircase. + +Customers are served by the landlady, a decent body enough in her way: +her son, the man of the house, is up in the “orchut” at the rear, +feeding his dogs. Where the “orchut” ends in a paddock stands a small +shed: in places the thatch on the roof has fallen through in the course +of years and revealed the bare rafters. The bottom part of the door has +decayed, and the long nose of a greyhound is thrust out sniffing +through a hole. Dickon, the said son, is delighted to undo the padlock +for a visitor who is “square.” In an instant the long hounds leap up, +half a dozen at a time, and I stagger backwards, forced by the sheer +vigour of their caresses against the doorpost. Dickon cannot quell the +uproarious pack: he kicks the door open, and away they scamper round +and round the paddock at headlong speed. + +What a joy it is to them to stretch their limbs! I forget the squalor +of the kennel in watching their happy gambols. I cannot drink more than +one tumbler of brown brandy and water; but Dickon overlooks that +weakness, feeling that I admire his greyhounds. It is arranged that I +am to see them work in the autumn. + +The months pass, and in his trap with the famous trotter in the shafts +we roll up the village street. Apple-bloom and golden fruit too are +gone, and the houses show more now among the bare trees; but as the rim +of the ruddy November sun comes forth from the edge of a cloud there +appears a buff tint everywhere in the background. When elm and ash are +bare the oaks retain their leaves, and these are illumined by the +autumn beams. Over-topped by tall elms and hidden by the orchards, the +oaks were hardly seen in summer; now they are found to be numerous and +give the prevailing hue to the place. + +Dickon taps the dashboard as the mare at last tops the hill, and away +she speeds along the level plateau for the Downs. Two greyhounds are +with us; two more have gone on under charge of a boy. Skirting the +hills a mile or two, we presently leave the road and drive over the +turf: there is no track, but Dickon knows his way. The rendezvous is a +small fir plantation, the young trees in which are but shoulder-high. +Below is a plain entirely surrounded by the hills, and partly green +with root crops: more than one flock of sheep is down there, and two +teams ploughing the stubble. Neither the ploughmen nor the shepherds +take the least heed of us, except to watch for the sport. The spare +couple are fastened in the trap; the boy jumps up and takes the reins. +Dickon puts the slip on the couple that are to run first, and we begin +to range. + +Just at the foot of the hill the grass is tall and grey; there, too, +are the dead dry stalks of many plants that cultivation has driven from +the ploughed fields and that find a refuge at the edge. A hare starts +from the very verge and makes up the Downs. Dickon slips the hounds, +and a faint halloo comes from the shepherds and the ploughmen. It is a +beautiful sight to see the hounds bound over the sward; the sinewy back +bends like a bow, but a bow that, instead of an arrow, shoots itself; +the deep chests drink the air. Is there any moment so joyful in life as +the second when the chase begins? As we gaze, before we even step +forward, the hare is over the ridge and out of sight. Then we race and +tear up the slope; then the boy in the trap flaps the reins and away +goes the mare out of sight too. + +Dickon is long and rawboned, a powerful fellow, strong of limb, and +twice my build; but he sips too often at the brown brandy, and after +the first burst I can head him. But he knows the hills and the route +the hare will take, so that I have but to keep pace. In five minutes as +we cross a ridge we see the game again; the hare is circling back—she +passes under us not fifty yards away, as we stand panting on the hill. +The youngest hound gains, and runs right over her; she doubles, the +older hound picks up the running. By a furze-bush she doubles again; +but the young one turns her—the next moment she is in the jaws of the +old dog. + +Again and again the hounds are slipped, now one couple, now the other: +we pant, and can scarcely speak with running, but the wild excitement +of the hour and the sweet pure air of the Downs supply fresh strength. +The little lad brings the mare anywhere: through the furze, among the +flint-pits, jolting over the ruts, she rattles along with sure +alacrity. There are five hares in the sack under the straw when at last +we get up and slowly drive down to the highway, reaching it some two +miles from where we left it. Dickon sends the dogs home by the boy on +foot; we drive round and return to the village by a different route, +entering it from the opposite direction. + +The reason of these things is that Sarsen has no great landlord. There +are fifty small proprietors, and not a single resident magistrate. +Besides the small farmers, there are scores of cottage owners, every +one of whom is perfectly independent. Nobody cares for anybody. It is a +republic, without even the semblance of a Government. It is liberty, +equality, and swearing. As it is just within the limit of a borough, +almost all the cottagers have votes, and are not to be trifled with. +The proximity of horse-racing establishments adds to the general +atmosphere of dissipation. Betting, card-playing, ferret-breeding and +dog-fancying, poaching and politics, are the occupations of the +populace. A little illicit badger-baiting is varied by a little +vicar-baiting; the mass of the inhabitants are the reddest of Reds. Que +voulez-vous? + +The edges of some large estates come up near, but the owners would +hardly like to institute a persecution of these turbulent folk. If they +did, where would be their influence at the next election? If a landlord +makes himself unpopular, his own personal value depreciates. He is a +nonentity in the committee-room, and his help rather deprecated by the +party than desired. The Sarsen fellows are not such fools as to break +pheasant preserves in the vale; as they are resident, that would not +answer. They keep outside the _sanctum sanctorum_ of the pheasant +coverts. But with ferret, dog, and gun, and now and then a partridge +net along the edge of the standing barley, they excel. So, too, with +the wire; and the broad open Downs are their happy hunting grounds, +especially in misty weather. + +This is the village of the apple-bloom, the loveliest spot imaginable. +After all, they are not such desperately bad fellows if you deduct +their sins against the game laws. They are a jovial lot, and free with +their money; they stand by one another—a great virtue in these +cold-blooded days. If one gets in trouble with the law the rest +subscribe the fine. They are full of knowledge of a certain sort, and +you may learn anything, from the best way to hang a dog upwards. + +When we reach the inn, and Dickon calls for the brown brandy, there in +the bar sits a gamekeeper, whose rubicund countenance beams with good +humour. He is never called upon to pay his score. Good fellow! in +addition he is popular, and every one asks him to drink: besides which, +a tip for a race now and then makes this world wear a smiling aspect to +him. + +Dickon’s “unconscious education”—absorbed rather than learnt in +boyhood—had not been acquired under conditions likely to lead him to +admire scenery. But, rough as he was, he was a good-natured fellow, and +it was through him that I became acquainted with a very beautiful +place. + +The footpath to The Park went for about half a mile under the shadow of +elm trees, and in spring time there was a continual noise of young +rooks in the nests above. Occasionally dead twigs, either dislodged +from the nests or broken off by the motions of the old birds, came +rustling down. One or two nests that had been blown out strewed the +sward with half a bushel of dead sticks. After the rookery the path +passed a lonely dairy, where the polished brazen vessels in the +skilling glittered like gold in the sunshine. Farther on came wide open +meadows with numerous oak-trees scattered in the midst—the outposts of +the great wood at hand. The elms were flourishing and vigorous; but +these detached oaks were decaying, and some dead, their hoar antiquity +contrasting with the green grass and flowers of the mead. + +The mansion was hidden by elm and chestnut, pines and sombre cedars. +From the edge of the lawn the steep slope of the Down rose, planted +with all manner of shrubs, the walks through which were inches deep in +dead leaves, needles, and fir-cones. Long neglect had permitted these +to accumulate, and the yew hedges had almost grown together and covered +the walk they bordered. + +The woods and preserves extended along the Downs, between the hills and +the meadows beneath. There was one path through these woods that led +into a narrow steep-sided coombe, one side of which was planted with +firs. On the other was a little grass, but so thin as scarcely to cover +the chalk. This side jutted out from the general line of the hills, and +formed a bold bluff, whose white precipitous cliff was a landmark for +many miles. In climbing the coombe, it was sometimes necessary to grasp +the bunches of grass; for it would have been impossible to recover from +a slip till, bruised and shaken, you rolled to the bottom, and perhaps +into the little streamlet flowing through the hollow. + +The summit was of small extent, but the view beautiful. A low fence of +withy had long since decayed, nothing but a few rotten stakes remaining +at the very verge of the precipice. Steep as it was, there were some +ledges that the rabbits frequented, making their homes in mid-air. +Further along, the slope, a little less perpendicular, was covered with +nut-tree bushes, where you could scramble down by holding to the +boughs. There was a tradition of a fox-hunter, in the excitement of the +chase, forcing his horse to descend through these bushes and actually +reaching the level meadows below in safety. + +Impossible as it seemed, yet when the hounds were in full cry beneath +it was easy to understand that in the eagerness of the moment a +horseman at the top might feel tempted to join the stirring scene at +any risk: for the fox frequently ran just below, making along the line +of coverts; and from that narrow perch on the cliff the whole field +came into sight at once. There was Reynard slipping ahead, and two or +more fields behind the foremost of the pack, while the rest, rushing +after, made the hills resound with their chiding. The leaders taking +the hedges, the main squadron splashing through a marshy place, the +outsiders straining to come up, and the last man behind, who rode +harder than any—all could be seen at the same time. + +It was a lovely spot, too, for dreaming on a summer’s day, reclining on +the turf, with the harebells swinging in the faint breeze. The extreme +solitude was its charm: no lanes or tracks other than those purely +pastoral came near. There were woods on either hand; in the fir +plantations the jays chattered unceasingly. The broad landscape +stretched out to the illimitable distance, till the power of the eye +failed and could trace it no farther. But if the gaze was lifted it +looked into blue space—the azure heaven not only overhead, but, as it +seemed, all around. + +Dickon was always to and fro the mansion here, and took me with him. +His object was ostensibly business: now it was a horse to buy, now a +fat bullock or sheep; now it was an acre or two of wood that was to be +cut. The people of the mansion were so much from home that their +existence was almost forgotten, and they were spoken of vaguely as “on +the Continent.” There was, in fact, a lack of ready-money, perhaps from +the accumulation of settlements, that reduced the nominal income of the +head to a tithe of what it should have been. + +Yet they were too proud to have in the modern builder, the modern +upholsterer, and, most dreadful of all, the modern “gardener,” to put +in French sashes, gilding and mirrors, and to root up the fine old yew +hedges and level the grand old trees. Such is the usual preparation +before an advertisement appears that a mansion of “historic +association,” and “replete with every modern convenience,” is to let, +with some thousand of acres of shooting, &c. + +They still kept up an establishment of servants—after a fashion—who did +much as they pleased. Dickon was a great favourite. As for myself, a +mere dreamy lad, I could go into the woods and wander as I liked, which +was sufficient. But I recollect the immense kitchen very well, and the +polished relics of the ancient turnspit machinery. There was a door +from it opening on a square stone-flagged court with a vertical +sun-dial on the wall; and beyond that ranges of disused +coach-houses—all cloudy, as it were, with cobwebs hanging on +old-fashioned post-chaises. Dickon was in love with one of the maids, a +remarkably handsome girl. + +She showed me the famous mantelpiece, a vast carved work, under which +you could stand upright. The legend was that once a year on a certain +night a sable horse and cloaked horseman rode across that great +apartment, flames snorting from the horse’s nostrils, and into the +fireplace, disappearing with a clap of thunder. She brought me, too, an +owl from the coach-houses, holding the bird by the legs firmly, her +hand defended by her apron from the claws. + +The butler was a little merry fellow, extremely fond of a gun, and +expert in using it. He seemed to have nothing to do but tell tales and +sing, except at the rare intervals when some of the family returned +unexpectedly. The keeper was always up there in the kitchen; he was as +pleasant and jovial as a man could well be, though full of oaths on +occasion. He was a man of one tale—of a somewhat enigmatical character. +He would ask a stranger if they had ever heard of such-and-such a +village where water set fire to a barn, ducks were drowned, and pigs +cut their own throats, all in a single day. + +It seemed that some lime had been stored in the barn, when the brook +rose and flooded the place; this slaked the lime and fired the straw, +and so the barn. Something of the same kind happens occasionally on the +river barges. The ducks were in a coop fastened down, so that they +could not swim on the surface of the flood, which passed over and +drowned them. The pigs were floated out of the sty, and in swimming +their sharp-edged hoofs struck their fat jowls just behind the ear at +every stroke till they cut into the artery, and so bled to death. Where +he got this history from I do not know. + +One bright October morning (towards the end of the month) Dickon drove +me over to the old place with his fast trotter—our double-barrels +hidden under some sacks in the trap. The keeper was already waiting in +the kitchen, sipping a glass of hot purl; the butler was filling every +pocket with cartridges. After some comparison of their betting-books, +for Dickon, on account of his acquaintance with the training +establishments, was up to most moves, we started. The keeper had to +send a certain number of pheasants and other game to the absent family +and their friends every now and then, and this duty was his pretext. +There was plenty of shooting to be got elsewhere, but the spice of +naughtiness about this was alluring. To reach that part of the wood +where it was proposed to shoot the shortest way led across some arable +fields. + +Fieldfares and redwings rose out of the hedges and flew away in their +peculiarly scattered manner—their flocks, though proceeding in the same +direction, seeming all loose and disordered. Where the ploughs had been +at work already the deep furrows were full of elm leaves, wafted as +they fell from the trees in such quantities as to make the groove left +by the share level with the ridges. A flock of lapwings were on the +clods in an adjacent field, near enough to be seen, but far beyond +gunshot. There might perhaps have been fifty birds, all facing one way +and all perfectly motionless. They were, in fact, watching us intently, +although not apparently looking towards us: they act so much in concert +as to seem drilled. So soon as the possibility of danger had gone by +each would begin to feed, moving ahead. + +The path then passed through the little meadows that joined the wood: +and the sunlight glistened on the dew, or rather on the hoar frost that +had melted and clung in heavy drops to the grass. Here one flashed +emerald; there ruby; another a pure brilliance like a diamond. Under +foot by the stiles the fallen acorns crunched as they split into halves +beneath the sudden pressure. + +The leaves still left on the sycamores were marked with large black +spots: the horse-chestnuts were quite bare; and already the tips of the +branches carried the varnish-coloured sheaths of the buds that were to +appear the following spring. These stuck to the finger if touched, as +if they really had been varnished. Through the long months of winter +they would remain, till under April showers and sunshine the sheath +fell back and the green leaflets pushed up, the two forming together a +rude cross for a short time. + +The day was perfectly still, and the colours of the leaves still left +glowed in the sunbeams. Beneath, the dank bronzed fern that must soon +shrivel was wet, and hung with spiders’ webs that like a slender +netting upheld the dew. The keeper swore a good deal about a certain +gentleman farmer whose lands adjoined the estate, but who held under a +different proprietor. Between these two there was a constant +bickering—the tenant angry about the damage done to his crops by the +hares and rabbits, and the keeper bitterly resenting the tenant’s watch +on his movements, and warnings to his employer that all was not quite +as it should be. + +The tenant had the right to shoot, and he was always about in the +turnips—a terrible thorn in the side of Dickon’s friend. The tenant +roundly declared the keeper a rascal, and told his master so in written +communications. The keeper declared the tenant set gins by the wood, in +which the pheasants stepped and had their legs smashed. Then the tenant +charged the keeper with trespassing; the other retorted that he decoyed +the pheasants by leaving peas till they dropped out of the pods. In +short, their hatred was always showing itself in some act of guerrilla +warfare. As we approached the part of the woods fixed on, two of the +keeper’s assistants, carrying thick sticks, stepped from behind a +hedge, and reported that they had kept a good watch, and the old fox +(the tenant) had not been seen that morning. So these fellows went +round to beat, and the guns were got ready. + +Sometimes you could hear the pheasants running before they reached the +low-cropped hawthorn hedge at the side of the plantation; sometimes +they came so quietly as to appear suddenly out from the ditch, having +crept through. Others came with a tremendous rush through the painted +leaves, rising just before the hedge; and now and then one flew +screaming high over the tops of the firs and ash-poles, his glossy neck +glowing in the sunlight and his long tail floating behind. These last +pleased me most, for when the shot struck the great bird going at that +rate even death could not at once arrest his progress. The impetus +carried him yards, gradually slanting downwards till he rolled in the +green rush bunches. + +Then a hare slipped out and ran the gauntlet, and filled the hollow +with his cries when the shot broke his hindquarters, till the dog had +him. Jays came in couples, and green woodpeckers singly: the magpies +cunningly flew aside instead of straight ahead; they never could do +anything straightforward. A stoat peeped out, but went back directly +when a rabbit whose retreat had been cut off bolted over his most +insidious enemy. Every now and then Dickon’s shot when he fired high +cut the twigs out of the ash by me. Then came the distant noise of the +beaters’ sticks, and the pheasants, at last thoroughly disturbed, flew +out in twos and threes at a time. Now the firing grew fierce, and the +roll of the volleys ceaseless. It was impossible to jam the cartridges +fast enough in the breech. + +A subtle flavour of sulphur filled the mouth, and the lips became dry. +Sunshine and gleaming leaves and sky and grass seemed to all disappear +in the fever of the moment. The gun burned the hands, all blackened by +the powder; the metal got hotter and hotter; the sward was poached and +trampled and dotted with cases; shot hissed through the air and +pattered in showers on the opposite plantation; the eyes, bleared and +bloodshot with the smoke, could scarce see to point the tube. Pheasants +fell, and no one heeded; pheasants escaped, and none noticed it; +pheasants were but just winged and ran wounded into the distant hedges; +pheasants were blown out of all living shape and could hardly be +gathered up. Not a word spoken: a breathless haste to load and blaze; a +storm of shot and smoke and slaughter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII +OBY AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR + + +One dark night, as I was walking on a lonely road, I kicked against +something, and but just saved myself from a fall. It was an intoxicated +man lying at full length. As a rule, it is best to let such people +alone; but it occurred to me that the mail-cart was due; with two +horses harnessed tandem-fashion, and travelling at full speed, the mail +would probably go over him. So I seized the fellow by the collar and +dragged him out of the way. Then he sat up, and asked in a very +threatening tone who I was. I mentioned my name: he grunted, and fell +back on the turf, where I left him. + +The incident passed out of my mind, when one afternoon a labourer +called, asking for me in a mysterious manner, and refusing to +communicate his business to any one else. When admitted, he produced a +couple of cock pheasants from under his coat, the tail feathers much +crumpled, but otherwise in fine condition. These he placed on the +table, remarking, “I ain’t forgot as you drawed I out of the raud thuck +night.” I made him understand that such presents were too embarrassing; +but he seemed anxious to do “summat,” so I asked him to find me a few +ferns and rare plants. + +This he did from time to time; and thus a species of acquaintanceship +grew up, and I learned all about him. He was always called “Oby” +(_i.e._ Obadiah), and was the most determined poacher of a neighbouring +district—a notorious fighting man—hardened against shame, an Ishmaelite +openly contemning authority and yet not insensible to kindness. I give +his history in his own language—softening only the pronunciation, that +would otherwise be unintelligible. + +“I lives with my granny in Thorney-lane: it be outside the village. My +mother be married agen, you see, to the smith: her have got a cottage +as belongs to her. My brother have got a van and travels the country; +and sometimes I and my wife goes with him. I larned to set up a wire +when I went to plough when I were a boy, but never took to it regular +till I went a-navigating [navvying] and seed what a spree it were. + +“There ain’t no such chaps for poaching as they navigators in all +England: I means where there be a railway a-making. I’ve knowed forty +of ’em go out together on a Sunday, and every man had a dog, and some +two; and good dogs too—lots of ’em as you wouldn’t buy for ten quid. +They used to spread out like, and sweep the fields as clean as the +crownd of your hat. Keepers weren’t no good at all, and besides they +never knowed which place us was going to make for. One of the chaps +gave I a puppy, and he growed into the finest greyhound as you’d find +in a day’s walk. The first time I was took up before the bench I had to +go to gaol, because the contractor had broke and the works was stopped, +so that my mates hadn’t no money to pay the fine. + +“The dog was took away home to granny by my butty [comrade], but one of +the gentlemen as seed it in the court sent his groom over and got it +off the old woman for five pound. She thought if I hadn’t the hound I +should give it up, and she come and paid me out of gaol. It was a +wonder as I didn’t break her neck; only her was a good woman, you see, +to I. But I wouldn’t have parted with that hound for a quart-full of +sovereigns. Many’s a time I’ve seed his name—they changed his name, of +course—in the papers for winning coursing matches. But we let that gent +as bought him have it warm; we harried his pheasants and killed the +most of ’em. + +“After that I came home, and took to it regular. It ain’t no use unless +you do it regular. If a man goes out into the fields now and then +chance-like he don’t get much, and is most sure to be caught—very +likely in the place of somebody else the keepers were waiting for and +as didn’t come. I goes to work every day the same as the rest, only I +always take piece-work, which I can come to when I fancy, and stay as +late in the evening as suits me with a good excuse. As I knows +navigating, I do a main bit of draining and water-furrowing, and I gets +good wages all the year round, and never wants for a job. You see, I +knows more than the fellows as have never been at nothing but plough. + +“The reason I gets on so well poaching is because I’m always at work +out in the fields, except when I goes with the van. I watches +everything as goes on, and marks the hare’s tracks and the rabbit +buries, and the double mounds and little copses as the pheasants +wanders off to in the autumn. I keeps a nation good look-out after the +keeper and his men, and sees their dodges—which way they walks, and how +they comes back sudden and unexpected on purpose. There’s mostly one +about with his eyes on me—when they sees me working on a farm they puts +a man special to look after me. I never does nothing close round where +I’m at work, so he waits about a main bit for nothing. + +“You see by going out piece-work I visits every farm in the parish. The +other men they works for one farmer for two or three or maybe twenty +years; but I goes very nigh all round the place—a fortnight here and a +week there, and then a month somewhere else. So I knows every hare in +the parish, and all his runs and all the double mounds and copses, and +the little covers in the corners of the fields. When I be at work on +one place I sets my wires about half a mile away on a farm as I ain’t +been working on for a month, and where the keeper don’t keep no special +look-out now I be gone. As I goes all round, I knows the ways of all +the farmers, and them as bides out late at night at their friends’, and +they as goes to bed early; and so I knows what paths to follow and what +fields I can walk about in and never meet nobody. + +“The dodge is always to be in the fields and to know everybody’s ways. +Then you may do just as you be a-mind. All of ’em knows I be +a-poaching; but that don’t make no difference for work; I can use my +tools, and do it as well as any man in the country, and they be glad to +get me on for ’em. They farmers as have got their shooting be sharper +than the keepers, and you can’t do much there; but they as haven’t got +the shooting don’t take no notice. They sees my wires in the grass, and +just looks the other way. If they sees I with a gun I puts un in ditch +till they be gone by, and they don’t look among the nettles. + +“Some of them as got land by the wood would like I to be there all day +and night. You see, their clover and corn feeds the hares and +pheasants; and then some day when they goes into the market and passes +the poultry-shop there be four or five score pheasants a-hanging up +with their long tails a-sweeping in the faces of them as fed ’em. The +same with the hares and the rabbits; and so they’d just as soon as I +had ’em—and a dalled deal sooner—out of spite. Lord bless you! if I was +to walk through their courtyards at night with a sack over my shoulders +full of you knows what, and met one of ’em, he’d tell his dog to stop +that yowling, and go in doors rather than see me. As for the rabbits, +they hates they worse than poison. They knocks a hare over now and then +themselves on the quiet—bless you! I could tell tales on a main few, +but I bean’t such a fellow as that. + +“But, you see I don’t run no risk except from the keeper hisself, the +men as helps un, and two or three lickspittles as be always messing +round after a ferreting job or some wood-cutting, and the Christmas +charities. It be enough to make a man sick to see they. This yer parish +be a very big un, and a be preserved very high, and I can do three +times as much in he as in the next un, as ain’t much preserved. So I +sticks to this un. + +“Of course they tried to drive I out of un, and wanted the cottage; but +granny had all the receipts for the quit-rent, and my lard and all the +lawyers couldn’t shove us out, and there we means to bide. You have +seed that row of oaks as grows in the hedge behind our house. One of +’em leaned over the roof, and one of the limbs was like to fall; but +they wouldn’t cut him, just to spite us, and the rain dripping spoilt +the thatch. So I just had another chimney built at that end for an +oven, and kept up the smoke till all the tree that side died. I’ve had +more than one pheasant through them oaks, as draws ’em: I had one in a +gin as I put in the ditch by my garden. + +“They started a tale as ’twas I as stole the lambs a year or two ago, +and they had me up for it; but they couldn’t prove nothing agen me. +Then they had me for unhinging the gates and drowning ’em in the water, +but when they was going to try the case they two young farmers as you +know of come and said as they did it when they was tight, and so I got +off. They said as ’twas I that put the poison for the hounds when three +on ’em took it and died while the hunt was on. It were the dalledest +lie! I wouldn’t hurt a dog not for nothing. The keeper hisself put that +poison, I knows, ’cause he couldn’t bear the pack coming to upset the +pheasants. Yes, they been down upon I a main bit, but I means to bide. +All the farmers knows as I never touched no lamb, nor even pulled a +turmot, and they never couldn’t get no witnesses. + +“After a bit I catched the keeper hisself and the policeman at it; and +there be another as knows it, and who do you think that be? It be the +man in town as got the licence to sell game as haves most of my hares; +the keeper selled he a lot as the money never got to my lard’s pocket +and the steward never knowed of. Look at that now! So now he shuts his +eye and axes me to drink, and give me the ferreting job in Longlands +Mound; but, Lord bless ’ee, I bean’t so soft as he thinks for. + +“They used to try and get me to fight the keeper when they did catch me +with a wire, but I knowed as hitting is transporting, and just put my +hands in my pockets and let ’em do as they liked. _They_ knows I bean’t +afraid of ’em in the road; I’ve threshed more than one of ’em, but I +ain’t going to jump into _that_ trap. I’ve been before the bench, at +one place and t’other, heaps of times, and paid the fine for trespass. +Last time the chairman said to I, ‘So you be here again, Oby; we hear a +good deal about you.’ I says, ‘Yes, my lard, I be here agen, but people +never don’t hear nothing about _you_.’ That shut the old duffer up. +Nobody never heard nothing of he, except at rent-audit. + +“However, they all knows me now—my lard and the steward, and the keeper +and the bailies, and the farmers; and they don’t take half the notice +of I as they used to. The keeper he don’t dare, nor the policeman as I +telled you, and the rest be got used to me and my ways. And I does very +well one week with t’other. One week I don’t take nothing, and the next +I haves a good haul, chiefly hares and rabbits; ’cause of course I +never goes into the wood, nor the plantations. It wants eight or ten +with crape masks on for that job. + +“I sets up about four wires, sometimes only two; if you haves so many +it is a job to look after ’em. I stops the hare’s other runs, so that +she is sure to come along mine where I’ve got the turnpike up: the +trick is to rub your hand along the runs as you want to stop, or spit +on ’em, or summat like that; for a hare won’t pass nothing of that +sort. So pussy goes back and comes by the run as I’ve chose: if she +comes quick she don’t holler; if she comes slow she squeals a bit +sometimes before the wire hangs her. Very often I bean’t fur off and +stops the squealing. That’s why I can’t use a gin—it makes ’em holler +so. I ferrets a goodish few rabbits on bright nights in winter. + +“As for the pheasants, I gets them mostly about acorn-time; they comes +out of the plantations then. I keeps clear of the plantations, because, +besides the men a-watching, they have got dogs chained up, and +alarm-guns as goes off if you steps on the spring; and some have got a +string stretched along as you be pretty sure to kick against, and then, +bang! and all the dogs sets up a yowling. Of course it’s only powder, +but it brings the keepers along. But when the acorns and the berries be +ripe, the pheasants comes out along the hedges after ’em, and gets up +at the haws and such like. They wanders for miles, and as they don’t +care to go all the way back to roost they bides in the little copses as +I told you of. They come to the same copses every year, which is +curious, as most of them as will come this year will be shot before +next. + +“If I can’t get ’em the fust night, I just throws a handful or two of +peas about the place, and they’ll be sure to stay, and likely enough +bring two or three more. I mostly shoots ’em with just a little puff of +powder as you wouldn’t hear across one field, especially if it’s a +windy night. I had a air-gun, as was took from me, but he weren’t much +go: I likes a gun as throws the shot wide, but I never shoots any but +roosters, unless I catch ’em standing still. + +“All as I can tell you is as the dodge is this: you watch everybody, +and be always in the fields, and always work one parish till you knows +every hare in un, and always work by yourself and don’t have no mates.” + +There were several other curious characters whom we frequently saw at +work. The mouchers were about all the year round, and seemed to live +in, or by the hedges, as much as the mice. These men probably see more +than the most careful observer, without giving it a thought. + +In January the ice that freezes in the ditches appears of a dark +colour, because it lies without intervening water on the dead brown +leaves. Their tint shows through the translucent crystal, but near the +edge of the ice three white lines or bands run round. If by any chance +the ice gets broken or upturned, these white bands are seen to be +caused by flanges projecting from the under surface, almost like +stands. They are sometimes connected in such a way that the parallel +flanges appear like the letter “h” with the two down-strokes much +prolonged. In the morning the chalky rubble brought from the pits upon +the Downs and used for mending gateways leading into the fields +glistens brightly. Upon the surface of each piece of rubble there +adheres a thin coating of ice: if this be lightly struck it falls off, +and with it a flake of the chalk. As it melts, too, the chalk splits +and crumbles; and thus in an ordinary gateway the same process may be +seen that disintegrates the most majestic cliff. + +The stubbles—those that still remain—are full of linnets, upon which +the mouching fowler preys in the late autumn. And when at the end of +January the occasional sunbeams give some faint hope of spring, he +wanders through the lanes carrying a decoy bird in a darkened cage, and +a few boughs of privet studded with black berries and bound round with +rushes for the convenience of handling. + +The female yellow-hammers, whose hues are not so brilliant as those of +the male birds, seem as winter approaches to flock together, and roam +the hedges and stubble fields in bevies. Where loads of corn have +passed through gates the bushes often catch some straws, and the tops +of the gateposts, being decayed and ragged, hold others. These are +neglected while the seeds among the stubble, the charlock, and the +autumn dandelion are plentiful and while the ears left by the gleaners +may still be found. But in the shadowless winter days, hard and cold, +each scattered straw is sought for. + +A few days before the new year [1879] opened I saw a yellow-hammer +attacking, in a very ingenious manner, a straw that hung pendent, the +ear downwards, from the post of a windy gateway. She fluttered up from +the ground, clung to the ear, and outspread her wings, keeping them +rigid. The draught acted on the wings, just as the breeze does on a +paper kite, and there the bird remained supported without an effort +while the ear was picked. Now and then the balance was lost, but she +was soon up again, and again used the wind to maintain her position. +The brilliant cockbirds return in the early spring, or at least appear +to do so, for the habits of birds are sometimes quite local. + +It is probable that in severe and continued frost many hedgehogs die. +On January 19 [1879], in the midst of the sharp weather, a hedgehog +came to the door opening on the garden at night, and was taken in. +Though carefully tended, the poor creature died next day: it was so +weak it could scarcely roll itself into a ball. As the vital heat +declined the fleas deserted their host and issued from among the +spines. In February, unless it be a mild season, the mounds are still +bare; and then under the bushes the ground may be sometimes seen strewn +with bulbous roots, apparently of the blue-bell, lying thickly together +and entirely exposed. + +The moucher now carries a bill-hook, and as he shambles along the road +keeps a sharp look-out for briars. When he sees one the roots of which +are not difficult to get at, and whose tall upright stem is green—if +dark it is too old—he hacks it off with as much of the root as +possible. The lesser branches are cut, and the stem generally trimmed; +it is then sold to the gardeners as the stock on which to graft +standard roses. In a few hours as he travels he will get together quite +a bundle of such briars. He also collects moss, which is sold for the +purpose of placing in flowerpots to hide the earth. The moss preferred +is that growing on and round stoles. + +The melting of the snow and the rains in February cause the ditches to +overflow and form shallow pools in the level meadows. Into these +sometimes the rooks wade as far as the length of their legs allows +them, till the discoloured yellow water almost touches the lower part +of the breast. The moucher searches for small shell snails, of which +quantities are sold as food for cage birds, and cuts small “turfs” a +few inches square from the green by the roadside. These are in great +request for larks, especially at this time of the year, when they begin +to sing with all their might. + +Large flocks of woodpigeons are now in every field where the tender +swede and turnip tops are sprouting green and succulent. These “tops” +are the moucher’s first great crop of the year. The time that they +appear varies with the weather: in a mild winter some may be found +early in January; if the frost has been severe there may be none till +March. These the moucher gathers by stealth; he speedily fills a sack, +and goes off with it to the nearest town. Turnip tops are much more in +demand now than formerly, and the stealing of them a more serious +matter. This trade lasts some time, till the tops become too large and +garden greens take their place. + +In going to and fro the fields the moucher searches the banks and digs +out primrose “mars,” and ferns with the root attached, which he hawks +from door to door in the town. He also gathers quantities of spring +flowers, as violets. This spring [1879], owing to the severity of the +season, there were practically none to gather, and when the weather +moderated the garden flowers preceded those of the hedge. Till the 10th +of March not a spot of colour was to be seen. About that time bright +yellow flowers appeared suddenly on the clayey banks and waste places, +and among the hard clay lumps of fields ploughed but not sown. + +The brilliant yellow formed a striking contrast to the dull brown of +the clods, there being no green leaf to moderate the extremes of tint. +These were the blossoms of the coltsfoot, that sends up a stalk +surrounded with faintly rosy scales. Several such stalks often spring +from a single clod: lift the heavy clod, and you have half a dozen +flowers, a whole bunch, without a single leaf. Usually the young +grasses and the seed-leaves of plants have risen up and supply a +general green; but this year the coltsfoot bloomed unsupported, +studding the dark ground with gold. + +Now the frogs are busy, and the land lizards come forth. Even these the +moucher sometimes captures; for there is nothing so strange but that +some one selects it for a pet. The mad March hares scamper about in +broad daylight over the corn, whose pale green blades rise in straight +lines a few inches above the soil. They are chasing their skittish +loves, instead of soberly dreaming the day away in a bunch of grass. +The ploughman walks in the furrow his share has made, and presently +stops to measure the “lands” with the spud. His horses halt dead in the +tenth of a second at the sound of his voice, glad to rest for a minute +from their toil. Work there is in plenty now, for stone-picking, +hoeing, and other matters must be attended to; but the moucher lounges +in the road decoying chaffinches, or perhaps earns a shilling by +driving some dealer’s cattle home from fair and market. + +By April his second great crop is ready—the watercress; the precise +time of course varies very much, and at first the quantities are small. +The hedges are now fast putting on the robe of green that gradually +hides the wreck of last year’s growth. The withered head of the teazle, +black from the rain, falls and disappears. Great burdock stems lie +prostrate. Thick and hard as they are while the sap is still in them, +in winter the wet ground rots the lower part till the blast overthrows +the stalk. The hollow “gicks” too, that lately stood almost to the +shoulder, is down, or slanting, temporarily supported by some branch. +Just between the root and the stalk it has decayed till nothing but a +narrow strip connects the dry upper part with the earth. The moucher +sells the nests and eggs of small birds to townsfolk who cannot +themselves wander among the fields, but who love to see something that +reminds them of the green meadows. + +As the season advances and the summer comes he gathers vast quantities +of dandelion leaves, parsley, sowthistle, clover, and so forth, as food +for the tame rabbits kept in towns. If his haunt be not far from a +river, he spends hours collecting bait—worm and grub and fly—for the +boatmen, who sell them again to the anglers. + +Again there is work in the meadows—the haymaking is about, and the +farmers are anxious for men. But the moucher passes by and looks for +quaking grass, bunches of which have a ready sale. Fledgeling +goldfinches and linnets, young rabbits, young squirrels, even the nest +of the harvest-trow mouse, and occasionally a snake, bring him in a +little money. He picks the forget-me-nots from the streams and the +“blue-bottle” from the corn: bunches of the latter are sometimes sold +in London at a price that seems extravagant to those who have seen +whole fields tinted with its beautiful azure. By-and-by the golden +wheat calls for an army of workers; but the moucher passes on and +gathers groundsel. + +Then come the mushrooms: he knows the best places, and soon fills a +basket full of “buttons” picking them very early in the morning. These +are then put in “punnets” by the greengrocers and retailed at a high +price. Later the blackberries ripen and form his third great crop; the +quantity he brings in to the town is astonishing, and still there is +always a customer. The blackberry harvest lasts for several weeks, as +the berries do not all ripen at once, but successively, and is +supplemented by elderberries and sloes. The moucher sometimes sleeps on +the heaps of disused tan in a tanyard; tanyards are generally on the +banks of small rivers. The tan is said to possess the property of +preserving those who sleep on it from chills and cold, though they may +lie quite exposed to the weather. + +There is generally at least one such a man as this about the outskirts +of market towns, and he is an “original” best defined by negatives. He +is not a tramp, for he never enters the casual wards and never +begs—that is, of strangers; though there are certain farmhouses where +he calls once now and then and gets a slice of bread and cheese and a +pint of ale. He brings to the farmhouse a duck’s egg that has been +dropped in the brook by some negligent bird, or carries intelligence of +the nest made by some roaming goose in a distant withy-bed. Or once, +perhaps, he found a sheep on its back in a narrow furrow, unable to get +up and likely to die if not assisted, and by helping the animal to gain +its legs earned a title to the owner’s gratitude. + +He is not a thief; apples and plums and so on are quite safe, though +the turnip-tops are not: there is a subtle casuistry involved here—the +distinction between the quasi-wild and the garden product. He is not a +poacher in the sense of entering coverts, or even snaring a rabbit. If +the pheasants are so numerous and so tame that passing carters have to +whip them out of the way of the horses, it is hardly wonderful if one +should disappear now and then. Nor is he like the Running Jack that +used to accompany the more famous packs of fox-hounds, opening gates, +holding horses, and a hundred other little services, and who kept up +with the hunt by sheer fleetness of foot. + +Yet he is fleet of foot in his way, though never seen to run; he _pads_ +along on naked feet like an animal, never straightening the leg, but +always keeping the knee a little bent. With a basket of watercress +slung at his back by a piece of tar-cord, he travels rapidly in this +way; his feet go “pad, pad” on the thick white dust, and he easily +overtakes a good walker and keeps up the pace for miles without +exertion. The watercress is a great staple, because it lasts for so +many months. Seeing the nimble way in which he gathers it, thrusting +aside the brook-lime, breaking off the coarser sprays, snipping away +pieces of root, sorting and washing, and thinking of the amount of work +to be got through before a shilling is earned, one would imagine that +the slow, idling life of the labourer, with his regular wages, would be +far more enticing. + +Near the stream the ground is perhaps peaty: little black pools appear +between tufts of grass, some of them streaked with a reddish or +yellowish slime that glistens on the surface of the dark water; and as +you step there is a hissing sound as the spongy earth yields, and a +tiny spout is forced forth several yards distant. Some of the drier +part of the soil the moucher takes to sell for use in gardens and +flower-pots as peat. + +The years roll on, and he grows old. But no feebleness of body or mind +can induce him to enter the workhouse; he cannot quit his old haunts. +Let it rain or sleet, or let the furious gale drive broken boughs +across the road, he still sleeps in some shed or under a straw-rick. In +sheer pity he is committed every now and then to prison for +vagabondage—not for punishment, but in order to save him from himself. +It is in vain: the moment he is out he returns to his habits. All he +wants is a little beer—he is not a drunkard—and a little tobacco, and +the hedges. Some chilly evening, as the shadows thicken, he shambles +out of the town, and seeks the limekiln in the ploughed field, where, +the substratum being limestone, the farmer burns it. Near the top of +the kiln the ground is warm; there he reclines and sleeps. + +The night goes on. Out from the broken blocks of stone now and again +there rises a lambent flame, to shine like a meteor for a moment and +then disappear. The rain falls. The moucher moves uneasily in his +sleep; instinctively he rolls or crawls towards the warmth, and +presently lies extended on the top of the kiln. The wings of the +water-fowl hurtle in the air as they go over; by-and-by the heron +utters his loud call. + +Very early in the morning the quarryman comes to tend his fire, and +starts to see on the now redhot and glowing stones, sunk below the rim, +the presentment of a skeleton formed of the purest white ashes—a +ghastly spectacle in the grey of the dawn, as the mist rises and the +peewit plaintively whistles over the marshy meadow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + + +The tower of the church at Essant Hill was so low that it scarcely +seemed to rise above the maples in the hedges. It could not be seen +until the last stile in the footpath across the meadows was passed. +Church and tower then came into view together on the opposite side of a +large open field. A few aged hawthorn trees dotted the sward, and +beyond the church the outskirts of a wood were visible, but no +dwellings could be seen. Upon a second and more careful glance, +however, the chimney of a cottage appeared above a hedge, so covered +with ivy as hardly to be separated from the green of the boughs. + +There were houses of course somewhere in Essant, but they were so +scattered that a stranger might doubt the existence of the village. A +few farmsteads long distances apart, and some cottages standing in +green lanes and at the corners of the fields, were nearly all; there +was nothing resembling a “street”—not so much as a row. The church was +in effect the village, and the church was simply the mausoleum of the +Dessant family, the owners of the place. Essant Hill as a name had been +rather a problem to the archæologists, there being no hill: the ground +was quite level. The explanation at last admitted was that Essant Hill +was a corruption of D’Essantville. + +It seemed probable that the population had greatly diminished; because, +although the church was of great antiquity, there was space still for +interments in the yard. A yew tree of immense size stood in one corner, +and was by tradition associated with the fortunes of the family. Though +the old trunk was much decayed, yet there were still green and +flourishing shoots; so that the superstitious elders said the luck of +the house was returning. + +Within, the walls of the church were covered with marble slabs, and the +space was reduced by the tombs of the Dessants, one with a recumbent +figure; there were two brasses level with the pavement, and in the +chancel hung the faded hatchments of the dead. For the pedigree went +back to the Battle of Hastings, and there was scarce room for more +heraldry. From week’s end to week’s end the silent nave and aisles +remained empty; the chirp of the sparrows was the only sound to be +heard there. There being no house attached to the living, the holder +could not reside; so the old church slumbered in the midst of the +meadows, the hedges, and woods, day after day, year after year. + +You could sit on the low churchyard wall in early summer under the +shade of the elms in the hedge, whose bushes and briars came right +over, and listen to the whistling of the blackbirds or the varied note +of the thrush; you might see the whitethroat rise and sing just over +the hedge, or look upwards and watch the swallows and swifts wheeling, +wheeling, wheeling in the sky. No one would pass to disturb your +meditations, whether simply dreaming of nothing in the genial summer +warmth, or thinking over the course of history since the prows of the +Norman ships grounded on the beach. If we suppose the time, instead of +June, to be August or September, there would not even be the singing of +the birds. But as you sat on the wall, by-and-by the pheasants, tame as +chickens, would come up the hedge and over into the churchyard. + +Leaving the church to stroll by the footpath across the meadow towards +the wood, at the first gateway half-a-dozen more pheasants scatter +aside, just far enough to let you pass. In the short dusty lane more +pheasants; and again at the edge of the cornfield. None of these show +any signs of alarm, and only move just far enough to avoid being +trodden on. Approaching the wood there are yet more pheasants, +especially near the fir plantations that come up to the keeper’s +cottage and form one side of the enclosure of his garden. The pheasants +come up to the door to pick up what they can—not long since they were +fed there—and then wander away between the slender fir trunks, and +beyond them out into the fields. + +The path leads presently into a beautiful park, the only defect of +which is that it is without undulation. It is quite level; but still +the clumps of noble timber are pleasant to gaze upon. In one spot there +still stands the grey wall and buttress of some ancient building, +doubtless the relic of an ecclesiastical foundation. The present +mansion is not far distant; it is of large size, but lacks elegance. +Inside, nothing that modern skill can supply to render a residence +comfortable, convenient, and (as art is understood in furniture) +artistic has been neglected. + +Behind the fir plantations there is an extensive range of stabling, +recently erected, with all the latest improvements. A telegraph wire +connects the house with the stable, so that carriage or horse may be +instantly summoned. Another wire has been carried to the nearest +junction with the general telegraphic system; so that the resident in +this retired spot may communicate his wishes without a moment’s delay +to any part of the world. + +In the gardens and pleasure-grounds near the house all manner of +ornamental shrubs are planted. There are conservatories, vineries, +pineries; all the refinements of horticulture. The pheasants stray +about the gravel walks and across the close-mown lawn where no daisy +dares to lift its head. Yet, with all this precision of luxury, one +thing is lacking—_the_ one thing, the keystone of English country +life—_i.e._ a master whose heart is in the land. + +The estate is in process of “nursing” for a minor. The revenues had +become practically sequestrated to a considerable extent in consequence +of careless living when the minor nominally succeeded. It happened that +the steward appointed was not only a lawyer of keen intelligence, but a +conscientious man. He did his duty thoroughly. Every penny was got out +of the estate that could be got, and every penny was saved. + +First, the rents were raised to the modern standard, many of them not +having been increased for years. Then the tenants were in effect +ordered to farm to the highest pitch, and to improve the soil itself by +liberal investment. Buildings, drains, and so forth were provided for +them; they only had to pay a small percentage upon the money expended +in construction. In this there was nothing that could be complained of; +but the hard, mechanical, unbending spirit in which it was done—the +absence of all kind of sympathy—caused a certain amount of discontent. +The steward next proceeded to turn the mansion, the park, home farm, +and preserves into revenue. + +Everything was prepared to attract the wealthy man who wanted the +temporary use of a good country house, first-class shooting and +hunting. He succeeded in doing what few gentlemen have accomplished: he +made the pheasants pay. One reason, of course, was that gentlemen have +expenses outside and beyond breeding and keeping: the shooting party +itself is expensive; whereas here the shooting party paid hard cash for +their amusement. The steward had no knowledge of pheasants; but he had +a wide experience of one side of human nature, and he understood +accounts. + +The keepers were checked by figures at every turn, finding it +impossible to elude the businesslike arrangements that were made. In +revenue the result was highly successful. The mansion with the +first-class shooting, hunting, and lovely woodlands—every modern +convenience and comfort in the midst of the most rural scenery—let at a +high price to good tenants. There was an income from what had +previously been profitless. Under this shrewd management the estate was +fast recovering. + +At the same time the whole parish groaned in spirit. The farmers +grumbled at the moral pressure which forced them to progress in spite +of themselves. They grumbled at the strange people who took up their +residence in their midst and suddenly claimed all the loyalty which was +the due of the old family. These people hunted over their fields, +jumped over the hedges, glanced at them superciliously, and seemed +astonished if every hat was not raised when they came in sight. The +farmers felt that they were regarded as ignorant barbarians, and +resented the town-bred insolence of people who aped the country +gentleman. + +They grumbled about the over-preservation of game, and they grumbled +about the rabbits. The hunt had its grumble too because some of the +finest coverts were closed to the hounds, and because they wanted to +know what became of the foxes that formerly lived in those coverts. +Here was a beautiful place—a place that one might dream life away +in—filled with all manner of discontent. + +Everything was done with the best intention. But the keystone was +wanting—the landlord, the master, who had grown up in the traditions of +the spot, and between whom and the people there would have been, even +despite of grievances, a certain amount of sympathy. So true is it that +in England, under the existing system of land tenure, an estate cannot +be worked like the machinery of a factory. + +At first, when the pheasant-preserving began to reach such a height, +there was a great deal of poaching by the resident labourers. The +temptation was thrust so closely before their faces they could not +resist it. When pheasants came wandering into the cottage gardens, and +could even be enticed into the sheds and so secured by simply shutting +the door, men who would not have gone out of their way to poach were +led to commit themselves. + +There followed a succession of prosecutions and fines, till the place +began to get a reputation for that sort of thing. It was at last +intimated to the steward by certain gentlemen that this course of +prosecution was extremely injudicious. For it is a fact—a fact +carefully ignored sometimes—that resident gentlemen object to +prosecutions, and, so far from being anxious to fine or imprison +poachers, would very much rather not. The steward took the hint, and +instead increased his watchers. But by this time the novelty of +pheasants roaming about like fowls had begun to wear off, and their +services were hardly needed. Men went by pheasants with as much +indifference as they would pass a tame duck by the roadside. + +Such poachers as visited the woods came from a distance. Two determined +raids were carried out by strangers, who escaped. Every now and then +wires were found that had been abandoned, but the poaching ceased to be +more than is usual on most properties. So far as the inhabitants of the +parish were concerned it almost ceased altogether; but every now and +then the strollers, gipsies, and similar characters carried off a +pheasant or a hare, or half a dozen rabbits. These offenders when +detected were usually charged before the Bench at a market town not +many miles distant. Let us follow one there. + +The little town of L——, which has not even a branch railway, mainly +consists of a long street. In one part this street widens out, so that +the houses are some forty yards or more apart, and it then again +contracts. This irregularly shaped opening is the market-place, and +here in the centre stands a rude-looking building. It is supported upon +thick short pillars, and was perhaps preceded by a wooden structure. +Under these pillars there is usually a shabby chaise or two run in for +cover, and the spot is the general rendezvous of all the dogs in the +town. + +This morning there are a few loafers hanging round the place; and the +tame town pigeons have fluttered down, and walk with nodding heads +almost up to them. These pigeons always come to the edge of a group of +people, mindful of the stray grain and peas that fall from the hands of +farmers and dealers examining samples on market days. Presently, two +constables come across carrying a heavy, clumsy box between them. They +unlock a door, and take the box upstairs into the hall over the +pillars. After them saunters a seedy man, evidently a clerk, with a +rusty black bag; and after him again—for the magistrates’ Clerk’s clerk +must have _his_ clerk—a boy with some leather-bound books. + +Some of the loafers touch their hats as a gentleman—a magistrate—rides +up the street. But although the church clock is striking the hour fixed +for the sessions to begin he does not come over to the hall upon +dismounting in the inn-yard, but quietly strolls away to transact some +business with the wine-merchant or the saddler. There really is not the +least hurry. The Clerk stands in the inn porch calmly enjoying the +September sunshine, and chatting with the landlord. Two or three more +magistrates drive up; presently the chairman strolls over on foot from +his house, which is almost in the town, to the inn, and joins in the +pleasant gossip going on there, of course in a private apartment. + +Up in the justice-room the seedy Clerk’s clerk is leaning out of the +window and conversing with a man below who has come along with a +barrow-load of vegetables from his allotment. Some boys are spinning +tops under the pillars. On the stone steps that lead up to the hall a +young mother sits nursing her infant; she is waiting to “swear” the +child. In the room itself several gipsy-looking men and women lounge in +a corner. At one end is a broad table and some comfortable chairs +behind it. In front of each chair, on the table, two sheets of clean +foolscap have been placed on a sheet of blotting-paper. These and a +variety of printed forms were taken from the clumsy box that is now +open. + +At last there is a slight stir as a group is seen to emerge from the +inn, and the magistrates take their seats. An elderly man who sits by +the chair cocks his felt hat on the back of his head: the clerical +magistrate very tenderly places his beaver in safety on the broad +mantelpiece, that no irreverent sleeve may ruffle its gloss: several +others who rarely do more than nod assent range themselves on the +flanks; one younger man who looks as if he understood horses pulls out +his toothpick. The chairman, stout and gouty, seizes a quill and +sternly looks over the list of cases. + +Half a dozen summonses for non-payment of rates come first; then a +dispute between a farmer and his man. After this the young mother +“swears” her child; and, indeed, there is some very hard swearing here +on both sides. A wrangle between two women—neighbours—who accuse each +other of assault, and scream and chatter their loudest, comes next. +Before they decide it, the Bench retire, and are absent a long time. + +By degrees a buzz arises, till the justice-room is as noisy as a +market. Suddenly the door of the private room opens, and the Clerk +comes out; instantly the buzz subsides, and in the silence those who +are nearest catch something about the odds and the St. Leger, and an +anything but magisterial roar of laughter. The chairman appears, +rigidly compressing his features, and begins to deliver his sentence +before he can sit down, but the solemn effect is much marred by the +passing of a steam ploughing engine. The audience, too, tend away +towards the windows to see whose engine it is. + +“Silence!” cries the Clerk, who has himself been looking out of window; +the shuffling of feet ceases, and it is found that after this long +consultation the Bench have dismissed both charges. The next case on +the list is poaching; and at the call of his name one of the +gipsy-looking men advances, and is ordered to stand before that part of +the table which by consent represents the bar. + +“Oby Bottleton,” says the Clerk, half reading, half extemporizing, and +shuffling his papers to conceal certain slips of technicality; “you are +charged with trespassing in pursuit of game at Essant Hill—that you did +use a wire on the estate—on land in the occupation of Johnson.”—“It’s a +lie!” cries a good-looking, dark-complexioned woman, who has come up +behind the defendant (the whilome navvy), and carries a child so +wrapped in a shawl as to be invisible. “Silence! or you’ll have to go +outside the court. Mr. Dalton Dessant will leave the Bench during the +hearing of this case.” Mr. Dalton Dessant, one of the silent +magistrates already alluded to, bows to the chairman, and wriggles his +chair back about two feet from the table. There he gazes at the +ceiling. He is one of the trustees of the Essant Hill property; and the +Bench are very careful to consult public opinion in L—— borough. + +The first witness is an assistant keeper: the head keeper stands behind +him—a fine man, still upright and hearty-looking, but evidently at the +beginning of the vale of years; he holds his hat in his hand; the +sunlight falls through the casement on his worn velveteen jacket. The +assistant, with the aid of a few questions from the Clerk, gives his +evidence very clear and fairly. “I saw the defendant’s van go down the +lane,” he says: + +“It bean’t my van,” interrupts the defendant; “it’s my brother’s.” + +“You’ll have an opportunity of speaking presently,” says the Clerk. “Go +on” (to the witness). + +“After the van went down the lane, it stopped by the highway-road, and +the horse was taken out. The women left the van with baskets, and went +towards the village.” + +“Yes, yes; come to the point. Did you hide yourself by order of the +head keeper?” + +“I did—in the nutwood hedge by Three Corner Piece; after a bit I saw +the defendant.” + +“Had you any reason for watching there?” + +“There was a wire and a rabbit in it.” + +“Well, what happened?” + +“I waited a long time, and presently the defendant got over the gate. +He was very particular not to step on the soft mud by the gate—he kind +of leaped over it, not to leave the mark of his boots. He had a lurcher +with him, and I was afraid the dog would scent me in the hedge.” + +“You rascal!” (from the defendant’s wife). + +“But he didn’t, and, after looking carefully round, the defendant +picked up the rabbit, and put it and the wire in his pocket.” + +“What did you do then?” + +“I got out of the hedge and came towards him. Directly he saw me he ran +across the field; I whistled as loud as I could, and he” (jerking a +thumb back towards the head keeper) “came out of the firs into the lane +and stopped him. We found the wire and the rabbit in his pocket, and +two more wires. I produce the wires.” + +This was the sum of the evidence; the head keeper simply confirmed the +latter part of it. Oby replied that it was all false from beginning to +end. He had not got corduroy trousers on that day, as stated. He was +not there at all: he was in the village, and he could call witnesses to +prove it. The Clerk reminded the audience that there was such a thing +as imprisonment for perjury. + +Then the defendant turned savagely on the first witness, and admitted +the truth of his statement by asking what he said when collared in the +lane. “You said you had had a good lot lately, and didn’t care if you +was nailed this time.” + +“Oh, what awful lies!” cried the wife. “It’s a wonder you don’t fall +dead!” + +“You were not there,” the Clerk remarked quietly. “Now, Oby, what is +your defence? Have you got any witnesses?” + +“No; I ain’t got no witnesses. All as I did, I know I walked up the +hedge to look for mushrooms. I saw one of them things”—meaning the +wires on the table—“and I just stooped down to see what it was, ’cos I +didn’t know. I never seed one afore; and I was just going to pick it up +and look at it” (the magistrates glance at each other, and cannot +suppress a smile at this profound innocence), “when this fellow jumped +out and frightened me. I never seed no rabbit.” + +“Why, you put the rabbit in your pocket,” interrupts the first witness. + +“Never mind,” said the Clerk to the witness; “let him go on.” + +“That’s all as I got to say,” continues the defendant. “I never seed no +such things afore; and if he hadn’t come I should have put it down +again.” + +“But you were trespassing,” said the Clerk. + +“I didn’t know it. There wasn’t no notice-board.” + +“Now, Oby,” cried the head keeper, “you know you’ve been along that +lane this ten years.” + +“That will do” (from the chairman); “is there any more evidence?” + +As none was forthcoming, the Bench turned a little aside and spoke in +low tones. The defendant’s wife immediately set up a sobbing, varied +occasionally by a shriek; the infant woke up and cried, and two or +three women of the same party behind began to talk in excited tones +about “Shame.” The sentence was 2_l_. and costs—an announcement that +caused a perfect storm of howling and crying. + +The defendant put his hands in his pockets with the complacent +expression of a martyr. “I must go to gaol a’ spose; none of ourn ever +went thur afore: a’ spose _I_ must go.” “Come,” said the Clerk, “why, +you or your brother bought a piece of land and a cottage not long +ago,”—then to the Bench, “They’re not real gipsies: he is a grandson of +old Bottleton who had the tollgate; you recollect, Sir.” + +But the defendant declares he has no money; his friends shake their +heads gloomily; and amid the shrieking of his wife and the crying of +the child he is removed in the custody of two constables, to be +presently conveyed to gaol. With ferocious glances at the Bench, as if +they would like to tear the chairman’s eyes out, the women leave the +court. + +“Next case,” calls the Clerk. The court sits about two hours longer, +having taken some five hours to get through six cases. Just as the +chairman rises the poacher’s wife returns to the table, without her +child, angrily pulls out a dirty canvas bag, and throws down three or +four sovereigns before the seedy Clerk’s clerk. The canvas bag is +evidently half-full of money—the gleam of silver and gold is visible +within it. The Bench stay to note this proceeding with an amused +expression on their features. The woman looks at them as bold as brass, +and stalks off with her man. + +Half an hour afterwards, two of the magistrates riding away from the +town pass a small tavern on the outskirts. A travelling van is outside, +and from the chimney on its roof thin smoke arises. There is a little +group at the doorway, and among them stands the late prisoner. Oby +holds a foaming tankard in one hand, and touches his battered hat, as +the magistrates go by, with a gesture of sly humility. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +LUKE, THE RABBIT CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK-PATH + + +The waggon-track leading to the Upper Woods almost always presented +something of interest, and often of beauty. The solitude of the place +seemed to have attracted flowers and ferns as well as wild animals and +birds. For though flowers have no power of motion, yet seeds have a +negative choice and lie dormant where they do not find a kindly +welcome. But those carried hither by the birds or winds took root and +flourished, secure from the rude ploughshare or the sharp scythe. + +The slow rumble of waggon-wheels seldom disturbed the dreamy silence, +or interrupted the song of the birds; so seldom that large docks and +thistles grew calmly beside the ruts untouched by hoofs. From the thick +hedges on either side trailing brambles and briars stretched far out, +and here and there was a fallen branch, broken off by the winds, whose +leaves had turned brown and withered while all else was green. Round +sarsen stones had been laid down in the marshy places to form a firm +road, but the turf had long since covered most of them. Where the +smooth brown surfaces did project mosses had lined the base, and rushes +leaned over and hid the rest. + +In the ditches, under the shade of the brambles, the hart’s-tongue fern +extended its long blade of dark glossy green. By the decaying stoles +the hardy fern flourished, under the trees on the mounds the lady fern +could be found, and farther up nearer the wood the tall brake almost +supplanted the bushes. Oak and ash boughs reached across: in the ash +the wood-pigeons lingered. Every now and then the bright colours of the +green woodpeckers flashed to and fro their nest in a tree hard by. They +would not have chosen it had not the place been nearly as quiet as the +wood itself. + +Blackthorn bushes jealously encroached on the narrow stile that entered +the lane from a meadow—a mere rail thrust across a gap. The gates, set +in deep recesses—short lanes themselves cut through the mounds—were +rotten and decayed, so as to scarcely hold together, and not to be +moved without care. Hawthorn branches on each side pushed forward and +lessened the opening; on the ground, where the gateposts had rotted +nearly off, fungi came up in thick bunches. + +The little meadows to which they led were rich in oaks, growing on the +“shore” of the ditches, tree after tree. The grass in them was not +plentiful, but the flowers were many; in the spring the orchis sent up +its beautiful purple, and in the heat of summer the bird’s-foot lotus +flourished in the sunny places. Farther up, nearer the wood, the lane +became hollow—worn down between high banks, at first clothed with fern, +and then, as the hill got steeper, with fir trees. + +Where firs are tall and thick together the sunbeams that fall aslant +between them seem to be made more visible than under other trees, by +the motes or wood dust in the air. Still farther the banks became even +steeper, till nothing but scanty ash stoles could grow upon them, the +fir plantations skirting along the summit. Then suddenly, at a turn, +the ground sank into a deep hollow, where in spring the eye rested with +relief and pleasure on the tops of young firs, acre after acre, just +freshly tinted with the most delicate green. From thence the track went +into the wood. + +By day all through the summer months there was always something to be +seen in the lane—a squirrel, a stoat; always a song-bird to listen to, +a flower or fern to gather. By night the goatsucker visited it, and the +bat, and the white owl gliding down the slope. In winter when the +clouds hung low the darkness in the hollow between the high banks, +where the light was shut out by the fir trees, was like that of a +cavern. It was then that night after night a strange procession wended +down it. + +First came an old man, walking stiffly—not so much from age as +rheumatism—and helping his unsteady steps on the slippery sarsen stones +with a stout ground-ash staff. Behind him followed a younger man, and +in the rear a boy. Sometimes there was an extra assistant, making four; +sometimes there was only the old man and one companion. Each had a long +and strong ash stick across his shoulder, on which a load of rabbits +was slung, an equal number in front and behind, to balance. The old +fellow, who was dressed shabbily even for a labourer, was the +contractor for the rabbits shot or ferreted in these woods. + +He took the whole number at a certain fixed price all round, and made +what he could out of them. Every evening in the season he went to the +woods to fetch those that had been captured during the day, conveying +them to his cottage on the outskirts of the village. From thence they +went by carrier’s cart to the railway. Old Luke’s books, such as they +were, were quite beyond the understanding of any one but himself and +his wife; nor could even they themselves tell you exactly how many +dozen he purchased in the year. But in his cups the wicked old +hypocrite had often been known to boast that he paid the lord of the +manor as much money as the rent of a small farm. + +One of Luke’s eyes was closed with a kind of watery rheum, and was +never opened except when he thought a rabbit was about to jump into a +net. The other was but half open, and so overhung with a thick grey +eyebrow as to be barely visible. His cheeks were the hue of clay, his +chin scrubby, and a lanky black forelock depended over one temple. A +battered felt hat, a ragged discoloured slop, and corduroys stained +with the clay of the banks completed his squalid costume. + +A more miserable object or one apparently more deserving of pity it +would be hard to imagine. To see him crawl with slow and feeble steps +across the fields in winter, gradually working his way in the teeth of +a driving rain, was enough to arouse compassion in the hardest heart: +there was something so utterly woebegone in his whole aspect—so +weather-beaten, as if he had been rained upon ever since childhood. He +seemed humbled to the ground—crushed and spiritless. + +Now and then Luke was employed by some of the farmers to do their +ferreting for them and to catch the rabbits in the banks by the +roadside. More than once benevolent people driving by in their cosy +cushioned carriages, and seeing this lonely wretch in the bitter wind +watching a rabbit’s hole as if he were a dog well beaten and thrashed, +had been known to stop and call the poor old fellow to the carriage +door. Then Luke would lay his hand on his knee, shake his head, and +sorrowfully state his pains and miseries: “Aw, I be ter-rable bad, I +be,” he would say; “I be most terrable bad: I can’t but just drag my +leg out of this yer ditch. It be a dull job, bless ’ee, this yer.” The +tone, the look of the man, the dreary winter landscape all so +thoroughly agreed together that a few small silver coins would drop +into his hand, and Luke, with a deep groaning sigh of thankfulness, +would bow and scrape and go back to his “dull job.” + +Luke, indeed, somehow or other was always in favour with the “quality.” +He was as firmly fixed in his business as if he had been the most +clever courtier. It was not of the least use for any one else to offer +to take the rabbits, even if they would give more money. No, Luke was +the trusty man; Luke, and nobody else, was worthy. So he grovelled on +from year to year, blinking about the place. When some tenant found a +gin in the turnip field, or a wire by the clover, and quietly waited +till Luke came fumbling by and picked up the hare or rabbit, it did not +make the slightest difference though he went straight to the keeper and +made a formal statement. + +Luke had an answer always ready: he had not set the wire, but had +stumbled on it unawares, and was going to take it to the keeper; or he +had noticed a colony of rats about, and had put the gin for them. Now, +the same excuse might have been made by any other poacher; the +difference lay in this—that Luke was believed. At all events, such +little trifles were forgotten, and Luke went on as before. He did a +good deal of the ferreting in the hedges outside the woods himself: if +he took home three dozen from the mound and only paid for two dozen, +that scarcely concerned the world at large. + +If in coming down the dark and slippery lane at night somebody with a +heavy sack stepped out from the shadow at the stile, and if the +contents of the sack were rapidly transferred to the shoulder-sticks, +or the bag itself bodily taken along—why, there was nobody there to +see. As for the young man and the boy who helped, those discreet +persons had always a rabbit for their own pot, or even for a friend; +and indeed it was often remarked that old Luke could always get plenty +of men to work for him. No one ever hinted at searching the dirty shed +at the side of his cottage that was always locked by day, or looking +inside the disused oven that it covered. But if fur or feathers had +been found there, was not he the contractor? And clearly if a pheasant +_was_ there he could not be held responsible for the unauthorised acts +of his assistants. + +The truth was that Luke was the most thorough-paced poacher in the +place—or, rather, he was a wholesale receiver. His success lay in +making it pleasant for everybody all round. It was pleasant for the +keeper, who could always dispose of a few hares or pheasants if he +wanted a little money. The keeper, in ways known to himself, made it +pleasant for the bailiff. It was equally pleasant for the +under-keepers, who had what they wanted (in reason), and enjoyed a +little by-play on their own account. It was pleasant for his men; and +it was pleasant—specially pleasant—at a little wayside inn kept by +Luke’s nephew, and, as was believed, with Luke’s money. Everybody +concerned in the business could always procure refreshment there, +including the policeman. + +There was only one class of persons whom Luke could not conciliate; and +they were the tenants. These very inconsiderate folk argued that it was +the keepers’ and Luke’s interest to maintain a very large stock of +rabbits, which meant great inroads on their crops. There seemed to be +even something like truth in their complaints; and once or twice the +more independent carried their grievances to headquarters so +effectually as to elicit an order for the destruction of the rabbits +forthwith on their farms. But of what avail was such an order when the +execution of it was entrusted to Luke himself? + +In time the tenants got to put up with Luke; and the wiser of them +turned round and tried to make it still more pleasant for _him_: they +spoke a good word for him; they gave him a quart of ale, and put little +things in his way, such as a chance to buy and sell faggots at a small +profit. Not to be ungrateful, Luke kept their rabbits within reasonable +bounds; and he had this great recommendation—that whether they bullied +him or whether they gave him ale and bread-and-cheese, Luke was always +humble and always touched his hat. + +His wife kept a small shop for the sale of the coarser groceries and a +little bacon. He had also rather extensive gardens, from which he sold +quantities of vegetables. It was more than suspected that the carrier’s +cart was really Luke’s—that is, he found the money for horsing it, and +could take possession if he liked. The carrier’s cart took his rabbits, +and the game he purchased of poachers, to the railway, and the +vegetables from the gardens to the customers in town. + +At least one cottage besides his own belonged to him; and some would +have it that this was one of the reasons of his success with the +“quality.” The people at the great house, anxious to increase their +influence, wished to buy every cottage and spare piece of land. This +was well known, and many small owners prided themselves upon spiting +the big people at the great house by refusing to sell, or selling to +another person. The great house was believed to have secured the first +“refuse” of Luke’s property, if ever he thought of selling. Luke, in +fact, among the lower classes was looked upon as a capitalist—a miser +with an unknown hoard. The old man used to sit of a winter’s evening, +after he had brought down the rabbits, by the hearth, making +rabbit-nets of twine. Almost everybody who came along the road, home +from the market town, stopped, lifted the latch without knocking, and +looked in to tell the news or hear it. But Luke’s favourite manoeuvre +was to take out his snuff-box, tap it, and offer it to the person +addressing him. This he would do to a farmer, even though it were the +largest tenant of all. For this snuff-box was a present from the lady +at the great house, who took an interest in poor old Luke’s +infirmities, and gave him the snuff-box, a really good piece of +workmanship, well filled with the finest snuff, to console his +wretchedness. + +Of this box Luke was as proud as if it had been the insignia of the +Legion of Honour, and never lost an opportunity of showing it to every +one of standing. When the village heard of this kindly present it ran +over in its mind all that it knew about the stile, and the sacks, and +the disused oven. Then the village very quietly shrugged its shoulders, +and though it knew not the word irony, well understood what that term +conveys. + +At the foot of the hill on which the Upper Woods were situate there +extended a level tract of meadows with some cornfields. Through these +there flowed a large slow brook, often flooded in winter by the water +rushing down from the higher lands. It was pleasant in the early year +to walk now and then along the footpath that followed the brook, noting +the gradual changes in the hedges. + +When the first swallow of the spring wheels over the watery places the +dry sedges of last year still stand as they grew. They are supported by +the bushes beside the meadow ditch where it widens to join the brook, +and the water it brings down from the furrows scarcely moves through +the belt of willow lining the larger stream. As the soft west wind runs +along the hedge it draws a sigh from the dead dry stalks and leaves +that will no more feel the rising sap. + +By the wet furrows the ground has still a brownish tint, for there the +floods lingered and discoloured the grass. Near the ditch pointed flags +are springing up, and the thick stems of the marsh marigold. From +bunches of dark green leaves slender stalks arise and bear the golden +petals of the marsh buttercups, the lesser celandine. If the wind blows +cold and rainy they will close, and open again to the sunshine. + +At the outside of the withies, where the earth is drier, stand tall +horse-chestnut trees, aspen, and beech. The leaflets of the +horse-chestnut are already opening; but on the ground, half-hidden +under beech leaves not yet decayed, and sycamore leaves reduced to +imperfect grey skeletons, there lies a chestnut shell. It is sodden, +and has lost its original green—the prickles, too, have decayed and +disappeared; yet at a touch it falls apart, and discloses two +chestnuts, still of a rich, deep polished brown. + +On the very bank of the brook there grows a beech whose bare boughs +droop over, almost dipping in the water, where it comes with a swift +rush from the narrow arches of a small bridge whose bricks are green +with moss. The current is still slightly turbid, for the floods have +not long subsided, and the soaked meadows and ploughed fields send +their rills to swell the brook and stain it with sand and earth. On the +surface float down twigs and small branches forced from the trees by +the gales: sometimes an entangled mass of aquatic weeds—long, slender +green filaments twisted and matted together—comes more slowly because +heavy and deep in the water. + +A little bird comes flitting silently from the willows and perches on +the drooping beech branch. It is a delicate little creature, the breast +of a faint and dull yellowy green, the wings the lightest brown, and +there is a pencilled streak over the eye. The beak is so slender it +scarce seems capable of the work it should do, the legs and feet so +tiny that they are barely visible. Hardly has he perched than the keen +eyes detect a small black speck that has just issued from the arch, +floating fast on the surface of the stream and borne round and round in +a tiny whirlpool. + +He darts from the branch, hovers just above the water, and in a second +has seized the black speck and returned to the branch. A moment or two +passes, and again he darts and takes something—this time invisible—from +the water. A third time he hovers, and on this occasion just brushes +the surface. Then, suddenly finding that these movements are watched, +he flits—all too soon—up high into the beech and away into the narrow +copse. The general tint and shape of the bird are those of the willow +wren, but it is difficult to identify the species in so brief a glance +and without hearing its note. + +The path now trends somewhat away from the stream and skirts a ploughed +field, where the hedges are cropped close and the elms stripped of the +lesser boughs about the trunks, that the sparrows may not find shelter. +But all the same there are birds here too—one in the thick low hedge, +two or three farther on, another in the ditch perching on the dead +white stems of last year’s plants that can hardly support an ounce +weight, and all calling to each other. It is six marsh tits, as busy as +they can well be. + +One rises from the ditch to the trunk of an elm where the thick bark is +green with lichen: he goes up the tree like a woodpecker, and peers +into every crevice. His little beak strikes, peck, peck, at a place +where something is hidden: then he proceeds farther up the trunk: next +he descends a few steps in a sidelong way, and finally hops down some +three inches head foremost, and alights again on the all but +perpendicular bark. But his tail does not touch the tree, and in +another minute down he flies again to the ditch. + +A shrill and yet low note that sounds something like “skeek-skeek” +comes from a birch, and another “skeek-skeek” answers from an elm. It +is like the friction of iron against iron without oil on the bearings. +This is the tree-climber calling to his mate. He creeps over the boles +of the birch, and where the larger limbs join the trunk, trailing his +tail along the bark, and clinging so closely that but for the sharp +note he would be passed. Even when that has called attention, the +colour of his back so little differs from the colour of bark that if he +is some height up the tree it is not easy to detect him. + +The days go on and the hedges become green—the sun shines, and the +blackbirds whistle in the trees. They leave the hedge, and mount into +the elm or ash to deliver their song; then, after a pause, dive down +again to the bushes. Up from the pale green corn that is yet but a few +inches high rises a little brown bird, mounting till he has attained to +the elevation of the adjacent oak. Then, beginning his song, he extends +his wings, lifts his tail, and gradually descends slanting +forward—slowly, like a parachute—sing, sing, singing all the while till +the little legs, that can be seen against the sky somewhat depending, +touch the earth and the wheat hides him. Still from the clod comes the +finishing bar of his music. + +In a short time up he rises again, and this time from the summit of his +flight sinks in a similar manner singing to a branch of the oak. There +he sings again; and, again rising, comes back almost to the same bough +singing as he descends. But he is not alone: from an elm hard by come +the same notes, and from yet another tree they are also repeated. They +cannot rest—now one flits from the topmost bough of an elm to another +topmost bough; now a second comes up from feeding, and cries from the +branches. They are tree-pipits; and though the call is monotonous, yet +it is so cheerful and pleasing that one cannot choose but stay and +listen. + +Suddenly, two that have been vigorously calling start forward together +and meet in mid-air. They buffet each other with their wings; their +little beaks fiercely strike; their necks are extended; they manoeuvre +round each other, trying for an advantage. They descend, heedless in +the rage of their tiny hearts, within a few yards of the watcher, and +then in alarm separate. But one flies to the oak branch and defiantly +calls immediately. + +Over the meadows comes the distant note of the cuckoo. When he first +calls his voice is short and somewhat rough, but in a few days it gains +power. Then the second syllable has a mellow ring: and as he cries from +the tree, the note, swiftly repeated and echoed by the wood, dwells on +the ear something like the “hum” or vibration of a beautiful bell. + +As the hedges become green the ivy leaves turn brown at the edge and +fall; the wild ivy is often curiously variegated. At the foot of the +tree up which it climbs the leaves are five-angled, higher up they lose +the angles and become rounded, though growing on the same plant. +Sometimes they have a grey tint, especially those that trail along the +bank; sometimes the leaves are a reddish brown with pale green ribs. + +By the brook now the meadow has become of a rich bright green, the +stream has sunk and is clear, and the sunlight dances on the ripples. +The grasses at the edge—the turf—curl over and begin to grow down the +steep side that a little while since was washed by the current. Where +there is a ledge of mud and sand the yellow wagtail runs; he stands on +a stone and jerks his tail. + +The ploughed field that comes down almost to the brook—a mere strip of +meadow between—is green too with rising wheat, high enough now to hide +the partridges. Before it got so tall it was pleasant to watch the pair +that frequent it; they were so confident that they did not even trouble +to cower. At any other time of year they would have run, or flown; but +then, though scarcely forty yards away and perfectly visible, they +simply ceased feeding but showed no further alarm. + +Upon the plough birds in general should look as their best friend, for +it provides them with the staff of life as much as it does man. The +earth turned up under the share yields them grubs and insects and +worms: the seed is sown and the clods harrowed, and they take a second +toll; the weeds are hoed or pulled up, and at their roots there are +more insects; from the stalk and ears and the bloom of the rising corn +they seize caterpillars; when it is ripe they enjoy the grain; when it +is cut and carried there are ears in the stubble, and they can then +feast on the seeds of the innumerable plants that flowered among it; +finally comes the plough again. It is as if the men and horses worked +for the birds. + +The horse-chestnut trees in the narrow copse bloom; the bees are +humming everywhere and summer is at hand. Presently the brown +cockchafers will come almost like an army of locusts, as suddenly +appearing without a sign. They seem to be particularly numerous where +there is much maple in the hedges. + +Resting now on the sward by the stream—contracted in seeming by the +weeds and flags and fresh sedges—there comes the distant murmur of +voices and the musical laugh of girls. The ear tries to distinguish the +words and gather the meaning; but the syllables are intertangled—it is +like listening to a low sweet song in a language all unknown. This is +the water falling gently over the mossy hatch and splashing faintly on +the stones beneath; the blue dragon-flies dart over the smooth surface +or alight on a broad leaf—these blue dragon-flies when thus resting +curl the tail upwards. + +Farther up above the mere there is a spot where the pool itself ends, +or rather imperceptibly disappears among a vast mass of aquatic weeds. +To these on the soft oozy mud succeed acres of sedge and rush and great +turfs of greyish grass. Low willows are scattered about, and alder at +the edge and where the ground is firmer. This is the home of the +dragon-flies, of the coots, whose white bald foreheads distinguish them +at a distance, and of the moorhens. + +A narrow lane crosses it on a low bank or causeway but just raised +above the level of the floods. It is bordered on either side by thick +hawthorn hedges, and these again are further rendered more impassable +by the rankest growth of hemlocks, “gicks,” nettles, hedge-parsley, and +similar coarse plants. In these the nettle-creeper (white-throat) hides +her nest, and they have so encroached that the footpath is almost +threatened. This lane leads from the Upper Woods across the marshy +level to the cornfields, being a branch from that down which Luke the +contractor carried his rabbits. + +Now a hare coming from the uplands beyond the woods, or from the woods, +and desirous of visiting the cornfields of the level grounds below, +found it difficult to pass the water. For besides the marsh itself, the +mere, and the brook, another slow, stagnant stream, quite choked with +sedges and flags, uncut for years, ran into it, or rather joined it, +and before doing so meandered along the very foot of the hill-side over +which the woods grew. To a hare or a rabbit, therefore, there was but +one path or exit without taking to the water in this direction for +nearly a mile, and that was across this narrow raised causeway. The +pheasants frequently used it, as if preferring to walk than to fly. +Partridges came too, to seat themselves in the dry dust—a thing they do +daily in warm weather. + +Hares were constantly passing from the cornfields to the wood, and the +wood to the cornfields; and they had another reason for using this +track, because so many herbs and plants, whose leaves they like better +than grass, flourished at the sides of the hedges. No scythe cuts them +down, as it does by the hedges in the meadows; nor was a man sent round +with a reaping hook to chop them off, as is often done round the arable +fields. There was, therefore, always a feast here, to which, also, the +rabbits came. + +The poachers were perfectly well aware of all this, and as a +consequence this narrow lane became a most favourite haunt of theirs. A +wire set in the runs that led to the causeway, or in the causeway +itself, was almost certain to be thrown. At one time it was +occasionally netted; and now and then a bolder fellow hid himself in +the bushes with a gun, and took his choice of pheasant, partridge, +hare, or rabbit. These practices were possible, because although so +secluded, there was a public right-of-way along the lane. + +But of recent years, as game became more valued and the keepers were +increased, a check was put upon it, though even now wires are +frequently found which poachers have been obliged to abandon. They are +loth to give up a place that has a kind of poaching reputation. As if +in revenge for the interference, they have so ransacked the marsh every +spring for the eggs of the waterfowl that the wild duck will not lay +there, but seek spots safer from such enemies. The marsh is left to the +coots and moorhens that from thence stock the brooks. + + + + +CHAPTER X +FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE SHOOTING + + +One October morning towards the end of the month, Orion and I started +to beat over Redcote Farm upon the standing invitation of the occupier. +There was a certainty of sport of some kind, because the place had +remained almost unchanged for the last century. It is “improvement” +that drives away game and necessitates the pheasant preserve. + +The low whitewashed walls of the house were of a dull yellowish hue +from the beating of the weather. They supported a vast breadth of +thatched roof drilled by sparrows and starlings. Under the eaves the +swallows’ nests adhered, and projecting shelves were fixed to prevent +any inconvenience from them. Some of the narrow windows were still +darkened with the black boarding put up in the days of the window tax. + +In the courtyard a number of stout forked stakes were used for putting +the dairy buckets on, after being cleaned, to dry. No attempt was made +to separate the business from the inner life of the house. Here in +front these oaken buckets, scoured till nearly white, their iron +handles polished like silver, were close under the eyes of any one +looking out. By the front door a besom leaned against the wall that +every comer might clean the mud from his boots; and you stepped at once +from the threshold into the sitting-room. A lane led past the garden, +if that could be called a lane which widened into a field and after +rain was flooded so deeply as to be impassable to foot passengers. + +The morning we had chosen was fine; and after shaking hands with old +Farmer “Willum,” whose shooting days were over, we entered the lane, +and by it the fields. The meadows were small, enclosed with +double-mounds, and thickly timbered, so that as the ground was level +you could not see beyond the field in which you stood, and upon looking +over the gate might surprise a flock of pigeons, a covey of partridges, +or a rabbit out feeding. Though the tinted leaves were fast falling, +the hedges were still full of plants and vegetation that prevented +seeing through them. The “kuck-kuck” of the redwings came from the +bushes—the first note of approaching winter—and the tips of the rushes +were dead. Red haws on the hawthorn and hips on the briar sprinkled the +hedge with bright spots of colour. + +The two spaniels went with such an eager rush into a thick +double-mound, dashing heedlessly through the nettles and under the +brambles, that we hastened to get one on each side of the hedge. A +rustling—a short bark; another, then a movement among the rushes in the +ditch, evidently not made by the dogs; then a silence. But the dogs +come back, and as they give tongue the rabbit rushes past a bare spot +on the slope of the bank. I fire—a snap shot—and cut out some fur, but +do no further harm; the pellets bury themselves in the earth. But, +startled and perhaps just stung by a stray shot, the rabbit bolts +fairly at last twenty yards in front of Orion, the spaniel tearing at +his heels. + +Up goes the double-barrel with a bright gleam as the sunlight glances +on it. A second of suspense: then from the black muzzle darts a +cylinder of tawny flame and an opening cone of white smoke: a sharp +report rings on the ear. The rabbit rolls over and over, and is dead +before the dog can seize him. After harling the rabbit, Orion hangs him +high on a projecting branch, so that the man who is following us at a +distance may easily find the game. He is a labourer, and we object to +have him with us, as we know he would be certain to get in the way. + +We then tried a corner where two of these large mounds, meeting, formed +a small copse in which grew a quantity of withy and the thick grasses +that always border the stoles. A hare bolted almost directly the dogs +went in: hares trust in their speed, rabbits in doubling for cover. I +fired right and left, and missed: fairly missed with both barrels. +Orion jumped upon the mound from the other side, and from that +elevation sent a third cartridge after her. + +It was a long, a very long shot, but the hare perceptibly winced. +Still, she drew easily away from the dogs, going straight for a distant +gateway. But before it was reached the pace slackened; she made +ineffectual attempts to double as the slow spaniels overtook her, but +her strength was ebbing, and they quickly ran in. Reloading, and in +none of the best of tempers, I followed the mound. The miss was of +course the gun’s fault—it was foul; or the cartridges, or the bad +quality of the powder. + +We passed the well-remembered hollow ash pollard, whence, years before, +we had taken the young owls, and in which we had hidden the old +single-barrel gun one sultry afternoon when it suddenly came on to +thunder. The flashes were so vivid and the discharges seemingly so near +that we became afraid to hold the gun, knowing that metal attracted +electricity. So it was put in the hollow tree out of the wet, and with +it the powder-flask, while we crouched under an adjacent hawthorn till +the storm ceased. + +Then by the much-patched and heavy gate where I shot my first snipe, +that rose out of the little stream and went straight up over the top +bar. The emotion, for it was more than excitement, of that moment will +never pass from memory. It was the bird of all others that I longed to +kill, and certainly to a lad the most difficult. Day after day I went +down into the water-meadows; first thinking over the problem of the +snipe’s peculiar twisting flight. At one time I determined that I would +control the almost irresistible desire to fire till the bird had +completed his burst of zig-zag and settled to something like a straight +line. At another I as firmly resolved to shoot the moment the snipe +rose before he could begin to twist. But some unforeseen circumstance +always interfered with the execution of these resolutions. + +Now the snipe got up unexpectedly right under foot; now one rose thirty +yards ahead; now he towered straight up, forced to do so by the tall +willows; and occasionally four or five rising together and calling +“sceap, sceap” in as many different directions, made me hesitate at +which to aim. The continual dwelling upon the problem rendered me +nervous, so that I scarcely knew when I pulled the trigger. + +But one day, in passing this gateway, which was a long distance from +the particular water-meadows where I had practised, and not thinking of +snipes, suddenly one got up, and with a loud “sceap” darted over the +gate. The long slender gun—the old single-barrel—came to the shoulder +instinctively, without premeditation, and the snipe fell. + +Coming now to the brook, which was broad and bordered by a hedge on the +opposite side, I held Orion’s gun while he leaped over. The bank was +steep and awkward, but he had planned his leap so as to alight just +where he could at once grasp an ash branch and so save himself from +falling back into the water. He could not, however, stay suspended +there, but had to scramble over the hedge, and then called for his gun. +I leaned mine against a hollow withy pollard, and called “ready.” + +Taking his gun a few inches above the trigger guard (and with the guard +towards his side), holding it lightly just where it seemed to balance +in a perpendicular position, I gave it a slow heave rather than a +throw, and it rose into the air. This peculiar _feeling_ hoist, as it +were, caused it to retain the perpendicular position as it passed over +brook and hedge in a low curve. As it descended it did indeed slope a +little, and Orion caught it with one hand easily. The hedge being low +he could see it coming; but guns are sometimes heaved in this way over +hedges that have not been cropped for years. Then the gun suddenly +appears in the air, perhaps fifteen feet high, while the catch depends +not only upon the dexterity of the hand but the ear—to judge correctly +where the person who throws it is standing, as he is invisible. + +The spaniels plunged in the brook among the flags, but though they made +a great splashing nothing came of it till we approached a marshy place +where was a pond. A moorhen then rose and scuttled down the brook, her +legs dragging along the surface some distance before she could get up, +and the sunshine sparkling on the water that dropped from her. I fired +and knocked her over: at the sound of the discharge a bird rose from +the low mound by the pond some forty yards ahead. My second barrel was +empty in an instant. + +Both Orion’s followed; but the distance, the intervening pollard +willows, or our excitement spoilt the aim. The woodcock flew off +untouched, and made straight away from the territories we could beat +into those that were jealously guarded by a certain keeper with whom +Farmer “Willum” had waged war for years. “Come on!” shouted Orion as +soon as he had marked the cock down in a mound two fields away. +Throwing him my gun, I leaped the brook; and we at first raced, but on +second thoughts walked slowly, for the mound. Running disturbs accuracy +of fire, and a woodcock was much too rare a visitor for the slightest +chance to be lost. + +As we approached we considered that very probably the cock would either +lie close till we had walked past, and get up behind, or he would rise +out of gunshot. What we were afraid of was his making for the +preserves, which were not far off. So we tossed for the best position, +and I lost. I had therefore to get over on the side of the hedge +towards the preserves and to walk down somewhat faster than Orion, who +was to keep (on his side) about thirty yards behind. The object was to +flush the cock on his side, so that if missed the bird might return +towards our territories. In a double-mound like this it is impossible +to tell what a woodcock will do, but this was the best thing we could +think of. + +About half-way down the hedge I heard Orion fire both barrels in quick +succession—the mound was so thick I could not see through. The next +instant the cock came over the top of the hedge just above my head. +Startled at seeing me so close, he flew straight down along the summit +of the bushes—a splendid chance to look at from a distance; but in +throwing up the gun a projecting briar caught the barrels, and before I +could recover it the bird came down at the side of the hedge. + +It was another magnificent chance; but again three pollard willows +interfered, and as I fired the bark flew off one of them in small +strips. Quickened by the whistling pellets, the cock suddenly lifted +himself again to the top of the hedge to go over, and for a moment came +full in view, and quite fifty yards away. I fired a snap shot as a +forlorn hope, and lost sight of him; but the next instant I heard Orion +call, “He’s down!” One single chance pellet had dropped the cock—he +fell on the other side just under the hedge. + +We hastened back to the brook, thinking that the shooting would attract +the keepers, and did not stay to look at the bird till safe over the +water. The long beak, the plumage that seems painted almost in the +exact tints of the dead brown leaves he loves so well, the eyes large +by comparison and so curiously placed towards the poll of the head as +if to see behind him—there was not a point that did not receive its +share of admiration. We shot about half a dozen rabbits, two more +hares, and a woodpigeon afterwards; but all these were nothing compared +with the woodcock. + +How Farmer “Willum” chuckled over it—especially to think that we had +cut out the game from the very batteries of the enemy! It was the one +speck of bitterness in the old man’s character—his hatred of this +keeper. Disabled himself by age and rheumatism from walking far, he +heard daily reports from his men of this fellow coming over the +boundary to shoot, or drive pheasant or partridge away. It was a sight +to see Farmer “Willum” stretch his bulky length in his old armchair, +right before the middle of the great fire of logs on the hearth, +twiddling his huge thumbs, and every now and then indulging in a hearty +laugh, followed by a sip at the “straight-cup.” + +There was a stag’s horn over the staircase: “Willum” loved to tell how +it came there. One severe winter long since, the deer in the forest +many miles away broke cover, forced by hunger, and came into the +rickyards and even the gardens. Most of them were got back, but one or +two wandered beyond trace. Those who had guns were naturally on the +look-out; indeed, a regular hunt was got up—“Willum,” then young and +active, in it of course. This chase was not successful; but early one +morning, going to look for wild geese in the water-meadow with his +long-barrelled gun, he saw something in a lonely rickyard. Creeping +cautiously up, he rested the heavy gun on an ash stole, and the big +duck-shot tore its way into the stag’s shoulder. Those days were gone, +but still his interest in shooting was unabated. + +Nothing had been altered on the place since he was a boy: the rent even +was the same. But all that is now changed—swept away before modern +improvements; and the rare old man is gone too, and I think his only +enemy also. + +There was nothing I used to look forward to, as the summer waned, with +so much delight as the snipe shooting. Regularly as the swallow to the +eaves in spring, the snipe comes back with the early frosts of autumn +to the same well-known spots—to the bend of the brook or the boggy +corner in the ploughed field—but in most uncertain numbers. Sometimes +flocks of ten or twenty, sometimes only twos and threes are seen, but +always haunting particular places. + +They have a special affection for peaty ground, black and spongy, where +every footstep seems to squeeze water out of the soil with a slight +hissing sound, and the boot cuts through the soft turf. There, where a +slow stream winds in and out, unmarked by willow or bush, but fringed +with green aquatic grasses growing on a margin of ooze, the snipe finds +tempting food; or in the meadows where a little spring breaks forth in +the ditch and does not freeze—for water which has just bubbled out of +the earth possesses this peculiarity, and is therefore favourable to +low forms of insect or slug life in winter—the snipe may be found when +the ponds are bound with ice. + +Some of the old country folk used to make as much mystery about this +bird as the cuckoo. Because it was seldom seen till the first fogs the +belief was that it had lost its way in the mist at sea, and come inland +by mistake. + +Just as in the early part of the year green buds and opening flowers +welcome swallow and cuckoo, so the colours of the dying leaf prepare +the way for the second feathered immigration in autumn. Once now and +then the tints of autumn are so beautiful that the artist can hardly +convey what he sees to canvas. The maples are aglow with orange, the +oaks one mass of buff, the limes light gold, the elms a soft yellow. In +the hawthorn thickets bronze spots abound; here and there a bramble +leaf has turned a brilliant crimson (though many bramble leaves will +remain a dull green all the winter through); the edible chestnut sheds +leaves of a dark fawn hue, but all, scattered by the winds, presently +resolve into a black pulp upon the earth. Noting these signs the +sportsman gets out his dust-shot for the snipe, and the farmer, as he +sees the fieldfare flying over after a voyage from Norway, +congratulates himself that last month was reasonably dry, and enabled +him to sow his winter seed. + +“Sceap—sceap!” and very often the snipe successfully carries out the +intention expressed in his odd-sounding cry, and does escape in +reality. Although I could not at first put my theory into practice, yet +I found by experience that it was correct. He is the exception to the +golden rule that the safest way lies in the middle, and that therefore +you should fire not too soon nor too late, but half-way between. But +the snipe must either be knocked over the instant he rises from the +ground, and before he has time to commence his puzzling zig-zag flight, +or else you must wait till he has finished his corkscrew burst. + +Then there is a moment just before he passes out of range when he +glides in a straight line and may be hit. This singular zig-zag flight +so deceives the eye as almost to produce the idea of a spiral movement. +No barrel can ever be jerked from side to side swiftly enough, no +hair-trigger is fine enough, to catch him then, except by the chance of +a vast scattering over-charge, which has nothing to do with sport. If +he rises at some little distance, then fire instantly, because by the +time the zig-zag is done the range will be too great; if he starts up +under your feet, out of a bunch of rushes, as is often the case, then +give him law till his eccentric twist is finished. + +When the smoke has cleared away in the crisp air, there he lies, the +yet warm breast on the frozen ground, to be lifted up not without a +passing pity and admiration. The brown feathers are exquisitely shaded, +and so exactly resemble the hue of the rough dead aquatic grass out of +which he sprang that if you cast the bird among it you will have some +trouble to find it again. To discover a living snipe on the ground is +indeed a test of good eyesight; for as he slips in and out among the +brown withered flags and the grey grass it requires not only a quick +eye but the inbred sportsman’s instinct of perception (if such a phrase +is permissible) to mark him out. + +If your shot has missed and merely splashed up the water or rattled +against bare branches, then step swiftly behind a tree-trunk, and stay +in ambuscade, keeping a sharp watch on him as he circles round high up +in the air. Very often in a few minutes he will come back in a wide +sweep, and drop scarcely a gun-shot distant in the same watercourse, +when a second shot may be obtained. The little jack snipe, when +flushed, will never fly far, if shot at several times in succession, +still settling fifty or sixty yards farther on, and is easily bagged. + +Coming silently as possible round a corner, treading gently on the +grass still white with hoar-frost in the shadow of the bushes, you may +chance to spring a stray woodcock, which bird, if you lose a moment, +will put the hedge between him and you. Artists used to seek for +certain feathers which he carries, one in each wing, thinking to make +of them a more delicate brush than the finest camel’s hair. + +In the evening I used to hide in the osier-beds on the edge of a great +water-meadow; for now that the marshes are drained, and the black earth +of the fens yields a harvest of yellow corn, the broad level meads +which are irrigated to fertilise them are among the chief inland +resorts of wild fowl. When the bright moon is rising, you walk in among +the tapering osier-wands, the rustling sedges, and dead dry hemlock +stems, and wait behind an aspen tree. + +In the thick blackthorn bush a round dark ball indicates the blackbird, +who has puffed out his feathers to shield him from the frost, and who +will sit so close and quiet that you may see the moonlight glitter on +his eye. Presently comes a whistling noise of wings, and a loud “quack, +quack!” as a string of ducks, their long necks stretched out, pass over +not twenty yards high, slowly slanting downwards to the water. This is +the favourable moment for the gun, because their big bodies are well +defined against the sky, and aim can be taken; but to shoot anything on +the ground at night, even a rabbit, whose white tail as he hops away is +fairly visible, is most difficult. + +The baffling shadows and the moonbeams on the barrel, and the faint +reflection from the dew or hoar-frost on the grass, prevent more than a +general direction being given to the gun, even with the tiny piece of +white paper which some affix to the muzzle-sight as a guide. From a +punt with a swivel gun it is different, because the game is swimming +and visible as black dots on the surface, and half a pound of shot is +sure to hit something. But in the water-meadows the ducks get among the +grass, and the larger water-carriers where they can swim usually have +small raised banks, so that at a distance only the heads of the birds +appear above them. + +So that the best time to shoot a duck is just as he slopes down to +settle—first, because he is distinctly visible against the sky; next, +because he is within easy range; and lastly, his flight is steady. If +you attempt to have ducks driven towards you, though they may go right +overhead, yet it will often be too high—for they rise at a sharp angle +when frightened; and men who are excellent judges of distance when it +is a hare running across the fallow, find themselves all at fault +trying to shoot at any elevation. Perhaps this arises from the +peculiarity of the human eye which draughtsmen are fond of illustrating +by asking a tyro to correctly bisect a vertical line: a thing that +looks easy, and is really only to be done by long practice. + +To make certain of selecting the right spot in the osiers over which +the ducks will pass, for one or two evenings previously a look-out +should be kept and their usual course observed; for all birds and +animals, even the wildest wild fowl, are creatures of habit and custom, +and having once followed a particular path will continue to use it +until seriously disturbed. Evening after evening the ducks will rise +above the horizon at the same place and almost at the same time, and +fly straight to their favourite feeding place. + +If hit, the mallard falls with a thud on the earth, for he is a heavy +bird; and few are more worthy of powder and shot either for his savoury +flavour, far surpassing the tame duck, or the beauty of his burnished +neck. With the ducks come teal and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy +meadow resounds with their strange cries. When ponds and lakes are +frozen hard is the best time for sport in these irrigated fields. All +day long the ducks will stand or waddle to and fro on the ice in the +centre of the lake or mere, far out of reach and ready to rise at the +slightest alarm. But at night they seek the meadow where the water, +running swiftly in the carriers, never entirely freezes, and where, if +the shallow spots become ice, the rising current flows over it and +floods another place. + +There is, moreover, never any difficulty in getting the game when hit, +because the water, except in the main carriers, which you can leap +across, hardly rises to the ankle, and ordinary water-tight boots will +enable you to wade wherever necessary. This is a great advantage with +wild fowl, which are sometimes shot and lost in deep ooze and strong +currents and eddies, and on thin ice where men cannot go and even good +dogs are puzzled. + + + + +CHAPTER XI +FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + + +The ferreting season commences when the frosts have caused the leaves +to drop, and the rabbits grow fat from feeding on bark. Early one +December morning, Orion and I started, with our man Little John, to +ferret a double-mound for our old friend Farmer “Willum” at Redcote. + +Little John was a labourer—one of those frequently working at odd times +for Luke, the Rabbit-Contractor. We had nicknamed him Little John +because of his great size and unwieldy proportions. He was the most +useful man we knew for such work; his heart was so thoroughly in it. + +He was waiting for us before we had finished breakfast, with his tools +and implements, having carefully prepared these while yet it was dark +at home in his cottage. The nets require looking to before starting, as +they are apt to get into a tangle, and there is nothing so annoying as +to have to unravel strings with chilled fingers in a ditch. Some have +to be mended, having been torn; some are cast aside altogether because +weak and rotten. The twine having been frequently saturated with water +has decayed. All the nets are of a light yellow colour from the clay +and sand that has worked into the string. + +These nets almost filled a sack, into which he also cast a pair of +“owl-catchers,” gloves of stout white leather, thick enough to turn a +thorn while handling bushes, or to withstand the claws of an owl +furiously resisting capture. His ferrets cost him much thought, which +to take and which to leave behind. He had also to be particular how he +fed them—they must be eager for prey, and yet they must not be starved, +else they would gorge on the blood of the first rabbit, and become +useless for hunting. + +Two had to be muzzled—an operation of some difficulty that generally +results in a scratched hand. A small piece of small but strong twine is +passed through the jaws behind the tusk-like teeth, and tightly tied +round, so tightly as almost to cut into the skin. This is the old way +of muzzling a ferret, handed down from generations: Little John scorns +the muzzles that can be bought at shops, and still more despises the +tiny bells to hang round the neck. The first he says often come off, +and the second embarrass the ferret and sometimes catch in projecting +rootlets and hold it fast. He has, too, a line—many yards of stout +twine wound about a short stick—to line a ferret if necessary. + +The ferrets are placed in a smaller bag, tightly tied at the top—for +they will work through and get out if any aperture be left. Inside the +bag is a little hay for them to lay on. He prefers the fitchew ferret +as he calls it; that is the sort that are coloured like a polecat. He +says they are fiercer, larger of make and more powerful. But he has +also a couple of white ones with pink eyes. Besides the sack of nets, +the bag of ferrets, and a small bundle in a knotted handkerchief—his +“nuncheon”—which in themselves make a tolerable load, he has brought a +billhook, and a “navigator,” or draining-tool. + +This is a narrow spade of specially stout make; the blade is hollow and +resembles an exaggerated gouge, and the advantage is that in digging +out a rabbit the tool is very apt to catch under a root, when an +ordinary spade may bend and become useless. The “navigator” will stand +anything, and being narrow is also more handy. All these implements +Little John has prepared by the dim light of a horn lantern in the shed +at the back of his cottage. A mug of ale while we get our guns greatly +cheers him, and unlooses his tongue. + +All the way to Redcote he impresses on us the absolute necessity of +silence while ferreting, and congratulates us on having a nearly still +day. He is a little doubtful about Orion’s spaniel and whether it will +keep quiet or not. + +When we reach the double-mound, his talk entirely ceases: he is as +silent and as rugged as a pollard oak. By the top of the mound the sack +of nets is thrown down on the sward and opened. As there are more holes +on the other side of the hedge Orion goes over with Little John, and I +proceed to set up the nets on mine. + +I found some difficulty in getting at the bank, the bushes being so +thick, and had to use the billhook and chop a way in: I heard Little +John growling about this in a whisper to Orion. Very often before going +with the ferrets, people send a man or two a few hours previously to +chop and clear the bushes. The effect is that the rabbits will not bolt +freely. They hear the men chopping, and the vibration of the earth as +they clumsily climb over the banks, and will not come out till +absolutely forced. If it is done at all, it should be done a week +beforehand. That was why Little John grumbled at my chopping though he +knew it was necessary. + +To set up a rabbit net you must arrange it so that it covers the whole +of the mouth of the hole, for if there is any opening between it and +the bank the rabbit will slip through. He will not face the net unless +obliged to. Along the upper part, if the bank is steep, so that the net +will not lie on it of itself, two or three little twigs should be +thrust through the meshes into the earth to suspend it. + +These twigs should be no larger than are used by birds in constructing +their nests; just strong enough to hold the net in place and no more. +On the other hand, care must be taken that no stout projecting root +catches a corner of the net, else it will not draw up properly and the +rabbit will escape. + +Little John, not satisfied with my assurance that I had netted all the +holes my side, now came over—crawling on hands and knees that he might +not jar the bank—to examine for himself. His practised eye detected two +holes that I had missed: one on the top of the mound much overhung by +dead grass, and one under a stole. These he attended to. He then +crawled up on the mound two or three yards below the end of the bury, +and with his own hands stretched a larger net right across the top of +the bank, so that if a rabbit did escape he would run into this. To be +still more sure he stretched another similar net across the whole width +of the mound at the other end of the bury. + +He then undid the mouth of the ferret-bag, holding it between his +knees—the ferrets immediately attempted to struggle out: he selected +two and then tied it up again. With both these in his own hands, for he +would trust nothing to another, he slipped quietly back to Orion’s +side, and so soon as he saw I was standing well back placed them in +different holes. + +Almost the next instant one came out my side disarranging a net. I got +into the ditch, hastily reset the net, and put the ferret to an +adjacent hole, lifting up the corner of the net there for it to creep +in. Unlike the weasel, a ferret once outside a hole seems at a loss, +and wanders slowly about, till chance brings him to a second. The +weasel used to hunting is no sooner out of one hole than he darts away +to the next. But this power the ferret has partially lost from +confinement. + +For a moment the ferret hesitated inside the hole, as if undecided +which of two passages to take: then he started, and I lost sight of his +tail. Hardly had I got back to my stand than I heard Little John leap +into the ditch his side: the next minute I saw the body of the rabbit +which he had killed thrown out into the field. + +I stood behind a somewhat advanced bush that came out into the meadow +like a buttress, and kept an eye on the holes along the bank. It is +essential to stand well back from the holes, and, if possible, out of +sight. In a few moments something moved, and I saw the head of a rabbit +at the mouth of a hole just behind the net. He looked through the +meshes as through a lattice, and I could see his nostrils work, as he +considered within himself how to pass this thing. It was but for a +moment; the ferret came behind, and wild with hereditary fear, the +rabbit leaped into the net. + +The force of the spring not only drew the net together, but dragged out +the peg, and rabbit and net inextricably entangled rolled down the bank +to the bottom of the ditch. I jumped into the ditch and seized the net; +when there came a hoarse whisper: “Look sharp you, measter: put up +another net fust—_he_ can’t get out; hould un under your arm, _or in +your teeth_.” + +I looked up, and saw Little John’s face peering over the mound. He had +thrust himself up under the bushes; his hat was off; his weather-beaten +face bleeding from a briar, but he could not feel the scratch so +anxious was he that nothing should escape. I pulled another net from my +pocket, and spread it roughly over the hole; then more slowly took the +rabbit from the other net. + +You should never hold a rabbit up till you have got fast hold of his +hind legs; he will so twist and work himself as to get free from any +other grasp. But when held by the hind legs and lifted from the ground +he can do nothing. I now returned to my buttress of bushes and waited. +The rabbits did not bolt my side again for a while. Every now and then +I saw, or heard, Orion or Little John leap into their ditch, and well +knew what it meant before the dead rabbit was cast out to fall with a +helpless thud upon the sward. + +Once I saw a rabbit’s head at the mouth of a hole, and momentarily +expected him to dart forth driven by the same panic fear. But either +the ferret passed, or there was another side-tunnel—the rabbit went +back. Some few minutes afterwards Little John exclaimed: “Look out, +you; ferret’s out!” One of the ferrets had come out of a hole and was +aimlessly—as it appeared—roaming along the bank. + +As he came nearest my side, I got quietly into the ditch and seized +him, and put him into a hole. To my surprise he refused to go in—I +pushed him: he returned and continued to try to come out till I gave +him a sharp fillip with the finger, when he shook the dust and +particles of dry earth from his fur with a shiver, as if in protest, +and slowly disappeared inside the hole. + +As I was creeping out of the deep ditch on hands and knees, I heard +Orion call angrily to the spaniel to come to heel. Hitherto the spaniel +had sat on his haunches behind Orion fairly quiet and still, though not +without an occasional restless movement. But now he broke suddenly from +all control, and disregarding Orion’s anger—though with hanging +tail—rushed into the hedge, and along the top of the mound where there +was a thick mass of dead grass. Little John hurled a clod of clay at +him, but before I was quite out of the ditch the spaniel gave tongue, +and at the same moment I saw a rabbit come from the ditch and run like +mad across the field. + +The dog gave chase—I rushed for my gun, which was some yards off, +placed against a hollow withy tree. The haste disconcerted the aim—the +rabbit too was almost fifty yards away when I fired. But the shot broke +one hind leg—it trailed behind—and the spaniel had him instantly. “Look +at yer nets,” said Little John in a tone of suppressed indignation, for +he disliked the noise of a gun, as all other noises. + +I did look, and found that one net had been partly pushed aside; yet to +so small an extent that I should hardly have believed it possible for +the rabbit to have crept through. He must have slipped out without the +slightest sound and quietly got on the top of the mound without being +seen. But there, alas! he found a wide net stretched right across the +bank so that to slip down the mound on the top was impossible. This +would certainly have been his course had not the net been there. + +It was now doubtless that the spaniel caught wind of him, and the scent +was so strong that it overcame his obedience. The moment the dog got on +the bank, the rabbit slipped down into the rushes in the ditch—I did +not see him because my back was turned in the act to scramble out. +Then, directly the spaniel gave tongue the rabbit darted for the open, +hoping to reach the buries in the hedge on the opposite side of the +meadow. + +This incident explained why the ferret seemed so loth to go back into +the hole. He had crept out some few moments behind the rabbit and in +his aimless uncertain manner was trying to follow the scent along the +bank. He did not like being compelled to give up this scent and to +search again for another. “Us must be main careful how us fixes our +nets, you,” said Little John, going as far as he could in reproof of my +negligence. + +The noise of the gun, the barking, and talking was of course heard by +the rabbits still in the bury, and as if to show that Little John was +right, for a while they ceased to bolt. Standing behind the +bushes—against which I now placed the gun to be nearer at hand—I +watched the nets till my eye was caught by the motions of the +ferret-bag. It lay on the grass and had hitherto been inert. But now +the bag reared itself up, and then rolled over, to again rise and again +tumble. The ferrets left in it in reserve were eager to get out—sharp +set on account of a scanty breakfast—and their motions caused the bag +to roll along a short distance. + +I could see Orion on the other side of the mound tolerably well because +he was standing up and the leaves had fallen from the upper part of the +bushes. Little John was crouched in the ditch: the dead grasses, +“gicks,” withered vines of bryony, the thistles, and dark shrivelled +fern concealed him. + +There was a round black sloe on the blackthorn beside me, the beautiful +gloss, or bloom, on it made it look like a tiny plum. It tasted not +only sour, but seemed to positively fill the mouth with a rough acid. +Overhead light grey clouds, closely packed but not rainy, drifted very +slowly before a N.E. upper current. Occasionally a brief puff of wind +came through the bushes rustling the dead leaves that still remained on +the oaks. + +Despite the cold, something of Little John’s intense concentration +communicated itself to us: we waited and watched with eager patience. +After a while he got out of the ditch where he had been listening with +his ear close against the bank, and asked me to pass him the +ferret-bag. He took out another ferret and lined it—that is, attached +one end of a long string to its neck, and then sent it in. + +He watched which way the ferret turned, and then again placed his head +upon the hard clay to listen. Orion had to come and hold the line, +while he went two or three yards farther down, got into the ditch and +once more listened carefully. “He be about the middle of the mound +you,” he said to me; “he be between you and I. Lor! look out.” + +There was a low rumbling sound—I expected to see a rabbit bolt into one +of my nets, I heard Little John moving some leaves, and then he +shouted, “Give I a net, you—quick. Lor! here be another hole: he’s +coming!” I looked over the mound and saw Little John, his teeth set and +staring at a hole which had no net, his great hands open ready to +pounce instantly like some wild animal on its prey. In an instant the +rabbit bolted—he clutched it and clasped it tight to his chest. There +was a moment of struggling, the next the rabbit was held up for a +moment and then cast across his knee. + +It was always a sight to see Little John’s keen delight in “wristing” +their necks. He affected utter unconsciousness of what he was doing, +looked you in the face, and spoke about some indifferent subject. But +all the while he was feeling the rabbit’s muscles stretch before the +terrible grasp of his hands, and an expression of complacent +satisfaction flitted over his features as the neck gave with a sudden +looseness, and in a moment what had been a living straining creature +became limp. + +The ferret came out after the rabbit; he immediately caught it and +thrust it into his pocket. There were still two ferrets in—one that was +suspected to be gorging on a rabbit in a _cul de sac_, and the other +lined, and which had gone to join that sanguinary feast. The use of the +line was to trace where the loose ferret lay. “Chuck I the show’l, +measter,” said Little John. + +I gave the “navigator” tool a heave over the hedge; it fell and stuck +upright in the sward. Orion handed it to him. He first filled up the +hole from which a rabbit had just bolted with a couple of “spits,” +_i.e._ spadefuls, and then began to dig on the top of the mound. + +This digging was very tedious. The roots of the thorn bushes and trees +constantly impeded it, and had to be cut. Then upon at last getting +down to the hole, it was found that the right place had not been hit by +several feet. Here was the line and the lined ferret—he had got hitched +in a projecting root, and was furiously struggling to go forward to the +feast of blood. + +Another spell of digging—this time still slower because Little John was +afraid lest the edge of his tool should suddenly slip through and cut +his ferret on the head, and perhaps kill it. At last the place was +reached and the ferret drawn forth still clinging to its victim. The +rabbit was almost beyond recognition as a rabbit. The poor creature had +been stopped by a _cul de sac_, and the ferret came upon him from +behind. + +As the hole was small the rabbit’s body completely filled it, and the +ferret could not scramble past to get at the spot behind the ear where +it usually seizes. The ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the +hindquarters and so bored a passage. The ferret being so gorged was +useless for further hunting and was replaced in the bag. But Little +John gave him a drink of water first from the bottom of the ditch. + +Orion and I, wearied with the digging, now insisted on removing to the +next bury, for we felt sure that the remaining rabbits in this one +would not bolt. Little John had no choice but to comply, but he did so +with much reluctance and many rueful glances back at the holes from +which he took the nets. He was sure, he said, that there were at least +half-a-dozen still in the bury: he only wished he might have all that +he could get out of it. But we imperiously ordered a removal. + +We went some thirty yards down the mound, passing many smaller buries, +and chose a spot perfectly drilled with holes. While Little John was in +the ditch putting up nets, we slily undid the ferret-bag and turned +three ferrets at once loose into the holes. “Lor! measter, measter, +what be you at?” cried Little John, quite beside himself. “You’ll spoil +all on it. Lor!” + +A sharp report as Orion fired at a rabbit that bolted almost under +Little John’s fingers drowned his remonstrances, and he had to scramble +out of the way quick. Bang! bang! right and left: the firing became +rapid. There being no nets to alarm the rabbits and three ferrets +hunting them, they tumbled out in all directions as fast as we could +load. Now the cartridges struck branches and shattered them. Now the +shot flattened itself against sarsen stones imbedded in the mound. The +rabbits had scarce a yard to bolt from one hole to another, so that it +was sharp work. + +Little John now gave up all hope, and only pleaded piteously for his +ferrets. “Mind as you doan’t hit ’em, measter; doant’ee shoot into a +hole, you.” For half an hour we had some really good shooting: then it +began to slacken, and we told him to catch his ferrets and go on to the +next bury. I am not sure that he would not have rebelled outright but +just then a boy came up carrying a basket of provisions, and a large +earthenware jar with a bung cork, full of humming ale. Farmer Willum +had sent this, and the strong liquor quite restored Little John’s good +humour. It really was ale—such as is not to be got for money. + +The boy said that he had seen Farmer Willum’s hereditary enemy, the +keeper, watching us from his side of the boundary, doubtless attracted +by the sound of the firing. He said also that there was a pheasant in a +little copse beside the brook. We sent him out again to reconnoitre: he +returned and repeated that the keeper had gone, and that he thought he +saw him enter the distant fir plantations. So we left the boy to help +Little John at the next bury—a commission that made him grin with +delight, and suited the other very well, since the noisy guns were +going away, and he could use his nets. + +We took the lined ferret with us, and started after the pheasant. Just +as we approached the copse, the spaniel gave tongue on the other side +of the hedge. Orion had tied him up to a bush, wishing to leave him +with Little John. But the spaniel tore and twisted till he got loose +and had followed us—keeping out of sight—till now crossing the scent of +a rabbit he set up his bark. We called him to heel, and I am afraid he +got a kick. But the pheasant was alarmed, and rose before we could +properly enfilade the little copse, where we should most certainly have +had him. He flew high and straight for the fir plantations, where it +was useless to follow. + +However, we leaped the brook and entered the keeper’s territory under +shelter of a thick double-mound. We slipped the lined ferret into a +small bury, and succeeded in knocking over a couple of rabbits. The +object of using the lined ferret was because we could easily recover +it. This was pure mischief, for there were scores of rabbits on our own +side. But then there was just a little spice of risk in this, and we +knew Willum would gloat over it. + +After firing these two shots we got back again as speedily as possible, +and once more assisted Little John. We could not, however, quite resist +the pleasure of shooting a rabbit occasionally and so tormenting him. +We left one hole each side without a net, and insisted on the removal +of the net that stretched across the top of the bank. This gave us a +shot now and then, and the removal of the cross net allowed the rabbit +some little law. + +Notwithstanding these drawbacks—to him—Little John succeeded in making +a good bag. He stayed till it was quite dark to dig out a ferret that +had killed a rabbit in the hole. He took his money for his day’s work +with indifference: but when we presented him with two couple of clean +rabbits his gratitude was too much for him to express. The gnawn and +“blown” rabbits [by shot] were his perquisite, the clean rabbits an +unexpected gift. It was not their monetary value; it was the fact that +they were rabbits. + +The man’s instinct for hunting was so strong that it seemed to overcome +everything else. He would walk miles—after a long day’s farm work—just +to help old Luke, the rabbit contractor, bring home the rabbits in the +evening from the Upper Woods. He worked regularly for one farmer, and +did his work well: he was a sober man too as men go, that is he did not +get drunk more than once a month. A strong man must drink now and then: +but he was not a sot, and took nine-tenths of his money faithfully home +to his wife and children. + +In the winter when farm work is not so pressing he was allowed a week +off now and then, which he spent in ferreting for the farmers, and +sometimes for Luke, and of course he was only too glad to get such an +engagement as we gave him. Sometimes he made a good thing of his +ferreting: sometimes when the weather was bad it was a failure. But +although a few shillings were of consequence to him, it really did not +seem to be the money-value but the sport that he loved. To him that +sport was all-absorbing. + +His ferrets were well looked after, and he sometimes sold one for a +good price to keepers. As a rule a man who keeps ferrets is suspected: +but Little John was too well understood, and he had no difficulty in +begging a little milk for them. + +His tenacity in pursuit of a rabbit was always a source of wonder to +me. In rain, in wind, in frost; his feet up to the ankle in the +ice-cold slush at the bottom of a ditch: no matter what the weather or +how rough, he patiently stood to his nets. I have known him stand the +whole day long in a snowstorm—the snow on the ground and in the holes, +the flakes drifting against his face—and never once show impatience. +All he disliked was wind—not on account of discomfort, but because the +creaking of the branches and the howling of the blast made such a noise +that it was impossible to tell where the rabbit would bolt. + +He congratulated himself that evening because he had recovered all his +ferrets. Sometimes one will lie in and defy all efforts to bring it +out. One plan is to place a dead fresh rabbit at the mouth of the hole +which may tempt the ferret to come and seize it. In large woods there +are generally one or more ferrets wandering loose in the season, that +have escaped from the keepers or poachers. + +If the keeper sees one he tries to catch it; failing that, he puts a +charge of shot into it. Some keepers think nothing of shooting their +own ferrets if they will not come when called by the chirrup with the +lips, or displease them in other ways. They do not care, because they +can have as many as they like. Little John made pets of his: they +obeyed him very well as a rule. + +Poaching men are sometimes charged with stealing ferrets, _i.e._ with +picking up and carrying off those that keepers have lost. A ferret is, +however, a difficult thing to identify and swear to. + +Those who go poaching with ferrets choose a moonlight night: if it is +dark it is difficult to find the holes. Small buries are best because +so much more easily managed, and the ferret is usually lined. If a +large bury is attempted, they take the first half-dozen that bolt and +then move on to another. The first rabbits come out rapidly; the rest +linger as if warned by the fate of their companions. Instead of wasting +time over them it is best to move to another place. + +Unless a keeper should chance to pass up the hedgerow there is +comparatively little risk, for the men are in the ditch and invisible +ten yards away under the bushes and make no noise. It is more difficult +to get home with the game: but it is managed. Very small buries with +not more than four or five holes may be ferreted even on the darkest +nights by carefully observing beforehand where the holes are situate. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK _versus_ +BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + +When the moon is full and nearly at the zenith it seems to move so +slowly that the shadows scarcely change their position. In winter, when +the branches are bare, a light that is nearly vertical over a tree can +cast but little shadow, and that falls immediately around the trunk. So +that the smallness of the shadow itself and the slowness of its motion +together tend to conceal it. + +The snow on the ground increases the sense of light, and in approaching +the wood the scene is even more distinct than during the gloomy day. +The tips of the short stubble that has not yet been ploughed in places +just protrude above the surface, and the snow, frozen hard, crunches +with a low sound under foot. But for that all is perfectly still. The +level upland cornfields stretch away white and vacant to the +hills—white, too, and clear against the sky. The plain is silent, and +nothing that can be seen moves upon its surface. + +On the verge of the wood which occupies the sloping ground there stands +a great oak tree, and down one side of its trunk is a narrow white +streak of snow. Leaning against the oak and looking upwards, every +branch and twig is visible, lit up by the moon. Overhead the stars are +dimmed, but they shine more brightly yonder above the hills. Such +leaves as have not yet fallen hang motionless: those that are lying on +the ground are covered by the snow, and thus held fast from rustling +even were the wind to blow. But there is not the least breath—a great +frost is always quiet, profoundly quiet—and the silence is undisturbed +even by the fall of a leaf. The frost that kills them holds the leaves +till it melts, and then they drop. + +The tall ash poles behind in the wood stand stark and straight, +pointing upwards, and it is possible to see for some distance between +them. No lesser bats flit to and fro outside the fence under the +branches; no larger ones pass above the tops _of_ the trees. There +seems, indeed, a total absence of life. The pheasants are at roost in +the warmer covers; and the woodpigeons are also perched—some in the +detached oaks of the hedgerows, particularly those that are thickly +grown with ivy about the upper branches. Up in the great beeches the +rooks are still and silent; sometimes the boughs are encrusted with +rime about their very claws. + +Leaving the oak now and skirting the wood, after a while the meadows on +the lower ground are reached; and here perhaps the slight scampering +sound of a rabbit may be heard. But as they can see and hear you so far +in the bright light and silence, they will most likely be gone before +you can get near. They are restless—very restless; first because of the +snow, and next because of the moonlight. The hares, unable to find +anything on the hills or the level white plain above, have come down +here and search along the sheltered hedgerows for leaf and blade. +To-night the rabbits will run almost like the hares, to and fro, hither +and thither. + +In the thickest hawthorns the blackbirds and lesser feathered creatures +are roosting, preferring the hedgerow to the more open wood. Some of +the lesser birds have crept into the ivy around the elms, and which +crowns the tops of the withy pollards. Wrens and sparrows have gone to +the hayricks, roosting in little holes in the sides under the slightly +projecting thatch. They have taken refuge too in the nest-holes made in +the thatched eaves of the sheds: tits are there also; and sometimes two +or three of the latter are captured at once in such holes. + +A dark line across the lower meadows marks the course of the brook; it +is dark because the snow falling on the water melted. Even now there is +a narrow stream unfrozen; though the banks against which it chafes are +hard, and will not take the impression of the moorhen’s foot. The +water-rats that in summertime played and fed along the margin among the +flags are rarely seen in winter. In walking in daylight by the brook +now their plunge into the water will not be heard, nor can they be seen +travelling at the bottom. + +They lay up a store of food in a hole away from the stream, generally +choosing the banks or higher ground in the withy-beds—places that are +not often flooded. Their ordinary holes, which are half, and sometimes +quite, under water, will not do for winter; they would be frozen in +them, and perhaps their store of food would be spoiled; besides which +the floods cause the stream to rise above its banks, and they could not +exist under water for weeks together. + +Still further down, where the wood ends in scattered bushes and +withy-beds, the level shore of the shallow mere succeeds. The once +soft, oozy ground is now firm; the rushes are frozen stiff, and the ice +for some distance out is darkened by the aquatic weeds frozen in it. +From here the wood, rising up the slope, comes into view at once—the +dark trees, the ash poles, the distant beeches, the white crest of the +hill—all still and calm under the moonlight. The level white plain of +ice behind stretches away, its real extent concealed by the islands of +withy and the dark pines along the distant shore; while elsewhere the +ice is not distinguishable from the almost equally level fields that +join it. Looking now more closely on the snow, the tracks of hares and +rabbits that have crossed and recrossed the ice are visible. + +In passing close to the withy-beds to return to the wood some branches +have to be pushed aside and cause a slight noise. Immediately a crowd +of birds rise out of the withies, where they have been roosting, and +scatter into the night. They are redwings and thrushes; every withy-bed +is full of them. After wheeling about in the air they will presently +return—first one, then three or four, and finally the flock, to their +roosting-place. + +It is easy now to walk through the wood without making a noise: there +is room to pass between the stoles of ash; and the dead sticks that +would have cracked under foot are covered with snow. But be careful how +you step; for in some places the snow has fallen upon a mass of leaves +filling a swampy hollow. Above there is a thin crust of snow, but under +the leaves the oozy ground is still soft. + +Upon the dark pines the snow has lodged, making the boughs bend +downwards. Where the slope becomes a hill the ash stoles and nut-tree +bushes are far apart and thinner, so that there are wide white spaces +around them. Regaining now the top of the hill where the plain comes to +the verge of the wood, there is a clear view down across the ash poles +to the withies, the white mere, and the meadows below. Everywhere +silence, stillness, sleep. + +In the high trees slumbering creatures; in the hedgerows, in the +bushes, and the withies birds with feathers puffed out, slumbering; in +the banks, under the very ground, dormant animals. A quiet cold that at +first does not seem cold because it is so quiet, but which gradually +seizes on and stills the sap of plants and the blood of living things. +A ruthless frost, still, subtle, and irresistible, that will slay the +bird on its perch and weaken the swift hare. + +The most cruel of all things this snow and frost, because of the +torture of hunger which the birds must feel even in their sleep. But +how beautiful the round full moon, the brilliant light, the white +landscape, the graceful lines of the pine brought out by the snow, the +hills yonder, and the stars rising above them! + +It was on just such a night as this that some years since a most +successful raid was made upon this wood by a band of poachers coming +from a distance. The pheasants had been kept later than usual to be +shot by a Christmas party, and perhaps this had caused a relaxation of +vigilance. The band came in a cart of some kind; the marks of the +wheels were found on the snow where it had been driven off the highway +and across a field to some ricks. There, no doubt, the horse and cart +were kept out of sight behind the ricks, while the men, who were +believed to have worn smock-frocks, entered the wood. + +The bright moonlight made it easy to find the pheasants, and they were +potted in plenty. Finding that there was no opposition, the gang +crossed from the wood to some outlying plantations and continued their +work there. The keeper never heard a sound. He was an old man—a man who +had been on the estate all his life—and had come in late in the evening +after a long round. He sat by the fire of split logs and enjoyed the +warmth after the bitter cold and frost; and, as he himself confessed, +took an extra glass in consideration of the severity of the weather. + +His wife was old and deaf. Neither of them heard the guns nor the dogs. +Those in the kennels close to the cottage, and very likely one or more +indoors, must have barked at the noise of the shooting. But if any dim +sense of the uproar did reach the keeper’s ear he put it down to the +moon, at which dogs will bay. As for his assistants, they had quietly +gone home, so soon as they felt sure that the keeper was housed for the +night. Long immunity from attack had bred over-confidence; the staff +also was too small for the extent of the place, and this had doubtless +become known. No one sleeps so soundly as an agricultural labourer; and +as the nearest hamlet was at some distance it is not surprising that +they did not wake. + +In the early morning a fogger going to fodder his cattle came across a +pheasant lying dead on the path, the snow stained with its blood. He +picked it up, and put it under his smock-frock, and carried it to the +pen, where he hid it under some litter, intending to take it home. But +afterwards, as he crossed the fields towards the farm, he passed near +the wood and observed the tracks of many feet and a gap in the fence. +He looked through the gap and saw that the track went into the +preserves. On second thoughts he went back for the pheasant and took it +to his master. + +The farmer, who was sitting down to table, quietly ate his breakfast, +and then strolled over to the keeper’s cottage with the bird. This was +the first intimation: the keeper could hardly believe it, till he +himself went down and followed the trail of foot-marks. There was not +the least difficulty in tracing the course of the poachers through the +wood; the feathers were lying about; the scorched paper (for they used +muzzle-loaders), broken boughs, and shot-marks were all too plain. But +by this time the gang were well away, and none were captured or +identified. + +The extreme severity of the frost naturally caused people to stay +indoors, so that no one noticed the cart going through the village; nor +could the track of its wheels be discerned from others on the snow of +the highway beaten down firm. Even had the poachers been disturbed, it +is doubtful if so small a staff of keepers could have done anything to +stop them. As it was, they not only made a good haul—the largest made +for years in that locality—but quite spoiled the shooting. + +There are no white figures passing through the peaceful wood to-night +and firing up into the trees. It is perfectly still. The broad moon +moves slow, and the bright rays light up tree and bush, so that it is +easy to see through, except where the brambles retain their leaves and +are fringed with the dead ferns. + +The poaching of the present day is carried on with a few appliances +only. An old-fashioned poacher could employ a variety of “engines,” but +the modern has scarcely any choice. There was, for instance, a very +effective mode of setting a wire with a springe or bow. A stout stick +was thrust into the ground, and then bent over into an arch. When the +wire was thrown it instantly released the springe, which sprang up and +drew it fast round the neck of the hare or rabbit, whose fore feet were +lifted from the earth. Sometimes a growing sapling was bent down for +the bow if it chanced to stand conveniently near a run. The hare no +sooner put her head into the noose than she was suspended and +strangled. + +I tried the springe several times for rabbits, and found it answer; but +the poacher cannot use it because it is so conspicuous. The stick +itself, rising above the grass, is visible at some distance, and when +thrown it holds the hare or rabbit up for any one to see that passes +by. With a wire set in the present manner the captured animal lies +extended, and often rolls into a furrow and is further hidden. + +The springe was probably last employed by the mole-catchers. Their +wooden traps were in the shape of a small tunnel, with a wire in the +middle which, when the mole passed through, set free a bent stick. This +stick pulled the wire and hung the mole. Such mole-catchers’ bows or +springes used to be seen in every meadow, but are now superseded by the +iron trap. + +Springes with horsehair nooses on the ground were also set for +woodcocks and for wild ducks. It is said that a springe of somewhat +similar construction was used for pheasants. Horsehair nooses are still +applied for capturing woodpeckers and the owls that spend the day in +hollow trees, being set round the hole by which they leave the tree. A +more delicate horsehair noose is sometimes set for finches and small +birds. I tried it for bullfinches, but did not succeed from lack of the +dexterity required. The modes of using bird-lime were numerous, and +many of them are in use for taking song-birds. + +But the enclosure of open lands, the strict definition of footpaths, +closer cultivation, and the increased value of game have so checked the +poacher’s operations with nets that in many districts the net may be +said to be extinct. It is no longer necessary to bush the stubbles +immediately after reaping. Brambles are said to have been the best for +hindering the net, which frequently swept away an entire covey, old +birds and young together. Stubbles are now so short that no birds will +lie in them, and the net would not be successful there if it were +tried. + +The net used to be so favourite an “engine” because partridges and +pheasants will run rather than fly. In the case of partridges the +poacher had first to ascertain the haunt of the covey, which he could +do by looking for where they roost at night: the spot is often worn +almost bare of grass and easily found. Or he could listen in the +evening for the calling of the birds as they run together. The net +being set, he walked very slowly down the wind towards the covey. It +could not be done too quietly or gently, because if one got up all the +rest would immediately take wing; for partridges act in concert. If he +took his time and let them run in front of him he secured the whole +number. That was the principle; but the nets were of many kinds: the +partridges were sometimes driven in by a dog. The partridges that +appear in the market on the morning of the 1st of September are said to +be netted, though probably by those who have a right to do so. These +birds by nature lend themselves to such tricks, being so timid. It is +said that if continually driven to and fro they will at last cower, and +can be taken by hand or knocked over with a stick. + +The sight of a paper kite in the air makes them motionless till forced +to rise; and there was an old dodge of ringing a bell at night, which +so alarmed the covey that they remained still till the net was ready, +when a sudden flash of light drove them into it. Imagine a poacher +ringing a bell nowadays! Then, partridges were peculiarly liable to be +taken; now, perhaps, they escape better than any other kind of game. +Except with a gun the poacher can hardly touch them, and after the +coveys have been broken up it is not worth his while to risk a shot +very often. If only their eggs could be protected there should be +little difficulty with partridges. + +Pheasants are more individual in their ways, and act less together; but +they have the same habit of running instead of flying, and if a poacher +did but dare he could take them with nets as easily as possible. They +form runs through the woods—just as fowls will wander day after day +down a hedge, till they have made quite a path. So that, having found +the run and knowing the position of the birds, the rest is simplicity +itself. The net being stretched, the pheasants were driven in. A cur +dog was sometimes sent round to disturb the birds. Being a cur, he did +not bark, for which reason a strain of cur is preferred to this day by +the mouchers who keep dogs. Now that the woods are regularly watched +such a plan has become impracticable. It might indeed be done once, but +surely not twice where competent keepers were about. + +Nets were also used for hares and rabbits, which were driven in by a +dog; but, the scent of these animals being so good, it was necessary to +work in such a manner that the wind might not blow from the net, +meeting them as they approached it. Pheasants, as every one knows, +roost on trees, but often do not ascend very high; and, indeed, before +the leaves are off they are said to be sometimes taken by hand—sliding +it along the bough till the legs are grasped, just as you might fowls +perched at night on a rail across the beams of a shed. + +The spot where they roost is easily found out, because of the peculiar +noise they make upon flying up; and with a little precaution the trees +may be approached without startling them. Years ago the poacher carried +a sulphur match and lit it under the tree, when the fumes, ascending, +stupefied the birds, which fell to the ground. The process strongly +resembled the way in which old-fashioned folk stifled their bees by +placing the hive at night, when the insects were still, over a piece of +brown paper dipped in molten brimstone and ignited. The apparently dead +bees were afterwards shaken out and buried; but upon moving the earth +with a spade some of them would crawl out, even after two or three +days. + +Sulphur fumes were likewise used for compelling rabbits to bolt from +their buries without a ferret. I tried an experiment in a bury once +with a mixture the chief component of which was gunpowder, so managed +as to burn slowly and give a great smoke. The rabbits did, indeed, just +hop out and hop in again; but it is a most clumsy expedient, because +the fire must be lit on the windward side, and the rabbits will only +come out to leeward. The smoke hangs, and does not penetrate into half +the tunnels; or else it blows through quickly, when you must stop half +the holes with a spade. It is a wretched substitute for a ferret. + +When cock-fighting was common the bellicose inclinations of the +cock-pheasants were sometimes excited to their destruction. A gamecock +was first armed with the sharp spur made from the best razors, and then +put down near where a pheasant-cock had been observed to crow. The +pheasant cock is so thoroughly game that he will not allow any rival +crowing in his locality, and the two quickly met in battle. Like a keen +poniard the game-cock’s spur either slew the pheasant outright or got +fixed in the pheasant’s feathers, when he was captured. + +A pheasant, too, as he ran deeper into the wood upon an alarm, +occasionally found his neck in a noose suspended across his path. For +rabbiting, the lurcher was and is the dog of all others. He is as +cunning and wily in approaching his game as if he had a cross of feline +nature in his character. Other dogs trust to speed; but the lurcher +steals on his prey without a sound. He enters into the purpose of his +master, and if any one appears in sight remains quietly in the hedge +with the rabbit or leveret in his mouth till a sign bids him approach. +If half the stories told of the docility and intelligence of the +lurcher are true, the poacher needs no other help than one of these +dogs for ground game. But the dogs called lurchers nowadays are mostly +of degenerate and impure breed; still, even these are capable of a good +deal. + +There is a way of fishing with rod and line, but without a bait. The +rod should be in one piece, or else a stout one—the line also very +strong and short, the hook of large size. When the fish is discovered +the hook is quietly dropped into the water and allowed to float, in +seeming, along, till close under it. The rod is then jerked up, and the +barb enters the body of the fish and drags it out. + +This plan requires, of course, that the fish should be visible, and if +stationary is more easily practised; but it is also effective even +against small fish that swim together in large shoals, for if the hook +misses one it strikes another. The most fatal time for fish is when +they spawn: roach, jack, and trout alike are then within reach, and if +the poacher dares to visit the water he is certain of a haul. + +Even in the present day and in the south a fawn is now and then stolen +from parks and forests where deer are kept. Being small, it is not much +more difficult to hide than a couple of hares; and once in the +carrier’s cart and at a little distance no one asks any questions. Such +game always finds a ready sale; and when a savoury dish is on the table +those who are about to eat it do not inquire whence it came any more +than the old folk did centuries ago. A nod and a wink are the best +sauce. As the keepers are allowed to sell a certain number of fawns (or +say they are), it is not possible for any one at a distance to know +whether the game was poached or not. An ordinary single-barrel +muzzle-loader of the commonest kind with a charge of common shot will +kill a fawn. + +I once started to stalk a pheasant that was feeding in the corner of a +meadow. Beyond the meadow there was a cornfield which extended across +to a preserved wood. But the open stubble afforded no cover—any one +walking in it could be seen—so that the pheasant had to be got at from +one side only. It was necessary also that he should be shot dead +without fluttering of wings, the wood being so near. + +The afternoon sun, shining in a cloudless sky—it was a still October +day—beat hot against the western side of the hedge as I noiselessly +walked beside it. In the aftermath, green but flowerless, a small flock +of sheep were feeding—one with a long briar clinging to his wool. They +moved slowly before me; a thing I wanted; for behind sheep almost any +game can be approached. + +I have also frequently shot rabbits that were out feeding, by the aid +of a herd of cows. It does not seem to be so much the actual cover as +the scent of the animals; for a man of course can be seen over sheep, +and under the legs of cattle. But the breath and odour of sheep or cows +prevent the game from scenting him, and, what is equally effective, the +cattle, to which they are accustomed, throw them off their guard. + +The cart-horses in the fields do not answer so well: if you try to use +one for stalking, unless he knows you he will sheer off and set up a +clumsy gallop, being afraid of capture and a return to work. But cows +will feed steadily in front, and a flock of sheep, very slowly driven, +move on with a gentle “tinkle, tinkle.” Wild creatures show no fear of +what they are accustomed to, and the use of which they understand. + +If a solitary hurdle be set up in a meadow as a hiding-place from +behind which to shoot the rabbits of a burrow, not one will come out +within gun-shot that evening. They know-that it is something strange, +the use of which they do not understand and therefore avoid. When I +first began to shoot, the difficulty was to judge the distances, and to +know how far a rabbit was from a favourite hiding-place. I once +carefully dropped small green boughs, just broken off, at twenty, +thirty, and forty yards, measuring by paces. This was in the morning. + +In the evening not a rabbit would come out anywhere near these boughs; +they were shy of them even when the leaves had withered and turned +brown; so that I took them away. Yet of the green boughs blown off by a +gale, or the dead grey branches that fall of their own weight, they +take no notice. + +First, then, they must have heard me in their burrows pacing by; +secondly, they scented the boughs as having been handled, and connected +the two circumstances together; and, thirdly, though aware that the +boughs themselves were harmless, they felt that harm was intended. The +pheasant had been walking about in the corner where the hedges met, but +now he went in; still, as he entered the hedge in a quiet way, he did +not appear to be alarmed. The sheep, tired of being constantly driven +from their food, now sheered out from the hedge, and allowed me to go +by. + +As I passed I gathered a few haws and ate them. The reason why birds do +not care much for berries before they are forced to take to them by +frost is because of the stone within, so that the food afforded by the +berries is really small. Yew-berries are an exception; they have a +stone, but the covering to it is sweet, succulent, and thick, and +dearly loved by thrushes. In the ditch the tall grasses, having escaped +the scythe, bowed low with the weight of their own awn-like seeds. + +The corner was not far off now; and I waited awhile behind a large +hawthorn bush growing on the “shore” of the ditch, thinking that I +might see the pheasant on the mound, or that at least he would recover +confidence if he had previously heard anything. Inside the bush was a +nest already partly filled with fallen leaves, like a little basket. + +A rabbit had been feeding on the other side, but now, suspicious, came +over the bank, and, seeing me, suddenly stopped and lifted himself up. +In that moment I could have shot him, being so near, without putting +the gun to the shoulder, by the sense of direction in the hands; the +next he dived into a burrow. Looking round the bush, I now saw the +pheasant in the hedge, that crossed at right angles in front; this was +fortunate, because through that hedge there was another meadow. It was +full of nut-tree bushes, very tall and thick at the top, but lower down +thin, as is usually the case when poles grow high. To fill the space a +fence had been made of stakes and bushes woven between them, and on +this the pheasant stood. + +It was too far for a safe shot; in a minute he went down into the +meadow on the other side. I then crept on hands and knees towards the +nut-bushes: as I got nearer there was a slight rustle and a low hiss in +the grass, and I had to pause while a snake went by hastening for the +ditch. A few moments afterwards, being close to the hedge, I rose +partly up, and looked carefully over the fence between the hazel wands. +There was the pheasant not fifteen yards away, his back somewhat +towards me, and quietly questing about. + +In lifting the gun I had to push aside a bough—the empty hoods, from +which a bunch of brown nuts had fallen, rested against the barrel as I +looked along it. I aimed at the head—knowing that it would mean instant +death, and would also avoid shattering the bird at so short a range; +besides which there would be fewer scattered feathers to collect and +thrust out of sight into a rabbit bury. A reason why people frequently +miss pheasants in cover-shooting, despite of their size, is because +they look at the body, the wings, and the tail. But if they looked only +at the head, and thought of that, very few would escape. My finger felt +the trigger, and the least increase of pressure would have been fatal; +but in the act I hesitated, dropped the barrel, and watched the +beautiful bird. + +That watching so often stayed the shot that at last it grew to be a +habit: the mere simple pleasure of seeing birds and animals, when they +were quite unconscious that they were observed, being too great to be +spoilt by the discharge. After carefully getting a wire over a jack; +after waiting in a tree till a hare came along; after sitting in a +mound till the partridges began to run together to roost; in the end +the wire or gun remained unused. The same feeling has equally checked +my hand in legitimate shooting: time after time I have flushed +partridges without firing, and have let the hare bound over the furrow +free. + +I have entered many woods just for the pleasure of creeping through the +brake and the thickets. Destruction in itself was not the motive; it +was an overpowering instinct for woods and fields. Yet woods and fields +lose half their interest without a gun—I like the power to shoot, even +though I may not use it. The very perfection of our modern guns is to +me one of their drawbacks: the use of them is so easy and so certain of +effect that it takes away the romance of sport. + +There could be no greater pleasure to me than to wander with a +matchlock through one of the great forests or wild tracts that still +remain in England. A hare a day, a brace of partridges, or a wild duck +would be ample in the way of actual shooting. The weapon itself, +whether matchlock, wheel-lock, or even a cross-bow, would be a delight. +Some of the antique wheel-lock guns are really beautiful specimens of +design. The old powder-horns are often gems of workmanship—hunting +scenes cut out in ivory, and the minutest detail of hoof or antler +rendered with life-like accuracy. How pleasant these carvings feel to +the fingers! It is delightful to handle such weapons and such +implements. + +The matchlocks, too, are inlaid or the stocks carved. There is +slaughter in every line of our modern guns—mechanical slaughter. But +were I offered participation in the bloodiest battue ever arranged, or +the freedom of an English forest or mountain tract, to go forth at any +time untrammelled by attendant, but only to shoot with matchlock, +wheel-lock, or cross-bow, my choice would be unhesitating. + +There would be pleasure in winding up the lock with the spanner; +pleasure in adjusting the priming; or with the matchlock in lighting +the match. To wander out into the brake, to creep from tree to tree so +noiselessly that the woodpecker should not cease to tap—in that there +is joy. The consciousness that everything depends upon your own +personal skill, and that you have no second resource if that fails you, +gives the real zest to sport. + +If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly; if the priming had not +been kept dry or the match not properly blown, or the cross-bow set +exactly accurate, then the care of approach would be lost. You must +hold the gun steady, too, while the slow priming ignites the charge. + +An imperfect weapon—yes; but the imperfect weapon would accord with the +great oaks, the beech trees full of knot-holes, the mysterious +thickets, the tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase would +become a real chase: not, as now, a foregone conclusion. And there +would be time for pondering and dreaming. + +Let us be always out of doors among trees and grass, and rain and wind +and sun. There the breeze comes and strikes the cheek and sets it +aglow: the gale increases and the trees creak and roar, but it is only +a ruder music. A calm follows, the sun shines in the sky, and it is the +time to sit under an oak, leaning against the bark, while the birds +sing and the air is soft and sweet. By night the stars shine, and there +is no fathoming the dark spaces between those brilliant points, nor the +thoughts that come as it were between the fixed stars and landmarks of +the mind. + +Or it is the morning on the hills, when hope is as wide as the world; +or it is the evening on the shore. A red sun sinks, and the foam-tipped +waves are crested with crimson; the booming surge breaks, and the spray +flies afar, sprinkling the face watching under the pale cliffs. Let us +get out of these indoor narrow modern days, whose twelve hours somehow +have become shortened, into the sunlight and the pure wind. A something +that the ancients called divine can be found and felt there still. + +THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Amateur Poacher</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Richard Jefferies</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 12, 2004 [eBook #13730]<br /> +[Most recently updated: August 6, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Malcolm Farmer and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER ***</div> + +<h1>The Amateur Poacher</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Richard Jefferies</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">PREFACE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. THE FIRST GUN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. EGG-TIME: A “GIP”-TRAP</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. OBY, AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. LUKE, THE RABBIT-CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK PATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE-SHOOTING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: +PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK VERSUS BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>PREFACE</h2> + +<p> +The following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of time, beginning with +the first gun, and attempts at shooting. Then come the fields, the first hills, +and woods explored, often without a gun, or any thought of destruction: and +next the poachers, and other odd characters observed at their work. Perhaps the +idea of shooting with a matchlock, or wheel-lock, might, if put in practice, at +least afford some little novelty. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +R.J. +</p> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>THE AMATEUR POACHER</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> +THE FIRST GUN</h2> + +<p> +They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, +close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason +why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death +fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he +put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too. +But there he stood, and mounted guard over the old flintlock that was so +powerful a magnet to us in those days. Though to go up there alone was no +slight trial of moral courage after listening to the horrible tales of the +carters in the stable, or the old women who used to sit under the hedge in the +shade, on an armful of hay, munching their crusts at luncheon time. +</p> + +<p> +The great cavernous place was full of shadows in the brightest summer day; for +the light came only through the chinks in the shutters. These were flush with +the floor and bolted firmly. The silence was intense, it being so near the roof +and so far away from the inhabited parts of the house. Yet there were sometimes +strange acoustical effects—as when there came a low tapping at the +shutters, enough to make your heart stand still. There was then nothing for it +but to dash through the doorway into the empty cheese-room adjoining, which was +better lighted. No doubt it was nothing but the labourers knocking the stakes +in for the railing round the rickyard, but why did it sound just exactly +outside the shutters? When that ceased the staircase creaked, or the pear-tree +boughs rustled against the window. The staircase always waited till you had +forgotten all about it before the loose worm-eaten planks sprang back to their +place. +</p> + +<p> +Had it not been for the merry whistling of the starlings on the thatch above, +it would not have been possible to face the gloom and the teeth of Reynard, +ever in the act to snap, and the mystic noises, and the sense of +guilt—for the gun was forbidden. Besides which there was the black mouth +of the open trapdoor overhead yawning fearfully—a standing terror and +temptation; for there was a legend of a pair of pistols thrown up there out of +the way—a treasure-trove tempting enough to make us face anything. But +Orion must have the credit of the courage; I call him Orion because he was a +hunter and had a famous dog. The last I heard of him he had just ridden through +a prairie fire, and says the people out there think nothing of it. +</p> + +<p> +We dragged an ancient linen-press under the trapdoor, and put some boxes on +that, and finally a straight-backed oaken chair. One or two of those chairs +were split up and helped to do the roasting on the kitchen hearth. So, climbing +the pile, we emerged under the rafters, and could see daylight faintly in +several places coming through the starlings’ holes. One or two bats +fluttered to and fro as we groped among the lumber, but no pistols could be +discovered; nothing but a cannon-ball, rusty enough and about as big as an +orange, which they say was found in the wood, where there was a brush in +Oliver’s time. +</p> + +<p> +In the middle of our expedition there came the well-known whistle, echoing +about the chimneys, with which it was the custom to recall us to dinner. How +else could you make people hear who might be cutting a knobbed stick in the +copse half a mile away or bathing in the lake? We had to jump down with a run; +and then came the difficulty; for black dusty cobwebs, the growth of fifty +years, clothed us from head to foot. There was no brushing or picking them off, +with that loud whistle repeated every two minutes. +</p> + +<p> +The fact where we had been was patent to all; and so the chairs got +burned—but one, which was rickety. After which a story crept out, of a +disjointed skeleton lying in a corner under the thatch. Though just a little +suspicious that this might be a <i>ruse</i> to frighten us from a second +attempt, we yet could not deny the possibility of its being true. Sometimes in +the dusk, when I sat poring over “Koenigsmark, the Robber,” by the +little window in the cheese-room, a skull seemed to peer down the trapdoor. But +then I had the flintlock by me for protection. +</p> + +<p> +There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern +mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The +linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good +gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the +old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a “bead” +could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, +little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them. At least this +practice and drill had one useful effect—the eye got accustomed to the +flash from the pan, instead of blinking the discharge, which ruins the +shooting. Almost everybody and everything on the place got shot dead in this +way without knowing it. +</p> + +<p> +It was not so easy as might be supposed to find proper flints. The best time to +look for them was after a heavy storm of rain had washed a shallow channel +beside the road, when you might select some hardy splinters which had lain +hidden under the dust. How we were found out is not quite clear: perhaps the +powder left a smell of sulphur for any one who chanced to go up in the garret. +</p> + +<p> +But, however that may be, one day, as we came in unexpectedly from a voyage in +the punt, something was discovered burning among the logs on the kitchen +hearth; and, though a desperate rescue was attempted, nothing was left but the +barrel of our precious gun and some crooked iron representing the remains of +the lock. There are things that are never entirely forgotten, though the +impression may become fainter as years go by. The sense of the cruel injustice +of that act will never quite depart. +</p> + +<p> +But they could not burn the barrel, and we almost succeeded in fitting it to a +stock of elder. Elder has a thick pith running down the centre: by removing +that the gouge and chisel had not much work to do to make a groove for the old +bell-mouthed barrel to lie in. The matchlock, for as such it was intended, was +nearly finished when our hopes were dashed to the ground by a piece of +unnatural cunning. One morning the breechpiece that screwed in was missing. +This was fatal. A barrel without a breechpiece is like a cup without a bottom. +It was all over. +</p> + +<p> +There are days in spring when the white clouds go swiftly past, with occasional +breaks of bright sunshine lighting up a spot in the landscape. That is like the +memory of one’s youth. There is a long dull blank, and then a brilliant +streak of recollection. Doubtless it was a year or two afterwards when, seeing +that the natural instinct could not be suppressed but had better be recognised, +they produced a real gun (single-barrel) for me from the clock-case. +</p> + +<p> +It stood on the landing just at the bottom of the dark flight that led to the +garret. An oaken case six feet high or more, and a vast dial, with a mysterious +picture of a full moon and a ship in full sail that somehow indicated the +quarters of the year, if you had been imitating Rip Van Winkle and after a +sleep of six months wanted to know whether it was spring or autumn. But only to +think that all the while we were puzzling over the moon and the ship and the +queer signs on the dial a gun was hidden inside! The case was locked, it is +true; but there are ways of opening locks, and we were always handy with tools. +</p> + +<p> +This gun was almost, but not quite so long as the other. That dated from the +time between Stuart and Hanover; this might not have been more than seventy +years old. And a beautiful piece of workmanship it was: my new double +breechloader is a coarse common thing to compare with it. Long and slender and +light as a feather, it came to the shoulder with wonderful ease. Then there was +a groove on the barrel at the breech and for some inches up which caught the +eye and guided the glance like a trough to the sight at the muzzle and thence +to the bird. The stock was shod with brass, and the trigger-guard was of brass, +with a kind of flange stretching half-way down to the butt and inserted in the +wood. After a few minutes’ polishing it shone like gold, and to see the +sunlight flash on it was a joy. +</p> + +<p> +You might note the grain of the barrel, for it had not been browned; and it +took a good deal of sand to get the rust off. By aid of a little oil and +careful wiping after a shower it was easy to keep it bright. Those browned +barrels only encourage idleness. The lock was a trifle dull at first, simply +from lack of use. A small screwdriver soon had it to pieces, and it speedily +clicked again sweet as a flute. If the hammer came back rather far when at +full-cock, that was because the lock had been converted from a flint, and you +could not expect it to be absolutely perfect. Besides which, as the fall was +longer the blow was heavier, and the cap was sure to explode. +</p> + +<p> +By old farmhouses, mostly in exposed places (for which there is a reason), one +or more huge walnut trees may be found. The provident folk of those days +planted them with the purpose of having their own gunstocks cut out of the wood +when the tree was thrown. They could then be sure it was really walnut, and a +choice piece of timber thoroughly well seasoned. I like to think of those +times, when men settled themselves down, and planted and planned and laid out +their gardens and orchards and woods, as if they and their sons and sons’ +sons, to the twentieth generation, were sure to enjoy the fruit of their +labour. +</p> + +<p> +The reason why the walnuts are put in exposed places, on the slope of a rise, +with open aspect to the east and north, is because the walnut is a foolish tree +that will not learn by experience. If it feels the warmth of a few genial days +in early spring, it immediately protrudes its buds; and the next morning a +bitter frost cuts down every hope of fruit for that year, leaving the leaf as +black as may be. Wherefore the east wind is desirable to keep it as backward as +possible. +</p> + +<p> +There was a story that the stock of this gun had been cut out of a walnut tree +that was thrown on the place by my great-grandfather, who saw it well seasoned, +being a connoisseur of timber, which is, indeed, a sort of instinct in all his +descendants. And a vast store of philosophy there is in timber if you study it +aright. +</p> + +<p> +After cleaning the gun and trying it at a mark, the next thing was to get a +good shot with it. Now there was an elm that stood out from the hedge a little, +almost at the top of the meadow, not above five-and-twenty yards from the other +hedge that bounded the field. Two mounds could therefore be commanded by any +one in ambush behind the elm, and all the angular corner of the mead was within +range. +</p> + +<p> +It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and +the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest +hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the +rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it +was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close +by. +</p> + +<p> +The rabbits had scratched the yellow sand right out into the grass—it is +always very much brighter in colour where they have just been at work—and +the fern, already almost yellow too, shaded the mouths of their buries. Thick +bramble bushes grew out from the mound and filled the space between it and the +elm: there were a few late flowers on them still, but the rest were hardening +into red sour berries. Westwards, the afternoon sun, with all his autumn heat, +shone full against the hedge and into the recess, and there was not the shadow +of a leaf for shelter on that side. +</p> + +<p> +The gun was on the turf, and the little hoppers kept jumping out of the grass +on to the stock: once their king, a grasshopper, alighted on it and rested, his +green limbs tipped with red rising above his back. About the distant wood and +the hills there was a soft faint haze, which is what Nature finishes her +pictures with. Something in the atmosphere which made it almost visible: all +the trees seemed to stand in a liquid light—the sunbeams were suspended +in the air instead of passing through. The butterflies even were very idle in +the slumberous warmth; and the great green dragon-fly rested on a leaf, his +tail arched a little downwards, just as he puts it when he wishes to stop +suddenly in his flight. +</p> + +<p> +The broad glittering trigger-guard got quite hot in the sun, and the stock was +warm when I felt it every now and then. The grain of the walnut-wood showed +plainly through the light polish: it was not varnished like the stock of the +double-barrel they kept padlocked to the rack over the high mantelpiece +indoors. Still you could see the varnish. It was of a rich dark horse-chestnut +colour, and yet so bright and clear that if held close you could see your face +in it. Behind it the grain of the wood was just perceptible; especially at the +grip, where hard hands had worn it away somewhat. The secret of that varnish is +lost—like that of the varnish on the priceless old violins. +</p> + +<p> +But you could feel the wood more in my gun: so that it was difficult to keep +the hand off it, though the rabbits would not come out; and the shadowless +recess grew like a furnace, for it focussed the rays of the sun. The heat on +the sunny side of a thick hedge between three and four in the afternoon is +almost tropical if you remain still, because the air is motionless: the only +relief is to hold your hat loose; or tilt it against your head, the other edge +of the brim on the ground. Then the grass-blades rise up level with the +forehead. There is a delicious smell in growing grass, and a sweetness comes up +from the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Still it got hotter and hotter; and it was not possible to move in the least +degree, lest a brown creature sitting on the sand at the mouth of his hole, and +hidden himself by the fern, should immediately note it. And Orion was waiting +in the rickyard for the sound of the report, and very likely the shepherd too. +We knew that men in Africa, watched by lions, had kept still in the sunshine +till, reflected from the rock, it literally scorched them, not daring to move; +and we knew all about the stoicism of the Red Indians. But Ulysses was ever my +pattern and model: that man of infinite patience and resource. +</p> + +<p> +So, though the sun might burn and the air become suffocating in that close +corner, and the quivering line of heat across the meadow make the eyes dizzy to +watch, yet not a limb must be moved. The black flies came in crowds; but they +are not so tormenting if you plunge your face in the grass, though they +titillate the back of the hand as they run over it. Under the bramble bush was +a bury that did not look much used; and once or twice a great blue fly came out +of it, the buzz at first sounding hollow and afar off and becoming clearer as +it approached the mouth of the hole. There was the carcass of a dead rabbit +inside no doubt. +</p> + +<p> +A humble-bee wandering along—they are restless things—buzzed right +under my hat, and became entangled in the grass by my ear. Now we knew by +experience in taking their honey that they could sting sharply if irritated, +though good-tempered by nature. How he “burred” and buzzed and +droned!—till by-and-by, crawling up the back of my head, he found an open +space and sailed away. Then, looking out again, there was a pair of ears in the +grass not ten yards distant: a rabbit had come out at last. But the first +delight was quickly over: the ears were short and sharply pointed, and almost +pinkly transparent. +</p> + +<p> +What would the shepherd say if I brought home one of his hated enemies no +bigger than a rat? The young rabbit made waiting still more painful, being far +enough from the hedge to get a clear view into the recess if anything attracted +his notice. Why the shepherd hated rabbits was because the sheep would not feed +where they had worn their runs in the grass. Not the least movement was +possible now—not even that little shifting which makes a position just +endurable: the heat seemed to increase; the thought of Ulysses could hardly +restrain the almost irresistible desire to stir. +</p> + +<p> +When, suddenly, there was a slight rustling among the boughs of an oak in the +other hedge, as of wings against twigs: it was a woodpigeon, better game than a +rabbit. He would, I knew, first look round before he settled himself to preen +his feathers on the branch, and, if everything was still while that keen +inspection lasted, would never notice me. This is their habit—and the +closer you are underneath them the less chance of their perceiving you: for a +pigeon perched rarely looks straight downwards. If flying, it is just the +reverse; for then they seem to see under them quicker than in any other +direction. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly lifting the long barrel of the gun—it was fortunate the sunlight +glancing on the bright barrel was not reflected towards the oak—I got it +to bear upon the bird; but then came a doubt. It was all eight-and-twenty yards +across the angle of the meadow to the oak—a tremendous long shot under +the circumstances. For they would not trust us with the large copper +powder-flask, but only with a little pistol-flask (it had belonged to the pair +of pistols we tried to find), and we were ordered not to use more than a charge +and a half at a time. That was quite enough to kill blackbirds. (The noise of +the report was always a check in this way; such a trifle of powder only made a +slight puff.) +</p> + +<p> +Shot there was in plenty—a whole tobacco-pipe bowl full, carefully +measured out of the old yellow canvas money-bag that did for a shot belt. A +starling could be knocked off the chimney with this charge easily, and so could +a blackbird roosting in a bush at night. But a woodpigeon nearly thirty yards +distant was another matter; for the old folk (and the birdkeepers too) said +that their quills were so hard the shot would glance aside unless it came with +great force. Very likely the pigeon would escape, and all the rabbits in the +buries would be too frightened to come out at all. +</p> + +<p> +A beautiful bird he was on the bough, perched well in view and clearly defined +against the sky behind; and my eye travelled along the groove on the breech and +up the barrel, and so to the sight and across to him; and the finger, which +always would keep time with the eye, pulled at the trigger. +</p> + +<p> +A mere puff of a report, and then a desperate fluttering in the tree and a +cloud of white feathers floating above the hedge, and a heavy fall among the +bushes. He was down, and Orion’s spaniel (that came racing like mad from +the rickyard the instant he heard the discharge) had him in a moment. Orion +followed quickly. Then the shepherd came up, rather stiff on his legs from +rheumatism, and stepped the distance, declaring it was thirty yards good; after +which we all walked home in triumph. +</p> + +<p> +Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would +pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do +anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so +for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she +had very beautiful brown eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“You mind you chaws the shot well, measter,” said the shepherd, +“afore you loads th’ gun. The more you chaws it the better it +sticks the-gither, an’ the furder it kills um;” a theory of gunnery +that which was devoutly believed in in his time and long anticipated the wire +cartridges. And the old soldiers that used to come round to haymaking, glad of +a job to supplement their pensions, were very positive that if you bit the +bullet and indented it with your teeth, it was perfectly fatal, no matter to +what part of the body its billet took it. +</p> + +<p> +In the midst of this talk as we moved on, I carrying the gun at the trail with +the muzzle downwards, the old ramrod, long disused and shrunken, slipped half +out; the end caught the ground, and it snapped short off in a second. A +terrible disaster this, turning everything to bitterness: Orion was especially +wroth, for it was his right next to shoot. However, we went down to the smithy +at the inn, to take counsel of the blacksmith, a man of knowledge and a trusty +friend. “Aha!” said he, “it’s not the first time +I’ve made a ramrod. There’s a piece of lancewood in the store +overhead which I keep on purpose; it’s as tough as a bow—they make +carriage-shafts of it; you shall have a better rod than was ever fitted to a +Joe Manton.” So we took him down some pippins, and he set to work on it +that evening. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> +THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS “TURNPIKE”</h2> + +<p> +The sculls of our punt, being short and stout, answered very well as levers to +heave the clumsy old craft off the sand into which it sank so deeply. That +sheltered corner of the mere, with a shelving sandy shore, and a steep bank +behind covered with trees, was one of the best places to fish for roach: you +could see them playing under the punt in shoals any sunny day. +</p> + +<p> +There was a projecting bar almost enclosing the creek, which was quite still, +even when the surf whitened the stony strand without, driven before a wet and +stormy south-wester. It was the merest routine to carry the painter ashore and +twist the rotten rope round an exposed root of the great willow tree; for there +was not the slightest chance of that ancient craft breaking adrift. All our +strength and the leverage of the sculls could scarcely move her, so much had +she settled. But we had determined to sail that lovely day to visit the island +of Calypso, and had got all our arms and munitions of war aboard, besides being +provisioned and carrying some fruit for fear of scurvy. There was of course the +gun, placed so as not to get wet; for the boat leaked, and had to be frequently +baled out with a tin mug—one that the haymakers used. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, if we had not caulked her with some dried moss and some stiff clay, it +is doubtful if she would have floated far. The well was full of dead leaves +that had been killed by the caterpillars and the blight, and had fallen from +the trees before their time; and there were one or two bunches of grass growing +at the stern part from between the decaying planks. +</p> + +<p> +Besides the gun there was the Indian bow, scooped out inside in a curious way, +and covered with strange designs or coloured hieroglyphics: it had been brought +home by one of our people years before. There was but one man in the place who +could bend that bow effectually; so that though we valued it highly we could +not use it. By it lay another of briar, which was pliable enough and had +brought down more than one bird. +</p> + +<p> +Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, +struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, +a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it +barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey the blacksmith had forged +us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a +rake-handle served as a shaft. It was really a dangerous weapon. He had also +made us a small anchor according to plan; nor did he dip too deeply into our +pocket-money. +</p> + +<p> +Then the mast and square-sail, fitted out of a window-blind, took up a +considerable space; for although it was perfectly calm, a breeze might arise. +And what with these and the pole for punting occasionally, the deck of the +vessel was in that approved state of confusion which always characterises a +ship on the point of departure. Nor must Orion’s fishing-rod and gear be +forgotten, nor the cigar-box at the stern (a present from the landlady at the +inn) which contained a chart of the mere and a compass. +</p> + +<p> +With a “yeo—heave-ho!” we levered her an inch at a time, and +then loosened her by working her from side to side, and so, panting and +struggling, shoved the punt towards the deep. Slowly a course was shaped out of +the creek—past the bar and then along the edge of the thick weeds, +stretching so far out into the water that the moorhen feeding near the land was +beyond reach of shot. From the green matted mass through which a boat could +scarcely have been forced came a slight uncertain sound, now here now yonder, a +faint “suck-sock;” and the dragon-flies were darting to and fro. +</p> + +<p> +The only ripple of the surface, till broken by the sculls, was where the +swallows dipped as they glided, leaving a circle of tiny wavelets that barely +rolled a yard. Past the low but steep bluff of sand rising sheer out of the +water, drilled with martins’ holes and topped by a sapling oak in the +midst of a great furze bush: yellow bloom of the furze, tall brake fern +nestling under the young branches, woodbine climbing up and bearing sweet +coronals of flower. +</p> + +<p> +Past the barley that came down to the willows by the shore—ripe and white +under the bright sunshine, but yonder beneath the shadow of the elms with a +pale tint of amber. Past broad rising meadows, where under the oaks on the +upper ground the cattle were idly lying out of the sultry heat. +</p> + +<p> +Then the barren islands, strewn with stone and mussel-shells glistening in the +sunshine, over which in a gale the waves made a clean sweep, rendered the +navigation intricate; and the vessel had to be worked in and out, now scraping +against rocky walls of sandstone, now grounding and churning up the bottom, +till presently she floated in the bay beneath the firs. There a dark shadow +hung over the black water—still and silent, so still that even the aspens +rested from their rustling. +</p> + +<p> +Out again into the sunshine by the wide mouth of the Green River, as the chart +named the brook whose level stream scarce moved into the lake. A streak of blue +shot up it between the banks, and a shrill pipe came back as the kingfisher +hastened away. By the huge boulder of sarsen, whose shoulder projected but a +few inches—in stormy times a dangerous rock to mariners—and then +into the unknown narrow seas between the endless osier-beds and withy-covered +isles. +</p> + +<p> +There the chart failed; and the known landmarks across the open +waters—the firs and elms, the green knoll with the cattle—were shut +out by thick branches on either hand. In and out and round the islets, sounding +the depth before advancing, winding now this way, now that, till all idea of +the course was lost, and it became a mere struggle to get forward. Drooping +boughs swept along the gunwales, thick-matted weeds cumbered the way; +“snags,” jagged stumps of trees, threatened to thrust their tops +through the bottom; and, finally, panting and weary of poling through the maze, +we emerged in a narrow creek all walled in and enclosed with vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +Running her ashore on the soft oozy ground, we rested under a great hawthorn +bush that grew at the very edge, and, looking upwards, could see in the canopy +above the black interlaced twigs of a dove’s nest. Tall willow poles rose +up all around, and above them was the deep blue of the sky. On the willow stems +that were sometimes under water the bark had peeled in scales; beneath the +surface bunches of red fibrous roots stretched out their slender filaments +tipped with white, as if feeling like a living thing for prey. +</p> + +<p> +A dreamy, slumberous place, where the sedges slept, and the green flags bowed +their pointed heads. Under the bushes in the distant nook the moorhen, +reassured by the silence, came out from the grey-green grass and the rushes. +Surely Calypso’s cave could not be far distant, where she +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + with work and song the time divides,<br/> +And through the loom the golden shuttle guides. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +For the Immortals are hiding somewhere still in the woods; even now I do not +weary searching for them. +</p> + +<p> +But as we rested a shadow fell from a cloud that covered the sun, and +immediately a faint sigh arose from among the sedges and the reeds, and two +pale yellow leaves fell from the willows on the water. A gentle breeze followed +the cloud, chasing its shadow. Orion touched his rod meaningly. So I stepped +ashore with the gun to see if a channel could be found into the open water, and +pushed through the bush. Briar and bramble choked the path, and hollow willow +stoles; but, holding the gun upright, it was possible to force through, till, +pushing between a belt of reeds and round an elder thicket, I came suddenly on +a deep, clear pool—all but walking into it. Up rose a large bird out of +the water with a bustling of wings and splashing, compelled to +“rocket” by the thick bushes and willow poles. There was no time to +aim; but the old gun touched the shoulder and went off without conscious +volition on my part. +</p> + +<p> +The bird flew over the willows, but the next moment there was a heavy splash +somewhere beyond out of sight. Then came an echo of the report sent back from +the woods adjoining, and another, and a third and fourth, as the sound rolled +along the side of the hill, caught in the coombes and thrown to and fro like a +ball in a tennis-court. Wild with anxiety, we forced the punt at the bulrushes, +in the corner where it looked most open, and with all our might heaved it over +the weeds and the mud, and so round the islet into the next pool, and thence +into the open water. It was a wild duck, and was speedily on board. +</p> + +<p> +Stepping the mast and hoisting the sail, we drifted before the faint breath of +air that now just curled the surface, steering straight across the open for the +stony barren islands at the mouth of the bay. The chart drawn in +pencil—what labour it cost us!—said that there, a few yards from +the steep shore, was a shoal with deep water round it. For some reason there +always seemed a slight movement or current—a set of the water there, as +if it flowed into the little bay. +</p> + +<p> +In swimming we often came suddenly out of a cold into a stratum of warm water +(at the surface); and perhaps the difference in the temperature may have caused +the drift, for the bay was in shadow half the day. Now, wherever there is +motion there will fish assemble; so as the punt approached the shoal the sail +was doused, and at twenty yards’ distance I <i>put</i> the anchor into +the water—not dropping it, to avoid the splash—and let it slip +gently to the bottom. +</p> + +<p> +Then, paying out the cable, we drifted to the edge of the shoal without the +least disturbance, and there brought up. Orion had his bait ready—he +threw his line right to windward, so that the float might drag the worm +naturally with the wind and slight current towards the shoal. +</p> + +<p> +The tiny blue buoy dances up and down on the miniature waves; beyond it a +dazzling path of gold stretches away to the distant osier-islands—a path +down which we came without seeing it till we looked back. The wavelets strike +with a faint “sock-sock” against the bluff overhanging bow, and +then roll on to the lee-shore close at hand. +</p> + +<p> +It rises steep; then a broad green ledge; and after that, still steeper, the +face of a long-deserted sand-pit, where high up a rabbit sits at the mouth of +his hole, within range, but certain to escape even if hit, and therefore safe. +On the turf below is a round black spot, still showing, though a twelvemonth +has gone by since we landed with half a dozen perch, lit a fire and cooked the +fishes. For Molly never could “a-bear” perch, because of the +hardness of the scales, saying she would as soon “scrape a vlint;” +and they laughed to scorn our idea of skinning them as you do moorhens, whose +“dowl” no fingers can pick. +</p> + +<p> +So we lit a fire and blew it up, lying on the soft short grass in a state of +nature after a swim, there being none to see us but the glorious sun. The +skinned perch were sweeter than any I have tasted since. +</p> + +<p> +“Look!” whispers Orion, suddenly. The quill above the blue buoy +nods as it lifts over the wavelets—nods again, sinks a little, jerks up, +and then goes down out of sight. Orion feels the weight. “Two pounds, if +he’s an ounce!” he shouts: soon after a splendid perch is in the +boat, nearer three pounds perhaps than two. Flop! whop! how he leaps up and +down on the planks, soiled by the mud, dulling his broad back and barred sides +on the grit and sand. +</p> + +<p> +Roaming about like this with the gun, now on the water in the punt, and now on +land, we gradually came to notice very closely the game we wished to shoot. We +saw, for instance, that the rabbit when feeding or moving freely, unless +quickened by alarm, has a peculiar way of dwelling upon his path. It almost +resembles creeping; for both fore feet stop while the hinder come up—one +hinder foot slightly behind the other, and rather wide apart. +</p> + +<p> +When a fall of snow presents a perfect impression of his passage, it appears as +if the animal had walked slowly backwards. This deceives many who at such times +go out to pick up anything that comes in their way; for they trace the trail in +the wrong direction. The truth is, that when the rabbit pauses for the hinder +feet to come up he again rests momentarily upon these before the two foremost +are put forth, and so presses not only the paw proper but the whole first joint +of the hind leg upon the snow. A glance at the hind feet of a rabbit will show +what I mean: they will be found to display plain signs of friction against the +ground. +</p> + +<p> +The habit has given the creature considerable power of standing up on the +hinder feet; he can not only sit on his haunches, but raise himself almost +upright, and remain in that position to listen for some little time. For the +same reason he can bark the ash saplings higher up than would be imagined: +where he cannot reach, the mice climb up and nibble straight lines across the +young pole, as if done with a single stroke from a saw that scraped away the +rind but did not reach the wood. +</p> + +<p> +In front of a large rabbit bury the grass will be found discoloured with sand +at some distance from the mouth of the hole. This is explained by particles +adherent to the rabbits’ hind feet, and rubbing off against the grass +blades. Country people call this peculiar gait “sloppetting;” and +one result of it is that the rabbits wear away the grass where they are +numerous almost as much as they eat it away. +</p> + +<p> +There was such a space worn by the attrition of feet sprinkled with sand before +the extensive burrow at the top of the meadow where I shot the woodpigeon. +These marks suggested to us that we should attempt some more wholesale system +of capture than shooting. It was not for the mere desire of destruction, but +for a special purpose, that we turned our attention to wiring. The punt, though +much beloved, was, like all punts, a very bad sailer. A boat with a keel that +could tack, and so work into the wind’s eye, was our ambition. +</p> + +<p> +The blacksmith Ikey readily purchased every rabbit we obtained at sixpence +each. Rabbits were not so dear then as now; but of course he made a large +profit even then. The same rabbits at present would be worth fifteen or +eighteen pence. Every sixpence was carefully saved, but it was clear that a +long time must elapse before the goal was attained. The blacksmith started the +idea of putting up a “turnpike”—<i>i.e.</i> a wire—but +professed ignorance as to the method of setting it. That was a piece of his +cunning—that he might escape responsibility. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd, too, when obliquely questioned, shook his head, pursed his lips, +threw his pitching-bar over his shoulder, and marched off with a mysterious +hint that our friend Ikey would some day put his “vut in it.” It +did not surprise us that the shepherd should turn his back on anything of the +kind; for he was a leading man among the “Ranters,” and frequently +exhorted them in his cottage. +</p> + +<p> +The carter’s lad was about at the time, and for the moment we thought of +applying to him. He was standing on the threshold of the stable, under the +horseshoes and weasles’ feet nailed up to keep the witches away, teasing +a bat that he had found under the tiles. But suddenly the dusky thing bit him +sharply, and he uttered an oath; while the creature, released, flew aimlessly +into the elms. It was better to avoid him. +</p> + +<p> +Indoors, they would have put a very heavy hand upon the notion had they known +of it: so we had to rely solely upon the teaching of experiment. In the first +attempt, a stick that had been put by for the thatcher, but which he had not +yet split, was cut short and sharpened for the plug that prevents the animal +carrying away the wire when snared. This is driven into the earth; at the +projecting end a notch was cut to hold the string attached to the end of the +wire away from the run. +</p> + +<p> +A smaller stick supported the wire above the ground; this latter only just +sufficiently thrust into the sward to stand firmly upright. Willow was used for +this at first; but it is a feeble wood: it split too much, or bent and gave way +instead of holding the wire in its place. The best for the purpose we found +were the nut-tree rods that shoot up among the hazel thickets, no larger than +the shaft of an arrow, and almost as straight. A slit about half an inch deep +was made in the upper end, and in this slit the shank of the wire was sunk. +Once or twice the upright was peeled; but this was a mistake, for the white +wand was then too conspicuous. The bark should be left on. +</p> + +<p> +Three copper wires twisted tight formed the snare itself; we twisted them like +the strands of a rope, thinking it would give more strength. The wire projected +horizontally, the loop curling downwards. It was first set up at a spot where a +very broad and much-worn run—more like a footpath than a rabbit +track—forked into several lesser runs, and at about five yards from the +hedge. But though adjusted, as we thought, with the utmost nicety, no rabbit +would put his neck into it—not even in the darkness of the night. By day +they all played round it in perfect safety. +</p> + +<p> +After waiting some time it was removed and reset just over a hole—the +loop close to the opening. It looked scarcely possible for a rabbit to creep +out without being caught, the loop being enlarged to correspond with the mouth +of the hole. For a while it seemed as if the rabbits declined to use the hole +at all; presently, however, the loop was pushed back, showing that one must +have got his nose between it and the bank and so made a safe passage sideways. +A run that crossed the field was then selected, and the wire erected at about +the middle of it, equidistant from either hedge. Near the entrance of the +buries the rabbits moved slowly, sniffing their way along and pausing every +yard or so. But they often increased their speed farther away, and sometimes +raced from one mound to the other. When going at that rate it appeared natural +to conclude that they would be less careful to pick and choose their road. +</p> + +<p> +The theory proved so far correct that next day the upright was down, but the +wire had snapped and the rabbit was gone. The character of the fracture clearly +indicated how it had happened: the rabbit, so soon as he found his head in the +noose, had rolled and tumbled till the wire, already twisted tight, parted. Too +much twisting, therefore, weakened instead of strengthening. Next a single +wire, somewhat thicker, was used, and set up nearly in the same place; but it +broke again. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, two strands of medium size, placed side by side, but only twisted +once—that is, just enough to keep them together—were employed. The +lesser loop—the slip-knot, as it might be called—was at the same +time eased in order to run quicker and take a closer grip. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. I was positive that he +had not seen me, and felt sure of bagging him; when suddenly—without any +apparent cause—up went his head, he glanced round, and was off like the +wind. +</p> + +<p> +Yet there had not been the faintest noise, and I could not understand it, till +all at once it occurred to me that it must be the scent. The slight, scarcely +perceptible, breeze blew in that direction: instantly he crossed the current +from me he detected it and fled. Afterwards I noticed that in the dusky +twilight, if the wind is behind him, a hare will run straight at you as if +about to deliberately charge your legs. This incident by the ploughed field +explained the failure of the wire. Every other care had been taken, but we had +forgotten to allow for the extreme delicacy of a wild animal’s sense of +smell. +</p> + +<p> +In walking to the spot selected for the snare it is best to avoid even stepping +on the run, and while setting it up to stand back as far as convenient and lean +forward. The grass that grows near must not be touched by the hand, which seems +to impart a very strong scent. The stick that has been carried in the hand must +not be allowed to fall across the run: and be careful that your handkerchief +does not drop out of your pocket on or near it. If a bunch of grass grows very +tall and requires parting, part it with the end (not the handle) of your stick. +</p> + +<p> +The same holds good with gins, especially if placed for a rat. Some persons +strew a little freshly plucked grass over the pan and teeth of the trap, +thinking to hide it; but it not only smells of the hand, but withers up and +turns brown, and acts as a warning to that wary creature. It is a better plan +if any dead leaves are lying near to turn them over and over with the end of a +twig till they fall on the trap, that is if they are dry: if wet (unless +actually raining at the time), should one chance to be left with the drier +under surface uppermost, the rat may pause on the brink. Now that the remotest +chance of leaving a scent was avoided the wire became a deadly instrument. +Almost every morning two or three rabbits were taken: we set up a dozen snares +when we had mastered the trick. They were found lying at full length in the +crisp white grass, for we often rose to visit the wires while yet the stars +were visible. Thus extended a person might have passed within a few yards and +never noticed them, unless he had an out-of-doors eye; for the whiter fur of +the belly as they lay aside was barely distinguishable from the hoar frost. The +blacksmith Ikey sauntered down the lane every evening, and glanced casually +behind the ash tree—the northern side of whose trunk was clothed with +dark green velvet-like moss—to see if a bag was lying for him there among +the nettles in the ditch. The rabbits were put in the bag, which was pushed +through the hedge. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> +TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION</h2> + +<p> +Just on the verge and borderland of the territory that could be ranged in +safety there grew a stunted oak in a mound beside the brook. Perhaps the roots +had been checked by the water; for the tree, instead of increasing in bulk, had +expended its vigour in branches so crooked that they appeared entangled in each +other. This oak was a favourite perching-place, because of its position: it +could also be more easily climbed than straight-grown timber, having many +boughs low down the trunk. With a gun it is difficult to ascend a smooth tree; +these boughs therefore were a great advantage. +</p> + +<p> +One warm afternoon late in the summer I got up into this oak; and took a seat +astride a large limb, with the main trunk behind like the back of a chair and +about twenty feet above the mound. Some lesser branches afforded a fork on +which the gun could be securely lodged, and a limb of considerable size came +across in front. Leaning both arms on this, a view could be obtained below and +on three sides easily and without effort. +</p> + +<p> +The mound immediately beneath was grown over with thick blackthorn, a species +of cover that gives great confidence to game. A kick or blow upon the bushes +with a stick will not move anything in an old blackthorn thicket. A man can +scarcely push through it: nothing but a dog can manage to get about. On the +meadow side there was no ditch, only a narrow fringe of tall pointed grass and +rushes, with one or two small furze bushes projecting out upon the sward. +Behind such bushes, on the slope of the mound, is rather a favourite place for +a rabbit to sit out, or a hare to have a form. +</p> + +<p> +The brook was shallow towards the hedge, and bordered with flags, among which +rose up one tall bunch of beautiful reeds. Some little way up the brook a pond +opened from it. At the entrance the bar of mud had hardly an inch of water; +within there was a clear small space, and the rest all weeds, with +moorhens’ tracks. The farther side of the pond was covered with bramble +bushes. It is a good plan to send the dogs into bushes growing on the banks of +ponds; for though rabbits dislike water itself they are fond of sitting out in +such cover near it. A low railing enclosed the side towards me: the posts had +slipped by the giving way of the soil, and hung over the still pool. +</p> + +<p> +One of the rails—of willow—was eaten out into hollow cavities by +the wasps, which came to it generation after generation for the materials of +their nests. The particles they detach are formed into a kind of paste or +paper: in time they will quite honeycomb a pole. The third side of the pond +shelved to the “leaze,” that the cattle might drink. From it a +narrow track went across the broad field up the rising ground to the distant +gateway leading to the meadows, where they grazed on the aftermath. Marching +day by day, one after the other in single file, to the drinking-place, the +hoofs of the herd had cut a clean path in the turf, two or three inches deep +and trodden hard. The reddish soil thus exposed marked the winding line athwart +the field, through the tussocky bunches. +</p> + +<p> +By the pond stood a low three-sided merestone or landmark, the initials on +which were hidden under moss. Up in the tree, near the gun, there was a dead +branch that had decayed in the curious manner that seems peculiar to oak. Where +it joined the trunk the bark still remained, though covered with lichen, and +for a foot or so out; then there was a long space where the bark and much of +the wood had mouldered away; finally, near the end the bough retained its +original size and the bark adhered. At the junction with the trunk and at the +extremity its diameter was perhaps three inches; in the middle rather less than +half as much. The grey central piece, larger and darker at either end, +suggested the thought of the bare neck of a vulture. +</p> + +<p> +Far away, just rising above the slope of the leaze, the distant tops of elms, +crowded with rooks’ nests (not then occupied), showed the site of the +residence of an old gentleman of whom at that time we stood in much fear. The +“Squire” of Southlands alarmed even the hardened carters’ +lads as much by the prestige of a singular character as by the chastisement he +personally gave those who ventured into his domain. Not a bird’s nest, +not a nut, must be touched: still less anything that could be called game. The +watch kept was so much the stricter because he took a personal part in it, and +was often round the fields himself armed with a great oak staff. It seemed, +indeed, as if the preservation of the game was of far greater importance to him +than the shooting of it afterwards. All the fowls of the air flocked to +Southlands, as if it had been a refuge; yet it was not a large estate. Into the +forest we had been, but Southlands was a mystery, a forbidden garden of +delight, with the terror of an oaken staff (and unknown penalties) turning this +way and that. Therefore the stunted old oak on the verge—the moss-grown +merestone by the pond marked the limit—was so favourite a perching-place. +</p> + +<p> +That beautiful afternoon I leaned both arms idly on the great bough that +crossed in front of the seat and listened to the “Caw—caw!” +of the rooks as they looked to see if the acorns were yet ripening. A dead +branch that had dropped partly into the brook was swayed continually up and +down by the current, the water as it chafed against it causing a delicious +murmur. This lulled me to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +I woke with a start, and had it not been for the bough crossing in front must +have fallen twenty feet. Looking down into the meadow as soon as my eyes were +thoroughly open, I instantly noticed a covey of young partridges a little way +up beside the hedge among the molehills. The neighbourhood of those hillocks +has an attraction for many birds, especially in winter. Then fieldfares, +redwings, starlings, and others prefer the meadows that are dotted with them. +In a frost if you see a thrush on a molehill it is very likely to thaw shortly. +Moles seem to feel the least change in the temperature of the earth; if it +slackens they begin to labour, and cast up, unwittingly, food for the thrushes. +</p> + +<p> +It would have been easy to kill three or four of the covey, which was a small +one, at a single shot; but it had been a late summer, and they were not +full-grown. Besides which, they roosted, I knew, about the middle of the +meadow, and to shoot them near the roost would be certain to break them up, and +perhaps drive them into Southlands. “Good poachers preserve their own +game:” so the birds fed safely, though a pot shot would not have seemed +the crime then that it would now. While I watched them suddenly the old bird +“quat,” and ran swiftly into the hedge, followed by the rest. A +kestrel was hovering in the next meadow: when the beat of his wings ceased he +slid forward and downwards, then rose and came over me in a bold curve. Well +those little brown birds in the blackthorn knew that, fierce as he was, he +dared not swoop even on a comparatively open bush, much less such thick covert, +for fear of ruffling his proud feathers and beating them out. Nor could he +follow them through the intricate hidden passages. +</p> + +<p> +In the open water of the pond a large jack was basking in the sunshine, just +beneath the surface; and though the shot would scatter somewhat before reaching +him, he was within range. If a fish lies a few inches under water he is quite +safe from shot unless the muzzle of the gun is so close that the pellets travel +together like a bullet. At a distance the shot is supposed to glance as it +strikes the water at an angle; for that reason the elevation of the tree was an +advantage, since from it the charge would plunge into the pool. A jack may be +killed in some depth of water when the gun is nearly perpendicularly above the +mark; but in any case the aim must be taken two inches or more, according to +circumstances, beneath the apparent position of the fish, to allow for +refraction. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes the jack when hit comes to the surface belly upwards, but sometimes +keeps down or sinks, and floats a considerable distance away from the spot; so +that in the muddy water disturbed by the shot it is difficult to find him. If a +snake be shot at while swimming he will sometimes sink like a stone, and can be +seen lying motionless at the bottom. After we got hold of a small deer rifle we +used to practise at the snakes in the mere—aiming at the head, which is +about the size of a nut, and shows above the surface wobbling as they move. I +recollect cutting a snake’s head clean off with a ball from a pistol as +he hastened away through the grass. +</p> + +<p> +In winter, when the jacks came up and lay immediately under the ice, they could +be easily shot. The pellets cut a round hole through an inch and a half of ice. +The jack now basking in the pond was the more tempting because we had often +tried to wire him in vain. The difficulty was to get him if hit. While I was +deliberating a crow came flying low down the leaze, and alighted by the pond. +His object, no doubt, was a mussel. He could not have seen me, and yet no +sooner did he touch the ground than he looked uneasily about, sprang up, and +flew straight away, as if he had smelt danger. Had he stayed he would have been +shot, though it would have spoiled my ambush: the idea of the crows picking out +the eyes of dying creatures was always peculiarly revolting to me. +</p> + +<p> +If the pond was a haunt of his, it was too near the young partridges, which +were weakly that season. A kestrel is harmless compared to a crow. Surely the +translators have wrongly rendered Don Quixote’s remark that the English +did not kill crows, believing that King Arthur, instead of dying, was by +enchantment turned into one, and so fearing to injure the hero. Must he not +have meant a rook?* +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Note: It has since been pointed out to me that the Don may have meant a raven] +</p> + +<p> +Soon afterwards something moved out of the mound into the meadow a long +distance up: it was a hare. He came slowly along beside the hedge towards +me—now stopping and looking into it as if seeking a convenient place for +a form, having doubtless been disturbed from that he had first chosen. It was +some minutes before he came within range: had I been on the ground most likely +he would have scented me, the light air going that way; but being in the tree +the wind that passed went high over him. For this reason a tree ambush is +deadly. It was necessary to get the line of sight clear of twigs, which check +and divert shot, and to take a steady aim; for I had no second barrel, no dog, +and had to descend the tree before running. Some leaves were blackened by the +flame: the hare simply fell back, stretched his hind legs, quivered, and lay +still. Part of the leaf of a plant was fixed in his teeth; he had just had a +nibble. +</p> + +<p> +With this success I was satisfied that day; but the old oak was always a +favourite resort, even when nothing particular was in hand. From thence, too, +as a base of operations, we made expeditions varying in their object with the +season of the year. +</p> + +<p> +Some distance beyond the stunted oak the thick blackthorn hedge was succeeded +by a continuous strip of withy-bed bordering the brook. It often occurred to us +that by entering these withies it would be possible to reconnoitre one side of +Southlands; for the stream skirted the lower grounds: the tall willows would +conceal any one passing through them. So one spring morning the attempt was +made. +</p> + +<p> +It was necessary to go on hands and knees through the mowing grass for some +yards while passing an open space where the blackthorn cover ended, and then to +leap a broad ditch that divided the withy-beds from the meadow. The lissom +willow wands parted easily and sprang back to their places behind, leaving +scarce a trace. Their slender tops rose overhead; beneath, long dead grasses, +not yet quite supplanted by the spring growth, filled the space between. These +rustled a little under foot, but so faint a sound could scarcely have been +audible outside; and had any one noticed it it would have been attributed to a +hare or a fox moving: both are fond of lying in withy-beds when the ground is +dry. +</p> + +<p> +The way to walk noiselessly is to feel with the foot before letting your weight +press on it; then the dead stick or fallen hemlock is discovered and avoided. A +dead stick cracks; the dry hollow hemlock gives a splintering sound when +crushed. These old hemlock stems were numerous in places, together with +“gicksies,” as the haymakers call a plant that resembles it, but +has a ribbed or fluted instead of a smooth stalk. The lads use a long +“gicks” cut between the joints as a tube to blow haws or peggles at +the girls. When thirsty, and no ale is handy, the men search for one to suck up +water with from the brook. It is difficult to find one free from insects, which +seem to be remarkably fond of anything hollow. The haymakers do not use the +hemlock, thinking it would poison the water; they think, too, that drinking +through a tube is safer when they are in a great heat from the sun than any +other way. +</p> + +<p> +Nor is it so easy to drink from a stream without this simple aid. If the bank +be flat it is wet, and what looks like the grass of the meadow really grows out +of the water; so that there it is not possible to be at full length. If the +bank be dry the level of the water is several inches lower, and in endeavouring +to drink the forehead is immersed; often the water is so much lower than its +banks that it is quite impossible to drink from it lying. By the edge grasses, +water-plantains, forget-me-nots, frequently fill the space within reach. If you +brush these aside it disturbs the bottom, and the mud rises, or a patch of +brown “scum” comes up and floats away. A cup, though gently used, +generally draws some insects in with the water, though the liquid itself be +pure. Lapping with the hollowed palm requires practice, and, unless the spot be +free from weeds and of some little depth, soon disturbs the bottom. But the +tube can be inserted in the smallest clear place, and interferes with nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Each of us carried a long hazel rod, and the handle of a “squailer” +projected from Orion’s coat-pocket. For making a “squailer” a +teacup was the best mould: the cups then in use in the country were rather +larger than those at present in fashion. A ground ash sapling with the bark on, +about as thick as the little finger, pliant and tough, formed the shaft, which +was about fifteen inches long. This was held upright in the middle of a teacup, +while the mould was filled with molten lead. It soon cooled, and left a heavy +conical knob on the end of the stick. If rightly thrown it was a deadly +missile, and would fly almost as true as a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret +could thus be knocked over; and it was peculiarly adapted for fetching a +squirrel out of a tree, because, being so heavy at one end, it rarely lodged on +the boughs, as an ordinary stick would, but overbalanced and came down. +</p> + +<p> +From the outlook of the oak some aspen trees could be seen far up in the +withy-beds; and it had been agreed that there the first essay of the stream +should be made. On arriving at these trees we paused, and began to fix the +wires on the hazel rods. The wire for fish must slip very easily, and the +thinner it is, if strong enough, the better, because it takes a firmer grip. A +single wire will do; but two thin ones are preferable. Thin copper wire is as +flexible as thread. Brass wire is not so good; it is stiffer, and too +conspicuous in the water. +</p> + +<p> +At the shank end a stout string is attached in the middle of its length. Then +the wire is placed against the rod, lying flat upon it for about six inches. +The strings are now wound round tightly in opposite directions, binding it to +the stick, so that at the top the ends cross and are in position to tie in the +slight notch cut for the purpose. A loop that will allow four fingers to enter +together is about large enough, though of course it must be varied according to +the size of the jack in view. Heavy jacks are not often wired, and scarcely +ever in brooks. +</p> + +<p> +For jack the shape of the loop should be circular; for trout it should be oval, +and considerably larger in proportion to the apparent bulk of the fish. Jack +are straight-grown and do not thicken much in the middle; with trout it is +different. The noose should be about six inches from the top of the rod. Orion +said he would go twenty yards farther up; I went direct from the centre of the +withy-bed to the stream. +</p> + +<p> +The bank rose a little above the level of the withy-bed; it was a broad mound +full of ash stoles and willow—the sort that is grown for poles. At that +spot the vines of wild hops had killed all the underwood, leaving open spaces +between the stoles; the vines were matted so thickly that they hid the ground. +This was too exposed a place, so I went back and farther up till I could just +hear Orion rustling through the hemlocks. Here the dead grass and some elder +bushes afforded shelter, and the water could be approached unseen. +</p> + +<p> +It was about six or eight inches deep; the opposite shore was bordered for +several yards out with flags and rushes. The cattle nibbled their tender tops +off, as far as they could reach; farther out they were pushing up straight and +pointed. The rib and groove of the flag so closely resemble those of the +ancient bayonet that it might be supposed the weapon was modelled from the +plant. Indoors among the lumber there was a rusty old bayonet that immediately +called forth the comparison: the modern make seem more triangular. +</p> + +<p> +The rushes grew nearer the shore of the meadow—the old ones yellow, the +young green: in places this fringe of rush and sedge and flag must have been +five or six yards wide, and it extended as far as could be seen up the brook. +No doubt the cattle trod in the edge of the firm ground by degrees every year +to get at the water, and thus widened the marsh. It was easy to understand now +why all the water-fowl, teal and duck, moorhen and snipe, seemed in winter to +make in this direction. +</p> + +<p> +The ducks especially exercised all our ingenuity and quite exhausted our +patience in the effort to get near them in winter. In the large water-meadows a +small flock sometimes remained all day: it was possible to approach near enough +by stalking behind the hedges to see the colour of the mallards; but they were +always out of gunshot. This place must be full of teal then; as for moorhens, +there were signs of them everywhere, and several feeding in the grass. The +thought of the sport to be got here when the frosty days came was enough to +make one wild. +</p> + +<p> +After a long look across, I began to examine the stream near at hand: the +rushes and flags had forced the clear sweet current away from the meadow, so +that it ran just under the bank. I was making out the brown sticks at the +bottom, when there was a slight splash—caused by Orion about ten yards +farther up—and almost at the same instant something shot down the brook +towards me. He had doubtless landed a jack, and its fellow rushed away. Under a +large dead bough that had fallen across its top in the stream I saw the long +slender fish lying a few feet from the bank, motionless save for the gentle +curving wave of the tail edges. So faint was that waving curl that it seemed +caused rather by the flow of the current than the volition of the fish. The +wings of the swallow work the whole of the longest summer day, but the fins of +the fish in running water are never still: day and night they move +continuously. +</p> + +<p> +By slow degrees I advanced the hazel rod, keeping it at first near to and +parallel with the bank, because jack do not like anything that stretches across +them; and I imagine other fish have the same dislike to right angles. The +straight shadow even seems to arouse suspicion—no boughs are ever +straight. Perhaps, if it were possible to angle without a rod, there would be +more success, particularly in small streams. But after getting the stick almost +out far enough, it became evident that the dead branch would not let me slip +the wire into the water in front of the jack in the usual way. So I had to draw +it back again as gradually as it had been put forth. +</p> + +<p> +With fish everything must be done gradually and without a jerk. A sudden +jerking movement immediately alarms them. If you walk gently by they remain +still, but start or lift the arm quickly and they dart for deep water. The +object of withdrawing the rod was to get at and enlarge the loop in order that +it might be slipped over his tail, since the head was protected by the bough. +It is a more delicate operation to pass the wire up from behind; it has to go +farther before the spot that allows a firm grip is reached, and fish are well +aware that natural objects such as twigs float down with the current. Anything, +therefore, approaching from behind or rubbing upwards is suspicious. As this +fish had just been startled, it would not do to let the wire touch him at all. +</p> + +<p> +After enlarging the loop I put the rod slowly forth again, worked the wire up +stream, slipped the noose over his tail, and gently got it up to the balance of +the fish. Waiting a moment to get the elbow over the end of the rod so as to +have a good leverage, I gave a sudden jerk upwards, and felt the weight +instantly. But the top of the rod struck the overhanging bough, and there was +my fish, hung indeed, but still in the water near the surface. Nor could I +throw it on the bank, because of the elder bushes. So I shortened the rod, +pulling it in towards me quickly and dragging the jack through the water. The +pliant wire had cut into the scales and skin—he might have been safely +left suspended over the stream all day; but in the eagerness of the moment I +was not satisfied till I had him up on the mound. +</p> + +<p> +We did not see much of Southlands, because the withy-beds were on the lowest +ground; but there were six jacks strung on a twisted withy when we got back to +the stunted oak and rested there tasting acid sorrel leaves. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> +EGG-TIME. A “GIP”-TRAP</h2> + +<p> +There is no sweeter time in the woods than just before the nesting begins in +earnest. Is it the rising sap that causes a pleasant odour to emanate from +every green thing? Idling along the hedgerows towards the woodlands there may +perchance be seen small tufts of white rabbit’s fur in the grass, torn +from herself by the doe to form a warm lining to the hole in which her litter +will appear: a “sign” this that often guides a robber to her nest. +</p> + +<p> +Yonder on the rising ground, towering even in their fall over the low (lately +cut) ash plantation, lie the giant limbs of the mighty oaks, thrown just as +they felt the quickening heat. The bark has been stripped from the trunk and +branches; the sun has turned the exposed surface to a deep buff colour, which +contrasts with the fresh green of the underwood around and renders them visible +afar. +</p> + +<p> +When the oak first puts forth its buds the woods take a ruddy tint. Gradually +the background of green comes to the front, and the oak-apples swell, streaked +with rosy stains, whence their semblance to the edible fruit of the orchard. +All unconscious of the white or red cross daubed on the rough bark, the tree +prepares its glory of leaf, though doomed the while by that sad mark to the +axe. +</p> + +<p> +Cutting away the bushes with his billhook, the woodman next swings the cumbrous +grub-axe, whose wide edge clears the earth from the larger roots. Then he puts +his pipe in his pocket, and settles to the serious work of the “great +axe,” as he calls it. I never could use this ungainly tool aright: a +top-heavy, clumsy, awkward thing, it rules you instead of you ruling it. The +handle, too, is flat—almost with an edge itself sometimes—and is +quite beyond the grasp of any but hands of iron. Now the American axe feels +balanced like a sword; this is because of the peculiar curve of the handle. To +strike you stand with the left foot slightly forward, and the left hand +uppermost: the “S” curve (it is of course not nearly so crooked as +the letter) of the American axe adjusts itself to the anatomy of the attitude, +so to speak. +</p> + +<p> +The straight English handle does not; it is stiff, and strains the muscles; but +the common “great axe” has the advantage that it is also used for +splitting logs and gnarled “butts.” An American axe is too +beautiful a tool for that rude work. The American was designed to strike at the +trunk of the tree several feet from the ground, the English axe is always +directed to the great roots at the base. +</p> + +<p> +A dexterous woodman can swing his tool alternately left hand or right hand +uppermost. The difference looks trifling; but try it, and you will be +astonished at the difficulty. The blows echo and the chips fly, till the base +of the tree, that naturally is much larger, is reduced to the size of the trunk +or less. Now a pause, while one swarms up to “line” +it—<i>i.e.</i> to attach a rope as high as possible to guide the +“stick” in its fall. +</p> + +<p> +It is commonly said that in climbing it is best to look up—a maxim that +has been used for moral illustrations; but it is a mistake. In ascending a tree +you should never look higher than the brim of your hat, unless when quite still +and resting on a branch; temporary blindness would be the penalty in this case. +Particles of decayed bark, the borings of insects in dead wood, dust, and +fragments of twigs, rush down in little streams and fill the eyes. The quantity +of woody powder that adheres to a tree is surprising; every motion dislodges it +from a thousand minute crevices. As for firs, in climbing a fir one cannot look +up at all—dead sticks, needles, and dust pour down, and the branches are +so thick together that the head has to be forced through them. The line fixed, +the saw is applied, and by slow degrees the butt cut nearly through. Unless +much overbalanced on one side by the limbs, an oak will stand on a still day +when almost off. +</p> + +<p> +Some now seize the rope, and alternately pull and slacken, which gives the tree +a tottering movement. One more daring than the rest drives a wedge into the +saw-cut as it opens when the tree sways. It sways—it staggers; a loud +crack as the fibres part, then with a slow heave over it goes, and, descending, +twists upon the base. The vast limbs plough into the sward; the twigs are +crushed; the boughs, after striking the earth, rebound and swish upwards. See +that you stand clear, for the least branch will thresh you down. The flat +surface of the exposed butt is blue with stains from the steel of the saw. +</p> + +<p> +Light taps with a small sharp axe, that cut the rind but no deeper, ring the +trunk at intervals. Then the barking irons are inserted; they are rods of iron +forged at the top something like a narrow shallow spoon. The bark from the +trunk comes off in huge semi-cylinders almost large enough for a canoe. But +that from the branches is best. You may mark how at the base the bark is two +inches thick, lessening to a few lines on the topmost boughs. If it sticks a +little, hammer it with the iron: it peels with a peculiar sound, and the juicy +sap glistens white between. It is this that, drying in the sun, gives the +barked tree its colour: in time the wood bleaches paler, and after a winter +becomes grey. Inside, the bark is white streaked with brown; presently it will +be all brown. While some strip it, others collect the pieces, and with them +build toy-like sheds of bark, which is the manner of stacking it. +</p> + +<p> +From the peeled tree there rises a sweet odour of sap: the green mead, the +green underwood and hawthorn around, are all lit up with the genial sunbeams. +The beautiful wind-anemones are gone, too tender and lovely for so rude an +earth; but the wild hyacinths droop their blue bells under the wood, and the +cowslips rise in the grass. The nightingale sings without ceasing; the soft +“coo-coo” of the dove sounds hard by; the merry cuckoo calls as he +flies from elm to elm; the wood-pigeons rise and smite their wings together +over the firs. In the mere below the coots are at play; they chase each other +along the surface of the water and indulge in wild evolutions. Everything is +happy. As the plough-boys stroll along they pluck the young succulent hawthorn +leaves and nibble them. +</p> + +<p> +It is the sweetest time of all for wandering in the wood. The brambles have not +yet grown so bushy as to check the passage; the thistles that in autumn will be +as tall as the shoulder and thick as a walking-stick are as yet no bar; burrs +do not attach themselves at every step, though the broad burdock leaves are +spreading wide. In its full development the burdock is almost a shrub rather +than a plant, with a woody stem an inch or more in diameter. +</p> + +<p> +Up in the fir trees the nests of the pigeons are sometimes so big that it +appears as if they must use the same year after year, adding fresh twigs, else +they could hardly attain such bulk. Those in the ash-poles are not nearly so +large. In the open drives blue cartridge-cases lie among the grass, the brass +part tarnished by the rain, thrown hurriedly aside from the smoking breech last +autumn. But the guns are silent in the racks, though the keeper still carries +his gun to shoot the vermin, which are extremely busy at this season. Vermin, +however, do not quite agree among themselves: weasels and stoats are deadly +enemies of mice and rats. Where rats are plentiful there they are sure to come; +they will follow a rat into a dwelling-house. +</p> + +<p> +Here the green drive shows traces of the poaching it received from the +thick-planted hoofs of the hunt when the leaves were off and the blast of the +horn sounded fitfully as the gale carried the sound away. The vixen is now at +peace, though perhaps it would scarcely be safe to wander too near the +close-shaven mead where the keeper is occupied more and more every day with his +pheasant-hatching. And far down on the lonely outlying farms, where even in +fox-hunting England the music of the hounds is hardly heard in three years +(because no great coverts cause the run to take that way), foul murder is +sometimes done on Reynard or his family. A hedge-cutter marks the +sleeping-place in the withies where the fox curls up by day; and with his rusty +gun, that sometimes slaughters a roaming pheasant, sends the shot through the +red side of the slumbering animal. Then, thrust ignobly into a sack, he +shoulders the fox and marches round from door to door, tumbling the limp body +rudely down on the pitching stones to prove that the fowls will now be safe, +and to be rewarded with beer and small coin. A dead fox is profit to him for a +fortnight. These evil deeds of course are cloaked as far as possible. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving now the wood for the lane that wanders through the meadows, a mower +comes sidling up, and, looking mysteriously around with his hand behind under +his coat, “You med have un for sixpence,” he says, and produces a +partridge into whose body the point of the scythe ran as she sat on her nest in +the grass, and whose struggles were ended by a blow from the rubber or +whetstone flung at her head. He has got the eggs somewhere hidden under a +swathe. +</p> + +<p> +The men that are so expert at finding partridges’ eggs to sell to the +keepers know well beforehand whereabouts the birds are likely to lay. If a +stranger who had made no previous observations went into the fields to find +these eggs, with full permission to do so, he would probably wander in vain. +The grass is long, and the nest has little to distinguish it from the ground; +the old bird will sit so close that one may pass almost over her. Without a +right of search in open daylight the difficulty is of course much greater. A +man cannot quarter the fields when the crop is high and leave no trail. +</p> + +<p> +Farmers object to the trampling and damage of their property; and a keeper does +not like to see a labourer loafing about, because he is not certain that the +eggs when found will be conscientiously delivered to him. They may be taken +elsewhere, or they may even be broken out of spite if the finder thinks he has +a grudge to repay. Now that every field is enclosed, and for the most part well +cultivated and looked after, the business of the egg-stealer is considerably +diminished. He cannot roam over the country at his fancy; his egg-finding is +nearly restricted to the locality of which he possesses minute knowledge. +</p> + +<p> +Thus workmen engaged in the towns, but sleeping several miles out in the +villages, can keep a register of the slight indications they observe morning +after morning as they cross the fields by the footpath to their labour. Early +in the spring they notice that the partridges have paired: as time advances +they see the pair day after day in the same meadow, and mark the spot. Those +who work in the fields, again, have still better opportunities: the +bird-keeping lads too have little else to do at that season than watch for +nests. In the meadows the labourer as he walks to and fro with the +“bush” passes over every inch of the ground. The “bush” +is a mass of thorn bushes fixed in a frame and drawn by a horse; it acts like a +light harrow, and leaves the meadow in strips like the pile of green velvet, +stroked in narrow bands, one this way, one that, laying the grass blades in the +directions it travels. Solitary work of this kind—for it requires but one +man—is very favourable to observation. When the proper time arrives the +searcher knows within a little where the nest must be, and has but a small +space to beat. +</p> + +<p> +The pheasant being so large a bird, its motions are easy to watch; and the nest +is speedily found, because, being in the hedge or under bushes, there is a +definite place in which to look, instead of the broad surface of the field. +Pheasants will get out of the preserves in the breeding season and wander into +the mounds, so that the space the keeper has to range is then enlarged +threefold. Both pheasants and partridges are frequently killed on their nests; +when the eggs are hard the birds remain to the last moment, and are often +knocked over. +</p> + +<p> +Besides poachers, the eggs have to run the chance of being destroyed by carrion +crows, and occasionally by rooks. Rooks, though generally cleanly feeders, will +at times eat almost anything, from a mussel to a fledgeling bird. Magpies and +jays are accused of being equally dangerous enemies of eggs and young birds, +and so too are snakes. Weasels, stoats, and rats spare neither egg, parents, +nor offspring. Some of the dogs that run wild will devour eggs; and hawks +pounce on the brood if they see an opportunity. Owls are said to do the same. +The fitchew, the badger, and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation; but +the first is rare, the second almost exterminated in many districts; the +third—the poor hedgehog—is common, and some keepers have a bitter +dislike to them. Swine are credited, with the same mischief as the worst of +vermin at this particular season; but nowadays swine are not allowed to run +wild in cultivated districts, except in the autumn when the acorns are falling. +</p> + +<p> +As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly accessible, and the eggs, +being large, are tempting. Perhaps the mowing machine is as destructive as +anything; and after all these there is the risk of a wet season and of disease. +Let the care exercised be never so great, a certain amount of mortality must +occur. +</p> + +<p> +While the young partridges gradually become strong and swift, the nuts are +increasing in size, and ripening upon the bough. The very hazel has a pleasant +sound—not a nut-tree hedge existed in the neighbourhood that we did not +know and visit. We noted the progress of the bushes from the earliest spring, +and the catkins to the perfect nut. +</p> + +<p> +There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the hazel in February, though the +gloom of winter lingers and the “Shuck—a—sheck!” of the +fieldfare fleeing before the snow sounds overhead. On the slender branches grow +green ovals, from whose tips tiny scarlet plumes rise and curl over. +</p> + +<p> +It often happens that while the tall rods with speckled bark grow vigorously +the stole is hollow and decaying when the hardy fern flourishes around it. +Before the summer ricks are all carted the nuts are full of sweet milky matter, +and the shell begins to harden. A hazel bough with a good crook is then sought +by the men that are thinking of the wheat harvest: they trim it for a +“vagging” stick, with which to pull the straw towards them. True +reaping is now never seen: “vagging” makes the short stubble that +forces the partridges into the turnips. Maple boughs, whose bark is so strongly +ribbed, are also good for “vagging” sticks. +</p> + +<p> +Nut-tree is used for bonds to tie up faggots, and split for the +shepherds’ hurdles. In winter sometimes a store of nuts and acorns may be +seen fallen in a stream down the side of a bank, scratched out from a +mouse’s hole, as they say, by Reynard, who devours the little provident +creature without regard for its wisdom. So that man and wild animals derive +pleasure or use from the hazel in many ways. When the nuts are ripe the +carters’ lads do not care to ride sideways on the broad backs of the +horses as they jog homewards along the lane, but are ever in the hedges. +</p> + +<p> +There were plenty in the double-mounds to which we had access; but the +shepherd, who had learned his craft on the Downs, said that the nuts grew there +in such immense quantities as determined us to see them. Sitting on the felled +ash under the shade of the hawthorn hedge, where the butcher-birds every year +used to stick the humble-bees on the thorns, he described the route—a +mere waggon track—and the situation of the largest copses. +</p> + +<p> +The waggon track we found crossed the elevated plains close under and between +the Downs, following at the foot, as it seemed, for an endless distance the +curve of a range. The slope bounded the track on one side: on the other it was +enclosed by a low bank covered with dead thorn thickly entangled, which +enclosed the cornfields. The space between the hedge and the hill was as far as +we could throw one of the bleached flints lying on the sward. It was dotted +with hawthorn trees and furze, and full of dry brown grass. A few scattered +firs, the remnants of extinct plantations, grew on the slope, and green +“fairy rings” marked it here and there. +</p> + +<p> +These fairy rings have a somewhat different appearance from the dark green +semicircles found in the meadows and called by the same name: the latter are +often only segments of circles, are found near hedges, and almost always either +under a tree or where a tree has been. There were more mushrooms on the side of +the hill than we cared to carry. Some eat mushrooms raw—fresh as taken +from the ground, with a little salt: to me the taste is then too strong. Of the +many ways of cooking them the simplest is the best; that is, on a gridiron over +wood embers on the hearth. +</p> + +<p> +Every few minutes a hare started out of the dry grass: he always scampered up +the Down and stopped to look at us from the ridge. The hare runs faster up hill +than down. By the cornfields there were wire nettings to stop them; but nothing +is easier than for any passer-by who feels an interest in hares and rabbits, +and does not like to see them jealously excluded, to open a gap. Hares were +very numerous—temptingly so. Not far from where the track crossed a +lonely road was a gipsy encampment; that swarthy people are ever about when +anything is going on, and the reapers were busy in the corn. The dead dry +thorns of the hedge answered very well to boil their pot with. Their tents, +formed by thrusting the ends of long bent rods like half-hoops into the turf, +looked dark like the canvas of a barge. +</p> + +<p> +These “gips”—country folk do not say gipsy—were unknown +to us; but we were on terms with some members of a tribe who called at our +house several times in the course of the year to buy willow. The men wore +golden earrings, and bought “Black Sally,” a withy that has a dark +bark, for pegs, and “bolts” of osier for basket-making. A bolt is a +bundle of forty inches in circumference. Though the women tell fortunes, and +mix the “dark man” and the “light man,” the +“journey” and the “letter” to perfection, till the +ladies half believe, I doubt if they know much of true palmistry. The magic of +the past always had a charm for me. I had learned to know the lines, from that +which winds along at the base of the thumb-ball and if clear means health and +long life, to that which crosses close to the fingers and indicates the course +of love, and had traced them on many a delicate palm. So that the +“gips” could tell me nothing new. +</p> + +<p> +The women are the hardiest in the country; they simply ignore the weather. Even +the hedgers and ditchers and the sturdiest labourers choose the lee side of the +hedge when they pause to eat their luncheons; but the “gips” do not +trouble to seek such shelter. Passing over the hills one winter’s day, +when the Downs looked all alike, being covered with snow, I came across a +“gip” family sitting on the ground in a lane, old and young exposed +to the blast. In that there was nothing remarkable, but I recollect it because +the young mother, handsome in the style of her race, had her neck and brown +bust quite bare, and the white snowflakes drove thickly aslant upon her. Their +complexion looks more dusky in winter, so that the contrast of the colours made +me wish for an artist to paint it. And he might have put the grey embers of a +fire gone out, and the twisted stem of a hawthorn bush with red haws above. +</p> + +<p> +A mile beyond the gipsy tents we entered among the copses: scattered ash +plantations, and hazel thickets with narrow green tracks between. Further in, +the nut-tree bushes were more numerous, and we became separated though within +call. Presently a low whistle like the peewit’s (our signal) called me to +Orion. On the border of a thicket, near an open field of swedes, he had found a +hare in a wire. It was a beauty—the soft fur smooth to stroke, not so +much as a shot-hole in the black-marked ears. Wired or netted hares and rabbits +are much preferred by the dealers to those that have been shot—and so, +too, netted partridges—because they look so clean and tempt the +purchaser. The blacksmith Ikey, who bought our rabbits, used to sew up the shot +wounds when they were much knocked about, and trimmed up the shattered ones in +the cleverest way. +</p> + +<p> +To pull up the plug and take wire and hare too was the first impulse; yet we +hesitated. Why did the man who set the snare let his game lie till that hour of +the day? He should have visited it long before: it had a suspicious look +altogether. It would also have been nearly impossible to carry the hare so many +miles by daylight and past villages: even with the largest pockets it would +have been doubtful, for the hare had stiffened as he lay stretched out. So, +carefully replacing him just as we found him, we left the spot and re-entered +the copse. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd certainly was right; the quantity of nuts was immense: the best +and largest bunches grew at the edge of the thickets, perhaps because they +received more air and light than the bushes within that were surrounded by +boughs. It thus happened that we were in the green pathway when some one +suddenly spoke from behind, and, turning, there was a man in a velveteen jacket +who had just stepped out of the bushes. The keeper was pleasant enough and +readily allowed us to handle his gun—a very good weapon, though a little +thin at the muzzle—for a man likes to see his gun admired. He said there +were finer nuts in a valley he pointed out, and then carefully instructed us +how to get back into the waggon track without returning by the same path. An +old barn was the landmark; and, with a request from him not to break the +bushes, he left us. +</p> + +<p> +Down in the wooded vale we paused. The whole thing was now clear: the hare in +the wire was a trap laid for the “gips” whose camp was below. The +keeper had been waiting about doubtless where he could command the various +tracks up the hill, had seen us come that way, and did not wish us to return in +the same direction; because if the “gip” saw any one at all he +would not approach his snare. Whether the hare had actually been caught by the +wire, or had been put in by the keeper, it was not easy to tell. +</p> + +<p> +We wandered on in the valley wood, going from bush to bush, little heeding +whither we went. There are no woods so silent as the nut-tree; there is scarce +a sound in them at that time except the occasional rustle of a rabbit, and the +“thump, thump” they sometimes make underground in their buries +after a sudden fright. So that the keen plaintive whistle of a kingfisher was +almost startling. But we soon found the stream in the hollow. Broader than a +brook and yet not quite a river, it flowed swift and clear, so that every flint +at the bottom was visible. The nut-tree bushes came down to the edge: the +ground was too firm for much rush or sedge; the streams that come out of the +chalk are not so thickly fringed with vegetation as others. +</p> + +<p> +Some little way along there was a rounded sarsen boulder not far from shore, +whose brown top was so nearly on a level with the surface that at one moment +the water just covered it, and the next left it exposed. By it we spied a +trout; but the hill above gave “Velvet” the command of the hollow; +and it was too risky even to think of. After that the nuts were tame; there was +nothing left but to turn homewards. As for trout-fishing, there is nothing so +easy. Take the top joint off the rod, and put the wire on the second, which is +stronger, fill the basket, and replace the fly. There were fellows who used to +paddle in canoes up a certain river (not this little stream), pick out the +largest trout, and shoot them with pistols, under pretence of practising at +water-rats. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> +WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET</h2> + +<p> +In a hedge that joined a wood, and about a hundred yards from it, there was a +pleasant hiding-place beside a pollard ash. The bank was hollow with +rabbit-buries: the summer heat had hardened the clay of the mound and caused it +to crack and crumble wherever their excavations left a precipitous edge. Some +way up the trunk of the tree an immense flat fungus projected, roughly +resembling the protruding lip of a savage enlarged by the insertion of a piece +of wood. It formed a black ledge standing out seven or eight inches, two or +three inches thick, and extending for a foot or more round the bark. The +pollard, indeed, was dead inside, and near the ground the black touch-wood +showed. Ash timber must become rarer year by year: for, being so useful, it is +constantly cut down, while few new saplings are planted or encouraged to become +trees. +</p> + +<p> +In front a tangled mass of bramble arched over the dry ditch; it was possible +to see some distance down the bank, for nothing grew on the top itself, the +bushes all rising from either side—a peculiarity of clay mounds. This +narrow space was a favourite promenade of the rabbits; they usually came out +there for a few minutes first, looking about before venturing forth into the +meadows. Except a little moss, scarcely any vegetation other than underwood +clothed the bare hard soil of the mound; and for this reason every tiny +aperture that suited their purpose was occupied by wasps. +</p> + +<p> +They much prefer a clear space about the entrance to their nests, affording an +unencumbered passage: there were two nests within a few yards of the ash. +Though so generally dreaded, wasps are really inoffensive insects, never +attacking unless previously buffeted. You may sit close to a wasps’ nest +for hours, and, if you keep still, receive no injury. Humble-bees, too, +congregate in special localities: along one hedge half a dozen nests may be +found, while other fields are searched for them in vain. +</p> + +<p> +The best time to enter such a hiding-place is a little before the sun sinks: +for as his beams turn red all the creatures that rest during the day begin to +stir. Then the hares start down from the uplands and appear on the short +stubble, where the level rays throw exaggerated shadows behind them. When six +or eight hares are thus seen near the centre of a single field, they and their +shadows seem to take possession of and occupy it. +</p> + +<p> +Pheasants, though they retire to roost on the trees, often before rising come +forth into the meadows adjacent to the coverts. The sward in front of the +pollard ash sloped upwards gradually to the foot of a low hill planted with +firs, and just outside these about half a dozen pheasants regularly appeared in +the early evening. As the sun sank below the hill, and the shadow of the great +beeches some distance away began to extend into the mead, they went back one by +one into the firs. There they were nearly safe, for no trees give so much +difficulty to the poacher. It is not easy even to shoot anything inside a fir +plantation at night: as for the noose, it is almost impossible to use it. The +lowest pheasant is taken first, and then the next above, like fowls perched on +the rungs of a ladder; and, indeed, it is not unlikely that those who excel in +this kind of work base their operations upon previous experiences in the hen +roost. +</p> + +<p> +The wood pigeons begin to come home, and the wood is filled with their hollow +notes: now here, now yonder, for as one ceases another takes it up. They cannot +settle for some time: each as he arrives perches awhile, and then rises and +tries a fresh place, so that there is a constant clattering. The green +woodpecker approaches at a rapid pace—now opening, now closing his wings, +and seeming to throw himself forward rather than to fly. He rushes at the trees +in the hedge as though he could pierce the thick branches like a bullet. Other +birds rise over or pass at the side: he goes through, arrow-like, avoiding the +boughs. Instead of at once entering the wood, he stays awhile on the sward of +the mead in the open. +</p> + +<p> +As the pheasants generally feed in a straight line along the ground, so the +lesser pied woodpecker travels across the fields from tree to tree, rarely +staying on more than one branch in each, but, after examining it, leaves all +that may be on other boughs and seeks another ahead. He rises round and round +the dead branch in the elm, tapping it with blows that succeed each other with +marvellous rapidity. He taps for the purpose of sounding the wood to see if it +be hollow or bored by grubs, and to startle the insects and make them run out +for his convenience. He will ascend dead branches barely half an inch thick +that vibrate as he springs from them, and proceeds down the hedge towards the +wood. The “snop-top” sounds in every elm, and grows fainter as he +recedes. The sound is often heard, but in the thick foliage of summer the bird +escapes unseen, unless you are sitting almost under the tree when he arrives in +it. +</p> + +<p> +Then the rooks come drifting slowly to the beeches: they are uncertain in their +hour at this season—some, indeed, scarce care to return at all; and even +when quite dusk and the faint stars of summer rather show themselves than +shine, twos and threes come occasionally through the gloom. A pair of doves +pass swiftly, flying for the lower wood, where the ashpoles grow. The +grasshoppers sing in the grass, and will continue till the dew descends. As the +little bats flutter swiftly to and fro just without the hedge, the faint sound +of their wings is audible as they turn: their membranes are not so silent as +feathers, and they agitate them with extreme velocity. Beetles go by with a +loud hum, rising from those isolated bunches of grass that may be seen in every +field; for the cows will not eat the rank green blades that grow over and hide +dried dung. +</p> + +<p> +A large white spot, ill-defined and shapeless in the distance and the dimness, +glides along the edge of the wood, then across in front before the fir +plantation, next down the hedge to the left, and presently passes within two +yards, going towards the wood again along this mound. It is a white owl: he +flies about five feet from the ground and absolutely without a sound. So when +you are walking at night it is quite startling to have one come overhead, +approaching from behind and suddenly appearing. This owl is almost fearless; +unless purposely alarmed he will scarcely notice you, and not at all if you are +still. +</p> + +<p> +As he reaches the wood he leaves the hedge, having gone all round the field, +and crosses to a small detached circular fir plantation in the centre. There he +goes out of sight a minute or two; but presently appears skirting the low shed +and rickyard yonder, and is finally lost behind the hedges. This round he will +go every evening, and almost exactly at the same time—that is, in +reference to the sun, which is the clock of nature. +</p> + +<p> +Step never so quietly out from the mound, the small birds that unnoticed have +come to roost in the bushes will hear it and fly off in alarm. The rabbits that +are near the hedge rush in; those that are far from home crouch in the furrows +and the bunches. Crossing the open field, they suddenly start as it seems from +under your feet—one white tail goes dapping up and down this way, another +jerks over the “lands” that way. The moonbeams now glisten on the +double-barrel; and a bright sparkle glitters here and there as a dewdrop +catches a ray. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the grass a faint halo appears; it is a narrow band of light encircling +the path, an oval ring—perhaps rather horseshoe shape than oval. It +glides in front, keeping ever at the same distance as you walk, as if there the +eye was focussed. This is only seen when the grass is wet with dew, and better +in short grass than long. Where it shines the grass looks a paler green. +Passing gently along a hedge thickly timbered with oak and elms, a hawk may +perhaps start forth: hawks sometimes linger by the hedges till late, but it is +not often that you can shoot one at roost except in spring. Then they +invariably return to roost in the nest tree, and are watched there, and so +shot, a gunner approaching on each side of the hedge. In the lane dark +objects—rabbits—hasten away, and presently the footpath crosses the +still motionless brook near where it flows into the mere. +</p> + +<p> +The low brick parapet of the bridge is overgrown with mosses; great hedges grow +each side, and the willows, long uncut, almost meet in the centre. In one hedge +an opening leads to a drinking-place for cattle: peering noiselessly over the +parapet between the boughs, the coots and moorhens may be seen there feeding by +the shore. They have come up from the mere as the ducks and teal do in the +winter. The broader waters can scarcely be netted without a boat, but the brook +here is the very place for a moonlight haul. The net is stretched first across +the widest spot nearest to the pool, that no fish may escape. They swim up here +in the daytime in shoals, perch especially; but the night poachers are often +disappointed, for the fish seem to retire to deeper waters as the darkness +comes on. A black mass of mud-coated sticks, rotten twigs, and thorn bushes, +entangled in the meshes, is often the only result of much toil. +</p> + +<p> +Once now and then, as when a preserved pond is netted, a tremendous take +occurs; but nets are rather gone by, being so unwieldy and requiring several +men to manage effectually. If they are not hung out to dry properly after being +used, they soon rot. Now, a large net stretched along railings or a hedge is +rather a conspicuous object, and brings suspicion on the owner. It is also so +heavy after use that until wrung, which takes time, a strong man can barely +carry it; and if a sudden alarm comes it must be abandoned. +</p> + +<p> +It is pleasant to rest awhile on the parapet in the shadow of the bushes. The +low thud-thud of sculls in the rowlocks of a distant punt travels up the water. +By-and-by a hare comes along, enters on the bridge, and almost reaches the gate +in the middle before he spies anything suspicious. Such a spot, and, indeed, +any gateway, used to be a favourite place to set a net, and then drive the +hares towards it with a cur dog that ran silent. Bold must be the man that +would set a net in a footpath now, with almost every field preserved by owner +or tenant. With a bound the hare hies back and across the meadow: the gun comes +to the shoulder as swiftly. +</p> + +<p> +On the grass lit by the moon the hare looked quite distinct, but the moment the +gaze is concentrated up the barrel he becomes a dim object with no defined +outline. In shooting on the ground by twilight or in the moonbeams, waste no +time in endeavouring to aim, but think of the hare’s ears—say a +couple of feet in front of his tail—and the moment the gun feels steady +pull the trigger. The flash and report come together; there is a dull +indescribable sound ahead, as some of the shot strikes home in fur and some +drills into the turf, and then a rustling in the grass. The moorhens dive, and +the coots scuttle down the brook towards the mere at the flash. While yet the +sulphurous smoke lingers, slow to disperse, over the cool dewy sward, there +comes back an echo from the wood behind, then another from the mere, then +another and another beyond. +</p> + +<p> +The distant sculls have ceased to work in the rowlocks—those in the punt +are listening to the echoes; most likely they have been fishing for tench in +the deep holes under the black shadow of the aspens. (Tench feed in the dark: +if you wish to take a big one wait till it is necessary to fix a piece of white +paper on the float.) Now put the empty cartridge in your pocket instead of +throwing it aside; pull the hare’s neck across your knee, and hurry off. +But you may safely stay to harle him; for those very echoes that have been +heard a mile round about are the best safeguard: not one man in a thousand +could tell the true direction whence the sound of the explosion originated. +</p> + +<p> +The pleasure of wandering in a wood was so great that it could never be +resisted, and did not solely arise from the instinct of shooting. Many +expeditions were made without a gun, or any implement of destruction, simply to +enjoy the trees and thickets. There was one large wood very carefully +preserved, and so situate in an open country as not to be easily entered. But a +little observation showed that the keeper had a “habit.” He used to +come out across the wheatfields to a small wayside “public,” and +his route passed by a lonely barn and rickyard. One warm summer day I saw him +come as usual to the “public,” and while he was there quietly +slipped as far as the barn and hid in it. +</p> + +<p> +In July such a rickyard is very hot; heat radiates from every straw. The ground +itself is dry and hard, each crevice choked with particles of white chaff; so +that even the couch can hardly grow except close under the low hedge where the +pink flower of the pimpernel opens to the sky. White stone staddles—short +conical pillars with broad capitals—stand awaiting the load of sheaves +that will shortly press on them. Every now and then a rustling in the heaps of +straw indicates the presence of mice. From straw and stone and bare earth heat +seems to rise up. The glare of the sunlight pours from above. The black pitched +wooden walls of the barn and sheds prevent the circulation of air. There are no +trees for shadow—nothing but a few elder bushes, which are crowded at +intervals of a few minutes with sparrows rushing with a whirr of wings up from +the standing corn. +</p> + +<p> +But the high pitched roof of the barn and of the lesser sheds has a beauty of +its own—the minute vegetation that has covered the tiles having changed +the original dull red to an orange hue. From ridge to eaves, from end to end, +it is a wide expanse of colour, only varying so much in shade as to save it +from monotony. It stands out glowing, distinct against the deep blue of the +sky. The “cheep” of fledgeling sparrows comes from the crevices +above; but swallows do not frequent solitary buildings so much as those by +dwelling-houses, being especially fond of cattle-sheds where cows are milked. +</p> + +<p> +The proximity of animals apparently attracts them: perhaps in the more exposed +places there may be dangers from birds of prey. As for the sparrows, they are +innumerable. Some are marked with white patches—a few so much so as to +make quite a show when they fly. One handsome cock bird has a white ring half +round his neck, and his wings are a beautiful partridge-brown. He looks larger +than the common sort; and there are several more here that likewise appear to +exceed in size, and to have the same peculiar brown. +</p> + +<p> +After a while there came the sound of footsteps and a low but cheerful whistle. +The keeper having slaked a thirst very natural on such a sultry day returned, +and re-entered the wood. I had decided that it would be the best plan to follow +in his rear, because then there would be little chance of crossing his course +haphazard, and the dogs would not sniff any strange footsteps, since the +footsteps would not be there till they had gone by. To hide from the eyes of a +man is comparatively easy; but a dog will detect an unwonted presence in the +thickest bush, and run in and set up a yelping, especially if it is a puppy. +</p> + +<p> +It was not more than forty yards from the barn to the wood: there was no mound +or hedge, but a narrow, deep, and dry watercourse, a surface drain, ran across. +Stooping a little and taking off my hat, I walked in this, so that the wheat +each side rose above me and gave a perfect shelter. This precaution was +necessary, because on the right there rose a steep Down, from whose summit the +level wheat-fields could be easily surveyed. So near was it that I could +distinguish the tracks of the hares worn in the short grass. But if you take +off your hat no one can distinguish you in a wheat-field, more particularly if +your hair is light: nor even in a hedge. +</p> + +<p> +Where the drain or furrow entered the wood was a wire-netting firmly fixed, and +over it tall pitched palings, sharp at the top. The wood was enclosed with a +thick hawthorn hedge that looked impassable; but the keeper’s footsteps, +treading down the hedge-parsley and brushing aside the “gicks,” +guided me behind a bush where was a very convenient gap. These signs and the +smooth-worn bark of an ash against which it was needful to push proved that +this quiet path was used somewhat frequently. +</p> + +<p> +Inside the wood the grass and the bluebell leaves—the bloom past and +ripening to seed—so hung over the trail that it was difficult to follow. +It wound about the ash stoles in the most circuitous manner—now to avoid +the thistles, now a bramble thicket, or a hollow filled with nettles. Then the +ash poles were clothed with the glory of the woodbine—one mass of white +and yellow wax-like flowers to a height of eight or nine feet, and forming a +curtain of bloom from branch to branch. +</p> + +<p> +After awhile I became aware that the trail was approaching the hill. At the +foot it branched; and the question arose whether to follow the fork that +zig-zagged up among the thickets or that which seemed to plunge into the +recesses beneath. I had never been in this wood before—the time was +selected because it was probable that the keeper would be extremely occupied +with his pheasant chicks. Though the earth was so hard in the exposed +rick-yard, here the clayey ground was still moist under the shadow of the +leaves. Examining the path more closely, I easily distinguished the impression +of the keeper’s boot: the iron toe-plate has left an almost perfect +impression, and there were the deep grooves formed by the claws of his dog as +it had scrambled up the declivity and the pad slipped on the clay. +</p> + +<p> +As he had taken the upward path, no doubt it led direct to the pheasants, which +was sure to be on the hill itself, or a dry and healthy slope. I therefore took +the other trail, since I must otherwise have overtaken him; for he would stay +long among his chicks: just as an old-fashioned farmer lingers at a gate, +gazing on his sheep. Advancing along the lower path, after some fifteen minutes +it turned sharply to the right, and I stood under the precipitous cliff-like +edge of the hill in a narrow coombe. The earth at the top hung over the verge, +and beech-trees stood as it seemed in the act to topple, their exposed roots +twisting to and fro before they re-entered the face of the precipice. Large +masses of chalky rubble had actually fallen, and others were all but detached. +The coombe, of course, could be overlooked from thence; but a moment’s +reflection convinced me there was no risk, for who would dare to go near enough +to the edge to look down? +</p> + +<p> +The coombe was full of fir-trees; and by them stood a long narrow +shed—the roof ruinous, but the plank walls intact. It had originally been +erected in a field, since planted for covers. This long shed, a greenish grey +from age and mouldering wood, became a place of much interest. Along the back +there were three rows of weasels and stoats nailed through the head or neck to +the planks. There had been a hundred in each row—about three hundred +altogether. The lapse of time had entirely dissipated the substance of many on +the upper row; nothing remained but the grim and rusty nail. Further along +there hung small strips without shape. Beyond these the nails supported +something that had a rough outline still of the animal. In the second row the +dried and shrivelled creatures were closely wrapped in nature’s +mummy-cloth of green; in the third, some of those last exposed still retained a +dull brown colour. None were recent. Above, under the eaves, the spiders’ +webs had thickly gathered; beneath, the nettles flourished. +</p> + +<p> +But the end of the shed was the place where the more distinguished offenders +were gibbeted. A footpath, well worn and evidently much used, went by this end, +and, as I afterwards ascertained, communicated with the mansion above and the +keeper’s cottage some distance below. Every passenger between must pass +the gallows where the show of more noble traitors gave proof of the +keeper’s loyal activity. Four shorter rows rose in tiers. To the nails at +the top strong beaks and black feathers adhered, much bedraggled and ruffled by +weather. These crows had long been dead; the keeper when he shot a crow did not +trouble to have it carried home, unless a nail was conspicuously vacant. The +ignoble bird was left where he fell. +</p> + +<p> +On the next row the black and white of magpies and the blue of jays alternated. +Many of the magpies had been despoiled of their tails, and some of their wings, +the feathers being saleable. The jays were more numerous, and untouched; they +were slain in such numbers that the market for their plumage was glutted. +Though the bodies were shrunken, the feathers were in fair condition. +Magpies’ nests are so large that in winter, when the leaves are off the +trees, they cannot but be seen, and, the spot being marked, in the summer old +and young are easily destroyed. Hawks filled the third row. The kestrels were +the most numerous, but there were many sparrow-hawks. These made a great show, +and were stuck so closely that a feather could hardly be thrust between them. +In the midst, quite smothered under their larger wings, were the remains of a +smaller bird—probably a merlin. But the last and lowest row, that was +also nearest, or on a level with the face of a person looking at the gallows, +was the most striking. +</p> + +<p> +This grand tier was crowded with owls—not arranged in any order, but +haphazard, causing a fine mixture of colour. Clearly this gallery was +constantly renewed. The white owl gave the prevalent tint, side by side with +the brown wood owls, and scattered among the rest, a few long horned +owls—a mingling of white, yellowish brown, and tawny feathers. Though +numerous here, yet trap and gun have so reduced the wood owls that you may +listen half the night by a cover and never hear the “Who-hoo” that +seems to demand your name. +</p> + +<p> +The barn owls are more liable to be shot, because they are more conspicuous; +but, on the other hand, as they often breed and reside away from covers, they +seem to escape. For months past one of these has sailed by my window every +evening uttering a hissing “skir-r-r.” Here, some were nailed with +their backs to the wall, that they might not hide their guilty faces. +</p> + +<p> +The delicate texture of the owl’s feathers is very remarkable: these +birds remind me of a huge moth. The owls were more showy than the hawks, though +it is commonly said that without sunlight there is no colour—as in the +case of plants grown in darkness. Yet the hawks are day birds, while the owls +fly by night. There came the sound of footsteps; and I retreated, casting one +glance backward at the black and white, the blue and brown colours that +streaked the wall, while the dull green weasels were in perpetual shadow. By +night the bats would flit round and about that gloomy place. It would not do to +return by the same path, lest another keeper might be coming up it; so I +stepped into the wood itself. To those who walk only in the roads, hawks and +owls seem almost rare. But a wood is a place to which they all flock; and any +wanderer from the north or west naturally tends thither. This wood is of large +extent; but even to the smaller plantations of the Downs it is wonderful what a +number come in the course of a year. Besides the shed just visited, there would +be certain to be another more or less ornamented near the keeper’s +cottage, and probably others scattered about, where the commoner vermin could +be nailed without the trouble of carrying them far away. Only the owls and +hawks, magpies, and such more striking evidences of slaughter were collected +here, and almost daily renewed. +</p> + +<p> +To get into the wood was much easier than to get out, on account of the thick +hedge, palings, and high sharp-sparred gates; but I found a dry ditch where it +was possible to creep under the bushes into a meadow where was a footpath. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> +LURCHER-LAND: “THE PARK”</h2> + +<p> +The time of the apple-bloom is the most delicious season in Sarsen village. It +is scarcely possible to obtain a view of the place, although it is built on the +last slope of the Downs, because just where the ground drops and the eye +expects an open space, plantations of fir and the tops of tall poplars and elms +intercept the glance. In ascending from the level meadows of the vale thick +double mounds, heavily timbered with elm, hide the houses until you are +actually in their midst. +</p> + +<p> +Those only know a country who are acquainted with its footpaths. By the roads, +indeed, the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go through the heart of the +land. There are routes by which mile after mile may be travelled without +leaving the sward. So you may pass from village to village; now crossing green +meads, now cornfields, over brooks, past woods, through farmyard and rick +“barken.” But such tracks are not mapped, and a stranger misses +them altogether unless under the guidance of an old inhabitant. +</p> + +<p> +At Sarsen the dusty road enters the more modern part of the village at once, +where the broad signs hang from the taverns at the cross-ways and where the +loafers steadily gaze at the new comer. The Lower Path, after stile and hedge +and elm, and grass that glows with golden buttercups, quietly leaves the side +of the double mounds and goes straight through the orchards. There are fewer +flowers under the trees, and the grass grows so long and rank that it has +already fallen aslant of its own weight. It is choked, too, by masses of +clog-weed, that springs up profusely over the site of old foundations; so that +here ancient masonry may be hidden under the earth. Indeed, these orchards are +a survival from the days when the monks laboured in vineyard and garden, and +mayhap even of earlier times. When once a locality has got into the habit of +growing a certain crop it continues to produce it for century after century; +and thus there are villages famous for apple or pear or cherry, while the +district at large is not at all given to such culture. +</p> + +<p> +The trunks of the trees succeed each other in endless ranks, like columns that +support the most beautiful roof of pink and white. Here the bloom is rosy, +there white prevails: the young green is hidden under the petals that are far +more numerous than leaves, or even than leaves will be. Though the path really +is in shadow as the branches shut out the sun, yet it seems brighter here than +in the open, as if the place were illuminated by a million tiny lamps shedding +the softest lustre. The light is reflected and apparently increased by the +countless flowers overhead. +</p> + +<p> +The forest of bloom extends acre after acre, and only ceases where hedges +divide, to commence again beyond the boundary. A wicket gate, all green with a +film of vegetation over the decaying wood, opens under the very eaves of a +cottage, and the path goes by the door—across a narrow meadow where deep +and broad trenches, green now, show where ancient stews or fishponds existed, +and then through a farmyard into a lane. Tall poplars rise on either hand, but +there seem to be no houses; they stand, in fact, a field’s breadth back +from the lane, and are approached by footpaths that every few yards necessitate +a stile in the hedge. +</p> + +<p> +When a low thatched farmhouse does abut upon the way, the blank white wall of +the rear part faces the road, and the front door opens on precisely the other +side. Hard by is a row of beehives. Though the modern hives are at once more +economical and humane, they have not the old associations that cling about the +straw domes topped with broken earthenware to shoot off the heavy downfall of a +thunderstorm. +</p> + +<p> +Everywhere the apple-bloom; the hum of bees; children sitting on the green +beside the road, their laps full of flowers; the song of finches; and the low +murmur of water that glides over flint and stone so shadowed by plants and +grasses that the sunbeams cannot reach and glisten on it. Thus the straggling +flower-strewn village stretches along beneath the hill and rises up the slope, +and the swallows wheel and twitter over the gables where are their hereditary +nesting-places. The lane ends on a broad dusty road, and, opposite, a quiet +thatched house of the larger sort stands, endways to the street, with an open +pitching before the windows. There, too, the swallows’ nests are crowded +under the eaves, flowers are trained against the wall, and in the garden stand +the same beautiful apple-trees. But within, the lower part of the +windows—that have recess seats—are guarded by horizontal rods of +iron, polished by the backs of many men. It is an inn, and the rods are to save +the panes from the impact of an excited toper’s arm. +</p> + +<p> +The talk to-day, as the brown brandy, which the paler cognac has not yet +superseded, is consumed, and the fumes of coarse tobacco and the smell of spilt +beer and the faint sickly odour of evaporating spirits overpower the flowers, +is of horses. The stable lads from the training stables far up on the Downs +drop in or call at the door without dismounting. Once or twice in the day a +tout calls and takes his “grub,” and scribbles a report in the +little back parlour. Sporting papers, beer-stained and thumb-marked, lie on the +tables; framed portraits of racers hang on the walls. Burly men, who certainly +cannot ride a race, but who have horse in every feature, puff cigars and chat +in jerky monosyllables that to an outsider are perfectly incomprehensible. But +the glib way in which heavy sums of money are spoken of conveys the impression +that they dabble in enormous wealth. +</p> + +<p> +There are dogs under the tables and chairs; dogs in the window-seat; dogs +panting on the stone flags of the passage, after a sharp trot behind a trap, +choosing the coolest spot to loll their red tongues out; dogs outside in the +road; dogs standing on hind legs, and painfully lapping the water in the +horse-trough; and there is a yapping of puppies in the distance. The cushions +of the sofa are strewn with dogs’ hairs, and once now and then a dog +leisurely hops up the staircase. +</p> + +<p> +Customers are served by the landlady, a decent body enough in her way: her son, +the man of the house, is up in the “orchut” at the rear, feeding +his dogs. Where the “orchut” ends in a paddock stands a small shed: +in places the thatch on the roof has fallen through in the course of years and +revealed the bare rafters. The bottom part of the door has decayed, and the +long nose of a greyhound is thrust out sniffing through a hole. Dickon, the +said son, is delighted to undo the padlock for a visitor who is +“square.” In an instant the long hounds leap up, half a dozen at a +time, and I stagger backwards, forced by the sheer vigour of their caresses +against the doorpost. Dickon cannot quell the uproarious pack: he kicks the +door open, and away they scamper round and round the paddock at headlong speed. +</p> + +<p> +What a joy it is to them to stretch their limbs! I forget the squalor of the +kennel in watching their happy gambols. I cannot drink more than one tumbler of +brown brandy and water; but Dickon overlooks that weakness, feeling that I +admire his greyhounds. It is arranged that I am to see them work in the autumn. +</p> + +<p> +The months pass, and in his trap with the famous trotter in the shafts we roll +up the village street. Apple-bloom and golden fruit too are gone, and the +houses show more now among the bare trees; but as the rim of the ruddy November +sun comes forth from the edge of a cloud there appears a buff tint everywhere +in the background. When elm and ash are bare the oaks retain their leaves, and +these are illumined by the autumn beams. Over-topped by tall elms and hidden by +the orchards, the oaks were hardly seen in summer; now they are found to be +numerous and give the prevailing hue to the place. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon taps the dashboard as the mare at last tops the hill, and away she +speeds along the level plateau for the Downs. Two greyhounds are with us; two +more have gone on under charge of a boy. Skirting the hills a mile or two, we +presently leave the road and drive over the turf: there is no track, but Dickon +knows his way. The rendezvous is a small fir plantation, the young trees in +which are but shoulder-high. Below is a plain entirely surrounded by the hills, +and partly green with root crops: more than one flock of sheep is down there, +and two teams ploughing the stubble. Neither the ploughmen nor the shepherds +take the least heed of us, except to watch for the sport. The spare couple are +fastened in the trap; the boy jumps up and takes the reins. Dickon puts the +slip on the couple that are to run first, and we begin to range. +</p> + +<p> +Just at the foot of the hill the grass is tall and grey; there, too, are the +dead dry stalks of many plants that cultivation has driven from the ploughed +fields and that find a refuge at the edge. A hare starts from the very verge +and makes up the Downs. Dickon slips the hounds, and a faint halloo comes from +the shepherds and the ploughmen. It is a beautiful sight to see the hounds +bound over the sward; the sinewy back bends like a bow, but a bow that, instead +of an arrow, shoots itself; the deep chests drink the air. Is there any moment +so joyful in life as the second when the chase begins? As we gaze, before we +even step forward, the hare is over the ridge and out of sight. Then we race +and tear up the slope; then the boy in the trap flaps the reins and away goes +the mare out of sight too. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon is long and rawboned, a powerful fellow, strong of limb, and twice my +build; but he sips too often at the brown brandy, and after the first burst I +can head him. But he knows the hills and the route the hare will take, so that +I have but to keep pace. In five minutes as we cross a ridge we see the game +again; the hare is circling back—she passes under us not fifty yards +away, as we stand panting on the hill. The youngest hound gains, and runs right +over her; she doubles, the older hound picks up the running. By a furze-bush +she doubles again; but the young one turns her—the next moment she is in +the jaws of the old dog. +</p> + +<p> +Again and again the hounds are slipped, now one couple, now the other: we pant, +and can scarcely speak with running, but the wild excitement of the hour and +the sweet pure air of the Downs supply fresh strength. The little lad brings +the mare anywhere: through the furze, among the flint-pits, jolting over the +ruts, she rattles along with sure alacrity. There are five hares in the sack +under the straw when at last we get up and slowly drive down to the highway, +reaching it some two miles from where we left it. Dickon sends the dogs home by +the boy on foot; we drive round and return to the village by a different route, +entering it from the opposite direction. +</p> + +<p> +The reason of these things is that Sarsen has no great landlord. There are +fifty small proprietors, and not a single resident magistrate. Besides the +small farmers, there are scores of cottage owners, every one of whom is +perfectly independent. Nobody cares for anybody. It is a republic, without even +the semblance of a Government. It is liberty, equality, and swearing. As it is +just within the limit of a borough, almost all the cottagers have votes, and +are not to be trifled with. The proximity of horse-racing establishments adds +to the general atmosphere of dissipation. Betting, card-playing, +ferret-breeding and dog-fancying, poaching and politics, are the occupations of +the populace. A little illicit badger-baiting is varied by a little +vicar-baiting; the mass of the inhabitants are the reddest of Reds. Que +voulez-vous? +</p> + +<p> +The edges of some large estates come up near, but the owners would hardly like +to institute a persecution of these turbulent folk. If they did, where would be +their influence at the next election? If a landlord makes himself unpopular, +his own personal value depreciates. He is a nonentity in the committee-room, +and his help rather deprecated by the party than desired. The Sarsen fellows +are not such fools as to break pheasant preserves in the vale; as they are +resident, that would not answer. They keep outside the <i>sanctum sanctorum</i> +of the pheasant coverts. But with ferret, dog, and gun, and now and then a +partridge net along the edge of the standing barley, they excel. So, too, with +the wire; and the broad open Downs are their happy hunting grounds, especially +in misty weather. +</p> + +<p> +This is the village of the apple-bloom, the loveliest spot imaginable. After +all, they are not such desperately bad fellows if you deduct their sins against +the game laws. They are a jovial lot, and free with their money; they stand by +one another—a great virtue in these cold-blooded days. If one gets in +trouble with the law the rest subscribe the fine. They are full of knowledge of +a certain sort, and you may learn anything, from the best way to hang a dog +upwards. +</p> + +<p> +When we reach the inn, and Dickon calls for the brown brandy, there in the bar +sits a gamekeeper, whose rubicund countenance beams with good humour. He is +never called upon to pay his score. Good fellow! in addition he is popular, and +every one asks him to drink: besides which, a tip for a race now and then makes +this world wear a smiling aspect to him. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon’s “unconscious education”—absorbed rather than +learnt in boyhood—had not been acquired under conditions likely to lead +him to admire scenery. But, rough as he was, he was a good-natured fellow, and +it was through him that I became acquainted with a very beautiful place. +</p> + +<p> +The footpath to The Park went for about half a mile under the shadow of elm +trees, and in spring time there was a continual noise of young rooks in the +nests above. Occasionally dead twigs, either dislodged from the nests or broken +off by the motions of the old birds, came rustling down. One or two nests that +had been blown out strewed the sward with half a bushel of dead sticks. After +the rookery the path passed a lonely dairy, where the polished brazen vessels +in the skilling glittered like gold in the sunshine. Farther on came wide open +meadows with numerous oak-trees scattered in the midst—the outposts of +the great wood at hand. The elms were flourishing and vigorous; but these +detached oaks were decaying, and some dead, their hoar antiquity contrasting +with the green grass and flowers of the mead. +</p> + +<p> +The mansion was hidden by elm and chestnut, pines and sombre cedars. From the +edge of the lawn the steep slope of the Down rose, planted with all manner of +shrubs, the walks through which were inches deep in dead leaves, needles, and +fir-cones. Long neglect had permitted these to accumulate, and the yew hedges +had almost grown together and covered the walk they bordered. +</p> + +<p> +The woods and preserves extended along the Downs, between the hills and the +meadows beneath. There was one path through these woods that led into a narrow +steep-sided coombe, one side of which was planted with firs. On the other was a +little grass, but so thin as scarcely to cover the chalk. This side jutted out +from the general line of the hills, and formed a bold bluff, whose white +precipitous cliff was a landmark for many miles. In climbing the coombe, it was +sometimes necessary to grasp the bunches of grass; for it would have been +impossible to recover from a slip till, bruised and shaken, you rolled to the +bottom, and perhaps into the little streamlet flowing through the hollow. +</p> + +<p> +The summit was of small extent, but the view beautiful. A low fence of withy +had long since decayed, nothing but a few rotten stakes remaining at the very +verge of the precipice. Steep as it was, there were some ledges that the +rabbits frequented, making their homes in mid-air. Further along, the slope, a +little less perpendicular, was covered with nut-tree bushes, where you could +scramble down by holding to the boughs. There was a tradition of a fox-hunter, +in the excitement of the chase, forcing his horse to descend through these +bushes and actually reaching the level meadows below in safety. +</p> + +<p> +Impossible as it seemed, yet when the hounds were in full cry beneath it was +easy to understand that in the eagerness of the moment a horseman at the top +might feel tempted to join the stirring scene at any risk: for the fox +frequently ran just below, making along the line of coverts; and from that +narrow perch on the cliff the whole field came into sight at once. There was +Reynard slipping ahead, and two or more fields behind the foremost of the pack, +while the rest, rushing after, made the hills resound with their chiding. The +leaders taking the hedges, the main squadron splashing through a marshy place, +the outsiders straining to come up, and the last man behind, who rode harder +than any—all could be seen at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +It was a lovely spot, too, for dreaming on a summer’s day, reclining on +the turf, with the harebells swinging in the faint breeze. The extreme solitude +was its charm: no lanes or tracks other than those purely pastoral came near. +There were woods on either hand; in the fir plantations the jays chattered +unceasingly. The broad landscape stretched out to the illimitable distance, +till the power of the eye failed and could trace it no farther. But if the gaze +was lifted it looked into blue space—the azure heaven not only overhead, +but, as it seemed, all around. +</p> + +<p> +Dickon was always to and fro the mansion here, and took me with him. His object +was ostensibly business: now it was a horse to buy, now a fat bullock or sheep; +now it was an acre or two of wood that was to be cut. The people of the mansion +were so much from home that their existence was almost forgotten, and they were +spoken of vaguely as “on the Continent.” There was, in fact, a lack +of ready-money, perhaps from the accumulation of settlements, that reduced the +nominal income of the head to a tithe of what it should have been. +</p> + +<p> +Yet they were too proud to have in the modern builder, the modern upholsterer, +and, most dreadful of all, the modern “gardener,” to put in French +sashes, gilding and mirrors, and to root up the fine old yew hedges and level +the grand old trees. Such is the usual preparation before an advertisement +appears that a mansion of “historic association,” and +“replete with every modern convenience,” is to let, with some +thousand of acres of shooting, &c. +</p> + +<p> +They still kept up an establishment of servants—after a fashion—who +did much as they pleased. Dickon was a great favourite. As for myself, a mere +dreamy lad, I could go into the woods and wander as I liked, which was +sufficient. But I recollect the immense kitchen very well, and the polished +relics of the ancient turnspit machinery. There was a door from it opening on a +square stone-flagged court with a vertical sun-dial on the wall; and beyond +that ranges of disused coach-houses—all cloudy, as it were, with cobwebs +hanging on old-fashioned post-chaises. Dickon was in love with one of the +maids, a remarkably handsome girl. +</p> + +<p> +She showed me the famous mantelpiece, a vast carved work, under which you could +stand upright. The legend was that once a year on a certain night a sable horse +and cloaked horseman rode across that great apartment, flames snorting from the +horse’s nostrils, and into the fireplace, disappearing with a clap of +thunder. She brought me, too, an owl from the coach-houses, holding the bird by +the legs firmly, her hand defended by her apron from the claws. +</p> + +<p> +The butler was a little merry fellow, extremely fond of a gun, and expert in +using it. He seemed to have nothing to do but tell tales and sing, except at +the rare intervals when some of the family returned unexpectedly. The keeper +was always up there in the kitchen; he was as pleasant and jovial as a man +could well be, though full of oaths on occasion. He was a man of one +tale—of a somewhat enigmatical character. He would ask a stranger if they +had ever heard of such-and-such a village where water set fire to a barn, ducks +were drowned, and pigs cut their own throats, all in a single day. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed that some lime had been stored in the barn, when the brook rose and +flooded the place; this slaked the lime and fired the straw, and so the barn. +Something of the same kind happens occasionally on the river barges. The ducks +were in a coop fastened down, so that they could not swim on the surface of the +flood, which passed over and drowned them. The pigs were floated out of the +sty, and in swimming their sharp-edged hoofs struck their fat jowls just behind +the ear at every stroke till they cut into the artery, and so bled to death. +Where he got this history from I do not know. +</p> + +<p> +One bright October morning (towards the end of the month) Dickon drove me over +to the old place with his fast trotter—our double-barrels hidden under +some sacks in the trap. The keeper was already waiting in the kitchen, sipping +a glass of hot purl; the butler was filling every pocket with cartridges. After +some comparison of their betting-books, for Dickon, on account of his +acquaintance with the training establishments, was up to most moves, we +started. The keeper had to send a certain number of pheasants and other game to +the absent family and their friends every now and then, and this duty was his +pretext. There was plenty of shooting to be got elsewhere, but the spice of +naughtiness about this was alluring. To reach that part of the wood where it +was proposed to shoot the shortest way led across some arable fields. +</p> + +<p> +Fieldfares and redwings rose out of the hedges and flew away in their +peculiarly scattered manner—their flocks, though proceeding in the same +direction, seeming all loose and disordered. Where the ploughs had been at work +already the deep furrows were full of elm leaves, wafted as they fell from the +trees in such quantities as to make the groove left by the share level with the +ridges. A flock of lapwings were on the clods in an adjacent field, near enough +to be seen, but far beyond gunshot. There might perhaps have been fifty birds, +all facing one way and all perfectly motionless. They were, in fact, watching +us intently, although not apparently looking towards us: they act so much in +concert as to seem drilled. So soon as the possibility of danger had gone by +each would begin to feed, moving ahead. +</p> + +<p> +The path then passed through the little meadows that joined the wood: and the +sunlight glistened on the dew, or rather on the hoar frost that had melted and +clung in heavy drops to the grass. Here one flashed emerald; there ruby; +another a pure brilliance like a diamond. Under foot by the stiles the fallen +acorns crunched as they split into halves beneath the sudden pressure. +</p> + +<p> +The leaves still left on the sycamores were marked with large black spots: the +horse-chestnuts were quite bare; and already the tips of the branches carried +the varnish-coloured sheaths of the buds that were to appear the following +spring. These stuck to the finger if touched, as if they really had been +varnished. Through the long months of winter they would remain, till under +April showers and sunshine the sheath fell back and the green leaflets pushed +up, the two forming together a rude cross for a short time. +</p> + +<p> +The day was perfectly still, and the colours of the leaves still left glowed in +the sunbeams. Beneath, the dank bronzed fern that must soon shrivel was wet, +and hung with spiders’ webs that like a slender netting upheld the dew. +The keeper swore a good deal about a certain gentleman farmer whose lands +adjoined the estate, but who held under a different proprietor. Between these +two there was a constant bickering—the tenant angry about the damage done +to his crops by the hares and rabbits, and the keeper bitterly resenting the +tenant’s watch on his movements, and warnings to his employer that all +was not quite as it should be. +</p> + +<p> +The tenant had the right to shoot, and he was always about in the +turnips—a terrible thorn in the side of Dickon’s friend. The tenant +roundly declared the keeper a rascal, and told his master so in written +communications. The keeper declared the tenant set gins by the wood, in which +the pheasants stepped and had their legs smashed. Then the tenant charged the +keeper with trespassing; the other retorted that he decoyed the pheasants by +leaving peas till they dropped out of the pods. In short, their hatred was +always showing itself in some act of guerrilla warfare. As we approached the +part of the woods fixed on, two of the keeper’s assistants, carrying +thick sticks, stepped from behind a hedge, and reported that they had kept a +good watch, and the old fox (the tenant) had not been seen that morning. So +these fellows went round to beat, and the guns were got ready. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes you could hear the pheasants running before they reached the +low-cropped hawthorn hedge at the side of the plantation; sometimes they came +so quietly as to appear suddenly out from the ditch, having crept through. +Others came with a tremendous rush through the painted leaves, rising just +before the hedge; and now and then one flew screaming high over the tops of the +firs and ash-poles, his glossy neck glowing in the sunlight and his long tail +floating behind. These last pleased me most, for when the shot struck the great +bird going at that rate even death could not at once arrest his progress. The +impetus carried him yards, gradually slanting downwards till he rolled in the +green rush bunches. +</p> + +<p> +Then a hare slipped out and ran the gauntlet, and filled the hollow with his +cries when the shot broke his hindquarters, till the dog had him. Jays came in +couples, and green woodpeckers singly: the magpies cunningly flew aside instead +of straight ahead; they never could do anything straightforward. A stoat peeped +out, but went back directly when a rabbit whose retreat had been cut off bolted +over his most insidious enemy. Every now and then Dickon’s shot when he +fired high cut the twigs out of the ash by me. Then came the distant noise of +the beaters’ sticks, and the pheasants, at last thoroughly disturbed, +flew out in twos and threes at a time. Now the firing grew fierce, and the roll +of the volleys ceaseless. It was impossible to jam the cartridges fast enough +in the breech. +</p> + +<p> +A subtle flavour of sulphur filled the mouth, and the lips became dry. Sunshine +and gleaming leaves and sky and grass seemed to all disappear in the fever of +the moment. The gun burned the hands, all blackened by the powder; the metal +got hotter and hotter; the sward was poached and trampled and dotted with +cases; shot hissed through the air and pattered in showers on the opposite +plantation; the eyes, bleared and bloodshot with the smoke, could scarce see to +point the tube. Pheasants fell, and no one heeded; pheasants escaped, and none +noticed it; pheasants were but just winged and ran wounded into the distant +hedges; pheasants were blown out of all living shape and could hardly be +gathered up. Not a word spoken: a breathless haste to load and blaze; a storm +of shot and smoke and slaughter. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> +OBY AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER’S CALENDAR</h2> + +<p> +One dark night, as I was walking on a lonely road, I kicked against something, +and but just saved myself from a fall. It was an intoxicated man lying at full +length. As a rule, it is best to let such people alone; but it occurred to me +that the mail-cart was due; with two horses harnessed tandem-fashion, and +travelling at full speed, the mail would probably go over him. So I seized the +fellow by the collar and dragged him out of the way. Then he sat up, and asked +in a very threatening tone who I was. I mentioned my name: he grunted, and fell +back on the turf, where I left him. +</p> + +<p> +The incident passed out of my mind, when one afternoon a labourer called, +asking for me in a mysterious manner, and refusing to communicate his business +to any one else. When admitted, he produced a couple of cock pheasants from +under his coat, the tail feathers much crumpled, but otherwise in fine +condition. These he placed on the table, remarking, “I ain’t forgot +as you drawed I out of the raud thuck night.” I made him understand that +such presents were too embarrassing; but he seemed anxious to do +“summat,” so I asked him to find me a few ferns and rare plants. +</p> + +<p> +This he did from time to time; and thus a species of acquaintanceship grew up, +and I learned all about him. He was always called “Oby” +(<i>i.e.</i> Obadiah), and was the most determined poacher of a neighbouring +district—a notorious fighting man—hardened against shame, an +Ishmaelite openly contemning authority and yet not insensible to kindness. I +give his history in his own language—softening only the pronunciation, +that would otherwise be unintelligible. +</p> + +<p> +“I lives with my granny in Thorney-lane: it be outside the village. My +mother be married agen, you see, to the smith: her have got a cottage as +belongs to her. My brother have got a van and travels the country; and +sometimes I and my wife goes with him. I larned to set up a wire when I went to +plough when I were a boy, but never took to it regular till I went a-navigating +[navvying] and seed what a spree it were. +</p> + +<p> +“There ain’t no such chaps for poaching as they navigators in all +England: I means where there be a railway a-making. I’ve knowed forty of +’em go out together on a Sunday, and every man had a dog, and some two; +and good dogs too—lots of ’em as you wouldn’t buy for ten +quid. They used to spread out like, and sweep the fields as clean as the crownd +of your hat. Keepers weren’t no good at all, and besides they never +knowed which place us was going to make for. One of the chaps gave I a puppy, +and he growed into the finest greyhound as you’d find in a day’s +walk. The first time I was took up before the bench I had to go to gaol, +because the contractor had broke and the works was stopped, so that my mates +hadn’t no money to pay the fine. +</p> + +<p> +“The dog was took away home to granny by my butty [comrade], but one of +the gentlemen as seed it in the court sent his groom over and got it off the +old woman for five pound. She thought if I hadn’t the hound I should give +it up, and she come and paid me out of gaol. It was a wonder as I didn’t +break her neck; only her was a good woman, you see, to I. But I wouldn’t +have parted with that hound for a quart-full of sovereigns. Many’s a time +I’ve seed his name—they changed his name, of course—in the +papers for winning coursing matches. But we let that gent as bought him have it +warm; we harried his pheasants and killed the most of ’em. +</p> + +<p> +“After that I came home, and took to it regular. It ain’t no use +unless you do it regular. If a man goes out into the fields now and then +chance-like he don’t get much, and is most sure to be caught—very +likely in the place of somebody else the keepers were waiting for and as +didn’t come. I goes to work every day the same as the rest, only I always +take piece-work, which I can come to when I fancy, and stay as late in the +evening as suits me with a good excuse. As I knows navigating, I do a main bit +of draining and water-furrowing, and I gets good wages all the year round, and +never wants for a job. You see, I knows more than the fellows as have never +been at nothing but plough. +</p> + +<p> +“The reason I gets on so well poaching is because I’m always at +work out in the fields, except when I goes with the van. I watches everything +as goes on, and marks the hare’s tracks and the rabbit buries, and the +double mounds and little copses as the pheasants wanders off to in the autumn. +I keeps a nation good look-out after the keeper and his men, and sees their +dodges—which way they walks, and how they comes back sudden and +unexpected on purpose. There’s mostly one about with his eyes on +me—when they sees me working on a farm they puts a man special to look +after me. I never does nothing close round where I’m at work, so he waits +about a main bit for nothing. +</p> + +<p> +“You see by going out piece-work I visits every farm in the parish. The +other men they works for one farmer for two or three or maybe twenty years; but +I goes very nigh all round the place—a fortnight here and a week there, +and then a month somewhere else. So I knows every hare in the parish, and all +his runs and all the double mounds and copses, and the little covers in the +corners of the fields. When I be at work on one place I sets my wires about +half a mile away on a farm as I ain’t been working on for a month, and +where the keeper don’t keep no special look-out now I be gone. As I goes +all round, I knows the ways of all the farmers, and them as bides out late at +night at their friends’, and they as goes to bed early; and so I knows +what paths to follow and what fields I can walk about in and never meet nobody. +</p> + +<p> +“The dodge is always to be in the fields and to know everybody’s +ways. Then you may do just as you be a-mind. All of ’em knows I be +a-poaching; but that don’t make no difference for work; I can use my +tools, and do it as well as any man in the country, and they be glad to get me +on for ’em. They farmers as have got their shooting be sharper than the +keepers, and you can’t do much there; but they as haven’t got the +shooting don’t take no notice. They sees my wires in the grass, and just +looks the other way. If they sees I with a gun I puts un in ditch till they be +gone by, and they don’t look among the nettles. +</p> + +<p> +“Some of them as got land by the wood would like I to be there all day +and night. You see, their clover and corn feeds the hares and pheasants; and +then some day when they goes into the market and passes the poultry-shop there +be four or five score pheasants a-hanging up with their long tails a-sweeping +in the faces of them as fed ’em. The same with the hares and the rabbits; +and so they’d just as soon as I had ’em—and a dalled deal +sooner—out of spite. Lord bless you! if I was to walk through their +courtyards at night with a sack over my shoulders full of you knows what, and +met one of ’em, he’d tell his dog to stop that yowling, and go in +doors rather than see me. As for the rabbits, they hates they worse than +poison. They knocks a hare over now and then themselves on the +quiet—bless you! I could tell tales on a main few, but I bean’t +such a fellow as that. +</p> + +<p> +“But, you see I don’t run no risk except from the keeper hisself, +the men as helps un, and two or three lickspittles as be always messing round +after a ferreting job or some wood-cutting, and the Christmas charities. It be +enough to make a man sick to see they. This yer parish be a very big un, and a +be preserved very high, and I can do three times as much in he as in the next +un, as ain’t much preserved. So I sticks to this un. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course they tried to drive I out of un, and wanted the cottage; but +granny had all the receipts for the quit-rent, and my lard and all the lawyers +couldn’t shove us out, and there we means to bide. You have seed that row +of oaks as grows in the hedge behind our house. One of ’em leaned over +the roof, and one of the limbs was like to fall; but they wouldn’t cut +him, just to spite us, and the rain dripping spoilt the thatch. So I just had +another chimney built at that end for an oven, and kept up the smoke till all +the tree that side died. I’ve had more than one pheasant through them +oaks, as draws ’em: I had one in a gin as I put in the ditch by my +garden. +</p> + +<p> +“They started a tale as ’twas I as stole the lambs a year or two +ago, and they had me up for it; but they couldn’t prove nothing agen me. +Then they had me for unhinging the gates and drowning ’em in the water, +but when they was going to try the case they two young farmers as you know of +come and said as they did it when they was tight, and so I got off. They said +as ’twas I that put the poison for the hounds when three on ’em +took it and died while the hunt was on. It were the dalledest lie! I +wouldn’t hurt a dog not for nothing. The keeper hisself put that poison, +I knows, ’cause he couldn’t bear the pack coming to upset the +pheasants. Yes, they been down upon I a main bit, but I means to bide. All the +farmers knows as I never touched no lamb, nor even pulled a turmot, and they +never couldn’t get no witnesses. +</p> + +<p> +“After a bit I catched the keeper hisself and the policeman at it; and +there be another as knows it, and who do you think that be? It be the man in +town as got the licence to sell game as haves most of my hares; the keeper +selled he a lot as the money never got to my lard’s pocket and the +steward never knowed of. Look at that now! So now he shuts his eye and axes me +to drink, and give me the ferreting job in Longlands Mound; but, Lord bless +’ee, I bean’t so soft as he thinks for. +</p> + +<p> +“They used to try and get me to fight the keeper when they did catch me +with a wire, but I knowed as hitting is transporting, and just put my hands in +my pockets and let ’em do as they liked. <i>They</i> knows I bean’t +afraid of ’em in the road; I’ve threshed more than one of +’em, but I ain’t going to jump into <i>that</i> trap. I’ve +been before the bench, at one place and t’other, heaps of times, and paid +the fine for trespass. Last time the chairman said to I, ‘So you be here +again, Oby; we hear a good deal about you.’ I says, ‘Yes, my lard, +I be here agen, but people never don’t hear nothing about +<i>you</i>.’ That shut the old duffer up. Nobody never heard nothing of +he, except at rent-audit. +</p> + +<p> +“However, they all knows me now—my lard and the steward, and the +keeper and the bailies, and the farmers; and they don’t take half the +notice of I as they used to. The keeper he don’t dare, nor the policeman +as I telled you, and the rest be got used to me and my ways. And I does very +well one week with t’other. One week I don’t take nothing, and the +next I haves a good haul, chiefly hares and rabbits; ’cause of course I +never goes into the wood, nor the plantations. It wants eight or ten with crape +masks on for that job. +</p> + +<p> +“I sets up about four wires, sometimes only two; if you haves so many it +is a job to look after ’em. I stops the hare’s other runs, so that +she is sure to come along mine where I’ve got the turnpike up: the trick +is to rub your hand along the runs as you want to stop, or spit on ’em, +or summat like that; for a hare won’t pass nothing of that sort. So pussy +goes back and comes by the run as I’ve chose: if she comes quick she +don’t holler; if she comes slow she squeals a bit sometimes before the +wire hangs her. Very often I bean’t fur off and stops the squealing. +That’s why I can’t use a gin—it makes ’em holler so. I +ferrets a goodish few rabbits on bright nights in winter. +</p> + +<p> +“As for the pheasants, I gets them mostly about acorn-time; they comes +out of the plantations then. I keeps clear of the plantations, because, besides +the men a-watching, they have got dogs chained up, and alarm-guns as goes off +if you steps on the spring; and some have got a string stretched along as you +be pretty sure to kick against, and then, bang! and all the dogs sets up a +yowling. Of course it’s only powder, but it brings the keepers along. But +when the acorns and the berries be ripe, the pheasants comes out along the +hedges after ’em, and gets up at the haws and such like. They wanders for +miles, and as they don’t care to go all the way back to roost they bides +in the little copses as I told you of. They come to the same copses every year, +which is curious, as most of them as will come this year will be shot before +next. +</p> + +<p> +“If I can’t get ’em the fust night, I just throws a handful +or two of peas about the place, and they’ll be sure to stay, and likely +enough bring two or three more. I mostly shoots ’em with just a little +puff of powder as you wouldn’t hear across one field, especially if +it’s a windy night. I had a air-gun, as was took from me, but he +weren’t much go: I likes a gun as throws the shot wide, but I never +shoots any but roosters, unless I catch ’em standing still. +</p> + +<p> +“All as I can tell you is as the dodge is this: you watch everybody, and +be always in the fields, and always work one parish till you knows every hare +in un, and always work by yourself and don’t have no mates.” +</p> + +<p> +There were several other curious characters whom we frequently saw at work. The +mouchers were about all the year round, and seemed to live in, or by the +hedges, as much as the mice. These men probably see more than the most careful +observer, without giving it a thought. +</p> + +<p> +In January the ice that freezes in the ditches appears of a dark colour, +because it lies without intervening water on the dead brown leaves. Their tint +shows through the translucent crystal, but near the edge of the ice three white +lines or bands run round. If by any chance the ice gets broken or upturned, +these white bands are seen to be caused by flanges projecting from the under +surface, almost like stands. They are sometimes connected in such a way that +the parallel flanges appear like the letter “h” with the two +down-strokes much prolonged. In the morning the chalky rubble brought from the +pits upon the Downs and used for mending gateways leading into the fields +glistens brightly. Upon the surface of each piece of rubble there adheres a +thin coating of ice: if this be lightly struck it falls off, and with it a +flake of the chalk. As it melts, too, the chalk splits and crumbles; and thus +in an ordinary gateway the same process may be seen that disintegrates the most +majestic cliff. +</p> + +<p> +The stubbles—those that still remain—are full of linnets, upon +which the mouching fowler preys in the late autumn. And when at the end of +January the occasional sunbeams give some faint hope of spring, he wanders +through the lanes carrying a decoy bird in a darkened cage, and a few boughs of +privet studded with black berries and bound round with rushes for the +convenience of handling. +</p> + +<p> +The female yellow-hammers, whose hues are not so brilliant as those of the male +birds, seem as winter approaches to flock together, and roam the hedges and +stubble fields in bevies. Where loads of corn have passed through gates the +bushes often catch some straws, and the tops of the gateposts, being decayed +and ragged, hold others. These are neglected while the seeds among the stubble, +the charlock, and the autumn dandelion are plentiful and while the ears left by +the gleaners may still be found. But in the shadowless winter days, hard and +cold, each scattered straw is sought for. +</p> + +<p> +A few days before the new year [1879] opened I saw a yellow-hammer attacking, +in a very ingenious manner, a straw that hung pendent, the ear downwards, from +the post of a windy gateway. She fluttered up from the ground, clung to the +ear, and outspread her wings, keeping them rigid. The draught acted on the +wings, just as the breeze does on a paper kite, and there the bird remained +supported without an effort while the ear was picked. Now and then the balance +was lost, but she was soon up again, and again used the wind to maintain her +position. The brilliant cockbirds return in the early spring, or at least +appear to do so, for the habits of birds are sometimes quite local. +</p> + +<p> +It is probable that in severe and continued frost many hedgehogs die. On +January 19 [1879], in the midst of the sharp weather, a hedgehog came to the +door opening on the garden at night, and was taken in. Though carefully tended, +the poor creature died next day: it was so weak it could scarcely roll itself +into a ball. As the vital heat declined the fleas deserted their host and +issued from among the spines. In February, unless it be a mild season, the +mounds are still bare; and then under the bushes the ground may be sometimes +seen strewn with bulbous roots, apparently of the blue-bell, lying thickly +together and entirely exposed. +</p> + +<p> +The moucher now carries a bill-hook, and as he shambles along the road keeps a +sharp look-out for briars. When he sees one the roots of which are not +difficult to get at, and whose tall upright stem is green—if dark it is +too old—he hacks it off with as much of the root as possible. The lesser +branches are cut, and the stem generally trimmed; it is then sold to the +gardeners as the stock on which to graft standard roses. In a few hours as he +travels he will get together quite a bundle of such briars. He also collects +moss, which is sold for the purpose of placing in flowerpots to hide the earth. +The moss preferred is that growing on and round stoles. +</p> + +<p> +The melting of the snow and the rains in February cause the ditches to overflow +and form shallow pools in the level meadows. Into these sometimes the rooks +wade as far as the length of their legs allows them, till the discoloured +yellow water almost touches the lower part of the breast. The moucher searches +for small shell snails, of which quantities are sold as food for cage birds, +and cuts small “turfs” a few inches square from the green by the +roadside. These are in great request for larks, especially at this time of the +year, when they begin to sing with all their might. +</p> + +<p> +Large flocks of woodpigeons are now in every field where the tender swede and +turnip tops are sprouting green and succulent. These “tops” are the +moucher’s first great crop of the year. The time that they appear varies +with the weather: in a mild winter some may be found early in January; if the +frost has been severe there may be none till March. These the moucher gathers +by stealth; he speedily fills a sack, and goes off with it to the nearest town. +Turnip tops are much more in demand now than formerly, and the stealing of them +a more serious matter. This trade lasts some time, till the tops become too +large and garden greens take their place. +</p> + +<p> +In going to and fro the fields the moucher searches the banks and digs out +primrose “mars,” and ferns with the root attached, which he hawks +from door to door in the town. He also gathers quantities of spring flowers, as +violets. This spring [1879], owing to the severity of the season, there were +practically none to gather, and when the weather moderated the garden flowers +preceded those of the hedge. Till the 10th of March not a spot of colour was to +be seen. About that time bright yellow flowers appeared suddenly on the clayey +banks and waste places, and among the hard clay lumps of fields ploughed but +not sown. +</p> + +<p> +The brilliant yellow formed a striking contrast to the dull brown of the clods, +there being no green leaf to moderate the extremes of tint. These were the +blossoms of the coltsfoot, that sends up a stalk surrounded with faintly rosy +scales. Several such stalks often spring from a single clod: lift the heavy +clod, and you have half a dozen flowers, a whole bunch, without a single leaf. +Usually the young grasses and the seed-leaves of plants have risen up and +supply a general green; but this year the coltsfoot bloomed unsupported, +studding the dark ground with gold. +</p> + +<p> +Now the frogs are busy, and the land lizards come forth. Even these the moucher +sometimes captures; for there is nothing so strange but that some one selects +it for a pet. The mad March hares scamper about in broad daylight over the +corn, whose pale green blades rise in straight lines a few inches above the +soil. They are chasing their skittish loves, instead of soberly dreaming the +day away in a bunch of grass. The ploughman walks in the furrow his share has +made, and presently stops to measure the “lands” with the spud. His +horses halt dead in the tenth of a second at the sound of his voice, glad to +rest for a minute from their toil. Work there is in plenty now, for +stone-picking, hoeing, and other matters must be attended to; but the moucher +lounges in the road decoying chaffinches, or perhaps earns a shilling by +driving some dealer’s cattle home from fair and market. +</p> + +<p> +By April his second great crop is ready—the watercress; the precise time +of course varies very much, and at first the quantities are small. The hedges +are now fast putting on the robe of green that gradually hides the wreck of +last year’s growth. The withered head of the teazle, black from the rain, +falls and disappears. Great burdock stems lie prostrate. Thick and hard as they +are while the sap is still in them, in winter the wet ground rots the lower +part till the blast overthrows the stalk. The hollow “gicks” too, +that lately stood almost to the shoulder, is down, or slanting, temporarily +supported by some branch. Just between the root and the stalk it has decayed +till nothing but a narrow strip connects the dry upper part with the earth. The +moucher sells the nests and eggs of small birds to townsfolk who cannot +themselves wander among the fields, but who love to see something that reminds +them of the green meadows. +</p> + +<p> +As the season advances and the summer comes he gathers vast quantities of +dandelion leaves, parsley, sowthistle, clover, and so forth, as food for the +tame rabbits kept in towns. If his haunt be not far from a river, he spends +hours collecting bait—worm and grub and fly—for the boatmen, who +sell them again to the anglers. +</p> + +<p> +Again there is work in the meadows—the haymaking is about, and the +farmers are anxious for men. But the moucher passes by and looks for quaking +grass, bunches of which have a ready sale. Fledgeling goldfinches and linnets, +young rabbits, young squirrels, even the nest of the harvest-trow mouse, and +occasionally a snake, bring him in a little money. He picks the forget-me-nots +from the streams and the “blue-bottle” from the corn: bunches of +the latter are sometimes sold in London at a price that seems extravagant to +those who have seen whole fields tinted with its beautiful azure. By-and-by the +golden wheat calls for an army of workers; but the moucher passes on and +gathers groundsel. +</p> + +<p> +Then come the mushrooms: he knows the best places, and soon fills a basket full +of “buttons” picking them very early in the morning. These are then +put in “punnets” by the greengrocers and retailed at a high price. +Later the blackberries ripen and form his third great crop; the quantity he +brings in to the town is astonishing, and still there is always a customer. The +blackberry harvest lasts for several weeks, as the berries do not all ripen at +once, but successively, and is supplemented by elderberries and sloes. The +moucher sometimes sleeps on the heaps of disused tan in a tanyard; tanyards are +generally on the banks of small rivers. The tan is said to possess the property +of preserving those who sleep on it from chills and cold, though they may lie +quite exposed to the weather. +</p> + +<p> +There is generally at least one such a man as this about the outskirts of +market towns, and he is an “original” best defined by negatives. He +is not a tramp, for he never enters the casual wards and never begs—that +is, of strangers; though there are certain farmhouses where he calls once now +and then and gets a slice of bread and cheese and a pint of ale. He brings to +the farmhouse a duck’s egg that has been dropped in the brook by some +negligent bird, or carries intelligence of the nest made by some roaming goose +in a distant withy-bed. Or once, perhaps, he found a sheep on its back in a +narrow furrow, unable to get up and likely to die if not assisted, and by +helping the animal to gain its legs earned a title to the owner’s +gratitude. +</p> + +<p> +He is not a thief; apples and plums and so on are quite safe, though the +turnip-tops are not: there is a subtle casuistry involved here—the +distinction between the quasi-wild and the garden product. He is not a poacher +in the sense of entering coverts, or even snaring a rabbit. If the pheasants +are so numerous and so tame that passing carters have to whip them out of the +way of the horses, it is hardly wonderful if one should disappear now and then. +Nor is he like the Running Jack that used to accompany the more famous packs of +fox-hounds, opening gates, holding horses, and a hundred other little services, +and who kept up with the hunt by sheer fleetness of foot. +</p> + +<p> +Yet he is fleet of foot in his way, though never seen to run; he <i>pads</i> +along on naked feet like an animal, never straightening the leg, but always +keeping the knee a little bent. With a basket of watercress slung at his back +by a piece of tar-cord, he travels rapidly in this way; his feet go “pad, +pad” on the thick white dust, and he easily overtakes a good walker and +keeps up the pace for miles without exertion. The watercress is a great staple, +because it lasts for so many months. Seeing the nimble way in which he gathers +it, thrusting aside the brook-lime, breaking off the coarser sprays, snipping +away pieces of root, sorting and washing, and thinking of the amount of work to +be got through before a shilling is earned, one would imagine that the slow, +idling life of the labourer, with his regular wages, would be far more +enticing. +</p> + +<p> +Near the stream the ground is perhaps peaty: little black pools appear between +tufts of grass, some of them streaked with a reddish or yellowish slime that +glistens on the surface of the dark water; and as you step there is a hissing +sound as the spongy earth yields, and a tiny spout is forced forth several +yards distant. Some of the drier part of the soil the moucher takes to sell for +use in gardens and flower-pots as peat. +</p> + +<p> +The years roll on, and he grows old. But no feebleness of body or mind can +induce him to enter the workhouse; he cannot quit his old haunts. Let it rain +or sleet, or let the furious gale drive broken boughs across the road, he still +sleeps in some shed or under a straw-rick. In sheer pity he is committed every +now and then to prison for vagabondage—not for punishment, but in order +to save him from himself. It is in vain: the moment he is out he returns to his +habits. All he wants is a little beer—he is not a drunkard—and a +little tobacco, and the hedges. Some chilly evening, as the shadows thicken, he +shambles out of the town, and seeks the limekiln in the ploughed field, where, +the substratum being limestone, the farmer burns it. Near the top of the kiln +the ground is warm; there he reclines and sleeps. +</p> + +<p> +The night goes on. Out from the broken blocks of stone now and again there +rises a lambent flame, to shine like a meteor for a moment and then disappear. +The rain falls. The moucher moves uneasily in his sleep; instinctively he rolls +or crawls towards the warmth, and presently lies extended on the top of the +kiln. The wings of the water-fowl hurtle in the air as they go over; by-and-by +the heron utters his loud call. +</p> + +<p> +Very early in the morning the quarryman comes to tend his fire, and starts to +see on the now redhot and glowing stones, sunk below the rim, the presentment +of a skeleton formed of the purest white ashes—a ghastly spectacle in the +grey of the dawn, as the mist rises and the peewit plaintively whistles over +the marshy meadow. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> +CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH</h2> + +<p> +The tower of the church at Essant Hill was so low that it scarcely seemed to +rise above the maples in the hedges. It could not be seen until the last stile +in the footpath across the meadows was passed. Church and tower then came into +view together on the opposite side of a large open field. A few aged hawthorn +trees dotted the sward, and beyond the church the outskirts of a wood were +visible, but no dwellings could be seen. Upon a second and more careful glance, +however, the chimney of a cottage appeared above a hedge, so covered with ivy +as hardly to be separated from the green of the boughs. +</p> + +<p> +There were houses of course somewhere in Essant, but they were so scattered +that a stranger might doubt the existence of the village. A few farmsteads long +distances apart, and some cottages standing in green lanes and at the corners +of the fields, were nearly all; there was nothing resembling a +“street”—not so much as a row. The church was in effect the +village, and the church was simply the mausoleum of the Dessant family, the +owners of the place. Essant Hill as a name had been rather a problem to the +archæologists, there being no hill: the ground was quite level. The explanation +at last admitted was that Essant Hill was a corruption of D’Essantville. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed probable that the population had greatly diminished; because, +although the church was of great antiquity, there was space still for +interments in the yard. A yew tree of immense size stood in one corner, and was +by tradition associated with the fortunes of the family. Though the old trunk +was much decayed, yet there were still green and flourishing shoots; so that +the superstitious elders said the luck of the house was returning. +</p> + +<p> +Within, the walls of the church were covered with marble slabs, and the space +was reduced by the tombs of the Dessants, one with a recumbent figure; there +were two brasses level with the pavement, and in the chancel hung the faded +hatchments of the dead. For the pedigree went back to the Battle of Hastings, +and there was scarce room for more heraldry. From week’s end to +week’s end the silent nave and aisles remained empty; the chirp of the +sparrows was the only sound to be heard there. There being no house attached to +the living, the holder could not reside; so the old church slumbered in the +midst of the meadows, the hedges, and woods, day after day, year after year. +</p> + +<p> +You could sit on the low churchyard wall in early summer under the shade of the +elms in the hedge, whose bushes and briars came right over, and listen to the +whistling of the blackbirds or the varied note of the thrush; you might see the +whitethroat rise and sing just over the hedge, or look upwards and watch the +swallows and swifts wheeling, wheeling, wheeling in the sky. No one would pass +to disturb your meditations, whether simply dreaming of nothing in the genial +summer warmth, or thinking over the course of history since the prows of the +Norman ships grounded on the beach. If we suppose the time, instead of June, to +be August or September, there would not even be the singing of the birds. But +as you sat on the wall, by-and-by the pheasants, tame as chickens, would come +up the hedge and over into the churchyard. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the church to stroll by the footpath across the meadow towards the +wood, at the first gateway half-a-dozen more pheasants scatter aside, just far +enough to let you pass. In the short dusty lane more pheasants; and again at +the edge of the cornfield. None of these show any signs of alarm, and only move +just far enough to avoid being trodden on. Approaching the wood there are yet +more pheasants, especially near the fir plantations that come up to the +keeper’s cottage and form one side of the enclosure of his garden. The +pheasants come up to the door to pick up what they can—not long since +they were fed there—and then wander away between the slender fir trunks, +and beyond them out into the fields. +</p> + +<p> +The path leads presently into a beautiful park, the only defect of which is +that it is without undulation. It is quite level; but still the clumps of noble +timber are pleasant to gaze upon. In one spot there still stands the grey wall +and buttress of some ancient building, doubtless the relic of an ecclesiastical +foundation. The present mansion is not far distant; it is of large size, but +lacks elegance. Inside, nothing that modern skill can supply to render a +residence comfortable, convenient, and (as art is understood in furniture) +artistic has been neglected. +</p> + +<p> +Behind the fir plantations there is an extensive range of stabling, recently +erected, with all the latest improvements. A telegraph wire connects the house +with the stable, so that carriage or horse may be instantly summoned. Another +wire has been carried to the nearest junction with the general telegraphic +system; so that the resident in this retired spot may communicate his wishes +without a moment’s delay to any part of the world. +</p> + +<p> +In the gardens and pleasure-grounds near the house all manner of ornamental +shrubs are planted. There are conservatories, vineries, pineries; all the +refinements of horticulture. The pheasants stray about the gravel walks and +across the close-mown lawn where no daisy dares to lift its head. Yet, with all +this precision of luxury, one thing is lacking—<i>the</i> one thing, the +keystone of English country life—<i>i.e.</i> a master whose heart is in +the land. +</p> + +<p> +The estate is in process of “nursing” for a minor. The revenues had +become practically sequestrated to a considerable extent in consequence of +careless living when the minor nominally succeeded. It happened that the +steward appointed was not only a lawyer of keen intelligence, but a +conscientious man. He did his duty thoroughly. Every penny was got out of the +estate that could be got, and every penny was saved. +</p> + +<p> +First, the rents were raised to the modern standard, many of them not having +been increased for years. Then the tenants were in effect ordered to farm to +the highest pitch, and to improve the soil itself by liberal investment. +Buildings, drains, and so forth were provided for them; they only had to pay a +small percentage upon the money expended in construction. In this there was +nothing that could be complained of; but the hard, mechanical, unbending spirit +in which it was done—the absence of all kind of sympathy—caused a +certain amount of discontent. The steward next proceeded to turn the mansion, +the park, home farm, and preserves into revenue. +</p> + +<p> +Everything was prepared to attract the wealthy man who wanted the temporary use +of a good country house, first-class shooting and hunting. He succeeded in +doing what few gentlemen have accomplished: he made the pheasants pay. One +reason, of course, was that gentlemen have expenses outside and beyond breeding +and keeping: the shooting party itself is expensive; whereas here the shooting +party paid hard cash for their amusement. The steward had no knowledge of +pheasants; but he had a wide experience of one side of human nature, and he +understood accounts. +</p> + +<p> +The keepers were checked by figures at every turn, finding it impossible to +elude the businesslike arrangements that were made. In revenue the result was +highly successful. The mansion with the first-class shooting, hunting, and +lovely woodlands—every modern convenience and comfort in the midst of the +most rural scenery—let at a high price to good tenants. There was an +income from what had previously been profitless. Under this shrewd management +the estate was fast recovering. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time the whole parish groaned in spirit. The farmers grumbled at +the moral pressure which forced them to progress in spite of themselves. They +grumbled at the strange people who took up their residence in their midst and +suddenly claimed all the loyalty which was the due of the old family. These +people hunted over their fields, jumped over the hedges, glanced at them +superciliously, and seemed astonished if every hat was not raised when they +came in sight. The farmers felt that they were regarded as ignorant barbarians, +and resented the town-bred insolence of people who aped the country gentleman. +</p> + +<p> +They grumbled about the over-preservation of game, and they grumbled about the +rabbits. The hunt had its grumble too because some of the finest coverts were +closed to the hounds, and because they wanted to know what became of the foxes +that formerly lived in those coverts. Here was a beautiful place—a place +that one might dream life away in—filled with all manner of discontent. +</p> + +<p> +Everything was done with the best intention. But the keystone was +wanting—the landlord, the master, who had grown up in the traditions of +the spot, and between whom and the people there would have been, even despite +of grievances, a certain amount of sympathy. So true is it that in England, +under the existing system of land tenure, an estate cannot be worked like the +machinery of a factory. +</p> + +<p> +At first, when the pheasant-preserving began to reach such a height, there was +a great deal of poaching by the resident labourers. The temptation was thrust +so closely before their faces they could not resist it. When pheasants came +wandering into the cottage gardens, and could even be enticed into the sheds +and so secured by simply shutting the door, men who would not have gone out of +their way to poach were led to commit themselves. +</p> + +<p> +There followed a succession of prosecutions and fines, till the place began to +get a reputation for that sort of thing. It was at last intimated to the +steward by certain gentlemen that this course of prosecution was extremely +injudicious. For it is a fact—a fact carefully ignored +sometimes—that resident gentlemen object to prosecutions, and, so far +from being anxious to fine or imprison poachers, would very much rather not. +The steward took the hint, and instead increased his watchers. But by this time +the novelty of pheasants roaming about like fowls had begun to wear off, and +their services were hardly needed. Men went by pheasants with as much +indifference as they would pass a tame duck by the roadside. +</p> + +<p> +Such poachers as visited the woods came from a distance. Two determined raids +were carried out by strangers, who escaped. Every now and then wires were found +that had been abandoned, but the poaching ceased to be more than is usual on +most properties. So far as the inhabitants of the parish were concerned it +almost ceased altogether; but every now and then the strollers, gipsies, and +similar characters carried off a pheasant or a hare, or half a dozen rabbits. +These offenders when detected were usually charged before the Bench at a market +town not many miles distant. Let us follow one there. +</p> + +<p> +The little town of L——, which has not even a branch railway, mainly +consists of a long street. In one part this street widens out, so that the +houses are some forty yards or more apart, and it then again contracts. This +irregularly shaped opening is the market-place, and here in the centre stands a +rude-looking building. It is supported upon thick short pillars, and was +perhaps preceded by a wooden structure. Under these pillars there is usually a +shabby chaise or two run in for cover, and the spot is the general rendezvous +of all the dogs in the town. +</p> + +<p> +This morning there are a few loafers hanging round the place; and the tame town +pigeons have fluttered down, and walk with nodding heads almost up to them. +These pigeons always come to the edge of a group of people, mindful of the +stray grain and peas that fall from the hands of farmers and dealers examining +samples on market days. Presently, two constables come across carrying a heavy, +clumsy box between them. They unlock a door, and take the box upstairs into the +hall over the pillars. After them saunters a seedy man, evidently a clerk, with +a rusty black bag; and after him again—for the magistrates’ +Clerk’s clerk must have <i>his</i> clerk—a boy with some +leather-bound books. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the loafers touch their hats as a gentleman—a +magistrate—rides up the street. But although the church clock is striking +the hour fixed for the sessions to begin he does not come over to the hall upon +dismounting in the inn-yard, but quietly strolls away to transact some business +with the wine-merchant or the saddler. There really is not the least hurry. The +Clerk stands in the inn porch calmly enjoying the September sunshine, and +chatting with the landlord. Two or three more magistrates drive up; presently +the chairman strolls over on foot from his house, which is almost in the town, +to the inn, and joins in the pleasant gossip going on there, of course in a +private apartment. +</p> + +<p> +Up in the justice-room the seedy Clerk’s clerk is leaning out of the +window and conversing with a man below who has come along with a barrow-load of +vegetables from his allotment. Some boys are spinning tops under the pillars. +On the stone steps that lead up to the hall a young mother sits nursing her +infant; she is waiting to “swear” the child. In the room itself +several gipsy-looking men and women lounge in a corner. At one end is a broad +table and some comfortable chairs behind it. In front of each chair, on the +table, two sheets of clean foolscap have been placed on a sheet of +blotting-paper. These and a variety of printed forms were taken from the clumsy +box that is now open. +</p> + +<p> +At last there is a slight stir as a group is seen to emerge from the inn, and +the magistrates take their seats. An elderly man who sits by the chair cocks +his felt hat on the back of his head: the clerical magistrate very tenderly +places his beaver in safety on the broad mantelpiece, that no irreverent sleeve +may ruffle its gloss: several others who rarely do more than nod assent range +themselves on the flanks; one younger man who looks as if he understood horses +pulls out his toothpick. The chairman, stout and gouty, seizes a quill and +sternly looks over the list of cases. +</p> + +<p> +Half a dozen summonses for non-payment of rates come first; then a dispute +between a farmer and his man. After this the young mother “swears” +her child; and, indeed, there is some very hard swearing here on both sides. A +wrangle between two women—neighbours—who accuse each other of +assault, and scream and chatter their loudest, comes next. Before they decide +it, the Bench retire, and are absent a long time. +</p> + +<p> +By degrees a buzz arises, till the justice-room is as noisy as a market. +Suddenly the door of the private room opens, and the Clerk comes out; instantly +the buzz subsides, and in the silence those who are nearest catch something +about the odds and the St. Leger, and an anything but magisterial roar of +laughter. The chairman appears, rigidly compressing his features, and begins to +deliver his sentence before he can sit down, but the solemn effect is much +marred by the passing of a steam ploughing engine. The audience, too, tend away +towards the windows to see whose engine it is. +</p> + +<p> +“Silence!” cries the Clerk, who has himself been looking out of +window; the shuffling of feet ceases, and it is found that after this long +consultation the Bench have dismissed both charges. The next case on the list +is poaching; and at the call of his name one of the gipsy-looking men advances, +and is ordered to stand before that part of the table which by consent +represents the bar. +</p> + +<p> +“Oby Bottleton,” says the Clerk, half reading, half extemporizing, +and shuffling his papers to conceal certain slips of technicality; “you +are charged with trespassing in pursuit of game at Essant Hill—that you +did use a wire on the estate—on land in the occupation of +Johnson.”—“It’s a lie!” cries a good-looking, +dark-complexioned woman, who has come up behind the defendant (the whilome +navvy), and carries a child so wrapped in a shawl as to be invisible. +“Silence! or you’ll have to go outside the court. Mr. Dalton +Dessant will leave the Bench during the hearing of this case.” Mr. Dalton +Dessant, one of the silent magistrates already alluded to, bows to the +chairman, and wriggles his chair back about two feet from the table. There he +gazes at the ceiling. He is one of the trustees of the Essant Hill property; +and the Bench are very careful to consult public opinion in L—— +borough. +</p> + +<p> +The first witness is an assistant keeper: the head keeper stands behind +him—a fine man, still upright and hearty-looking, but evidently at the +beginning of the vale of years; he holds his hat in his hand; the sunlight +falls through the casement on his worn velveteen jacket. The assistant, with +the aid of a few questions from the Clerk, gives his evidence very clear and +fairly. “I saw the defendant’s van go down the lane,” he +says: +</p> + +<p> +“It bean’t my van,” interrupts the defendant; +“it’s my brother’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll have an opportunity of speaking presently,” says the +Clerk. “Go on” (to the witness). +</p> + +<p> +“After the van went down the lane, it stopped by the highway-road, and +the horse was taken out. The women left the van with baskets, and went towards +the village.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes; come to the point. Did you hide yourself by order of the head +keeper?” +</p> + +<p> +“I did—in the nutwood hedge by Three Corner Piece; after a bit I +saw the defendant.” +</p> + +<p> +“Had you any reason for watching there?” +</p> + +<p> +“There was a wire and a rabbit in it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what happened?” +</p> + +<p> +“I waited a long time, and presently the defendant got over the gate. He +was very particular not to step on the soft mud by the gate—he kind of +leaped over it, not to leave the mark of his boots. He had a lurcher with him, +and I was afraid the dog would scent me in the hedge.” +</p> + +<p> +“You rascal!” (from the defendant’s wife). +</p> + +<p> +“But he didn’t, and, after looking carefully round, the defendant +picked up the rabbit, and put it and the wire in his pocket.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did you do then?” +</p> + +<p> +“I got out of the hedge and came towards him. Directly he saw me he ran +across the field; I whistled as loud as I could, and he” (jerking a thumb +back towards the head keeper) “came out of the firs into the lane and +stopped him. We found the wire and the rabbit in his pocket, and two more +wires. I produce the wires.” +</p> + +<p> +This was the sum of the evidence; the head keeper simply confirmed the latter +part of it. Oby replied that it was all false from beginning to end. He had not +got corduroy trousers on that day, as stated. He was not there at all: he was +in the village, and he could call witnesses to prove it. The Clerk reminded the +audience that there was such a thing as imprisonment for perjury. +</p> + +<p> +Then the defendant turned savagely on the first witness, and admitted the truth +of his statement by asking what he said when collared in the lane. “You +said you had had a good lot lately, and didn’t care if you was nailed +this time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, what awful lies!” cried the wife. “It’s a wonder +you don’t fall dead!” +</p> + +<p> +“You were not there,” the Clerk remarked quietly. “Now, Oby, +what is your defence? Have you got any witnesses?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I ain’t got no witnesses. All as I did, I know I walked up the +hedge to look for mushrooms. I saw one of them things”—meaning the +wires on the table—“and I just stooped down to see what it was, +’cos I didn’t know. I never seed one afore; and I was just going to +pick it up and look at it” (the magistrates glance at each other, and +cannot suppress a smile at this profound innocence), “when this fellow +jumped out and frightened me. I never seed no rabbit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, you put the rabbit in your pocket,” interrupts the first +witness. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind,” said the Clerk to the witness; “let him go +on.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s all as I got to say,” continues the defendant. +“I never seed no such things afore; and if he hadn’t come I should +have put it down again.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you were trespassing,” said the Clerk. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t know it. There wasn’t no notice-board.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Oby,” cried the head keeper, “you know you’ve +been along that lane this ten years.” +</p> + +<p> +“That will do” (from the chairman); “is there any more +evidence?” +</p> + +<p> +As none was forthcoming, the Bench turned a little aside and spoke in low +tones. The defendant’s wife immediately set up a sobbing, varied +occasionally by a shriek; the infant woke up and cried, and two or three women +of the same party behind began to talk in excited tones about +“Shame.” The sentence was 2_l_. and costs—an announcement +that caused a perfect storm of howling and crying. +</p> + +<p> +The defendant put his hands in his pockets with the complacent expression of a +martyr. “I must go to gaol a’ spose; none of ourn ever went thur +afore: a’ spose <i>I</i> must go.” “Come,” said the +Clerk, “why, you or your brother bought a piece of land and a cottage not +long ago,”—then to the Bench, “They’re not real +gipsies: he is a grandson of old Bottleton who had the tollgate; you recollect, +Sir.” +</p> + +<p> +But the defendant declares he has no money; his friends shake their heads +gloomily; and amid the shrieking of his wife and the crying of the child he is +removed in the custody of two constables, to be presently conveyed to gaol. +With ferocious glances at the Bench, as if they would like to tear the +chairman’s eyes out, the women leave the court. +</p> + +<p> +“Next case,” calls the Clerk. The court sits about two hours +longer, having taken some five hours to get through six cases. Just as the +chairman rises the poacher’s wife returns to the table, without her +child, angrily pulls out a dirty canvas bag, and throws down three or four +sovereigns before the seedy Clerk’s clerk. The canvas bag is evidently +half-full of money—the gleam of silver and gold is visible within it. The +Bench stay to note this proceeding with an amused expression on their features. +The woman looks at them as bold as brass, and stalks off with her man. +</p> + +<p> +Half an hour afterwards, two of the magistrates riding away from the town pass +a small tavern on the outskirts. A travelling van is outside, and from the +chimney on its roof thin smoke arises. There is a little group at the doorway, +and among them stands the late prisoner. Oby holds a foaming tankard in one +hand, and touches his battered hat, as the magistrates go by, with a gesture of +sly humility. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> +LUKE, THE RABBIT CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK-PATH</h2> + +<p> +The waggon-track leading to the Upper Woods almost always presented something +of interest, and often of beauty. The solitude of the place seemed to have +attracted flowers and ferns as well as wild animals and birds. For though +flowers have no power of motion, yet seeds have a negative choice and lie +dormant where they do not find a kindly welcome. But those carried hither by +the birds or winds took root and flourished, secure from the rude ploughshare +or the sharp scythe. +</p> + +<p> +The slow rumble of waggon-wheels seldom disturbed the dreamy silence, or +interrupted the song of the birds; so seldom that large docks and thistles grew +calmly beside the ruts untouched by hoofs. From the thick hedges on either side +trailing brambles and briars stretched far out, and here and there was a fallen +branch, broken off by the winds, whose leaves had turned brown and withered +while all else was green. Round sarsen stones had been laid down in the marshy +places to form a firm road, but the turf had long since covered most of them. +Where the smooth brown surfaces did project mosses had lined the base, and +rushes leaned over and hid the rest. +</p> + +<p> +In the ditches, under the shade of the brambles, the hart’s-tongue fern +extended its long blade of dark glossy green. By the decaying stoles the hardy +fern flourished, under the trees on the mounds the lady fern could be found, +and farther up nearer the wood the tall brake almost supplanted the bushes. Oak +and ash boughs reached across: in the ash the wood-pigeons lingered. Every now +and then the bright colours of the green woodpeckers flashed to and fro their +nest in a tree hard by. They would not have chosen it had not the place been +nearly as quiet as the wood itself. +</p> + +<p> +Blackthorn bushes jealously encroached on the narrow stile that entered the +lane from a meadow—a mere rail thrust across a gap. The gates, set in +deep recesses—short lanes themselves cut through the mounds—were +rotten and decayed, so as to scarcely hold together, and not to be moved +without care. Hawthorn branches on each side pushed forward and lessened the +opening; on the ground, where the gateposts had rotted nearly off, fungi came +up in thick bunches. +</p> + +<p> +The little meadows to which they led were rich in oaks, growing on the +“shore” of the ditches, tree after tree. The grass in them was not +plentiful, but the flowers were many; in the spring the orchis sent up its +beautiful purple, and in the heat of summer the bird’s-foot lotus +flourished in the sunny places. Farther up, nearer the wood, the lane became +hollow—worn down between high banks, at first clothed with fern, and +then, as the hill got steeper, with fir trees. +</p> + +<p> +Where firs are tall and thick together the sunbeams that fall aslant between +them seem to be made more visible than under other trees, by the motes or wood +dust in the air. Still farther the banks became even steeper, till nothing but +scanty ash stoles could grow upon them, the fir plantations skirting along the +summit. Then suddenly, at a turn, the ground sank into a deep hollow, where in +spring the eye rested with relief and pleasure on the tops of young firs, acre +after acre, just freshly tinted with the most delicate green. From thence the +track went into the wood. +</p> + +<p> +By day all through the summer months there was always something to be seen in +the lane—a squirrel, a stoat; always a song-bird to listen to, a flower +or fern to gather. By night the goatsucker visited it, and the bat, and the +white owl gliding down the slope. In winter when the clouds hung low the +darkness in the hollow between the high banks, where the light was shut out by +the fir trees, was like that of a cavern. It was then that night after night a +strange procession wended down it. +</p> + +<p> +First came an old man, walking stiffly—not so much from age as +rheumatism—and helping his unsteady steps on the slippery sarsen stones +with a stout ground-ash staff. Behind him followed a younger man, and in the +rear a boy. Sometimes there was an extra assistant, making four; sometimes +there was only the old man and one companion. Each had a long and strong ash +stick across his shoulder, on which a load of rabbits was slung, an equal +number in front and behind, to balance. The old fellow, who was dressed +shabbily even for a labourer, was the contractor for the rabbits shot or +ferreted in these woods. +</p> + +<p> +He took the whole number at a certain fixed price all round, and made what he +could out of them. Every evening in the season he went to the woods to fetch +those that had been captured during the day, conveying them to his cottage on +the outskirts of the village. From thence they went by carrier’s cart to +the railway. Old Luke’s books, such as they were, were quite beyond the +understanding of any one but himself and his wife; nor could even they +themselves tell you exactly how many dozen he purchased in the year. But in his +cups the wicked old hypocrite had often been known to boast that he paid the +lord of the manor as much money as the rent of a small farm. +</p> + +<p> +One of Luke’s eyes was closed with a kind of watery rheum, and was never +opened except when he thought a rabbit was about to jump into a net. The other +was but half open, and so overhung with a thick grey eyebrow as to be barely +visible. His cheeks were the hue of clay, his chin scrubby, and a lanky black +forelock depended over one temple. A battered felt hat, a ragged discoloured +slop, and corduroys stained with the clay of the banks completed his squalid +costume. +</p> + +<p> +A more miserable object or one apparently more deserving of pity it would be +hard to imagine. To see him crawl with slow and feeble steps across the fields +in winter, gradually working his way in the teeth of a driving rain, was enough +to arouse compassion in the hardest heart: there was something so utterly +woebegone in his whole aspect—so weather-beaten, as if he had been rained +upon ever since childhood. He seemed humbled to the ground—crushed and +spiritless. +</p> + +<p> +Now and then Luke was employed by some of the farmers to do their ferreting for +them and to catch the rabbits in the banks by the roadside. More than once +benevolent people driving by in their cosy cushioned carriages, and seeing this +lonely wretch in the bitter wind watching a rabbit’s hole as if he were a +dog well beaten and thrashed, had been known to stop and call the poor old +fellow to the carriage door. Then Luke would lay his hand on his knee, shake +his head, and sorrowfully state his pains and miseries: “Aw, I be +ter-rable bad, I be,” he would say; “I be most terrable bad: I +can’t but just drag my leg out of this yer ditch. It be a dull job, bless +’ee, this yer.” The tone, the look of the man, the dreary winter +landscape all so thoroughly agreed together that a few small silver coins would +drop into his hand, and Luke, with a deep groaning sigh of thankfulness, would +bow and scrape and go back to his “dull job.” +</p> + +<p> +Luke, indeed, somehow or other was always in favour with the +“quality.” He was as firmly fixed in his business as if he had been +the most clever courtier. It was not of the least use for any one else to offer +to take the rabbits, even if they would give more money. No, Luke was the +trusty man; Luke, and nobody else, was worthy. So he grovelled on from year to +year, blinking about the place. When some tenant found a gin in the turnip +field, or a wire by the clover, and quietly waited till Luke came fumbling by +and picked up the hare or rabbit, it did not make the slightest difference +though he went straight to the keeper and made a formal statement. +</p> + +<p> +Luke had an answer always ready: he had not set the wire, but had stumbled on +it unawares, and was going to take it to the keeper; or he had noticed a colony +of rats about, and had put the gin for them. Now, the same excuse might have +been made by any other poacher; the difference lay in this—that Luke was +believed. At all events, such little trifles were forgotten, and Luke went on +as before. He did a good deal of the ferreting in the hedges outside the woods +himself: if he took home three dozen from the mound and only paid for two +dozen, that scarcely concerned the world at large. +</p> + +<p> +If in coming down the dark and slippery lane at night somebody with a heavy +sack stepped out from the shadow at the stile, and if the contents of the sack +were rapidly transferred to the shoulder-sticks, or the bag itself bodily taken +along—why, there was nobody there to see. As for the young man and the +boy who helped, those discreet persons had always a rabbit for their own pot, +or even for a friend; and indeed it was often remarked that old Luke could +always get plenty of men to work for him. No one ever hinted at searching the +dirty shed at the side of his cottage that was always locked by day, or looking +inside the disused oven that it covered. But if fur or feathers had been found +there, was not he the contractor? And clearly if a pheasant <i>was</i> there he +could not be held responsible for the unauthorised acts of his assistants. +</p> + +<p> +The truth was that Luke was the most thorough-paced poacher in the +place—or, rather, he was a wholesale receiver. His success lay in making +it pleasant for everybody all round. It was pleasant for the keeper, who could +always dispose of a few hares or pheasants if he wanted a little money. The +keeper, in ways known to himself, made it pleasant for the bailiff. It was +equally pleasant for the under-keepers, who had what they wanted (in reason), +and enjoyed a little by-play on their own account. It was pleasant for his men; +and it was pleasant—specially pleasant—at a little wayside inn kept +by Luke’s nephew, and, as was believed, with Luke’s money. +Everybody concerned in the business could always procure refreshment there, +including the policeman. +</p> + +<p> +There was only one class of persons whom Luke could not conciliate; and they +were the tenants. These very inconsiderate folk argued that it was the +keepers’ and Luke’s interest to maintain a very large stock of +rabbits, which meant great inroads on their crops. There seemed to be even +something like truth in their complaints; and once or twice the more +independent carried their grievances to headquarters so effectually as to +elicit an order for the destruction of the rabbits forthwith on their farms. +But of what avail was such an order when the execution of it was entrusted to +Luke himself? +</p> + +<p> +In time the tenants got to put up with Luke; and the wiser of them turned round +and tried to make it still more pleasant for <i>him</i>: they spoke a good word +for him; they gave him a quart of ale, and put little things in his way, such +as a chance to buy and sell faggots at a small profit. Not to be ungrateful, +Luke kept their rabbits within reasonable bounds; and he had this great +recommendation—that whether they bullied him or whether they gave him ale +and bread-and-cheese, Luke was always humble and always touched his hat. +</p> + +<p> +His wife kept a small shop for the sale of the coarser groceries and a little +bacon. He had also rather extensive gardens, from which he sold quantities of +vegetables. It was more than suspected that the carrier’s cart was really +Luke’s—that is, he found the money for horsing it, and could take +possession if he liked. The carrier’s cart took his rabbits, and the game +he purchased of poachers, to the railway, and the vegetables from the gardens +to the customers in town. +</p> + +<p> +At least one cottage besides his own belonged to him; and some would have it +that this was one of the reasons of his success with the “quality.” +The people at the great house, anxious to increase their influence, wished to +buy every cottage and spare piece of land. This was well known, and many small +owners prided themselves upon spiting the big people at the great house by +refusing to sell, or selling to another person. The great house was believed to +have secured the first “refuse” of Luke’s property, if ever +he thought of selling. Luke, in fact, among the lower classes was looked upon +as a capitalist—a miser with an unknown hoard. The old man used to sit of +a winter’s evening, after he had brought down the rabbits, by the hearth, +making rabbit-nets of twine. Almost everybody who came along the road, home +from the market town, stopped, lifted the latch without knocking, and looked in +to tell the news or hear it. But Luke’s favourite manoeuvre was to take +out his snuff-box, tap it, and offer it to the person addressing him. This he +would do to a farmer, even though it were the largest tenant of all. For this +snuff-box was a present from the lady at the great house, who took an interest +in poor old Luke’s infirmities, and gave him the snuff-box, a really good +piece of workmanship, well filled with the finest snuff, to console his +wretchedness. +</p> + +<p> +Of this box Luke was as proud as if it had been the insignia of the Legion of +Honour, and never lost an opportunity of showing it to every one of standing. +When the village heard of this kindly present it ran over in its mind all that +it knew about the stile, and the sacks, and the disused oven. Then the village +very quietly shrugged its shoulders, and though it knew not the word irony, +well understood what that term conveys. +</p> + +<p> +At the foot of the hill on which the Upper Woods were situate there extended a +level tract of meadows with some cornfields. Through these there flowed a large +slow brook, often flooded in winter by the water rushing down from the higher +lands. It was pleasant in the early year to walk now and then along the +footpath that followed the brook, noting the gradual changes in the hedges. +</p> + +<p> +When the first swallow of the spring wheels over the watery places the dry +sedges of last year still stand as they grew. They are supported by the bushes +beside the meadow ditch where it widens to join the brook, and the water it +brings down from the furrows scarcely moves through the belt of willow lining +the larger stream. As the soft west wind runs along the hedge it draws a sigh +from the dead dry stalks and leaves that will no more feel the rising sap. +</p> + +<p> +By the wet furrows the ground has still a brownish tint, for there the floods +lingered and discoloured the grass. Near the ditch pointed flags are springing +up, and the thick stems of the marsh marigold. From bunches of dark green +leaves slender stalks arise and bear the golden petals of the marsh buttercups, +the lesser celandine. If the wind blows cold and rainy they will close, and +open again to the sunshine. +</p> + +<p> +At the outside of the withies, where the earth is drier, stand tall +horse-chestnut trees, aspen, and beech. The leaflets of the horse-chestnut are +already opening; but on the ground, half-hidden under beech leaves not yet +decayed, and sycamore leaves reduced to imperfect grey skeletons, there lies a +chestnut shell. It is sodden, and has lost its original green—the +prickles, too, have decayed and disappeared; yet at a touch it falls apart, and +discloses two chestnuts, still of a rich, deep polished brown. +</p> + +<p> +On the very bank of the brook there grows a beech whose bare boughs droop over, +almost dipping in the water, where it comes with a swift rush from the narrow +arches of a small bridge whose bricks are green with moss. The current is still +slightly turbid, for the floods have not long subsided, and the soaked meadows +and ploughed fields send their rills to swell the brook and stain it with sand +and earth. On the surface float down twigs and small branches forced from the +trees by the gales: sometimes an entangled mass of aquatic weeds—long, +slender green filaments twisted and matted together—comes more slowly +because heavy and deep in the water. +</p> + +<p> +A little bird comes flitting silently from the willows and perches on the +drooping beech branch. It is a delicate little creature, the breast of a faint +and dull yellowy green, the wings the lightest brown, and there is a pencilled +streak over the eye. The beak is so slender it scarce seems capable of the work +it should do, the legs and feet so tiny that they are barely visible. Hardly +has he perched than the keen eyes detect a small black speck that has just +issued from the arch, floating fast on the surface of the stream and borne +round and round in a tiny whirlpool. +</p> + +<p> +He darts from the branch, hovers just above the water, and in a second has +seized the black speck and returned to the branch. A moment or two passes, and +again he darts and takes something—this time invisible—from the +water. A third time he hovers, and on this occasion just brushes the surface. +Then, suddenly finding that these movements are watched, he flits—all too +soon—up high into the beech and away into the narrow copse. The general +tint and shape of the bird are those of the willow wren, but it is difficult to +identify the species in so brief a glance and without hearing its note. +</p> + +<p> +The path now trends somewhat away from the stream and skirts a ploughed field, +where the hedges are cropped close and the elms stripped of the lesser boughs +about the trunks, that the sparrows may not find shelter. But all the same +there are birds here too—one in the thick low hedge, two or three farther +on, another in the ditch perching on the dead white stems of last year’s +plants that can hardly support an ounce weight, and all calling to each other. +It is six marsh tits, as busy as they can well be. +</p> + +<p> +One rises from the ditch to the trunk of an elm where the thick bark is green +with lichen: he goes up the tree like a woodpecker, and peers into every +crevice. His little beak strikes, peck, peck, at a place where something is +hidden: then he proceeds farther up the trunk: next he descends a few steps in +a sidelong way, and finally hops down some three inches head foremost, and +alights again on the all but perpendicular bark. But his tail does not touch +the tree, and in another minute down he flies again to the ditch. +</p> + +<p> +A shrill and yet low note that sounds something like “skeek-skeek” +comes from a birch, and another “skeek-skeek” answers from an elm. +It is like the friction of iron against iron without oil on the bearings. This +is the tree-climber calling to his mate. He creeps over the boles of the birch, +and where the larger limbs join the trunk, trailing his tail along the bark, +and clinging so closely that but for the sharp note he would be passed. Even +when that has called attention, the colour of his back so little differs from +the colour of bark that if he is some height up the tree it is not easy to +detect him. +</p> + +<p> +The days go on and the hedges become green—the sun shines, and the +blackbirds whistle in the trees. They leave the hedge, and mount into the elm +or ash to deliver their song; then, after a pause, dive down again to the +bushes. Up from the pale green corn that is yet but a few inches high rises a +little brown bird, mounting till he has attained to the elevation of the +adjacent oak. Then, beginning his song, he extends his wings, lifts his tail, +and gradually descends slanting forward—slowly, like a +parachute—sing, sing, singing all the while till the little legs, that +can be seen against the sky somewhat depending, touch the earth and the wheat +hides him. Still from the clod comes the finishing bar of his music. +</p> + +<p> +In a short time up he rises again, and this time from the summit of his flight +sinks in a similar manner singing to a branch of the oak. There he sings again; +and, again rising, comes back almost to the same bough singing as he descends. +But he is not alone: from an elm hard by come the same notes, and from yet +another tree they are also repeated. They cannot rest—now one flits from +the topmost bough of an elm to another topmost bough; now a second comes up +from feeding, and cries from the branches. They are tree-pipits; and though the +call is monotonous, yet it is so cheerful and pleasing that one cannot choose +but stay and listen. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly, two that have been vigorously calling start forward together and meet +in mid-air. They buffet each other with their wings; their little beaks +fiercely strike; their necks are extended; they manoeuvre round each other, +trying for an advantage. They descend, heedless in the rage of their tiny +hearts, within a few yards of the watcher, and then in alarm separate. But one +flies to the oak branch and defiantly calls immediately. +</p> + +<p> +Over the meadows comes the distant note of the cuckoo. When he first calls his +voice is short and somewhat rough, but in a few days it gains power. Then the +second syllable has a mellow ring: and as he cries from the tree, the note, +swiftly repeated and echoed by the wood, dwells on the ear something like the +“hum” or vibration of a beautiful bell. +</p> + +<p> +As the hedges become green the ivy leaves turn brown at the edge and fall; the +wild ivy is often curiously variegated. At the foot of the tree up which it +climbs the leaves are five-angled, higher up they lose the angles and become +rounded, though growing on the same plant. Sometimes they have a grey tint, +especially those that trail along the bank; sometimes the leaves are a reddish +brown with pale green ribs. +</p> + +<p> +By the brook now the meadow has become of a rich bright green, the stream has +sunk and is clear, and the sunlight dances on the ripples. The grasses at the +edge—the turf—curl over and begin to grow down the steep side that +a little while since was washed by the current. Where there is a ledge of mud +and sand the yellow wagtail runs; he stands on a stone and jerks his tail. +</p> + +<p> +The ploughed field that comes down almost to the brook—a mere strip of +meadow between—is green too with rising wheat, high enough now to hide +the partridges. Before it got so tall it was pleasant to watch the pair that +frequent it; they were so confident that they did not even trouble to cower. At +any other time of year they would have run, or flown; but then, though scarcely +forty yards away and perfectly visible, they simply ceased feeding but showed +no further alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the plough birds in general should look as their best friend, for it +provides them with the staff of life as much as it does man. The earth turned +up under the share yields them grubs and insects and worms: the seed is sown +and the clods harrowed, and they take a second toll; the weeds are hoed or +pulled up, and at their roots there are more insects; from the stalk and ears +and the bloom of the rising corn they seize caterpillars; when it is ripe they +enjoy the grain; when it is cut and carried there are ears in the stubble, and +they can then feast on the seeds of the innumerable plants that flowered among +it; finally comes the plough again. It is as if the men and horses worked for +the birds. +</p> + +<p> +The horse-chestnut trees in the narrow copse bloom; the bees are humming +everywhere and summer is at hand. Presently the brown cockchafers will come +almost like an army of locusts, as suddenly appearing without a sign. They seem +to be particularly numerous where there is much maple in the hedges. +</p> + +<p> +Resting now on the sward by the stream—contracted in seeming by the weeds +and flags and fresh sedges—there comes the distant murmur of voices and +the musical laugh of girls. The ear tries to distinguish the words and gather +the meaning; but the syllables are intertangled—it is like listening to a +low sweet song in a language all unknown. This is the water falling gently over +the mossy hatch and splashing faintly on the stones beneath; the blue +dragon-flies dart over the smooth surface or alight on a broad leaf—these +blue dragon-flies when thus resting curl the tail upwards. +</p> + +<p> +Farther up above the mere there is a spot where the pool itself ends, or rather +imperceptibly disappears among a vast mass of aquatic weeds. To these on the +soft oozy mud succeed acres of sedge and rush and great turfs of greyish grass. +Low willows are scattered about, and alder at the edge and where the ground is +firmer. This is the home of the dragon-flies, of the coots, whose white bald +foreheads distinguish them at a distance, and of the moorhens. +</p> + +<p> +A narrow lane crosses it on a low bank or causeway but just raised above the +level of the floods. It is bordered on either side by thick hawthorn hedges, +and these again are further rendered more impassable by the rankest growth of +hemlocks, “gicks,” nettles, hedge-parsley, and similar coarse +plants. In these the nettle-creeper (white-throat) hides her nest, and they +have so encroached that the footpath is almost threatened. This lane leads from +the Upper Woods across the marshy level to the cornfields, being a branch from +that down which Luke the contractor carried his rabbits. +</p> + +<p> +Now a hare coming from the uplands beyond the woods, or from the woods, and +desirous of visiting the cornfields of the level grounds below, found it +difficult to pass the water. For besides the marsh itself, the mere, and the +brook, another slow, stagnant stream, quite choked with sedges and flags, uncut +for years, ran into it, or rather joined it, and before doing so meandered +along the very foot of the hill-side over which the woods grew. To a hare or a +rabbit, therefore, there was but one path or exit without taking to the water +in this direction for nearly a mile, and that was across this narrow raised +causeway. The pheasants frequently used it, as if preferring to walk than to +fly. Partridges came too, to seat themselves in the dry dust—a thing they +do daily in warm weather. +</p> + +<p> +Hares were constantly passing from the cornfields to the wood, and the wood to +the cornfields; and they had another reason for using this track, because so +many herbs and plants, whose leaves they like better than grass, flourished at +the sides of the hedges. No scythe cuts them down, as it does by the hedges in +the meadows; nor was a man sent round with a reaping hook to chop them off, as +is often done round the arable fields. There was, therefore, always a feast +here, to which, also, the rabbits came. +</p> + +<p> +The poachers were perfectly well aware of all this, and as a consequence this +narrow lane became a most favourite haunt of theirs. A wire set in the runs +that led to the causeway, or in the causeway itself, was almost certain to be +thrown. At one time it was occasionally netted; and now and then a bolder +fellow hid himself in the bushes with a gun, and took his choice of pheasant, +partridge, hare, or rabbit. These practices were possible, because although so +secluded, there was a public right-of-way along the lane. +</p> + +<p> +But of recent years, as game became more valued and the keepers were increased, +a check was put upon it, though even now wires are frequently found which +poachers have been obliged to abandon. They are loth to give up a place that +has a kind of poaching reputation. As if in revenge for the interference, they +have so ransacked the marsh every spring for the eggs of the waterfowl that the +wild duck will not lay there, but seek spots safer from such enemies. The marsh +is left to the coots and moorhens that from thence stock the brooks. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> +FARMER WILLUM’S PLACE: SNIPE SHOOTING</h2> + +<p> +One October morning towards the end of the month, Orion and I started to beat +over Redcote Farm upon the standing invitation of the occupier. There was a +certainty of sport of some kind, because the place had remained almost +unchanged for the last century. It is “improvement” that drives +away game and necessitates the pheasant preserve. +</p> + +<p> +The low whitewashed walls of the house were of a dull yellowish hue from the +beating of the weather. They supported a vast breadth of thatched roof drilled +by sparrows and starlings. Under the eaves the swallows’ nests adhered, +and projecting shelves were fixed to prevent any inconvenience from them. Some +of the narrow windows were still darkened with the black boarding put up in the +days of the window tax. +</p> + +<p> +In the courtyard a number of stout forked stakes were used for putting the +dairy buckets on, after being cleaned, to dry. No attempt was made to separate +the business from the inner life of the house. Here in front these oaken +buckets, scoured till nearly white, their iron handles polished like silver, +were close under the eyes of any one looking out. By the front door a besom +leaned against the wall that every comer might clean the mud from his boots; +and you stepped at once from the threshold into the sitting-room. A lane led +past the garden, if that could be called a lane which widened into a field and +after rain was flooded so deeply as to be impassable to foot passengers. +</p> + +<p> +The morning we had chosen was fine; and after shaking hands with old Farmer +“Willum,” whose shooting days were over, we entered the lane, and +by it the fields. The meadows were small, enclosed with double-mounds, and +thickly timbered, so that as the ground was level you could not see beyond the +field in which you stood, and upon looking over the gate might surprise a flock +of pigeons, a covey of partridges, or a rabbit out feeding. Though the tinted +leaves were fast falling, the hedges were still full of plants and vegetation +that prevented seeing through them. The “kuck-kuck” of the redwings +came from the bushes—the first note of approaching winter—and the +tips of the rushes were dead. Red haws on the hawthorn and hips on the briar +sprinkled the hedge with bright spots of colour. +</p> + +<p> +The two spaniels went with such an eager rush into a thick double-mound, +dashing heedlessly through the nettles and under the brambles, that we hastened +to get one on each side of the hedge. A rustling—a short bark; another, +then a movement among the rushes in the ditch, evidently not made by the dogs; +then a silence. But the dogs come back, and as they give tongue the rabbit +rushes past a bare spot on the slope of the bank. I fire—a snap +shot—and cut out some fur, but do no further harm; the pellets bury +themselves in the earth. But, startled and perhaps just stung by a stray shot, +the rabbit bolts fairly at last twenty yards in front of Orion, the spaniel +tearing at his heels. +</p> + +<p> +Up goes the double-barrel with a bright gleam as the sunlight glances on it. A +second of suspense: then from the black muzzle darts a cylinder of tawny flame +and an opening cone of white smoke: a sharp report rings on the ear. The rabbit +rolls over and over, and is dead before the dog can seize him. After harling +the rabbit, Orion hangs him high on a projecting branch, so that the man who is +following us at a distance may easily find the game. He is a labourer, and we +object to have him with us, as we know he would be certain to get in the way. +</p> + +<p> +We then tried a corner where two of these large mounds, meeting, formed a small +copse in which grew a quantity of withy and the thick grasses that always +border the stoles. A hare bolted almost directly the dogs went in: hares trust +in their speed, rabbits in doubling for cover. I fired right and left, and +missed: fairly missed with both barrels. Orion jumped upon the mound from the +other side, and from that elevation sent a third cartridge after her. +</p> + +<p> +It was a long, a very long shot, but the hare perceptibly winced. Still, she +drew easily away from the dogs, going straight for a distant gateway. But +before it was reached the pace slackened; she made ineffectual attempts to +double as the slow spaniels overtook her, but her strength was ebbing, and they +quickly ran in. Reloading, and in none of the best of tempers, I followed the +mound. The miss was of course the gun’s fault—it was foul; or the +cartridges, or the bad quality of the powder. +</p> + +<p> +We passed the well-remembered hollow ash pollard, whence, years before, we had +taken the young owls, and in which we had hidden the old single-barrel gun one +sultry afternoon when it suddenly came on to thunder. The flashes were so vivid +and the discharges seemingly so near that we became afraid to hold the gun, +knowing that metal attracted electricity. So it was put in the hollow tree out +of the wet, and with it the powder-flask, while we crouched under an adjacent +hawthorn till the storm ceased. +</p> + +<p> +Then by the much-patched and heavy gate where I shot my first snipe, that rose +out of the little stream and went straight up over the top bar. The emotion, +for it was more than excitement, of that moment will never pass from memory. It +was the bird of all others that I longed to kill, and certainly to a lad the +most difficult. Day after day I went down into the water-meadows; first +thinking over the problem of the snipe’s peculiar twisting flight. At one +time I determined that I would control the almost irresistible desire to fire +till the bird had completed his burst of zig-zag and settled to something like +a straight line. At another I as firmly resolved to shoot the moment the snipe +rose before he could begin to twist. But some unforeseen circumstance always +interfered with the execution of these resolutions. +</p> + +<p> +Now the snipe got up unexpectedly right under foot; now one rose thirty yards +ahead; now he towered straight up, forced to do so by the tall willows; and +occasionally four or five rising together and calling “sceap, +sceap” in as many different directions, made me hesitate at which to aim. +The continual dwelling upon the problem rendered me nervous, so that I scarcely +knew when I pulled the trigger. +</p> + +<p> +But one day, in passing this gateway, which was a long distance from the +particular water-meadows where I had practised, and not thinking of snipes, +suddenly one got up, and with a loud “sceap” darted over the gate. +The long slender gun—the old single-barrel—came to the shoulder +instinctively, without premeditation, and the snipe fell. +</p> + +<p> +Coming now to the brook, which was broad and bordered by a hedge on the +opposite side, I held Orion’s gun while he leaped over. The bank was +steep and awkward, but he had planned his leap so as to alight just where he +could at once grasp an ash branch and so save himself from falling back into +the water. He could not, however, stay suspended there, but had to scramble +over the hedge, and then called for his gun. I leaned mine against a hollow +withy pollard, and called “ready.” +</p> + +<p> +Taking his gun a few inches above the trigger guard (and with the guard towards +his side), holding it lightly just where it seemed to balance in a +perpendicular position, I gave it a slow heave rather than a throw, and it rose +into the air. This peculiar <i>feeling</i> hoist, as it were, caused it to +retain the perpendicular position as it passed over brook and hedge in a low +curve. As it descended it did indeed slope a little, and Orion caught it with +one hand easily. The hedge being low he could see it coming; but guns are +sometimes heaved in this way over hedges that have not been cropped for years. +Then the gun suddenly appears in the air, perhaps fifteen feet high, while the +catch depends not only upon the dexterity of the hand but the ear—to +judge correctly where the person who throws it is standing, as he is invisible. +</p> + +<p> +The spaniels plunged in the brook among the flags, but though they made a great +splashing nothing came of it till we approached a marshy place where was a +pond. A moorhen then rose and scuttled down the brook, her legs dragging along +the surface some distance before she could get up, and the sunshine sparkling +on the water that dropped from her. I fired and knocked her over: at the sound +of the discharge a bird rose from the low mound by the pond some forty yards +ahead. My second barrel was empty in an instant. +</p> + +<p> +Both Orion’s followed; but the distance, the intervening pollard willows, +or our excitement spoilt the aim. The woodcock flew off untouched, and made +straight away from the territories we could beat into those that were jealously +guarded by a certain keeper with whom Farmer “Willum” had waged war +for years. “Come on!” shouted Orion as soon as he had marked the +cock down in a mound two fields away. Throwing him my gun, I leaped the brook; +and we at first raced, but on second thoughts walked slowly, for the mound. +Running disturbs accuracy of fire, and a woodcock was much too rare a visitor +for the slightest chance to be lost. +</p> + +<p> +As we approached we considered that very probably the cock would either lie +close till we had walked past, and get up behind, or he would rise out of +gunshot. What we were afraid of was his making for the preserves, which were +not far off. So we tossed for the best position, and I lost. I had therefore to +get over on the side of the hedge towards the preserves and to walk down +somewhat faster than Orion, who was to keep (on his side) about thirty yards +behind. The object was to flush the cock on his side, so that if missed the +bird might return towards our territories. In a double-mound like this it is +impossible to tell what a woodcock will do, but this was the best thing we +could think of. +</p> + +<p> +About half-way down the hedge I heard Orion fire both barrels in quick +succession—the mound was so thick I could not see through. The next +instant the cock came over the top of the hedge just above my head. Startled at +seeing me so close, he flew straight down along the summit of the +bushes—a splendid chance to look at from a distance; but in throwing up +the gun a projecting briar caught the barrels, and before I could recover it +the bird came down at the side of the hedge. +</p> + +<p> +It was another magnificent chance; but again three pollard willows interfered, +and as I fired the bark flew off one of them in small strips. Quickened by the +whistling pellets, the cock suddenly lifted himself again to the top of the +hedge to go over, and for a moment came full in view, and quite fifty yards +away. I fired a snap shot as a forlorn hope, and lost sight of him; but the +next instant I heard Orion call, “He’s down!” One single +chance pellet had dropped the cock—he fell on the other side just under +the hedge. +</p> + +<p> +We hastened back to the brook, thinking that the shooting would attract the +keepers, and did not stay to look at the bird till safe over the water. The +long beak, the plumage that seems painted almost in the exact tints of the dead +brown leaves he loves so well, the eyes large by comparison and so curiously +placed towards the poll of the head as if to see behind him—there was not +a point that did not receive its share of admiration. We shot about half a +dozen rabbits, two more hares, and a woodpigeon afterwards; but all these were +nothing compared with the woodcock. +</p> + +<p> +How Farmer “Willum” chuckled over it—especially to think that +we had cut out the game from the very batteries of the enemy! It was the one +speck of bitterness in the old man’s character—his hatred of this +keeper. Disabled himself by age and rheumatism from walking far, he heard daily +reports from his men of this fellow coming over the boundary to shoot, or drive +pheasant or partridge away. It was a sight to see Farmer “Willum” +stretch his bulky length in his old armchair, right before the middle of the +great fire of logs on the hearth, twiddling his huge thumbs, and every now and +then indulging in a hearty laugh, followed by a sip at the +“straight-cup.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a stag’s horn over the staircase: “Willum” loved to +tell how it came there. One severe winter long since, the deer in the forest +many miles away broke cover, forced by hunger, and came into the rickyards and +even the gardens. Most of them were got back, but one or two wandered beyond +trace. Those who had guns were naturally on the look-out; indeed, a regular +hunt was got up—“Willum,” then young and active, in it of +course. This chase was not successful; but early one morning, going to look for +wild geese in the water-meadow with his long-barrelled gun, he saw something in +a lonely rickyard. Creeping cautiously up, he rested the heavy gun on an ash +stole, and the big duck-shot tore its way into the stag’s shoulder. Those +days were gone, but still his interest in shooting was unabated. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing had been altered on the place since he was a boy: the rent even was the +same. But all that is now changed—swept away before modern improvements; +and the rare old man is gone too, and I think his only enemy also. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing I used to look forward to, as the summer waned, with so much +delight as the snipe shooting. Regularly as the swallow to the eaves in spring, +the snipe comes back with the early frosts of autumn to the same well-known +spots—to the bend of the brook or the boggy corner in the ploughed +field—but in most uncertain numbers. Sometimes flocks of ten or twenty, +sometimes only twos and threes are seen, but always haunting particular places. +</p> + +<p> +They have a special affection for peaty ground, black and spongy, where every +footstep seems to squeeze water out of the soil with a slight hissing sound, +and the boot cuts through the soft turf. There, where a slow stream winds in +and out, unmarked by willow or bush, but fringed with green aquatic grasses +growing on a margin of ooze, the snipe finds tempting food; or in the meadows +where a little spring breaks forth in the ditch and does not freeze—for +water which has just bubbled out of the earth possesses this peculiarity, and +is therefore favourable to low forms of insect or slug life in winter—the +snipe may be found when the ponds are bound with ice. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the old country folk used to make as much mystery about this bird as +the cuckoo. Because it was seldom seen till the first fogs the belief was that +it had lost its way in the mist at sea, and come inland by mistake. +</p> + +<p> +Just as in the early part of the year green buds and opening flowers welcome +swallow and cuckoo, so the colours of the dying leaf prepare the way for the +second feathered immigration in autumn. Once now and then the tints of autumn +are so beautiful that the artist can hardly convey what he sees to canvas. The +maples are aglow with orange, the oaks one mass of buff, the limes light gold, +the elms a soft yellow. In the hawthorn thickets bronze spots abound; here and +there a bramble leaf has turned a brilliant crimson (though many bramble leaves +will remain a dull green all the winter through); the edible chestnut sheds +leaves of a dark fawn hue, but all, scattered by the winds, presently resolve +into a black pulp upon the earth. Noting these signs the sportsman gets out his +dust-shot for the snipe, and the farmer, as he sees the fieldfare flying over +after a voyage from Norway, congratulates himself that last month was +reasonably dry, and enabled him to sow his winter seed. +</p> + +<p> +“Sceap—sceap!” and very often the snipe successfully carries +out the intention expressed in his odd-sounding cry, and does escape in +reality. Although I could not at first put my theory into practice, yet I found +by experience that it was correct. He is the exception to the golden rule that +the safest way lies in the middle, and that therefore you should fire not too +soon nor too late, but half-way between. But the snipe must either be knocked +over the instant he rises from the ground, and before he has time to commence +his puzzling zig-zag flight, or else you must wait till he has finished his +corkscrew burst. +</p> + +<p> +Then there is a moment just before he passes out of range when he glides in a +straight line and may be hit. This singular zig-zag flight so deceives the eye +as almost to produce the idea of a spiral movement. No barrel can ever be +jerked from side to side swiftly enough, no hair-trigger is fine enough, to +catch him then, except by the chance of a vast scattering over-charge, which +has nothing to do with sport. If he rises at some little distance, then fire +instantly, because by the time the zig-zag is done the range will be too great; +if he starts up under your feet, out of a bunch of rushes, as is often the +case, then give him law till his eccentric twist is finished. +</p> + +<p> +When the smoke has cleared away in the crisp air, there he lies, the yet warm +breast on the frozen ground, to be lifted up not without a passing pity and +admiration. The brown feathers are exquisitely shaded, and so exactly resemble +the hue of the rough dead aquatic grass out of which he sprang that if you cast +the bird among it you will have some trouble to find it again. To discover a +living snipe on the ground is indeed a test of good eyesight; for as he slips +in and out among the brown withered flags and the grey grass it requires not +only a quick eye but the inbred sportsman’s instinct of perception (if +such a phrase is permissible) to mark him out. +</p> + +<p> +If your shot has missed and merely splashed up the water or rattled against +bare branches, then step swiftly behind a tree-trunk, and stay in ambuscade, +keeping a sharp watch on him as he circles round high up in the air. Very often +in a few minutes he will come back in a wide sweep, and drop scarcely a +gun-shot distant in the same watercourse, when a second shot may be obtained. +The little jack snipe, when flushed, will never fly far, if shot at several +times in succession, still settling fifty or sixty yards farther on, and is +easily bagged. +</p> + +<p> +Coming silently as possible round a corner, treading gently on the grass still +white with hoar-frost in the shadow of the bushes, you may chance to spring a +stray woodcock, which bird, if you lose a moment, will put the hedge between +him and you. Artists used to seek for certain feathers which he carries, one in +each wing, thinking to make of them a more delicate brush than the finest +camel’s hair. +</p> + +<p> +In the evening I used to hide in the osier-beds on the edge of a great +water-meadow; for now that the marshes are drained, and the black earth of the +fens yields a harvest of yellow corn, the broad level meads which are irrigated +to fertilise them are among the chief inland resorts of wild fowl. When the +bright moon is rising, you walk in among the tapering osier-wands, the rustling +sedges, and dead dry hemlock stems, and wait behind an aspen tree. +</p> + +<p> +In the thick blackthorn bush a round dark ball indicates the blackbird, who has +puffed out his feathers to shield him from the frost, and who will sit so close +and quiet that you may see the moonlight glitter on his eye. Presently comes a +whistling noise of wings, and a loud “quack, quack!” as a string of +ducks, their long necks stretched out, pass over not twenty yards high, slowly +slanting downwards to the water. This is the favourable moment for the gun, +because their big bodies are well defined against the sky, and aim can be +taken; but to shoot anything on the ground at night, even a rabbit, whose white +tail as he hops away is fairly visible, is most difficult. +</p> + +<p> +The baffling shadows and the moonbeams on the barrel, and the faint reflection +from the dew or hoar-frost on the grass, prevent more than a general direction +being given to the gun, even with the tiny piece of white paper which some +affix to the muzzle-sight as a guide. From a punt with a swivel gun it is +different, because the game is swimming and visible as black dots on the +surface, and half a pound of shot is sure to hit something. But in the +water-meadows the ducks get among the grass, and the larger water-carriers +where they can swim usually have small raised banks, so that at a distance only +the heads of the birds appear above them. +</p> + +<p> +So that the best time to shoot a duck is just as he slopes down to +settle—first, because he is distinctly visible against the sky; next, +because he is within easy range; and lastly, his flight is steady. If you +attempt to have ducks driven towards you, though they may go right overhead, +yet it will often be too high—for they rise at a sharp angle when +frightened; and men who are excellent judges of distance when it is a hare +running across the fallow, find themselves all at fault trying to shoot at any +elevation. Perhaps this arises from the peculiarity of the human eye which +draughtsmen are fond of illustrating by asking a tyro to correctly bisect a +vertical line: a thing that looks easy, and is really only to be done by long +practice. +</p> + +<p> +To make certain of selecting the right spot in the osiers over which the ducks +will pass, for one or two evenings previously a look-out should be kept and +their usual course observed; for all birds and animals, even the wildest wild +fowl, are creatures of habit and custom, and having once followed a particular +path will continue to use it until seriously disturbed. Evening after evening +the ducks will rise above the horizon at the same place and almost at the same +time, and fly straight to their favourite feeding place. +</p> + +<p> +If hit, the mallard falls with a thud on the earth, for he is a heavy bird; and +few are more worthy of powder and shot either for his savoury flavour, far +surpassing the tame duck, or the beauty of his burnished neck. With the ducks +come teal and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy meadow resounds with their +strange cries. When ponds and lakes are frozen hard is the best time for sport +in these irrigated fields. All day long the ducks will stand or waddle to and +fro on the ice in the centre of the lake or mere, far out of reach and ready to +rise at the slightest alarm. But at night they seek the meadow where the water, +running swiftly in the carriers, never entirely freezes, and where, if the +shallow spots become ice, the rising current flows over it and floods another +place. +</p> + +<p> +There is, moreover, never any difficulty in getting the game when hit, because +the water, except in the main carriers, which you can leap across, hardly rises +to the ankle, and ordinary water-tight boots will enable you to wade wherever +necessary. This is a great advantage with wild fowl, which are sometimes shot +and lost in deep ooze and strong currents and eddies, and on thin ice where men +cannot go and even good dogs are puzzled. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/> +FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER</h2> + +<p> +The ferreting season commences when the frosts have caused the leaves to drop, +and the rabbits grow fat from feeding on bark. Early one December morning, +Orion and I started, with our man Little John, to ferret a double-mound for our +old friend Farmer “Willum” at Redcote. +</p> + +<p> +Little John was a labourer—one of those frequently working at odd times +for Luke, the Rabbit-Contractor. We had nicknamed him Little John because of +his great size and unwieldy proportions. He was the most useful man we knew for +such work; his heart was so thoroughly in it. +</p> + +<p> +He was waiting for us before we had finished breakfast, with his tools and +implements, having carefully prepared these while yet it was dark at home in +his cottage. The nets require looking to before starting, as they are apt to +get into a tangle, and there is nothing so annoying as to have to unravel +strings with chilled fingers in a ditch. Some have to be mended, having been +torn; some are cast aside altogether because weak and rotten. The twine having +been frequently saturated with water has decayed. All the nets are of a light +yellow colour from the clay and sand that has worked into the string. +</p> + +<p> +These nets almost filled a sack, into which he also cast a pair of +“owl-catchers,” gloves of stout white leather, thick enough to turn +a thorn while handling bushes, or to withstand the claws of an owl furiously +resisting capture. His ferrets cost him much thought, which to take and which +to leave behind. He had also to be particular how he fed them—they must +be eager for prey, and yet they must not be starved, else they would gorge on +the blood of the first rabbit, and become useless for hunting. +</p> + +<p> +Two had to be muzzled—an operation of some difficulty that generally +results in a scratched hand. A small piece of small but strong twine is passed +through the jaws behind the tusk-like teeth, and tightly tied round, so tightly +as almost to cut into the skin. This is the old way of muzzling a ferret, +handed down from generations: Little John scorns the muzzles that can be bought +at shops, and still more despises the tiny bells to hang round the neck. The +first he says often come off, and the second embarrass the ferret and sometimes +catch in projecting rootlets and hold it fast. He has, too, a line—many +yards of stout twine wound about a short stick—to line a ferret if +necessary. +</p> + +<p> +The ferrets are placed in a smaller bag, tightly tied at the top—for they +will work through and get out if any aperture be left. Inside the bag is a +little hay for them to lay on. He prefers the fitchew ferret as he calls it; +that is the sort that are coloured like a polecat. He says they are fiercer, +larger of make and more powerful. But he has also a couple of white ones with +pink eyes. Besides the sack of nets, the bag of ferrets, and a small bundle in +a knotted handkerchief—his “nuncheon”—which in +themselves make a tolerable load, he has brought a billhook, and a +“navigator,” or draining-tool. +</p> + +<p> +This is a narrow spade of specially stout make; the blade is hollow and +resembles an exaggerated gouge, and the advantage is that in digging out a +rabbit the tool is very apt to catch under a root, when an ordinary spade may +bend and become useless. The “navigator” will stand anything, and +being narrow is also more handy. All these implements Little John has prepared +by the dim light of a horn lantern in the shed at the back of his cottage. A +mug of ale while we get our guns greatly cheers him, and unlooses his tongue. +</p> + +<p> +All the way to Redcote he impresses on us the absolute necessity of silence +while ferreting, and congratulates us on having a nearly still day. He is a +little doubtful about Orion’s spaniel and whether it will keep quiet or +not. +</p> + +<p> +When we reach the double-mound, his talk entirely ceases: he is as silent and +as rugged as a pollard oak. By the top of the mound the sack of nets is thrown +down on the sward and opened. As there are more holes on the other side of the +hedge Orion goes over with Little John, and I proceed to set up the nets on +mine. +</p> + +<p> +I found some difficulty in getting at the bank, the bushes being so thick, and +had to use the billhook and chop a way in: I heard Little John growling about +this in a whisper to Orion. Very often before going with the ferrets, people +send a man or two a few hours previously to chop and clear the bushes. The +effect is that the rabbits will not bolt freely. They hear the men chopping, +and the vibration of the earth as they clumsily climb over the banks, and will +not come out till absolutely forced. If it is done at all, it should be done a +week beforehand. That was why Little John grumbled at my chopping though he +knew it was necessary. +</p> + +<p> +To set up a rabbit net you must arrange it so that it covers the whole of the +mouth of the hole, for if there is any opening between it and the bank the +rabbit will slip through. He will not face the net unless obliged to. Along the +upper part, if the bank is steep, so that the net will not lie on it of itself, +two or three little twigs should be thrust through the meshes into the earth to +suspend it. +</p> + +<p> +These twigs should be no larger than are used by birds in constructing their +nests; just strong enough to hold the net in place and no more. On the other +hand, care must be taken that no stout projecting root catches a corner of the +net, else it will not draw up properly and the rabbit will escape. +</p> + +<p> +Little John, not satisfied with my assurance that I had netted all the holes my +side, now came over—crawling on hands and knees that he might not jar the +bank—to examine for himself. His practised eye detected two holes that I +had missed: one on the top of the mound much overhung by dead grass, and one +under a stole. These he attended to. He then crawled up on the mound two or +three yards below the end of the bury, and with his own hands stretched a +larger net right across the top of the bank, so that if a rabbit did escape he +would run into this. To be still more sure he stretched another similar net +across the whole width of the mound at the other end of the bury. +</p> + +<p> +He then undid the mouth of the ferret-bag, holding it between his +knees—the ferrets immediately attempted to struggle out: he selected two +and then tied it up again. With both these in his own hands, for he would trust +nothing to another, he slipped quietly back to Orion’s side, and so soon +as he saw I was standing well back placed them in different holes. +</p> + +<p> +Almost the next instant one came out my side disarranging a net. I got into the +ditch, hastily reset the net, and put the ferret to an adjacent hole, lifting +up the corner of the net there for it to creep in. Unlike the weasel, a ferret +once outside a hole seems at a loss, and wanders slowly about, till chance +brings him to a second. The weasel used to hunting is no sooner out of one hole +than he darts away to the next. But this power the ferret has partially lost +from confinement. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the ferret hesitated inside the hole, as if undecided which of two +passages to take: then he started, and I lost sight of his tail. Hardly had I +got back to my stand than I heard Little John leap into the ditch his side: the +next minute I saw the body of the rabbit which he had killed thrown out into +the field. +</p> + +<p> +I stood behind a somewhat advanced bush that came out into the meadow like a +buttress, and kept an eye on the holes along the bank. It is essential to stand +well back from the holes, and, if possible, out of sight. In a few moments +something moved, and I saw the head of a rabbit at the mouth of a hole just +behind the net. He looked through the meshes as through a lattice, and I could +see his nostrils work, as he considered within himself how to pass this thing. +It was but for a moment; the ferret came behind, and wild with hereditary fear, +the rabbit leaped into the net. +</p> + +<p> +The force of the spring not only drew the net together, but dragged out the +peg, and rabbit and net inextricably entangled rolled down the bank to the +bottom of the ditch. I jumped into the ditch and seized the net; when there +came a hoarse whisper: “Look sharp you, measter: put up another net +fust—<i>he</i> can’t get out; hould un under your arm, <i>or in +your teeth</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked up, and saw Little John’s face peering over the mound. He had +thrust himself up under the bushes; his hat was off; his weather-beaten face +bleeding from a briar, but he could not feel the scratch so anxious was he that +nothing should escape. I pulled another net from my pocket, and spread it +roughly over the hole; then more slowly took the rabbit from the other net. +</p> + +<p> +You should never hold a rabbit up till you have got fast hold of his hind legs; +he will so twist and work himself as to get free from any other grasp. But when +held by the hind legs and lifted from the ground he can do nothing. I now +returned to my buttress of bushes and waited. The rabbits did not bolt my side +again for a while. Every now and then I saw, or heard, Orion or Little John +leap into their ditch, and well knew what it meant before the dead rabbit was +cast out to fall with a helpless thud upon the sward. +</p> + +<p> +Once I saw a rabbit’s head at the mouth of a hole, and momentarily +expected him to dart forth driven by the same panic fear. But either the ferret +passed, or there was another side-tunnel—the rabbit went back. Some few +minutes afterwards Little John exclaimed: “Look out, you; ferret’s +out!” One of the ferrets had come out of a hole and was +aimlessly—as it appeared—roaming along the bank. +</p> + +<p> +As he came nearest my side, I got quietly into the ditch and seized him, and +put him into a hole. To my surprise he refused to go in—I pushed him: he +returned and continued to try to come out till I gave him a sharp fillip with +the finger, when he shook the dust and particles of dry earth from his fur with +a shiver, as if in protest, and slowly disappeared inside the hole. +</p> + +<p> +As I was creeping out of the deep ditch on hands and knees, I heard Orion call +angrily to the spaniel to come to heel. Hitherto the spaniel had sat on his +haunches behind Orion fairly quiet and still, though not without an occasional +restless movement. But now he broke suddenly from all control, and disregarding +Orion’s anger—though with hanging tail—rushed into the hedge, +and along the top of the mound where there was a thick mass of dead grass. +Little John hurled a clod of clay at him, but before I was quite out of the +ditch the spaniel gave tongue, and at the same moment I saw a rabbit come from +the ditch and run like mad across the field. +</p> + +<p> +The dog gave chase—I rushed for my gun, which was some yards off, placed +against a hollow withy tree. The haste disconcerted the aim—the rabbit +too was almost fifty yards away when I fired. But the shot broke one hind +leg—it trailed behind—and the spaniel had him instantly. +“Look at yer nets,” said Little John in a tone of suppressed +indignation, for he disliked the noise of a gun, as all other noises. +</p> + +<p> +I did look, and found that one net had been partly pushed aside; yet to so +small an extent that I should hardly have believed it possible for the rabbit +to have crept through. He must have slipped out without the slightest sound and +quietly got on the top of the mound without being seen. But there, alas! he +found a wide net stretched right across the bank so that to slip down the mound +on the top was impossible. This would certainly have been his course had not +the net been there. +</p> + +<p> +It was now doubtless that the spaniel caught wind of him, and the scent was so +strong that it overcame his obedience. The moment the dog got on the bank, the +rabbit slipped down into the rushes in the ditch—I did not see him +because my back was turned in the act to scramble out. Then, directly the +spaniel gave tongue the rabbit darted for the open, hoping to reach the buries +in the hedge on the opposite side of the meadow. +</p> + +<p> +This incident explained why the ferret seemed so loth to go back into the hole. +He had crept out some few moments behind the rabbit and in his aimless +uncertain manner was trying to follow the scent along the bank. He did not like +being compelled to give up this scent and to search again for another. +“Us must be main careful how us fixes our nets, you,” said Little +John, going as far as he could in reproof of my negligence. +</p> + +<p> +The noise of the gun, the barking, and talking was of course heard by the +rabbits still in the bury, and as if to show that Little John was right, for a +while they ceased to bolt. Standing behind the bushes—against which I now +placed the gun to be nearer at hand—I watched the nets till my eye was +caught by the motions of the ferret-bag. It lay on the grass and had hitherto +been inert. But now the bag reared itself up, and then rolled over, to again +rise and again tumble. The ferrets left in it in reserve were eager to get +out—sharp set on account of a scanty breakfast—and their motions +caused the bag to roll along a short distance. +</p> + +<p> +I could see Orion on the other side of the mound tolerably well because he was +standing up and the leaves had fallen from the upper part of the bushes. Little +John was crouched in the ditch: the dead grasses, “gicks,” withered +vines of bryony, the thistles, and dark shrivelled fern concealed him. +</p> + +<p> +There was a round black sloe on the blackthorn beside me, the beautiful gloss, +or bloom, on it made it look like a tiny plum. It tasted not only sour, but +seemed to positively fill the mouth with a rough acid. Overhead light grey +clouds, closely packed but not rainy, drifted very slowly before a N.E. upper +current. Occasionally a brief puff of wind came through the bushes rustling the +dead leaves that still remained on the oaks. +</p> + +<p> +Despite the cold, something of Little John’s intense concentration +communicated itself to us: we waited and watched with eager patience. After a +while he got out of the ditch where he had been listening with his ear close +against the bank, and asked me to pass him the ferret-bag. He took out another +ferret and lined it—that is, attached one end of a long string to its +neck, and then sent it in. +</p> + +<p> +He watched which way the ferret turned, and then again placed his head upon the +hard clay to listen. Orion had to come and hold the line, while he went two or +three yards farther down, got into the ditch and once more listened carefully. +“He be about the middle of the mound you,” he said to me; “he +be between you and I. Lor! look out.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a low rumbling sound—I expected to see a rabbit bolt into one +of my nets, I heard Little John moving some leaves, and then he shouted, +“Give I a net, you—quick. Lor! here be another hole: he’s +coming!” I looked over the mound and saw Little John, his teeth set and +staring at a hole which had no net, his great hands open ready to pounce +instantly like some wild animal on its prey. In an instant the rabbit +bolted—he clutched it and clasped it tight to his chest. There was a +moment of struggling, the next the rabbit was held up for a moment and then +cast across his knee. +</p> + +<p> +It was always a sight to see Little John’s keen delight in +“wristing” their necks. He affected utter unconsciousness of what +he was doing, looked you in the face, and spoke about some indifferent subject. +But all the while he was feeling the rabbit’s muscles stretch before the +terrible grasp of his hands, and an expression of complacent satisfaction +flitted over his features as the neck gave with a sudden looseness, and in a +moment what had been a living straining creature became limp. +</p> + +<p> +The ferret came out after the rabbit; he immediately caught it and thrust it +into his pocket. There were still two ferrets in—one that was suspected +to be gorging on a rabbit in a <i>cul de sac</i>, and the other lined, and +which had gone to join that sanguinary feast. The use of the line was to trace +where the loose ferret lay. “Chuck I the show’l, measter,” +said Little John. +</p> + +<p> +I gave the “navigator” tool a heave over the hedge; it fell and +stuck upright in the sward. Orion handed it to him. He first filled up the hole +from which a rabbit had just bolted with a couple of “spits,” +<i>i.e.</i> spadefuls, and then began to dig on the top of the mound. +</p> + +<p> +This digging was very tedious. The roots of the thorn bushes and trees +constantly impeded it, and had to be cut. Then upon at last getting down to the +hole, it was found that the right place had not been hit by several feet. Here +was the line and the lined ferret—he had got hitched in a projecting +root, and was furiously struggling to go forward to the feast of blood. +</p> + +<p> +Another spell of digging—this time still slower because Little John was +afraid lest the edge of his tool should suddenly slip through and cut his +ferret on the head, and perhaps kill it. At last the place was reached and the +ferret drawn forth still clinging to its victim. The rabbit was almost beyond +recognition as a rabbit. The poor creature had been stopped by a <i>cul de +sac</i>, and the ferret came upon him from behind. +</p> + +<p> +As the hole was small the rabbit’s body completely filled it, and the +ferret could not scramble past to get at the spot behind the ear where it +usually seizes. The ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the +hindquarters and so bored a passage. The ferret being so gorged was useless for +further hunting and was replaced in the bag. But Little John gave him a drink +of water first from the bottom of the ditch. +</p> + +<p> +Orion and I, wearied with the digging, now insisted on removing to the next +bury, for we felt sure that the remaining rabbits in this one would not bolt. +Little John had no choice but to comply, but he did so with much reluctance and +many rueful glances back at the holes from which he took the nets. He was sure, +he said, that there were at least half-a-dozen still in the bury: he only +wished he might have all that he could get out of it. But we imperiously +ordered a removal. +</p> + +<p> +We went some thirty yards down the mound, passing many smaller buries, and +chose a spot perfectly drilled with holes. While Little John was in the ditch +putting up nets, we slily undid the ferret-bag and turned three ferrets at once +loose into the holes. “Lor! measter, measter, what be you at?” +cried Little John, quite beside himself. “You’ll spoil all on it. +Lor!” +</p> + +<p> +A sharp report as Orion fired at a rabbit that bolted almost under Little +John’s fingers drowned his remonstrances, and he had to scramble out of +the way quick. Bang! bang! right and left: the firing became rapid. There being +no nets to alarm the rabbits and three ferrets hunting them, they tumbled out +in all directions as fast as we could load. Now the cartridges struck branches +and shattered them. Now the shot flattened itself against sarsen stones +imbedded in the mound. The rabbits had scarce a yard to bolt from one hole to +another, so that it was sharp work. +</p> + +<p> +Little John now gave up all hope, and only pleaded piteously for his ferrets. +“Mind as you doan’t hit ’em, measter; doant’ee shoot +into a hole, you.” For half an hour we had some really good shooting: +then it began to slacken, and we told him to catch his ferrets and go on to the +next bury. I am not sure that he would not have rebelled outright but just then +a boy came up carrying a basket of provisions, and a large earthenware jar with +a bung cork, full of humming ale. Farmer Willum had sent this, and the strong +liquor quite restored Little John’s good humour. It really was +ale—such as is not to be got for money. +</p> + +<p> +The boy said that he had seen Farmer Willum’s hereditary enemy, the +keeper, watching us from his side of the boundary, doubtless attracted by the +sound of the firing. He said also that there was a pheasant in a little copse +beside the brook. We sent him out again to reconnoitre: he returned and +repeated that the keeper had gone, and that he thought he saw him enter the +distant fir plantations. So we left the boy to help Little John at the next +bury—a commission that made him grin with delight, and suited the other +very well, since the noisy guns were going away, and he could use his nets. +</p> + +<p> +We took the lined ferret with us, and started after the pheasant. Just as we +approached the copse, the spaniel gave tongue on the other side of the hedge. +Orion had tied him up to a bush, wishing to leave him with Little John. But the +spaniel tore and twisted till he got loose and had followed us—keeping +out of sight—till now crossing the scent of a rabbit he set up his bark. +We called him to heel, and I am afraid he got a kick. But the pheasant was +alarmed, and rose before we could properly enfilade the little copse, where we +should most certainly have had him. He flew high and straight for the fir +plantations, where it was useless to follow. +</p> + +<p> +However, we leaped the brook and entered the keeper’s territory under +shelter of a thick double-mound. We slipped the lined ferret into a small bury, +and succeeded in knocking over a couple of rabbits. The object of using the +lined ferret was because we could easily recover it. This was pure mischief, +for there were scores of rabbits on our own side. But then there was just a +little spice of risk in this, and we knew Willum would gloat over it. +</p> + +<p> +After firing these two shots we got back again as speedily as possible, and +once more assisted Little John. We could not, however, quite resist the +pleasure of shooting a rabbit occasionally and so tormenting him. We left one +hole each side without a net, and insisted on the removal of the net that +stretched across the top of the bank. This gave us a shot now and then, and the +removal of the cross net allowed the rabbit some little law. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding these drawbacks—to him—Little John succeeded in +making a good bag. He stayed till it was quite dark to dig out a ferret that +had killed a rabbit in the hole. He took his money for his day’s work +with indifference: but when we presented him with two couple of clean rabbits +his gratitude was too much for him to express. The gnawn and +“blown” rabbits [by shot] were his perquisite, the clean rabbits an +unexpected gift. It was not their monetary value; it was the fact that they +were rabbits. +</p> + +<p> +The man’s instinct for hunting was so strong that it seemed to overcome +everything else. He would walk miles—after a long day’s farm +work—just to help old Luke, the rabbit contractor, bring home the rabbits +in the evening from the Upper Woods. He worked regularly for one farmer, and +did his work well: he was a sober man too as men go, that is he did not get +drunk more than once a month. A strong man must drink now and then: but he was +not a sot, and took nine-tenths of his money faithfully home to his wife and +children. +</p> + +<p> +In the winter when farm work is not so pressing he was allowed a week off now +and then, which he spent in ferreting for the farmers, and sometimes for Luke, +and of course he was only too glad to get such an engagement as we gave him. +Sometimes he made a good thing of his ferreting: sometimes when the weather was +bad it was a failure. But although a few shillings were of consequence to him, +it really did not seem to be the money-value but the sport that he loved. To +him that sport was all-absorbing. +</p> + +<p> +His ferrets were well looked after, and he sometimes sold one for a good price +to keepers. As a rule a man who keeps ferrets is suspected: but Little John was +too well understood, and he had no difficulty in begging a little milk for +them. +</p> + +<p> +His tenacity in pursuit of a rabbit was always a source of wonder to me. In +rain, in wind, in frost; his feet up to the ankle in the ice-cold slush at the +bottom of a ditch: no matter what the weather or how rough, he patiently stood +to his nets. I have known him stand the whole day long in a snowstorm—the +snow on the ground and in the holes, the flakes drifting against his +face—and never once show impatience. All he disliked was wind—not +on account of discomfort, but because the creaking of the branches and the +howling of the blast made such a noise that it was impossible to tell where the +rabbit would bolt. +</p> + +<p> +He congratulated himself that evening because he had recovered all his ferrets. +Sometimes one will lie in and defy all efforts to bring it out. One plan is to +place a dead fresh rabbit at the mouth of the hole which may tempt the ferret +to come and seize it. In large woods there are generally one or more ferrets +wandering loose in the season, that have escaped from the keepers or poachers. +</p> + +<p> +If the keeper sees one he tries to catch it; failing that, he puts a charge of +shot into it. Some keepers think nothing of shooting their own ferrets if they +will not come when called by the chirrup with the lips, or displease them in +other ways. They do not care, because they can have as many as they like. +Little John made pets of his: they obeyed him very well as a rule. +</p> + +<p> +Poaching men are sometimes charged with stealing ferrets, <i>i.e.</i> with +picking up and carrying off those that keepers have lost. A ferret is, however, +a difficult thing to identify and swear to. +</p> + +<p> +Those who go poaching with ferrets choose a moonlight night: if it is dark it +is difficult to find the holes. Small buries are best because so much more +easily managed, and the ferret is usually lined. If a large bury is attempted, +they take the first half-dozen that bolt and then move on to another. The first +rabbits come out rapidly; the rest linger as if warned by the fate of their +companions. Instead of wasting time over them it is best to move to another +place. +</p> + +<p> +Unless a keeper should chance to pass up the hedgerow there is comparatively +little risk, for the men are in the ditch and invisible ten yards away under +the bushes and make no noise. It is more difficult to get home with the game: +but it is managed. Very small buries with not more than four or five holes may +be ferreted even on the darkest nights by carefully observing beforehand where +the holes are situate. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br/> +A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK <i>versus</i> +BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION</h2> + +<p> +When the moon is full and nearly at the zenith it seems to move so slowly that +the shadows scarcely change their position. In winter, when the branches are +bare, a light that is nearly vertical over a tree can cast but little shadow, +and that falls immediately around the trunk. So that the smallness of the +shadow itself and the slowness of its motion together tend to conceal it. +</p> + +<p> +The snow on the ground increases the sense of light, and in approaching the +wood the scene is even more distinct than during the gloomy day. The tips of +the short stubble that has not yet been ploughed in places just protrude above +the surface, and the snow, frozen hard, crunches with a low sound under foot. +But for that all is perfectly still. The level upland cornfields stretch away +white and vacant to the hills—white, too, and clear against the sky. The +plain is silent, and nothing that can be seen moves upon its surface. +</p> + +<p> +On the verge of the wood which occupies the sloping ground there stands a great +oak tree, and down one side of its trunk is a narrow white streak of snow. +Leaning against the oak and looking upwards, every branch and twig is visible, +lit up by the moon. Overhead the stars are dimmed, but they shine more brightly +yonder above the hills. Such leaves as have not yet fallen hang motionless: +those that are lying on the ground are covered by the snow, and thus held fast +from rustling even were the wind to blow. But there is not the least +breath—a great frost is always quiet, profoundly quiet—and the +silence is undisturbed even by the fall of a leaf. The frost that kills them +holds the leaves till it melts, and then they drop. +</p> + +<p> +The tall ash poles behind in the wood stand stark and straight, pointing +upwards, and it is possible to see for some distance between them. No lesser +bats flit to and fro outside the fence under the branches; no larger ones pass +above the tops <i>of</i> the trees. There seems, indeed, a total absence of +life. The pheasants are at roost in the warmer covers; and the woodpigeons are +also perched—some in the detached oaks of the hedgerows, particularly +those that are thickly grown with ivy about the upper branches. Up in the great +beeches the rooks are still and silent; sometimes the boughs are encrusted with +rime about their very claws. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the oak now and skirting the wood, after a while the meadows on the +lower ground are reached; and here perhaps the slight scampering sound of a +rabbit may be heard. But as they can see and hear you so far in the bright +light and silence, they will most likely be gone before you can get near. They +are restless—very restless; first because of the snow, and next because +of the moonlight. The hares, unable to find anything on the hills or the level +white plain above, have come down here and search along the sheltered hedgerows +for leaf and blade. To-night the rabbits will run almost like the hares, to and +fro, hither and thither. +</p> + +<p> +In the thickest hawthorns the blackbirds and lesser feathered creatures are +roosting, preferring the hedgerow to the more open wood. Some of the lesser +birds have crept into the ivy around the elms, and which crowns the tops of the +withy pollards. Wrens and sparrows have gone to the hayricks, roosting in +little holes in the sides under the slightly projecting thatch. They have taken +refuge too in the nest-holes made in the thatched eaves of the sheds: tits are +there also; and sometimes two or three of the latter are captured at once in +such holes. +</p> + +<p> +A dark line across the lower meadows marks the course of the brook; it is dark +because the snow falling on the water melted. Even now there is a narrow stream +unfrozen; though the banks against which it chafes are hard, and will not take +the impression of the moorhen’s foot. The water-rats that in summertime +played and fed along the margin among the flags are rarely seen in winter. In +walking in daylight by the brook now their plunge into the water will not be +heard, nor can they be seen travelling at the bottom. +</p> + +<p> +They lay up a store of food in a hole away from the stream, generally choosing +the banks or higher ground in the withy-beds—places that are not often +flooded. Their ordinary holes, which are half, and sometimes quite, under +water, will not do for winter; they would be frozen in them, and perhaps their +store of food would be spoiled; besides which the floods cause the stream to +rise above its banks, and they could not exist under water for weeks together. +</p> + +<p> +Still further down, where the wood ends in scattered bushes and withy-beds, the +level shore of the shallow mere succeeds. The once soft, oozy ground is now +firm; the rushes are frozen stiff, and the ice for some distance out is +darkened by the aquatic weeds frozen in it. From here the wood, rising up the +slope, comes into view at once—the dark trees, the ash poles, the distant +beeches, the white crest of the hill—all still and calm under the +moonlight. The level white plain of ice behind stretches away, its real extent +concealed by the islands of withy and the dark pines along the distant shore; +while elsewhere the ice is not distinguishable from the almost equally level +fields that join it. Looking now more closely on the snow, the tracks of hares +and rabbits that have crossed and recrossed the ice are visible. +</p> + +<p> +In passing close to the withy-beds to return to the wood some branches have to +be pushed aside and cause a slight noise. Immediately a crowd of birds rise out +of the withies, where they have been roosting, and scatter into the night. They +are redwings and thrushes; every withy-bed is full of them. After wheeling +about in the air they will presently return—first one, then three or +four, and finally the flock, to their roosting-place. +</p> + +<p> +It is easy now to walk through the wood without making a noise: there is room +to pass between the stoles of ash; and the dead sticks that would have cracked +under foot are covered with snow. But be careful how you step; for in some +places the snow has fallen upon a mass of leaves filling a swampy hollow. Above +there is a thin crust of snow, but under the leaves the oozy ground is still +soft. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the dark pines the snow has lodged, making the boughs bend downwards. +Where the slope becomes a hill the ash stoles and nut-tree bushes are far apart +and thinner, so that there are wide white spaces around them. Regaining now the +top of the hill where the plain comes to the verge of the wood, there is a +clear view down across the ash poles to the withies, the white mere, and the +meadows below. Everywhere silence, stillness, sleep. +</p> + +<p> +In the high trees slumbering creatures; in the hedgerows, in the bushes, and +the withies birds with feathers puffed out, slumbering; in the banks, under the +very ground, dormant animals. A quiet cold that at first does not seem cold +because it is so quiet, but which gradually seizes on and stills the sap of +plants and the blood of living things. A ruthless frost, still, subtle, and +irresistible, that will slay the bird on its perch and weaken the swift hare. +</p> + +<p> +The most cruel of all things this snow and frost, because of the torture of +hunger which the birds must feel even in their sleep. But how beautiful the +round full moon, the brilliant light, the white landscape, the graceful lines +of the pine brought out by the snow, the hills yonder, and the stars rising +above them! +</p> + +<p> +It was on just such a night as this that some years since a most successful +raid was made upon this wood by a band of poachers coming from a distance. The +pheasants had been kept later than usual to be shot by a Christmas party, and +perhaps this had caused a relaxation of vigilance. The band came in a cart of +some kind; the marks of the wheels were found on the snow where it had been +driven off the highway and across a field to some ricks. There, no doubt, the +horse and cart were kept out of sight behind the ricks, while the men, who were +believed to have worn smock-frocks, entered the wood. +</p> + +<p> +The bright moonlight made it easy to find the pheasants, and they were potted +in plenty. Finding that there was no opposition, the gang crossed from the wood +to some outlying plantations and continued their work there. The keeper never +heard a sound. He was an old man—a man who had been on the estate all his +life—and had come in late in the evening after a long round. He sat by +the fire of split logs and enjoyed the warmth after the bitter cold and frost; +and, as he himself confessed, took an extra glass in consideration of the +severity of the weather. +</p> + +<p> +His wife was old and deaf. Neither of them heard the guns nor the dogs. Those +in the kennels close to the cottage, and very likely one or more indoors, must +have barked at the noise of the shooting. But if any dim sense of the uproar +did reach the keeper’s ear he put it down to the moon, at which dogs will +bay. As for his assistants, they had quietly gone home, so soon as they felt +sure that the keeper was housed for the night. Long immunity from attack had +bred over-confidence; the staff also was too small for the extent of the place, +and this had doubtless become known. No one sleeps so soundly as an +agricultural labourer; and as the nearest hamlet was at some distance it is not +surprising that they did not wake. +</p> + +<p> +In the early morning a fogger going to fodder his cattle came across a pheasant +lying dead on the path, the snow stained with its blood. He picked it up, and +put it under his smock-frock, and carried it to the pen, where he hid it under +some litter, intending to take it home. But afterwards, as he crossed the +fields towards the farm, he passed near the wood and observed the tracks of +many feet and a gap in the fence. He looked through the gap and saw that the +track went into the preserves. On second thoughts he went back for the pheasant +and took it to his master. +</p> + +<p> +The farmer, who was sitting down to table, quietly ate his breakfast, and then +strolled over to the keeper’s cottage with the bird. This was the first +intimation: the keeper could hardly believe it, till he himself went down and +followed the trail of foot-marks. There was not the least difficulty in tracing +the course of the poachers through the wood; the feathers were lying about; the +scorched paper (for they used muzzle-loaders), broken boughs, and shot-marks +were all too plain. But by this time the gang were well away, and none were +captured or identified. +</p> + +<p> +The extreme severity of the frost naturally caused people to stay indoors, so +that no one noticed the cart going through the village; nor could the track of +its wheels be discerned from others on the snow of the highway beaten down +firm. Even had the poachers been disturbed, it is doubtful if so small a staff +of keepers could have done anything to stop them. As it was, they not only made +a good haul—the largest made for years in that locality—but quite +spoiled the shooting. +</p> + +<p> +There are no white figures passing through the peaceful wood to-night and +firing up into the trees. It is perfectly still. The broad moon moves slow, and +the bright rays light up tree and bush, so that it is easy to see through, +except where the brambles retain their leaves and are fringed with the dead +ferns. +</p> + +<p> +The poaching of the present day is carried on with a few appliances only. An +old-fashioned poacher could employ a variety of “engines,” but the +modern has scarcely any choice. There was, for instance, a very effective mode +of setting a wire with a springe or bow. A stout stick was thrust into the +ground, and then bent over into an arch. When the wire was thrown it instantly +released the springe, which sprang up and drew it fast round the neck of the +hare or rabbit, whose fore feet were lifted from the earth. Sometimes a growing +sapling was bent down for the bow if it chanced to stand conveniently near a +run. The hare no sooner put her head into the noose than she was suspended and +strangled. +</p> + +<p> +I tried the springe several times for rabbits, and found it answer; but the +poacher cannot use it because it is so conspicuous. The stick itself, rising +above the grass, is visible at some distance, and when thrown it holds the hare +or rabbit up for any one to see that passes by. With a wire set in the present +manner the captured animal lies extended, and often rolls into a furrow and is +further hidden. +</p> + +<p> +The springe was probably last employed by the mole-catchers. Their wooden traps +were in the shape of a small tunnel, with a wire in the middle which, when the +mole passed through, set free a bent stick. This stick pulled the wire and hung +the mole. Such mole-catchers’ bows or springes used to be seen in every +meadow, but are now superseded by the iron trap. +</p> + +<p> +Springes with horsehair nooses on the ground were also set for woodcocks and +for wild ducks. It is said that a springe of somewhat similar construction was +used for pheasants. Horsehair nooses are still applied for capturing +woodpeckers and the owls that spend the day in hollow trees, being set round +the hole by which they leave the tree. A more delicate horsehair noose is +sometimes set for finches and small birds. I tried it for bullfinches, but did +not succeed from lack of the dexterity required. The modes of using bird-lime +were numerous, and many of them are in use for taking song-birds. +</p> + +<p> +But the enclosure of open lands, the strict definition of footpaths, closer +cultivation, and the increased value of game have so checked the +poacher’s operations with nets that in many districts the net may be said +to be extinct. It is no longer necessary to bush the stubbles immediately after +reaping. Brambles are said to have been the best for hindering the net, which +frequently swept away an entire covey, old birds and young together. Stubbles +are now so short that no birds will lie in them, and the net would not be +successful there if it were tried. +</p> + +<p> +The net used to be so favourite an “engine” because partridges and +pheasants will run rather than fly. In the case of partridges the poacher had +first to ascertain the haunt of the covey, which he could do by looking for +where they roost at night: the spot is often worn almost bare of grass and +easily found. Or he could listen in the evening for the calling of the birds as +they run together. The net being set, he walked very slowly down the wind +towards the covey. It could not be done too quietly or gently, because if one +got up all the rest would immediately take wing; for partridges act in concert. +If he took his time and let them run in front of him he secured the whole +number. That was the principle; but the nets were of many kinds: the partridges +were sometimes driven in by a dog. The partridges that appear in the market on +the morning of the 1st of September are said to be netted, though probably by +those who have a right to do so. These birds by nature lend themselves to such +tricks, being so timid. It is said that if continually driven to and fro they +will at last cower, and can be taken by hand or knocked over with a stick. +</p> + +<p> +The sight of a paper kite in the air makes them motionless till forced to rise; +and there was an old dodge of ringing a bell at night, which so alarmed the +covey that they remained still till the net was ready, when a sudden flash of +light drove them into it. Imagine a poacher ringing a bell nowadays! Then, +partridges were peculiarly liable to be taken; now, perhaps, they escape better +than any other kind of game. Except with a gun the poacher can hardly touch +them, and after the coveys have been broken up it is not worth his while to +risk a shot very often. If only their eggs could be protected there should be +little difficulty with partridges. +</p> + +<p> +Pheasants are more individual in their ways, and act less together; but they +have the same habit of running instead of flying, and if a poacher did but dare +he could take them with nets as easily as possible. They form runs through the +woods—just as fowls will wander day after day down a hedge, till they +have made quite a path. So that, having found the run and knowing the position +of the birds, the rest is simplicity itself. The net being stretched, the +pheasants were driven in. A cur dog was sometimes sent round to disturb the +birds. Being a cur, he did not bark, for which reason a strain of cur is +preferred to this day by the mouchers who keep dogs. Now that the woods are +regularly watched such a plan has become impracticable. It might indeed be done +once, but surely not twice where competent keepers were about. +</p> + +<p> +Nets were also used for hares and rabbits, which were driven in by a dog; but, +the scent of these animals being so good, it was necessary to work in such a +manner that the wind might not blow from the net, meeting them as they +approached it. Pheasants, as every one knows, roost on trees, but often do not +ascend very high; and, indeed, before the leaves are off they are said to be +sometimes taken by hand—sliding it along the bough till the legs are +grasped, just as you might fowls perched at night on a rail across the beams of +a shed. +</p> + +<p> +The spot where they roost is easily found out, because of the peculiar noise +they make upon flying up; and with a little precaution the trees may be +approached without startling them. Years ago the poacher carried a sulphur +match and lit it under the tree, when the fumes, ascending, stupefied the +birds, which fell to the ground. The process strongly resembled the way in +which old-fashioned folk stifled their bees by placing the hive at night, when +the insects were still, over a piece of brown paper dipped in molten brimstone +and ignited. The apparently dead bees were afterwards shaken out and buried; +but upon moving the earth with a spade some of them would crawl out, even after +two or three days. +</p> + +<p> +Sulphur fumes were likewise used for compelling rabbits to bolt from their +buries without a ferret. I tried an experiment in a bury once with a mixture +the chief component of which was gunpowder, so managed as to burn slowly and +give a great smoke. The rabbits did, indeed, just hop out and hop in again; but +it is a most clumsy expedient, because the fire must be lit on the windward +side, and the rabbits will only come out to leeward. The smoke hangs, and does +not penetrate into half the tunnels; or else it blows through quickly, when you +must stop half the holes with a spade. It is a wretched substitute for a +ferret. +</p> + +<p> +When cock-fighting was common the bellicose inclinations of the cock-pheasants +were sometimes excited to their destruction. A gamecock was first armed with +the sharp spur made from the best razors, and then put down near where a +pheasant-cock had been observed to crow. The pheasant cock is so thoroughly +game that he will not allow any rival crowing in his locality, and the two +quickly met in battle. Like a keen poniard the game-cock’s spur either +slew the pheasant outright or got fixed in the pheasant’s feathers, when +he was captured. +</p> + +<p> +A pheasant, too, as he ran deeper into the wood upon an alarm, occasionally +found his neck in a noose suspended across his path. For rabbiting, the lurcher +was and is the dog of all others. He is as cunning and wily in approaching his +game as if he had a cross of feline nature in his character. Other dogs trust +to speed; but the lurcher steals on his prey without a sound. He enters into +the purpose of his master, and if any one appears in sight remains quietly in +the hedge with the rabbit or leveret in his mouth till a sign bids him +approach. If half the stories told of the docility and intelligence of the +lurcher are true, the poacher needs no other help than one of these dogs for +ground game. But the dogs called lurchers nowadays are mostly of degenerate and +impure breed; still, even these are capable of a good deal. +</p> + +<p> +There is a way of fishing with rod and line, but without a bait. The rod should +be in one piece, or else a stout one—the line also very strong and short, +the hook of large size. When the fish is discovered the hook is quietly dropped +into the water and allowed to float, in seeming, along, till close under it. +The rod is then jerked up, and the barb enters the body of the fish and drags +it out. +</p> + +<p> +This plan requires, of course, that the fish should be visible, and if +stationary is more easily practised; but it is also effective even against +small fish that swim together in large shoals, for if the hook misses one it +strikes another. The most fatal time for fish is when they spawn: roach, jack, +and trout alike are then within reach, and if the poacher dares to visit the +water he is certain of a haul. +</p> + +<p> +Even in the present day and in the south a fawn is now and then stolen from +parks and forests where deer are kept. Being small, it is not much more +difficult to hide than a couple of hares; and once in the carrier’s cart +and at a little distance no one asks any questions. Such game always finds a +ready sale; and when a savoury dish is on the table those who are about to eat +it do not inquire whence it came any more than the old folk did centuries ago. +A nod and a wink are the best sauce. As the keepers are allowed to sell a +certain number of fawns (or say they are), it is not possible for any one at a +distance to know whether the game was poached or not. An ordinary single-barrel +muzzle-loader of the commonest kind with a charge of common shot will kill a +fawn. +</p> + +<p> +I once started to stalk a pheasant that was feeding in the corner of a meadow. +Beyond the meadow there was a cornfield which extended across to a preserved +wood. But the open stubble afforded no cover—any one walking in it could +be seen—so that the pheasant had to be got at from one side only. It was +necessary also that he should be shot dead without fluttering of wings, the +wood being so near. +</p> + +<p> +The afternoon sun, shining in a cloudless sky—it was a still October +day—beat hot against the western side of the hedge as I noiselessly +walked beside it. In the aftermath, green but flowerless, a small flock of +sheep were feeding—one with a long briar clinging to his wool. They moved +slowly before me; a thing I wanted; for behind sheep almost any game can be +approached. +</p> + +<p> +I have also frequently shot rabbits that were out feeding, by the aid of a herd +of cows. It does not seem to be so much the actual cover as the scent of the +animals; for a man of course can be seen over sheep, and under the legs of +cattle. But the breath and odour of sheep or cows prevent the game from +scenting him, and, what is equally effective, the cattle, to which they are +accustomed, throw them off their guard. +</p> + +<p> +The cart-horses in the fields do not answer so well: if you try to use one for +stalking, unless he knows you he will sheer off and set up a clumsy gallop, +being afraid of capture and a return to work. But cows will feed steadily in +front, and a flock of sheep, very slowly driven, move on with a gentle +“tinkle, tinkle.” Wild creatures show no fear of what they are +accustomed to, and the use of which they understand. +</p> + +<p> +If a solitary hurdle be set up in a meadow as a hiding-place from behind which +to shoot the rabbits of a burrow, not one will come out within gun-shot that +evening. They know-that it is something strange, the use of which they do not +understand and therefore avoid. When I first began to shoot, the difficulty was +to judge the distances, and to know how far a rabbit was from a favourite +hiding-place. I once carefully dropped small green boughs, just broken off, at +twenty, thirty, and forty yards, measuring by paces. This was in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +In the evening not a rabbit would come out anywhere near these boughs; they +were shy of them even when the leaves had withered and turned brown; so that I +took them away. Yet of the green boughs blown off by a gale, or the dead grey +branches that fall of their own weight, they take no notice. +</p> + +<p> +First, then, they must have heard me in their burrows pacing by; secondly, they +scented the boughs as having been handled, and connected the two circumstances +together; and, thirdly, though aware that the boughs themselves were harmless, +they felt that harm was intended. The pheasant had been walking about in the +corner where the hedges met, but now he went in; still, as he entered the hedge +in a quiet way, he did not appear to be alarmed. The sheep, tired of being +constantly driven from their food, now sheered out from the hedge, and allowed +me to go by. +</p> + +<p> +As I passed I gathered a few haws and ate them. The reason why birds do not +care much for berries before they are forced to take to them by frost is +because of the stone within, so that the food afforded by the berries is really +small. Yew-berries are an exception; they have a stone, but the covering to it +is sweet, succulent, and thick, and dearly loved by thrushes. In the ditch the +tall grasses, having escaped the scythe, bowed low with the weight of their own +awn-like seeds. +</p> + +<p> +The corner was not far off now; and I waited awhile behind a large hawthorn +bush growing on the “shore” of the ditch, thinking that I might see +the pheasant on the mound, or that at least he would recover confidence if he +had previously heard anything. Inside the bush was a nest already partly filled +with fallen leaves, like a little basket. +</p> + +<p> +A rabbit had been feeding on the other side, but now, suspicious, came over the +bank, and, seeing me, suddenly stopped and lifted himself up. In that moment I +could have shot him, being so near, without putting the gun to the shoulder, by +the sense of direction in the hands; the next he dived into a burrow. Looking +round the bush, I now saw the pheasant in the hedge, that crossed at right +angles in front; this was fortunate, because through that hedge there was +another meadow. It was full of nut-tree bushes, very tall and thick at the top, +but lower down thin, as is usually the case when poles grow high. To fill the +space a fence had been made of stakes and bushes woven between them, and on +this the pheasant stood. +</p> + +<p> +It was too far for a safe shot; in a minute he went down into the meadow on the +other side. I then crept on hands and knees towards the nut-bushes: as I got +nearer there was a slight rustle and a low hiss in the grass, and I had to +pause while a snake went by hastening for the ditch. A few moments afterwards, +being close to the hedge, I rose partly up, and looked carefully over the fence +between the hazel wands. There was the pheasant not fifteen yards away, his +back somewhat towards me, and quietly questing about. +</p> + +<p> +In lifting the gun I had to push aside a bough—the empty hoods, from +which a bunch of brown nuts had fallen, rested against the barrel as I looked +along it. I aimed at the head—knowing that it would mean instant death, +and would also avoid shattering the bird at so short a range; besides which +there would be fewer scattered feathers to collect and thrust out of sight into +a rabbit bury. A reason why people frequently miss pheasants in cover-shooting, +despite of their size, is because they look at the body, the wings, and the +tail. But if they looked only at the head, and thought of that, very few would +escape. My finger felt the trigger, and the least increase of pressure would +have been fatal; but in the act I hesitated, dropped the barrel, and watched +the beautiful bird. +</p> + +<p> +That watching so often stayed the shot that at last it grew to be a habit: the +mere simple pleasure of seeing birds and animals, when they were quite +unconscious that they were observed, being too great to be spoilt by the +discharge. After carefully getting a wire over a jack; after waiting in a tree +till a hare came along; after sitting in a mound till the partridges began to +run together to roost; in the end the wire or gun remained unused. The same +feeling has equally checked my hand in legitimate shooting: time after time I +have flushed partridges without firing, and have let the hare bound over the +furrow free. +</p> + +<p> +I have entered many woods just for the pleasure of creeping through the brake +and the thickets. Destruction in itself was not the motive; it was an +overpowering instinct for woods and fields. Yet woods and fields lose half +their interest without a gun—I like the power to shoot, even though I may +not use it. The very perfection of our modern guns is to me one of their +drawbacks: the use of them is so easy and so certain of effect that it takes +away the romance of sport. +</p> + +<p> +There could be no greater pleasure to me than to wander with a matchlock +through one of the great forests or wild tracts that still remain in England. A +hare a day, a brace of partridges, or a wild duck would be ample in the way of +actual shooting. The weapon itself, whether matchlock, wheel-lock, or even a +cross-bow, would be a delight. Some of the antique wheel-lock guns are really +beautiful specimens of design. The old powder-horns are often gems of +workmanship—hunting scenes cut out in ivory, and the minutest detail of +hoof or antler rendered with life-like accuracy. How pleasant these carvings +feel to the fingers! It is delightful to handle such weapons and such +implements. +</p> + +<p> +The matchlocks, too, are inlaid or the stocks carved. There is slaughter in +every line of our modern guns—mechanical slaughter. But were I offered +participation in the bloodiest battue ever arranged, or the freedom of an +English forest or mountain tract, to go forth at any time untrammelled by +attendant, but only to shoot with matchlock, wheel-lock, or cross-bow, my +choice would be unhesitating. +</p> + +<p> +There would be pleasure in winding up the lock with the spanner; pleasure in +adjusting the priming; or with the matchlock in lighting the match. To wander +out into the brake, to creep from tree to tree so noiselessly that the +woodpecker should not cease to tap—in that there is joy. The +consciousness that everything depends upon your own personal skill, and that +you have no second resource if that fails you, gives the real zest to sport. +</p> + +<p> +If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly; if the priming had not been +kept dry or the match not properly blown, or the cross-bow set exactly +accurate, then the care of approach would be lost. You must hold the gun +steady, too, while the slow priming ignites the charge. +</p> + +<p> +An imperfect weapon—yes; but the imperfect weapon would accord with the +great oaks, the beech trees full of knot-holes, the mysterious thickets, the +tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase would become a real chase: +not, as now, a foregone conclusion. And there would be time for pondering and +dreaming. +</p> + +<p> +Let us be always out of doors among trees and grass, and rain and wind and sun. +There the breeze comes and strikes the cheek and sets it aglow: the gale +increases and the trees creak and roar, but it is only a ruder music. A calm +follows, the sun shines in the sky, and it is the time to sit under an oak, +leaning against the bark, while the birds sing and the air is soft and sweet. +By night the stars shine, and there is no fathoming the dark spaces between +those brilliant points, nor the thoughts that come as it were between the fixed +stars and landmarks of the mind. +</p> + +<p> +Or it is the morning on the hills, when hope is as wide as the world; or it is +the evening on the shore. A red sun sinks, and the foam-tipped waves are +crested with crimson; the booming surge breaks, and the spray flies afar, +sprinkling the face watching under the pale cliffs. Let us get out of these +indoor narrow modern days, whose twelve hours somehow have become shortened, +into the sunlight and the pure wind. A something that the ancients called +divine can be found and felt there still. +</p> + +<p class="center">THE END +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Amateur Poacher + +Author: Richard Jefferies + +Release Date: October 12, 2004 [EBook #13730] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER *** + + + + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + + + + + + + + + + THE AMATEUR POACHER + + BY + + RICHARD JEFFERIES + + + + +PREFACE + + +The following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of time, +beginning with the first gun, and attempts at shooting. Then come the +fields, the first hills, and woods explored, often without a gun, or any +thought of destruction: and next the poachers, and other odd characters +observed at their work. Perhaps the idea of shooting with a matchlock, +or wheel-lock, might, if put in practice, at least afford some little +novelty. + +R.J. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +I. THE FIRST GUN + +II. THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS 'TURNPIKE' + +III. TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + +IV. EGG-TIME: A 'GIP'-TRAP + +V. WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + +VI. LURCHER-LAND: 'THE PARK' + +VII. OBY, AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER'S CALENDAR + +VIII. CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + +IX. LUKE, THE RABBIT-CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK PATH. + +X. FARMER WILLUM'S PLACE: SNIPE-SHOOTING + +XI. FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + +XII. A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK VERSUS + BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + + + +THE AMATEUR POACHER + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + + +THE FIRST GUN + + +They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the +garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. +Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did +not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so +perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?--and so +magnificent a brush as he had too. But there he stood, and mounted guard +over the old flintlock that was so powerful a magnet to us in those +days. Though to go up there alone was no slight trial of moral courage +after listening to the horrible tales of the carters in the stable, or +the old women who used to sit under the hedge in the shade, on an armful +of hay, munching their crusts at luncheon time. + +The great cavernous place was full of shadows in the brightest summer +day; for the light came only through the chinks in the shutters. These +were flush with the floor and bolted firmly. The silence was intense, it +being so near the roof and so far away from the inhabited parts of the +house. Yet there were sometimes strange acoustical effects--as when +there came a low tapping at the shutters, enough to make your heart +stand still. There was then nothing for it but to dash through the +doorway into the empty cheese-room adjoining, which was better lighted. +No doubt it was nothing but the labourers knocking the stakes in for the +railing round the rickyard, but why did it sound just exactly outside +the shutters? When that ceased the staircase creaked, or the pear-tree +boughs rustled against the window. The staircase always waited till you +had forgotten all about it before the loose worm-eaten planks sprang +back to their place. + +Had it not been for the merry whistling of the starlings on the thatch +above, it would not have been possible to face the gloom and the teeth +of Reynard, ever in the act to snap, and the mystic noises, and the +sense of guilt--for the gun was forbidden. Besides which there was the +black mouth of the open trapdoor overhead yawning fearfully--a standing +terror and temptation; for there was a legend of a pair of pistols +thrown up there out of the way--a treasure-trove tempting enough to make +us face anything. But Orion must have the credit of the courage; I call +him Orion because he was a hunter and had a famous dog. The last I heard +of him he had just ridden through a prairie fire, and says the people +out there think nothing of it. + +We dragged an ancient linen-press under the trapdoor, and put some boxes +on that, and finally a straight-backed oaken chair. One or two of those +chairs were split up and helped to do the roasting on the kitchen +hearth. So, climbing the pile, we emerged under the rafters, and could +see daylight faintly in several places coming through the starlings' +holes. One or two bats fluttered to and fro as we groped among the +lumber, but no pistols could be discovered; nothing but a cannon-ball, +rusty enough and about as big as an orange, which they say was found in +the wood, where there was a brush in Oliver's time. + +In the middle of our expedition there came the well-known whistle, +echoing about the chimneys, with which it was the custom to recall us to +dinner. How else could you make people hear who might be cutting a +knobbed stick in the copse half a mile away or bathing in the lake? We +had to jump down with a run; and then came the difficulty; for black +dusty cobwebs, the growth of fifty years, clothed us from head to foot. +There was no brushing or picking them off, with that loud whistle +repeated every two minutes. + +The fact where we had been was patent to all; and so the chairs got +burned--but one, which was rickety. After which a story crept out, of a +disjointed skeleton lying in a corner under the thatch. Though just a +little suspicious that this might be a _ruse_ to frighten us from a +second attempt, we yet could not deny the possibility of its being true. +Sometimes in the dusk, when I sat poring over 'Koenigsmark, the Robber,' +by the little window in the cheese-room, a skull seemed to peer down the +trapdoor. But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. + +There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no +modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. +The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very +good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the +window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a +'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger +behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at +them. At least this practice and drill had one useful effect--the eye +got accustomed to the flash from the pan, instead of blinking the +discharge, which ruins the shooting. Almost everybody and everything on +the place got shot dead in this way without knowing it. + +It was not so easy as might be supposed to find proper flints. The best +time to look for them was after a heavy storm of rain had washed a +shallow channel beside the road, when you might select some hardy +splinters which had lain hidden under the dust. How we were found out is +not quite clear: perhaps the powder left a smell of sulphur for any one +who chanced to go up in the garret. + +But, however that may be, one day, as we came in unexpectedly from a +voyage in the punt, something was discovered burning among the logs on +the kitchen hearth; and, though a desperate rescue was attempted, +nothing was left but the barrel of our precious gun and some crooked +iron representing the remains of the lock. There are things that are +never entirely forgotten, though the impression may become fainter as +years go by. The sense of the cruel injustice of that act will never +quite depart. + +But they could not burn the barrel, and we almost succeeded in fitting +it to a stock of elder. Elder has a thick pith running down the centre: +by removing that the gouge and chisel had not much work to do to make a +groove for the old bell-mouthed barrel to lie in. The matchlock, for as +such it was intended, was nearly finished when our hopes were dashed to +the ground by a piece of unnatural cunning. One morning the breechpiece +that screwed in was missing. This was fatal. A barrel without a +breechpiece is like a cup without a bottom. It was all over. + +There are days in spring when the white clouds go swiftly past, with +occasional breaks of bright sunshine lighting up a spot in the +landscape. That is like the memory of one's youth. There is a long dull +blank, and then a brilliant streak of recollection. Doubtless it was a +year or two afterwards when, seeing that the natural instinct could not +be suppressed but had better be recognised, they produced a real gun +(single-barrel) for me from the clock-case. + +It stood on the landing just at the bottom of the dark flight that led +to the garret. An oaken case six feet high or more, and a vast dial, +with a mysterious picture of a full moon and a ship in full sail that +somehow indicated the quarters of the year, if you had been imitating +Rip Van Winkle and after a sleep of six months wanted to know whether it +was spring or autumn. But only to think that all the while we were +puzzling over the moon and the ship and the queer signs on the dial a +gun was hidden inside! The case was locked, it is true; but there are +ways of opening locks, and we were always handy with tools. + +This gun was almost, but not quite so long as the other. That dated from +the time between Stuart and Hanover; this might not have been more than +seventy years old. And a beautiful piece of workmanship it was: my new +double breechloader is a coarse common thing to compare with it. Long +and slender and light as a feather, it came to the shoulder with +wonderful ease. Then there was a groove on the barrel at the breech and +for some inches up which caught the eye and guided the glance like a +trough to the sight at the muzzle and thence to the bird. The stock was +shod with brass, and the trigger-guard was of brass, with a kind of +flange stretching half-way down to the butt and inserted in the wood. +After a few minutes' polishing it shone like gold, and to see the +sunlight flash on it was a joy. + +You might note the grain of the barrel, for it had not been browned; and +it took a good deal of sand to get the rust off. By aid of a little oil +and careful wiping after a shower it was easy to keep it bright. Those +browned barrels only encourage idleness. The lock was a trifle dull at +first, simply from lack of use. A small screwdriver soon had it to +pieces, and it speedily clicked again sweet as a flute. If the hammer +came back rather far when at full-cock, that was because the lock had +been converted from a flint, and you could not expect it to be +absolutely perfect. Besides which, as the fall was longer the blow was +heavier, and the cap was sure to explode. + +By old farmhouses, mostly in exposed places (for which there is a +reason), one or more huge walnut trees may be found. The provident folk +of those days planted them with the purpose of having their own +gunstocks cut out of the wood when the tree was thrown. They could then +be sure it was really walnut, and a choice piece of timber thoroughly +well seasoned. I like to think of those times, when men settled +themselves down, and planted and planned and laid out their gardens and +orchards and woods, as if they and their sons and sons' sons, to the +twentieth generation, were sure to enjoy the fruit of their labour. + +The reason why the walnuts are put in exposed places, on the slope of a +rise, with open aspect to the east and north, is because the walnut is a +foolish tree that will not learn by experience. If it feels the warmth +of a few genial days in early spring, it immediately protrudes its buds; +and the next morning a bitter frost cuts down every hope of fruit for +that year, leaving the leaf as black as may be. Wherefore the east wind +is desirable to keep it as backward as possible. + +There was a story that the stock of this gun had been cut out of a +walnut tree that was thrown on the place by my great-grandfather, who +saw it well seasoned, being a connoisseur of timber, which is, indeed, a +sort of instinct in all his descendants. And a vast store of philosophy +there is in timber if you study it aright. + +After cleaning the gun and trying it at a mark, the next thing was to +get a good shot with it. Now there was an elm that stood out from the +hedge a little, almost at the top of the meadow, not above +five-and-twenty yards from the other hedge that bounded the field. Two +mounds could therefore be commanded by any one in ambush behind the elm, +and all the angular corner of the mead was within range. + +It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression +there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the +roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, +with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms +and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge +of the prairie with the backwoods close by. + +The rabbits had scratched the yellow sand right out into the grass--it +is always very much brighter in colour where they have just been at +work--and the fern, already almost yellow too, shaded the mouths of +their buries. Thick bramble bushes grew out from the mound and filled +the space between it and the elm: there were a few late flowers on them +still, but the rest were hardening into red sour berries. Westwards, the +afternoon sun, with all his autumn heat, shone full against the hedge +and into the recess, and there was not the shadow of a leaf for shelter +on that side. + +The gun was on the turf, and the little hoppers kept jumping out of the +grass on to the stock: once their king, a grasshopper, alighted on it +and rested, his green limbs tipped with red rising above his back. About +the distant wood and the hills there was a soft faint haze, which is +what Nature finishes her pictures with. Something in the atmosphere +which made it almost visible: all the trees seemed to stand in a liquid +light--the sunbeams were suspended in the air instead of passing +through. The butterflies even were very idle in the slumberous warmth; +and the great green dragon-fly rested on a leaf, his tail arched a +little downwards, just as he puts it when he wishes to stop suddenly in +his flight. + +The broad glittering trigger-guard got quite hot in the sun, and the +stock was warm when I felt it every now and then. The grain of the +walnut-wood showed plainly through the light polish: it was not +varnished like the stock of the double-barrel they kept padlocked to the +rack over the high mantelpiece indoors. Still you could see the varnish. +It was of a rich dark horse-chestnut colour, and yet so bright and clear +that if held close you could see your face in it. Behind it the grain of +the wood was just perceptible; especially at the grip, where hard hands +had worn it away somewhat. The secret of that varnish is lost--like that +of the varnish on the priceless old violins. + +But you could feel the wood more in my gun: so that it was difficult to +keep the hand off it, though the rabbits would not come out; and the +shadowless recess grew like a furnace, for it focussed the rays of the +sun. The heat on the sunny side of a thick hedge between three and four +in the afternoon is almost tropical if you remain still, because the air +is motionless: the only relief is to hold your hat loose; or tilt it +against your head, the other edge of the brim on the ground. Then the +grass-blades rise up level with the forehead. There is a delicious smell +in growing grass, and a sweetness comes up from the earth. + +Still it got hotter and hotter; and it was not possible to move in the +least degree, lest a brown creature sitting on the sand at the mouth of +his hole, and hidden himself by the fern, should immediately note it. +And Orion was waiting in the rickyard for the sound of the report, and +very likely the shepherd too. We knew that men in Africa, watched by +lions, had kept still in the sunshine till, reflected from the rock, it +literally scorched them, not daring to move; and we knew all about the +stoicism of the Red Indians. But Ulysses was ever my pattern and model: +that man of infinite patience and resource. + +So, though the sun might burn and the air become suffocating in that +close corner, and the quivering line of heat across the meadow make the +eyes dizzy to watch, yet not a limb must be moved. The black flies came +in crowds; but they are not so tormenting if you plunge your face in the +grass, though they titillate the back of the hand as they run over it. +Under the bramble bush was a bury that did not look much used; and once +or twice a great blue fly came out of it, the buzz at first sounding +hollow and afar off and becoming clearer as it approached the mouth of +the hole. There was the carcass of a dead rabbit inside no doubt. + +A humble-bee wandering along--they are restless things--buzzed right +under my hat, and became entangled in the grass by my ear. Now we knew +by experience in taking their honey that they could sting sharply if +irritated, though good-tempered by nature. How he 'burred' and buzzed +and droned!--till by-and-by, crawling up the back of my head, he found +an open space and sailed away. Then, looking out again, there was a pair +of ears in the grass not ten yards distant: a rabbit had come out at +last. But the first delight was quickly over: the ears were short and +sharply pointed, and almost pinkly transparent. + +What would the shepherd say if I brought home one of his hated enemies +no bigger than a rat? The young rabbit made waiting still more painful, +being far enough from the hedge to get a clear view into the recess if +anything attracted his notice. Why the shepherd hated rabbits was +because the sheep would not feed where they had worn their runs in the +grass. Not the least movement was possible now--not even that little +shifting which makes a position just endurable: the heat seemed to +increase; the thought of Ulysses could hardly restrain the almost +irresistible desire to stir. + +When, suddenly, there was a slight rustling among the boughs of an oak +in the other hedge, as of wings against twigs: it was a woodpigeon, +better game than a rabbit. He would, I knew, first look round before he +settled himself to preen his feathers on the branch, and, if everything +was still while that keen inspection lasted, would never notice me. This +is their habit--and the closer you are underneath them the less chance +of their perceiving you: for a pigeon perched rarely looks straight +downwards. If flying, it is just the reverse; for then they seem to see +under them quicker than in any other direction. + +Slowly lifting the long barrel of the gun--it was fortunate the sunlight +glancing on the bright barrel was not reflected towards the oak--I got +it to bear upon the bird; but then came a doubt. It was all +eight-and-twenty yards across the angle of the meadow to the oak--a +tremendous long shot under the circumstances. For they would not trust +us with the large copper powder-flask, but only with a little +pistol-flask (it had belonged to the pair of pistols we tried to find), +and we were ordered not to use more than a charge and a half at a time. +That was quite enough to kill blackbirds. (The noise of the report was +always a check in this way; such a trifle of powder only made a slight +puff.) + +Shot there was in plenty--a whole tobacco-pipe bowl full, carefully +measured out of the old yellow canvas money-bag that did for a shot +belt. A starling could be knocked off the chimney with this charge +easily, and so could a blackbird roosting in a bush at night. But a +woodpigeon nearly thirty yards distant was another matter; for the old +folk (and the birdkeepers too) said that their quills were so hard the +shot would glance aside unless it came with great force. Very likely the +pigeon would escape, and all the rabbits in the buries would be too +frightened to come out at all. + +A beautiful bird he was on the bough, perched well in view and clearly +defined against the sky behind; and my eye travelled along the groove on +the breech and up the barrel, and so to the sight and across to him; and +the finger, which always would keep time with the eye, pulled at the +trigger. + +A mere puff of a report, and then a desperate fluttering in the tree and +a cloud of white feathers floating above the hedge, and a heavy fall +among the bushes. He was down, and Orion's spaniel (that came racing +like mad from the rickyard the instant he heard the discharge) had him +in a moment. Orion followed quickly. Then the shepherd came up, rather +stiff on his legs from rheumatism, and stepped the distance, declaring +it was thirty yards good; after which we all walked home in triumph. + +Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she +would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready +to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they +scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking +back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes. + +'You mind you chaws the shot well, measter,' said the shepherd, 'afore +you loads th' gun. The more you chaws it the better it sticks +the-gither, an' the furder it kills um;' a theory of gunnery that which +was devoutly believed in in his time and long anticipated the wire +cartridges. And the old soldiers that used to come round to haymaking, +glad of a job to supplement their pensions, were very positive that if +you bit the bullet and indented it with your teeth, it was perfectly +fatal, no matter to what part of the body its billet took it. + +In the midst of this talk as we moved on, I carrying the gun at the +trail with the muzzle downwards, the old ramrod, long disused and +shrunken, slipped half out; the end caught the ground, and it snapped +short off in a second. A terrible disaster this, turning everything to +bitterness: Orion was especially wroth, for it was his right next to +shoot. However, we went down to the smithy at the inn, to take counsel +of the blacksmith, a man of knowledge and a trusty friend. 'Aha!' said +he, 'it's not the first time I've made a ramrod. There's a piece of +lancewood in the store overhead which I keep on purpose; it's as tough +as a bow--they make carriage-shafts of it; you shall have a better rod +than was ever fitted to a Joe Manton.' So we took him down some pippins, +and he set to work on it that evening. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + + + +THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS 'TURNPIKE' + + +The sculls of our punt, being short and stout, answered very well as +levers to heave the clumsy old craft off the sand into which it sank so +deeply. That sheltered corner of the mere, with a shelving sandy shore, +and a steep bank behind covered with trees, was one of the best places +to fish for roach: you could see them playing under the punt in shoals +any sunny day. + +There was a projecting bar almost enclosing the creek, which was quite +still, even when the surf whitened the stony strand without, driven +before a wet and stormy south-wester. It was the merest routine to carry +the painter ashore and twist the rotten rope round an exposed root of +the great willow tree; for there was not the slightest chance of that +ancient craft breaking adrift. All our strength and the leverage of the +sculls could scarcely move her, so much had she settled. But we had +determined to sail that lovely day to visit the island of Calypso, and +had got all our arms and munitions of war aboard, besides being +provisioned and carrying some fruit for fear of scurvy. There was of +course the gun, placed so as not to get wet; for the boat leaked, and +had to be frequently baled out with a tin mug--one that the haymakers +used. + +Indeed, if we had not caulked her with some dried moss and some stiff +clay, it is doubtful if she would have floated far. The well was full of +dead leaves that had been killed by the caterpillars and the blight, and +had fallen from the trees before their time; and there were one or two +bunches of grass growing at the stern part from between the decaying +planks. + +Besides the gun there was the Indian bow, scooped out inside in a +curious way, and covered with strange designs or coloured hieroglyphics: +it had been brought home by one of our people years before. There was +but one man in the place who could bend that bow effectually; so that +though we valued it highly we could not use it. By it lay another of +briar, which was pliable enough and had brought down more than one bird. + +Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, +and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn +out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; +you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey +the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture +of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft. It was really a +dangerous weapon. He had also made us a small anchor according to plan; +nor did he dip too deeply into our pocket-money. + +Then the mast and square-sail, fitted out of a window-blind, took up a +considerable space; for although it was perfectly calm, a breeze might +arise. And what with these and the pole for punting occasionally, the +deck of the vessel was in that approved state of confusion which always +characterises a ship on the point of departure. Nor must Orion's +fishing-rod and gear be forgotten, nor the cigar-box at the stern (a +present from the landlady at the inn) which contained a chart of the +mere and a compass. + +With a 'yeo--heave-ho!' we levered her an inch at a time, and then +loosened her by working her from side to side, and so, panting and +struggling, shoved the punt towards the deep. Slowly a course was shaped +out of the creek--past the bar and then along the edge of the thick +weeds, stretching so far out into the water that the moorhen feeding +near the land was beyond reach of shot. From the green matted mass +through which a boat could scarcely have been forced came a slight +uncertain sound, now here now yonder, a faint 'suck-sock;' and the +dragon-flies were darting to and fro. + +The only ripple of the surface, till broken by the sculls, was where the +swallows dipped as they glided, leaving a circle of tiny wavelets that +barely rolled a yard. Past the low but steep bluff of sand rising sheer +out of the water, drilled with martins' holes and topped by a sapling +oak in the midst of a great furze bush: yellow bloom of the furze, tall +brake fern nestling under the young branches, woodbine climbing up and +bearing sweet coronals of flower. + +Past the barley that came down to the willows by the shore--ripe and +white under the bright sunshine, but yonder beneath the shadow of the +elms with a pale tint of amber. Past broad rising meadows, where under +the oaks on the upper ground the cattle were idly lying out of the +sultry heat. + +Then the barren islands, strewn with stone and mussel-shells glistening +in the sunshine, over which in a gale the waves made a clean sweep, +rendered the navigation intricate; and the vessel had to be worked in +and out, now scraping against rocky walls of sandstone, now grounding +and churning up the bottom, till presently she floated in the bay +beneath the firs. There a dark shadow hung over the black water--still +and silent, so still that even the aspens rested from their rustling. + +Out again into the sunshine by the wide mouth of the Green River, as the +chart named the brook whose level stream scarce moved into the lake. A +streak of blue shot up it between the banks, and a shrill pipe came back +as the kingfisher hastened away. By the huge boulder of sarsen, whose +shoulder projected but a few inches--in stormy times a dangerous rock to +mariners--and then into the unknown narrow seas between the endless +osier-beds and withy-covered isles. + +There the chart failed; and the known landmarks across the open +waters--the firs and elms, the green knoll with the cattle--were shut +out by thick branches on either hand. In and out and round the islets, +sounding the depth before advancing, winding now this way, now that, +till all idea of the course was lost, and it became a mere struggle to +get forward. Drooping boughs swept along the gunwales, thick-matted +weeds cumbered the way; 'snags,' jagged stumps of trees, threatened to +thrust their tops through the bottom; and, finally, panting and weary of +poling through the maze, we emerged in a narrow creek all walled in and +enclosed with vegetation. + +Running her ashore on the soft oozy ground, we rested under a great +hawthorn bush that grew at the very edge, and, looking upwards, could +see in the canopy above the black interlaced twigs of a dove's nest. +Tall willow poles rose up all around, and above them was the deep blue +of the sky. On the willow stems that were sometimes under water the bark +had peeled in scales; beneath the surface bunches of red fibrous roots +stretched out their slender filaments tipped with white, as if feeling +like a living thing for prey. + +A dreamy, slumberous place, where the sedges slept, and the green flags +bowed their pointed heads. Under the bushes in the distant nook the +moorhen, reassured by the silence, came out from the grey-green grass +and the rushes. Surely Calypso's cave could not be far distant, where +she + + with work and song the time divides, + And through, the loom the golden shuttle guides. + +For the Immortals are hiding somewhere still in the woods; even now I do +not weary searching for them. + +But as we rested a shadow fell from a cloud that covered the sun, and +immediately a faint sigh arose from among the sedges and the reeds, and +two pale yellow leaves fell from the willows on the water. A gentle +breeze followed the cloud, chasing its shadow. Orion touched his rod +meaningly. So I stepped ashore with the gun to see if a channel could be +found into the open water, and pushed through the bush. Briar and +bramble choked the path, and hollow willow stoles; but, holding the gun +upright, it was possible to force through, till, pushing between a belt +of reeds and round an elder thicket, I came suddenly on a deep, clear +pool--all but walking into it. Up rose a large bird out of the water +with a bustling of wings and splashing, compelled to 'rocket' by the +thick bushes and willow poles. There was no time to aim; but the old gun +touched the shoulder and went off without conscious volition on my part. + +The bird flew over the willows, but the next moment there was a heavy +splash somewhere beyond out of sight. Then came an echo of the report +sent back from the woods adjoining, and another, and a third and fourth, +as the sound rolled along the side of the hill, caught in the coombes +and thrown to and fro like a ball in a tennis-court. Wild with anxiety, +we forced the punt at the bulrushes, in the corner where it looked most +open, and with all our might heaved it over the weeds and the mud, and +so round the islet into the next pool, and thence into the open water. +It was a wild duck, and was speedily on board. + +Stepping the mast and hoisting the sail, we drifted before the faint +breath of air that now just curled the surface, steering straight across +the open for the stony barren islands at the mouth of the bay. The chart +drawn in pencil--what labour it cost us!--said that there, a few yards +from the steep shore, was a shoal with deep water round it. For some +reason there always seemed a slight movement or current--a set of the +water there, as if it flowed into the little bay. + +In swimming we often came suddenly out of a cold into a stratum of warm +water (at the surface); and perhaps the difference in the temperature +may have caused the drift, for the bay was in shadow half the day. Now, +wherever there is motion there will fish assemble; so as the punt +approached the shoal the sail was doused, and at twenty yards' distance +I _put_ the anchor into the water--not dropping it, to avoid the +splash--and let it slip gently to the bottom. + +Then, paying out the cable, we drifted to the edge of the shoal without +the least disturbance, and there brought up. Orion had his bait +ready--he threw his line right to windward, so that the float might drag +the worm naturally with the wind and slight current towards the shoal. + +The tiny blue buoy dances up and down on the miniature waves; beyond it +a dazzling path of gold stretches away to the distant osier-islands--a +path down which we came without seeing it till we looked back. The +wavelets strike with a faint 'sock-sock' against the bluff overhanging +bow, and then roll on to the lee-shore close at hand. + +It rises steep; then a broad green ledge; and after that, still steeper, +the face of a long-deserted sand-pit, where high up a rabbit sits at the +mouth of his hole, within range, but certain to escape even if hit, and +therefore safe. On the turf below is a round black spot, still showing, +though a twelvemonth has gone by since we landed with half a dozen +perch, lit a fire and cooked the fishes. For Molly never could 'a-bear' +perch, because of the hardness of the scales, saying she would as soon +'scrape a vlint;' and they laughed to scorn our idea of skinning them as +you do moorhens, whose 'dowl' no fingers can pick. + +So we lit a fire and blew it up, lying on the soft short grass in a +state of nature after a swim, there being none to see us but the +glorious sun. The skinned perch were sweeter than any I have tasted +since. + +'Look!' whispers Orion, suddenly. The quill above the blue buoy nods as +it lifts over the wavelets--nods again, sinks a little, jerks up, and +then goes down out of sight. Orion feels the weight. 'Two pounds, if +he's an ounce!' he shouts: soon after a splendid perch is in the boat, +nearer three pounds perhaps than two. Flop! whop! how he leaps up and +down on the planks, soiled by the mud, dulling his broad back and barred +sides on the grit and sand. + +Roaming about like this with the gun, now on the water in the punt, and +now on land, we gradually came to notice very closely the game we wished +to shoot. We saw, for instance, that the rabbit when feeding or moving +freely, unless quickened by alarm, has a peculiar way of dwelling upon +his path. It almost resembles creeping; for both fore feet stop while +the hinder come up--one hinder foot slightly behind the other, and +rather wide apart. + +When a fall of snow presents a perfect impression of his passage, it +appears as if the animal had walked slowly backwards. This deceives many +who at such times go out to pick up anything that comes in their way; +for they trace the trail in the wrong direction. The truth is, that when +the rabbit pauses for the hinder feet to come up he again rests +momentarily upon these before the two foremost are put forth, and so +presses not only the paw proper but the whole first joint of the hind +leg upon the snow. A glance at the hind feet of a rabbit will show what +I mean: they will be found to display plain signs of friction against +the ground. + +The habit has given the creature considerable power of standing up on +the hinder feet; he can not only sit on his haunches, but raise himself +almost upright, and remain in that position to listen for some little +time. For the same reason he can bark the ash saplings higher up than +would be imagined: where he cannot reach, the mice climb up and nibble +straight lines across the young pole, as if done with a single stroke +from a saw that scraped away the rind but did not reach the wood. + +In front of a large rabbit bury the grass will be found discoloured with +sand at some distance from the mouth of the hole. This is explained by +particles adherent to the rabbits' hind feet, and rubbing off against +the grass blades. Country people call this peculiar gait 'sloppetting;' +and one result of it is that the rabbits wear away the grass where they +are numerous almost as much as they eat it away. + +There was such a space worn by the attrition of feet sprinkled with sand +before the extensive burrow at the top of the meadow where I shot the +woodpigeon. These marks suggested to us that we should attempt some more +wholesale system of capture than shooting. It was not for the mere +desire of destruction, but for a special purpose, that we turned our +attention to wiring. The punt, though much beloved, was, like all punts, +a very bad sailer. A boat with a keel that could tack, and so work into +the wind's eye, was our ambition. + +The blacksmith Ikey readily purchased every rabbit we obtained at +sixpence each. Rabbits were not so dear then as now; but of course he +made a large profit even then. The same rabbits at present would be +worth fifteen or eighteen pence. Every sixpence was carefully saved, but +it was clear that a long time must elapse before the goal was attained. +The blacksmith started the idea of putting up a 'turnpike'--_i.e._ a +wire--but professed ignorance as to the method of setting it. That was a +piece of his cunning--that he might escape responsibility. + +The shepherd, too, when obliquely questioned, shook his head, pursed his +lips, threw his pitching-bar over his shoulder, and marched off with a +mysterious hint that our friend Ikey would some day put his 'vut in it.' +It did not surprise us that the shepherd should turn his back on +anything of the kind; for he was a leading man among the 'Ranters,' and +frequently exhorted them in his cottage. + +The carter's lad was about at the time, and for the moment we thought of +applying to him. He was standing on the threshold of the stable, under +the horseshoes and weasles' feet nailed up to keep the witches away, +teasing a bat that he had found under the tiles. But suddenly the dusky +thing bit him sharply, and he uttered an oath; while the creature, +released, flew aimlessly into the elms. It was better to avoid him. + +Indoors, they would have put a very heavy hand upon the notion had they +known of it: so we had to rely solely upon the teaching of experiment. +In the first attempt, a stick that had been put by for the thatcher, but +which he had not yet split, was cut short and sharpened for the plug +that prevents the animal carrying away the wire when snared. This is +driven into the earth; at the projecting end a notch was cut to hold the +string attached to the end of the wire away from the run. + +A smaller stick supported the wire above the ground; this latter only +just sufficiently thrust into the sward to stand firmly upright. Willow +was used for this at first; but it is a feeble wood: it split too much, +or bent and gave way instead of holding the wire in its place. The best +for the purpose we found were the nut-tree rods that shoot up among the +hazel thickets, no larger than the shaft of an arrow, and almost as +straight. A slit about half an inch deep was made in the upper end, and +in this slit the shank of the wire was sunk. Once or twice the upright +was peeled; but this was a mistake, for the white wand was then too +conspicuous. The bark should be left on. + +Three copper wires twisted tight formed the snare itself; we twisted +them like the strands of a rope, thinking it would give more strength. +The wire projected horizontally, the loop curling downwards. It was +first set up at a spot where a very broad and much-worn run--more like a +footpath than a rabbit track--forked into several lesser runs, and at +about five yards from the hedge. But though adjusted, as we thought, +with the utmost nicety, no rabbit would put his neck into it--not even +in the darkness of the night. By day they all played round it in perfect +safety. + +After waiting some time it was removed and reset just over a hole--the +loop close to the opening. It looked scarcely possible for a rabbit to +creep out without being caught, the loop being enlarged to correspond +with the mouth of the hole. For a while it seemed as if the rabbits +declined to use the hole at all; presently, however, the loop was pushed +back, showing that one must have got his nose between it and the bank +and so made a safe passage sideways. A run that crossed the field was +then selected, and the wire erected at about the middle of it, +equidistant from either hedge. Near the entrance of the buries the +rabbits moved slowly, sniffing their way along and pausing every yard or +so. But they often increased their speed farther away, and sometimes +raced from one mound to the other. When going at that rate it appeared +natural to conclude that they would be less careful to pick and choose +their road. + +The theory proved so far correct that next day the upright was down, but +the wire had snapped and the rabbit was gone. The character of the +fracture clearly indicated how it had happened: the rabbit, so soon as +he found his head in the noose, had rolled and tumbled till the wire, +already twisted tight, parted. Too much twisting, therefore, weakened +instead of strengthening. Next a single wire, somewhat thicker, was +used, and set up nearly in the same place; but it broke again. + +Finally, two strands of medium size, placed side by side, but only +twisted once--that is, just enough to keep them together--were employed. +The lesser loop--the slip-knot, as it might be called--was at the same +time eased in order to run quicker and take a closer grip. 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. I was positive that he had not seen me, and felt sure of +bagging him; when suddenly--without any apparent cause--up went his +head, he glanced round, and was off like the wind. + +Yet there had not been the faintest noise, and I could not understand +it, till all at once it occurred to me that it must be the scent. The +slight, scarcely perceptible, breeze blew in that direction: instantly +he crossed the current from me he detected it and fled. Afterwards I +noticed that in the dusky twilight, if the wind is behind him, a hare +will run straight at you as if about to deliberately charge your legs. +This incident by the ploughed field explained the failure of the wire. +Every other care had been taken, but we had forgotten to allow for the +extreme delicacy of a wild animal's sense of smell. + +In walking to the spot selected for the snare it is best to avoid even +stepping on the run, and while setting it up to stand back as far as +convenient and lean forward. The grass that grows near must not be +touched by the hand, which seems to impart a very strong scent. The +stick that has been carried in the hand must not be allowed to fall +across the run: and be careful that your handkerchief does not drop out +of your pocket on or near it. If a bunch of grass grows very tall and +requires parting, part it with the end (not the handle) of your stick. + +The same holds good with gins, especially if placed for a rat. Some +persons strew a little freshly plucked grass over the pan and teeth of +the trap, thinking to hide it; but it not only smells of the hand, but +withers up and turns brown, and acts as a warning to that wary creature. +It is a better plan if any dead leaves are lying near to turn them over +and over with the end of a twig till they fall on the trap, that is if +they are dry: if wet (unless actually raining at the time), should one +chance to be left with the drier under surface uppermost, the rat may +pause on the brink. Now that the remotest chance of leaving a scent was +avoided the wire became a deadly instrument. Almost every morning two or +three rabbits were taken: we set up a dozen snares when we had mastered +the trick. They were found lying at full length in the crisp white +grass, for we often rose to visit the wires while yet the stars were +visible. Thus extended a person might have passed within a few yards and +never noticed them, unless he had an out-of-doors eye; for the whiter +fur of the belly as they lay aside was barely distinguishable from the +hoar frost. The blacksmith Ikey sauntered down the lane every evening, +and glanced casually behind the ash tree--the northern side of whose +trunk was clothed with dark green velvet-like moss--to see if a bag was +lying for him there among the nettles in the ditch. The rabbits were put +in the bag, which was pushed through the hedge. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + + + +TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + + +Just on the verge and borderland of the territory that could be ranged +in safety there grew a stunted oak in a mound beside the brook. Perhaps +the roots had been checked by the water; for the tree, instead of +increasing in bulk, had expended its vigour in branches so crooked that +they appeared entangled in each other. This oak was a favourite +perching-place, because of its position: it could also be more easily +climbed than straight-grown timber, having many boughs low down the +trunk. With a gun it is difficult to ascend a smooth tree; these boughs +therefore were a great advantage. + +One warm afternoon late in the summer I got up into this oak; and took a +seat astride a large limb, with the main trunk behind like the back of a +chair and about twenty feet above the mound. Some lesser branches +afforded a fork on which the gun could be securely lodged, and a limb of +considerable size came across in front. Leaning both arms on this, a +view could be obtained below and on three sides easily and without +effort. + +The mound immediately beneath was grown over with thick blackthorn, a +species of cover that gives great confidence to game. A kick or blow +upon the bushes with a stick will not move anything in an old blackthorn +thicket. A man can scarcely push through it: nothing but a dog can +manage to get about. On the meadow side there was no ditch, only a +narrow fringe of tall pointed grass and rushes, with one or two small +furze bushes projecting out upon the sward. Behind such bushes, on the +slope of the mound, is rather a favourite place for a rabbit to sit out, +or a hare to have a form. + +The brook was shallow towards the hedge, and bordered with flags, among +which rose up one tall bunch of beautiful reeds. Some little way up the +brook a pond opened from it. At the entrance the bar of mud had hardly +an inch of water; within there was a clear small space, and the rest all +weeds, with moorhens' tracks. The farther side of the pond was covered +with bramble bushes. It is a good plan to send the dogs into bushes +growing on the banks of ponds; for though rabbits dislike water itself +they are fond of sitting out in such cover near it. A low railing +enclosed the side towards me: the posts had slipped by the giving way of +the soil, and hung over the still pool. + +One of the rails--of willow--was eaten out into hollow cavities by the +wasps, which came to it generation after generation for the materials of +their nests. The particles they detach are formed into a kind of paste +or paper: in time they will quite honeycomb a pole. The third side of +the pond shelved to the 'leaze,' that the cattle might drink. From it a +narrow track went across the broad field up the rising ground to the +distant gateway leading to the meadows, where they grazed on the +aftermath. Marching day by day, one after the other in single file, to +the drinking-place, the hoofs of the herd had cut a clean path in the +turf, two or three inches deep and trodden hard. The reddish soil thus +exposed marked the winding line athwart the field, through the tussocky +bunches. + +By the pond stood a low three-sided merestone or landmark, the initials +on which were hidden under moss. Up in the tree, near the gun, there was +a dead branch that had decayed in the curious manner that seems peculiar +to oak. Where it joined the trunk the bark still remained, though +covered with lichen, and for a foot or so out; then there was a long +space where the bark and much of the wood had mouldered away; finally, +near the end the bough retained its original size and the bark adhered. +At the junction with the trunk and at the extremity its diameter was +perhaps three inches; in the middle rather less than half as much. The +grey central piece, larger and darker at either end, suggested the +thought of the bare neck of a vulture. + +Far away, just rising above the slope of the leaze, the distant tops of +elms, crowded with rooks' nests (not then occupied), showed the site of +the residence of an old gentleman of whom at that time we stood in much +fear. The 'Squire' of Southlands alarmed even the hardened carters' lads +as much by the prestige of a singular character as by the chastisement +he personally gave those who ventured into his domain. Not a bird's +nest, not a nut, must be touched: still less anything that could be +called game. The watch kept was so much the stricter because he took a +personal part in it, and was often round the fields himself armed with a +great oak staff. It seemed, indeed, as if the preservation of the game +was of far greater importance to him than the shooting of it afterwards. +All the fowls of the air flocked to Southlands, as if it had been a +refuge; yet it was not a large estate. Into the forest we had been, but +Southlands was a mystery, a forbidden garden of delight, with the terror +of an oaken staff (and unknown penalties) turning this way and that. +Therefore the stunted old oak on the verge--the moss-grown merestone by +the pond marked the limit--was so favourite a perching-place. + +That beautiful afternoon I leaned both arms idly on the great bough that +crossed in front of the seat and listened to the 'Caw--caw!' of the +rooks as they looked to see if the acorns were yet ripening. A dead +branch that had dropped partly into the brook was swayed continually up +and down by the current, the water as it chafed against it causing a +delicious murmur. This lulled me to sleep. + +I woke with a start, and had it not been for the bough crossing in front +must have fallen twenty feet. Looking down into the meadow as soon as my +eyes were thoroughly open, I instantly noticed a covey of young +partridges a little way up beside the hedge among the molehills. The +neighbourhood of those hillocks has an attraction for many birds, +especially in winter. Then fieldfares, redwings, starlings, and others +prefer the meadows that are dotted with them. In a frost if you see a +thrush on a molehill it is very likely to thaw shortly. Moles seem to +feel the least change in the temperature of the earth; if it slackens +they begin to labour, and cast up, unwittingly, food for the thrushes. + +It would have been easy to kill three or four of the covey, which was a +small one, at a single shot; but it had been a late summer, and they +were not full-grown. Besides which, they roosted, I knew, about the +middle of the meadow, and to shoot them near the roost would be certain +to break them up, and perhaps drive them into Southlands. 'Good poachers +preserve their own game:' so the birds fed safely, though a pot shot +would not have seemed, the crime then that it would now. While I watched +them suddenly the old bird 'quat,' and ran swiftly into the hedge, +followed by the rest. A kestrel was hovering in the next meadow: when +the beat of his wings ceased he slid forward and downwards, then rose +and came over me in a bold curve. Well those little brown birds in the +blackthorn knew that, fierce as he was, he dared not swoop even on a +comparatively open bush, much less such thick covert, for fear of +ruffling his proud feathers and beating them out. Nor could he follow +them through the intricate hidden passages. + +In the open water of the pond a large jack was basking in the sunshine, +just beneath the surface; and though the shot would scatter somewhat +before reaching him, he was within range. If a fish lies a few inches +under water he is quite safe from shot unless the muzzle of the gun is +so close that the pellets travel together like a bullet. At a distance +the shot is supposed to glance as it strikes the water at an angle; for +that reason the elevation of the tree was an advantage, since from it +the charge would plunge into the pool. A jack may be killed in some +depth of water when the gun is nearly perpendicularly above the mark; +but in any case the aim must be taken two inches or more, according to +circumstances, beneath the apparent position of the fish, to allow for +refraction. + +Sometimes the jack when hit comes to the surface belly upwards, but +sometimes keeps down or sinks, and floats a considerable distance away +from the spot; so that in the muddy water disturbed by the shot it is +difficult to find him. If a snake be shot at while swimming he will +sometimes sink like a stone, and can be seen lying motionless at the +bottom. After we got hold of a small deer rifle we used to practise at +the snakes in the mere--aiming at the head, which is about the size of a +nut, and shows above the surface wobbling as they move. I recollect +cutting a snake's head clean off with a ball from a pistol as he +hastened away through the grass. + +In winter, when the jacks came up and lay immediately under the ice, +they could be easily shot. The pellets cut a round hole through an inch +and a half of ice. The jack now basking in the pond was the more +tempting because we had often tried to wire him in vain. The difficulty +was to get him if hit. While I was deliberating a crow came flying low +down the leaze, and alighted by the pond. His object, no doubt, was a +mussel. He could not have seen me, and yet no sooner did he touch the +ground than he looked uneasily about, sprang up, and flew straight away, +as if he had smelt danger. Had he stayed he would have been shot, though +it would have spoiled my ambush: the idea of the crows picking out the +eyes of dying creatures was always peculiarly revolting to me. + +If the pond was a haunt of his, it was too near the young partridges, +which were weakly that season. A kestrel is harmless compared to a crow. +Surely the translators have wrongly rendered Don Quixote's remark that +the English did not kill crows, believing that King Arthur, instead of +dying, was by enchantment turned into one, and so fearing to injure the +hero. Must he not have meant a rook? [Note: It has since been pointed out +to me that the Don may have meant a raven] + +Soon afterwards something moved out of the mound into the meadow a long +distance up: it was a hare. He came slowly along beside the hedge +towards me--now stopping and looking into it as if seeking a convenient +place for a form, having doubtless been disturbed from that he had first +chosen. It was some minutes before he came within range: had I been on +the ground most likely he would have scented me, the light air going +that way; but being in, the tree the wind that passed went high over +him. For this reason a tree ambush is deadly. It was necessary to get +the line of sight clear of twigs, which check and divert shot, and to +take a steady aim; for I had no second barrel, no dog, and had to +descend the tree before running. Some leaves were blackened by the +flame: the hare simply fell back, stretched his hind legs, quivered, and +lay still. Part of the leaf of a plant was fixed in his teeth; he had +just had a nibble. + +With this success I was satisfied that day; but the old oak was always a +favourite resort, even when nothing particular was in hand. From thence, +too, as a base of operations, we made expeditions varying in their +object with the season of the year. + +Some distance beyond the stunted oak the thick blackthorn hedge was +succeeded by a continuous strip of withy-bed bordering the brook. It +often occurred to us that by entering these withies it would be possible +to reconnoitre one side of Southlands; for the stream skirted the lower +grounds: the tall willows would conceal any one passing through them. So +one spring morning the attempt was made. + +It was necessary to go on hands and knees through the mowing grass for +some yards while passing an open space where the blackthorn cover ended, +and then to leap a broad ditch that divided the withy-beds from the +meadow. The lissom willow wands parted easily and sprang back to their +places behind, leaving scarce a trace. Their slender tops rose overhead; +beneath, long dead grasses, not yet quite supplanted by the spring +growth, filled the space between. These rustled a little under foot, but +so faint a sound could scarcely have been audible outside; and had any +one noticed it it would have been attributed to a hare or a fox moving: +both are fond of lying in withy-beds when the ground is dry. + +The way to walk noiselessly is to feel with the foot before letting your +weight press on it; then the dead stick or fallen hemlock is discovered +and avoided. A dead stick cracks; the dry hollow hemlock gives a +splintering sound when crushed. These old hemlock stems were numerous in +places, together with 'gicksies,' as the haymakers call a plant that +resembles it, but has a ribbed or fluted instead of a smooth stalk. The +lads use a long 'gicks' cut between the joints as a tube to blow haws or +peggles at the girls. When thirsty, and no ale is handy, the men search +for one to suck up water with from the brook. It is difficult to find +one free from insects, which seem to be remarkably fond of anything +hollow. The haymakers do not use the hemlock, thinking it would poison +the water; they think, too, that drinking through a tube is safer when +they are in a great heat from the sun than any other way. + +Nor is it so easy to drink from a stream without this simple aid. If the +bank be flat it is wet, and what looks like the grass of the meadow +really grows out of the water; so that there it is not possible to be at +full length. If the bank be dry the level of the water is several inches +lower, and in endeavouring to drink the forehead is immersed; often the +water is so much lower than its banks that it is quite impossible to +drink from it lying. By the edge grasses, water-plantains, +forget-me-nots, frequently fill the space within reach. If you brush +these aside it disturbs the bottom, and the mud rises, or a patch of +brown 'scum' comes up and floats away. A cup, though gently used, +generally draws some insects in with the water, though the liquid itself +be pure. Lapping with the hollowed palm requires practice, and, unless +the spot be free from weeds and of some little depth, soon disturbs the +bottom. But the tube can be inserted in the smallest clear place, and +interferes with nothing. + +Each of us carried a long hazel rod, and the handle of a 'squailer' +projected from Orion's coat-pocket. For making a 'squailer' a teacup was +the best mould: the cups then in use in the country were rather larger +than those at present in fashion. A ground ash sapling with the bark on, +about as thick as the little finger, pliant and tough, formed the shaft, +which was about fifteen inches long. This was held upright in the middle +of a teacup, while the mould was filled with molten lead. It soon +cooled, and left a heavy conical knob on the end of the stick. If +rightly thrown it was a deadly missile, and would fly almost as true as +a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret could thus be knocked over; and it was +peculiarly adapted for fetching a squirrel out of a tree, because, being +so heavy at one end, it rarely lodged on the boughs, as an ordinary +stick would, but overbalanced and came down. + +From the outlook of the oak some aspen trees could be seen far up in the +withy-beds; and it had been agreed that there the first essay of the +stream should be made. On arriving at these trees we paused, and began +to fix the wires on the hazel rods. The wire for fish must slip very +easily, and the thinner it is, if strong enough, the better, because it +takes a firmer grip. A single wire will do; but two thin ones are +preferable. Thin copper wire is as flexible as thread. Brass wire is not +so good; it is stiffer, and too conspicuous in the water. + +At the shank end a stout string is attached in the middle of its length. +Then the wire is placed against the rod, lying flat upon it for about +six inches. The strings are now wound round tightly in opposite +directions, binding it to the stick, so that at the top the ends cross +and are in position to tie in the slight notch cut for the purpose. A +loop that will allow four fingers to enter together is about large +enough, though of course it must be varied according to the size of the +jack in view. Heavy jacks are not often wired, and scarcely ever in +brooks. + +For jack the shape of the loop should be circular; for trout it should +be oval, and considerably larger in proportion to the apparent bulk of +the fish. Jack are straight-grown and do not thicken much in the middle; +with trout it is different. The noose should be about six inches from +the top of the rod. Orion said he would go twenty yards farther up; I +went direct from the centre of the withy-bed to the stream. + +The bank rose a little above the level of the withy-bed; it was a broad +mound full of ash stoles and willow--the sort that is grown for poles. +At that spot the vines of wild hops had killed all the underwood, +leaving open spaces between the stoles; the vines were matted so thickly +that they hid the ground. This was too exposed a place, so I went back +and farther up till I could just hear Orion rustling through the +hemlocks. Here the dead grass and some elder bushes afforded shelter, +and the water could be approached unseen. + +It was about six or eight inches deep; the opposite shore was bordered +for several yards out with flags and rushes. The cattle nibbled their +tender tops off, as far as they could reach; farther out they were +pushing up straight and pointed. The rib and groove of the flag so +closely resemble those of the ancient bayonet that it might be supposed +the weapon was modelled from the plant. Indoors among the lumber there +was a rusty old bayonet that immediately called forth the comparison: +the modern make seem more triangular. + +The rushes grew nearer the shore of the meadow--the old ones yellow, the +young green: in places this fringe of rush and sedge and flag must have +been five or six yards wide, and it extended as far as could be seen up +the brook. No doubt the cattle trod in the edge of the firm ground by +degrees every year to get at the water, and thus widened the marsh. It +was easy to understand now why all the water-fowl, teal and duck, +moorhen and snipe, seemed in winter to make in this direction. + +The ducks especially exercised all our ingenuity and quite exhausted our +patience in the effort to get near them in winter. In the large +water-meadows a small flock sometimes remained all day: it was possible +to approach near enough by stalking behind the hedges to see the colour +of the mallards; but they were always out of gunshot. This place must be +full of teal then; as for moorhens, there were signs of them everywhere, +and several feeding in the grass. The thought of the sport to be got +here when the frosty days came was enough to make one wild. + +After a long look across, I began to examine the stream near at hand: +the rushes and flags had forced the clear sweet current away from the +meadow, so that it ran just under the bank. I was making out the brown +sticks at the bottom, when there was a slight splash--caused by Orion +about ten yards farther up--and almost at the same instant something +shot down the brook towards me. He had doubtless landed a jack, and its +fellow rushed away. Under a large dead bough that had fallen across its +top in the stream I saw the long slender fish lying a few feet from the +bank, motionless save for the gentle curving wave of the tail edges. So +faint was that waving curl that it seemed caused rather by the flow of +the current than the volition of the fish. The wings of the swallow +work the whole of the longest summer day, but the fins of the fish in +running water are never still: day and night they move continuously. + +By slow degrees I advanced the hazel rod, keeping it at first near to +and parallel with the bank, because jack do not like anything that +stretches across them; and I imagine other fish have the same dislike to +right angles. The straight shadow even seems to arouse suspicion--no +boughs are ever straight. Perhaps, if it were possible to angle without +a rod, there would be more success, particularly in small streams. But +after getting the stick almost out far enough, it became evident that +the dead branch would not let me slip the wire into the water in front +of the jack in the usual way. So I had to draw it back again as +gradually as it had been put forth. + +With fish everything must be done gradually and without a jerk. A sudden +jerking movement immediately alarms them. If you walk gently by they +remain still, but start or lift the arm quickly and they dart for deep +water. The object of withdrawing the rod was to get at and enlarge the +loop in order that it might be slipped over his tail, since the head was +protected by the bough. It is a more delicate operation to pass the wire +up from behind; it has to go farther before the spot that allows a firm +grip is reached, and fish are well aware that natural objects such as +twigs float down with the current. Anything, therefore, approaching from +behind or rubbing upwards is suspicious. As this fish had just been +startled, it would not do to let the wire touch him at all. + +After enlarging the loop I put the rod slowly forth again, worked the +wire up stream, slipped the noose over his tail, and gently got it up to +the balance of the fish. Waiting a moment to get the elbow over the end +of the rod so as to have a good leverage, I gave a sudden jerk upwards, +and felt the weight instantly. But the top of the rod struck the +overhanging bough, and there was my fish, hung indeed, but still in the +water near the surface. Nor could I throw it on the bank, because of the +elder bushes. So I shortened the rod, pulling it in towards me quickly +and dragging the jack through the water. The pliant wire had cut into +the scales and skin--he might have been safely left suspended over the +stream all day; but in the eagerness of the moment I was not satisfied +till I had him up on the mound. + +We did not see much of Southlands, because the withy-beds were on the +lowest ground; but there were six jacks strung on a twisted withy when +we got back to the stunted oak and rested there tasting acid sorrel +leaves. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + +EGG-TIME. A 'GIP'-TRAP + + +There is no sweeter time in the woods than just before the nesting +begins in earnest. Is it the rising sap that causes a pleasant odour to +emanate from every green thing? Idling along the hedgerows towards the +woodlands there may perchance be seen small tufts of white rabbit's fur +in the grass, torn from herself by the doe to form a warm lining to the +hole in which her litter will appear: a 'sign' this that often guides a +robber to her nest. + +Yonder on the rising ground, towering even in their fall over the low +(lately cut) ash plantation, lie the giant limbs of the mighty oaks, +thrown just as they felt the quickening heat. The bark has been stripped +from the trunk and branches; the sun has turned the exposed surface to a +deep buff colour, which contrasts with the fresh green of the underwood +around and renders them visible afar. + +When the oak first puts forth its buds the woods take a ruddy tint. +Gradually the background of green comes to the front, and the oak-apples +swell, streaked with rosy stains, whence their semblance to the edible +fruit of the orchard. All unconscious of the white or red cross daubed +on the rough bark, the tree prepares its glory of leaf, though doomed +the while by that sad mark to the axe. + +Cutting away the bushes with his billhook, the woodman next swings the +cumbrous grub-axe, whose wide edge clears the earth from the larger +roots. Then he puts his pipe in his pocket, and settles to the serious +work of the 'great axe,' as he calls it. I never could use this ungainly +tool aright: a top-heavy, clumsy, awkward thing, it rules you instead of +you ruling it. The handle, too, is flat--almost with an edge itself +sometimes--and is quite beyond the grasp of any but hands of iron. Now +the American axe feels balanced like a sword; this is because of the +peculiar curve of the handle. To strike you stand with the left foot +slightly forward, and the left hand uppermost: the 'S' curve (it is of +course not nearly so crooked as the letter) of the American axe adjusts +itself to the anatomy of the attitude, so to speak. + +The straight English handle does not; it is stiff, and strains the +muscles; but the common 'great axe' has the advantage that it is also +used for splitting logs and gnarled 'butts.' An American axe is too +beautiful a tool for that rude work. The American was designed to strike +at the trunk of the tree several feet from the ground, the English axe +is always directed to the great roots at the base. + +A dexterous woodman can swing his tool alternately left hand or right +hand uppermost. The difference looks trifling; but try it, and you will +be astonished at the difficulty. The blows echo and the chips fly, till +the base of the tree, that naturally is much larger, is reduced to the +size of the trunk or less. Now a pause, while one swarms up to 'line' +it--_i.e._ to attach a rope as high as possible to guide the 'stick' in +its fall. + +It is commonly said that in climbing it is best to look up--a maxim that +has been used for moral illustrations; but it is a mistake. In ascending +a tree you should never look higher than the brim of your hat, unless +when quite still and resting on a branch; temporary blindness would be +the penalty in this case. Particles of decayed bark, the borings of +insects in dead wood, dust, and fragments of twigs, rush down in little +streams and fill the eyes. The quantity of woody powder that adheres to +a tree is surprising; every motion dislodges it from a thousand minute +crevices. As for firs, in climbing a fir one cannot look up at all--dead +sticks, needles, and dust pour down, and the branches are so thick +together that the head has to be forced through them. The line fixed, +the saw is applied, and by slow degrees the butt cut nearly through. +Unless much overbalanced on one side by the limbs, an oak will stand on +a still day when almost off. + +Some now seize the rope, and alternately pull and slacken, which gives +the tree a tottering movement. One more daring than the rest drives a +wedge into the saw-cut as it opens when the tree sways. It sways--it +staggers; a loud crack as the fibres part, then with a slow heave over +it goes, and, descending, twists upon the base. The vast limbs plough +into the sward; the twigs are crushed; the boughs, after striking the +earth, rebound and swish upwards. See that you stand clear, for the +least branch will thresh you down. The flat surface of the exposed butt +is blue with stains from the steel of the saw. + +Light taps with a small sharp axe, that cut the rind but no deeper, ring +the trunk at intervals. Then the barking irons are inserted; they are +rods of iron forged at the top something like a narrow shallow spoon. +The bark from the trunk comes off in huge semi-cylinders almost large +enough for a canoe. But that from the branches is best. You may mark how +at the base the bark is two inches thick, lessening to a few lines on +the topmost boughs. If it sticks a little, hammer it with the iron: it +peels with a peculiar sound, and the juicy sap glistens white between. +It is this that, drying in the sun, gives the barked tree its colour: in +time the wood bleaches paler, and after a winter becomes grey. Inside, +the bark is white streaked with brown; presently it will be all brown. +While some strip it, others collect the pieces, and with them build +toy-like sheds of bark, which is the manner of stacking it. + +From the peeled tree there rises a sweet odour of sap: the green mead, +the green underwood and hawthorn around, are all lit up with the genial +sunbeams. The beautiful wind-anemones are gone, too tender and lovely +for so rude an earth; but the wild hyacinths droop their blue bells +under the wood, and the cowslips rise in the grass. The nightingale +sings without ceasing; the soft 'coo-coo' of the dove sounds hard by; +the merry cuckoo calls as he flies from elm to elm; the wood-pigeons +rise and smite their wings together over the firs. In the mere below the +coots are at play; they chase each other along the surface of the water +and indulge in wild evolutions. Everything is happy. As the plough-boys +stroll along they pluck the young succulent hawthorn leaves and nibble +them. + +It is the sweetest time of all for wandering in the wood. The brambles +have not yet grown so bushy as to check the passage; the thistles that +in autumn will be as tall as the shoulder and thick as a walking-stick +are as yet no bar; burrs do not attach themselves at every step, though +the broad burdock leaves are spreading wide. In its full development the +burdock is almost a shrub rather than a plant, with a woody stem an inch +or more in diameter. + +Up in the fir trees the nests of the pigeons are sometimes so big that +it appears as if they must use the same year after year, adding fresh +twigs, else they could hardly attain such bulk. Those in the ash-poles +are not nearly so large. In the open drives blue cartridge-cases lie +among the grass, the brass part tarnished by the rain, thrown hurriedly +aside from the smoking breech last autumn. But the guns are silent in +the racks, though the keeper still carries his gun to shoot the vermin, +which are extremely busy at this season. Vermin, however, do not quite +agree among themselves: weasels and stoats are deadly enemies of mice +and rats. Where rats are plentiful there they are sure to come; they +will follow a rat into a dwelling-house. + +Here the green drive shows traces of the poaching it received from the +thick-planted hoofs of the hunt when the leaves were off and the blast +of the horn sounded fitfully as the gale carried the sound away. The +vixen is now at peace, though perhaps it would scarcely be safe to +wander too near the close-shaven mead where the keeper is occupied more +and more every day with his pheasant-hatching. And far down on the +lonely outlying farms, where even in fox-hunting England the music of +the hounds is hardly heard in three years (because no great coverts +cause the run to take that way), foul murder is sometimes done on +Reynard or his family. A hedge-cutter marks the sleeping-place in the +withies where the fox curls up by day; and with his rusty gun, that +sometimes slaughters a roaming pheasant, sends the shot through the red +side of the slumbering animal. Then, thrust ignobly into a sack, he +shoulders the fox and marches round from door to door, tumbling the limp +body rudely down on the pitching stones to prove that the fowls will now +be safe, and to be rewarded with beer and small coin. A dead fox is +profit to him for a fortnight. These evil deeds of course are cloaked as +far as possible. + +Leaving now the wood for the lane that wanders through the meadows, a +mower comes sidling up, and, looking mysteriously around with his hand +behind under his coat, 'You med have un for sixpence,' he says, and +produces a partridge into whose body the point of the scythe ran as she +sat on her nest in the grass, and whose struggles were ended by a blow +from the rubber or whetstone flung at her head. He has got the eggs +somewhere hidden under a swathe. + +The men that are so expert at finding partridges' eggs to sell to the +keepers know well beforehand whereabouts the birds are likely to lay. If +a stranger who had made no previous observations went into the fields to +find these eggs, with full permission to do so, he would probably wander +in vain. The grass is long, and the nest has little to distinguish it +from the ground; the old bird will sit so close that one may pass almost +over her. Without a right of search in open daylight the difficulty is +of course much greater. A man cannot quarter the fields when the crop is +high and leave no trail. + +Farmers object to the trampling and damage of their property; and a +keeper does not like to see a labourer loafing about, because he is not +certain that the eggs when found will be conscientiously delivered to +him. They may be taken elsewhere, or they may even be broken out of +spite if the finder thinks he has a grudge to repay. Now that every +field is enclosed, and for the most part well cultivated and looked +after, the business of the egg-stealer is considerably diminished. He +cannot roam over the country at his fancy; his egg-finding is nearly +restricted to the locality of which he possesses minute knowledge. + +Thus workmen engaged in the towns, but sleeping several miles out in the +villages, can keep a register of the slight indications they observe +morning after morning as they cross the fields by the footpath to their +labour. Early in the spring they notice that the partridges have paired: +as time advances they see the pair day after day in the same meadow, and +mark the spot. Those who work in the fields, again, have still better +opportunities: the bird-keeping lads too have little else to do at that +season than watch for nests. In the meadows the labourer as he walks to +and fro with the 'bush' passes over every inch of the ground. The 'bush' +is a mass of thorn bushes fixed in a frame and drawn by a horse; it acts +like a light harrow, and leaves the meadow in strips like the pile of +green velvet, stroked in narrow bands, one this way, one that, laying +the grass blades in the directions it travels. Solitary work of this +kind--for it requires but one man--is very favourable to observation. +When the proper time arrives the searcher knows within a little where +the nest must be, and has but a small space to beat. + +The pheasant being so large a bird, its motions are easy to watch; and +the nest is speedily found, because, being in the hedge or under bushes, +there is a definite place in which to look, instead of the broad surface +of the field. Pheasants will get out of the preserves in the breeding +season and wander into the mounds, so that the space the keeper has to +range is then enlarged threefold. Both pheasants and partridges are +frequently killed on their nests; when the eggs are hard the birds +remain to the last moment, and are often knocked over. + +Besides poachers, the eggs have to run the chance of being destroyed by +carrion crows, and occasionally by rooks. Rooks, though generally +cleanly feeders, will at times eat almost anything, from a mussel to a +fledgeling bird. Magpies and jays are accused of being equally dangerous +enemies of eggs and young birds, and so too are snakes. Weasels, stoats, +and rats spare neither egg, parents, nor offspring. Some of the dogs +that run wild will devour eggs; and hawks pounce on the brood if they +see an opportunity. Owls are said to do the same. The fitchew, the +badger, and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation; but the first +is rare, the second almost exterminated in many districts; the +third--the poor hedgehog--is common, and some keepers have a bitter +dislike to them. Swine are credited, with the same mischief as the worst +of vermin at this particular season; but nowadays swine are not allowed +to run wild in cultivated districts, except in the autumn when the +acorns are falling. + +As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly accessible, and the +eggs, being large, are tempting. Perhaps the mowing machine is as +destructive as anything; and after all these there is the risk of a wet +season and of disease. Let the care exercised be never so great, a +certain amount of mortality must occur. + +While the young partridges gradually become strong and swift, the nuts +are increasing in size, and ripening upon the bough. The very hazel has +a pleasant sound--not a nut-tree hedge existed in the neighbourhood that +we did not know and visit. We noted the progress of the bushes from the +earliest spring, and the catkins to the perfect nut. + +There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the hazel in February, +though the gloom of winter lingers and the 'Shuck--a--sheck!' of the +fieldfare fleeing before the snow sounds overhead. On the slender +branches grow green ovals, from whose tips tiny scarlet plumes rise and +curl over. + +It often happens that while the tall rods with speckled bark grow +vigorously the stole is hollow and decaying when the hardy fern +flourishes around it. Before the summer ricks are all carted the nuts +are full of sweet milky matter, and the shell begins to harden. A hazel +bough with a good crook is then sought by the men that are thinking of +the wheat harvest: they trim it for a 'vagging' stick, with which to +pull the straw towards them. True reaping is now never seen: 'vagging' +makes the short stubble that forces the partridges into the turnips. +Maple boughs, whose bark is so strongly ribbed, are also good for +'vagging' sticks. + +Nut-tree is used for bonds to tie up faggots, and split for the +shepherds' hurdles. In winter sometimes a store of nuts and acorns may +be seen fallen in a stream down the side of a bank, scratched out from a +mouse's hole, as they say, by Reynard, who devours the little provident +creature without regard for its wisdom. So that man and wild animals +derive pleasure or use from the hazel in many ways. When the nuts are +ripe the carters' lads do not care to ride sideways on the broad backs +of the horses as they jog homewards along the lane, but are ever in the +hedges. + +There were plenty in the double-mounds to which we had access; but the +shepherd, who had learned his craft on the Downs, said that the nuts +grew there in such immense quantities as determined us to see them. +Sitting on the felled ash under the shade of the hawthorn hedge, where +the butcher-birds every year used to stick the humble-bees on the +thorns, he described the route--a mere waggon track--and the situation +of the largest copses. + +The waggon track we found crossed the elevated plains close under and +between the Downs, following at the foot, as it seemed, for an endless +distance the curve of a range. The slope bounded the track on one side: +on the other it was enclosed by a low bank covered with dead thorn +thickly entangled, which enclosed the cornfields. The space between the +hedge and the hill was as far as we could throw one of the bleached +flints lying on the sward. It was dotted with hawthorn trees and furze, +and full of dry brown grass. A few scattered firs, the remnants of +extinct plantations, grew on the slope, and green 'fairy rings' marked +it here and there. + +These fairy rings have a somewhat different appearance from the dark +green semicircles found in the meadows and called by the same name: the +latter are often only segments of circles, are found near hedges, and +almost always either under a tree or where a tree has been. There were +more mushrooms on the side of the hill than we cared to carry. Some eat +mushrooms raw--fresh as taken from the ground, with a little salt: to me +the taste is then too strong. Of the many ways of cooking them the +simplest is the best; that is, on a gridiron over wood embers on the +hearth. + +Every few minutes a hare started out of the dry grass: he always +scampered up the Down and stopped to look at us from the ridge. The hare +runs faster up hill than down. By the cornfields there were wire +nettings to stop them; but nothing is easier than for any passer-by who +feels an interest in hares and rabbits, and does not like to see them +jealously excluded, to open a gap. Hares were very numerous--temptingly +so. Not far from where the track crossed a lonely road was a gipsy +encampment; that swarthy people are ever about when anything is going +on, and the reapers were busy in the corn. The dead dry thorns of the +hedge answered very well to boil their pot with. Their tents, formed by +thrusting the ends of long bent rods like half-hoops into the turf, +looked dark like the canvas of a barge. + +These 'gips'--country folk do not say gipsy--were unknown to us; but we +were on terms with some members of a tribe who called at our house +several times in the course of the year to buy willow. The men wore +golden earrings, and bought 'Black Sally,' a withy that has a dark bark, +for pegs, and 'bolts' of osier for basket-making. A bolt is a bundle of +forty inches in circumference. Though the women tell fortunes, and mix +the 'dark man' and the 'light man,' the 'journey' and the 'letter' to +perfection, till the ladies half believe, I doubt if they know much of +true palmistry. The magic of the past always had a charm for me. I had +learned to know the lines, from that which winds along at the base of +the thumb-ball and if clear means health and long life, to that which +crosses close to the fingers and indicates the course of love, and had +traced them on many a delicate palm. So that the 'gips' could tell me +nothing new. + +The women are the hardiest in the country; they simply ignore the +weather. Even the hedgers and ditchers and the sturdiest labourers +choose the lee side of the hedge when they pause to eat their luncheons; +but the 'gips' do not trouble to seek such shelter. Passing over the +hills one winter's day, when the Downs looked all alike, being covered +with snow, I came across a 'gip' family sitting on the ground in a lane, +old and young exposed to the blast. In that there was nothing +remarkable, but I recollect it because the young mother, handsome in the +style of her race, had her neck and brown bust quite bare, and the white +snowflakes drove thickly aslant upon her. Their complexion looks more +dusky in winter, so that the contrast of the colours made me wish for an +artist to paint it. And he might have put the grey embers of a fire gone +out, and the twisted stem of a hawthorn bush with red haws above. + +A mile beyond the gipsy tents we entered among the copses: scattered ash +plantations, and hazel thickets with narrow green tracks between. +Further in, the nut-tree bushes were more numerous, and we became +separated though within call. Presently a low whistle like the peewit's +(our signal) called me to Orion. On the border of a thicket, near an +open field of swedes, he had found a hare in a wire. It was a +beauty--the soft fur smooth to stroke, not so much as a shot-hole in the +black-marked ears. Wired or netted hares and rabbits are much preferred +by the dealers to those that have been shot--and so, too, netted +partridges--because they look so clean and tempt the purchaser. The +blacksmith Ikey, who bought our rabbits, used to sew up the shot wounds +when they were much knocked about, and trimmed up the shattered ones in +the cleverest way. + +To pull up the plug and take wire and hare too was the first impulse; +yet we hesitated. Why did the man who set the snare let his game lie +till that hour of the day? He should have visited it long before: it had +a suspicious look altogether. It would also have been nearly impossible +to carry the hare so many miles by daylight and past villages: even with +the largest pockets it would have been doubtful, for the hare had +stiffened as he lay stretched out. So, carefully replacing him just as +we found him, we left the spot and re-entered the copse. + +The shepherd certainly was right; the quantity of nuts was immense: the +best and largest bunches grew at the edge of the thickets, perhaps +because they received more air and light than the bushes within that +were surrounded by boughs. It thus happened that we were in the green +pathway when some one suddenly spoke from behind, and, turning, there +was a man in a velveteen jacket who had just stepped out of the bushes. +The keeper was pleasant enough and readily allowed us to handle his +gun--a very good weapon, though a little thin at the muzzle--for a man +likes to see his gun admired. He said there were finer nuts in a valley +he pointed out, and then carefully instructed us how to get back into +the waggon track without returning by the same path. An old barn was the +landmark; and, with a request from him not to break the bushes, he left +us. + +Down in the wooded vale we paused. The whole thing was now clear: the +hare in the wire was a trap laid for the 'gips' whose camp was below. +The keeper had been waiting about doubtless where he could command the +various tracks up the hill, had seen us come that way, and did not wish +us to return in the same direction; because if the 'gip' saw any one at +all he would not approach his snare. Whether the hare had actually been +caught by the wire, or had been put in by the keeper, it was not easy to +tell. + +We wandered on in the valley wood, going from bush to bush, little +heeding whither we went. There are no woods so silent as the nut-tree; +there is scarce a sound in them at that time except the occasional +rustle of a rabbit, and the 'thump, thump' they sometimes make +underground in their buries after a sudden fright. So that the keen +plaintive whistle of a kingfisher was almost startling. But we soon +found the stream in the hollow. Broader than a brook and yet not quite a +river, it flowed swift and clear, so that every flint at the bottom was +visible. The nut-tree bushes came down to the edge: the ground was too +firm for much rush or sedge; the streams that come out of the chalk are +not so thickly fringed with vegetation as others. + +Some little way along there was a rounded sarsen boulder not far from +shore, whose brown top was so nearly on a level with the surface that at +one moment the water just covered it, and the next left it exposed. By +it we spied a trout; but the hill above gave 'Velvet' the command of the +hollow; and it was too risky even to think of. After that the nuts were +tame; there was nothing left but to turn homewards. As for +trout-fishing, there is nothing so easy. Take the top joint off the rod, +and put the wire on the second, which is stronger, fill the basket, and +replace the fly. There were fellows who used to paddle in canoes up a +certain river (not this little stream), pick out the largest trout, and +shoot them with pistols, under pretence of practising at water-rats. + + + + + +CHAPTER V + + + +WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + + +In a hedge that joined a wood, and about a hundred yards from it, there +was a pleasant hiding-place beside a pollard ash. The bank was hollow +with rabbit-buries: the summer heat had hardened the clay of the mound +and caused it to crack and crumble wherever their excavations left a +precipitous edge. Some way up the trunk of the tree an immense flat +fungus projected, roughly resembling the protruding lip of a savage +enlarged by the insertion of a piece of wood. If formed a black ledge +standing out seven or eight inches, two or three inches thick, and +extending for a foot or more round the bark. The pollard, indeed, was +dead inside, and near the ground the black touch-wood showed. Ash timber +must become rarer year by year: for, being so useful, it is constantly +cut down, while few new saplings are planted or encouraged to become +trees. + +In front a tangled mass of bramble arched over the dry ditch; it was +possible to see some distance down the bank, for nothing grew on the top +itself, the bushes all rising from either side--a peculiarity of clay +mounds. This narrow space was a favourite promenade of the rabbits; they +usually came out there for a few minutes first, looking about before +venturing forth into the meadows. Except a little moss, scarcely any +vegetation other than underwood clothed the bare hard soil of the mound; +and for this reason every tiny aperture that suited their purpose was +occupied by wasps. + +They much prefer a clear space about the entrance to their nests, +affording an unencumbered passage: there were two nests within a few +yards of the ash. Though so generally dreaded, wasps are really +inoffensive insects, never attacking unless previously buffeted. You may +sit close to a wasps' nest for hours, and, if you keep still, receive no +injury. Humble-bees, too, congregate in special localities: along one +hedge half a dozen nests may be found, while other fields are searched +for them in vain. + +The best time to enter such a hiding-place is a little before the sun +sinks: for as his beams turn red all the creatures that rest during the +day begin to stir. Then the hares start down from the uplands and appear +on the short stubble, where the level rays throw exaggerated shadows +behind them. When six or eight hares are thus seen near the centre of a +single field, they and their shadows seem to take possession of and +occupy it. + +Pheasants, though they retire to roost on the trees, often before rising +come forth into the meadows adjacent to the coverts. The sward in front +of the pollard ash sloped upwards gradually to the foot of a low hill +planted with firs, and just outside these about half a dozen pheasants +regularly appeared in the early evening. As the sun sank below the hill, +and the shadow of the great beeches some distance away began to extend +into the mead, they went back one by one into the firs. There they were +nearly safe, for no trees give so much difficulty to the poacher. It is +not easy even to shoot anything inside a fir plantation at night: as for +the noose, it is almost impossible to use it. The lowest pheasant is +taken first, and then the next above, like fowls perched on the rungs of +a ladder; and, indeed, it is not unlikely that those who excel in this +kind of work base their operations upon previous experiences in the hen +roost. + +The wood pigeons begin to come home, and the wood is filled with their +hollow notes: now here, now yonder, for as one ceases another takes it +up. They cannot settle for some time: each as he arrives perches awhile, +and then rises and tries a fresh place, so that there is a constant +clattering. The green woodpecker approaches at a rapid pace--now +opening, now closing his wings, and seeming to throw himself forward +rather than to fly. He rushes at the trees in the hedge as though he +could pierce the thick branches like a bullet. Other birds rise over or +pass at the side: he goes through, arrow-like, avoiding the boughs. +Instead of at once entering the wood, he stays awhile on the sward of +the mead in the open. + +As the pheasants generally feed in a straight line along the ground, so +the lesser pied woodpecker travels across the fields from tree to tree, +rarely staying on more than one branch in each, but, after examining it, +leaves all that may be on other boughs and seeks another ahead. He rises +round and round the dead branch in the elm, tapping it with blows that +succeed each other with marvellous rapidity. He taps for the purpose of +sounding the wood to see if it be hollow or bored by grubs, and to +startle the insects and make them run out for his convenience. He will +ascend dead branches barely half an inch thick that vibrate as he +springs from them, and proceeds down the hedge towards the wood. The +'snop-top' sounds in every elm, and grows fainter as he recedes. The +sound is often heard, but in the thick foliage of summer the bird +escapes unseen, unless you are sitting almost under the tree when he +arrives in it. + +Then the rooks come drifting slowly to the beeches: they are uncertain +in their hour at this season--some, indeed, scarce care to return at +all; and even when quite dusk and the faint stars of summer rather show +themselves than shine, twos and threes come occasionally through the +gloom. A pair of doves pass swiftly, flying for the lower wood, where +the ashpoles grow. The grasshoppers sing in the grass, and will continue +till the dew descends. As the little bats flutter swiftly to and fro just +without the hedge, the faint sound of their wings is audible as they +turn: their membranes are not so silent as feathers, and they agitate +them with extreme velocity. Beetles go by with a loud hum, rising from +those isolated bunches of grass that may be seen in every field; for the +cows will not eat the rank green blades that grow over and hide dried +dung. + +A large white spot, ill-defined and shapeless in the distance and the +dimness, glides along the edge of the wood, then across in front before +the fir plantation, next down the hedge to the left, and presently +passes within two yards, going towards the wood again along this mound. +It is a white owl: he flies about five feet from the ground and +absolutely without a sound. So when you are walking at night it is quite +startling to have one come overhead, approaching from behind and +suddenly appearing. This owl is almost fearless; unless purposely +alarmed he will scarcely notice you, and not at all if you are still. + +As he reaches the wood he leaves the hedge, having gone all round the +field, and crosses to a small detached circular fir plantation in the +centre. There he goes out of sight a minute or two; but presently +appears skirting the low shed and rickyard yonder, and is finally lost +behind the hedges. This round he will go every evening, and almost +exactly at the same time--that is, in reference to the sun, which is the +clock of nature. + +Step never so quietly out from the mound, the small birds that unnoticed +have come to roost in the bushes will hear it and fly off in alarm. The +rabbits that are near the hedge rush in; those that are far from home +crouch in the furrows and the bunches. Crossing the open field, they +suddenly start as it seems from under your feet--one white tail goes +dapping up and down this way, another jerks over the 'lands' that way. +The moonbeams now glisten on the double-barrel; and a bright sparkle +glitters here and there as a dewdrop catches a ray. + +Upon the grass a faint halo appears; it is a narrow band of light +encircling the path, an oval ring--perhaps rather horseshoe shape than +oval. It glides in front, keeping ever at the same distance as you walk, +as if there the eye was focussed. This is only seen when the grass is +wet with dew, and better in short grass than long. Where it shines the +grass looks a paler green. Passing gently along a hedge thickly timbered +with oak and elms, a hawk may perhaps start forth: hawks sometimes +linger by the hedges till late, but it is not often that you can shoot +one at roost except in spring. Then they invariably return to roost in +the nest tree, and are watched there, and so shot, a gunner approaching +on each side of the hedge. In the lane dark objects--rabbits--hasten +away, and presently the footpath crosses the still motionless brook near +where it flows into the mere. + +The low brick parapet of the bridge is overgrown with mosses; great +hedges grow each side, and the willows, long uncut, almost meet in the +centre. In one hedge an opening leads to a drinking-place for cattle: +peering noiselessly over the parapet between the boughs, the coots and +moorhens may be seen there feeding by the shore. They have come up from +the mere as the ducks and teal do in the winter. The broader waters can +scarcely be netted without a boat, but the brook here is the very place +for a moonlight haul. The net is stretched first across the widest spot +nearest to the pool, that no fish may escape. They swim up here in the +daytime in shoals, perch especially; but the night poachers are often +disappointed, for the fish seem to retire to deeper waters as the +darkness comes on. A black mass of mud-coated sticks, rotten twigs, and +thorn bushes, entangled in the meshes, is often the only result of much +toil. + +Once now and then, as when a preserved pond is netted, a tremendous take +occurs; but nets are rather gone by, being so unwieldy and requiring +several men to manage effectually. If they are not hung out to dry +properly after being used, they soon rot. Now, a large net stretched +along railings or a hedge is rather a conspicuous object, and brings +suspicion on the owner. It is also so heavy after use that until wrung, +which takes time, a strong man can barely carry it; and if a sudden +alarm comes it must be abandoned. + +It is pleasant to rest awhile on the parapet in the shadow of the +bushes. The low thud-thud of sculls in the rowlocks of a distant punt +travels up the water. By-and-by a hare comes along, enters on the +bridge, and almost reaches the gate in the middle before he spies +anything suspicious. Such a spot, and, indeed, any gateway, used to be a +favourite place to set a net, and then drive the hares towards it with a +cur dog that ran silent. Bold must be the man that would set a net in a +footpath now, with almost every field preserved by owner or tenant. With +a bound the hare hies back and across the meadow: the gun comes to the +shoulder as swiftly. + +On the grass lit by the moon the hare looked quite distinct, but the +moment the gaze is concentrated up the barrel he becomes a dim object +with no defined outline. In shooting on the ground by twilight or in the +moonbeams, waste no time in endeavouring to aim, but think of the hare's +ears--say a couple of feet in front of his tail--and the moment the gun +feels steady pull the trigger. The flash and report come together; there +is a dull indescribable sound ahead, as some of the shot strikes home in +fur and some drills into the turf, and then a rustling in the grass. The +moorhens dive, and the coots scuttle down the brook towards the mere at +the flash. While yet the sulphurous smoke lingers, slow to disperse, +over the cool dewy sward, there comes back an echo from the wood behind, +then another from the mere, then another and another beyond. + +The distant sculls have ceased to work in the rowlocks--those in the +punt are listening to the echoes; most likely they have been fishing for +tench in the deep holes under the black shadow of the aspens. (Tench +feed in the dark: if you wish to take a big one wait till it is +necessary to fix a piece of white paper on the float.) Now put the empty +cartridge in your pocket instead of throwing it aside; pull the hare's +neck across your knee, and hurry off. But you may safely stay to harle +him; for those very echoes that have been heard a mile round about are +the best safeguard: not one man in a thousand could tell the true +direction whence the sound of the explosion originated. + +The pleasure of wandering in a wood was so great that it could never be +resisted, and did not solely arise from the instinct of shooting. Many +expeditions were made without a gun, or any implement of destruction, +simply to enjoy the trees and thickets. There was one large wood very +carefully preserved, and so situate in an open country as not to be +easily entered. But a little observation showed that the keeper had a +'habit.' He used to come out across the wheatfields to a small wayside +'public,' and his route passed by a lonely barn and rickyard. One warm +summer day I saw him come as usual to the 'public,' and while he was +there quietly slipped as far as the barn and hid in it. + +In July such a rickyard is very hot; heat radiates from every straw. The +ground itself is dry and hard, each crevice choked with particles of +white chaff; so that even the couch can hardly grow except close under +the low hedge where the pink flower of the pimpernel opens to the sky. +White stone staddles--short conical pillars with broad capitals--stand +awaiting the load of sheaves that will shortly press on them. Every now +and then a rustling in the heaps of straw indicates the presence of +mice. From straw and stone and bare earth heat seems to rise up. The +glare of the sunlight pours from above. The black pitched wooden walls +of the barn and sheds prevent the circulation of air. There are no trees +for shadow--nothing but a few elder bushes, which are crowded at +intervals of a few minutes with sparrows rushing with a whirr of wings +up from the standing corn. + +But the high pitched roof of the barn and of the lesser sheds has a +beauty of its own--the minute vegetation that has covered the tiles +having changed the original dull red to an orange hue. From ridge to +eaves, from end to end, it is a wide expanse of colour, only varying so +much in shade as to save it from monotony. It stands out glowing, +distinct against the deep blue of the sky. The 'cheep' of fledgeling +sparrows comes from the crevices above; but swallows do not frequent +solitary buildings so much as those by dwelling-houses, being especially +fond of cattle-sheds where cows are milked. + +The proximity of animals apparently attracts them: perhaps in the more +exposed places there may be dangers from birds of prey. As for the +sparrows, they are innumerable. Some are marked with white patches--a +few so much so as to make quite a show when they fly. One handsome cock +bird has a white ring half round his neck, and his wings are a beautiful +partridge-brown. He looks larger than the common sort; and there are +several more here that likewise appear to exceed in size, and to have +the same peculiar brown. + +After a while there came the sound of footsteps and a low but cheerful +whistle. The keeper having slaked a thirst very natural on such a sultry +day returned, and re-entered the wood. I had decided that it would be +the best plan to follow in his rear, because then there would be little +chance of crossing his course haphazard, and the dogs would not sniff +any strange footsteps, since the footsteps would not be there till they +had gone by. To hide from the eyes of a man is comparatively easy; but a +dog will detect an unwonted presence in the thickest bush, and run in +and set up a yelping, especially if it is a puppy. + +It was not more than forty yards from the barn to the wood: there was no +mound or hedge, but a narrow, deep, and dry watercourse, a surface +drain, ran across. Stooping a little and taking off my hat, I walked in +this, so that the wheat each side rose above me and gave a perfect +shelter. This precaution was necessary, because on the right there rose +a steep Down, from whose summit the level wheat-fields could be easily +surveyed. So near was it that I could distinguish the tracks of the +hares worn in the short grass. But if you take off your hat no one can +distinguish you in a wheat-field, more particularly if your hair is +light: nor even in a hedge. + +Where the drain or furrow entered the wood was a wire-netting firmly +fixed, and over it tall pitched palings, sharp at the top. The wood was +enclosed with a thick hawthorn hedge that looked impassable; but the +keeper's footsteps, treading down the hedge-parsley and brushing aside +the 'gicks,' guided me behind a bush where was a very convenient gap. +These signs and the smooth-worn bark of an ash against which it was +needful to push proved that this quiet path was used somewhat +frequently. + +Inside the wood the grass and the bluebell leaves--the bloom past and +ripening to seed--so hung over the trail that it was difficult to +follow. It wound about the ash stoles in the most circuitous manner--now +to avoid the thistles, now a bramble thicket, or a hollow filled with +nettles. Then the ash poles were clothed with the glory of the +woodbine--one mass of white and yellow wax-like flowers to a height of +eight or nine feet, and forming a curtain of bloom from branch to +branch. + +After awhile I became aware that the trail was approaching the hill. At +the foot it branched; and the question arose whether to follow the fork +that zig-zagged up among the thickets or that which seemed to plunge +into the recesses beneath. I had never been in this wood before--the +time was selected because it was probable that the keeper would be +extremely occupied with his pheasant chicks. Though the earth was so +hard in the exposed rick-yard, here the clayey ground was still moist +under the shadow of the leaves. Examining the path more closely, I +easily distinguished the impression of the keeper's boot: the iron +toe-plate has left an almost perfect impression, and there were the deep +grooves formed by the claws of his dog as it had scrambled up the +declivity and the pad slipped on the clay. + +As he had taken the upward path, no doubt it led direct to the +pheasants, which was sure to be on the hill itself, or a dry and healthy +slope. I therefore took the other trail, since I must otherwise have +overtaken him; for he would stay long among his chicks: just as an +old-fashioned farmer lingers at a gate, gazing on his sheep. Advancing +along the lower path, after some fifteen minutes it turned sharply to +the right, and I stood under the precipitous cliff-like edge of the hill +in a narrow coombe. The earth at the top hung over the verge, and +beech-trees stood as it seemed in the act to topple, their exposed roots +twisting to and fro before they re-entered the face of the precipice. +Large masses of chalky rubble had actually fallen, and others were all +but detached. The coombe, of course, could be overlooked from thence; +but a moment's reflection convinced me there was no risk, for who would +dare to go near enough to the edge to look down? + +The coombe was full of fir-trees; and by them stood a long narrow +shed--the roof ruinous, but the plank walls intact. It had originally +been erected in a field, since planted for covers. This long shed, a +greenish grey from age and mouldering wood, became a place of much +interest. Along the back there were three rows of weasels and stoats +nailed through the head or neck to the planks. There had been a hundred +in each row--about three hundred altogether. The lapse of time had +entirely dissipated the substance of many on the upper row; nothing +remained but the grim and rusty nail. Further along there hung small +strips without shape. Beyond these the nails supported something that +had a rough outline still of the animal. In the second row the dried and +shrivelled creatures were closely wrapped in nature's mummy-cloth of +green; in the third, some of those last exposed still retained a dull +brown colour. None were recent. Above, under the eaves, the spiders' +webs had thickly gathered; beneath, the nettles flourished. + +But the end of the shed was the place where the more distinguished +offenders were gibbeted. A footpath, well worn and evidently much used, +went by this end, and, as I afterwards ascertained, communicated with +the mansion above and the keeper's cottage some distance below. Every +passenger between must pass the gallows where the show of more noble +traitors gave proof of the keeper's loyal activity. Four shorter rows +rose in tiers. To the nails at the top strong beaks and black feathers +adhered, much bedraggled and ruffled by weather. These crows had long +been dead; the keeper when he shot a crow did not trouble to have it +carried home, unless a nail was conspicuously vacant. The ignoble bird +was left where he fell. + +On the next row the black and white of magpies and the blue of jays +alternated. Many of the magpies had been despoiled of their tails, and +some of their wings, the feathers being saleable. The jays were more +numerous, and untouched; they were slain in such numbers that the market +for their plumage was glutted. Though the bodies were shrunken, the +feathers were in fair condition. Magpies' nests are so large that in +winter, when the leaves are off the trees, they cannot but be seen, and, +the spot being marked, in the summer old and young are easily destroyed. +Hawks filled the third row. The kestrels were the most numerous, but +there were many sparrow-hawks. These made a great show, and were stuck +so closely that a feather could hardly be thrust between them. In the +midst, quite smothered under their larger wings, were the remains of a +smaller bird--probably a merlin. But the last and lowest row, that was +also nearest, or on a level with the face of a person looking at the +gallows, was the most striking. + +This grand tier was crowded with owls--not arranged in any order, but +haphazard, causing a fine mixture of colour. Clearly this gallery was +constantly renewed. The white owl gave the prevalent tint, side by side +with the brown wood owls, and scattered among the rest, a few long +horned owls--a mingling of white, yellowish brown, and tawny feathers. +Though numerous here, yet trap and gun have so reduced the wood owls +that you may listen half the night by a cover and never hear the +'Who-hoo' that seems to demand your name. + +The barn owls are more liable to be shot, because they are more +conspicuous; but, on the other hand, as they often breed and reside away +from covers, they seem to escape. For months past one of these has +sailed by my window every evening uttering a hissing 'skir-r-r.' Here, +some were nailed with their backs to the wall, that they might not hide +their guilty faces. + +The delicate texture of the owl's feathers is very remarkable: these +birds remind me of a huge moth. The owls were more showy than the hawks, +though it is commonly said that without sunlight there is no colour--as +in the case of plants grown in darkness. Yet the hawks are day birds, +while the owls fly by night. There came the sound of footsteps; and I +retreated, casting one glance backward at the black and white, the blue +and brown colours that streaked the wall, while the dull green weasels +were in perpetual shadow. By night the bats would flit round and about +that gloomy place. It would not do to return by the same path, lest +another keeper might be coming up it; so I stepped into the wood itself. +To those who walk only in the roads, hawks and owls seem almost rare. +But a wood is a place to which they all flock; and any wanderer from the +north or west naturally tends thither. This wood is of large extent; but +even to the smaller plantations of the Downs it is wonderful what a +number come in the course of a year. Besides the shed just visited, +there would be certain to be another more or less ornamented near the +keeper's cottage, and probably others scattered about, where the +commoner vermin could be nailed without the trouble of carrying them far +away. Only the owls and hawks, magpies, and such more striking evidences +of slaughter were collected here, and almost daily renewed. + +To get into the wood was much easier than to get out, on account of the +thick hedge, palings, and high sharp-sparred gates; but I found a dry +ditch where it was possible to creep under the bushes into a meadow +where was a footpath. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + +LURCHER-LAND: 'THE PARK' + + +The time of the apple-bloom is the most delicious season in Sarsen +village. It is scarcely possible to obtain a view of the place, although +it is built on the last slope of the Downs, because just where the +ground drops and the eye expects an open space, plantations of fir and +the tops of tall poplars and elms intercept the glance. In ascending +from the level meadows of the vale thick double mounds, heavily timbered +with elm, hide the houses until you are actually in their midst. + +Those only know a country who are acquainted with its footpaths. By the +roads, indeed, the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go through the +heart of the land. There are routes by which mile after mile may be +travelled without leaving the sward. So you may pass from village to +village; now crossing green meads, now cornfields, over brooks, past +woods, through farmyard and rick 'barken.' But such tracks are not +mapped, and a stranger misses them altogether unless under the guidance +of an old inhabitant. + +At Sarsen the dusty road enters the more modern part of the village at +once, where the broad signs hang from the taverns at the cross-ways and +where the loafers steadily gaze at the new comer. The Lower Path, after +stile and hedge and elm, and grass that glows with golden buttercups, +quietly leaves the side of the double mounds and goes straight through +the orchards. There are fewer flowers under the trees, and the grass +grows so long and rank that it has already fallen aslant of its own +weight. It is choked, too, by masses of clog-weed, that springs up +profusely over the site of old foundations; so that here ancient masonry +may be hidden under the earth. Indeed, these orchards are a survival +from the days when the monks laboured in vineyard and garden, and mayhap +even of earlier times. When once a locality has got into the habit of +growing a certain crop it continues to produce it for century after +century; and thus there are villages famous for apple or pear or cherry, +while the district at large is not at all given to such culture. + +The trunks of the trees succeed each other in endless ranks, like +columns that support the most beautiful roof of pink and white. Here the +bloom is rosy, there white prevails: the young green is hidden under the +petals that are far more numerous than leaves, or even than leaves will +be. Though the path really is in shadow as the branches shut out the +sun, yet it seems brighter here than in the open, as if the place were +illuminated by a million tiny lamps shedding the softest lustre. The +light is reflected and apparently increased by the countless flowers +overhead. + +The forest of bloom extends acre after acre, and only ceases where +hedges divide, to commence again beyond the boundary. A wicket gate, all +green with a film of vegetation over the decaying wood, opens under the +very eaves of a cottage, and the path goes by the door--across a narrow +meadow where deep and broad trenches, green now, show where ancient +stews or fishponds existed, and then through a farmyard into a lane. +Tall poplars rise on either hand, but there seem to be no houses; they +stand, in fact, a field's breadth back from the lane, and are approached +by footpaths that every few yards necessitate a stile in the hedge. + +When a low thatched farmhouse does abut upon the way, the blank white +wall of the rear part faces the road, and the front door opens on +precisely the other side. Hard by is a row of beehives. Though the +modern hives are at once more economical and humane, they have not the +old associations that cling about the straw domes topped with broken +earthenware to shoot off the heavy downfall of a thunderstorm. + +Everywhere the apple-bloom; the hum of bees; children sitting on the +green beside the road, their laps full of flowers; the song of finches; +and the low murmur of water that glides over flint and stone so shadowed +by plants and grasses that the sunbeams cannot reach and glisten on it. +Thus the straggling flower-strewn village stretches along beneath the +hill and rises up the slope, and the swallows wheel and twitter over the +gables where are their hereditary nesting-places. The lane ends on a +broad dusty road, and, opposite, a quiet thatched house of the larger +sort stands, endways to the street, with an open pitching before the +windows. There, too, the swallows' nests are crowded under the eaves, +flowers are trained against the wall, and in the garden stand the same +beautiful apple-trees. But within, the lower part of the windows--that +have recess seats--are guarded by horizontal rods of iron, polished by +the backs of many men. It is an inn, and the rods are to save the panes +from the impact of an excited toper's arm. + +The talk to-day, as the brown brandy, which the paler cognac has not yet +superseded, is consumed, and the fumes of coarse tobacco and the smell +of spilt beer and the faint sickly odour of evaporating spirits +overpower the flowers, is of horses. The stable lads from the training +stables far up on the Downs drop in or call at the door without +dismounting. Once or twice in the day a tout calls and takes his 'grub,' +and scribbles a report in the little back parlour. Sporting papers, +beer-stained and thumb-marked, lie on the tables; framed portraits of +racers hang on the walls. Burly men, who certainly cannot ride a race, +but who have horse in every feature, puff cigars and chat in jerky +monosyllables that to an outsider are perfectly incomprehensible. But +the glib way in which heavy sums of money are spoken of conveys the +impression that they dabble in enormous wealth. + +There are dogs under the tables and chairs; dogs in the window-seat; +dogs panting on the stone flags of the passage, after a sharp trot +behind a trap, choosing the coolest spot to loll their red tongues out; +dogs outside in the road; dogs standing on hind legs, and painfully +lapping the water in the horse-trough; and there is a yapping of puppies +in the distance. The cushions of the sofa are strewn with dogs' hairs, +and once now and then a dog leisurely hops up the staircase. + +Customers are served by the landlady, a decent body enough in her way: +her son, the man of the house, is up in the 'orchut' at the rear, +feeding his dogs. Where the 'orchut' ends in a paddock stands a small +shed: in places the thatch on the roof has fallen through in the course +of years and revealed the bare rafters. The bottom part of the door has +decayed, and the long nose of a greyhound is thrust out sniffing through +a hole. Dickon, the said son, is delighted to undo the padlock for a +visitor who is 'square.' In an instant the long hounds leap up, half a +dozen at a time, and I stagger backwards, forced by the sheer vigour of +their caresses against the doorpost. Dickon cannot quell the uproarious +pack: he kicks the door open, and away they scamper round and round the +paddock at headlong speed. + +What a joy it is to them to stretch their limbs! I forget the squalor of +the kennel in watching their happy gambols. I cannot drink more than one +tumbler of brown brandy and water; but Dickon overlooks that weakness, +feeling that I admire his greyhounds. It is arranged that I am to see +them work in the autumn. + +The months pass, and in his trap with the famous trotter in the shafts +we roll up the village street. Apple-bloom and golden fruit too are +gone, and the houses show more now among the bare trees; but as the rim +of the ruddy November sun comes forth from the edge of a cloud there +appears a buff tint everywhere in the background. When elm and ash are +bare the oaks retain their leaves, and these are illumined by the autumn +beams. Over-topped by tall elms and hidden by the orchards, the oaks +were hardly seen in summer; now they are found to be numerous and give +the prevailing hue to the place. + +Dickon taps the dashboard as the mare at last tops the hill, and away +she speeds along the level plateau for the Downs. Two greyhounds are +with us; two more have gone on under charge of a boy. Skirting the hills +a mile or two, we presently leave the road and drive over the turf: +there is no track, but Dickon knows his way. The rendezvous is a small +fir plantation, the young trees in which are but shoulder-high. Below is +a plain entirely surrounded by the hills, and partly green with root +crops: more than one flock of sheep is down there, and two teams +ploughing the stubble. Neither the ploughmen nor the shepherds take the +least heed of us, except to watch for the sport. The spare couple are +fastened in the trap; the boy jumps up and takes the reins. Dickon puts +the slip on the couple that are to run first, and we begin to range. + +Just at the foot of the hill the grass is tall and grey; there, too, are +the dead dry stalks of many plants that cultivation has driven from the +ploughed fields and that find a refuge at the edge. A hare starts from +the very verge and makes up the Downs. Dickon slips the hounds, and a +faint halloo comes from the shepherds and the ploughmen. It is a +beautiful sight to see the hounds bound over the sward; the sinewy back +bends like a bow, but a bow that, instead of an arrow, shoots itself; +the deep chests drink the air. Is there any moment so joyful in life as +the second when the chase begins? As we gaze, before we even step +forward, the hare is over the ridge and out of sight. Then we race and +tear up the slope; then the boy in the trap flaps the reins and away +goes the mare out of sight too. + +Dickon is long and rawboned, a powerful fellow, strong of limb, and +twice my build; but he sips too often at the brown brandy, and after the +first burst I can head him. But he knows the hills and the route the +hare will take, so that I have but to keep pace. In five minutes as we +cross a ridge we see the game again; the hare is circling back--she +passes under us not fifty yards away, as we stand panting on the hill. +The youngest hound gains, and runs right over her; she doubles, the +older hound picks up the running. By a furze-bush she doubles again; but +the young one turns her--the next moment she is in the jaws of the old +dog. + +Again and again the hounds are slipped, now one couple, now the other: +we pant, and can scarcely speak with running, but the wild excitement of +the hour and the sweet pure air of the Downs supply fresh strength. The +little lad brings the mare anywhere: through the furze, among the +flint-pits, jolting over the ruts, she rattles along with sure alacrity. +There are five hares in the sack under the straw when at last we get up +and slowly drive down to the highway, reaching it some two miles from +where we left it. Dickon sends the dogs home by the boy on foot; we +drive round and return to the village by a different route, entering it +from the opposite direction. + +The reason of these things is that Sarsen has no great landlord. There +are fifty small proprietors, and not a single resident magistrate. +Besides the small farmers, there are scores of cottage owners, every one +of whom is perfectly independent. Nobody cares for anybody. It is a +republic, without even the semblance of a Government. It is liberty, +equality, and swearing. As it is just within the limit of a borough, +almost all the cottagers have votes, and are not to be trifled with. The +proximity of horse-racing establishments adds to the general atmosphere +of dissipation. Betting, card-playing, ferret-breeding and dog-fancying, +poaching and politics, are the occupations of the populace. A little +illicit badger-baiting is varied by a little vicar-baiting; the mass of +the inhabitants are the reddest of Reds. Que voulez-vous? + +The edges of some large estates come up near, but the owners would +hardly like to institute a persecution of these turbulent folk. If they +did, where would be their influence at the next election? If a landlord +makes himself unpopular, his own personal value depreciates. He is a +nonentity in the committee-room, and his help rather deprecated by the +party than desired. The Sarsen fellows are not such fools as to break +pheasant preserves in the vale; as they are resident, that would not +answer. They keep outside the _sanctum sanctorum_ of the pheasant +coverts. But with ferret, dog, and gun, and now and then a partridge net +along the edge of the standing barley, they excel. So, too, with the +wire; and the broad open Downs are their happy hunting grounds, +especially in misty weather. + +This is the village of the apple-bloom, the loveliest spot imaginable. +After all, they are not such desperately bad fellows if you deduct their +sins against the game laws. They are a jovial lot, and free with their +money; they stand by one another--a great virtue in these cold-blooded +days. If one gets in trouble with the law the rest subscribe the fine. +They are full of knowledge of a certain sort, and you may learn +anything, from the best way to hang a dog upwards. + +When we reach the inn, and Dickon calls for the brown brandy, there in +the bar sits a gamekeeper, whose rubicund countenance beams with good +humour. He is never called upon to pay his score. Good fellow! in +addition he is popular, and every one asks him to drink: besides which, +a tip for a race now and then makes this world wear a smiling aspect to +him. + +Dickon's 'unconscious education'--absorbed rather than learnt in +boyhood--had not been acquired under conditions likely to lead him to +admire scenery. But, rough as he was, he was a good-natured fellow, and +it was through him that I became acquainted with a very beautiful place. + +The footpath to The Park went for about half a mile under the shadow of +elm trees, and in spring time there was a continual noise of young rooks +in the nests above. Occasionally dead twigs, either dislodged from the +nests or broken off by the motions of the old birds, came rustling down. +One or two nests that had been blown out strewed the sward with half a +bushel of dead sticks. After the rookery the path passed a lonely dairy, +where the polished brazen vessels in the skilling glittered like gold in +the sunshine. Farther on came wide open meadows with numerous oak-trees +scattered in the midst--the outposts of the great wood at hand. The elms +were flourishing and vigorous; but these detached oaks were decaying, +and some dead, their hoar antiquity contrasting with the green grass and +flowers of the mead. + +The mansion was hidden by elm and chestnut, pines and sombre cedars. +From the edge of the lawn the steep slope of the Down rose, planted with +all manner of shrubs, the walks through which were inches deep in dead +leaves, needles, and fir-cones. Long neglect had permitted these to +accumulate, and the yew hedges had almost grown together and covered the +walk they bordered. + +The woods and preserves extended along the Downs, between the hills and +the meadows beneath. There was one path through these woods that led +into a narrow steep-sided coombe, one side of which was planted with +firs. On the other was a little grass, but so thin as scarcely to cover +the chalk. This side jutted out from the general line of the hills, and +formed a bold bluff, whose white precipitous cliff was a landmark for +many miles. In climbing the coombe, it was sometimes necessary to grasp +the bunches of grass; for it would have been impossible to recover from +a slip till, bruised and shaken, you rolled to the bottom, and perhaps +into the little streamlet flowing through the hollow. + +The summit was of small extent, but the view beautiful. A low fence of +withy had long since decayed, nothing but a few rotten stakes remaining +at the very verge of the precipice. Steep as it was, there were some +ledges that the rabbits frequented, making their homes in mid-air. +Further along, the slope, a little less perpendicular, was covered with +nut-tree bushes, where you could scramble down by holding to the boughs. +There was a tradition of a fox-hunter, in the excitement of the chase, +forcing his horse to descend through these bushes and actually reaching +the level meadows below in safety. + +Impossible as it seemed, yet when the hounds were in full cry beneath it +was easy to understand that in the eagerness of the moment a horseman at +the top might feel tempted to join the stirring scene at any risk: for +the fox frequently ran just below, making along the line of coverts; and +from that narrow perch on the cliff the whole field came into sight at +once. There was Reynard slipping ahead, and two or more fields behind +the foremost of the pack, while the rest, rushing after, made the hills +resound with their chiding. The leaders taking the hedges, the main +squadron splashing through a marshy place, the outsiders straining to +come up, and the last man behind, who rode harder than any--all could be +seen at the same time. + +It was a lovely spot, too, for dreaming on a summer's day, reclining on +the turf, with the harebells swinging in the faint breeze. The extreme +solitude was its charm: no lanes or tracks other than those purely +pastoral came near. There were woods on either hand; in the fir +plantations the jays chattered unceasingly. The broad landscape +stretched out to the illimitable distance, till the power of the eye +failed and could trace it no farther. But if the gaze was lifted it +looked into blue space--the azure heaven not only overhead, but, as it +seemed, all around. + +Dickon was always to and fro the mansion here, and took me with him. His +object was ostensibly business: now it was a horse to buy, now a fat +bullock or sheep; now it was an acre or two of wood that was to be cut. +The people of the mansion were so much from home that their existence +was almost forgotten, and they were spoken of vaguely as 'on the +Continent.' There was, in fact, a lack of ready-money, perhaps from the +accumulation of settlements, that reduced the nominal income of the head +to a tithe of what it should have been. + +Yet they were too proud to have in the modern builder, the modern +upholsterer, and, most dreadful of all, the modern 'gardener,' to put in +French sashes, gilding and mirrors, and to root up the fine old yew +hedges and level the grand old trees. Such is the usual preparation +before an advertisement appears that a mansion of 'historic +association,' and 'replete with every modern convenience,' is to let, +with some thousand of acres of shooting, &c. + +They still kept up an establishment of servants--after a fashion--who +did much as they pleased. Dickon was a great favourite. As for myself, a +mere dreamy lad, I could go into the woods and wander as I liked, which +was sufficient. But I recollect the immense kitchen very well, and the +polished relics of the ancient turnspit machinery. There was a door from +it opening on a square stone-flagged court with a vertical sun-dial on +the wall; and beyond that ranges of disused coach-houses--all cloudy, as +it were, with cobwebs hanging on old-fashioned post-chaises. Dickon was +in love with one of the maids, a remarkably handsome girl. + +She showed me the famous mantelpiece, a vast carved work, under which +you could stand upright. The legend was that once a year on a certain +night a sable horse and cloaked horseman rode across that great +apartment, flames snorting from the horse's nostrils, and into the +fireplace, disappearing with a clap of thunder. She brought me, too, an +owl from the coach-houses, holding the bird by the legs firmly, her hand +defended by her apron from the claws. + +The butler was a little merry fellow, extremely fond of a gun, and +expert in using it. He seemed to have nothing to do but tell tales and +sing, except at the rare intervals when some of the family returned +unexpectedly. The keeper was always up there in the kitchen; he was as +pleasant and jovial as a man could well be, though full of oaths on +occasion. He was a man of one tale--of a somewhat enigmatical character. +He would ask a stranger if they had ever heard of such-and-such a +village where water set fire to a barn, ducks were drowned, and pigs cut +their own throats, all in a single day. + +It seemed that some lime had been stored in the barn, when the brook +rose and flooded the place; this slaked the lime and fired the straw, +and so the barn. Something of the same kind happens occasionally on the +river barges. The ducks were in a coop fastened down, so that they could +not swim on the surface of the flood, which passed over and drowned +them. The pigs were floated out of the sty, and in swimming their +sharp-edged hoofs struck their fat jowls just behind the ear at every +stroke till they cut into the artery, and so bled to death. Where he got +this history from I do not know. + +One bright October morning (towards the end of the month) Dickon drove +me over to the old place with his fast trotter--our double-barrels +hidden under some sacks in the trap. The keeper was already waiting in +the kitchen, sipping a glass of hot purl; the butler was filling every +pocket with cartridges. After some comparison of their betting-books, +for Dickon, on account of his acquaintance with the training +establishments, was up to most moves, we started. The keeper had to send +a certain number of pheasants and other game to the absent family and +their friends every now and then, and this duty was his pretext. There +was plenty of shooting to be got elsewhere, but the spice of naughtiness +about this was alluring. To reach that part of the wood where it was +proposed to shoot the shortest way led across some arable fields. + +Fieldfares and redwings rose out of the hedges and flew away in their +peculiarly scattered manner--their flocks, though proceeding in the same +direction, seeming all loose and disordered. Where the ploughs had been +at work already the deep furrows were full of elm leaves, wafted as they +fell from the trees in such quantities as to make the groove left by the +share level with the ridges. A flock of lapwings were on the clods in an +adjacent field, near enough to be seen, but far beyond gunshot. There +might perhaps have been fifty birds, all facing one way and all +perfectly motionless. They were, in fact, watching us intently, although +not apparently looking towards us: they act so much in concert as to +seem drilled. So soon as the possibility of danger had gone by each +would begin to feed, moving ahead. + +The path then passed through the little meadows that joined the wood: +and the sunlight glistened on the dew, or rather on the hoar frost that +had melted and clung in heavy drops to the grass. Here one flashed +emerald; there ruby; another a pure brilliance like a diamond. Under +foot by the stiles the fallen acorns crunched as they split into halves +beneath the sudden pressure. + +The leaves still left on the sycamores were marked with large black +spots: the horse-chestnuts were quite bare; and already the tips of the +branches carried the varnish-coloured sheaths of the buds that were to +appear the following spring. These stuck to the finger if touched, as if +they really had been varnished. Through the long months of winter they +would remain, till under April showers and sunshine the sheath fell back +and the green leaflets pushed up, the two forming together a rude cross +for a short time. + +The day was perfectly still, and the colours of the leaves still left +glowed in the sunbeams. Beneath, the dank bronzed fern that must soon +shrivel was wet, and hung with spiders' webs that like a slender netting +upheld the dew. The keeper swore a good deal about a certain gentleman +farmer whose lands adjoined the estate, but who held under a different +proprietor. Between these two there was a constant bickering--the tenant +angry about the damage done to his crops by the hares and rabbits, and +the keeper bitterly resenting the tenant's watch on his movements, and +warnings to his employer that all was not quite as it should be. + +The tenant had the right to shoot, and he was always about in the +turnips--a terrible thorn in the side of Dickon's friend. The tenant +roundly declared the keeper a rascal, and told his master so in written +communications. The keeper declared the tenant set gins by the wood, in +which the pheasants stepped and had their legs smashed. Then the tenant +charged the keeper with trespassing; the other retorted that he decoyed +the pheasants by leaving peas till they dropped out of the pods. In +short, their hatred was always showing itself in some act of guerrilla +warfare. As we approached the part of the woods fixed on, two of the +keeper's assistants, carrying thick sticks, stepped from behind a hedge, +and reported that they had kept a good watch, and the old fox (the +tenant) had not been seen that morning. So these fellows went round to +beat, and the guns were got ready. + +Sometimes you could hear the pheasants running before they reached the +low-cropped hawthorn hedge at the side of the plantation; sometimes they +came so quietly as to appear suddenly out from the ditch, having crept +through. Others came with a tremendous rush through the painted leaves, +rising just before the hedge; and now and then one flew screaming high +over the tops of the firs and ash-poles, his glossy neck glowing in the +sunlight and his long tail floating behind. These last pleased me most, +for when the shot struck the great bird going at that rate even death +could not at once arrest his progress. The impetus carried him yards, +gradually slanting downwards till he rolled in the green rush bunches. + +Then a hare slipped out and ran the gauntlet, and filled the hollow with +his cries when the shot broke his hindquarters, till the dog had him. +Jays came in couples, and green woodpeckers singly: the magpies +cunningly flew aside instead of straight ahead; they never could do +anything straightforward. A stoat peeped out, but went back directly +when a rabbit whose retreat had been cut off bolted over his most +insidious enemy. Every now and then Dickon's shot when he fired high cut +the twigs out of the ash by me. Then came the distant noise of the +beaters' sticks, and the pheasants, at last thoroughly disturbed, flew +out in twos and threes at a time. Now the firing grew fierce, and the +roll of the volleys ceaseless. It was impossible to jam the cartridges +fast enough in the breech. + +A subtle flavour of sulphur filled the mouth, and the lips became dry. +Sunshine and gleaming leaves and sky and grass seemed to all disappear +in the fever of the moment. The gun burned the hands, all blackened by +the powder; the metal got hotter and hotter; the sward was poached and +trampled and dotted with cases; shot hissed through the air and pattered +in showers on the opposite plantation; the eyes, bleared and bloodshot +with the smoke, could scarce see to point the tube. Pheasants fell, and +no one heeded; pheasants escaped, and none noticed it; pheasants were +but just winged and ran wounded into the distant hedges; pheasants were +blown out of all living shape and could hardly be gathered up. Not a +word spoken: a breathless haste to load and blaze; a storm of shot and +smoke and slaughter. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + +OBY AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER'S CALENDAR + + +One dark night, as I was walking on a lonely road, I kicked against +something, and but just saved myself from a fall. It was an intoxicated +man lying at full length. As a rule, it is best to let such people +alone; but it occurred to me that the mail-cart was due; with two horses +harnessed tandem-fashion, and travelling at full speed, the mail would +probably go over him. So I seized the fellow by the collar and dragged +him out of the way. Then he sat up, and asked in a very threatening tone +who I was. I mentioned my name: he grunted, and fell back on the turf, +where I left him. + +The incident passed out of my mind, when one afternoon a labourer +called, asking for me in a mysterious manner, and refusing to +communicate his business to any one else. When admitted, he produced a +couple of cock pheasants from under his coat, the tail feathers much +crumpled, but otherwise in fine condition. These he placed on the table, +remarking, 'I ain't forgot as you drawed I out of the raud thuck night.' +I made him understand that such presents were too embarrassing; but he +seemed anxious to do 'summat,' so I asked him to find me a few ferns and +rare plants. + +This he did from time to time; and thus a species of acquaintanceship +grew up, and I learned all about him. He was always called 'Oby' (_i.e._ +Obadiah), and was the most determined poacher of a neighbouring +district--a notorious fighting man--hardened against shame, an +Ishmaelite openly contemning authority and yet not insensible to +kindness. I give his history in his own language--softening only the +pronunciation, that would otherwise be unintelligible. + +'I lives with my granny in Thorney-lane: it be outside the village. My +mother be married agen, you see, to the smith: her have got a cottage as +belongs to her. My brother have got a van and travels the country; and +sometimes I and my wife goes with him. I larned to set up a wire when I +went to plough when I were a boy, but never took to it regular till I +went a-navigating [navvying] and seed what a spree it were. + +'There ain't no such chaps for poaching as they navigators in all +England: I means where there be a railway a-making. I've knowed forty of +'em go out together on a Sunday, and every man had a dog, and some two; +and good dogs too--lots of 'em as you wouldn't buy for ten quid. They +used to spread out like, and sweep the fields as clean as the crownd of +your hat. Keepers weren't no good at all, and besides they never knowed +which place us was going to make for. One of the chaps gave I a puppy, +and he growed into the finest greyhound as you'd find in a day's walk. +The first time I was took up before the bench I had to go to gaol, +because the contractor had broke and the works was stopped, so that my +mates hadn't no money to pay the fine. + +'The dog was took away home to granny by my butty [comrade], but one of +the gentlemen as seed it in the court sent his groom over and got it off +the old woman for five pound. She thought if I hadn't the hound I should +give it up, and she come and paid me out of gaol. It was a wonder as I +didn't break her neck; only her was a good woman, you see, to I. But I +wouldn't have parted with that hound for a quart-full of sovereigns. +Many's a time I've seed his name--they changed his name, of course--in +the papers for winning coursing matches. But we let that gent as bought +him have it warm; we harried his pheasants and killed the most of 'em. + +'After that I came home, and took to it regular. It ain't no use unless +you do it regular. If a man goes out into the fields now and then +chance-like he don't get much, and is most sure to be caught--very +likely in the place of somebody else the keepers were waiting for and as +didn't come. I goes to work every day the same as the rest, only I +always take piece-work, which I can come to when I fancy, and stay as +late in the evening as suits me with a good excuse. As I knows +navigating, I do a main bit of draining and water-furrowing, and I gets +good wages all the year round, and never wants for a job. You see, I +knows more than the fellows as have never been at nothing but plough. + +'The reason I gets on so well poaching is because I'm always at work out +in the fields, except when I goes with the van. I watches everything as +goes on, and marks the hare's tracks and the rabbit buries, and the +double mounds and little copses as the pheasants wanders off to in the +autumn. I keeps a 'nation good look-out after the keeper and his men, +and sees their dodges--which way they walks, and how they comes back +sudden and unexpected on purpose. There's mostly one about with his eyes +on me--when they sees me working on a farm they puts a man special to +look after me. I never does nothing close round where I'm at work, so he +waits about a main bit for nothing. + +'You see by going out piece-work I visits every farm in the parish. The +other men they works for one farmer for two or three or maybe twenty +years; but I goes very nigh all round the place--a fortnight here and a +week there, and then a month somewhere else. So I knows every hare in +the parish, and all his runs and all the double mounds and copses, and +the little covers in the corners of the fields. When I be at work on one +place I sets my wires about half a mile away on a farm as I ain't been +working on for a month, and where the keeper don't keep no special +look-out now I be gone. As I goes all round, I knows the ways of all the +farmers, and them as bides out late at night at their friends', and they +as goes to bed early; and so I knows what paths to follow and what +fields I can walk about in and never meet nobody. + +'The dodge is always to be in the fields and to know everybody's ways. +Then you may do just as you be a-mind. All of 'em knows I be a-poaching; +but that don't make no difference for work; I can use my tools, and do +it as well as any man in the country, and they be glad to get me on for +'em. They farmers as have got their shooting be sharper than the +keepers, and you can't do much there; but they as haven't got the +shooting don't take no notice. They sees my wires in the grass, and just +looks the other way. If they sees I with a gun I puts un in ditch till +they be gone by, and they don't look among the nettles. + +'Some of them as got land by the wood would like I to be there all day +and night. You see, their clover and corn feeds the hares and pheasants; +and then some day when they goes into the market and passes the +poultry-shop there be four or five score pheasants a-hanging up with +their long tails a-sweeping in the faces of them as fed 'em. The same +with the hares and the rabbits; and so they'd just as soon as I had +'em--and a dalled deal sooner--out of spite. Lord bless you! if I was to +walk through their courtyards at night with a sack over my shoulders +full of you knows what, and met one of 'em, he'd tell his dog to stop +that yowling, and go in doors rather than see me. As for the rabbits, +they hates they worse than poison. They knocks a hare over now and then +themselves on the quiet--bless you! I could tell tales on a main few, +but I bean't such a fellow as that. + +'But, you see I don't run no risk except from the keeper hisself, the +men as helps un, and two or three lickspittles as be always messing +round after a ferreting job or some wood-cutting, and the Christmas +charities. It be enough to make a man sick to see they. This yer parish +be a very big un, and a be preserved very high, and I can do three times +as much in he as in the next un, as ain't much preserved. So I sticks to +this un. + +'Of course they tried to drive I out of un, and wanted the cottage; but +granny had all the receipts for the quit-rent, and my lard and all the +lawyers couldn't shove us out, and there we means to bide. You have seed +that row of oaks as grows in the hedge behind our house. One of 'em +leaned over the roof, and one of the limbs was like to fall; but they +wouldn't cut him, just to spite us, and the rain dripping spoilt the +thatch. So I just had another chimney built at that end for an oven, and +kept up the smoke till all the tree that side died. I've had more than +one pheasant through them oaks, as draws 'em: I had one in a gin as I +put in the ditch by my garden. + +'They started a tale as 'twas I as stole the lambs a year or two ago, +and they had me up for it; but they couldn't prove nothing agen me. Then +they had me for unhinging the gates and drowning 'em in the water, but +when they was going to try the case they two young farmers as you know +of come and said as they did it when they was tight, and so I got off. +They said as 'twas I that put the poison for the hounds when three on +'em took it and died while the hunt was on. It were the dalledest lie! I +wouldn't hurt a dog not for nothing. The keeper hisself put that poison, +I knows, 'cause he couldn't bear the pack coming to upset the pheasants. +Yes, they been down upon I a main bit, but I means to bide. All the +farmers knows as I never touched no lamb, nor even pulled a turmot, and +they never couldn't get no witnesses. + +'After a bit I catched the keeper hisself and the policeman at it; and +there be another as knows it, and who do you think that be? It be the +man in town as got the licence to sell game as haves most of my hares; +the keeper selled he a lot as the money never got to my lard's pocket +and the steward never knowed of. Look at that now! So now he shuts his +eye and axes me to drink, and give me the ferreting job in Longlands +Mound; but, Lord bless 'ee, I bean't so soft as he thinks for. + +'They used to try and get me to fight the keeper when they did catch me +with a wire, but I knowed as hitting is transporting, and just put my +hands in my pockets and let 'em do as they liked. _They_ knows I bean't +afraid of 'em in the road; I've threshed more than one of 'em, but I +ain't going to jump into _that_ trap. I've been before the bench, at one +place and t'other, heaps of times, and paid the fine for trespass. Last +time the chairman said to I, "So you be here again, Oby; we hear a good +deal about you." I says, "Yes, my lard, I be here agen, but people never +don't hear nothing about _you_." That shut the old duffer up. Nobody +never heard nothing of he, except at rent-audit. + +'However, they all knows me now--my lard and the steward, and the keeper +and the bailies, and the farmers; and they don't take half the notice of +I as they used to. The keeper he don't dare, nor the policeman as I +telled you, and the rest be got used to me and my ways. And I does very +well one week with t'other. One week I don't take nothing, and the next +I haves a good haul, chiefly hares and rabbits; 'cause of course I never +goes into the wood, nor the plantations. It wants eight or ten with +crape masks on for that job. + +'I sets up about four wires, sometimes only two; if you haves so many it +is a job to look after 'em. I stops the hare's other runs, so that she +is sure to come along mine where I've got the turnpike up: the trick is +to rub your hand along the runs as you want to stop, or spit on 'em, or +summat like that; for a hare won't pass nothing of that sort. So pussy +goes back and comes by the run as I've chose: if she comes quick she +don't holler; if she comes slow she squeals a bit sometimes before the +wire hangs her. Very often I bean't fur off and stops the squealing. +That's why I can't use a gin--it makes 'em holler so. I ferrets a +goodish few rabbits on bright nights in winter. + +'As for the pheasants, I gets them mostly about acorn-time; they comes +out of the plantations then. I keeps clear of the plantations, because, +besides the men a-watching, they have got dogs chained up, and +alarm-guns as goes off if you steps on the spring; and some have got a +string stretched along as you be pretty sure to kick against, and then, +bang! and all the dogs sets up a yowling. Of course it's only powder, +but it brings the keepers along. But when the acorns and the berries be +ripe, the pheasants comes out along the hedges after 'em, and gets up at +the haws and such like. They wanders for miles, and as they don't care +to go all the way back to roost they bides in the little copses as I +told you of. They come to the same copses every year, which is curious, +as most of them as will come this year will be shot before next. + +'If I can't get 'em the fust night, I just throws a handful or two of +peas about the place, and they'll be sure to stay, and likely enough +bring two or three more. I mostly shoots 'em with just a little puff of +powder as you wouldn't hear across one field, especially if it's a windy +night. I had a air-gun, as was took from me, but he weren't much go: I +likes a gun as throws the shot wide, but I never shoots any but +roosters, unless I catch 'em standing still. + +'All as I can tell you is as the dodge is this: you watch everybody, and +be always in the fields, and always work one parish till you knows every +hare in un, and always work by yourself and don't have no mates.' + +There were several other curious characters whom we frequently saw at +work. The mouchers were about all the year round, and seemed to live in, +or by the hedges, as much as the mice. These men probably see more than +the most careful observer, without giving it a thought. + +In January the ice that freezes in the ditches appears of a dark colour, +because it lies without intervening water on the dead brown leaves. +Their tint shows through the translucent crystal, but near the edge of +the ice three white lines or bands run round. If by any chance the ice +gets broken or upturned, these white bands are seen to be caused by +flanges projecting from the under surface, almost like stands. They are +sometimes connected in such a way that the parallel flanges appear like +the letter 'h' with the two down-strokes much prolonged. In the morning +the chalky rubble brought from the pits upon the Downs and used for +mending gateways leading into the fields glistens brightly. Upon the +surface of each piece of rubble there adheres a thin coating of ice: if +this be lightly struck it falls off, and with it a flake of the chalk. +As it melts, too, the chalk splits and crumbles; and thus in an ordinary +gateway the same process may be seen that disintegrates the most +majestic cliff. + +The stubbles--those that still remain--are full of linnets, upon which +the mouching fowler preys in the late autumn. And when at the end of +January the occasional sunbeams give some faint hope of spring, he +wanders through the lanes carrying a decoy bird in a darkened cage, and +a few boughs of privet studded with black berries and bound round with +rushes for the convenience of handling. + +The female yellow-hammers, whose hues are not so brilliant as those of +the male birds, seem as winter approaches to flock together, and roam +the hedges and stubble fields in bevies. Where loads of corn have passed +through gates the bushes often catch some straws, and the tops of the +gateposts, being decayed and ragged, hold others. These are neglected +while the seeds among the stubble, the charlock, and the autumn +dandelion are plentiful and while the ears left by the gleaners may +still be found. But in the shadowless winter days, hard and cold, each +scattered straw is sought for. + +A few days before the new year [1879] opened I saw a yellow-hammer +attacking, in a very ingenious manner, a straw that hung pendent, the +ear downwards, from the post of a windy gateway. She fluttered up from +the ground, clung to the ear, and outspread her wings, keeping them +rigid. The draught acted on the wings, just as the breeze does on a +paper kite, and there the bird remained supported without an effort +while the ear was picked. Now and then the balance was lost, but she was +soon up again, and again used the wind to maintain her position. The +brilliant cockbirds return in the early spring, or at least appear to do +so, for the habits of birds are sometimes quite local. + +It is probable that in severe and continued frost many hedgehogs die. On +January 19 [1879], in the midst of the sharp weather, a hedgehog came to +the door opening on the garden at night, and was taken in. Though +carefully tended, the poor creature died next day: it was so weak it +could scarcely roll itself into a ball. As the vital heat declined the +fleas deserted their host and issued from among the spines. In February, +unless it be a mild season, the mounds are still bare; and then under +the bushes the ground may be sometimes seen strewn with bulbous roots, +apparently of the blue-bell, lying thickly together and entirely +exposed. + +The moucher now carries a bill-hook, and as he shambles along the road +keeps a sharp look-out for briars. When he sees one the roots of which +are not difficult to get at, and whose tall upright stem is green--if +dark it is too old--he hacks it off with as much of the root as +possible. The lesser branches are cut, and the stem generally trimmed; +it is then sold to the gardeners as the stock on which to graft standard +roses. In a few hours as he travels he will get together quite a bundle +of such briars. He also collects moss, which is sold for the purpose of +placing in flowerpots to hide the earth. The moss preferred is that +growing on and round stoles. + +The melting of the snow and the rains in February cause the ditches to +overflow and form shallow pools in the level meadows. Into these +sometimes the rooks wade as far as the length of their legs allows them, +till the discoloured yellow water almost touches the lower part of the +breast. The moucher searches for small shell snails, of which quantities +are sold as food for cage birds, and cuts small 'turfs' a few inches +square from the green by the roadside. These are in great request for +larks, especially at this time of the year, when they begin to sing with +all their might. + +Large flocks of woodpigeons are now in every field where the tender +swede and turnip tops are sprouting green and succulent. These 'tops' +are the moucher's first great crop of the year. The time that they +appear varies with the weather: in a mild winter some may be found early +in January; if the frost has been severe there may be none till March. +These the moucher gathers by stealth; he speedily fills a sack, and goes +off with it to the nearest town. Turnip tops are much more in demand now +than formerly, and the stealing of them a more serious matter. This +trade lasts some time, till the tops become too large and garden greens +take their place. + +In going to and fro the fields the moucher searches the banks and digs +out primrose 'mars,' and ferns with the root attached, which he hawks +from door to door in the town. He also gathers quantities of spring +flowers, as violets. This spring [1879], owing to the severity of the +season, there were practically none to gather, and when the weather +moderated the garden flowers preceded those of the hedge. Till the 10th +of March not a spot of colour was to be seen. About that time bright +yellow flowers appeared suddenly on the clayey banks and waste places, +and among the hard clay lumps of fields ploughed but not sown. + +The brilliant yellow formed a striking contrast to the dull brown of the +clods, there being no green leaf to moderate the extremes of tint. These +were the blossoms of the coltsfoot, that sends up a stalk surrounded +with faintly rosy scales. Several such stalks often spring from a single +clod: lift the heavy clod, and you have half a dozen flowers, a whole +bunch, without a single leaf. Usually the young grasses and the +seed-leaves of plants have risen up and supply a general green; but this +year the coltsfoot bloomed unsupported, studding the dark ground with +gold. + +Now the frogs are busy, and the land lizards come forth. Even these the +moucher sometimes captures; for there is nothing so strange but that +some one selects it for a pet. The mad March hares scamper about in +broad daylight over the corn, whose pale green blades rise in straight +lines a few inches above the soil. They are chasing their skittish +loves, instead of soberly dreaming the day away in a bunch of grass. The +ploughman walks in the furrow his share has made, and presently stops to +measure the 'lands' with the spud. His horses halt dead in the tenth of +a second at the sound of his voice, glad to rest for a minute from their +toil. Work there is in plenty now, for stone-picking, hoeing, and other +matters must be attended to; but the moucher lounges in the road +decoying chaffinches, or perhaps earns a shilling by driving some +dealer's cattle home from fair and market. + +By April his second great crop is ready--the watercress; the precise +time of course varies very much, and at first the quantities are small. +The hedges are now fast putting on the robe of green that gradually +hides the wreck of last year's growth. The withered head of the teazle, +black from the rain, falls and disappears. Great burdock stems lie +prostrate. Thick and hard as they are while the sap is still in them, in +winter the wet ground rots the lower part till the blast overthrows the +stalk. The hollow 'gicks' too, that lately stood almost to the shoulder, +is down, or slanting, temporarily supported by some branch. Just +between the root and the stalk it has decayed till nothing but a narrow +strip connects the dry upper part with the earth. The moucher sells the +nests and eggs of small birds to townsfolk who cannot themselves wander +among the fields, but who love to see something that reminds them of the +green meadows. + +As the season advances and the summer comes he gathers vast quantities +of dandelion leaves, parsley, sowthistle, clover, and so forth, as food +for the tame rabbits kept in towns. If his haunt be not far from a +river, he spends hours collecting bait--worm and grub and fly--for the +boatmen, who sell them again to the anglers. + +Again there is work in the meadows--the haymaking is about, and the +farmers are anxious for men. But the moucher passes by and looks for +quaking grass, bunches of which have a ready sale. Fledgeling +goldfinches and linnets, young rabbits, young squirrels, even the nest +of the harvest-trow mouse, and occasionally a snake, bring him in a +little money. He picks the forget-me-nots from the streams and the +'blue-bottle' from the corn: bunches of the latter are sometimes sold in +London at a price that seems extravagant to those who have seen whole +fields tinted with its beautiful azure. By-and-by the golden wheat calls +for an army of workers; but the moucher passes on and gathers groundsel. + +Then come the mushrooms: he knows the best places, and soon fills a +basket full of 'buttons' picking them very early in the morning. These +are then put in 'punnets' by the greengrocers and retailed at a high +price. Later the blackberries ripen and form his third great crop; the +quantity he brings in to the town is astonishing, and still there is +always a customer. The blackberry harvest lasts for several weeks, as +the berries do not all ripen at once, but successively, and is +supplemented by elderberries and sloes. The moucher sometimes sleeps on +the heaps of disused tan in a tanyard; tanyards are generally on the +banks of small rivers. The tan is said to possess the property of +preserving those who sleep on it from chills and cold, though they may +lie quite exposed to the weather. + +There is generally at least one such a man as this about the outskirts +of market towns, and he is an 'original' best defined by negatives. He +is not a tramp, for he never enters the casual wards and never +begs--that is, of strangers; though there are certain farmhouses where +he calls once now and then and gets a slice of bread and cheese and a +pint of ale. He brings to the farmhouse a duck's egg that has been +dropped in the brook by some negligent bird, or carries intelligence of +the nest made by some roaming goose in a distant withy-bed. Or once, +perhaps, he found a sheep on its back in a narrow furrow, unable to get +up and likely to die if not assisted, and by helping the animal to gain +its legs earned a title to the owner's gratitude. + +He is not a thief; apples and plums and so on are quite safe, though the +turnip-tops are not: there is a subtle casuistry involved here--the +distinction between the quasi-wild and the garden product. He is not a +poacher in the sense of entering coverts, or even snaring a rabbit. If +the pheasants are so numerous and so tame that passing carters have to +whip them out of the way of the horses, it is hardly wonderful if one +should disappear now and then. Nor is he like the Running Jack that used +to accompany the more famous packs of fox-hounds, opening gates, holding +horses, and a hundred other little services, and who kept up with the +hunt by sheer fleetness of foot. + +Yet he is fleet of foot in his way, though never seen to run; he _pads_ +along on naked feet like an animal, never straightening the leg, but +always keeping the knee a little bent. With a basket of watercress slung +at his back by a piece of tar-cord, he travels rapidly in this way; his +feet go 'pad, pad' on the thick white dust, and he easily overtakes a +good walker and keeps up the pace for miles without exertion. The +watercress is a great staple, because it lasts for so many months. +Seeing the nimble way in which he gathers it, thrusting aside the +brook-lime, breaking off the coarser sprays, snipping away pieces of +root, sorting and washing, and thinking of the amount of work to be got +through before a shilling is earned, one would imagine that the slow, +idling life of the labourer, with his regular wages, would be far more +enticing. + +Near the stream the ground is perhaps peaty: little black pools appear +between tufts of grass, some of them streaked with a reddish or +yellowish slime that glistens on the surface of the dark water; and as +you step there is a hissing sound as the spongy earth yields, and a tiny +spout is forced forth several yards distant. Some of the drier part of +the soil the moucher takes to sell for use in gardens and flower-pots as +peat. + +The years roll on, and he grows old. But no feebleness of body or mind +can induce him to enter the workhouse; he cannot quit his old haunts. +Let it rain or sleet, or let the furious gale drive broken boughs across +the road, he still sleeps in some shed or under a straw-rick. In sheer +pity he is committed every now and then to prison for vagabondage--not +for punishment, but in order to save him from himself. It is in vain: +the moment he is out he returns to his habits. All he wants is a little +beer--he is not a drunkard--and a little tobacco, and the hedges. Some +chilly evening, as the shadows thicken, he shambles out of the town, and +seeks the limekiln in the ploughed field, where, the substratum being +limestone, the farmer burns it. Near the top of the kiln the ground is +warm; there he reclines and sleeps. + +The night goes on. Out from the broken blocks of stone now and again +there rises a lambent flame, to shine like a meteor for a moment and +then disappear. The rain falls. The moucher moves uneasily in his sleep; +instinctively he rolls or crawls towards the warmth, and presently lies +extended on the top of the kiln. The wings of the water-fowl hurtle in +the air as they go over; by-and-by the heron utters his loud call. + +Very early in the morning the quarryman comes to tend his fire, and +starts to see on the now redhot and glowing stones, sunk below the rim, +the presentment of a skeleton formed of the purest white ashes--a +ghastly spectacle in the grey of the dawn, as the mist rises and the +peewit plaintively whistles over the marshy meadow. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + +CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + + +The tower of the church at Essant Hill was so low that it scarcely +seemed to rise above the maples in the hedges. It could not be seen +until the last stile in the footpath across the meadows was passed. +Church and tower then came into view together on the opposite side of a +large open field. A few aged hawthorn trees dotted the sward, and beyond +the church the outskirts of a wood were visible, but no dwellings could +be seen. Upon a second and more careful glance, however, the chimney of +a cottage appeared above a hedge, so covered with ivy as hardly to be +separated from the green of the boughs. + +There were houses of course somewhere in Essant, but they were so +scattered that a stranger might doubt the existence of the village. A +few farmsteads long distances apart, and some cottages standing in green +lanes and at the corners of the fields, were nearly all; there was +nothing resembling a 'street'--not so much as a row. The church was in +effect the village, and the church was simply the mausoleum of the +Dessant family, the owners of the place. Essant Hill as a name had been +rather a problem to the archologists, there being no hill: the ground +was quite level. The explanation at last admitted was that Essant Hill +was a corruption of D'Essantville. + +It seemed probable that the population had greatly diminished; because, +although the church was of great antiquity, there was space still for +interments in the yard. A yew tree of immense size stood in one corner, +and was by tradition associated with the fortunes of the family. Though +the old trunk was much decayed, yet there were still green and +flourishing shoots; so that the superstitious elders said the luck of +the house was returning. + +Within, the walls of the church were covered with marble slabs, and the +space was reduced by the tombs of the Dessants, one with a recumbent +figure; there were two brasses level with the pavement, and in the +chancel hung the faded hatchments of the dead. For the pedigree went +back to the Battle of Hastings, and there was scarce room for more +heraldry. From week's end to week's end the silent nave and aisles +remained empty; the chirp of the sparrows was the only sound to be heard +there. There being no house attached to the living, the holder could not +reside; so the old church slumbered in the midst of the meadows, the +hedges, and woods, day after day, year after year. + +You could sit on the low churchyard wall in early summer under the shade +of the elms in the hedge, whose bushes and briars came right over, and +listen to the whistling of the blackbirds or the varied note of the +thrush; you might see the whitethroat rise and sing just over the hedge, +or look upwards and watch the swallows and swifts wheeling, wheeling, +wheeling in the sky. No one would pass to disturb your meditations, +whether simply dreaming of nothing in the genial summer warmth, or +thinking over the course of history since the prows of the Norman ships +grounded on the beach. If we suppose the time, instead of June, to be +August or September, there would not even be the singing of the birds. +But as you sat on the wall, by-and-by the pheasants, tame as chickens, +would come up the hedge and over into the churchyard. + +Leaving the church to stroll by the footpath across the meadow towards +the wood, at the first gateway half-a-dozen more pheasants scatter +aside, just far enough to let you pass. In the short dusty lane more +pheasants; and again at the edge of the cornfield. None of these show +any signs of alarm, and only move just far enough to avoid being trodden +on. Approaching the wood there are yet more pheasants, especially near +the fir plantations that come up to the keeper's cottage and form one +side of the enclosure of his garden. The pheasants come up to the door +to pick up what they can--not long since they were fed there--and then +wander away between the slender fir trunks, and beyond them out into the +fields. + +The path leads presently into a beautiful park, the only defect of which +is that it is without undulation. It is quite level; but still the +clumps of noble timber are pleasant to gaze upon. In one spot there +still stands the grey wall and buttress of some ancient building, +doubtless the relic of an ecclesiastical foundation. The present mansion +is not far distant; it is of large size, but lacks elegance. Inside, +nothing that modern skill can supply to render a residence comfortable, +convenient, and (as art is understood in furniture) artistic has been +neglected. + +Behind the fir plantations there is an extensive range of stabling, +recently erected, with all the latest improvements. A telegraph wire +connects the house with the stable, so that carriage or horse may be +instantly summoned. Another wire has been carried to the nearest +junction with the general telegraphic system; so that the resident in +this retired spot may communicate his wishes without a moment's delay to +any part of the world. + +In the gardens and pleasure-grounds near the house all manner of +ornamental shrubs are planted. There are conservatories, vineries, +pineries; all the refinements of horticulture. The pheasants stray about +the gravel walks and across the close-mown lawn where no daisy dares to +lift its head. Yet, with all this precision of luxury, one thing is +lacking--_the_ one thing, the keystone of English country life--_i.e._ a +master whose heart is in the land. + +The estate is in process of 'nursing' for a minor. The revenues had +become practically sequestrated to a considerable extent in consequence +of careless living when the minor nominally succeeded. It happened that +the steward appointed was not only a lawyer of keen intelligence, but a +conscientious man. He did his duty thoroughly. Every penny was got out +of the estate that could be got, and every penny was saved. + +First, the rents were raised to the modern standard, many of them not +having been increased for years. Then the tenants were in effect ordered +to farm to the highest pitch, and to improve the soil itself by liberal +investment. Buildings, drains, and so forth were provided for them; they +only had to pay a small percentage upon the money expended in +construction. In this there was nothing that could be complained of; but +the hard, mechanical, unbending spirit in which it was done--the absence +of all kind of sympathy--caused a certain amount of discontent. The +steward next proceeded to turn the mansion, the park, home farm, and +preserves into revenue. + +Everything was prepared to attract the wealthy man who wanted the +temporary use of a good country house, first-class shooting and hunting. +He succeeded in doing what few gentlemen have accomplished: he made the +pheasants pay. One reason, of course, was that gentlemen have expenses +outside and beyond breeding and keeping: the shooting party itself is +expensive; whereas here the shooting party paid hard cash for their +amusement. The steward had no knowledge of pheasants; but he had a wide +experience of one side of human nature, and he understood accounts. + +The keepers were checked by figures at every turn, finding it impossible +to elude the businesslike arrangements that were made. In revenue the +result was highly successful. The mansion with the first-class shooting, +hunting, and lovely woodlands--every modern convenience and comfort in +the midst of the most rural scenery--let at a high price to good +tenants. There was an income from what had previously been profitless. +Under this shrewd management the estate was fast recovering. + +At the same time the whole parish groaned in spirit. The farmers +grumbled at the moral pressure which forced them to progress in spite of +themselves. They grumbled at the strange people who took up their +residence in their midst and suddenly claimed all the loyalty which was +the due of the old family. These people hunted over their fields, jumped +over the hedges, glanced at them superciliously, and seemed astonished +if every hat was not raised when they came in sight. The farmers felt +that they were regarded as ignorant barbarians, and resented the +town-bred insolence of people who aped the country gentleman. + +They grumbled about the over-preservation of game, and they grumbled +about the rabbits. The hunt had its grumble too because some of the +finest coverts were closed to the hounds, and because they wanted to +know what became of the foxes that formerly lived in those coverts. Here +was a beautiful place--a place that one might dream life away in--filled +with all manner of discontent. + +Everything was done with the best intention. But the keystone was +wanting--the landlord, the master, who had grown up in the traditions of +the spot, and between whom and the people there would have been, even +despite of grievances, a certain amount of sympathy. So true is it that +in England, under the existing system of land tenure, an estate cannot +be worked like the machinery of a factory. + +At first, when the pheasant-preserving began to reach such a height, +there was a great deal of poaching by the resident labourers. The +temptation was thrust so closely before their faces they could not +resist it. When pheasants came wandering into the cottage gardens, and +could even be enticed into the sheds and so secured by simply shutting +the door, men who would not have gone out of their way to poach were led +to commit themselves. + +There followed a succession of prosecutions and fines, till the place +began to get a reputation for that sort of thing. It was at last +intimated to the steward by certain gentlemen that this course of +prosecution was extremely injudicious. For it is a fact--a fact +carefully ignored sometimes--that resident gentlemen object to +prosecutions, and, so far from being anxious to fine or imprison +poachers, would very much rather not. The steward took the hint, and +instead increased his watchers. But by this time the novelty of +pheasants roaming about like fowls had begun to wear off, and their +services were hardly needed. Men went by pheasants with as much +indifference as they would pass a tame duck by the roadside. + +Such poachers as visited the woods came from a distance. Two determined +raids were carried out by strangers, who escaped. Every now and then +wires were found that had been abandoned, but the poaching ceased to be +more than is usual on most properties. So far as the inhabitants of the +parish were concerned it almost ceased altogether; but every now and +then the strollers, gipsies, and similar characters carried off a +pheasant or a hare, or half a dozen rabbits. These offenders when +detected were usually charged before the Bench at a market town not many +miles distant. Let us follow one there. + +The little town of L----, which has not even a branch railway, mainly +consists of a long street. In one part this street widens out, so that +the houses are some forty yards or more apart, and it then again +contracts. This irregularly shaped opening is the market-place, and here +in the centre stands a rude-looking building. It is supported upon thick +short pillars, and was perhaps preceded by a wooden structure. Under +these pillars there is usually a shabby chaise or two run in for cover, +and the spot is the general rendezvous of all the dogs in the town. + +This morning there are a few loafers hanging round the place; and the +tame town pigeons have fluttered down, and walk with nodding heads +almost up to them. These pigeons always come to the edge of a group of +people, mindful of the stray grain and peas that fall from the hands of +farmers and dealers examining samples on market days. Presently, two +constables come across carrying a heavy, clumsy box between them. They +unlock a door, and take the box upstairs into the hall over the pillars. +After them saunters a seedy man, evidently a clerk, with a rusty black +bag; and after him again--for the magistrates' Clerk's clerk must have +_his_ clerk--a boy with some leather-bound books. + +Some of the loafers touch their hats as a gentleman--a magistrate--rides +up the street. But although the church clock is striking the hour fixed +for the sessions to begin he does not come over to the hall upon +dismounting in the inn-yard, but quietly strolls away to transact some +business with the wine-merchant or the saddler. There really is not the +least hurry. The Clerk stands in the inn porch calmly enjoying the +September sunshine, and chatting with the landlord. Two or three more +magistrates drive up; presently the chairman strolls over on foot from +his house, which is almost in the town, to the inn, and joins in the +pleasant gossip going on there, of course in a private apartment. + +Up in the justice-room the seedy Clerk's clerk is leaning out of the +window and conversing with a man below who has come along with a +barrow-load of vegetables from his allotment. Some boys are spinning +tops under the pillars. On the stone steps that lead up to the hall a +young mother sits nursing her infant; she is waiting to 'swear' the +child. In the room itself several gipsy-looking men and women lounge in +a corner. At one end is a broad table and some comfortable chairs behind +it. In front of each chair, on the table, two sheets of clean foolscap +have been placed on a sheet of blotting-paper. These and a variety of +printed forms were taken from the clumsy box that is now open. + +At last there is a slight stir as a group is seen to emerge from the +inn, and the magistrates take their seats. An elderly man who sits by +the chair cocks his felt hat on the back of his head: the clerical +magistrate very tenderly places his beaver in safety on the broad +mantelpiece, that no irreverent sleeve may ruffle its gloss: several +others who rarely do more than nod assent range themselves on the +flanks; one younger man who looks as if he understood horses pulls out +his toothpick. The chairman, stout and gouty, seizes a quill and sternly +looks over the list of cases. + +Half a dozen summonses for non-payment of rates come first; then a +dispute between a farmer and his man. After this the young mother +'swears' her child; and, indeed, there is some very hard swearing here +on both sides. A wrangle between two women--neighbours--who accuse each +other of assault, and scream and chatter their loudest, comes next. +Before they decide it, the Bench retire, and are absent a long time. + +By degrees a buzz arises, till the justice-room is as noisy as a market. +Suddenly the door of the private room opens, and the Clerk comes out; +instantly the buzz subsides, and in the silence those who are nearest +catch something about the odds and the St. Leger, and an anything but +magisterial roar of laughter. The chairman appears, rigidly compressing +his features, and begins to deliver his sentence before he can sit down, +but the solemn effect is much marred by the passing of a steam ploughing +engine. The audience, too, tend away towards the windows to see whose +engine it is. + +'Silence!' cries the Clerk, who has himself been looking out of window; +the shuffling of feet ceases, and it is found that after this long +consultation the Bench have dismissed both charges. The next case on the +list is poaching; and at the call of his name one of the gipsy-looking +men advances, and is ordered to stand before that part of the table +which by consent represents the bar. + +'Oby Bottleton,' says the Clerk, half reading, half extemporizing, and +shuffling his papers to conceal certain slips of technicality; 'you are +charged with trespassing in pursuit of game at Essant Hill--that you did +use a wire on the estate--on land in the occupation of Johnson.'--'It's +a lie!' cries a good-looking, dark-complexioned woman, who has come up +behind the defendant (the whilome navvy), and carries a child so wrapped +in a shawl as to be invisible. 'Silence! or you'll have to go outside +the court. Mr. Dalton Dessant will leave the Bench during the hearing of +this case.' Mr. Dalton Dessant, one of the silent magistrates already +alluded to, bows to the chairman, and wriggles his chair back about two +feet from the table. There he gazes at the ceiling. He is one of the +trustees of the Essant Hill property; and the Bench are very careful to +consult public opinion in L---- borough. + +The first witness is an assistant keeper: the head keeper stands behind +him--a fine man, still upright and hearty-looking, but evidently at the +beginning of the vale of years; he holds his hat in his hand; the +sunlight falls through the casement on his worn velveteen jacket. The +assistant, with the aid of a few questions from the Clerk, gives his +evidence very clear and fairly. 'I saw the defendant's van go down the +lane,' he says: + +'It bean't my van,' interrupts the defendant; 'it's my brother's.' + +'You'll have an opportunity of speaking presently,' says the Clerk. 'Go +on' (to the witness). + +'After the van went down the lane, it stopped by the highway-road, and +the horse was taken out. The women left the van with baskets, and went +towards the village.' + +'Yes, yes; come to the point. Did you hide yourself by order of the head +keeper?' + +'I did--in the nutwood hedge by Three Corner Piece; after a bit I saw +the defendant.' + +'Had you any reason for watching there?' + +'There was a wire and a rabbit in it.' + +'Well, what happened?' + +'I waited a long time, and presently the defendant got over the gate. He +was very particular not to step on the soft mud by the gate--he kind of +leaped over it, not to leave the mark of his boots. He had a lurcher +with him, and I was afraid the dog would scent me in the hedge.' + +'You rascal!' (from the defendant's wife). + +'But he didn't, and, after looking carefully round, the defendant picked +up the rabbit, and put it and the wire in his pocket.' + +'What did you do then?' + +'I got out of the hedge and came towards him. Directly he saw me he ran +across the field; I whistled as loud as I could, and he' (jerking a +thumb back towards the head keeper) 'came out of the firs into the lane +and stopped him. We found the wire and the rabbit in his pocket, and two +more wires. I produce the wires.' + +This was the sum of the evidence; the head keeper simply confirmed the +latter part of it. Oby replied that it was all false from beginning to +end. He had not got corduroy trousers on that day, as stated. He was not +there at all: he was in the village, and he could call witnesses to +prove it. The Clerk reminded the audience that there was such a thing as +imprisonment for perjury. + +Then the defendant turned savagely on the first witness, and admitted +the truth of his statement by asking what he said when collared in the +lane. 'You said you had had a good lot lately, and didn't care if you +was nailed this time.' + +'Oh, what awful lies!' cried the wife. 'It's a wonder you don't fall +dead!' + +'You were not there,' the Clerk remarked quietly. 'Now, Oby, what is +your defence? Have you got any witnesses?' + +'No; I ain't got no witnesses. All as I did, I know I walked up the +hedge to look for mushrooms. I saw one of them things'--meaning the +wires on the table--'and I just stooped down to see what it was, 'cos I +didn't know. I never seed one afore; and I was just going to pick it up +and look at it' (the magistrates glance at each other, and cannot +suppress a smile at this profound innocence), 'when this fellow jumped +out and frightened me. I never seed no rabbit.' + +'Why, you put the rabbit in your pocket,' interrupts the first witness. + +'Never mind,' said the Clerk to the witness; 'let him go on.' + +'That's all as I got to say,' continues the defendant. 'I never seed no +such things afore; and if he hadn't come I should have put it down +again.' + +'But you were trespassing,' said the Clerk. + +'I didn't know it. There wasn't no notice-board.' + +'Now, Oby,' cried the head keeper, 'you know you've been along that lane +this ten years.' + +'That will do' (from the chairman); 'is there any more evidence?' + +As none was forthcoming, the Bench turned a little aside and spoke in +low tones. The defendant's wife immediately set up a sobbing, varied +occasionally by a shriek; the infant woke up and cried, and two or three +women of the same party behind began to talk in excited tones about +'Shame.' The sentence was 2_l_. and costs--an announcement that caused a +perfect storm of howling and crying. + +The defendant put his hands in his pockets with the complacent +expression of a martyr. 'I must go to gaol a' spose; none of ourn ever +went thur afore: a' spose _I_ must go.' 'Come,' said the Clerk, 'why, +you or your brother bought a piece of land and a cottage not long +ago,'--then to the Bench, 'They're not real gipsies: he is a grandson of +old Bottleton who had the tollgate; you recollect, Sir.' + +But the defendant declares he has no money; his friends shake their +heads gloomily; and amid the shrieking of his wife and the crying of the +child he is removed in the custody of two constables, to be presently +conveyed to gaol. With ferocious glances at the Bench, as if they would +like to tear the chairman's eyes out, the women leave the court. + +'Next case,' calls the Clerk. The court sits about two hours longer, +having taken some five hours to get through six cases. Just as the +chairman rises the poacher's wife returns to the table, without her +child, angrily pulls out a dirty canvas bag, and throws down three or +four sovereigns before the seedy Clerk's clerk. The canvas bag is +evidently half-full of money--the gleam of silver and gold is visible +within it. The Bench stay to note this proceeding with an amused +expression on their features. The woman looks at them as bold as brass, +and stalks off with her man. + +Half an hour afterwards, two of the magistrates riding away from the +town pass a small tavern on the outskirts. A travelling van is outside, +and from the chimney on its roof thin smoke arises. There is a little +group at the doorway, and among them stands the late prisoner. Oby holds +a foaming tankard in one hand, and touches his battered hat, as the +magistrates go by, with a gesture of sly humility. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + +LUKE, THE RABBIT CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK-PATH + + +The waggon-track leading to the Upper Woods almost always presented +something of interest, and often of beauty. The solitude of the place +seemed to have attracted flowers and ferns as well as wild animals and +birds. For though flowers have no power of motion, yet seeds have a +negative choice and lie dormant where they do not find a kindly welcome. +But those carried hither by the birds or winds took root and flourished, +secure from the rude ploughshare or the sharp scythe. + +The slow rumble of waggon-wheels seldom disturbed the dreamy silence, or +interrupted the song of the birds; so seldom that large docks and +thistles grew calmly beside the ruts untouched by hoofs. From the thick +hedges on either side trailing brambles and briars stretched far out, +and here and there was a fallen branch, broken off by the winds, whose +leaves had turned brown and withered while all else was green. Round +sarsen stones had been laid down in the marshy places to form a firm +road, but the turf had long since covered most of them. Where the smooth +brown surfaces did project mosses had lined the base, and rushes leaned +over and hid the rest. + +In the ditches, under the shade of the brambles, the hart's-tongue fern +extended its long blade of dark glossy green. By the decaying stoles the +hardy fern flourished, under the trees on the mounds the lady fern could +be found, and farther up nearer the wood the tall brake almost +supplanted the bushes. Oak and ash boughs reached across: in the ash the +wood-pigeons lingered. Every now and then the bright colours of the +green woodpeckers flashed to and fro their nest in a tree hard by. They +would not have chosen it had not the place been nearly as quiet as the +wood itself. + +Blackthorn bushes jealously encroached on the narrow stile that entered +the lane from a meadow--a mere rail thrust across a gap. The gates, set +in deep recesses--short lanes themselves cut through the mounds--were +rotten and decayed, so as to scarcely hold together, and not to be moved +without care. Hawthorn branches on each side pushed forward and lessened +the opening; on the ground, where the gateposts had rotted nearly off, +fungi came up in thick bunches. + +The little meadows to which they led were rich in oaks, growing on the +'shore' of the ditches, tree after tree. The grass in them was not +plentiful, but the flowers were many; in the spring the orchis sent up +its beautiful purple, and in the heat of summer the bird's-foot lotus +flourished in the sunny places. Farther up, nearer the wood, the lane +became hollow--worn down between high banks, at first clothed with fern, +and then, as the hill got steeper, with fir trees. + +Where firs are tall and thick together the sunbeams that fall aslant +between them seem to be made more visible than under other trees, by the +motes or wood dust in the air. Still farther the banks became even +steeper, till nothing but scanty ash stoles could grow upon them, the +fir plantations skirting along the summit. Then suddenly, at a turn, the +ground sank into a deep hollow, where in spring the eye rested with +relief and pleasure on the tops of young firs, acre after acre, just +freshly tinted with the most delicate green. From thence the track went +into the wood. + +By day all through the summer months there was always something to be +seen in the lane--a squirrel, a stoat; always a song-bird to listen to, +a flower or fern to gather. By night the goatsucker visited it, and the +bat, and the white owl gliding down the slope. In winter when the clouds +hung low the darkness in the hollow between the high banks, where the +light was shut out by the fir trees, was like that of a cavern. It was +then that night after night a strange procession wended down it. + +First came an old man, walking stiffly--not so much from age as +rheumatism--and helping his unsteady steps on the slippery sarsen stones +with a stout ground-ash staff. Behind him followed a younger man, and in +the rear a boy. Sometimes there was an extra assistant, making four; +sometimes there was only the old man and one companion. Each had a long +and strong ash stick across his shoulder, on which a load of rabbits was +slung, an equal number in front and behind, to balance. The old fellow, +who was dressed shabbily even for a labourer, was the contractor for the +rabbits shot or ferreted in these woods. + +He took the whole number at a certain fixed price all round, and made +what he could out of them. Every evening in the season he went to the +woods to fetch those that had been captured during the day, conveying +them to his cottage on the outskirts of the village. From thence they +went by carrier's cart to the railway. Old Luke's books, such as they +were, were quite beyond the understanding of any one but himself and his +wife; nor could even they themselves tell you exactly how many dozen he +purchased in the year. But in his cups the wicked old hypocrite had +often been known to boast that he paid the lord of the manor as much +money as the rent of a small farm. + +One of Luke's eyes was closed with a kind of watery rheum, and was never +opened except when he thought a rabbit was about to jump into a net. The +other was but half open, and so overhung with a thick grey eyebrow as to +be barely visible. His cheeks were the hue of clay, his chin scrubby, +and a lanky black forelock depended over one temple. A battered felt +hat, a ragged discoloured slop, and corduroys stained with the clay of +the banks completed his squalid costume. + +A more miserable object or one apparently more deserving of pity it +would be hard to imagine. To see him crawl with slow and feeble steps +across the fields in winter, gradually working his way in the teeth of a +driving rain, was enough to arouse compassion in the hardest heart: +there was something so utterly woebegone in his whole aspect--so +weather-beaten, as if he had been rained upon ever since childhood. He +seemed humbled to the ground--crushed and spiritless. + +Now and then Luke was employed by some of the farmers to do their +ferreting for them and to catch the rabbits in the banks by the +roadside. More than once benevolent people driving by in their cosy +cushioned carriages, and seeing this lonely wretch in the bitter wind +watching a rabbit's hole as if he were a dog well beaten and thrashed, +had been known to stop and call the poor old fellow to the carriage +door. Then Luke would lay his hand on his knee, shake his head, and +sorrowfully state his pains and miseries: 'Aw, I be ter-rable bad, I +be,' he would say; 'I be most terrable bad: I can't but just drag my leg +out of this yer ditch. It be a dull job, bless 'ee, this yer.' The tone, +the look of the man, the dreary winter landscape all so thoroughly +agreed together that a few small silver coins would drop into his hand, +and Luke, with a deep groaning sigh of thankfulness, would bow and +scrape and go back to his 'dull job.' + +Luke, indeed, somehow or other was always in favour with the 'quality.' +He was as firmly fixed in his business as if he had been the most clever +courtier. It was not of the least use for any one else to offer to take +the rabbits, even if they would give more money. No, Luke was the trusty +man; Luke, and nobody else, was worthy. So he grovelled on from year to +year, blinking about the place. When some tenant found a gin in the +turnip field, or a wire by the clover, and quietly waited till Luke came +fumbling by and picked up the hare or rabbit, it did not make the +slightest difference though he went straight to the keeper and made a +formal statement. + +Luke had an answer always ready: he had not set the wire, but had +stumbled on it unawares, and was going to take it to the keeper; or he +had noticed a colony of rats about, and had put the gin for them. Now, +the same excuse might have been made by any other poacher; the +difference lay in this--that Luke was believed. At all events, such +little trifles were forgotten, and Luke went on as before. He did a good +deal of the ferreting in the hedges outside the woods himself: if he +took home three dozen from the mound and only paid for two dozen, that +scarcely concerned the world at large. + +If in coming down the dark and slippery lane at night somebody with a +heavy sack stepped out from the shadow at the stile, and if the contents +of the sack were rapidly transferred to the shoulder-sticks, or the bag +itself bodily taken along--why, there was nobody there to see. As for +the young man and the boy who helped, those discreet persons had always +a rabbit for their own pot, or even for a friend; and indeed it was +often remarked that old Luke could always get plenty of men to work for +him. No one ever hinted at searching the dirty shed at the side of his +cottage that was always locked by day, or looking inside the disused +oven that it covered. But if fur or feathers had been found there, was +not he the contractor? And clearly if a pheasant _was_ there he could +not be held responsible for the unauthorised acts of his assistants. + +The truth was that Luke was the most thorough-paced poacher in the +place--or, rather, he was a wholesale receiver. His success lay in +making it pleasant for everybody all round. It was pleasant for the +keeper, who could always dispose of a few hares or pheasants if he +wanted a little money. The keeper, in ways known to himself, made it +pleasant for the bailiff. It was equally pleasant for the under-keepers, +who had what they wanted (in reason), and enjoyed a little by-play on +their own account. It was pleasant for his men; and it was +pleasant--specially pleasant--at a little wayside inn kept by Luke's +nephew, and, as was believed, with Luke's money. Everybody concerned in +the business could always procure refreshment there, including the +policeman. + +There was only one class of persons whom Luke could not conciliate; and +they were the tenants. These very inconsiderate folk argued that it was +the keepers' and Luke's interest to maintain a very large stock of +rabbits, which meant great inroads on their crops. There seemed to be +even something like truth in their complaints; and once or twice the +more independent carried their grievances to headquarters so effectually +as to elicit an order for the destruction of the rabbits forthwith on +their farms. But of what avail was such an order when the execution of +it was entrusted to Luke himself? + +In time the tenants got to put up with Luke; and the wiser of them +turned round and tried to make it still more pleasant for _him_: they +spoke a good word for him; they gave him a quart of ale, and put little +things in his way, such as a chance to buy and sell faggots at a small +profit. Not to be ungrateful, Luke kept their rabbits within reasonable +bounds; and he had this great recommendation--that whether they bullied +him or whether they gave him ale and bread-and-cheese, Luke was always +humble and always touched his hat. + +His wife kept a small shop for the sale of the coarser groceries and a +little bacon. He had also rather extensive gardens, from which he sold +quantities of vegetables. It was more than suspected that the carrier's +cart was really Luke's--that is, he found the money for horsing it, and +could take possession if he liked. The carrier's cart took his rabbits, +and the game he purchased of poachers, to the railway, and the +vegetables from the gardens to the customers in town. + +At least one cottage besides his own belonged to him; and some would +have it that this was one of the reasons of his success with the +'quality.' The people at the great house, anxious to increase their +influence, wished to buy every cottage and spare piece of land. This was +well known, and many small owners prided themselves upon spiting the big +people at the great house by refusing to sell, or selling to another +person. The great house was believed to have secured the first 'refuse' +of Luke's property, if ever he thought of selling. Luke, in fact, among +the lower classes was looked upon as a capitalist--a miser with an +unknown hoard. The old man used to sit of a winter's evening, after he +had brought down the rabbits, by the hearth, making rabbit-nets of +twine. Almost everybody who came along the road, home from the market +town, stopped, lifted the latch without knocking, and looked in to tell +the news or hear it. But Luke's favourite manoeuvre was to take out his +snuff-box, tap it, and offer it to the person addressing him. This he +would do to a farmer, even though it were the largest tenant of all. For +this snuff-box was a present from the lady at the great house, who took +an interest in poor old Luke's infirmities, and gave him the snuff-box, +a really good piece of workmanship, well filled with the finest snuff, +to console his wretchedness. + +Of this box Luke was as proud as if it had been the insignia of the +Legion of Honour, and never lost an opportunity of showing it to every +one of standing. When the village heard of this kindly present it ran +over in its mind all that it knew about the stile, and the sacks, and +the disused oven. Then the village very quietly shrugged its shoulders, +and though it knew not the word irony, well understood what that term +conveys. + +At the foot of the hill on which the Upper Woods were situate there +extended a level tract of meadows with some cornfields. Through these +there flowed a large slow brook, often flooded in winter by the water +rushing down from the higher lands. It was pleasant in the early year to +walk now and then along the footpath that followed the brook, noting the +gradual changes in the hedges. + +When the first swallow of the spring wheels over the watery places the +dry sedges of last year still stand as they grew. They are supported by +the bushes beside the meadow ditch where it widens to join the brook, +and the water it brings down from the furrows scarcely moves through the +belt of willow lining the larger stream. As the soft west wind runs +along the hedge it draws a sigh from the dead dry stalks and leaves that +will no more feel the rising sap. + +By the wet furrows the ground has still a brownish tint, for there the +floods lingered and discoloured the grass. Near the ditch pointed flags +are springing up, and the thick stems of the marsh marigold. From +bunches of dark green leaves slender stalks arise and bear the golden +petals of the marsh buttercups, the lesser celandine. If the wind blows +cold and rainy they will close, and open again to the sunshine. + +At the outside of the withies, where the earth is drier, stand tall +horse-chestnut trees, aspen, and beech. The leaflets of the +horse-chestnut are already opening; but on the ground, half-hidden under +beech leaves not yet decayed, and sycamore leaves reduced to imperfect +grey skeletons, there lies a chestnut shell. It is sodden, and has lost +its original green--the prickles, too, have decayed and disappeared; yet +at a touch it falls apart, and discloses two chestnuts, still of a rich, +deep polished brown. + +On the very bank of the brook there grows a beech whose bare boughs +droop over, almost dipping in the water, where it comes with a swift +rush from the narrow arches of a small bridge whose bricks are green +with moss. The current is still slightly turbid, for the floods have not +long subsided, and the soaked meadows and ploughed fields send their +rills to swell the brook and stain it with sand and earth. On the +surface float down twigs and small branches forced from the trees by the +gales: sometimes an entangled mass of aquatic weeds--long, slender green +filaments twisted and matted together--comes more slowly because heavy +and deep in the water. + +A little bird comes flitting silently from the willows and perches on +the drooping beech branch. It is a delicate little creature, the breast +of a faint and dull yellowy green, the wings the lightest brown, and +there is a pencilled streak over the eye. The beak is so slender it +scarce seems capable of the work it should do, the legs and feet so tiny +that they are barely visible. Hardly has he perched than the keen eyes +detect a small black speck that has just issued from the arch, floating +fast on the surface of the stream and borne round and round in a tiny +whirlpool. + +He darts from the branch, hovers just above the water, and in a second +has seized the black speck and returned to the branch. A moment or two +passes, and again he darts and takes something--this time +invisible--from the water. A third time he hovers, and on this occasion +just brushes the surface. Then, suddenly finding that these movements +are watched, he flits--all too soon--up high into the beech and away +into the narrow copse. The general tint and shape of the bird are those +of the willow wren, but it is difficult to identify the species in so +brief a glance and without hearing its note. + +The path now trends somewhat away from the stream and skirts a ploughed +field, where the hedges are cropped close and the elms stripped of the +lesser boughs about the trunks, that the sparrows may not find shelter. +But all the same there are birds here too--one in the thick low hedge, +two or three farther on, another in the ditch perching on the dead white +stems of last year's plants that can hardly support an ounce weight, and +all calling to each other. It is six marsh tits, as busy as they can +well be. + +One rises from the ditch to the trunk of an elm where the thick bark is +green with lichen: he goes up the tree like a woodpecker, and peers into +every crevice. His little beak strikes, peck, peck, at a place where +something is hidden: then he proceeds farther up the trunk: next he +descends a few steps in a sidelong way, and finally hops down some three +inches head foremost, and alights again on the all but perpendicular +bark. But his tail does not touch the tree, and in another minute down +he flies again to the ditch. + +A shrill and yet low note that sounds something like 'skeek-skeek' comes +from a birch, and another 'skeek-skeek' answers from an elm. It is like +the friction of iron against iron without oil on the bearings. This is +the tree-climber calling to his mate. He creeps over the boles of the +birch, and where the larger limbs join the trunk, trailing his tail +along the bark, and clinging so closely that but for the sharp note he +would be passed. Even when that has called attention, the colour of his +back so little differs from the colour of bark that if he is some height +up the tree it is not easy to detect him. + +The days go on and the hedges become green--the sun shines, and the +blackbirds whistle in the trees. They leave the hedge, and mount into +the elm or ash to deliver their song; then, after a pause, dive down +again to the bushes. Up from the pale green corn that is yet but a few +inches high rises a little brown bird, mounting till he has attained to +the elevation of the adjacent oak. Then, beginning his song, he extends +his wings, lifts his tail, and gradually descends slanting +forward--slowly, like a parachute--sing, sing, singing all the while +till the little legs, that can be seen against the sky somewhat +depending, touch the earth and the wheat hides him. Still from the clod +comes the finishing bar of his music. + +In a short time up he rises again, and this time from the summit of his +flight sinks in a similar manner singing to a branch of the oak. There +he sings again; and, again rising, comes back almost to the same bough +singing as he descends. But he is not alone: from an elm hard by come +the same notes, and from yet another tree they are also repeated. They +cannot rest--now one flits from the topmost bough of an elm to another +topmost bough; now a second comes up from feeding, and cries from the +branches. They are tree-pipits; and though the call is monotonous, yet +it is so cheerful and pleasing that one cannot choose but stay and +listen. + +Suddenly, two that have been vigorously calling start forward together +and meet in mid-air. They buffet each other with their wings; their +little beaks fiercely strike; their necks are extended; they manoeuvre +round each other, trying for an advantage. They descend, heedless in the +rage of their tiny hearts, within a few yards of the watcher, and then +in alarm separate. But one flies to the oak branch and defiantly calls +immediately. + +Over the meadows comes the distant note of the cuckoo. When he first +calls his voice is short and somewhat rough, but in a few days it gains +power. Then the second syllable has a mellow ring: and as he cries from +the tree, the note, swiftly repeated and echoed by the wood, dwells on +the ear something like the 'hum' or vibration of a beautiful bell. + +As the hedges become green the ivy leaves turn brown at the edge and +fall; the wild ivy is often curiously variegated. At the foot of the +tree up which it climbs the leaves are five-angled, higher up they lose +the angles and become rounded, though growing on the same plant. +Sometimes they have a grey tint, especially those that trail along the +bank; sometimes the leaves are a reddish brown with pale green ribs. + +By the brook now the meadow has become of a rich bright green, the +stream has sunk and is clear, and the sunlight dances on the ripples. +The grasses at the edge--the turf--curl over and begin to grow down the +steep side that a little while since was washed by the current. Where +there is a ledge of mud and sand the yellow wagtail runs; he stands on a +stone and jerks his tail. + +The ploughed field that comes down almost to the brook--a mere strip of +meadow between--is green too with rising wheat, high enough now to hide +the partridges. Before it got so tall it was pleasant to watch the pair +that frequent it; they were so confident that they did not even trouble +to cower. At any other time of year they would have run, or flown; but +then, though scarcely forty yards away and perfectly visible, they +simply ceased feeding but showed no further alarm. + +Upon the plough birds in general should look as their best friend, for +it provides them with the staff of life as much as it does man. The +earth turned up under the share yields them grubs and insects and worms: +the seed is sown and the clods harrowed, and they take a second toll; +the weeds are hoed or pulled up, and at their roots there are more +insects; from the stalk and ears and the bloom of the rising corn they +seize caterpillars; when it is ripe they enjoy the grain; when it is cut +and carried there are ears in the stubble, and they can then feast on +the seeds of the innumerable plants that flowered among it; finally +comes the plough again. It is as if the men and horses worked for the +birds. + +The horse-chestnut trees in the narrow copse bloom; the bees are humming +everywhere and summer is at hand. Presently the brown cockchafers will +come almost like an army of locusts, as suddenly appearing without a +sign. They seem to be particularly numerous where there is much maple in +the hedges. + +Resting now on the sward by the stream--contracted in seeming by the +weeds and flags and fresh sedges--there comes the distant murmur of +voices and the musical laugh of girls. The ear tries to distinguish the +words and gather the meaning; but the syllables are intertangled--it is +like listening to a low sweet song in a language all unknown. This is +the water falling gently over the mossy hatch and splashing faintly on +the stones beneath; the blue dragon-flies dart over the smooth surface +or alight on a broad leaf--these blue dragon-flies when thus resting +curl the tail upwards. + +Farther up above the mere there is a spot where the pool itself ends, or +rather imperceptibly disappears among a vast mass of aquatic weeds. To +these on the soft oozy mud succeed acres of sedge and rush and great +turfs of greyish grass. Low willows are scattered about, and alder at +the edge and where the ground is firmer. This is the home of the +dragon-flies, of the coots, whose white bald foreheads distinguish them +at a distance, and of the moorhens. + +A narrow lane crosses it on a low bank or causeway but just raised above +the level of the floods. It is bordered on either side by thick hawthorn +hedges, and these again are further rendered more impassable by the +rankest growth of hemlocks, 'gicks,' nettles, hedge-parsley, and similar +coarse plants. In these the nettle-creeper (white-throat) hides her +nest, and they have so encroached that the footpath is almost +threatened. This lane leads from the Upper Woods across the marshy level +to the cornfields, being a branch from that down which Luke the +contractor carried his rabbits. + +Now a hare coming from the uplands beyond the woods, or from the woods, +and desirous of visiting the cornfields of the level grounds below, +found it difficult to pass the water. For besides the marsh itself, the +mere, and the brook, another slow, stagnant stream, quite choked with +sedges and flags, uncut for years, ran into it, or rather joined it, and +before doing so meandered along the very foot of the hill-side over +which the woods grew. To a hare or a rabbit, therefore, there was but +one path or exit without taking to the water in this direction for +nearly a mile, and that was across this narrow raised causeway. The +pheasants frequently used it, as if preferring to walk than to fly. +Partridges came too, to seat themselves in the dry dust--a thing they do +daily in warm weather. + +Hares were constantly passing from the cornfields to the wood, and the +wood to the cornfields; and they had another reason for using this +track, because so many herbs and plants, whose leaves they like better +than grass, flourished at the sides of the hedges. No scythe cuts them +down, as it does by the hedges in the meadows; nor was a man sent round +with a reaping hook to chop them off, as is often done round the arable +fields. There was, therefore, always a feast here, to which, also, the +rabbits came. + +The poachers were perfectly well aware of all this, and as a consequence +this narrow lane became a most favourite haunt of theirs. A wire set in +the runs that led to the causeway, or in the causeway itself, was almost +certain to be thrown. At one time it was occasionally netted; and now +and then a bolder fellow hid himself in the bushes with a gun, and took +his choice of pheasant, partridge, hare, or rabbit. These practices were +possible, because although so secluded, there was a public right-of-way +along the lane. + +But of recent years, as game became more valued and the keepers were +increased, a check was put upon it, though even now wires are frequently +found which poachers have been obliged to abandon. They are loth to give +up a place that has a kind of poaching reputation. As if in revenge for +the interference, they have so ransacked the marsh every spring for the +eggs of the waterfowl that the wild duck will not lay there, but seek +spots safer from such enemies. The marsh is left to the coots and +moorhens that from thence stock the brooks. + + + + + +CHAPTER X + + + +FARMER WILLUM'S PLACE: SNIPE SHOOTING + + +One October morning towards the end of the month, Orion and I started to +beat over Redcote Farm upon the standing invitation of the occupier. +There was a certainty of sport of some kind, because the place had +remained almost unchanged for the last century. It is 'improvement' that +drives away game and necessitates the pheasant preserve. + +The low whitewashed walls of the house were of a dull yellowish hue from +the beating of the weather. They supported a vast breadth of thatched +roof drilled by sparrows and starlings. Under the eaves the swallows' +nests adhered, and projecting shelves were fixed to prevent any +inconvenience from them. Some of the narrow windows were still darkened +with the black boarding put up in the days of the window tax. + +In the courtyard a number of stout forked stakes were used for putting +the dairy buckets on, after being cleaned, to dry. No attempt was made +to separate the business from the inner life of the house. Here in front +these oaken buckets, scoured till nearly white, their iron handles +polished like silver, were close under the eyes of any one looking out. +By the front door a besom leaned against the wall that every comer might +clean the mud from his boots; and you stepped at once from the threshold +into the sitting-room. A lane led past the garden, if that could be +called a lane which widened into a field and after rain was flooded so +deeply as to be impassable to foot passengers. + +The morning we had chosen was fine; and after shaking hands with old +Farmer 'Willum,' whose shooting days were over, we entered the lane, and +by it the fields. The meadows were small, enclosed with double-mounds, +and thickly timbered, so that as the ground was level you could not see +beyond the field in which you stood, and upon looking over the gate +might surprise a flock of pigeons, a covey of partridges, or a rabbit +out feeding. Though the tinted leaves were fast falling, the hedges were +still full of plants and vegetation that prevented seeing through them. +The 'kuck-kuck' of the redwings came from the bushes--the first note of +approaching winter--and the tips of the rushes were dead. Red haws on +the hawthorn and hips on the briar sprinkled the hedge with bright spots +of colour. + +The two spaniels went with such an eager rush into a thick double-mound, +dashing heedlessly through the nettles and under the brambles, that we +hastened to get one on each side of the hedge. A rustling--a short bark; +another, then a movement among the rushes in the ditch, evidently not +made by the dogs; then a silence. But the dogs come back, and as they +give tongue the rabbit rushes past a bare spot on the slope of the bank. +I fire--a snap shot--and cut out some fur, but do no further harm; the +pellets bury themselves in the earth. But, startled and perhaps just +stung by a stray shot, the rabbit bolts fairly at last twenty yards in +front of Orion, the spaniel tearing at his heels. + +Up goes the double-barrel with a bright gleam as the sunlight glances on +it. A second of suspense: then from the black muzzle darts a cylinder +of tawny flame and an opening cone of white smoke: a sharp report rings +on the ear. The rabbit rolls over and over, and is dead before the dog +can seize him. After harling the rabbit, Orion hangs him high on a +projecting branch, so that the man who is following us at a distance may +easily find the game. He is a labourer, and we object to have him with +us, as we know he would be certain to get in the way. + +We then tried a corner where two of these large mounds, meeting, formed +a small copse in which grew a quantity of withy and the thick grasses +that always border the stoles. A hare bolted almost directly the dogs +went in: hares trust in their speed, rabbits in doubling for cover. I +fired right and left, and missed: fairly missed with both barrels. Orion +jumped upon the mound from the other side, and from that elevation sent +a third cartridge after her. + +It was a long, a very long shot, but the hare perceptibly winced. Still, +she drew easily away from the dogs, going straight for a distant +gateway. But before it was reached the pace slackened; she made +ineffectual attempts to double as the slow spaniels overtook her, but +her strength was ebbing, and they quickly ran in. Reloading, and in none +of the best of tempers, I followed the mound. The miss was of course the +gun's fault--it was foul; or the cartridges, or the bad quality of the +powder. + +We passed the well-remembered hollow ash pollard, whence, years before, +we had taken the young owls, and in which we had hidden the old +single-barrel gun one sultry afternoon when it suddenly came on to +thunder. The flashes were so vivid and the discharges seemingly so near +that we became afraid to hold the gun, knowing that metal attracted +electricity. So it was put in the hollow tree out of the wet, and with +it the powder-flask, while we crouched under an adjacent hawthorn till +the storm ceased. + +Then by the much-patched and heavy gate where I shot my first snipe, +that rose out of the little stream and went straight up over the top +bar. The emotion, for it was more than excitement, of that moment will +never pass from memory. It was the bird of all others that I longed to +kill, and certainly to a lad the most difficult. Day after day I went +down into the water-meadows; first thinking over the problem of the +snipe's peculiar twisting flight. At one time I determined that I would +control the almost irresistible desire to fire till the bird had +completed his burst of zig-zag and settled to something like a straight +line. At another I as firmly resolved to shoot the moment the snipe rose +before he could begin to twist. But some unforeseen circumstance always +interfered with the execution of these resolutions. + +Now the snipe got up unexpectedly right under foot; now one rose thirty +yards ahead; now he towered straight up, forced to do so by the tall +willows; and occasionally four or five rising together and calling +'sceap, sceap' in as many different directions, made me hesitate at +which to aim. The continual dwelling upon the problem rendered me +nervous, so that I scarcely knew when I pulled the trigger. + +But one day, in passing this gateway, which was a long distance from the +particular water-meadows where I had practised, and not thinking of +snipes, suddenly one got up, and with a loud 'sceap' darted over the +gate. The long slender gun--the old single-barrel--came to the shoulder +instinctively, without premeditation, and the snipe fell. + +Coming now to the brook, which was broad and bordered by a hedge on the +opposite side, I held Orion's gun while he leaped over. The bank was +steep and awkward, but he had planned his leap so as to alight just +where he could at once grasp an ash branch and so save himself from +falling back into the water. He could not, however, stay suspended +there, but had to scramble over the hedge, and then called for his gun. +I leaned mine against a hollow withy pollard, and called 'ready.' + +Taking his gun a few inches above the trigger guard (and with the guard +towards his side), holding it lightly just where it seemed to balance in +a perpendicular position, I gave it a slow heave rather than a throw, +and it rose into the air. This peculiar _feeling_ hoist, as it were, +caused it to retain the perpendicular position as it passed over brook +and hedge in a low curve. As it descended it did indeed slope a little, +and Orion caught it with one hand easily. The hedge being low he could +see it coming; but guns are sometimes heaved in this way over hedges +that have not been cropped for years. Then the gun suddenly appears in +the air, perhaps fifteen feet high, while the catch depends not only +upon the dexterity of the hand but the ear--to judge correctly where the +person who throws it is standing, as he is invisible. + +The spaniels plunged in the brook among the flags, but though they made +a great splashing nothing came of it till we approached a marshy place +where was a pond. A moorhen then rose and scuttled down the brook, her +legs dragging along the surface some distance before she could get up, +and the sunshine sparkling on the water that dropped from her. I fired +and knocked her over: at the sound of the discharge a bird rose from the +low mound by the pond some forty yards ahead. My second barrel was empty +in an instant. + +Both Orion's followed; but the distance, the intervening pollard +willows, or our excitement spoilt the aim. The woodcock flew off +untouched, and made straight away from the territories we could beat +into those that were jealously guarded by a certain keeper with whom +Farmer 'Willum' had waged war for years. 'Come on!' shouted Orion as +soon as he had marked the cock down in a mound two fields away. Throwing +him my gun, I leaped the brook; and we at first raced, but on second +thoughts walked slowly, for the mound. Running disturbs accuracy of +fire, and a woodcock was much too rare a visitor for the slightest +chance to be lost. + +As we approached we considered that very probably the cock would either +lie close till we had walked past, and get up behind, or he would rise +out of gunshot. What we were afraid of was his making for the preserves, +which were not far off. So we tossed for the best position, and I lost. +I had therefore to get over on the side of the hedge towards the +preserves and to walk down somewhat faster than Orion, who was to keep +(on his side) about thirty yards behind. The object was to flush the +cock on his side, so that if missed the bird might return towards our +territories. In a double-mound like this it is impossible to tell what a +woodcock will do, but this was the best thing we could think of. + +About half-way down the hedge I heard Orion fire both barrels in quick +succession--the mound was so thick I could not see through. The next +instant the cock came over the top of the hedge just above my head. +Startled at seeing me so close, he flew straight down along the summit +of the bushes--a splendid chance to look at from a distance; but in +throwing up the gun a projecting briar caught the barrels, and before I +could recover it the bird came down at the side of the hedge. + +It was another magnificent chance; but again three pollard willows +interfered, and as I fired the bark flew off one of them in small +strips. Quickened by the whistling pellets, the cock suddenly lifted +himself again to the top of the hedge to go over, and for a moment came +full in view, and quite fifty yards away. I fired a snap shot as a +forlorn hope, and lost sight of him; but the next instant I heard Orion +call, 'He's down!' One single chance pellet had dropped the cock--he +fell on the other side just under the hedge. + +We hastened back to the brook, thinking that the shooting would attract +the keepers, and did not stay to look at the bird till safe over the +water. The long beak, the plumage that seems painted almost in the exact +tints of the dead brown leaves he loves so well, the eyes large by +comparison and so curiously placed towards the poll of the head as if to +see behind him--there was not a point that did not receive its share of +admiration. We shot about half a dozen rabbits, two more hares, and a +woodpigeon afterwards; but all these were nothing compared with the +woodcock. + +How Farmer 'Willum' chuckled over it--especially to think that we had +cut out the game from the very batteries of the enemy! It was the one +speck of bitterness in the old man's character--his hatred of this +keeper. Disabled himself by age and rheumatism from walking far, he +heard daily reports from his men of this fellow coming over the boundary +to shoot, or drive pheasant or partridge away. It was a sight to see +Farmer 'Willum' stretch his bulky length in his old armchair, right +before the middle of the great fire of logs on the hearth, twiddling his +huge thumbs, and every now and then indulging in a hearty laugh, +followed by a sip at the 'straight-cup.' + +There was a stag's horn over the staircase: 'Willum' loved to tell how +it came there. One severe winter long since, the deer in the forest many +miles away broke cover, forced by hunger, and came into the rickyards +and even the gardens. Most of them were got back, but one or two +wandered beyond trace. Those who had guns were naturally on the +look-out; indeed, a regular hunt was got up--'Willum,' then young and +active, in it of course. This chase was not successful; but early one +morning, going to look for wild geese in the water-meadow with his +long-barrelled gun, he saw something in a lonely rickyard. Creeping +cautiously up, he rested the heavy gun on an ash stole, and the big +duck-shot tore its way into the stag's shoulder. Those days were gone, +but still his interest in shooting was unabated. + +Nothing had been altered on the place since he was a boy: the rent even +was the same. But all that is now changed--swept away before modern +improvements; and the rare old man is gone too, and I think his only +enemy also. + +There was nothing I used to look forward to, as the summer waned, with +so much delight as the snipe shooting. Regularly as the swallow to the +eaves in spring, the snipe comes back with the early frosts of autumn to +the same well-known spots--to the bend of the brook or the boggy corner +in the ploughed field--but in most uncertain numbers. Sometimes flocks +of ten or twenty, sometimes only twos and threes are seen, but always +haunting particular places. + +They have a special affection for peaty ground, black and spongy, where +every footstep seems to squeeze water out of the soil with a slight +hissing sound, and the boot cuts through the soft turf. There, where a +slow stream winds in and out, unmarked by willow or bush, but fringed +with green aquatic grasses growing on a margin of ooze, the snipe finds +tempting food; or in the meadows where a little spring breaks forth in +the ditch and does not freeze--for water which has just bubbled out of +the earth possesses this peculiarity, and is therefore favourable to low +forms of insect or slug life in winter--the snipe may be found when the +ponds are bound with ice. + +Some of the old country folk used to make as much mystery about this +bird as the cuckoo. Because it was seldom seen till the first fogs the +belief was that it had lost its way in the mist at sea, and come inland +by mistake. + +Just as in the early part of the year green buds and opening flowers +welcome swallow and cuckoo, so the colours of the dying leaf prepare the +way for the second feathered immigration in autumn. Once now and then +the tints of autumn are so beautiful that the artist can hardly convey +what he sees to canvas. The maples are aglow with orange, the oaks one +mass of buff, the limes light gold, the elms a soft yellow. In the +hawthorn thickets bronze spots abound; here and there a bramble leaf has +turned a brilliant crimson (though many bramble leaves will remain a +dull green all the winter through); the edible chestnut sheds leaves of +a dark fawn hue, but all, scattered by the winds, presently resolve into +a black pulp upon the earth. Noting these signs the sportsman gets out +his dust-shot for the snipe, and the farmer, as he sees the fieldfare +flying over after a voyage from Norway, congratulates himself that last +month was reasonably dry, and enabled him to sow his winter seed. + +'Sceap--sceap!' and very often the snipe successfully carries out the +intention expressed in his odd-sounding cry, and does escape in reality. +Although I could not at first put my theory into practice, yet I found +by experience that it was correct. He is the exception to the golden +rule that the safest way lies in the middle, and that therefore you +should fire not too soon nor too late, but half-way between. But the +snipe must either be knocked over the instant he rises from the ground, +and before he has time to commence his puzzling zig-zag flight, or else +you must wait till he has finished his corkscrew burst. + +Then there is a moment just before he passes out of range when he glides +in a straight line and may be hit. This singular zig-zag flight so +deceives the eye as almost to produce the idea of a spiral movement. No +barrel can ever be jerked from side to side swiftly enough, no +hair-trigger is fine enough, to catch him then, except by the chance of +a vast scattering over-charge, which has nothing to do with sport. If he +rises at some little distance, then fire instantly, because by the time +the zig-zag is done the range will be too great; if he starts up under +your feet, out of a bunch of rushes, as is often the case, then give him +law till his eccentric twist is finished. + +When the smoke has cleared away in the crisp air, there he lies, the yet +warm breast on the frozen ground, to be lifted up not without a passing +pity and admiration. The brown feathers are exquisitely shaded, and so +exactly resemble the hue of the rough dead aquatic grass out of which he +sprang that if you cast the bird among it you will have some trouble to +find it again. To discover a living snipe on the ground is indeed a test +of good eyesight; for as he slips in and out among the brown withered +flags and the grey grass it requires not only a quick eye but the inbred +sportsman's instinct of perception (if such a phrase is permissible) to +mark him out. + +If your shot has missed and merely splashed up the water or rattled +against bare branches, then step swiftly behind a tree-trunk, and stay +in ambuscade, keeping a sharp watch on him as he circles round high up +in the air. Very often in a few minutes he will come back in a wide +sweep, and drop scarcely a gun-shot distant in the same watercourse, +when a second shot may be obtained. The little jack snipe, when flushed, +will never fly far, if shot at several times in succession, still +settling fifty or sixty yards farther on, and is easily bagged. + +Coming silently as possible round a corner, treading gently on the grass +still white with hoar-frost in the shadow of the bushes, you may chance +to spring a stray woodcock, which bird, if you lose a moment, will put +the hedge between him and you. Artists used to seek for certain feathers +which he carries, one in each wing, thinking to make of them a more +delicate brush than the finest camel's hair. + +In the evening I used to hide in the osier-beds on the edge of a great +water-meadow; for now that the marshes are drained, and the black earth +of the fens yields a harvest of yellow corn, the broad level meads which +are irrigated to fertilise them are among the chief inland resorts of +wild fowl. When the bright moon is rising, you walk in among the +tapering osier-wands, the rustling sedges, and dead dry hemlock stems, +and wait behind an aspen tree. + +In the thick blackthorn bush a round dark ball indicates the blackbird, +who has puffed out his feathers to shield him from the frost, and who +will sit so close and quiet that you may see the moonlight glitter on +his eye. Presently comes a whistling noise of wings, and a loud 'quack, +quack!' as a string of ducks, their long necks stretched out, pass over +not twenty yards high, slowly slanting downwards to the water. This is +the favourable moment for the gun, because their big bodies are well +defined against the sky, and aim can be taken; but to shoot anything on +the ground at night, even a rabbit, whose white tail as he hops away is +fairly visible, is most difficult. + +The baffling shadows and the moonbeams on the barrel, and the faint +reflection from the dew or hoar-frost on the grass, prevent more than a +general direction being given to the gun, even with the tiny piece of +white paper which some affix to the muzzle-sight as a guide. From a punt +with a swivel gun it is different, because the game is swimming and +visible as black dots on the surface, and half a pound of shot is sure +to hit something. But in the water-meadows the ducks get among the +grass, and the larger water-carriers where they can swim usually have +small raised banks, so that at a distance only the heads of the birds +appear above them. + +So that the best time to shoot a duck is just as he slopes down to +settle--first, because he is distinctly visible against the sky; next, +because he is within easy range; and lastly, his flight is steady. If +you attempt to have ducks driven towards you, though they may go right +overhead, yet it will often be too high--for they rise at a sharp angle +when frightened; and men who are excellent judges of distance when it is +a hare running across the fallow, find themselves all at fault trying to +shoot at any elevation. Perhaps this arises from the peculiarity of the +human eye which draughtsmen are fond of illustrating by asking a tyro to +correctly bisect a vertical line: a thing that looks easy, and is really +only to be done by long practice. + +To make certain of selecting the right spot in the osiers over which the +ducks will pass, for one or two evenings previously a look-out should be +kept and their usual course observed; for all birds and animals, even +the wildest wild fowl, are creatures of habit and custom, and having +once followed a particular path will continue to use it until seriously +disturbed. Evening after evening the ducks will rise above the horizon +at the same place and almost at the same time, and fly straight to their +favourite feeding place. + +If hit, the mallard falls with a thud on the earth, for he is a heavy +bird; and few are more worthy of powder and shot either for his savoury +flavour, far surpassing the tame duck, or the beauty of his burnished +neck. With the ducks come teal and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy +meadow resounds with their strange cries. When ponds and lakes are +frozen hard is the best time for sport in these irrigated fields. All +day long the ducks will stand or waddle to and fro on the ice in the +centre of the lake or mere, far out of reach and ready to rise at the +slightest alarm. But at night they seek the meadow where the water, +running swiftly in the carriers, never entirely freezes, and where, if +the shallow spots become ice, the rising current flows over it and +floods another place. + +There is, moreover, never any difficulty in getting the game when hit, +because the water, except in the main carriers, which you can leap +across, hardly rises to the ankle, and ordinary water-tight boots will +enable you to wade wherever necessary. This is a great advantage with +wild fowl, which are sometimes shot and lost in deep ooze and strong +currents and eddies, and on thin ice where men cannot go and even good +dogs are puzzled. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + +FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + + +The ferreting season commences when the frosts have caused the leaves to +drop, and the rabbits grow fat from feeding on bark. Early one December +morning, Orion and I started, with our man Little John, to ferret a +double-mound for our old friend Farmer 'Willum' at Redcote. + +Little John was a labourer--one of those frequently working at odd times +for Luke, the Rabbit-Contractor. We had nicknamed him Little John +because of his great size and unwieldy proportions. He was the most +useful man we knew for such work; his heart was so thoroughly in it. + +He was waiting for us before we had finished breakfast, with his tools +and implements, having carefully prepared these while yet it was dark at +home in his cottage. The nets require looking to before starting, as +they are apt to get into a tangle, and there is nothing so annoying as +to have to unravel strings with chilled fingers in a ditch. Some have to +be mended, having been torn; some are cast aside altogether because weak +and rotten. The twine having been frequently saturated with water has +decayed. All the nets are of a light yellow colour from the clay and +sand that has worked into the string. + +These nets almost filled a sack, into which he also cast a pair of +'owl-catchers,' gloves of stout white leather, thick enough to turn a +thorn while handling bushes, or to withstand the claws of an owl +furiously resisting capture. His ferrets cost him much thought, which to +take and which to leave behind. He had also to be particular how he fed +them--they must be eager for prey, and yet they must not be starved, +else they would gorge on the blood of the first rabbit, and become +useless for hunting. + +Two had to be muzzled--an operation of some difficulty that generally +results in a scratched hand. A small piece of small but strong twine is +passed through the jaws behind the tusk-like teeth, and tightly tied +round, so tightly as almost to cut into the skin. This is the old way of +muzzling a ferret, handed down from generations: Little John scorns the +muzzles that can be bought at shops, and still more despises the tiny +bells to hang round the neck. The first he says often come off, and the +second embarrass the ferret and sometimes catch in projecting rootlets +and hold it fast. He has, too, a line--many yards of stout twine wound +about a short stick--to line a ferret if necessary. + +The ferrets are placed in a smaller bag, tightly tied at the top--for +they will work through and get out if any aperture be left. Inside the +bag is a little hay for them to lay on. He prefers the fitchew ferret as +he calls it; that is the sort that are coloured like a polecat. He says +they are fiercer, larger of make and more powerful. But he has also a +couple of white ones with pink eyes. Besides the sack of nets, the bag +of ferrets, and a small bundle in a knotted handkerchief--his +'nuncheon'--which in themselves make a tolerable load, he has brought a +billhook, and a 'navigator,' or draining-tool. + +This is a narrow spade of specially stout make; the blade is hollow and +resembles an exaggerated gouge, and the advantage is that in digging out +a rabbit the tool is very apt to catch under a root, when an ordinary +spade may bend and become useless. The 'navigator' will stand anything, +and being narrow is also more handy. All these implements Little John +has prepared by the dim light of a horn lantern in the shed at the back +of his cottage. A mug of ale while we get our guns greatly cheers him, +and unlooses his tongue. + +All the way to Redcote he impresses on us the absolute necessity of +silence while ferreting, and congratulates us on having a nearly still +day. He is a little doubtful about Orion's spaniel and whether it will +keep quiet or not. + +When we reach the double-mound, his talk entirely ceases: he is as +silent and as rugged as a pollard oak. By the top of the mound the sack +of nets is thrown down on the sward and opened. As there are more holes +on the other side of the hedge Orion goes over with Little John, and I +proceed to set up the nets on mine. + +I found some difficulty in getting at the bank, the bushes being so +thick, and had to use the billhook and chop a way in: I heard Little +John growling about this in a whisper to Orion. Very often before going +with the ferrets, people send a man or two a few hours previously to +chop and clear the bushes. The effect is that the rabbits will not bolt +freely. They hear the men chopping, and the vibration of the earth as +they clumsily climb over the banks, and will not come out till +absolutely forced. If it is done at all, it should be done a week +beforehand. That was why Little John grumbled at my chopping though he +knew it was necessary. + +To set up a rabbit net you must arrange it so that it covers the whole +of the mouth of the hole, for if there is any opening between it and the +bank the rabbit will slip through. He will not face the net unless +obliged to. Along the upper part, if the bank is steep, so that the net +will not lie on it of itself, two or three little twigs should be thrust +through the meshes into the earth to suspend it. + +These twigs should be no larger than are used by birds in constructing +their nests; just strong enough to hold the net in place and no more. On +the other hand, care must be taken that no stout projecting root catches +a corner of the net, else it will not draw up properly and the rabbit +will escape. + +Little John, not satisfied with my assurance that I had netted all the +holes my side, now came over--crawling on hands and knees that he might +not jar the bank--to examine for himself. His practised eye detected two +holes that I had missed: one on the top of the mound much overhung by +dead grass, and one under a stole. These he attended to. He then crawled +up on the mound two or three yards below the end of the bury, and with +his own hands stretched a larger net right across the top of the bank, +so that if a rabbit did escape he would run into this. To be still more +sure he stretched another similar net across the whole width of the +mound at the other end of the bury. + +He then undid the mouth of the ferret-bag, holding it between his +knees--the ferrets immediately attempted to struggle out: he selected +two and then tied it up again. With both these in his own hands, for he +would trust nothing to another, he slipped quietly back to Orion's side, +and so soon as he saw I was standing well back placed them in different +holes. + +Almost the next instant one came out my side disarranging a net. I got +into the ditch, hastily reset the net, and put the ferret to an adjacent +hole, lifting up the corner of the net there for it to creep in. Unlike +the weasel, a ferret once outside a hole seems at a loss, and wanders +slowly about, till chance brings him to a second. The weasel used to +hunting is no sooner out of one hole than he darts away to the next. But +this power the ferret has partially lost from confinement. + +For a moment the ferret hesitated inside the hole, as if undecided which +of two passages to take: then he started, and I lost sight of his tail. +Hardly had I got back to my stand than I heard Little John leap into the +ditch his side: the next minute I saw the body of the rabbit which he +had killed thrown out into the field. + +I stood behind a somewhat advanced bush that came out into the meadow +like a buttress, and kept an eye on the holes along the bank. It is +essential to stand well back from the holes, and, if possible, out of +sight. In a few moments something moved, and I saw the head of a rabbit +at the mouth of a hole just behind the net. He looked through the meshes +as through a lattice, and I could see his nostrils work, as he +considered within himself how to pass this thing. It was but for a +moment; the ferret came behind, and wild with hereditary fear, the +rabbit leaped into the net. + +The force of the spring not only drew the net together, but dragged out +the peg, and rabbit and net inextricably entangled rolled down the bank +to the bottom of the ditch. I jumped into the ditch and seized the net; +when there came a hoarse whisper: 'Look sharp you, measter: put up +another net fust--_he_ can't get out; hould un under your arm, _or in +your teeth_.' + +I looked up, and saw Little John's face peering over the mound. He had +thrust himself up under the bushes; his hat was off; his weather-beaten +face bleeding from a briar, but he could not feel the scratch so anxious +was he that nothing should escape. I pulled another net from my pocket, +and spread it roughly over the hole; then more slowly took the rabbit +from the other net. + +You should never hold a rabbit up till you have got fast hold of his +hind legs; he will so twist and work himself as to get free from any +other grasp. But when held by the hind legs and lifted from the ground +he can do nothing. I now returned to my buttress of bushes and waited. +The rabbits did not bolt my side again for a while. Every now and then I +saw, or heard, Orion or Little John leap into their ditch, and well knew +what it meant before the dead rabbit was cast out to fall with a +helpless thud upon the sward. + +Once I saw a rabbit's head at the mouth of a hole, and momentarily +expected him to dart forth driven by the same panic fear. But either the +ferret passed, or there was another side-tunnel--the rabbit went back. +Some few minutes afterwards Little John exclaimed: 'Look out, you; +ferret's out!' One of the ferrets had come out of a hole and was +aimlessly--as it appeared--roaming along the bank. + +As he came nearest my side, I got quietly into the ditch and seized him, +and put him into a hole. To my surprise he refused to go in--I pushed +him: he returned and continued to try to come out till I gave him a +sharp fillip with the finger, when he shook the dust and particles of +dry earth from his fur with a shiver, as if in protest, and slowly +disappeared inside the hole. + +As I was creeping out of the deep ditch on hands and knees, I heard +Orion call angrily to the spaniel to come to heel. Hitherto the spaniel +had sat on his haunches behind Orion fairly quiet and still, though not +without an occasional restless movement. But now he broke suddenly from +all control, and disregarding Orion's anger--though with hanging +tail--rushed into the hedge, and along the top of the mound where there +was a thick mass of dead grass. Little John hurled a clod of clay at +him, but before I was quite out of the ditch the spaniel gave tongue, +and at the same moment I saw a rabbit come from the ditch and run like +mad across the field. + +The dog gave chase--I rushed for my gun, which was some yards off, +placed against a hollow withy tree. The haste disconcerted the aim--the +rabbit too was almost fifty yards away when I fired. But the shot broke +one hind leg--it trailed behind--and the spaniel had him instantly. +'Look at yer nets,' said Little John in a tone of suppressed +indignation, for he disliked the noise of a gun, as all other noises. + +I did look, and found that one net had been partly pushed aside; yet to +so small an extent that I should hardly have believed it possible for +the rabbit to have crept through. He must have slipped out without the +slightest sound and quietly got on the top of the mound without being +seen. But there, alas! he found a wide net stretched right across the +bank so that to slip down the mound on the top was impossible. This +would certainly have been his course had not the net been there. + +It was now doubtless that the spaniel caught wind of him, and the scent +was so strong that it overcame his obedience. The moment the dog got on +the bank, the rabbit slipped down into the rushes in the ditch--I did +not see him because my back was turned in the act to scramble out. Then, +directly the spaniel gave tongue the rabbit darted for the open, hoping +to reach the buries in the hedge on the opposite side of the meadow. + +This incident explained why the ferret seemed so loth to go back into +the hole. He had crept out some few moments behind the rabbit and in his +aimless uncertain manner was trying to follow the scent along the bank. +He did not like being compelled to give up this scent and to search +again for another. 'Us must be main careful how us fixes our nets, you,' +said Little John, going as far as he could in reproof of my negligence. + +The noise of the gun, the barking, and talking was of course heard by +the rabbits still in the bury, and as if to show that Little John was +right, for a while they ceased to bolt. Standing behind the +bushes--against which I now placed the gun to be nearer at hand--I +watched the nets till my eye was caught by the motions of the +ferret-bag. It lay on the grass and had hitherto been inert. But now the +bag reared itself up, and then rolled over, to again rise and again +tumble. The ferrets left in it in reserve were eager to get out--sharp +set on account of a scanty breakfast--and their motions caused the bag +to roll along a short distance. + +I could see Orion on the other side of the mound tolerably well because +he was standing up and the leaves had fallen from the upper part of the +bushes. Little John was crouched in the ditch: the dead grasses, +'gicks,' withered vines of bryony, the thistles, and dark shrivelled +fern concealed him. + +There was a round black sloe on the blackthorn beside me, the beautiful +gloss, or bloom, on it made it look like a tiny plum. It tasted not only +sour, but seemed to positively fill the mouth with a rough acid. +Overhead light grey clouds, closely packed but not rainy, drifted very +slowly before a N.E. upper current. Occasionally a brief puff of wind +came through the bushes rustling the dead leaves that still remained on +the oaks. + +Despite the cold, something of Little John's intense concentration +communicated itself to us: we waited and watched with eager patience. +After a while he got out of the ditch where he had been listening with +his ear close against the bank, and asked me to pass him the ferret-bag. +He took out another ferret and lined it--that is, attached one end of a +long string to its neck, and then sent it in. + +He watched which way the ferret turned, and then again placed his head +upon the hard clay to listen. Orion had to come and hold the line, while +he went two or three yards farther down, got into the ditch and once +more listened carefully. 'He be about the middle of the mound you,' he +said to me; he be between you and I. Lor! look out.' + +There was a low rumbling sound--I expected to see a rabbit bolt into one +of my nets, I heard Little John moving some leaves, and then he shouted, +'Give I a net, you--quick. Lor! here be another hole: he's coming!' I +looked over the mound and saw Little John, his teeth set and staring at +a hole which had no net, his great hands open ready to pounce instantly +like some wild animal on its prey. In an instant the rabbit bolted--he +clutched it and clasped it tight to his chest. There was a moment of +struggling, the next the rabbit was held up for a moment and then cast +across his knee. + +It was always a sight to see Little John's keen delight in 'wristing' +their necks. He affected utter unconsciousness of what he was doing, +looked you in the face, and spoke about some indifferent subject. But +all the while he was feeling the rabbit's muscles stretch before the +terrible grasp of his hands, and an expression of complacent +satisfaction flitted over his features as the neck gave with a sudden +looseness, and in a moment what had been a living straining creature +became limp. + +The ferret came out after the rabbit; he immediately caught it and +thrust it into his pocket. There were still two ferrets in--one that was +suspected to be gorging on a rabbit in a _cul de sac_, and the other +lined, and which had gone to join that sanguinary feast. The use of the +line was to trace where the loose ferret lay. 'Chuck I the show'l, +measter,' said Little John. + +I gave the 'navigator' tool a heave over the hedge; it fell and stuck +upright in the sward. Orion handed it to him. He first filled up the +hole from which a rabbit had just bolted with a couple of 'spits,' +_i.e._ spadefuls, and then began to dig on the top of the mound. + +This digging was very tedious. The roots of the thorn bushes and trees +constantly impeded it, and had to be cut. Then upon at last getting down +to the hole, it was found that the right place had not been hit by +several feet. Here was the line and the lined ferret--he had got hitched +in a projecting root, and was furiously struggling to go forward to the +feast of blood. + +Another spell of digging--this time still slower because Little John was +afraid lest the edge of his tool should suddenly slip through and cut +his ferret on the head, and perhaps kill it. At last the place was +reached and the ferret drawn forth still clinging to its victim. The +rabbit was almost beyond recognition as a rabbit. The poor creature had +been stopped by a _cul de sac_, and the ferret came upon him from +behind. + +As the hole was small the rabbit's body completely filled it, and the +ferret could not scramble past to get at the spot behind the ear where +it usually seizes. The ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the +hindquarters and so bored a passage. The ferret being so gorged was +useless for further hunting and was replaced in the bag. But Little John +gave him a drink of water first from the bottom of the ditch. + +Orion and I, wearied with the digging, now insisted on removing to the +next bury, for we felt sure that the remaining rabbits in this one would +not bolt. Little John had no choice but to comply, but he did so with +much reluctance and many rueful glances back at the holes from which he +took the nets. He was sure, he said, that there were at least +half-a-dozen still in the bury: he only wished he might have all that he +could get out of it. But we imperiously ordered a removal. + +We went some thirty yards down the mound, passing many smaller buries, +and chose a spot perfectly drilled with holes. While Little John was in +the ditch putting up nets, we slily undid the ferret-bag and turned +three ferrets at once loose into the holes. 'Lor! measter, measter, what +be you at?' cried Little John, quite beside himself. 'You'll spoil all +on it. Lor!' + +A sharp report as Orion fired at a rabbit that bolted almost under +Little John's fingers drowned his remonstrances, and he had to scramble +out of the way quick. Bang! bang! right and left: the firing became +rapid. There being no nets to alarm the rabbits and three ferrets +hunting them, they tumbled out in all directions as fast as we could +load. Now the cartridges struck branches and shattered them. Now the +shot flattened itself against sarsen stones imbedded in the mound. The +rabbits had scarce a yard to bolt from one hole to another, so that it +was sharp work. + +Little John now gave up all hope, and only pleaded piteously for his +ferrets. 'Mind as you doan't hit 'em, measter; doant'ee shoot into a +hole, you.' For half an hour we had some really good shooting: then it +began to slacken, and we told him to catch his ferrets and go on to the +next bury. I am not sure that he would not have rebelled outright but +just then a boy came up carrying a basket of provisions, and a large +earthenware jar with a bung cork, full of humming ale. Farmer Willum had +sent this, and the strong liquor quite restored Little John's good +humour. It really was ale--such as is not to be got for money. + +The boy said that he had seen Farmer Willum's hereditary enemy, the +keeper, watching us from his side of the boundary, doubtless attracted +by the sound of the firing. He said also that there was a pheasant in a +little copse beside the brook. We sent him out again to reconnoitre: he +returned and repeated that the keeper had gone, and that he thought he +saw him enter the distant fir plantations. So we left the boy to help +Little John at the next bury--a commission that made him grin with +delight, and suited the other very well, since the noisy guns were going +away, and he could use his nets. + +We took the lined ferret with us, and started after the pheasant. Just +as we approached the copse, the spaniel gave tongue on the other side of +the hedge. Orion had tied him up to a bush, wishing to leave him with +Little John. But the spaniel tore and twisted till he got loose and had +followed us--keeping out of sight--till now crossing the scent of a +rabbit he set up his bark. We called him to heel, and I am afraid he got +a kick. But the pheasant was alarmed, and rose before we could properly +enfilade the little copse, where we should most certainly have had him. +He flew high and straight for the fir plantations, where it was useless +to follow. + +However, we leaped the brook and entered the keeper's territory under +shelter of a thick double-mound. We slipped the lined ferret into a +small bury, and succeeded in knocking over a couple of rabbits. The +object of using the lined ferret was because we could easily recover it. +This was pure mischief, for there were scores of rabbits on our own +side. But then there was just a little spice of risk in this, and we +knew Willum would gloat over it. + +After firing these two shots we got back again as speedily as possible, +and once more assisted Little John. We could not, however, quite resist +the pleasure of shooting a rabbit occasionally and so tormenting him. We +left one hole each side without a net, and insisted on the removal of +the net that stretched across the top of the bank. This gave us a shot +now and then, and the removal of the cross net allowed the rabbit some +little law. + +Notwithstanding these drawbacks--to him--Little John succeeded in making +a good bag. He stayed till it was quite dark to dig out a ferret that +had killed a rabbit in the hole. He took his money for his day's work +with indifference: but when we presented him with two couple of clean +rabbits his gratitude was too much for him to express. The gnawn and +'blown' rabbits [by shot] were his perquisite, the clean rabbits an +unexpected gift. It was not their monetary value; it was the fact that +they were rabbits. + +The man's instinct for hunting was so strong that it seemed to overcome +everything else. He would walk miles--after a long day's farm work--just +to help old Luke, the rabbit contractor, bring home the rabbits in the +evening from the Upper Woods. He worked regularly for one farmer, and +did his work well: he was a sober man too as men go, that is he did not +get drunk more than once a month. A strong man must drink now and then: +but he was not a sot, and took nine-tenths of his money faithfully home +to his wife and children. + +In the winter when farm work is not so pressing he was allowed a week +off now and then, which he spent in ferreting for the farmers, and +sometimes for Luke, and of course he was only too glad to get such an +engagement as we gave him. Sometimes he made a good thing of his +ferreting: sometimes when the weather was bad it was a failure. But +although a few shillings were of consequence to him, it really did not +seem to be the money-value but the sport that he loved. To him that +sport was all-absorbing. + +His ferrets were well looked after, and he sometimes sold one for a good +price to keepers. As a rule a man who keeps ferrets is suspected: but +Little John was too well understood, and he had no difficulty in begging +a little milk for them. + +His tenacity in pursuit of a rabbit was always a source of wonder to me. +In rain, in wind, in frost; his feet up to the ankle in the ice-cold +slush at the bottom of a ditch: no matter what the weather or how rough, +he patiently stood to his nets. I have known him stand the whole day +long in a snowstorm--the snow on the ground and in the holes, the flakes +drifting against his face--and never once show impatience. All he +disliked was wind--not on account of discomfort, but because the +creaking of the branches and the howling of the blast made such a noise +that it was impossible to tell where the rabbit would bolt. + +He congratulated himself that evening because he had recovered all his +ferrets. Sometimes one will lie in and defy all efforts to bring it out. +One plan is to place a dead fresh rabbit at the mouth of the hole which +may tempt the ferret to come and seize it. In large woods there are +generally one or more ferrets wandering loose in the season, that have +escaped from the keepers or poachers. + +If the keeper sees one he tries to catch it; failing that, he puts a +charge of shot into it. Some keepers think nothing of shooting their own +ferrets if they will not come when called by the chirrup with the lips, +or displease them in other ways. They do not care, because they can have +as many as they like. Little John made pets of his: they obeyed him very +well as a rule. + +Poaching men are sometimes charged with stealing ferrets, _i.e._ with +picking up and carrying off those that keepers have lost. A ferret is, +however, a difficult thing to identify and swear to. + +Those who go poaching with ferrets choose a moonlight night: if it is +dark it is difficult to find the holes. Small buries are best because so +much more easily managed, and the ferret is usually lined. If a large +bury is attempted, they take the first half-dozen that bolt and then +move on to another. The first rabbits come out rapidly; the rest linger +as if warned by the fate of their companions. Instead of wasting time +over them it is best to move to another place. + +Unless a keeper should chance to pass up the hedgerow there is +comparatively little risk, for the men are in the ditch and invisible +ten yards away under the bushes and make no noise. It is more difficult +to get home with the game: but it is managed. Very small buries with not +more than four or five holes may be ferreted even on the darkest nights +by carefully observing beforehand where the holes are situate. + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + +A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK _versus_ +BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + +When the moon is full and nearly at the zenith it seems to move so +slowly that the shadows scarcely change their position. In winter, when +the branches are bare, a light that is nearly vertical over a tree can +cast but little shadow, and that falls immediately around the trunk. So +that the smallness of the shadow itself and the slowness of its motion +together tend to conceal it. + +The snow on the ground increases the sense of light, and in approaching +the wood the scene is even more distinct than during the gloomy day. The +tips of the short stubble that has not yet been ploughed in places just +protrude above the surface, and the snow, frozen hard, crunches with a +low sound under foot. But for that all is perfectly still. The level +upland cornfields stretch away white and vacant to the hills--white, +too, and clear against the sky. The plain is silent, and nothing that +can be seen moves upon its surface. + +On the verge of the wood which occupies the sloping ground there stands +a great oak tree, and down one side of its trunk is a narrow white +streak of snow. Leaning against the oak and looking upwards, every +branch and twig is visible, lit up by the moon. Overhead the stars are +dimmed, but they shine more brightly yonder above the hills. Such leaves +as have not yet fallen hang motionless: those that are lying on the +ground are covered by the snow, and thus held fast from rustling even +were the wind to blow. But there is not the least breath--a great frost +is always quiet, profoundly quiet--and the silence is undisturbed even +by the fall of a leaf. The frost that kills them holds the leaves till +it melts, and then they drop. + +The tall ash poles behind in the wood stand stark and straight, pointing +upwards, and it is possible to see for some distance between them. No +lesser bats flit to and fro outside the fence under the branches; no +larger ones pass above the tops _of_ the trees. There seems, indeed, a +total absence of life. The pheasants are at roost in the warmer covers; +and the woodpigeons are also perched--some in the detached oaks of the +hedgerows, particularly those that are thickly grown with ivy about the +upper branches. Up in the great beeches the rooks are still and silent; +sometimes the boughs are encrusted with rime about their very claws. + +Leaving the oak now and skirting the wood, after a while the meadows on +the lower ground are reached; and here perhaps the slight scampering +sound of a rabbit may be heard. But as they can see and hear you so far +in the bright light and silence, they will most likely be gone before +you can get near. They are restless--very restless; first because of the +snow, and next because of the moonlight. The hares, unable to find +anything on the hills or the level white plain above, have come down +here and search along the sheltered hedgerows for leaf and blade. +To-night the rabbits will run almost like the hares, to and fro, hither +and thither. + +In the thickest hawthorns the blackbirds and lesser feathered creatures +are roosting, preferring the hedgerow to the more open wood. Some of the +lesser birds have crept into the ivy around the elms, and which crowns +the tops of the withy pollards. Wrens and sparrows have gone to the +hayricks, roosting in little holes in the sides under the slightly +projecting thatch. They have taken refuge too in the nest-holes made in +the thatched eaves of the sheds: tits are there also; and sometimes two +or three of the latter are captured at once in such holes. + +A dark line across the lower meadows marks the course of the brook; it +is dark because the snow falling on the water melted. Even now there is +a narrow stream unfrozen; though the banks against which it chafes are +hard, and will not take the impression of the moorhen's foot. The +water-rats that in summertime played and fed along the margin among the +flags are rarely seen in winter. In walking in daylight by the brook now +their plunge into the water will not be heard, nor can they be seen +travelling at the bottom. + +They lay up a store of food in a hole away from the stream, generally +choosing the banks or higher ground in the withy-beds--places that are +not often flooded. Their ordinary holes, which are half, and sometimes +quite, under water, will not do for winter; they would be frozen in +them, and perhaps their store of food would be spoiled; besides which +the floods cause the stream to rise above its banks, and they could not +exist under water for weeks together. + +Still further down, where the wood ends in scattered bushes and +withy-beds, the level shore of the shallow mere succeeds. The once soft, +oozy ground is now firm; the rushes are frozen stiff, and the ice for +some distance out is darkened by the aquatic weeds frozen in it. From +here the wood, rising up the slope, comes into view at once--the dark +trees, the ash poles, the distant beeches, the white crest of the +hill--all still and calm under the moonlight. The level white plain of +ice behind stretches away, its real extent concealed by the islands of +withy and the dark pines along the distant shore; while elsewhere the +ice is not distinguishable from the almost equally level fields that +join it. Looking now more closely on the snow, the tracks of hares and +rabbits that have crossed and recrossed the ice are visible. + +In passing close to the withy-beds to return to the wood some branches +have to be pushed aside and cause a slight noise. Immediately a crowd of +birds rise out of the withies, where they have been roosting, and +scatter into the night. They are redwings and thrushes; every withy-bed +is full of them. After wheeling about in the air they will presently +return--first one, then three or four, and finally the flock, to their +roosting-place. + +It is easy now to walk through the wood without making a noise: there is +room to pass between the stoles of ash; and the dead sticks that would +have cracked under foot are covered with snow. But be careful how you +step; for in some places the snow has fallen upon a mass of leaves +filling a swampy hollow. Above there is a thin crust of snow, but under +the leaves the oozy ground is still soft. + +Upon the dark pines the snow has lodged, making the boughs bend +downwards. Where the slope becomes a hill the ash stoles and nut-tree +bushes are far apart and thinner, so that there are wide white spaces +around them. Regaining now the top of the hill where the plain comes to +the verge of the wood, there is a clear view down across the ash poles +to the withies, the white mere, and the meadows below. Everywhere +silence, stillness, sleep. + +In the high trees slumbering creatures; in the hedgerows, in the bushes, +and the withies birds with feathers puffed out, slumbering; in the +banks, under the very ground, dormant animals. A quiet cold that at +first does not seem cold because it is so quiet, but which gradually +seizes on and stills the sap of plants and the blood of living things. A +ruthless frost, still, subtle, and irresistible, that will slay the bird +on its perch and weaken the swift hare. + +The most cruel of all things this snow and frost, because of the torture +of hunger which the birds must feel even in their sleep. But how +beautiful the round full moon, the brilliant light, the white landscape, +the graceful lines of the pine brought out by the snow, the hills +yonder, and the stars rising above them! + +It was on just such a night as this that some years since a most +successful raid was made upon this wood by a band of poachers coming +from a distance. The pheasants had been kept later than usual to be shot +by a Christmas party, and perhaps this had caused a relaxation of +vigilance. The band came in a cart of some kind; the marks of the wheels +were found on the snow where it had been driven off the highway and +across a field to some ricks. There, no doubt, the horse and cart were +kept out of sight behind the ricks, while the men, who were believed to +have worn smock-frocks, entered the wood. + +The bright moonlight made it easy to find the pheasants, and they were +potted in plenty. Finding that there was no opposition, the gang crossed +from the wood to some outlying plantations and continued their work +there. The keeper never heard a sound. He was an old man--a man who had +been on the estate all his life--and had come in late in the evening +after a long round. He sat by the fire of split logs and enjoyed the +warmth after the bitter cold and frost; and, as he himself confessed, +took an extra glass in consideration of the severity of the weather. + +His wife was old and deaf. Neither of them heard the guns nor the dogs. +Those in the kennels close to the cottage, and very likely one or more +indoors, must have barked at the noise of the shooting. But if any dim +sense of the uproar did reach the keeper's ear he put it down to the +moon, at which dogs will bay. As for his assistants, they had quietly +gone home, so soon as they felt sure that the keeper was housed for the +night. Long immunity from attack had bred over-confidence; the staff +also was too small for the extent of the place, and this had doubtless +become known. No one sleeps so soundly as an agricultural labourer; and +as the nearest hamlet was at some distance it is not surprising that +they did not wake. + +In the early morning a fogger going to fodder his cattle came across a +pheasant lying dead on the path, the snow stained with its blood. He +picked it up, and put it under his smock-frock, and carried it to the +pen, where he hid it under some litter, intending to take it home. But +afterwards, as he crossed the fields towards the farm, he passed near +the wood and observed the tracks of many feet and a gap in the fence. He +looked through the gap and saw that the track went into the preserves. +On second thoughts he went back for the pheasant and took it to his +master. + +The farmer, who was sitting down to table, quietly ate his breakfast, +and then strolled over to the keeper's cottage with the bird. This was +the first intimation: the keeper could hardly believe it, till he +himself went down and followed the trail of foot-marks. There was not +the least difficulty in tracing the course of the poachers through the +wood; the feathers were lying about; the scorched paper (for they used +muzzle-loaders), broken boughs, and shot-marks were all too plain. But +by this time the gang were well away, and none were captured or +identified. + +The extreme severity of the frost naturally caused people to stay +indoors, so that no one noticed the cart going through the village; nor +could the track of its wheels be discerned from others on the snow of +the highway beaten down firm. Even had the poachers been disturbed, it +is doubtful if so small a staff of keepers could have done anything to +stop them. As it was, they not only made a good haul--the largest made +for years in that locality--but quite spoiled the shooting. + +There are no white figures passing through the peaceful wood to-night +and firing up into the trees. It is perfectly still. The broad moon +moves slow, and the bright rays light up tree and bush, so that it is +easy to see through, except where the brambles retain their leaves and +are fringed with the dead ferns. + +The poaching of the present day is carried on with a few appliances +only. An old-fashioned poacher could employ a variety of 'engines,' but +the modern has scarcely any choice. There was, for instance, a very +effective mode of setting a wire with a springe or bow. A stout stick +was thrust into the ground, and then bent over into an arch. When the +wire was thrown it instantly released the springe, which sprang up and +drew it fast round the neck of the hare or rabbit, whose fore feet were +lifted from the earth. Sometimes a growing sapling was bent down for the +bow if it chanced to stand conveniently near a run. The hare no sooner +put her head into the noose than she was suspended and strangled. + +I tried the springe several times for rabbits, and found it answer; but +the poacher cannot use it because it is so conspicuous. The stick +itself, rising above the grass, is visible at some distance, and when +thrown it holds the hare or rabbit up for any one to see that passes by. +With a wire set in the present manner the captured animal lies extended, +and often rolls into a furrow and is further hidden. + +The springe was probably last employed by the mole-catchers. Their +wooden traps were in the shape of a small tunnel, with a wire in the +middle which, when the mole passed through, set free a bent stick. This +stick pulled the wire and hung the mole. Such mole-catchers' bows or +springes used to be seen in every meadow, but are now superseded by the +iron trap. + +Springes with horsehair nooses on the ground were also set for woodcocks +and for wild ducks. It is said that a springe of somewhat similar +construction was used for pheasants. Horsehair nooses are still applied +for capturing woodpeckers and the owls that spend the day in hollow +trees, being set round the hole by which they leave the tree. A more +delicate horsehair noose is sometimes set for finches and small birds. I +tried it for bullfinches, but did not succeed from lack of the dexterity +required. The modes of using bird-lime were numerous, and many of them +are in use for taking song-birds. + +But the enclosure of open lands, the strict definition of footpaths, +closer cultivation, and the increased value of game have so checked the +poacher's operations with nets that in many districts the net may be +said to be extinct. It is no longer necessary to bush the stubbles +immediately after reaping. Brambles are said to have been the best for +hindering the net, which frequently swept away an entire covey, old +birds and young together. Stubbles are now so short that no birds will +lie in them, and the net would not be successful there if it were tried. + +The net used to be so favourite an 'engine' because partridges and +pheasants will run rather than fly. In the case of partridges the +poacher had first to ascertain the haunt of the covey, which he could do +by looking for where they roost at night: the spot is often worn almost +bare of grass and easily found. Or he could listen in the evening for +the calling of the birds as they run together. The net being set, he +walked very slowly down the wind towards the covey. It could not be done +too quietly or gently, because if one got up all the rest would +immediately take wing; for partridges act in concert. If he took his +time and let them run in front of him he secured the whole number. That +was the principle; but the nets were of many kinds: the partridges were +sometimes driven in by a dog. The partridges that appear in the market +on the morning of the 1st of September are said to be netted, though +probably by those who have a right to do so. These birds by nature lend +themselves to such tricks, being so timid. It is said that if +continually driven to and fro they will at last cower, and can be taken +by hand or knocked over with a stick. + +The sight of a paper kite in the air makes them motionless till forced +to rise; and there was an old dodge of ringing a bell at night, which so +alarmed the covey that they remained still till the net was ready, when +a sudden flash of light drove them into it. Imagine a poacher ringing a +bell nowadays! Then, partridges were peculiarly liable to be taken; now, +perhaps, they escape better than any other kind of game. Except with a +gun the poacher can hardly touch them, and after the coveys have been +broken up it is not worth his while to risk a shot very often. If only +their eggs could be protected there should be little difficulty with +partridges. + +Pheasants are more individual in their ways, and act less together; but +they have the same habit of running instead of flying, and if a poacher +did but dare he could take them with nets as easily as possible. They +form runs through the woods--just as fowls will wander day after day +down a hedge, till they have made quite a path. So that, having found +the run and knowing the position of the birds, the rest is simplicity +itself. The net being stretched, the pheasants were driven in. A cur dog +was sometimes sent round to disturb the birds. Being a cur, he did not +bark, for which reason a strain of cur is preferred to this day by the +mouchers who keep dogs. Now that the woods are regularly watched such a +plan has become impracticable. It might indeed be done once, but surely +not twice where competent keepers were about. + +Nets were also used for hares and rabbits, which were driven in by a +dog; but, the scent of these animals being so good, it was necessary to +work in such a manner that the wind might not blow from the net, meeting +them as they approached it. Pheasants, as every one knows, roost on +trees, but often do not ascend very high; and, indeed, before the leaves +are off they are said to be sometimes taken by hand--sliding it along +the bough till the legs are grasped, just as you might fowls perched at +night on a rail across the beams of a shed. + +The spot where they roost is easily found out, because of the peculiar +noise they make upon flying up; and with a little precaution the trees +may be approached without startling them. Years ago the poacher carried +a sulphur match and lit it under the tree, when the fumes, ascending, +stupefied the birds, which fell to the ground. The process strongly +resembled the way in which old-fashioned folk stifled their bees by +placing the hive at night, when the insects were still, over a piece of +brown paper dipped in molten brimstone and ignited. The apparently dead +bees were afterwards shaken out and buried; but upon moving the earth +with a spade some of them would crawl out, even after two or three days. + +Sulphur fumes were likewise used for compelling rabbits to bolt from +their buries without a ferret. I tried an experiment in a bury once with +a mixture the chief component of which was gunpowder, so managed as to +burn slowly and give a great smoke. The rabbits did, indeed, just hop +out and hop in again; but it is a most clumsy expedient, because the +fire must be lit on the windward side, and the rabbits will only come +out to leeward. The smoke hangs, and does not penetrate into half the +tunnels; or else it blows through quickly, when you must stop half the +holes with a spade. It is a wretched substitute for a ferret. + +When cock-fighting was common the bellicose inclinations of the +cock-pheasants were sometimes excited to their destruction. A gamecock +was first armed with the sharp spur made from the best razors, and then +put down near where a pheasant-cock had been observed to crow. The +pheasant cock is so thoroughly game that he will not allow any rival +crowing in his locality, and the two quickly met in battle. Like a keen +poniard the game-cock's spur either slew the pheasant outright or got +fixed in the pheasant's feathers, when he was captured. + +A pheasant, too, as he ran deeper into the wood upon an alarm, +occasionally found his neck in a noose suspended across his path. For +rabbiting, the lurcher was and is the dog of all others. He is as +cunning and wily in approaching his game as if he had a cross of feline +nature in his character. Other dogs trust to speed; but the lurcher +steals on his prey without a sound. He enters into the purpose of his +master, and if any one appears in sight remains quietly in the hedge +with the rabbit or leveret in his mouth till a sign bids him approach. +If half the stories told of the docility and intelligence of the lurcher +are true, the poacher needs no other help than one of these dogs for +ground game. But the dogs called lurchers nowadays are mostly of +degenerate and impure breed; still, even these are capable of a good +deal. + +There is a way of fishing with rod and line, but without a bait. The rod +should be in one piece, or else a stout one--the line also very strong +and short, the hook of large size. When the fish is discovered the hook +is quietly dropped into the water and allowed to float, in seeming, +along, till close under it. The rod is then jerked up, and the barb +enters the body of the fish and drags it out. + +This plan requires, of course, that the fish should be visible, and if +stationary is more easily practised; but it is also effective even +against small fish that swim together in large shoals, for if the hook +misses one it strikes another. The most fatal time for fish is when they +spawn: roach, jack, and trout alike are then within reach, and if the +poacher dares to visit the water he is certain of a haul. + +Even in the present day and in the south a fawn is now and then stolen +from parks and forests where deer are kept. Being small, it is not much +more difficult to hide than a couple of hares; and once in the carrier's +cart and at a little distance no one asks any questions. Such game +always finds a ready sale; and when a savoury dish is on the table those +who are about to eat it do not inquire whence it came any more than the +old folk did centuries ago. A nod and a wink are the best sauce. As the +keepers are allowed to sell a certain number of fawns (or say they are), +it is not possible for any one at a distance to know whether the game +was poached or not. An ordinary single-barrel muzzle-loader of the +commonest kind with a charge of common shot will kill a fawn. + +I once started to stalk a pheasant that was feeding in the corner of a +meadow. Beyond the meadow there was a cornfield which extended across to +a preserved wood. But the open stubble afforded no cover--any one +walking in it could be seen--so that the pheasant had to be got at from +one side only. It was necessary also that he should be shot dead without +fluttering of wings, the wood being so near. + +The afternoon sun, shining in a cloudless sky--it was a still October +day--beat hot against the western side of the hedge as I noiselessly +walked beside it. In the aftermath, green but flowerless, a small flock +of sheep were feeding--one with a long briar clinging to his wool. They +moved slowly before me; a thing I wanted; for behind sheep almost any +game can be approached. + +I have also frequently shot rabbits that were out feeding, by the aid of +a herd of cows. It does not seem to be so much the actual cover as the +scent of the animals; for a man of course can be seen over sheep, and +under the legs of cattle. But the breath and odour of sheep or cows +prevent the game from scenting him, and, what is equally effective, the +cattle, to which they are accustomed, throw them off their guard. + +The cart-horses in the fields do not answer so well: if you try to use +one for stalking, unless he knows you he will sheer off and set up a +clumsy gallop, being afraid of capture and a return to work. But cows +will feed steadily in front, and a flock of sheep, very slowly driven, +move on with a gentle 'tinkle, tinkle.' Wild creatures show no fear of +what they are accustomed to, and the use of which they understand. + +If a solitary hurdle be set up in a meadow as a hiding-place from behind +which to shoot the rabbits of a burrow, not one will come out within +gun-shot that evening. They know-that it is something strange, the use +of which they do not understand and therefore avoid. When I first began +to shoot, the difficulty was to judge the distances, and to know how far +a rabbit was from a favourite hiding-place. I once carefully dropped +small green boughs, just broken off, at twenty, thirty, and forty yards, +measuring by paces. This was in the morning. + +In the evening not a rabbit would come out anywhere near these boughs; +they were shy of them even when the leaves had withered and turned +brown; so that I took them away. Yet of the green boughs blown off by a +gale, or the dead grey branches that fall of their own weight, they take +no notice. + +First, then, they must have heard me in their burrows pacing by; +secondly, they scented the boughs as having been handled, and connected +the two circumstances together; and, thirdly, though aware that the +boughs themselves were harmless, they felt that harm was intended. The +pheasant had been walking about in the corner where the hedges met, but +now he went in; still, as he entered the hedge in a quiet way, he did +not appear to be alarmed. The sheep, tired of being constantly driven +from their food, now sheered out from the hedge, and allowed me to go +by. + +As I passed I gathered a few haws and ate them. The reason why birds do +not care much for berries before they are forced to take to them by +frost is because of the stone within, so that the food afforded by the +berries is really small. Yew-berries are an exception; they have a +stone, but the covering to it is sweet, succulent, and thick, and dearly +loved by thrushes. In the ditch the tall grasses, having escaped the +scythe, bowed low with the weight of their own awn-like seeds. + +The corner was not far off now; and I waited awhile behind a large +hawthorn bush growing on the 'shore' of the ditch, thinking that I might +see the pheasant on the mound, or that at least he would recover +confidence if he had previously heard anything. Inside the bush was a +nest already partly filled with fallen leaves, like a little basket. + +A rabbit had been feeding on the other side, but now, suspicious, came +over the bank, and, seeing me, suddenly stopped and lifted himself up. +In that moment I could have shot him, being so near, without putting the +gun to the shoulder, by the sense of direction in the hands; the next he +dived into a burrow. Looking round the bush, I now saw the pheasant in +the hedge, that crossed at right angles in front; this was fortunate, +because through that hedge there was another meadow. It was full of +nut-tree bushes, very tall and thick at the top, but lower down thin, as +is usually the case when poles grow high. To fill the space a fence had +been made of stakes and bushes woven between them, and on this the +pheasant stood. + +It was too far for a safe shot; in a minute he went down into the meadow +on the other side. I then crept on hands and knees towards the +nut-bushes: as I got nearer there was a slight rustle and a low hiss in +the grass, and I had to pause while a snake went by hastening for the +ditch. A few moments afterwards, being close to the hedge, I rose partly +up, and looked carefully over the fence between the hazel wands. There +was the pheasant not fifteen yards away, his back somewhat towards me, +and quietly questing about. + +In lifting the gun I had to push aside a bough--the empty hoods, from +which a bunch of brown nuts had fallen, rested against the barrel as I +looked along it. I aimed at the head--knowing that it would mean instant +death, and would also avoid shattering the bird at so short a range; +besides which there would be fewer scattered feathers to collect and +thrust out of sight into a rabbit bury. A reason why people frequently +miss pheasants in cover-shooting, despite of their size, is because they +look at the body, the wings, and the tail. But if they looked only at +the head, and thought of that, very few would escape. My finger felt the +trigger, and the least increase of pressure would have been fatal; but +in the act I hesitated, dropped the barrel, and watched the beautiful +bird. + +That watching so often stayed the shot that at last it grew to be a +habit: the mere simple pleasure of seeing birds and animals, when they +were quite unconscious that they were observed, being too great to be +spoilt by the discharge. After carefully getting a wire over a jack; +after waiting in a tree till a hare came along; after sitting in a mound +till the partridges began to run together to roost; in the end the wire +or gun remained unused. The same feeling has equally checked my hand in +legitimate shooting: time after time I have flushed partridges without +firing, and have let the hare bound over the furrow free. + +I have entered many woods just for the pleasure of creeping through the +brake and the thickets. Destruction in itself was not the motive; it was +an overpowering instinct for woods and fields. Yet woods and fields lose +half their interest without a gun--I like the power to shoot, even +though I may not use it. The very perfection of our modern guns is to me +one of their drawbacks: the use of them is so easy and so certain of +effect that it takes away the romance of sport. + +There could be no greater pleasure to me than to wander with a matchlock +through one of the great forests or wild tracts that still remain in +England. A hare a day, a brace of partridges, or a wild duck would be +ample in the way of actual shooting. The weapon itself, whether +matchlock, wheel-lock, or even a cross-bow, would be a delight. Some of +the antique wheel-lock guns are really beautiful specimens of design. +The old powder-horns are often gems of workmanship--hunting scenes cut +out in ivory, and the minutest detail of hoof or antler rendered with +life-like accuracy. How pleasant these carvings feel to the fingers! It +is delightful to handle such weapons and such implements. + +The matchlocks, too, are inlaid or the stocks carved. There is slaughter +in every line of our modern guns--mechanical slaughter. But were I +offered participation in the bloodiest battue ever arranged, or the +freedom of an English forest or mountain tract, to go forth at any time +untrammelled by attendant, but only to shoot with matchlock, wheel-lock, +or cross-bow, my choice would be unhesitating. + +There would be pleasure in winding up the lock with the spanner; +pleasure in adjusting the priming; or with the matchlock in lighting the +match. To wander out into the brake, to creep from tree to tree so +noiselessly that the woodpecker should not cease to tap--in that there +is joy. The consciousness that everything depends upon your own personal +skill, and that you have no second resource if that fails you, gives the +real zest to sport. + +If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly; if the priming had not +been kept dry or the match not properly blown, or the cross-bow set +exactly accurate, then the care of approach would be lost. You must hold +the gun steady, too, while the slow priming ignites the charge. + +An imperfect weapon--yes; but the imperfect weapon would accord with the +great oaks, the beech trees full of knot-holes, the mysterious thickets, +the tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase would become a +real chase: not, as now, a foregone conclusion. And there would be time +for pondering and dreaming. + +Let us be always out of doors among trees and grass, and rain and wind +and sun. There the breeze comes and strikes the cheek and sets it aglow: +the gale increases and the trees creak and roar, but it is only a ruder +music. A calm follows, the sun shines in the sky, and it is the time to +sit under an oak, leaning against the bark, while the birds sing and the +air is soft and sweet. By night the stars shine, and there is no +fathoming the dark spaces between those brilliant points, nor the +thoughts that come as it were between the fixed stars and landmarks of +the mind. + +Or it is the morning on the hills, when hope is as wide as the world; or +it is the evening on the shore. A red sun sinks, and the foam-tipped +waves are crested with crimson; the booming surge breaks, and the spray +flies afar, sprinkling the face watching under the pale cliffs. Let us +get out of these indoor narrow modern days, whose twelve hours somehow +have become shortened, into the sunlight and the pure wind. A something +that the ancients called divine can be found and felt there still. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Amateur Poacher, by Richard Jefferies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER *** + +***** This file should be named 13730-8.txt or 13730-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/7/3/13730/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/old/13730-8.zip b/old/old/13730-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0172f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/13730-8.zip diff --git a/old/old/13730.txt b/old/old/13730.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cce0fe0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/13730.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5580 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Amateur Poacher, by Richard Jefferies + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Amateur Poacher + +Author: Richard Jefferies + +Release Date: October 12, 2004 [EBook #13730] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER *** + + + + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + + + + + + + + + + THE AMATEUR POACHER + + BY + + RICHARD JEFFERIES + + + + +PREFACE + + +The following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of time, +beginning with the first gun, and attempts at shooting. Then come the +fields, the first hills, and woods explored, often without a gun, or any +thought of destruction: and next the poachers, and other odd characters +observed at their work. Perhaps the idea of shooting with a matchlock, +or wheel-lock, might, if put in practice, at least afford some little +novelty. + +R.J. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +I. THE FIRST GUN + +II. THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS 'TURNPIKE' + +III. TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + +IV. EGG-TIME: A 'GIP'-TRAP + +V. WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + +VI. LURCHER-LAND: 'THE PARK' + +VII. OBY, AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER'S CALENDAR + +VIII. CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + +IX. LUKE, THE RABBIT-CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK PATH. + +X. FARMER WILLUM'S PLACE: SNIPE-SHOOTING + +XI. FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + +XII. A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK VERSUS + BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + + + +THE AMATEUR POACHER + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + + +THE FIRST GUN + + +They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the +garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. +Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did +not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so +perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?--and so +magnificent a brush as he had too. But there he stood, and mounted guard +over the old flintlock that was so powerful a magnet to us in those +days. Though to go up there alone was no slight trial of moral courage +after listening to the horrible tales of the carters in the stable, or +the old women who used to sit under the hedge in the shade, on an armful +of hay, munching their crusts at luncheon time. + +The great cavernous place was full of shadows in the brightest summer +day; for the light came only through the chinks in the shutters. These +were flush with the floor and bolted firmly. The silence was intense, it +being so near the roof and so far away from the inhabited parts of the +house. Yet there were sometimes strange acoustical effects--as when +there came a low tapping at the shutters, enough to make your heart +stand still. There was then nothing for it but to dash through the +doorway into the empty cheese-room adjoining, which was better lighted. +No doubt it was nothing but the labourers knocking the stakes in for the +railing round the rickyard, but why did it sound just exactly outside +the shutters? When that ceased the staircase creaked, or the pear-tree +boughs rustled against the window. The staircase always waited till you +had forgotten all about it before the loose worm-eaten planks sprang +back to their place. + +Had it not been for the merry whistling of the starlings on the thatch +above, it would not have been possible to face the gloom and the teeth +of Reynard, ever in the act to snap, and the mystic noises, and the +sense of guilt--for the gun was forbidden. Besides which there was the +black mouth of the open trapdoor overhead yawning fearfully--a standing +terror and temptation; for there was a legend of a pair of pistols +thrown up there out of the way--a treasure-trove tempting enough to make +us face anything. But Orion must have the credit of the courage; I call +him Orion because he was a hunter and had a famous dog. The last I heard +of him he had just ridden through a prairie fire, and says the people +out there think nothing of it. + +We dragged an ancient linen-press under the trapdoor, and put some boxes +on that, and finally a straight-backed oaken chair. One or two of those +chairs were split up and helped to do the roasting on the kitchen +hearth. So, climbing the pile, we emerged under the rafters, and could +see daylight faintly in several places coming through the starlings' +holes. One or two bats fluttered to and fro as we groped among the +lumber, but no pistols could be discovered; nothing but a cannon-ball, +rusty enough and about as big as an orange, which they say was found in +the wood, where there was a brush in Oliver's time. + +In the middle of our expedition there came the well-known whistle, +echoing about the chimneys, with which it was the custom to recall us to +dinner. How else could you make people hear who might be cutting a +knobbed stick in the copse half a mile away or bathing in the lake? We +had to jump down with a run; and then came the difficulty; for black +dusty cobwebs, the growth of fifty years, clothed us from head to foot. +There was no brushing or picking them off, with that loud whistle +repeated every two minutes. + +The fact where we had been was patent to all; and so the chairs got +burned--but one, which was rickety. After which a story crept out, of a +disjointed skeleton lying in a corner under the thatch. Though just a +little suspicious that this might be a _ruse_ to frighten us from a +second attempt, we yet could not deny the possibility of its being true. +Sometimes in the dusk, when I sat poring over 'Koenigsmark, the Robber,' +by the little window in the cheese-room, a skull seemed to peer down the +trapdoor. But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. + +There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no +modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. +The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very +good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the +window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a +'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger +behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at +them. At least this practice and drill had one useful effect--the eye +got accustomed to the flash from the pan, instead of blinking the +discharge, which ruins the shooting. Almost everybody and everything on +the place got shot dead in this way without knowing it. + +It was not so easy as might be supposed to find proper flints. The best +time to look for them was after a heavy storm of rain had washed a +shallow channel beside the road, when you might select some hardy +splinters which had lain hidden under the dust. How we were found out is +not quite clear: perhaps the powder left a smell of sulphur for any one +who chanced to go up in the garret. + +But, however that may be, one day, as we came in unexpectedly from a +voyage in the punt, something was discovered burning among the logs on +the kitchen hearth; and, though a desperate rescue was attempted, +nothing was left but the barrel of our precious gun and some crooked +iron representing the remains of the lock. There are things that are +never entirely forgotten, though the impression may become fainter as +years go by. The sense of the cruel injustice of that act will never +quite depart. + +But they could not burn the barrel, and we almost succeeded in fitting +it to a stock of elder. Elder has a thick pith running down the centre: +by removing that the gouge and chisel had not much work to do to make a +groove for the old bell-mouthed barrel to lie in. The matchlock, for as +such it was intended, was nearly finished when our hopes were dashed to +the ground by a piece of unnatural cunning. One morning the breechpiece +that screwed in was missing. This was fatal. A barrel without a +breechpiece is like a cup without a bottom. It was all over. + +There are days in spring when the white clouds go swiftly past, with +occasional breaks of bright sunshine lighting up a spot in the +landscape. That is like the memory of one's youth. There is a long dull +blank, and then a brilliant streak of recollection. Doubtless it was a +year or two afterwards when, seeing that the natural instinct could not +be suppressed but had better be recognised, they produced a real gun +(single-barrel) for me from the clock-case. + +It stood on the landing just at the bottom of the dark flight that led +to the garret. An oaken case six feet high or more, and a vast dial, +with a mysterious picture of a full moon and a ship in full sail that +somehow indicated the quarters of the year, if you had been imitating +Rip Van Winkle and after a sleep of six months wanted to know whether it +was spring or autumn. But only to think that all the while we were +puzzling over the moon and the ship and the queer signs on the dial a +gun was hidden inside! The case was locked, it is true; but there are +ways of opening locks, and we were always handy with tools. + +This gun was almost, but not quite so long as the other. That dated from +the time between Stuart and Hanover; this might not have been more than +seventy years old. And a beautiful piece of workmanship it was: my new +double breechloader is a coarse common thing to compare with it. Long +and slender and light as a feather, it came to the shoulder with +wonderful ease. Then there was a groove on the barrel at the breech and +for some inches up which caught the eye and guided the glance like a +trough to the sight at the muzzle and thence to the bird. The stock was +shod with brass, and the trigger-guard was of brass, with a kind of +flange stretching half-way down to the butt and inserted in the wood. +After a few minutes' polishing it shone like gold, and to see the +sunlight flash on it was a joy. + +You might note the grain of the barrel, for it had not been browned; and +it took a good deal of sand to get the rust off. By aid of a little oil +and careful wiping after a shower it was easy to keep it bright. Those +browned barrels only encourage idleness. The lock was a trifle dull at +first, simply from lack of use. A small screwdriver soon had it to +pieces, and it speedily clicked again sweet as a flute. If the hammer +came back rather far when at full-cock, that was because the lock had +been converted from a flint, and you could not expect it to be +absolutely perfect. Besides which, as the fall was longer the blow was +heavier, and the cap was sure to explode. + +By old farmhouses, mostly in exposed places (for which there is a +reason), one or more huge walnut trees may be found. The provident folk +of those days planted them with the purpose of having their own +gunstocks cut out of the wood when the tree was thrown. They could then +be sure it was really walnut, and a choice piece of timber thoroughly +well seasoned. I like to think of those times, when men settled +themselves down, and planted and planned and laid out their gardens and +orchards and woods, as if they and their sons and sons' sons, to the +twentieth generation, were sure to enjoy the fruit of their labour. + +The reason why the walnuts are put in exposed places, on the slope of a +rise, with open aspect to the east and north, is because the walnut is a +foolish tree that will not learn by experience. If it feels the warmth +of a few genial days in early spring, it immediately protrudes its buds; +and the next morning a bitter frost cuts down every hope of fruit for +that year, leaving the leaf as black as may be. Wherefore the east wind +is desirable to keep it as backward as possible. + +There was a story that the stock of this gun had been cut out of a +walnut tree that was thrown on the place by my great-grandfather, who +saw it well seasoned, being a connoisseur of timber, which is, indeed, a +sort of instinct in all his descendants. And a vast store of philosophy +there is in timber if you study it aright. + +After cleaning the gun and trying it at a mark, the next thing was to +get a good shot with it. Now there was an elm that stood out from the +hedge a little, almost at the top of the meadow, not above +five-and-twenty yards from the other hedge that bounded the field. Two +mounds could therefore be commanded by any one in ambush behind the elm, +and all the angular corner of the mead was within range. + +It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression +there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the +roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, +with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms +and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge +of the prairie with the backwoods close by. + +The rabbits had scratched the yellow sand right out into the grass--it +is always very much brighter in colour where they have just been at +work--and the fern, already almost yellow too, shaded the mouths of +their buries. Thick bramble bushes grew out from the mound and filled +the space between it and the elm: there were a few late flowers on them +still, but the rest were hardening into red sour berries. Westwards, the +afternoon sun, with all his autumn heat, shone full against the hedge +and into the recess, and there was not the shadow of a leaf for shelter +on that side. + +The gun was on the turf, and the little hoppers kept jumping out of the +grass on to the stock: once their king, a grasshopper, alighted on it +and rested, his green limbs tipped with red rising above his back. About +the distant wood and the hills there was a soft faint haze, which is +what Nature finishes her pictures with. Something in the atmosphere +which made it almost visible: all the trees seemed to stand in a liquid +light--the sunbeams were suspended in the air instead of passing +through. The butterflies even were very idle in the slumberous warmth; +and the great green dragon-fly rested on a leaf, his tail arched a +little downwards, just as he puts it when he wishes to stop suddenly in +his flight. + +The broad glittering trigger-guard got quite hot in the sun, and the +stock was warm when I felt it every now and then. The grain of the +walnut-wood showed plainly through the light polish: it was not +varnished like the stock of the double-barrel they kept padlocked to the +rack over the high mantelpiece indoors. Still you could see the varnish. +It was of a rich dark horse-chestnut colour, and yet so bright and clear +that if held close you could see your face in it. Behind it the grain of +the wood was just perceptible; especially at the grip, where hard hands +had worn it away somewhat. The secret of that varnish is lost--like that +of the varnish on the priceless old violins. + +But you could feel the wood more in my gun: so that it was difficult to +keep the hand off it, though the rabbits would not come out; and the +shadowless recess grew like a furnace, for it focussed the rays of the +sun. The heat on the sunny side of a thick hedge between three and four +in the afternoon is almost tropical if you remain still, because the air +is motionless: the only relief is to hold your hat loose; or tilt it +against your head, the other edge of the brim on the ground. Then the +grass-blades rise up level with the forehead. There is a delicious smell +in growing grass, and a sweetness comes up from the earth. + +Still it got hotter and hotter; and it was not possible to move in the +least degree, lest a brown creature sitting on the sand at the mouth of +his hole, and hidden himself by the fern, should immediately note it. +And Orion was waiting in the rickyard for the sound of the report, and +very likely the shepherd too. We knew that men in Africa, watched by +lions, had kept still in the sunshine till, reflected from the rock, it +literally scorched them, not daring to move; and we knew all about the +stoicism of the Red Indians. But Ulysses was ever my pattern and model: +that man of infinite patience and resource. + +So, though the sun might burn and the air become suffocating in that +close corner, and the quivering line of heat across the meadow make the +eyes dizzy to watch, yet not a limb must be moved. The black flies came +in crowds; but they are not so tormenting if you plunge your face in the +grass, though they titillate the back of the hand as they run over it. +Under the bramble bush was a bury that did not look much used; and once +or twice a great blue fly came out of it, the buzz at first sounding +hollow and afar off and becoming clearer as it approached the mouth of +the hole. There was the carcass of a dead rabbit inside no doubt. + +A humble-bee wandering along--they are restless things--buzzed right +under my hat, and became entangled in the grass by my ear. Now we knew +by experience in taking their honey that they could sting sharply if +irritated, though good-tempered by nature. How he 'burred' and buzzed +and droned!--till by-and-by, crawling up the back of my head, he found +an open space and sailed away. Then, looking out again, there was a pair +of ears in the grass not ten yards distant: a rabbit had come out at +last. But the first delight was quickly over: the ears were short and +sharply pointed, and almost pinkly transparent. + +What would the shepherd say if I brought home one of his hated enemies +no bigger than a rat? The young rabbit made waiting still more painful, +being far enough from the hedge to get a clear view into the recess if +anything attracted his notice. Why the shepherd hated rabbits was +because the sheep would not feed where they had worn their runs in the +grass. Not the least movement was possible now--not even that little +shifting which makes a position just endurable: the heat seemed to +increase; the thought of Ulysses could hardly restrain the almost +irresistible desire to stir. + +When, suddenly, there was a slight rustling among the boughs of an oak +in the other hedge, as of wings against twigs: it was a woodpigeon, +better game than a rabbit. He would, I knew, first look round before he +settled himself to preen his feathers on the branch, and, if everything +was still while that keen inspection lasted, would never notice me. This +is their habit--and the closer you are underneath them the less chance +of their perceiving you: for a pigeon perched rarely looks straight +downwards. If flying, it is just the reverse; for then they seem to see +under them quicker than in any other direction. + +Slowly lifting the long barrel of the gun--it was fortunate the sunlight +glancing on the bright barrel was not reflected towards the oak--I got +it to bear upon the bird; but then came a doubt. It was all +eight-and-twenty yards across the angle of the meadow to the oak--a +tremendous long shot under the circumstances. For they would not trust +us with the large copper powder-flask, but only with a little +pistol-flask (it had belonged to the pair of pistols we tried to find), +and we were ordered not to use more than a charge and a half at a time. +That was quite enough to kill blackbirds. (The noise of the report was +always a check in this way; such a trifle of powder only made a slight +puff.) + +Shot there was in plenty--a whole tobacco-pipe bowl full, carefully +measured out of the old yellow canvas money-bag that did for a shot +belt. A starling could be knocked off the chimney with this charge +easily, and so could a blackbird roosting in a bush at night. But a +woodpigeon nearly thirty yards distant was another matter; for the old +folk (and the birdkeepers too) said that their quills were so hard the +shot would glance aside unless it came with great force. Very likely the +pigeon would escape, and all the rabbits in the buries would be too +frightened to come out at all. + +A beautiful bird he was on the bough, perched well in view and clearly +defined against the sky behind; and my eye travelled along the groove on +the breech and up the barrel, and so to the sight and across to him; and +the finger, which always would keep time with the eye, pulled at the +trigger. + +A mere puff of a report, and then a desperate fluttering in the tree and +a cloud of white feathers floating above the hedge, and a heavy fall +among the bushes. He was down, and Orion's spaniel (that came racing +like mad from the rickyard the instant he heard the discharge) had him +in a moment. Orion followed quickly. Then the shepherd came up, rather +stiff on his legs from rheumatism, and stepped the distance, declaring +it was thirty yards good; after which we all walked home in triumph. + +Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she +would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready +to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they +scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking +back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes. + +'You mind you chaws the shot well, measter,' said the shepherd, 'afore +you loads th' gun. The more you chaws it the better it sticks +the-gither, an' the furder it kills um;' a theory of gunnery that which +was devoutly believed in in his time and long anticipated the wire +cartridges. And the old soldiers that used to come round to haymaking, +glad of a job to supplement their pensions, were very positive that if +you bit the bullet and indented it with your teeth, it was perfectly +fatal, no matter to what part of the body its billet took it. + +In the midst of this talk as we moved on, I carrying the gun at the +trail with the muzzle downwards, the old ramrod, long disused and +shrunken, slipped half out; the end caught the ground, and it snapped +short off in a second. A terrible disaster this, turning everything to +bitterness: Orion was especially wroth, for it was his right next to +shoot. However, we went down to the smithy at the inn, to take counsel +of the blacksmith, a man of knowledge and a trusty friend. 'Aha!' said +he, 'it's not the first time I've made a ramrod. There's a piece of +lancewood in the store overhead which I keep on purpose; it's as tough +as a bow--they make carriage-shafts of it; you shall have a better rod +than was ever fitted to a Joe Manton.' So we took him down some pippins, +and he set to work on it that evening. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + + + +THE OLD PUNT: A CURIOUS 'TURNPIKE' + + +The sculls of our punt, being short and stout, answered very well as +levers to heave the clumsy old craft off the sand into which it sank so +deeply. That sheltered corner of the mere, with a shelving sandy shore, +and a steep bank behind covered with trees, was one of the best places +to fish for roach: you could see them playing under the punt in shoals +any sunny day. + +There was a projecting bar almost enclosing the creek, which was quite +still, even when the surf whitened the stony strand without, driven +before a wet and stormy south-wester. It was the merest routine to carry +the painter ashore and twist the rotten rope round an exposed root of +the great willow tree; for there was not the slightest chance of that +ancient craft breaking adrift. All our strength and the leverage of the +sculls could scarcely move her, so much had she settled. But we had +determined to sail that lovely day to visit the island of Calypso, and +had got all our arms and munitions of war aboard, besides being +provisioned and carrying some fruit for fear of scurvy. There was of +course the gun, placed so as not to get wet; for the boat leaked, and +had to be frequently baled out with a tin mug--one that the haymakers +used. + +Indeed, if we had not caulked her with some dried moss and some stiff +clay, it is doubtful if she would have floated far. The well was full of +dead leaves that had been killed by the caterpillars and the blight, and +had fallen from the trees before their time; and there were one or two +bunches of grass growing at the stern part from between the decaying +planks. + +Besides the gun there was the Indian bow, scooped out inside in a +curious way, and covered with strange designs or coloured hieroglyphics: +it had been brought home by one of our people years before. There was +but one man in the place who could bend that bow effectually; so that +though we valued it highly we could not use it. By it lay another of +briar, which was pliable enough and had brought down more than one bird. + +Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, +and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn +out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; +you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey +the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture +of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft. It was really a +dangerous weapon. He had also made us a small anchor according to plan; +nor did he dip too deeply into our pocket-money. + +Then the mast and square-sail, fitted out of a window-blind, took up a +considerable space; for although it was perfectly calm, a breeze might +arise. And what with these and the pole for punting occasionally, the +deck of the vessel was in that approved state of confusion which always +characterises a ship on the point of departure. Nor must Orion's +fishing-rod and gear be forgotten, nor the cigar-box at the stern (a +present from the landlady at the inn) which contained a chart of the +mere and a compass. + +With a 'yeo--heave-ho!' we levered her an inch at a time, and then +loosened her by working her from side to side, and so, panting and +struggling, shoved the punt towards the deep. Slowly a course was shaped +out of the creek--past the bar and then along the edge of the thick +weeds, stretching so far out into the water that the moorhen feeding +near the land was beyond reach of shot. From the green matted mass +through which a boat could scarcely have been forced came a slight +uncertain sound, now here now yonder, a faint 'suck-sock;' and the +dragon-flies were darting to and fro. + +The only ripple of the surface, till broken by the sculls, was where the +swallows dipped as they glided, leaving a circle of tiny wavelets that +barely rolled a yard. Past the low but steep bluff of sand rising sheer +out of the water, drilled with martins' holes and topped by a sapling +oak in the midst of a great furze bush: yellow bloom of the furze, tall +brake fern nestling under the young branches, woodbine climbing up and +bearing sweet coronals of flower. + +Past the barley that came down to the willows by the shore--ripe and +white under the bright sunshine, but yonder beneath the shadow of the +elms with a pale tint of amber. Past broad rising meadows, where under +the oaks on the upper ground the cattle were idly lying out of the +sultry heat. + +Then the barren islands, strewn with stone and mussel-shells glistening +in the sunshine, over which in a gale the waves made a clean sweep, +rendered the navigation intricate; and the vessel had to be worked in +and out, now scraping against rocky walls of sandstone, now grounding +and churning up the bottom, till presently she floated in the bay +beneath the firs. There a dark shadow hung over the black water--still +and silent, so still that even the aspens rested from their rustling. + +Out again into the sunshine by the wide mouth of the Green River, as the +chart named the brook whose level stream scarce moved into the lake. A +streak of blue shot up it between the banks, and a shrill pipe came back +as the kingfisher hastened away. By the huge boulder of sarsen, whose +shoulder projected but a few inches--in stormy times a dangerous rock to +mariners--and then into the unknown narrow seas between the endless +osier-beds and withy-covered isles. + +There the chart failed; and the known landmarks across the open +waters--the firs and elms, the green knoll with the cattle--were shut +out by thick branches on either hand. In and out and round the islets, +sounding the depth before advancing, winding now this way, now that, +till all idea of the course was lost, and it became a mere struggle to +get forward. Drooping boughs swept along the gunwales, thick-matted +weeds cumbered the way; 'snags,' jagged stumps of trees, threatened to +thrust their tops through the bottom; and, finally, panting and weary of +poling through the maze, we emerged in a narrow creek all walled in and +enclosed with vegetation. + +Running her ashore on the soft oozy ground, we rested under a great +hawthorn bush that grew at the very edge, and, looking upwards, could +see in the canopy above the black interlaced twigs of a dove's nest. +Tall willow poles rose up all around, and above them was the deep blue +of the sky. On the willow stems that were sometimes under water the bark +had peeled in scales; beneath the surface bunches of red fibrous roots +stretched out their slender filaments tipped with white, as if feeling +like a living thing for prey. + +A dreamy, slumberous place, where the sedges slept, and the green flags +bowed their pointed heads. Under the bushes in the distant nook the +moorhen, reassured by the silence, came out from the grey-green grass +and the rushes. Surely Calypso's cave could not be far distant, where +she + + with work and song the time divides, + And through, the loom the golden shuttle guides. + +For the Immortals are hiding somewhere still in the woods; even now I do +not weary searching for them. + +But as we rested a shadow fell from a cloud that covered the sun, and +immediately a faint sigh arose from among the sedges and the reeds, and +two pale yellow leaves fell from the willows on the water. A gentle +breeze followed the cloud, chasing its shadow. Orion touched his rod +meaningly. So I stepped ashore with the gun to see if a channel could be +found into the open water, and pushed through the bush. Briar and +bramble choked the path, and hollow willow stoles; but, holding the gun +upright, it was possible to force through, till, pushing between a belt +of reeds and round an elder thicket, I came suddenly on a deep, clear +pool--all but walking into it. Up rose a large bird out of the water +with a bustling of wings and splashing, compelled to 'rocket' by the +thick bushes and willow poles. There was no time to aim; but the old gun +touched the shoulder and went off without conscious volition on my part. + +The bird flew over the willows, but the next moment there was a heavy +splash somewhere beyond out of sight. Then came an echo of the report +sent back from the woods adjoining, and another, and a third and fourth, +as the sound rolled along the side of the hill, caught in the coombes +and thrown to and fro like a ball in a tennis-court. Wild with anxiety, +we forced the punt at the bulrushes, in the corner where it looked most +open, and with all our might heaved it over the weeds and the mud, and +so round the islet into the next pool, and thence into the open water. +It was a wild duck, and was speedily on board. + +Stepping the mast and hoisting the sail, we drifted before the faint +breath of air that now just curled the surface, steering straight across +the open for the stony barren islands at the mouth of the bay. The chart +drawn in pencil--what labour it cost us!--said that there, a few yards +from the steep shore, was a shoal with deep water round it. For some +reason there always seemed a slight movement or current--a set of the +water there, as if it flowed into the little bay. + +In swimming we often came suddenly out of a cold into a stratum of warm +water (at the surface); and perhaps the difference in the temperature +may have caused the drift, for the bay was in shadow half the day. Now, +wherever there is motion there will fish assemble; so as the punt +approached the shoal the sail was doused, and at twenty yards' distance +I _put_ the anchor into the water--not dropping it, to avoid the +splash--and let it slip gently to the bottom. + +Then, paying out the cable, we drifted to the edge of the shoal without +the least disturbance, and there brought up. Orion had his bait +ready--he threw his line right to windward, so that the float might drag +the worm naturally with the wind and slight current towards the shoal. + +The tiny blue buoy dances up and down on the miniature waves; beyond it +a dazzling path of gold stretches away to the distant osier-islands--a +path down which we came without seeing it till we looked back. The +wavelets strike with a faint 'sock-sock' against the bluff overhanging +bow, and then roll on to the lee-shore close at hand. + +It rises steep; then a broad green ledge; and after that, still steeper, +the face of a long-deserted sand-pit, where high up a rabbit sits at the +mouth of his hole, within range, but certain to escape even if hit, and +therefore safe. On the turf below is a round black spot, still showing, +though a twelvemonth has gone by since we landed with half a dozen +perch, lit a fire and cooked the fishes. For Molly never could 'a-bear' +perch, because of the hardness of the scales, saying she would as soon +'scrape a vlint;' and they laughed to scorn our idea of skinning them as +you do moorhens, whose 'dowl' no fingers can pick. + +So we lit a fire and blew it up, lying on the soft short grass in a +state of nature after a swim, there being none to see us but the +glorious sun. The skinned perch were sweeter than any I have tasted +since. + +'Look!' whispers Orion, suddenly. The quill above the blue buoy nods as +it lifts over the wavelets--nods again, sinks a little, jerks up, and +then goes down out of sight. Orion feels the weight. 'Two pounds, if +he's an ounce!' he shouts: soon after a splendid perch is in the boat, +nearer three pounds perhaps than two. Flop! whop! how he leaps up and +down on the planks, soiled by the mud, dulling his broad back and barred +sides on the grit and sand. + +Roaming about like this with the gun, now on the water in the punt, and +now on land, we gradually came to notice very closely the game we wished +to shoot. We saw, for instance, that the rabbit when feeding or moving +freely, unless quickened by alarm, has a peculiar way of dwelling upon +his path. It almost resembles creeping; for both fore feet stop while +the hinder come up--one hinder foot slightly behind the other, and +rather wide apart. + +When a fall of snow presents a perfect impression of his passage, it +appears as if the animal had walked slowly backwards. This deceives many +who at such times go out to pick up anything that comes in their way; +for they trace the trail in the wrong direction. The truth is, that when +the rabbit pauses for the hinder feet to come up he again rests +momentarily upon these before the two foremost are put forth, and so +presses not only the paw proper but the whole first joint of the hind +leg upon the snow. A glance at the hind feet of a rabbit will show what +I mean: they will be found to display plain signs of friction against +the ground. + +The habit has given the creature considerable power of standing up on +the hinder feet; he can not only sit on his haunches, but raise himself +almost upright, and remain in that position to listen for some little +time. For the same reason he can bark the ash saplings higher up than +would be imagined: where he cannot reach, the mice climb up and nibble +straight lines across the young pole, as if done with a single stroke +from a saw that scraped away the rind but did not reach the wood. + +In front of a large rabbit bury the grass will be found discoloured with +sand at some distance from the mouth of the hole. This is explained by +particles adherent to the rabbits' hind feet, and rubbing off against +the grass blades. Country people call this peculiar gait 'sloppetting;' +and one result of it is that the rabbits wear away the grass where they +are numerous almost as much as they eat it away. + +There was such a space worn by the attrition of feet sprinkled with sand +before the extensive burrow at the top of the meadow where I shot the +woodpigeon. These marks suggested to us that we should attempt some more +wholesale system of capture than shooting. It was not for the mere +desire of destruction, but for a special purpose, that we turned our +attention to wiring. The punt, though much beloved, was, like all punts, +a very bad sailer. A boat with a keel that could tack, and so work into +the wind's eye, was our ambition. + +The blacksmith Ikey readily purchased every rabbit we obtained at +sixpence each. Rabbits were not so dear then as now; but of course he +made a large profit even then. The same rabbits at present would be +worth fifteen or eighteen pence. Every sixpence was carefully saved, but +it was clear that a long time must elapse before the goal was attained. +The blacksmith started the idea of putting up a 'turnpike'--_i.e._ a +wire--but professed ignorance as to the method of setting it. That was a +piece of his cunning--that he might escape responsibility. + +The shepherd, too, when obliquely questioned, shook his head, pursed his +lips, threw his pitching-bar over his shoulder, and marched off with a +mysterious hint that our friend Ikey would some day put his 'vut in it.' +It did not surprise us that the shepherd should turn his back on +anything of the kind; for he was a leading man among the 'Ranters,' and +frequently exhorted them in his cottage. + +The carter's lad was about at the time, and for the moment we thought of +applying to him. He was standing on the threshold of the stable, under +the horseshoes and weasles' feet nailed up to keep the witches away, +teasing a bat that he had found under the tiles. But suddenly the dusky +thing bit him sharply, and he uttered an oath; while the creature, +released, flew aimlessly into the elms. It was better to avoid him. + +Indoors, they would have put a very heavy hand upon the notion had they +known of it: so we had to rely solely upon the teaching of experiment. +In the first attempt, a stick that had been put by for the thatcher, but +which he had not yet split, was cut short and sharpened for the plug +that prevents the animal carrying away the wire when snared. This is +driven into the earth; at the projecting end a notch was cut to hold the +string attached to the end of the wire away from the run. + +A smaller stick supported the wire above the ground; this latter only +just sufficiently thrust into the sward to stand firmly upright. Willow +was used for this at first; but it is a feeble wood: it split too much, +or bent and gave way instead of holding the wire in its place. The best +for the purpose we found were the nut-tree rods that shoot up among the +hazel thickets, no larger than the shaft of an arrow, and almost as +straight. A slit about half an inch deep was made in the upper end, and +in this slit the shank of the wire was sunk. Once or twice the upright +was peeled; but this was a mistake, for the white wand was then too +conspicuous. The bark should be left on. + +Three copper wires twisted tight formed the snare itself; we twisted +them like the strands of a rope, thinking it would give more strength. +The wire projected horizontally, the loop curling downwards. It was +first set up at a spot where a very broad and much-worn run--more like a +footpath than a rabbit track--forked into several lesser runs, and at +about five yards from the hedge. But though adjusted, as we thought, +with the utmost nicety, no rabbit would put his neck into it--not even +in the darkness of the night. By day they all played round it in perfect +safety. + +After waiting some time it was removed and reset just over a hole--the +loop close to the opening. It looked scarcely possible for a rabbit to +creep out without being caught, the loop being enlarged to correspond +with the mouth of the hole. For a while it seemed as if the rabbits +declined to use the hole at all; presently, however, the loop was pushed +back, showing that one must have got his nose between it and the bank +and so made a safe passage sideways. A run that crossed the field was +then selected, and the wire erected at about the middle of it, +equidistant from either hedge. Near the entrance of the buries the +rabbits moved slowly, sniffing their way along and pausing every yard or +so. But they often increased their speed farther away, and sometimes +raced from one mound to the other. When going at that rate it appeared +natural to conclude that they would be less careful to pick and choose +their road. + +The theory proved so far correct that next day the upright was down, but +the wire had snapped and the rabbit was gone. The character of the +fracture clearly indicated how it had happened: the rabbit, so soon as +he found his head in the noose, had rolled and tumbled till the wire, +already twisted tight, parted. Too much twisting, therefore, weakened +instead of strengthening. Next a single wire, somewhat thicker, was +used, and set up nearly in the same place; but it broke again. + +Finally, two strands of medium size, placed side by side, but only +twisted once--that is, just enough to keep them together--were employed. +The lesser loop--the slip-knot, as it might be called--was at the same +time eased in order to run quicker and take a closer grip. 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. I was positive that he had not seen me, and felt sure of +bagging him; when suddenly--without any apparent cause--up went his +head, he glanced round, and was off like the wind. + +Yet there had not been the faintest noise, and I could not understand +it, till all at once it occurred to me that it must be the scent. The +slight, scarcely perceptible, breeze blew in that direction: instantly +he crossed the current from me he detected it and fled. Afterwards I +noticed that in the dusky twilight, if the wind is behind him, a hare +will run straight at you as if about to deliberately charge your legs. +This incident by the ploughed field explained the failure of the wire. +Every other care had been taken, but we had forgotten to allow for the +extreme delicacy of a wild animal's sense of smell. + +In walking to the spot selected for the snare it is best to avoid even +stepping on the run, and while setting it up to stand back as far as +convenient and lean forward. The grass that grows near must not be +touched by the hand, which seems to impart a very strong scent. The +stick that has been carried in the hand must not be allowed to fall +across the run: and be careful that your handkerchief does not drop out +of your pocket on or near it. If a bunch of grass grows very tall and +requires parting, part it with the end (not the handle) of your stick. + +The same holds good with gins, especially if placed for a rat. Some +persons strew a little freshly plucked grass over the pan and teeth of +the trap, thinking to hide it; but it not only smells of the hand, but +withers up and turns brown, and acts as a warning to that wary creature. +It is a better plan if any dead leaves are lying near to turn them over +and over with the end of a twig till they fall on the trap, that is if +they are dry: if wet (unless actually raining at the time), should one +chance to be left with the drier under surface uppermost, the rat may +pause on the brink. Now that the remotest chance of leaving a scent was +avoided the wire became a deadly instrument. Almost every morning two or +three rabbits were taken: we set up a dozen snares when we had mastered +the trick. They were found lying at full length in the crisp white +grass, for we often rose to visit the wires while yet the stars were +visible. Thus extended a person might have passed within a few yards and +never noticed them, unless he had an out-of-doors eye; for the whiter +fur of the belly as they lay aside was barely distinguishable from the +hoar frost. The blacksmith Ikey sauntered down the lane every evening, +and glanced casually behind the ash tree--the northern side of whose +trunk was clothed with dark green velvet-like moss--to see if a bag was +lying for him there among the nettles in the ditch. The rabbits were put +in the bag, which was pushed through the hedge. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + + + +TREE-SHOOTING: A FISHING EXPEDITION + + +Just on the verge and borderland of the territory that could be ranged +in safety there grew a stunted oak in a mound beside the brook. Perhaps +the roots had been checked by the water; for the tree, instead of +increasing in bulk, had expended its vigour in branches so crooked that +they appeared entangled in each other. This oak was a favourite +perching-place, because of its position: it could also be more easily +climbed than straight-grown timber, having many boughs low down the +trunk. With a gun it is difficult to ascend a smooth tree; these boughs +therefore were a great advantage. + +One warm afternoon late in the summer I got up into this oak; and took a +seat astride a large limb, with the main trunk behind like the back of a +chair and about twenty feet above the mound. Some lesser branches +afforded a fork on which the gun could be securely lodged, and a limb of +considerable size came across in front. Leaning both arms on this, a +view could be obtained below and on three sides easily and without +effort. + +The mound immediately beneath was grown over with thick blackthorn, a +species of cover that gives great confidence to game. A kick or blow +upon the bushes with a stick will not move anything in an old blackthorn +thicket. A man can scarcely push through it: nothing but a dog can +manage to get about. On the meadow side there was no ditch, only a +narrow fringe of tall pointed grass and rushes, with one or two small +furze bushes projecting out upon the sward. Behind such bushes, on the +slope of the mound, is rather a favourite place for a rabbit to sit out, +or a hare to have a form. + +The brook was shallow towards the hedge, and bordered with flags, among +which rose up one tall bunch of beautiful reeds. Some little way up the +brook a pond opened from it. At the entrance the bar of mud had hardly +an inch of water; within there was a clear small space, and the rest all +weeds, with moorhens' tracks. The farther side of the pond was covered +with bramble bushes. It is a good plan to send the dogs into bushes +growing on the banks of ponds; for though rabbits dislike water itself +they are fond of sitting out in such cover near it. A low railing +enclosed the side towards me: the posts had slipped by the giving way of +the soil, and hung over the still pool. + +One of the rails--of willow--was eaten out into hollow cavities by the +wasps, which came to it generation after generation for the materials of +their nests. The particles they detach are formed into a kind of paste +or paper: in time they will quite honeycomb a pole. The third side of +the pond shelved to the 'leaze,' that the cattle might drink. From it a +narrow track went across the broad field up the rising ground to the +distant gateway leading to the meadows, where they grazed on the +aftermath. Marching day by day, one after the other in single file, to +the drinking-place, the hoofs of the herd had cut a clean path in the +turf, two or three inches deep and trodden hard. The reddish soil thus +exposed marked the winding line athwart the field, through the tussocky +bunches. + +By the pond stood a low three-sided merestone or landmark, the initials +on which were hidden under moss. Up in the tree, near the gun, there was +a dead branch that had decayed in the curious manner that seems peculiar +to oak. Where it joined the trunk the bark still remained, though +covered with lichen, and for a foot or so out; then there was a long +space where the bark and much of the wood had mouldered away; finally, +near the end the bough retained its original size and the bark adhered. +At the junction with the trunk and at the extremity its diameter was +perhaps three inches; in the middle rather less than half as much. The +grey central piece, larger and darker at either end, suggested the +thought of the bare neck of a vulture. + +Far away, just rising above the slope of the leaze, the distant tops of +elms, crowded with rooks' nests (not then occupied), showed the site of +the residence of an old gentleman of whom at that time we stood in much +fear. The 'Squire' of Southlands alarmed even the hardened carters' lads +as much by the prestige of a singular character as by the chastisement +he personally gave those who ventured into his domain. Not a bird's +nest, not a nut, must be touched: still less anything that could be +called game. The watch kept was so much the stricter because he took a +personal part in it, and was often round the fields himself armed with a +great oak staff. It seemed, indeed, as if the preservation of the game +was of far greater importance to him than the shooting of it afterwards. +All the fowls of the air flocked to Southlands, as if it had been a +refuge; yet it was not a large estate. Into the forest we had been, but +Southlands was a mystery, a forbidden garden of delight, with the terror +of an oaken staff (and unknown penalties) turning this way and that. +Therefore the stunted old oak on the verge--the moss-grown merestone by +the pond marked the limit--was so favourite a perching-place. + +That beautiful afternoon I leaned both arms idly on the great bough that +crossed in front of the seat and listened to the 'Caw--caw!' of the +rooks as they looked to see if the acorns were yet ripening. A dead +branch that had dropped partly into the brook was swayed continually up +and down by the current, the water as it chafed against it causing a +delicious murmur. This lulled me to sleep. + +I woke with a start, and had it not been for the bough crossing in front +must have fallen twenty feet. Looking down into the meadow as soon as my +eyes were thoroughly open, I instantly noticed a covey of young +partridges a little way up beside the hedge among the molehills. The +neighbourhood of those hillocks has an attraction for many birds, +especially in winter. Then fieldfares, redwings, starlings, and others +prefer the meadows that are dotted with them. In a frost if you see a +thrush on a molehill it is very likely to thaw shortly. Moles seem to +feel the least change in the temperature of the earth; if it slackens +they begin to labour, and cast up, unwittingly, food for the thrushes. + +It would have been easy to kill three or four of the covey, which was a +small one, at a single shot; but it had been a late summer, and they +were not full-grown. Besides which, they roosted, I knew, about the +middle of the meadow, and to shoot them near the roost would be certain +to break them up, and perhaps drive them into Southlands. 'Good poachers +preserve their own game:' so the birds fed safely, though a pot shot +would not have seemed, the crime then that it would now. While I watched +them suddenly the old bird 'quat,' and ran swiftly into the hedge, +followed by the rest. A kestrel was hovering in the next meadow: when +the beat of his wings ceased he slid forward and downwards, then rose +and came over me in a bold curve. Well those little brown birds in the +blackthorn knew that, fierce as he was, he dared not swoop even on a +comparatively open bush, much less such thick covert, for fear of +ruffling his proud feathers and beating them out. Nor could he follow +them through the intricate hidden passages. + +In the open water of the pond a large jack was basking in the sunshine, +just beneath the surface; and though the shot would scatter somewhat +before reaching him, he was within range. If a fish lies a few inches +under water he is quite safe from shot unless the muzzle of the gun is +so close that the pellets travel together like a bullet. At a distance +the shot is supposed to glance as it strikes the water at an angle; for +that reason the elevation of the tree was an advantage, since from it +the charge would plunge into the pool. A jack may be killed in some +depth of water when the gun is nearly perpendicularly above the mark; +but in any case the aim must be taken two inches or more, according to +circumstances, beneath the apparent position of the fish, to allow for +refraction. + +Sometimes the jack when hit comes to the surface belly upwards, but +sometimes keeps down or sinks, and floats a considerable distance away +from the spot; so that in the muddy water disturbed by the shot it is +difficult to find him. If a snake be shot at while swimming he will +sometimes sink like a stone, and can be seen lying motionless at the +bottom. After we got hold of a small deer rifle we used to practise at +the snakes in the mere--aiming at the head, which is about the size of a +nut, and shows above the surface wobbling as they move. I recollect +cutting a snake's head clean off with a ball from a pistol as he +hastened away through the grass. + +In winter, when the jacks came up and lay immediately under the ice, +they could be easily shot. The pellets cut a round hole through an inch +and a half of ice. The jack now basking in the pond was the more +tempting because we had often tried to wire him in vain. The difficulty +was to get him if hit. While I was deliberating a crow came flying low +down the leaze, and alighted by the pond. His object, no doubt, was a +mussel. He could not have seen me, and yet no sooner did he touch the +ground than he looked uneasily about, sprang up, and flew straight away, +as if he had smelt danger. Had he stayed he would have been shot, though +it would have spoiled my ambush: the idea of the crows picking out the +eyes of dying creatures was always peculiarly revolting to me. + +If the pond was a haunt of his, it was too near the young partridges, +which were weakly that season. A kestrel is harmless compared to a crow. +Surely the translators have wrongly rendered Don Quixote's remark that +the English did not kill crows, believing that King Arthur, instead of +dying, was by enchantment turned into one, and so fearing to injure the +hero. Must he not have meant a rook? [Note: It has since been pointed out +to me that the Don may have meant a raven] + +Soon afterwards something moved out of the mound into the meadow a long +distance up: it was a hare. He came slowly along beside the hedge +towards me--now stopping and looking into it as if seeking a convenient +place for a form, having doubtless been disturbed from that he had first +chosen. It was some minutes before he came within range: had I been on +the ground most likely he would have scented me, the light air going +that way; but being in, the tree the wind that passed went high over +him. For this reason a tree ambush is deadly. It was necessary to get +the line of sight clear of twigs, which check and divert shot, and to +take a steady aim; for I had no second barrel, no dog, and had to +descend the tree before running. Some leaves were blackened by the +flame: the hare simply fell back, stretched his hind legs, quivered, and +lay still. Part of the leaf of a plant was fixed in his teeth; he had +just had a nibble. + +With this success I was satisfied that day; but the old oak was always a +favourite resort, even when nothing particular was in hand. From thence, +too, as a base of operations, we made expeditions varying in their +object with the season of the year. + +Some distance beyond the stunted oak the thick blackthorn hedge was +succeeded by a continuous strip of withy-bed bordering the brook. It +often occurred to us that by entering these withies it would be possible +to reconnoitre one side of Southlands; for the stream skirted the lower +grounds: the tall willows would conceal any one passing through them. So +one spring morning the attempt was made. + +It was necessary to go on hands and knees through the mowing grass for +some yards while passing an open space where the blackthorn cover ended, +and then to leap a broad ditch that divided the withy-beds from the +meadow. The lissom willow wands parted easily and sprang back to their +places behind, leaving scarce a trace. Their slender tops rose overhead; +beneath, long dead grasses, not yet quite supplanted by the spring +growth, filled the space between. These rustled a little under foot, but +so faint a sound could scarcely have been audible outside; and had any +one noticed it it would have been attributed to a hare or a fox moving: +both are fond of lying in withy-beds when the ground is dry. + +The way to walk noiselessly is to feel with the foot before letting your +weight press on it; then the dead stick or fallen hemlock is discovered +and avoided. A dead stick cracks; the dry hollow hemlock gives a +splintering sound when crushed. These old hemlock stems were numerous in +places, together with 'gicksies,' as the haymakers call a plant that +resembles it, but has a ribbed or fluted instead of a smooth stalk. The +lads use a long 'gicks' cut between the joints as a tube to blow haws or +peggles at the girls. When thirsty, and no ale is handy, the men search +for one to suck up water with from the brook. It is difficult to find +one free from insects, which seem to be remarkably fond of anything +hollow. The haymakers do not use the hemlock, thinking it would poison +the water; they think, too, that drinking through a tube is safer when +they are in a great heat from the sun than any other way. + +Nor is it so easy to drink from a stream without this simple aid. If the +bank be flat it is wet, and what looks like the grass of the meadow +really grows out of the water; so that there it is not possible to be at +full length. If the bank be dry the level of the water is several inches +lower, and in endeavouring to drink the forehead is immersed; often the +water is so much lower than its banks that it is quite impossible to +drink from it lying. By the edge grasses, water-plantains, +forget-me-nots, frequently fill the space within reach. If you brush +these aside it disturbs the bottom, and the mud rises, or a patch of +brown 'scum' comes up and floats away. A cup, though gently used, +generally draws some insects in with the water, though the liquid itself +be pure. Lapping with the hollowed palm requires practice, and, unless +the spot be free from weeds and of some little depth, soon disturbs the +bottom. But the tube can be inserted in the smallest clear place, and +interferes with nothing. + +Each of us carried a long hazel rod, and the handle of a 'squailer' +projected from Orion's coat-pocket. For making a 'squailer' a teacup was +the best mould: the cups then in use in the country were rather larger +than those at present in fashion. A ground ash sapling with the bark on, +about as thick as the little finger, pliant and tough, formed the shaft, +which was about fifteen inches long. This was held upright in the middle +of a teacup, while the mould was filled with molten lead. It soon +cooled, and left a heavy conical knob on the end of the stick. If +rightly thrown it was a deadly missile, and would fly almost as true as +a rifle ball. A rabbit or leveret could thus be knocked over; and it was +peculiarly adapted for fetching a squirrel out of a tree, because, being +so heavy at one end, it rarely lodged on the boughs, as an ordinary +stick would, but overbalanced and came down. + +From the outlook of the oak some aspen trees could be seen far up in the +withy-beds; and it had been agreed that there the first essay of the +stream should be made. On arriving at these trees we paused, and began +to fix the wires on the hazel rods. The wire for fish must slip very +easily, and the thinner it is, if strong enough, the better, because it +takes a firmer grip. A single wire will do; but two thin ones are +preferable. Thin copper wire is as flexible as thread. Brass wire is not +so good; it is stiffer, and too conspicuous in the water. + +At the shank end a stout string is attached in the middle of its length. +Then the wire is placed against the rod, lying flat upon it for about +six inches. The strings are now wound round tightly in opposite +directions, binding it to the stick, so that at the top the ends cross +and are in position to tie in the slight notch cut for the purpose. A +loop that will allow four fingers to enter together is about large +enough, though of course it must be varied according to the size of the +jack in view. Heavy jacks are not often wired, and scarcely ever in +brooks. + +For jack the shape of the loop should be circular; for trout it should +be oval, and considerably larger in proportion to the apparent bulk of +the fish. Jack are straight-grown and do not thicken much in the middle; +with trout it is different. The noose should be about six inches from +the top of the rod. Orion said he would go twenty yards farther up; I +went direct from the centre of the withy-bed to the stream. + +The bank rose a little above the level of the withy-bed; it was a broad +mound full of ash stoles and willow--the sort that is grown for poles. +At that spot the vines of wild hops had killed all the underwood, +leaving open spaces between the stoles; the vines were matted so thickly +that they hid the ground. This was too exposed a place, so I went back +and farther up till I could just hear Orion rustling through the +hemlocks. Here the dead grass and some elder bushes afforded shelter, +and the water could be approached unseen. + +It was about six or eight inches deep; the opposite shore was bordered +for several yards out with flags and rushes. The cattle nibbled their +tender tops off, as far as they could reach; farther out they were +pushing up straight and pointed. The rib and groove of the flag so +closely resemble those of the ancient bayonet that it might be supposed +the weapon was modelled from the plant. Indoors among the lumber there +was a rusty old bayonet that immediately called forth the comparison: +the modern make seem more triangular. + +The rushes grew nearer the shore of the meadow--the old ones yellow, the +young green: in places this fringe of rush and sedge and flag must have +been five or six yards wide, and it extended as far as could be seen up +the brook. No doubt the cattle trod in the edge of the firm ground by +degrees every year to get at the water, and thus widened the marsh. It +was easy to understand now why all the water-fowl, teal and duck, +moorhen and snipe, seemed in winter to make in this direction. + +The ducks especially exercised all our ingenuity and quite exhausted our +patience in the effort to get near them in winter. In the large +water-meadows a small flock sometimes remained all day: it was possible +to approach near enough by stalking behind the hedges to see the colour +of the mallards; but they were always out of gunshot. This place must be +full of teal then; as for moorhens, there were signs of them everywhere, +and several feeding in the grass. The thought of the sport to be got +here when the frosty days came was enough to make one wild. + +After a long look across, I began to examine the stream near at hand: +the rushes and flags had forced the clear sweet current away from the +meadow, so that it ran just under the bank. I was making out the brown +sticks at the bottom, when there was a slight splash--caused by Orion +about ten yards farther up--and almost at the same instant something +shot down the brook towards me. He had doubtless landed a jack, and its +fellow rushed away. Under a large dead bough that had fallen across its +top in the stream I saw the long slender fish lying a few feet from the +bank, motionless save for the gentle curving wave of the tail edges. So +faint was that waving curl that it seemed caused rather by the flow of +the current than the volition of the fish. The wings of the swallow +work the whole of the longest summer day, but the fins of the fish in +running water are never still: day and night they move continuously. + +By slow degrees I advanced the hazel rod, keeping it at first near to +and parallel with the bank, because jack do not like anything that +stretches across them; and I imagine other fish have the same dislike to +right angles. The straight shadow even seems to arouse suspicion--no +boughs are ever straight. Perhaps, if it were possible to angle without +a rod, there would be more success, particularly in small streams. But +after getting the stick almost out far enough, it became evident that +the dead branch would not let me slip the wire into the water in front +of the jack in the usual way. So I had to draw it back again as +gradually as it had been put forth. + +With fish everything must be done gradually and without a jerk. A sudden +jerking movement immediately alarms them. If you walk gently by they +remain still, but start or lift the arm quickly and they dart for deep +water. The object of withdrawing the rod was to get at and enlarge the +loop in order that it might be slipped over his tail, since the head was +protected by the bough. It is a more delicate operation to pass the wire +up from behind; it has to go farther before the spot that allows a firm +grip is reached, and fish are well aware that natural objects such as +twigs float down with the current. Anything, therefore, approaching from +behind or rubbing upwards is suspicious. As this fish had just been +startled, it would not do to let the wire touch him at all. + +After enlarging the loop I put the rod slowly forth again, worked the +wire up stream, slipped the noose over his tail, and gently got it up to +the balance of the fish. Waiting a moment to get the elbow over the end +of the rod so as to have a good leverage, I gave a sudden jerk upwards, +and felt the weight instantly. But the top of the rod struck the +overhanging bough, and there was my fish, hung indeed, but still in the +water near the surface. Nor could I throw it on the bank, because of the +elder bushes. So I shortened the rod, pulling it in towards me quickly +and dragging the jack through the water. The pliant wire had cut into +the scales and skin--he might have been safely left suspended over the +stream all day; but in the eagerness of the moment I was not satisfied +till I had him up on the mound. + +We did not see much of Southlands, because the withy-beds were on the +lowest ground; but there were six jacks strung on a twisted withy when +we got back to the stunted oak and rested there tasting acid sorrel +leaves. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + +EGG-TIME. A 'GIP'-TRAP + + +There is no sweeter time in the woods than just before the nesting +begins in earnest. Is it the rising sap that causes a pleasant odour to +emanate from every green thing? Idling along the hedgerows towards the +woodlands there may perchance be seen small tufts of white rabbit's fur +in the grass, torn from herself by the doe to form a warm lining to the +hole in which her litter will appear: a 'sign' this that often guides a +robber to her nest. + +Yonder on the rising ground, towering even in their fall over the low +(lately cut) ash plantation, lie the giant limbs of the mighty oaks, +thrown just as they felt the quickening heat. The bark has been stripped +from the trunk and branches; the sun has turned the exposed surface to a +deep buff colour, which contrasts with the fresh green of the underwood +around and renders them visible afar. + +When the oak first puts forth its buds the woods take a ruddy tint. +Gradually the background of green comes to the front, and the oak-apples +swell, streaked with rosy stains, whence their semblance to the edible +fruit of the orchard. All unconscious of the white or red cross daubed +on the rough bark, the tree prepares its glory of leaf, though doomed +the while by that sad mark to the axe. + +Cutting away the bushes with his billhook, the woodman next swings the +cumbrous grub-axe, whose wide edge clears the earth from the larger +roots. Then he puts his pipe in his pocket, and settles to the serious +work of the 'great axe,' as he calls it. I never could use this ungainly +tool aright: a top-heavy, clumsy, awkward thing, it rules you instead of +you ruling it. The handle, too, is flat--almost with an edge itself +sometimes--and is quite beyond the grasp of any but hands of iron. Now +the American axe feels balanced like a sword; this is because of the +peculiar curve of the handle. To strike you stand with the left foot +slightly forward, and the left hand uppermost: the 'S' curve (it is of +course not nearly so crooked as the letter) of the American axe adjusts +itself to the anatomy of the attitude, so to speak. + +The straight English handle does not; it is stiff, and strains the +muscles; but the common 'great axe' has the advantage that it is also +used for splitting logs and gnarled 'butts.' An American axe is too +beautiful a tool for that rude work. The American was designed to strike +at the trunk of the tree several feet from the ground, the English axe +is always directed to the great roots at the base. + +A dexterous woodman can swing his tool alternately left hand or right +hand uppermost. The difference looks trifling; but try it, and you will +be astonished at the difficulty. The blows echo and the chips fly, till +the base of the tree, that naturally is much larger, is reduced to the +size of the trunk or less. Now a pause, while one swarms up to 'line' +it--_i.e._ to attach a rope as high as possible to guide the 'stick' in +its fall. + +It is commonly said that in climbing it is best to look up--a maxim that +has been used for moral illustrations; but it is a mistake. In ascending +a tree you should never look higher than the brim of your hat, unless +when quite still and resting on a branch; temporary blindness would be +the penalty in this case. Particles of decayed bark, the borings of +insects in dead wood, dust, and fragments of twigs, rush down in little +streams and fill the eyes. The quantity of woody powder that adheres to +a tree is surprising; every motion dislodges it from a thousand minute +crevices. As for firs, in climbing a fir one cannot look up at all--dead +sticks, needles, and dust pour down, and the branches are so thick +together that the head has to be forced through them. The line fixed, +the saw is applied, and by slow degrees the butt cut nearly through. +Unless much overbalanced on one side by the limbs, an oak will stand on +a still day when almost off. + +Some now seize the rope, and alternately pull and slacken, which gives +the tree a tottering movement. One more daring than the rest drives a +wedge into the saw-cut as it opens when the tree sways. It sways--it +staggers; a loud crack as the fibres part, then with a slow heave over +it goes, and, descending, twists upon the base. The vast limbs plough +into the sward; the twigs are crushed; the boughs, after striking the +earth, rebound and swish upwards. See that you stand clear, for the +least branch will thresh you down. The flat surface of the exposed butt +is blue with stains from the steel of the saw. + +Light taps with a small sharp axe, that cut the rind but no deeper, ring +the trunk at intervals. Then the barking irons are inserted; they are +rods of iron forged at the top something like a narrow shallow spoon. +The bark from the trunk comes off in huge semi-cylinders almost large +enough for a canoe. But that from the branches is best. You may mark how +at the base the bark is two inches thick, lessening to a few lines on +the topmost boughs. If it sticks a little, hammer it with the iron: it +peels with a peculiar sound, and the juicy sap glistens white between. +It is this that, drying in the sun, gives the barked tree its colour: in +time the wood bleaches paler, and after a winter becomes grey. Inside, +the bark is white streaked with brown; presently it will be all brown. +While some strip it, others collect the pieces, and with them build +toy-like sheds of bark, which is the manner of stacking it. + +From the peeled tree there rises a sweet odour of sap: the green mead, +the green underwood and hawthorn around, are all lit up with the genial +sunbeams. The beautiful wind-anemones are gone, too tender and lovely +for so rude an earth; but the wild hyacinths droop their blue bells +under the wood, and the cowslips rise in the grass. The nightingale +sings without ceasing; the soft 'coo-coo' of the dove sounds hard by; +the merry cuckoo calls as he flies from elm to elm; the wood-pigeons +rise and smite their wings together over the firs. In the mere below the +coots are at play; they chase each other along the surface of the water +and indulge in wild evolutions. Everything is happy. As the plough-boys +stroll along they pluck the young succulent hawthorn leaves and nibble +them. + +It is the sweetest time of all for wandering in the wood. The brambles +have not yet grown so bushy as to check the passage; the thistles that +in autumn will be as tall as the shoulder and thick as a walking-stick +are as yet no bar; burrs do not attach themselves at every step, though +the broad burdock leaves are spreading wide. In its full development the +burdock is almost a shrub rather than a plant, with a woody stem an inch +or more in diameter. + +Up in the fir trees the nests of the pigeons are sometimes so big that +it appears as if they must use the same year after year, adding fresh +twigs, else they could hardly attain such bulk. Those in the ash-poles +are not nearly so large. In the open drives blue cartridge-cases lie +among the grass, the brass part tarnished by the rain, thrown hurriedly +aside from the smoking breech last autumn. But the guns are silent in +the racks, though the keeper still carries his gun to shoot the vermin, +which are extremely busy at this season. Vermin, however, do not quite +agree among themselves: weasels and stoats are deadly enemies of mice +and rats. Where rats are plentiful there they are sure to come; they +will follow a rat into a dwelling-house. + +Here the green drive shows traces of the poaching it received from the +thick-planted hoofs of the hunt when the leaves were off and the blast +of the horn sounded fitfully as the gale carried the sound away. The +vixen is now at peace, though perhaps it would scarcely be safe to +wander too near the close-shaven mead where the keeper is occupied more +and more every day with his pheasant-hatching. And far down on the +lonely outlying farms, where even in fox-hunting England the music of +the hounds is hardly heard in three years (because no great coverts +cause the run to take that way), foul murder is sometimes done on +Reynard or his family. A hedge-cutter marks the sleeping-place in the +withies where the fox curls up by day; and with his rusty gun, that +sometimes slaughters a roaming pheasant, sends the shot through the red +side of the slumbering animal. Then, thrust ignobly into a sack, he +shoulders the fox and marches round from door to door, tumbling the limp +body rudely down on the pitching stones to prove that the fowls will now +be safe, and to be rewarded with beer and small coin. A dead fox is +profit to him for a fortnight. These evil deeds of course are cloaked as +far as possible. + +Leaving now the wood for the lane that wanders through the meadows, a +mower comes sidling up, and, looking mysteriously around with his hand +behind under his coat, 'You med have un for sixpence,' he says, and +produces a partridge into whose body the point of the scythe ran as she +sat on her nest in the grass, and whose struggles were ended by a blow +from the rubber or whetstone flung at her head. He has got the eggs +somewhere hidden under a swathe. + +The men that are so expert at finding partridges' eggs to sell to the +keepers know well beforehand whereabouts the birds are likely to lay. If +a stranger who had made no previous observations went into the fields to +find these eggs, with full permission to do so, he would probably wander +in vain. The grass is long, and the nest has little to distinguish it +from the ground; the old bird will sit so close that one may pass almost +over her. Without a right of search in open daylight the difficulty is +of course much greater. A man cannot quarter the fields when the crop is +high and leave no trail. + +Farmers object to the trampling and damage of their property; and a +keeper does not like to see a labourer loafing about, because he is not +certain that the eggs when found will be conscientiously delivered to +him. They may be taken elsewhere, or they may even be broken out of +spite if the finder thinks he has a grudge to repay. Now that every +field is enclosed, and for the most part well cultivated and looked +after, the business of the egg-stealer is considerably diminished. He +cannot roam over the country at his fancy; his egg-finding is nearly +restricted to the locality of which he possesses minute knowledge. + +Thus workmen engaged in the towns, but sleeping several miles out in the +villages, can keep a register of the slight indications they observe +morning after morning as they cross the fields by the footpath to their +labour. Early in the spring they notice that the partridges have paired: +as time advances they see the pair day after day in the same meadow, and +mark the spot. Those who work in the fields, again, have still better +opportunities: the bird-keeping lads too have little else to do at that +season than watch for nests. In the meadows the labourer as he walks to +and fro with the 'bush' passes over every inch of the ground. The 'bush' +is a mass of thorn bushes fixed in a frame and drawn by a horse; it acts +like a light harrow, and leaves the meadow in strips like the pile of +green velvet, stroked in narrow bands, one this way, one that, laying +the grass blades in the directions it travels. Solitary work of this +kind--for it requires but one man--is very favourable to observation. +When the proper time arrives the searcher knows within a little where +the nest must be, and has but a small space to beat. + +The pheasant being so large a bird, its motions are easy to watch; and +the nest is speedily found, because, being in the hedge or under bushes, +there is a definite place in which to look, instead of the broad surface +of the field. Pheasants will get out of the preserves in the breeding +season and wander into the mounds, so that the space the keeper has to +range is then enlarged threefold. Both pheasants and partridges are +frequently killed on their nests; when the eggs are hard the birds +remain to the last moment, and are often knocked over. + +Besides poachers, the eggs have to run the chance of being destroyed by +carrion crows, and occasionally by rooks. Rooks, though generally +cleanly feeders, will at times eat almost anything, from a mussel to a +fledgeling bird. Magpies and jays are accused of being equally dangerous +enemies of eggs and young birds, and so too are snakes. Weasels, stoats, +and rats spare neither egg, parents, nor offspring. Some of the dogs +that run wild will devour eggs; and hawks pounce on the brood if they +see an opportunity. Owls are said to do the same. The fitchew, the +badger, and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation; but the first +is rare, the second almost exterminated in many districts; the +third--the poor hedgehog--is common, and some keepers have a bitter +dislike to them. Swine are credited, with the same mischief as the worst +of vermin at this particular season; but nowadays swine are not allowed +to run wild in cultivated districts, except in the autumn when the +acorns are falling. + +As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly accessible, and the +eggs, being large, are tempting. Perhaps the mowing machine is as +destructive as anything; and after all these there is the risk of a wet +season and of disease. Let the care exercised be never so great, a +certain amount of mortality must occur. + +While the young partridges gradually become strong and swift, the nuts +are increasing in size, and ripening upon the bough. The very hazel has +a pleasant sound--not a nut-tree hedge existed in the neighbourhood that +we did not know and visit. We noted the progress of the bushes from the +earliest spring, and the catkins to the perfect nut. + +There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the hazel in February, +though the gloom of winter lingers and the 'Shuck--a--sheck!' of the +fieldfare fleeing before the snow sounds overhead. On the slender +branches grow green ovals, from whose tips tiny scarlet plumes rise and +curl over. + +It often happens that while the tall rods with speckled bark grow +vigorously the stole is hollow and decaying when the hardy fern +flourishes around it. Before the summer ricks are all carted the nuts +are full of sweet milky matter, and the shell begins to harden. A hazel +bough with a good crook is then sought by the men that are thinking of +the wheat harvest: they trim it for a 'vagging' stick, with which to +pull the straw towards them. True reaping is now never seen: 'vagging' +makes the short stubble that forces the partridges into the turnips. +Maple boughs, whose bark is so strongly ribbed, are also good for +'vagging' sticks. + +Nut-tree is used for bonds to tie up faggots, and split for the +shepherds' hurdles. In winter sometimes a store of nuts and acorns may +be seen fallen in a stream down the side of a bank, scratched out from a +mouse's hole, as they say, by Reynard, who devours the little provident +creature without regard for its wisdom. So that man and wild animals +derive pleasure or use from the hazel in many ways. When the nuts are +ripe the carters' lads do not care to ride sideways on the broad backs +of the horses as they jog homewards along the lane, but are ever in the +hedges. + +There were plenty in the double-mounds to which we had access; but the +shepherd, who had learned his craft on the Downs, said that the nuts +grew there in such immense quantities as determined us to see them. +Sitting on the felled ash under the shade of the hawthorn hedge, where +the butcher-birds every year used to stick the humble-bees on the +thorns, he described the route--a mere waggon track--and the situation +of the largest copses. + +The waggon track we found crossed the elevated plains close under and +between the Downs, following at the foot, as it seemed, for an endless +distance the curve of a range. The slope bounded the track on one side: +on the other it was enclosed by a low bank covered with dead thorn +thickly entangled, which enclosed the cornfields. The space between the +hedge and the hill was as far as we could throw one of the bleached +flints lying on the sward. It was dotted with hawthorn trees and furze, +and full of dry brown grass. A few scattered firs, the remnants of +extinct plantations, grew on the slope, and green 'fairy rings' marked +it here and there. + +These fairy rings have a somewhat different appearance from the dark +green semicircles found in the meadows and called by the same name: the +latter are often only segments of circles, are found near hedges, and +almost always either under a tree or where a tree has been. There were +more mushrooms on the side of the hill than we cared to carry. Some eat +mushrooms raw--fresh as taken from the ground, with a little salt: to me +the taste is then too strong. Of the many ways of cooking them the +simplest is the best; that is, on a gridiron over wood embers on the +hearth. + +Every few minutes a hare started out of the dry grass: he always +scampered up the Down and stopped to look at us from the ridge. The hare +runs faster up hill than down. By the cornfields there were wire +nettings to stop them; but nothing is easier than for any passer-by who +feels an interest in hares and rabbits, and does not like to see them +jealously excluded, to open a gap. Hares were very numerous--temptingly +so. Not far from where the track crossed a lonely road was a gipsy +encampment; that swarthy people are ever about when anything is going +on, and the reapers were busy in the corn. The dead dry thorns of the +hedge answered very well to boil their pot with. Their tents, formed by +thrusting the ends of long bent rods like half-hoops into the turf, +looked dark like the canvas of a barge. + +These 'gips'--country folk do not say gipsy--were unknown to us; but we +were on terms with some members of a tribe who called at our house +several times in the course of the year to buy willow. The men wore +golden earrings, and bought 'Black Sally,' a withy that has a dark bark, +for pegs, and 'bolts' of osier for basket-making. A bolt is a bundle of +forty inches in circumference. Though the women tell fortunes, and mix +the 'dark man' and the 'light man,' the 'journey' and the 'letter' to +perfection, till the ladies half believe, I doubt if they know much of +true palmistry. The magic of the past always had a charm for me. I had +learned to know the lines, from that which winds along at the base of +the thumb-ball and if clear means health and long life, to that which +crosses close to the fingers and indicates the course of love, and had +traced them on many a delicate palm. So that the 'gips' could tell me +nothing new. + +The women are the hardiest in the country; they simply ignore the +weather. Even the hedgers and ditchers and the sturdiest labourers +choose the lee side of the hedge when they pause to eat their luncheons; +but the 'gips' do not trouble to seek such shelter. Passing over the +hills one winter's day, when the Downs looked all alike, being covered +with snow, I came across a 'gip' family sitting on the ground in a lane, +old and young exposed to the blast. In that there was nothing +remarkable, but I recollect it because the young mother, handsome in the +style of her race, had her neck and brown bust quite bare, and the white +snowflakes drove thickly aslant upon her. Their complexion looks more +dusky in winter, so that the contrast of the colours made me wish for an +artist to paint it. And he might have put the grey embers of a fire gone +out, and the twisted stem of a hawthorn bush with red haws above. + +A mile beyond the gipsy tents we entered among the copses: scattered ash +plantations, and hazel thickets with narrow green tracks between. +Further in, the nut-tree bushes were more numerous, and we became +separated though within call. Presently a low whistle like the peewit's +(our signal) called me to Orion. On the border of a thicket, near an +open field of swedes, he had found a hare in a wire. It was a +beauty--the soft fur smooth to stroke, not so much as a shot-hole in the +black-marked ears. Wired or netted hares and rabbits are much preferred +by the dealers to those that have been shot--and so, too, netted +partridges--because they look so clean and tempt the purchaser. The +blacksmith Ikey, who bought our rabbits, used to sew up the shot wounds +when they were much knocked about, and trimmed up the shattered ones in +the cleverest way. + +To pull up the plug and take wire and hare too was the first impulse; +yet we hesitated. Why did the man who set the snare let his game lie +till that hour of the day? He should have visited it long before: it had +a suspicious look altogether. It would also have been nearly impossible +to carry the hare so many miles by daylight and past villages: even with +the largest pockets it would have been doubtful, for the hare had +stiffened as he lay stretched out. So, carefully replacing him just as +we found him, we left the spot and re-entered the copse. + +The shepherd certainly was right; the quantity of nuts was immense: the +best and largest bunches grew at the edge of the thickets, perhaps +because they received more air and light than the bushes within that +were surrounded by boughs. It thus happened that we were in the green +pathway when some one suddenly spoke from behind, and, turning, there +was a man in a velveteen jacket who had just stepped out of the bushes. +The keeper was pleasant enough and readily allowed us to handle his +gun--a very good weapon, though a little thin at the muzzle--for a man +likes to see his gun admired. He said there were finer nuts in a valley +he pointed out, and then carefully instructed us how to get back into +the waggon track without returning by the same path. An old barn was the +landmark; and, with a request from him not to break the bushes, he left +us. + +Down in the wooded vale we paused. The whole thing was now clear: the +hare in the wire was a trap laid for the 'gips' whose camp was below. +The keeper had been waiting about doubtless where he could command the +various tracks up the hill, had seen us come that way, and did not wish +us to return in the same direction; because if the 'gip' saw any one at +all he would not approach his snare. Whether the hare had actually been +caught by the wire, or had been put in by the keeper, it was not easy to +tell. + +We wandered on in the valley wood, going from bush to bush, little +heeding whither we went. There are no woods so silent as the nut-tree; +there is scarce a sound in them at that time except the occasional +rustle of a rabbit, and the 'thump, thump' they sometimes make +underground in their buries after a sudden fright. So that the keen +plaintive whistle of a kingfisher was almost startling. But we soon +found the stream in the hollow. Broader than a brook and yet not quite a +river, it flowed swift and clear, so that every flint at the bottom was +visible. The nut-tree bushes came down to the edge: the ground was too +firm for much rush or sedge; the streams that come out of the chalk are +not so thickly fringed with vegetation as others. + +Some little way along there was a rounded sarsen boulder not far from +shore, whose brown top was so nearly on a level with the surface that at +one moment the water just covered it, and the next left it exposed. By +it we spied a trout; but the hill above gave 'Velvet' the command of the +hollow; and it was too risky even to think of. After that the nuts were +tame; there was nothing left but to turn homewards. As for +trout-fishing, there is nothing so easy. Take the top joint off the rod, +and put the wire on the second, which is stronger, fill the basket, and +replace the fly. There were fellows who used to paddle in canoes up a +certain river (not this little stream), pick out the largest trout, and +shoot them with pistols, under pretence of practising at water-rats. + + + + + +CHAPTER V + + + +WOODLAND TWILIGHT: TRAITORS ON THE GIBBET + + +In a hedge that joined a wood, and about a hundred yards from it, there +was a pleasant hiding-place beside a pollard ash. The bank was hollow +with rabbit-buries: the summer heat had hardened the clay of the mound +and caused it to crack and crumble wherever their excavations left a +precipitous edge. Some way up the trunk of the tree an immense flat +fungus projected, roughly resembling the protruding lip of a savage +enlarged by the insertion of a piece of wood. If formed a black ledge +standing out seven or eight inches, two or three inches thick, and +extending for a foot or more round the bark. The pollard, indeed, was +dead inside, and near the ground the black touch-wood showed. Ash timber +must become rarer year by year: for, being so useful, it is constantly +cut down, while few new saplings are planted or encouraged to become +trees. + +In front a tangled mass of bramble arched over the dry ditch; it was +possible to see some distance down the bank, for nothing grew on the top +itself, the bushes all rising from either side--a peculiarity of clay +mounds. This narrow space was a favourite promenade of the rabbits; they +usually came out there for a few minutes first, looking about before +venturing forth into the meadows. Except a little moss, scarcely any +vegetation other than underwood clothed the bare hard soil of the mound; +and for this reason every tiny aperture that suited their purpose was +occupied by wasps. + +They much prefer a clear space about the entrance to their nests, +affording an unencumbered passage: there were two nests within a few +yards of the ash. Though so generally dreaded, wasps are really +inoffensive insects, never attacking unless previously buffeted. You may +sit close to a wasps' nest for hours, and, if you keep still, receive no +injury. Humble-bees, too, congregate in special localities: along one +hedge half a dozen nests may be found, while other fields are searched +for them in vain. + +The best time to enter such a hiding-place is a little before the sun +sinks: for as his beams turn red all the creatures that rest during the +day begin to stir. Then the hares start down from the uplands and appear +on the short stubble, where the level rays throw exaggerated shadows +behind them. When six or eight hares are thus seen near the centre of a +single field, they and their shadows seem to take possession of and +occupy it. + +Pheasants, though they retire to roost on the trees, often before rising +come forth into the meadows adjacent to the coverts. The sward in front +of the pollard ash sloped upwards gradually to the foot of a low hill +planted with firs, and just outside these about half a dozen pheasants +regularly appeared in the early evening. As the sun sank below the hill, +and the shadow of the great beeches some distance away began to extend +into the mead, they went back one by one into the firs. There they were +nearly safe, for no trees give so much difficulty to the poacher. It is +not easy even to shoot anything inside a fir plantation at night: as for +the noose, it is almost impossible to use it. The lowest pheasant is +taken first, and then the next above, like fowls perched on the rungs of +a ladder; and, indeed, it is not unlikely that those who excel in this +kind of work base their operations upon previous experiences in the hen +roost. + +The wood pigeons begin to come home, and the wood is filled with their +hollow notes: now here, now yonder, for as one ceases another takes it +up. They cannot settle for some time: each as he arrives perches awhile, +and then rises and tries a fresh place, so that there is a constant +clattering. The green woodpecker approaches at a rapid pace--now +opening, now closing his wings, and seeming to throw himself forward +rather than to fly. He rushes at the trees in the hedge as though he +could pierce the thick branches like a bullet. Other birds rise over or +pass at the side: he goes through, arrow-like, avoiding the boughs. +Instead of at once entering the wood, he stays awhile on the sward of +the mead in the open. + +As the pheasants generally feed in a straight line along the ground, so +the lesser pied woodpecker travels across the fields from tree to tree, +rarely staying on more than one branch in each, but, after examining it, +leaves all that may be on other boughs and seeks another ahead. He rises +round and round the dead branch in the elm, tapping it with blows that +succeed each other with marvellous rapidity. He taps for the purpose of +sounding the wood to see if it be hollow or bored by grubs, and to +startle the insects and make them run out for his convenience. He will +ascend dead branches barely half an inch thick that vibrate as he +springs from them, and proceeds down the hedge towards the wood. The +'snop-top' sounds in every elm, and grows fainter as he recedes. The +sound is often heard, but in the thick foliage of summer the bird +escapes unseen, unless you are sitting almost under the tree when he +arrives in it. + +Then the rooks come drifting slowly to the beeches: they are uncertain +in their hour at this season--some, indeed, scarce care to return at +all; and even when quite dusk and the faint stars of summer rather show +themselves than shine, twos and threes come occasionally through the +gloom. A pair of doves pass swiftly, flying for the lower wood, where +the ashpoles grow. The grasshoppers sing in the grass, and will continue +till the dew descends. As the little bats flutter swiftly to and fro just +without the hedge, the faint sound of their wings is audible as they +turn: their membranes are not so silent as feathers, and they agitate +them with extreme velocity. Beetles go by with a loud hum, rising from +those isolated bunches of grass that may be seen in every field; for the +cows will not eat the rank green blades that grow over and hide dried +dung. + +A large white spot, ill-defined and shapeless in the distance and the +dimness, glides along the edge of the wood, then across in front before +the fir plantation, next down the hedge to the left, and presently +passes within two yards, going towards the wood again along this mound. +It is a white owl: he flies about five feet from the ground and +absolutely without a sound. So when you are walking at night it is quite +startling to have one come overhead, approaching from behind and +suddenly appearing. This owl is almost fearless; unless purposely +alarmed he will scarcely notice you, and not at all if you are still. + +As he reaches the wood he leaves the hedge, having gone all round the +field, and crosses to a small detached circular fir plantation in the +centre. There he goes out of sight a minute or two; but presently +appears skirting the low shed and rickyard yonder, and is finally lost +behind the hedges. This round he will go every evening, and almost +exactly at the same time--that is, in reference to the sun, which is the +clock of nature. + +Step never so quietly out from the mound, the small birds that unnoticed +have come to roost in the bushes will hear it and fly off in alarm. The +rabbits that are near the hedge rush in; those that are far from home +crouch in the furrows and the bunches. Crossing the open field, they +suddenly start as it seems from under your feet--one white tail goes +dapping up and down this way, another jerks over the 'lands' that way. +The moonbeams now glisten on the double-barrel; and a bright sparkle +glitters here and there as a dewdrop catches a ray. + +Upon the grass a faint halo appears; it is a narrow band of light +encircling the path, an oval ring--perhaps rather horseshoe shape than +oval. It glides in front, keeping ever at the same distance as you walk, +as if there the eye was focussed. This is only seen when the grass is +wet with dew, and better in short grass than long. Where it shines the +grass looks a paler green. Passing gently along a hedge thickly timbered +with oak and elms, a hawk may perhaps start forth: hawks sometimes +linger by the hedges till late, but it is not often that you can shoot +one at roost except in spring. Then they invariably return to roost in +the nest tree, and are watched there, and so shot, a gunner approaching +on each side of the hedge. In the lane dark objects--rabbits--hasten +away, and presently the footpath crosses the still motionless brook near +where it flows into the mere. + +The low brick parapet of the bridge is overgrown with mosses; great +hedges grow each side, and the willows, long uncut, almost meet in the +centre. In one hedge an opening leads to a drinking-place for cattle: +peering noiselessly over the parapet between the boughs, the coots and +moorhens may be seen there feeding by the shore. They have come up from +the mere as the ducks and teal do in the winter. The broader waters can +scarcely be netted without a boat, but the brook here is the very place +for a moonlight haul. The net is stretched first across the widest spot +nearest to the pool, that no fish may escape. They swim up here in the +daytime in shoals, perch especially; but the night poachers are often +disappointed, for the fish seem to retire to deeper waters as the +darkness comes on. A black mass of mud-coated sticks, rotten twigs, and +thorn bushes, entangled in the meshes, is often the only result of much +toil. + +Once now and then, as when a preserved pond is netted, a tremendous take +occurs; but nets are rather gone by, being so unwieldy and requiring +several men to manage effectually. If they are not hung out to dry +properly after being used, they soon rot. Now, a large net stretched +along railings or a hedge is rather a conspicuous object, and brings +suspicion on the owner. It is also so heavy after use that until wrung, +which takes time, a strong man can barely carry it; and if a sudden +alarm comes it must be abandoned. + +It is pleasant to rest awhile on the parapet in the shadow of the +bushes. The low thud-thud of sculls in the rowlocks of a distant punt +travels up the water. By-and-by a hare comes along, enters on the +bridge, and almost reaches the gate in the middle before he spies +anything suspicious. Such a spot, and, indeed, any gateway, used to be a +favourite place to set a net, and then drive the hares towards it with a +cur dog that ran silent. Bold must be the man that would set a net in a +footpath now, with almost every field preserved by owner or tenant. With +a bound the hare hies back and across the meadow: the gun comes to the +shoulder as swiftly. + +On the grass lit by the moon the hare looked quite distinct, but the +moment the gaze is concentrated up the barrel he becomes a dim object +with no defined outline. In shooting on the ground by twilight or in the +moonbeams, waste no time in endeavouring to aim, but think of the hare's +ears--say a couple of feet in front of his tail--and the moment the gun +feels steady pull the trigger. The flash and report come together; there +is a dull indescribable sound ahead, as some of the shot strikes home in +fur and some drills into the turf, and then a rustling in the grass. The +moorhens dive, and the coots scuttle down the brook towards the mere at +the flash. While yet the sulphurous smoke lingers, slow to disperse, +over the cool dewy sward, there comes back an echo from the wood behind, +then another from the mere, then another and another beyond. + +The distant sculls have ceased to work in the rowlocks--those in the +punt are listening to the echoes; most likely they have been fishing for +tench in the deep holes under the black shadow of the aspens. (Tench +feed in the dark: if you wish to take a big one wait till it is +necessary to fix a piece of white paper on the float.) Now put the empty +cartridge in your pocket instead of throwing it aside; pull the hare's +neck across your knee, and hurry off. But you may safely stay to harle +him; for those very echoes that have been heard a mile round about are +the best safeguard: not one man in a thousand could tell the true +direction whence the sound of the explosion originated. + +The pleasure of wandering in a wood was so great that it could never be +resisted, and did not solely arise from the instinct of shooting. Many +expeditions were made without a gun, or any implement of destruction, +simply to enjoy the trees and thickets. There was one large wood very +carefully preserved, and so situate in an open country as not to be +easily entered. But a little observation showed that the keeper had a +'habit.' He used to come out across the wheatfields to a small wayside +'public,' and his route passed by a lonely barn and rickyard. One warm +summer day I saw him come as usual to the 'public,' and while he was +there quietly slipped as far as the barn and hid in it. + +In July such a rickyard is very hot; heat radiates from every straw. The +ground itself is dry and hard, each crevice choked with particles of +white chaff; so that even the couch can hardly grow except close under +the low hedge where the pink flower of the pimpernel opens to the sky. +White stone staddles--short conical pillars with broad capitals--stand +awaiting the load of sheaves that will shortly press on them. Every now +and then a rustling in the heaps of straw indicates the presence of +mice. From straw and stone and bare earth heat seems to rise up. The +glare of the sunlight pours from above. The black pitched wooden walls +of the barn and sheds prevent the circulation of air. There are no trees +for shadow--nothing but a few elder bushes, which are crowded at +intervals of a few minutes with sparrows rushing with a whirr of wings +up from the standing corn. + +But the high pitched roof of the barn and of the lesser sheds has a +beauty of its own--the minute vegetation that has covered the tiles +having changed the original dull red to an orange hue. From ridge to +eaves, from end to end, it is a wide expanse of colour, only varying so +much in shade as to save it from monotony. It stands out glowing, +distinct against the deep blue of the sky. The 'cheep' of fledgeling +sparrows comes from the crevices above; but swallows do not frequent +solitary buildings so much as those by dwelling-houses, being especially +fond of cattle-sheds where cows are milked. + +The proximity of animals apparently attracts them: perhaps in the more +exposed places there may be dangers from birds of prey. As for the +sparrows, they are innumerable. Some are marked with white patches--a +few so much so as to make quite a show when they fly. One handsome cock +bird has a white ring half round his neck, and his wings are a beautiful +partridge-brown. He looks larger than the common sort; and there are +several more here that likewise appear to exceed in size, and to have +the same peculiar brown. + +After a while there came the sound of footsteps and a low but cheerful +whistle. The keeper having slaked a thirst very natural on such a sultry +day returned, and re-entered the wood. I had decided that it would be +the best plan to follow in his rear, because then there would be little +chance of crossing his course haphazard, and the dogs would not sniff +any strange footsteps, since the footsteps would not be there till they +had gone by. To hide from the eyes of a man is comparatively easy; but a +dog will detect an unwonted presence in the thickest bush, and run in +and set up a yelping, especially if it is a puppy. + +It was not more than forty yards from the barn to the wood: there was no +mound or hedge, but a narrow, deep, and dry watercourse, a surface +drain, ran across. Stooping a little and taking off my hat, I walked in +this, so that the wheat each side rose above me and gave a perfect +shelter. This precaution was necessary, because on the right there rose +a steep Down, from whose summit the level wheat-fields could be easily +surveyed. So near was it that I could distinguish the tracks of the +hares worn in the short grass. But if you take off your hat no one can +distinguish you in a wheat-field, more particularly if your hair is +light: nor even in a hedge. + +Where the drain or furrow entered the wood was a wire-netting firmly +fixed, and over it tall pitched palings, sharp at the top. The wood was +enclosed with a thick hawthorn hedge that looked impassable; but the +keeper's footsteps, treading down the hedge-parsley and brushing aside +the 'gicks,' guided me behind a bush where was a very convenient gap. +These signs and the smooth-worn bark of an ash against which it was +needful to push proved that this quiet path was used somewhat +frequently. + +Inside the wood the grass and the bluebell leaves--the bloom past and +ripening to seed--so hung over the trail that it was difficult to +follow. It wound about the ash stoles in the most circuitous manner--now +to avoid the thistles, now a bramble thicket, or a hollow filled with +nettles. Then the ash poles were clothed with the glory of the +woodbine--one mass of white and yellow wax-like flowers to a height of +eight or nine feet, and forming a curtain of bloom from branch to +branch. + +After awhile I became aware that the trail was approaching the hill. At +the foot it branched; and the question arose whether to follow the fork +that zig-zagged up among the thickets or that which seemed to plunge +into the recesses beneath. I had never been in this wood before--the +time was selected because it was probable that the keeper would be +extremely occupied with his pheasant chicks. Though the earth was so +hard in the exposed rick-yard, here the clayey ground was still moist +under the shadow of the leaves. Examining the path more closely, I +easily distinguished the impression of the keeper's boot: the iron +toe-plate has left an almost perfect impression, and there were the deep +grooves formed by the claws of his dog as it had scrambled up the +declivity and the pad slipped on the clay. + +As he had taken the upward path, no doubt it led direct to the +pheasants, which was sure to be on the hill itself, or a dry and healthy +slope. I therefore took the other trail, since I must otherwise have +overtaken him; for he would stay long among his chicks: just as an +old-fashioned farmer lingers at a gate, gazing on his sheep. Advancing +along the lower path, after some fifteen minutes it turned sharply to +the right, and I stood under the precipitous cliff-like edge of the hill +in a narrow coombe. The earth at the top hung over the verge, and +beech-trees stood as it seemed in the act to topple, their exposed roots +twisting to and fro before they re-entered the face of the precipice. +Large masses of chalky rubble had actually fallen, and others were all +but detached. The coombe, of course, could be overlooked from thence; +but a moment's reflection convinced me there was no risk, for who would +dare to go near enough to the edge to look down? + +The coombe was full of fir-trees; and by them stood a long narrow +shed--the roof ruinous, but the plank walls intact. It had originally +been erected in a field, since planted for covers. This long shed, a +greenish grey from age and mouldering wood, became a place of much +interest. Along the back there were three rows of weasels and stoats +nailed through the head or neck to the planks. There had been a hundred +in each row--about three hundred altogether. The lapse of time had +entirely dissipated the substance of many on the upper row; nothing +remained but the grim and rusty nail. Further along there hung small +strips without shape. Beyond these the nails supported something that +had a rough outline still of the animal. In the second row the dried and +shrivelled creatures were closely wrapped in nature's mummy-cloth of +green; in the third, some of those last exposed still retained a dull +brown colour. None were recent. Above, under the eaves, the spiders' +webs had thickly gathered; beneath, the nettles flourished. + +But the end of the shed was the place where the more distinguished +offenders were gibbeted. A footpath, well worn and evidently much used, +went by this end, and, as I afterwards ascertained, communicated with +the mansion above and the keeper's cottage some distance below. Every +passenger between must pass the gallows where the show of more noble +traitors gave proof of the keeper's loyal activity. Four shorter rows +rose in tiers. To the nails at the top strong beaks and black feathers +adhered, much bedraggled and ruffled by weather. These crows had long +been dead; the keeper when he shot a crow did not trouble to have it +carried home, unless a nail was conspicuously vacant. The ignoble bird +was left where he fell. + +On the next row the black and white of magpies and the blue of jays +alternated. Many of the magpies had been despoiled of their tails, and +some of their wings, the feathers being saleable. The jays were more +numerous, and untouched; they were slain in such numbers that the market +for their plumage was glutted. Though the bodies were shrunken, the +feathers were in fair condition. Magpies' nests are so large that in +winter, when the leaves are off the trees, they cannot but be seen, and, +the spot being marked, in the summer old and young are easily destroyed. +Hawks filled the third row. The kestrels were the most numerous, but +there were many sparrow-hawks. These made a great show, and were stuck +so closely that a feather could hardly be thrust between them. In the +midst, quite smothered under their larger wings, were the remains of a +smaller bird--probably a merlin. But the last and lowest row, that was +also nearest, or on a level with the face of a person looking at the +gallows, was the most striking. + +This grand tier was crowded with owls--not arranged in any order, but +haphazard, causing a fine mixture of colour. Clearly this gallery was +constantly renewed. The white owl gave the prevalent tint, side by side +with the brown wood owls, and scattered among the rest, a few long +horned owls--a mingling of white, yellowish brown, and tawny feathers. +Though numerous here, yet trap and gun have so reduced the wood owls +that you may listen half the night by a cover and never hear the +'Who-hoo' that seems to demand your name. + +The barn owls are more liable to be shot, because they are more +conspicuous; but, on the other hand, as they often breed and reside away +from covers, they seem to escape. For months past one of these has +sailed by my window every evening uttering a hissing 'skir-r-r.' Here, +some were nailed with their backs to the wall, that they might not hide +their guilty faces. + +The delicate texture of the owl's feathers is very remarkable: these +birds remind me of a huge moth. The owls were more showy than the hawks, +though it is commonly said that without sunlight there is no colour--as +in the case of plants grown in darkness. Yet the hawks are day birds, +while the owls fly by night. There came the sound of footsteps; and I +retreated, casting one glance backward at the black and white, the blue +and brown colours that streaked the wall, while the dull green weasels +were in perpetual shadow. By night the bats would flit round and about +that gloomy place. It would not do to return by the same path, lest +another keeper might be coming up it; so I stepped into the wood itself. +To those who walk only in the roads, hawks and owls seem almost rare. +But a wood is a place to which they all flock; and any wanderer from the +north or west naturally tends thither. This wood is of large extent; but +even to the smaller plantations of the Downs it is wonderful what a +number come in the course of a year. Besides the shed just visited, +there would be certain to be another more or less ornamented near the +keeper's cottage, and probably others scattered about, where the +commoner vermin could be nailed without the trouble of carrying them far +away. Only the owls and hawks, magpies, and such more striking evidences +of slaughter were collected here, and almost daily renewed. + +To get into the wood was much easier than to get out, on account of the +thick hedge, palings, and high sharp-sparred gates; but I found a dry +ditch where it was possible to creep under the bushes into a meadow +where was a footpath. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + +LURCHER-LAND: 'THE PARK' + + +The time of the apple-bloom is the most delicious season in Sarsen +village. It is scarcely possible to obtain a view of the place, although +it is built on the last slope of the Downs, because just where the +ground drops and the eye expects an open space, plantations of fir and +the tops of tall poplars and elms intercept the glance. In ascending +from the level meadows of the vale thick double mounds, heavily timbered +with elm, hide the houses until you are actually in their midst. + +Those only know a country who are acquainted with its footpaths. By the +roads, indeed, the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go through the +heart of the land. There are routes by which mile after mile may be +travelled without leaving the sward. So you may pass from village to +village; now crossing green meads, now cornfields, over brooks, past +woods, through farmyard and rick 'barken.' But such tracks are not +mapped, and a stranger misses them altogether unless under the guidance +of an old inhabitant. + +At Sarsen the dusty road enters the more modern part of the village at +once, where the broad signs hang from the taverns at the cross-ways and +where the loafers steadily gaze at the new comer. The Lower Path, after +stile and hedge and elm, and grass that glows with golden buttercups, +quietly leaves the side of the double mounds and goes straight through +the orchards. There are fewer flowers under the trees, and the grass +grows so long and rank that it has already fallen aslant of its own +weight. It is choked, too, by masses of clog-weed, that springs up +profusely over the site of old foundations; so that here ancient masonry +may be hidden under the earth. Indeed, these orchards are a survival +from the days when the monks laboured in vineyard and garden, and mayhap +even of earlier times. When once a locality has got into the habit of +growing a certain crop it continues to produce it for century after +century; and thus there are villages famous for apple or pear or cherry, +while the district at large is not at all given to such culture. + +The trunks of the trees succeed each other in endless ranks, like +columns that support the most beautiful roof of pink and white. Here the +bloom is rosy, there white prevails: the young green is hidden under the +petals that are far more numerous than leaves, or even than leaves will +be. Though the path really is in shadow as the branches shut out the +sun, yet it seems brighter here than in the open, as if the place were +illuminated by a million tiny lamps shedding the softest lustre. The +light is reflected and apparently increased by the countless flowers +overhead. + +The forest of bloom extends acre after acre, and only ceases where +hedges divide, to commence again beyond the boundary. A wicket gate, all +green with a film of vegetation over the decaying wood, opens under the +very eaves of a cottage, and the path goes by the door--across a narrow +meadow where deep and broad trenches, green now, show where ancient +stews or fishponds existed, and then through a farmyard into a lane. +Tall poplars rise on either hand, but there seem to be no houses; they +stand, in fact, a field's breadth back from the lane, and are approached +by footpaths that every few yards necessitate a stile in the hedge. + +When a low thatched farmhouse does abut upon the way, the blank white +wall of the rear part faces the road, and the front door opens on +precisely the other side. Hard by is a row of beehives. Though the +modern hives are at once more economical and humane, they have not the +old associations that cling about the straw domes topped with broken +earthenware to shoot off the heavy downfall of a thunderstorm. + +Everywhere the apple-bloom; the hum of bees; children sitting on the +green beside the road, their laps full of flowers; the song of finches; +and the low murmur of water that glides over flint and stone so shadowed +by plants and grasses that the sunbeams cannot reach and glisten on it. +Thus the straggling flower-strewn village stretches along beneath the +hill and rises up the slope, and the swallows wheel and twitter over the +gables where are their hereditary nesting-places. The lane ends on a +broad dusty road, and, opposite, a quiet thatched house of the larger +sort stands, endways to the street, with an open pitching before the +windows. There, too, the swallows' nests are crowded under the eaves, +flowers are trained against the wall, and in the garden stand the same +beautiful apple-trees. But within, the lower part of the windows--that +have recess seats--are guarded by horizontal rods of iron, polished by +the backs of many men. It is an inn, and the rods are to save the panes +from the impact of an excited toper's arm. + +The talk to-day, as the brown brandy, which the paler cognac has not yet +superseded, is consumed, and the fumes of coarse tobacco and the smell +of spilt beer and the faint sickly odour of evaporating spirits +overpower the flowers, is of horses. The stable lads from the training +stables far up on the Downs drop in or call at the door without +dismounting. Once or twice in the day a tout calls and takes his 'grub,' +and scribbles a report in the little back parlour. Sporting papers, +beer-stained and thumb-marked, lie on the tables; framed portraits of +racers hang on the walls. Burly men, who certainly cannot ride a race, +but who have horse in every feature, puff cigars and chat in jerky +monosyllables that to an outsider are perfectly incomprehensible. But +the glib way in which heavy sums of money are spoken of conveys the +impression that they dabble in enormous wealth. + +There are dogs under the tables and chairs; dogs in the window-seat; +dogs panting on the stone flags of the passage, after a sharp trot +behind a trap, choosing the coolest spot to loll their red tongues out; +dogs outside in the road; dogs standing on hind legs, and painfully +lapping the water in the horse-trough; and there is a yapping of puppies +in the distance. The cushions of the sofa are strewn with dogs' hairs, +and once now and then a dog leisurely hops up the staircase. + +Customers are served by the landlady, a decent body enough in her way: +her son, the man of the house, is up in the 'orchut' at the rear, +feeding his dogs. Where the 'orchut' ends in a paddock stands a small +shed: in places the thatch on the roof has fallen through in the course +of years and revealed the bare rafters. The bottom part of the door has +decayed, and the long nose of a greyhound is thrust out sniffing through +a hole. Dickon, the said son, is delighted to undo the padlock for a +visitor who is 'square.' In an instant the long hounds leap up, half a +dozen at a time, and I stagger backwards, forced by the sheer vigour of +their caresses against the doorpost. Dickon cannot quell the uproarious +pack: he kicks the door open, and away they scamper round and round the +paddock at headlong speed. + +What a joy it is to them to stretch their limbs! I forget the squalor of +the kennel in watching their happy gambols. I cannot drink more than one +tumbler of brown brandy and water; but Dickon overlooks that weakness, +feeling that I admire his greyhounds. It is arranged that I am to see +them work in the autumn. + +The months pass, and in his trap with the famous trotter in the shafts +we roll up the village street. Apple-bloom and golden fruit too are +gone, and the houses show more now among the bare trees; but as the rim +of the ruddy November sun comes forth from the edge of a cloud there +appears a buff tint everywhere in the background. When elm and ash are +bare the oaks retain their leaves, and these are illumined by the autumn +beams. Over-topped by tall elms and hidden by the orchards, the oaks +were hardly seen in summer; now they are found to be numerous and give +the prevailing hue to the place. + +Dickon taps the dashboard as the mare at last tops the hill, and away +she speeds along the level plateau for the Downs. Two greyhounds are +with us; two more have gone on under charge of a boy. Skirting the hills +a mile or two, we presently leave the road and drive over the turf: +there is no track, but Dickon knows his way. The rendezvous is a small +fir plantation, the young trees in which are but shoulder-high. Below is +a plain entirely surrounded by the hills, and partly green with root +crops: more than one flock of sheep is down there, and two teams +ploughing the stubble. Neither the ploughmen nor the shepherds take the +least heed of us, except to watch for the sport. The spare couple are +fastened in the trap; the boy jumps up and takes the reins. Dickon puts +the slip on the couple that are to run first, and we begin to range. + +Just at the foot of the hill the grass is tall and grey; there, too, are +the dead dry stalks of many plants that cultivation has driven from the +ploughed fields and that find a refuge at the edge. A hare starts from +the very verge and makes up the Downs. Dickon slips the hounds, and a +faint halloo comes from the shepherds and the ploughmen. It is a +beautiful sight to see the hounds bound over the sward; the sinewy back +bends like a bow, but a bow that, instead of an arrow, shoots itself; +the deep chests drink the air. Is there any moment so joyful in life as +the second when the chase begins? As we gaze, before we even step +forward, the hare is over the ridge and out of sight. Then we race and +tear up the slope; then the boy in the trap flaps the reins and away +goes the mare out of sight too. + +Dickon is long and rawboned, a powerful fellow, strong of limb, and +twice my build; but he sips too often at the brown brandy, and after the +first burst I can head him. But he knows the hills and the route the +hare will take, so that I have but to keep pace. In five minutes as we +cross a ridge we see the game again; the hare is circling back--she +passes under us not fifty yards away, as we stand panting on the hill. +The youngest hound gains, and runs right over her; she doubles, the +older hound picks up the running. By a furze-bush she doubles again; but +the young one turns her--the next moment she is in the jaws of the old +dog. + +Again and again the hounds are slipped, now one couple, now the other: +we pant, and can scarcely speak with running, but the wild excitement of +the hour and the sweet pure air of the Downs supply fresh strength. The +little lad brings the mare anywhere: through the furze, among the +flint-pits, jolting over the ruts, she rattles along with sure alacrity. +There are five hares in the sack under the straw when at last we get up +and slowly drive down to the highway, reaching it some two miles from +where we left it. Dickon sends the dogs home by the boy on foot; we +drive round and return to the village by a different route, entering it +from the opposite direction. + +The reason of these things is that Sarsen has no great landlord. There +are fifty small proprietors, and not a single resident magistrate. +Besides the small farmers, there are scores of cottage owners, every one +of whom is perfectly independent. Nobody cares for anybody. It is a +republic, without even the semblance of a Government. It is liberty, +equality, and swearing. As it is just within the limit of a borough, +almost all the cottagers have votes, and are not to be trifled with. The +proximity of horse-racing establishments adds to the general atmosphere +of dissipation. Betting, card-playing, ferret-breeding and dog-fancying, +poaching and politics, are the occupations of the populace. A little +illicit badger-baiting is varied by a little vicar-baiting; the mass of +the inhabitants are the reddest of Reds. Que voulez-vous? + +The edges of some large estates come up near, but the owners would +hardly like to institute a persecution of these turbulent folk. If they +did, where would be their influence at the next election? If a landlord +makes himself unpopular, his own personal value depreciates. He is a +nonentity in the committee-room, and his help rather deprecated by the +party than desired. The Sarsen fellows are not such fools as to break +pheasant preserves in the vale; as they are resident, that would not +answer. They keep outside the _sanctum sanctorum_ of the pheasant +coverts. But with ferret, dog, and gun, and now and then a partridge net +along the edge of the standing barley, they excel. So, too, with the +wire; and the broad open Downs are their happy hunting grounds, +especially in misty weather. + +This is the village of the apple-bloom, the loveliest spot imaginable. +After all, they are not such desperately bad fellows if you deduct their +sins against the game laws. They are a jovial lot, and free with their +money; they stand by one another--a great virtue in these cold-blooded +days. If one gets in trouble with the law the rest subscribe the fine. +They are full of knowledge of a certain sort, and you may learn +anything, from the best way to hang a dog upwards. + +When we reach the inn, and Dickon calls for the brown brandy, there in +the bar sits a gamekeeper, whose rubicund countenance beams with good +humour. He is never called upon to pay his score. Good fellow! in +addition he is popular, and every one asks him to drink: besides which, +a tip for a race now and then makes this world wear a smiling aspect to +him. + +Dickon's 'unconscious education'--absorbed rather than learnt in +boyhood--had not been acquired under conditions likely to lead him to +admire scenery. But, rough as he was, he was a good-natured fellow, and +it was through him that I became acquainted with a very beautiful place. + +The footpath to The Park went for about half a mile under the shadow of +elm trees, and in spring time there was a continual noise of young rooks +in the nests above. Occasionally dead twigs, either dislodged from the +nests or broken off by the motions of the old birds, came rustling down. +One or two nests that had been blown out strewed the sward with half a +bushel of dead sticks. After the rookery the path passed a lonely dairy, +where the polished brazen vessels in the skilling glittered like gold in +the sunshine. Farther on came wide open meadows with numerous oak-trees +scattered in the midst--the outposts of the great wood at hand. The elms +were flourishing and vigorous; but these detached oaks were decaying, +and some dead, their hoar antiquity contrasting with the green grass and +flowers of the mead. + +The mansion was hidden by elm and chestnut, pines and sombre cedars. +From the edge of the lawn the steep slope of the Down rose, planted with +all manner of shrubs, the walks through which were inches deep in dead +leaves, needles, and fir-cones. Long neglect had permitted these to +accumulate, and the yew hedges had almost grown together and covered the +walk they bordered. + +The woods and preserves extended along the Downs, between the hills and +the meadows beneath. There was one path through these woods that led +into a narrow steep-sided coombe, one side of which was planted with +firs. On the other was a little grass, but so thin as scarcely to cover +the chalk. This side jutted out from the general line of the hills, and +formed a bold bluff, whose white precipitous cliff was a landmark for +many miles. In climbing the coombe, it was sometimes necessary to grasp +the bunches of grass; for it would have been impossible to recover from +a slip till, bruised and shaken, you rolled to the bottom, and perhaps +into the little streamlet flowing through the hollow. + +The summit was of small extent, but the view beautiful. A low fence of +withy had long since decayed, nothing but a few rotten stakes remaining +at the very verge of the precipice. Steep as it was, there were some +ledges that the rabbits frequented, making their homes in mid-air. +Further along, the slope, a little less perpendicular, was covered with +nut-tree bushes, where you could scramble down by holding to the boughs. +There was a tradition of a fox-hunter, in the excitement of the chase, +forcing his horse to descend through these bushes and actually reaching +the level meadows below in safety. + +Impossible as it seemed, yet when the hounds were in full cry beneath it +was easy to understand that in the eagerness of the moment a horseman at +the top might feel tempted to join the stirring scene at any risk: for +the fox frequently ran just below, making along the line of coverts; and +from that narrow perch on the cliff the whole field came into sight at +once. There was Reynard slipping ahead, and two or more fields behind +the foremost of the pack, while the rest, rushing after, made the hills +resound with their chiding. The leaders taking the hedges, the main +squadron splashing through a marshy place, the outsiders straining to +come up, and the last man behind, who rode harder than any--all could be +seen at the same time. + +It was a lovely spot, too, for dreaming on a summer's day, reclining on +the turf, with the harebells swinging in the faint breeze. The extreme +solitude was its charm: no lanes or tracks other than those purely +pastoral came near. There were woods on either hand; in the fir +plantations the jays chattered unceasingly. The broad landscape +stretched out to the illimitable distance, till the power of the eye +failed and could trace it no farther. But if the gaze was lifted it +looked into blue space--the azure heaven not only overhead, but, as it +seemed, all around. + +Dickon was always to and fro the mansion here, and took me with him. His +object was ostensibly business: now it was a horse to buy, now a fat +bullock or sheep; now it was an acre or two of wood that was to be cut. +The people of the mansion were so much from home that their existence +was almost forgotten, and they were spoken of vaguely as 'on the +Continent.' There was, in fact, a lack of ready-money, perhaps from the +accumulation of settlements, that reduced the nominal income of the head +to a tithe of what it should have been. + +Yet they were too proud to have in the modern builder, the modern +upholsterer, and, most dreadful of all, the modern 'gardener,' to put in +French sashes, gilding and mirrors, and to root up the fine old yew +hedges and level the grand old trees. Such is the usual preparation +before an advertisement appears that a mansion of 'historic +association,' and 'replete with every modern convenience,' is to let, +with some thousand of acres of shooting, &c. + +They still kept up an establishment of servants--after a fashion--who +did much as they pleased. Dickon was a great favourite. As for myself, a +mere dreamy lad, I could go into the woods and wander as I liked, which +was sufficient. But I recollect the immense kitchen very well, and the +polished relics of the ancient turnspit machinery. There was a door from +it opening on a square stone-flagged court with a vertical sun-dial on +the wall; and beyond that ranges of disused coach-houses--all cloudy, as +it were, with cobwebs hanging on old-fashioned post-chaises. Dickon was +in love with one of the maids, a remarkably handsome girl. + +She showed me the famous mantelpiece, a vast carved work, under which +you could stand upright. The legend was that once a year on a certain +night a sable horse and cloaked horseman rode across that great +apartment, flames snorting from the horse's nostrils, and into the +fireplace, disappearing with a clap of thunder. She brought me, too, an +owl from the coach-houses, holding the bird by the legs firmly, her hand +defended by her apron from the claws. + +The butler was a little merry fellow, extremely fond of a gun, and +expert in using it. He seemed to have nothing to do but tell tales and +sing, except at the rare intervals when some of the family returned +unexpectedly. The keeper was always up there in the kitchen; he was as +pleasant and jovial as a man could well be, though full of oaths on +occasion. He was a man of one tale--of a somewhat enigmatical character. +He would ask a stranger if they had ever heard of such-and-such a +village where water set fire to a barn, ducks were drowned, and pigs cut +their own throats, all in a single day. + +It seemed that some lime had been stored in the barn, when the brook +rose and flooded the place; this slaked the lime and fired the straw, +and so the barn. Something of the same kind happens occasionally on the +river barges. The ducks were in a coop fastened down, so that they could +not swim on the surface of the flood, which passed over and drowned +them. The pigs were floated out of the sty, and in swimming their +sharp-edged hoofs struck their fat jowls just behind the ear at every +stroke till they cut into the artery, and so bled to death. Where he got +this history from I do not know. + +One bright October morning (towards the end of the month) Dickon drove +me over to the old place with his fast trotter--our double-barrels +hidden under some sacks in the trap. The keeper was already waiting in +the kitchen, sipping a glass of hot purl; the butler was filling every +pocket with cartridges. After some comparison of their betting-books, +for Dickon, on account of his acquaintance with the training +establishments, was up to most moves, we started. The keeper had to send +a certain number of pheasants and other game to the absent family and +their friends every now and then, and this duty was his pretext. There +was plenty of shooting to be got elsewhere, but the spice of naughtiness +about this was alluring. To reach that part of the wood where it was +proposed to shoot the shortest way led across some arable fields. + +Fieldfares and redwings rose out of the hedges and flew away in their +peculiarly scattered manner--their flocks, though proceeding in the same +direction, seeming all loose and disordered. Where the ploughs had been +at work already the deep furrows were full of elm leaves, wafted as they +fell from the trees in such quantities as to make the groove left by the +share level with the ridges. A flock of lapwings were on the clods in an +adjacent field, near enough to be seen, but far beyond gunshot. There +might perhaps have been fifty birds, all facing one way and all +perfectly motionless. They were, in fact, watching us intently, although +not apparently looking towards us: they act so much in concert as to +seem drilled. So soon as the possibility of danger had gone by each +would begin to feed, moving ahead. + +The path then passed through the little meadows that joined the wood: +and the sunlight glistened on the dew, or rather on the hoar frost that +had melted and clung in heavy drops to the grass. Here one flashed +emerald; there ruby; another a pure brilliance like a diamond. Under +foot by the stiles the fallen acorns crunched as they split into halves +beneath the sudden pressure. + +The leaves still left on the sycamores were marked with large black +spots: the horse-chestnuts were quite bare; and already the tips of the +branches carried the varnish-coloured sheaths of the buds that were to +appear the following spring. These stuck to the finger if touched, as if +they really had been varnished. Through the long months of winter they +would remain, till under April showers and sunshine the sheath fell back +and the green leaflets pushed up, the two forming together a rude cross +for a short time. + +The day was perfectly still, and the colours of the leaves still left +glowed in the sunbeams. Beneath, the dank bronzed fern that must soon +shrivel was wet, and hung with spiders' webs that like a slender netting +upheld the dew. The keeper swore a good deal about a certain gentleman +farmer whose lands adjoined the estate, but who held under a different +proprietor. Between these two there was a constant bickering--the tenant +angry about the damage done to his crops by the hares and rabbits, and +the keeper bitterly resenting the tenant's watch on his movements, and +warnings to his employer that all was not quite as it should be. + +The tenant had the right to shoot, and he was always about in the +turnips--a terrible thorn in the side of Dickon's friend. The tenant +roundly declared the keeper a rascal, and told his master so in written +communications. The keeper declared the tenant set gins by the wood, in +which the pheasants stepped and had their legs smashed. Then the tenant +charged the keeper with trespassing; the other retorted that he decoyed +the pheasants by leaving peas till they dropped out of the pods. In +short, their hatred was always showing itself in some act of guerrilla +warfare. As we approached the part of the woods fixed on, two of the +keeper's assistants, carrying thick sticks, stepped from behind a hedge, +and reported that they had kept a good watch, and the old fox (the +tenant) had not been seen that morning. So these fellows went round to +beat, and the guns were got ready. + +Sometimes you could hear the pheasants running before they reached the +low-cropped hawthorn hedge at the side of the plantation; sometimes they +came so quietly as to appear suddenly out from the ditch, having crept +through. Others came with a tremendous rush through the painted leaves, +rising just before the hedge; and now and then one flew screaming high +over the tops of the firs and ash-poles, his glossy neck glowing in the +sunlight and his long tail floating behind. These last pleased me most, +for when the shot struck the great bird going at that rate even death +could not at once arrest his progress. The impetus carried him yards, +gradually slanting downwards till he rolled in the green rush bunches. + +Then a hare slipped out and ran the gauntlet, and filled the hollow with +his cries when the shot broke his hindquarters, till the dog had him. +Jays came in couples, and green woodpeckers singly: the magpies +cunningly flew aside instead of straight ahead; they never could do +anything straightforward. A stoat peeped out, but went back directly +when a rabbit whose retreat had been cut off bolted over his most +insidious enemy. Every now and then Dickon's shot when he fired high cut +the twigs out of the ash by me. Then came the distant noise of the +beaters' sticks, and the pheasants, at last thoroughly disturbed, flew +out in twos and threes at a time. Now the firing grew fierce, and the +roll of the volleys ceaseless. It was impossible to jam the cartridges +fast enough in the breech. + +A subtle flavour of sulphur filled the mouth, and the lips became dry. +Sunshine and gleaming leaves and sky and grass seemed to all disappear +in the fever of the moment. The gun burned the hands, all blackened by +the powder; the metal got hotter and hotter; the sward was poached and +trampled and dotted with cases; shot hissed through the air and pattered +in showers on the opposite plantation; the eyes, bleared and bloodshot +with the smoke, could scarce see to point the tube. Pheasants fell, and +no one heeded; pheasants escaped, and none noticed it; pheasants were +but just winged and ran wounded into the distant hedges; pheasants were +blown out of all living shape and could hardly be gathered up. Not a +word spoken: a breathless haste to load and blaze; a storm of shot and +smoke and slaughter. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + +OBY AND HIS SYSTEM: THE MOUCHER'S CALENDAR + + +One dark night, as I was walking on a lonely road, I kicked against +something, and but just saved myself from a fall. It was an intoxicated +man lying at full length. As a rule, it is best to let such people +alone; but it occurred to me that the mail-cart was due; with two horses +harnessed tandem-fashion, and travelling at full speed, the mail would +probably go over him. So I seized the fellow by the collar and dragged +him out of the way. Then he sat up, and asked in a very threatening tone +who I was. I mentioned my name: he grunted, and fell back on the turf, +where I left him. + +The incident passed out of my mind, when one afternoon a labourer +called, asking for me in a mysterious manner, and refusing to +communicate his business to any one else. When admitted, he produced a +couple of cock pheasants from under his coat, the tail feathers much +crumpled, but otherwise in fine condition. These he placed on the table, +remarking, 'I ain't forgot as you drawed I out of the raud thuck night.' +I made him understand that such presents were too embarrassing; but he +seemed anxious to do 'summat,' so I asked him to find me a few ferns and +rare plants. + +This he did from time to time; and thus a species of acquaintanceship +grew up, and I learned all about him. He was always called 'Oby' (_i.e._ +Obadiah), and was the most determined poacher of a neighbouring +district--a notorious fighting man--hardened against shame, an +Ishmaelite openly contemning authority and yet not insensible to +kindness. I give his history in his own language--softening only the +pronunciation, that would otherwise be unintelligible. + +'I lives with my granny in Thorney-lane: it be outside the village. My +mother be married agen, you see, to the smith: her have got a cottage as +belongs to her. My brother have got a van and travels the country; and +sometimes I and my wife goes with him. I larned to set up a wire when I +went to plough when I were a boy, but never took to it regular till I +went a-navigating [navvying] and seed what a spree it were. + +'There ain't no such chaps for poaching as they navigators in all +England: I means where there be a railway a-making. I've knowed forty of +'em go out together on a Sunday, and every man had a dog, and some two; +and good dogs too--lots of 'em as you wouldn't buy for ten quid. They +used to spread out like, and sweep the fields as clean as the crownd of +your hat. Keepers weren't no good at all, and besides they never knowed +which place us was going to make for. One of the chaps gave I a puppy, +and he growed into the finest greyhound as you'd find in a day's walk. +The first time I was took up before the bench I had to go to gaol, +because the contractor had broke and the works was stopped, so that my +mates hadn't no money to pay the fine. + +'The dog was took away home to granny by my butty [comrade], but one of +the gentlemen as seed it in the court sent his groom over and got it off +the old woman for five pound. She thought if I hadn't the hound I should +give it up, and she come and paid me out of gaol. It was a wonder as I +didn't break her neck; only her was a good woman, you see, to I. But I +wouldn't have parted with that hound for a quart-full of sovereigns. +Many's a time I've seed his name--they changed his name, of course--in +the papers for winning coursing matches. But we let that gent as bought +him have it warm; we harried his pheasants and killed the most of 'em. + +'After that I came home, and took to it regular. It ain't no use unless +you do it regular. If a man goes out into the fields now and then +chance-like he don't get much, and is most sure to be caught--very +likely in the place of somebody else the keepers were waiting for and as +didn't come. I goes to work every day the same as the rest, only I +always take piece-work, which I can come to when I fancy, and stay as +late in the evening as suits me with a good excuse. As I knows +navigating, I do a main bit of draining and water-furrowing, and I gets +good wages all the year round, and never wants for a job. You see, I +knows more than the fellows as have never been at nothing but plough. + +'The reason I gets on so well poaching is because I'm always at work out +in the fields, except when I goes with the van. I watches everything as +goes on, and marks the hare's tracks and the rabbit buries, and the +double mounds and little copses as the pheasants wanders off to in the +autumn. I keeps a 'nation good look-out after the keeper and his men, +and sees their dodges--which way they walks, and how they comes back +sudden and unexpected on purpose. There's mostly one about with his eyes +on me--when they sees me working on a farm they puts a man special to +look after me. I never does nothing close round where I'm at work, so he +waits about a main bit for nothing. + +'You see by going out piece-work I visits every farm in the parish. The +other men they works for one farmer for two or three or maybe twenty +years; but I goes very nigh all round the place--a fortnight here and a +week there, and then a month somewhere else. So I knows every hare in +the parish, and all his runs and all the double mounds and copses, and +the little covers in the corners of the fields. When I be at work on one +place I sets my wires about half a mile away on a farm as I ain't been +working on for a month, and where the keeper don't keep no special +look-out now I be gone. As I goes all round, I knows the ways of all the +farmers, and them as bides out late at night at their friends', and they +as goes to bed early; and so I knows what paths to follow and what +fields I can walk about in and never meet nobody. + +'The dodge is always to be in the fields and to know everybody's ways. +Then you may do just as you be a-mind. All of 'em knows I be a-poaching; +but that don't make no difference for work; I can use my tools, and do +it as well as any man in the country, and they be glad to get me on for +'em. They farmers as have got their shooting be sharper than the +keepers, and you can't do much there; but they as haven't got the +shooting don't take no notice. They sees my wires in the grass, and just +looks the other way. If they sees I with a gun I puts un in ditch till +they be gone by, and they don't look among the nettles. + +'Some of them as got land by the wood would like I to be there all day +and night. You see, their clover and corn feeds the hares and pheasants; +and then some day when they goes into the market and passes the +poultry-shop there be four or five score pheasants a-hanging up with +their long tails a-sweeping in the faces of them as fed 'em. The same +with the hares and the rabbits; and so they'd just as soon as I had +'em--and a dalled deal sooner--out of spite. Lord bless you! if I was to +walk through their courtyards at night with a sack over my shoulders +full of you knows what, and met one of 'em, he'd tell his dog to stop +that yowling, and go in doors rather than see me. As for the rabbits, +they hates they worse than poison. They knocks a hare over now and then +themselves on the quiet--bless you! I could tell tales on a main few, +but I bean't such a fellow as that. + +'But, you see I don't run no risk except from the keeper hisself, the +men as helps un, and two or three lickspittles as be always messing +round after a ferreting job or some wood-cutting, and the Christmas +charities. It be enough to make a man sick to see they. This yer parish +be a very big un, and a be preserved very high, and I can do three times +as much in he as in the next un, as ain't much preserved. So I sticks to +this un. + +'Of course they tried to drive I out of un, and wanted the cottage; but +granny had all the receipts for the quit-rent, and my lard and all the +lawyers couldn't shove us out, and there we means to bide. You have seed +that row of oaks as grows in the hedge behind our house. One of 'em +leaned over the roof, and one of the limbs was like to fall; but they +wouldn't cut him, just to spite us, and the rain dripping spoilt the +thatch. So I just had another chimney built at that end for an oven, and +kept up the smoke till all the tree that side died. I've had more than +one pheasant through them oaks, as draws 'em: I had one in a gin as I +put in the ditch by my garden. + +'They started a tale as 'twas I as stole the lambs a year or two ago, +and they had me up for it; but they couldn't prove nothing agen me. Then +they had me for unhinging the gates and drowning 'em in the water, but +when they was going to try the case they two young farmers as you know +of come and said as they did it when they was tight, and so I got off. +They said as 'twas I that put the poison for the hounds when three on +'em took it and died while the hunt was on. It were the dalledest lie! I +wouldn't hurt a dog not for nothing. The keeper hisself put that poison, +I knows, 'cause he couldn't bear the pack coming to upset the pheasants. +Yes, they been down upon I a main bit, but I means to bide. All the +farmers knows as I never touched no lamb, nor even pulled a turmot, and +they never couldn't get no witnesses. + +'After a bit I catched the keeper hisself and the policeman at it; and +there be another as knows it, and who do you think that be? It be the +man in town as got the licence to sell game as haves most of my hares; +the keeper selled he a lot as the money never got to my lard's pocket +and the steward never knowed of. Look at that now! So now he shuts his +eye and axes me to drink, and give me the ferreting job in Longlands +Mound; but, Lord bless 'ee, I bean't so soft as he thinks for. + +'They used to try and get me to fight the keeper when they did catch me +with a wire, but I knowed as hitting is transporting, and just put my +hands in my pockets and let 'em do as they liked. _They_ knows I bean't +afraid of 'em in the road; I've threshed more than one of 'em, but I +ain't going to jump into _that_ trap. I've been before the bench, at one +place and t'other, heaps of times, and paid the fine for trespass. Last +time the chairman said to I, "So you be here again, Oby; we hear a good +deal about you." I says, "Yes, my lard, I be here agen, but people never +don't hear nothing about _you_." That shut the old duffer up. Nobody +never heard nothing of he, except at rent-audit. + +'However, they all knows me now--my lard and the steward, and the keeper +and the bailies, and the farmers; and they don't take half the notice of +I as they used to. The keeper he don't dare, nor the policeman as I +telled you, and the rest be got used to me and my ways. And I does very +well one week with t'other. One week I don't take nothing, and the next +I haves a good haul, chiefly hares and rabbits; 'cause of course I never +goes into the wood, nor the plantations. It wants eight or ten with +crape masks on for that job. + +'I sets up about four wires, sometimes only two; if you haves so many it +is a job to look after 'em. I stops the hare's other runs, so that she +is sure to come along mine where I've got the turnpike up: the trick is +to rub your hand along the runs as you want to stop, or spit on 'em, or +summat like that; for a hare won't pass nothing of that sort. So pussy +goes back and comes by the run as I've chose: if she comes quick she +don't holler; if she comes slow she squeals a bit sometimes before the +wire hangs her. Very often I bean't fur off and stops the squealing. +That's why I can't use a gin--it makes 'em holler so. I ferrets a +goodish few rabbits on bright nights in winter. + +'As for the pheasants, I gets them mostly about acorn-time; they comes +out of the plantations then. I keeps clear of the plantations, because, +besides the men a-watching, they have got dogs chained up, and +alarm-guns as goes off if you steps on the spring; and some have got a +string stretched along as you be pretty sure to kick against, and then, +bang! and all the dogs sets up a yowling. Of course it's only powder, +but it brings the keepers along. But when the acorns and the berries be +ripe, the pheasants comes out along the hedges after 'em, and gets up at +the haws and such like. They wanders for miles, and as they don't care +to go all the way back to roost they bides in the little copses as I +told you of. They come to the same copses every year, which is curious, +as most of them as will come this year will be shot before next. + +'If I can't get 'em the fust night, I just throws a handful or two of +peas about the place, and they'll be sure to stay, and likely enough +bring two or three more. I mostly shoots 'em with just a little puff of +powder as you wouldn't hear across one field, especially if it's a windy +night. I had a air-gun, as was took from me, but he weren't much go: I +likes a gun as throws the shot wide, but I never shoots any but +roosters, unless I catch 'em standing still. + +'All as I can tell you is as the dodge is this: you watch everybody, and +be always in the fields, and always work one parish till you knows every +hare in un, and always work by yourself and don't have no mates.' + +There were several other curious characters whom we frequently saw at +work. The mouchers were about all the year round, and seemed to live in, +or by the hedges, as much as the mice. These men probably see more than +the most careful observer, without giving it a thought. + +In January the ice that freezes in the ditches appears of a dark colour, +because it lies without intervening water on the dead brown leaves. +Their tint shows through the translucent crystal, but near the edge of +the ice three white lines or bands run round. If by any chance the ice +gets broken or upturned, these white bands are seen to be caused by +flanges projecting from the under surface, almost like stands. They are +sometimes connected in such a way that the parallel flanges appear like +the letter 'h' with the two down-strokes much prolonged. In the morning +the chalky rubble brought from the pits upon the Downs and used for +mending gateways leading into the fields glistens brightly. Upon the +surface of each piece of rubble there adheres a thin coating of ice: if +this be lightly struck it falls off, and with it a flake of the chalk. +As it melts, too, the chalk splits and crumbles; and thus in an ordinary +gateway the same process may be seen that disintegrates the most +majestic cliff. + +The stubbles--those that still remain--are full of linnets, upon which +the mouching fowler preys in the late autumn. And when at the end of +January the occasional sunbeams give some faint hope of spring, he +wanders through the lanes carrying a decoy bird in a darkened cage, and +a few boughs of privet studded with black berries and bound round with +rushes for the convenience of handling. + +The female yellow-hammers, whose hues are not so brilliant as those of +the male birds, seem as winter approaches to flock together, and roam +the hedges and stubble fields in bevies. Where loads of corn have passed +through gates the bushes often catch some straws, and the tops of the +gateposts, being decayed and ragged, hold others. These are neglected +while the seeds among the stubble, the charlock, and the autumn +dandelion are plentiful and while the ears left by the gleaners may +still be found. But in the shadowless winter days, hard and cold, each +scattered straw is sought for. + +A few days before the new year [1879] opened I saw a yellow-hammer +attacking, in a very ingenious manner, a straw that hung pendent, the +ear downwards, from the post of a windy gateway. She fluttered up from +the ground, clung to the ear, and outspread her wings, keeping them +rigid. The draught acted on the wings, just as the breeze does on a +paper kite, and there the bird remained supported without an effort +while the ear was picked. Now and then the balance was lost, but she was +soon up again, and again used the wind to maintain her position. The +brilliant cockbirds return in the early spring, or at least appear to do +so, for the habits of birds are sometimes quite local. + +It is probable that in severe and continued frost many hedgehogs die. On +January 19 [1879], in the midst of the sharp weather, a hedgehog came to +the door opening on the garden at night, and was taken in. Though +carefully tended, the poor creature died next day: it was so weak it +could scarcely roll itself into a ball. As the vital heat declined the +fleas deserted their host and issued from among the spines. In February, +unless it be a mild season, the mounds are still bare; and then under +the bushes the ground may be sometimes seen strewn with bulbous roots, +apparently of the blue-bell, lying thickly together and entirely +exposed. + +The moucher now carries a bill-hook, and as he shambles along the road +keeps a sharp look-out for briars. When he sees one the roots of which +are not difficult to get at, and whose tall upright stem is green--if +dark it is too old--he hacks it off with as much of the root as +possible. The lesser branches are cut, and the stem generally trimmed; +it is then sold to the gardeners as the stock on which to graft standard +roses. In a few hours as he travels he will get together quite a bundle +of such briars. He also collects moss, which is sold for the purpose of +placing in flowerpots to hide the earth. The moss preferred is that +growing on and round stoles. + +The melting of the snow and the rains in February cause the ditches to +overflow and form shallow pools in the level meadows. Into these +sometimes the rooks wade as far as the length of their legs allows them, +till the discoloured yellow water almost touches the lower part of the +breast. The moucher searches for small shell snails, of which quantities +are sold as food for cage birds, and cuts small 'turfs' a few inches +square from the green by the roadside. These are in great request for +larks, especially at this time of the year, when they begin to sing with +all their might. + +Large flocks of woodpigeons are now in every field where the tender +swede and turnip tops are sprouting green and succulent. These 'tops' +are the moucher's first great crop of the year. The time that they +appear varies with the weather: in a mild winter some may be found early +in January; if the frost has been severe there may be none till March. +These the moucher gathers by stealth; he speedily fills a sack, and goes +off with it to the nearest town. Turnip tops are much more in demand now +than formerly, and the stealing of them a more serious matter. This +trade lasts some time, till the tops become too large and garden greens +take their place. + +In going to and fro the fields the moucher searches the banks and digs +out primrose 'mars,' and ferns with the root attached, which he hawks +from door to door in the town. He also gathers quantities of spring +flowers, as violets. This spring [1879], owing to the severity of the +season, there were practically none to gather, and when the weather +moderated the garden flowers preceded those of the hedge. Till the 10th +of March not a spot of colour was to be seen. About that time bright +yellow flowers appeared suddenly on the clayey banks and waste places, +and among the hard clay lumps of fields ploughed but not sown. + +The brilliant yellow formed a striking contrast to the dull brown of the +clods, there being no green leaf to moderate the extremes of tint. These +were the blossoms of the coltsfoot, that sends up a stalk surrounded +with faintly rosy scales. Several such stalks often spring from a single +clod: lift the heavy clod, and you have half a dozen flowers, a whole +bunch, without a single leaf. Usually the young grasses and the +seed-leaves of plants have risen up and supply a general green; but this +year the coltsfoot bloomed unsupported, studding the dark ground with +gold. + +Now the frogs are busy, and the land lizards come forth. Even these the +moucher sometimes captures; for there is nothing so strange but that +some one selects it for a pet. The mad March hares scamper about in +broad daylight over the corn, whose pale green blades rise in straight +lines a few inches above the soil. They are chasing their skittish +loves, instead of soberly dreaming the day away in a bunch of grass. The +ploughman walks in the furrow his share has made, and presently stops to +measure the 'lands' with the spud. His horses halt dead in the tenth of +a second at the sound of his voice, glad to rest for a minute from their +toil. Work there is in plenty now, for stone-picking, hoeing, and other +matters must be attended to; but the moucher lounges in the road +decoying chaffinches, or perhaps earns a shilling by driving some +dealer's cattle home from fair and market. + +By April his second great crop is ready--the watercress; the precise +time of course varies very much, and at first the quantities are small. +The hedges are now fast putting on the robe of green that gradually +hides the wreck of last year's growth. The withered head of the teazle, +black from the rain, falls and disappears. Great burdock stems lie +prostrate. Thick and hard as they are while the sap is still in them, in +winter the wet ground rots the lower part till the blast overthrows the +stalk. The hollow 'gicks' too, that lately stood almost to the shoulder, +is down, or slanting, temporarily supported by some branch. Just +between the root and the stalk it has decayed till nothing but a narrow +strip connects the dry upper part with the earth. The moucher sells the +nests and eggs of small birds to townsfolk who cannot themselves wander +among the fields, but who love to see something that reminds them of the +green meadows. + +As the season advances and the summer comes he gathers vast quantities +of dandelion leaves, parsley, sowthistle, clover, and so forth, as food +for the tame rabbits kept in towns. If his haunt be not far from a +river, he spends hours collecting bait--worm and grub and fly--for the +boatmen, who sell them again to the anglers. + +Again there is work in the meadows--the haymaking is about, and the +farmers are anxious for men. But the moucher passes by and looks for +quaking grass, bunches of which have a ready sale. Fledgeling +goldfinches and linnets, young rabbits, young squirrels, even the nest +of the harvest-trow mouse, and occasionally a snake, bring him in a +little money. He picks the forget-me-nots from the streams and the +'blue-bottle' from the corn: bunches of the latter are sometimes sold in +London at a price that seems extravagant to those who have seen whole +fields tinted with its beautiful azure. By-and-by the golden wheat calls +for an army of workers; but the moucher passes on and gathers groundsel. + +Then come the mushrooms: he knows the best places, and soon fills a +basket full of 'buttons' picking them very early in the morning. These +are then put in 'punnets' by the greengrocers and retailed at a high +price. Later the blackberries ripen and form his third great crop; the +quantity he brings in to the town is astonishing, and still there is +always a customer. The blackberry harvest lasts for several weeks, as +the berries do not all ripen at once, but successively, and is +supplemented by elderberries and sloes. The moucher sometimes sleeps on +the heaps of disused tan in a tanyard; tanyards are generally on the +banks of small rivers. The tan is said to possess the property of +preserving those who sleep on it from chills and cold, though they may +lie quite exposed to the weather. + +There is generally at least one such a man as this about the outskirts +of market towns, and he is an 'original' best defined by negatives. He +is not a tramp, for he never enters the casual wards and never +begs--that is, of strangers; though there are certain farmhouses where +he calls once now and then and gets a slice of bread and cheese and a +pint of ale. He brings to the farmhouse a duck's egg that has been +dropped in the brook by some negligent bird, or carries intelligence of +the nest made by some roaming goose in a distant withy-bed. Or once, +perhaps, he found a sheep on its back in a narrow furrow, unable to get +up and likely to die if not assisted, and by helping the animal to gain +its legs earned a title to the owner's gratitude. + +He is not a thief; apples and plums and so on are quite safe, though the +turnip-tops are not: there is a subtle casuistry involved here--the +distinction between the quasi-wild and the garden product. He is not a +poacher in the sense of entering coverts, or even snaring a rabbit. If +the pheasants are so numerous and so tame that passing carters have to +whip them out of the way of the horses, it is hardly wonderful if one +should disappear now and then. Nor is he like the Running Jack that used +to accompany the more famous packs of fox-hounds, opening gates, holding +horses, and a hundred other little services, and who kept up with the +hunt by sheer fleetness of foot. + +Yet he is fleet of foot in his way, though never seen to run; he _pads_ +along on naked feet like an animal, never straightening the leg, but +always keeping the knee a little bent. With a basket of watercress slung +at his back by a piece of tar-cord, he travels rapidly in this way; his +feet go 'pad, pad' on the thick white dust, and he easily overtakes a +good walker and keeps up the pace for miles without exertion. The +watercress is a great staple, because it lasts for so many months. +Seeing the nimble way in which he gathers it, thrusting aside the +brook-lime, breaking off the coarser sprays, snipping away pieces of +root, sorting and washing, and thinking of the amount of work to be got +through before a shilling is earned, one would imagine that the slow, +idling life of the labourer, with his regular wages, would be far more +enticing. + +Near the stream the ground is perhaps peaty: little black pools appear +between tufts of grass, some of them streaked with a reddish or +yellowish slime that glistens on the surface of the dark water; and as +you step there is a hissing sound as the spongy earth yields, and a tiny +spout is forced forth several yards distant. Some of the drier part of +the soil the moucher takes to sell for use in gardens and flower-pots as +peat. + +The years roll on, and he grows old. But no feebleness of body or mind +can induce him to enter the workhouse; he cannot quit his old haunts. +Let it rain or sleet, or let the furious gale drive broken boughs across +the road, he still sleeps in some shed or under a straw-rick. In sheer +pity he is committed every now and then to prison for vagabondage--not +for punishment, but in order to save him from himself. It is in vain: +the moment he is out he returns to his habits. All he wants is a little +beer--he is not a drunkard--and a little tobacco, and the hedges. Some +chilly evening, as the shadows thicken, he shambles out of the town, and +seeks the limekiln in the ploughed field, where, the substratum being +limestone, the farmer burns it. Near the top of the kiln the ground is +warm; there he reclines and sleeps. + +The night goes on. Out from the broken blocks of stone now and again +there rises a lambent flame, to shine like a meteor for a moment and +then disappear. The rain falls. The moucher moves uneasily in his sleep; +instinctively he rolls or crawls towards the warmth, and presently lies +extended on the top of the kiln. The wings of the water-fowl hurtle in +the air as they go over; by-and-by the heron utters his loud call. + +Very early in the morning the quarryman comes to tend his fire, and +starts to see on the now redhot and glowing stones, sunk below the rim, +the presentment of a skeleton formed of the purest white ashes--a +ghastly spectacle in the grey of the dawn, as the mist rises and the +peewit plaintively whistles over the marshy meadow. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + +CHURCHYARD PHEASANTS: BEFORE THE BENCH + + +The tower of the church at Essant Hill was so low that it scarcely +seemed to rise above the maples in the hedges. It could not be seen +until the last stile in the footpath across the meadows was passed. +Church and tower then came into view together on the opposite side of a +large open field. A few aged hawthorn trees dotted the sward, and beyond +the church the outskirts of a wood were visible, but no dwellings could +be seen. Upon a second and more careful glance, however, the chimney of +a cottage appeared above a hedge, so covered with ivy as hardly to be +separated from the green of the boughs. + +There were houses of course somewhere in Essant, but they were so +scattered that a stranger might doubt the existence of the village. A +few farmsteads long distances apart, and some cottages standing in green +lanes and at the corners of the fields, were nearly all; there was +nothing resembling a 'street'--not so much as a row. The church was in +effect the village, and the church was simply the mausoleum of the +Dessant family, the owners of the place. Essant Hill as a name had been +rather a problem to the archaeologists, there being no hill: the ground +was quite level. The explanation at last admitted was that Essant Hill +was a corruption of D'Essantville. + +It seemed probable that the population had greatly diminished; because, +although the church was of great antiquity, there was space still for +interments in the yard. A yew tree of immense size stood in one corner, +and was by tradition associated with the fortunes of the family. Though +the old trunk was much decayed, yet there were still green and +flourishing shoots; so that the superstitious elders said the luck of +the house was returning. + +Within, the walls of the church were covered with marble slabs, and the +space was reduced by the tombs of the Dessants, one with a recumbent +figure; there were two brasses level with the pavement, and in the +chancel hung the faded hatchments of the dead. For the pedigree went +back to the Battle of Hastings, and there was scarce room for more +heraldry. From week's end to week's end the silent nave and aisles +remained empty; the chirp of the sparrows was the only sound to be heard +there. There being no house attached to the living, the holder could not +reside; so the old church slumbered in the midst of the meadows, the +hedges, and woods, day after day, year after year. + +You could sit on the low churchyard wall in early summer under the shade +of the elms in the hedge, whose bushes and briars came right over, and +listen to the whistling of the blackbirds or the varied note of the +thrush; you might see the whitethroat rise and sing just over the hedge, +or look upwards and watch the swallows and swifts wheeling, wheeling, +wheeling in the sky. No one would pass to disturb your meditations, +whether simply dreaming of nothing in the genial summer warmth, or +thinking over the course of history since the prows of the Norman ships +grounded on the beach. If we suppose the time, instead of June, to be +August or September, there would not even be the singing of the birds. +But as you sat on the wall, by-and-by the pheasants, tame as chickens, +would come up the hedge and over into the churchyard. + +Leaving the church to stroll by the footpath across the meadow towards +the wood, at the first gateway half-a-dozen more pheasants scatter +aside, just far enough to let you pass. In the short dusty lane more +pheasants; and again at the edge of the cornfield. None of these show +any signs of alarm, and only move just far enough to avoid being trodden +on. Approaching the wood there are yet more pheasants, especially near +the fir plantations that come up to the keeper's cottage and form one +side of the enclosure of his garden. The pheasants come up to the door +to pick up what they can--not long since they were fed there--and then +wander away between the slender fir trunks, and beyond them out into the +fields. + +The path leads presently into a beautiful park, the only defect of which +is that it is without undulation. It is quite level; but still the +clumps of noble timber are pleasant to gaze upon. In one spot there +still stands the grey wall and buttress of some ancient building, +doubtless the relic of an ecclesiastical foundation. The present mansion +is not far distant; it is of large size, but lacks elegance. Inside, +nothing that modern skill can supply to render a residence comfortable, +convenient, and (as art is understood in furniture) artistic has been +neglected. + +Behind the fir plantations there is an extensive range of stabling, +recently erected, with all the latest improvements. A telegraph wire +connects the house with the stable, so that carriage or horse may be +instantly summoned. Another wire has been carried to the nearest +junction with the general telegraphic system; so that the resident in +this retired spot may communicate his wishes without a moment's delay to +any part of the world. + +In the gardens and pleasure-grounds near the house all manner of +ornamental shrubs are planted. There are conservatories, vineries, +pineries; all the refinements of horticulture. The pheasants stray about +the gravel walks and across the close-mown lawn where no daisy dares to +lift its head. Yet, with all this precision of luxury, one thing is +lacking--_the_ one thing, the keystone of English country life--_i.e._ a +master whose heart is in the land. + +The estate is in process of 'nursing' for a minor. The revenues had +become practically sequestrated to a considerable extent in consequence +of careless living when the minor nominally succeeded. It happened that +the steward appointed was not only a lawyer of keen intelligence, but a +conscientious man. He did his duty thoroughly. Every penny was got out +of the estate that could be got, and every penny was saved. + +First, the rents were raised to the modern standard, many of them not +having been increased for years. Then the tenants were in effect ordered +to farm to the highest pitch, and to improve the soil itself by liberal +investment. Buildings, drains, and so forth were provided for them; they +only had to pay a small percentage upon the money expended in +construction. In this there was nothing that could be complained of; but +the hard, mechanical, unbending spirit in which it was done--the absence +of all kind of sympathy--caused a certain amount of discontent. The +steward next proceeded to turn the mansion, the park, home farm, and +preserves into revenue. + +Everything was prepared to attract the wealthy man who wanted the +temporary use of a good country house, first-class shooting and hunting. +He succeeded in doing what few gentlemen have accomplished: he made the +pheasants pay. One reason, of course, was that gentlemen have expenses +outside and beyond breeding and keeping: the shooting party itself is +expensive; whereas here the shooting party paid hard cash for their +amusement. The steward had no knowledge of pheasants; but he had a wide +experience of one side of human nature, and he understood accounts. + +The keepers were checked by figures at every turn, finding it impossible +to elude the businesslike arrangements that were made. In revenue the +result was highly successful. The mansion with the first-class shooting, +hunting, and lovely woodlands--every modern convenience and comfort in +the midst of the most rural scenery--let at a high price to good +tenants. There was an income from what had previously been profitless. +Under this shrewd management the estate was fast recovering. + +At the same time the whole parish groaned in spirit. The farmers +grumbled at the moral pressure which forced them to progress in spite of +themselves. They grumbled at the strange people who took up their +residence in their midst and suddenly claimed all the loyalty which was +the due of the old family. These people hunted over their fields, jumped +over the hedges, glanced at them superciliously, and seemed astonished +if every hat was not raised when they came in sight. The farmers felt +that they were regarded as ignorant barbarians, and resented the +town-bred insolence of people who aped the country gentleman. + +They grumbled about the over-preservation of game, and they grumbled +about the rabbits. The hunt had its grumble too because some of the +finest coverts were closed to the hounds, and because they wanted to +know what became of the foxes that formerly lived in those coverts. Here +was a beautiful place--a place that one might dream life away in--filled +with all manner of discontent. + +Everything was done with the best intention. But the keystone was +wanting--the landlord, the master, who had grown up in the traditions of +the spot, and between whom and the people there would have been, even +despite of grievances, a certain amount of sympathy. So true is it that +in England, under the existing system of land tenure, an estate cannot +be worked like the machinery of a factory. + +At first, when the pheasant-preserving began to reach such a height, +there was a great deal of poaching by the resident labourers. The +temptation was thrust so closely before their faces they could not +resist it. When pheasants came wandering into the cottage gardens, and +could even be enticed into the sheds and so secured by simply shutting +the door, men who would not have gone out of their way to poach were led +to commit themselves. + +There followed a succession of prosecutions and fines, till the place +began to get a reputation for that sort of thing. It was at last +intimated to the steward by certain gentlemen that this course of +prosecution was extremely injudicious. For it is a fact--a fact +carefully ignored sometimes--that resident gentlemen object to +prosecutions, and, so far from being anxious to fine or imprison +poachers, would very much rather not. The steward took the hint, and +instead increased his watchers. But by this time the novelty of +pheasants roaming about like fowls had begun to wear off, and their +services were hardly needed. Men went by pheasants with as much +indifference as they would pass a tame duck by the roadside. + +Such poachers as visited the woods came from a distance. Two determined +raids were carried out by strangers, who escaped. Every now and then +wires were found that had been abandoned, but the poaching ceased to be +more than is usual on most properties. So far as the inhabitants of the +parish were concerned it almost ceased altogether; but every now and +then the strollers, gipsies, and similar characters carried off a +pheasant or a hare, or half a dozen rabbits. These offenders when +detected were usually charged before the Bench at a market town not many +miles distant. Let us follow one there. + +The little town of L----, which has not even a branch railway, mainly +consists of a long street. In one part this street widens out, so that +the houses are some forty yards or more apart, and it then again +contracts. This irregularly shaped opening is the market-place, and here +in the centre stands a rude-looking building. It is supported upon thick +short pillars, and was perhaps preceded by a wooden structure. Under +these pillars there is usually a shabby chaise or two run in for cover, +and the spot is the general rendezvous of all the dogs in the town. + +This morning there are a few loafers hanging round the place; and the +tame town pigeons have fluttered down, and walk with nodding heads +almost up to them. These pigeons always come to the edge of a group of +people, mindful of the stray grain and peas that fall from the hands of +farmers and dealers examining samples on market days. Presently, two +constables come across carrying a heavy, clumsy box between them. They +unlock a door, and take the box upstairs into the hall over the pillars. +After them saunters a seedy man, evidently a clerk, with a rusty black +bag; and after him again--for the magistrates' Clerk's clerk must have +_his_ clerk--a boy with some leather-bound books. + +Some of the loafers touch their hats as a gentleman--a magistrate--rides +up the street. But although the church clock is striking the hour fixed +for the sessions to begin he does not come over to the hall upon +dismounting in the inn-yard, but quietly strolls away to transact some +business with the wine-merchant or the saddler. There really is not the +least hurry. The Clerk stands in the inn porch calmly enjoying the +September sunshine, and chatting with the landlord. Two or three more +magistrates drive up; presently the chairman strolls over on foot from +his house, which is almost in the town, to the inn, and joins in the +pleasant gossip going on there, of course in a private apartment. + +Up in the justice-room the seedy Clerk's clerk is leaning out of the +window and conversing with a man below who has come along with a +barrow-load of vegetables from his allotment. Some boys are spinning +tops under the pillars. On the stone steps that lead up to the hall a +young mother sits nursing her infant; she is waiting to 'swear' the +child. In the room itself several gipsy-looking men and women lounge in +a corner. At one end is a broad table and some comfortable chairs behind +it. In front of each chair, on the table, two sheets of clean foolscap +have been placed on a sheet of blotting-paper. These and a variety of +printed forms were taken from the clumsy box that is now open. + +At last there is a slight stir as a group is seen to emerge from the +inn, and the magistrates take their seats. An elderly man who sits by +the chair cocks his felt hat on the back of his head: the clerical +magistrate very tenderly places his beaver in safety on the broad +mantelpiece, that no irreverent sleeve may ruffle its gloss: several +others who rarely do more than nod assent range themselves on the +flanks; one younger man who looks as if he understood horses pulls out +his toothpick. The chairman, stout and gouty, seizes a quill and sternly +looks over the list of cases. + +Half a dozen summonses for non-payment of rates come first; then a +dispute between a farmer and his man. After this the young mother +'swears' her child; and, indeed, there is some very hard swearing here +on both sides. A wrangle between two women--neighbours--who accuse each +other of assault, and scream and chatter their loudest, comes next. +Before they decide it, the Bench retire, and are absent a long time. + +By degrees a buzz arises, till the justice-room is as noisy as a market. +Suddenly the door of the private room opens, and the Clerk comes out; +instantly the buzz subsides, and in the silence those who are nearest +catch something about the odds and the St. Leger, and an anything but +magisterial roar of laughter. The chairman appears, rigidly compressing +his features, and begins to deliver his sentence before he can sit down, +but the solemn effect is much marred by the passing of a steam ploughing +engine. The audience, too, tend away towards the windows to see whose +engine it is. + +'Silence!' cries the Clerk, who has himself been looking out of window; +the shuffling of feet ceases, and it is found that after this long +consultation the Bench have dismissed both charges. The next case on the +list is poaching; and at the call of his name one of the gipsy-looking +men advances, and is ordered to stand before that part of the table +which by consent represents the bar. + +'Oby Bottleton,' says the Clerk, half reading, half extemporizing, and +shuffling his papers to conceal certain slips of technicality; 'you are +charged with trespassing in pursuit of game at Essant Hill--that you did +use a wire on the estate--on land in the occupation of Johnson.'--'It's +a lie!' cries a good-looking, dark-complexioned woman, who has come up +behind the defendant (the whilome navvy), and carries a child so wrapped +in a shawl as to be invisible. 'Silence! or you'll have to go outside +the court. Mr. Dalton Dessant will leave the Bench during the hearing of +this case.' Mr. Dalton Dessant, one of the silent magistrates already +alluded to, bows to the chairman, and wriggles his chair back about two +feet from the table. There he gazes at the ceiling. He is one of the +trustees of the Essant Hill property; and the Bench are very careful to +consult public opinion in L---- borough. + +The first witness is an assistant keeper: the head keeper stands behind +him--a fine man, still upright and hearty-looking, but evidently at the +beginning of the vale of years; he holds his hat in his hand; the +sunlight falls through the casement on his worn velveteen jacket. The +assistant, with the aid of a few questions from the Clerk, gives his +evidence very clear and fairly. 'I saw the defendant's van go down the +lane,' he says: + +'It bean't my van,' interrupts the defendant; 'it's my brother's.' + +'You'll have an opportunity of speaking presently,' says the Clerk. 'Go +on' (to the witness). + +'After the van went down the lane, it stopped by the highway-road, and +the horse was taken out. The women left the van with baskets, and went +towards the village.' + +'Yes, yes; come to the point. Did you hide yourself by order of the head +keeper?' + +'I did--in the nutwood hedge by Three Corner Piece; after a bit I saw +the defendant.' + +'Had you any reason for watching there?' + +'There was a wire and a rabbit in it.' + +'Well, what happened?' + +'I waited a long time, and presently the defendant got over the gate. He +was very particular not to step on the soft mud by the gate--he kind of +leaped over it, not to leave the mark of his boots. He had a lurcher +with him, and I was afraid the dog would scent me in the hedge.' + +'You rascal!' (from the defendant's wife). + +'But he didn't, and, after looking carefully round, the defendant picked +up the rabbit, and put it and the wire in his pocket.' + +'What did you do then?' + +'I got out of the hedge and came towards him. Directly he saw me he ran +across the field; I whistled as loud as I could, and he' (jerking a +thumb back towards the head keeper) 'came out of the firs into the lane +and stopped him. We found the wire and the rabbit in his pocket, and two +more wires. I produce the wires.' + +This was the sum of the evidence; the head keeper simply confirmed the +latter part of it. Oby replied that it was all false from beginning to +end. He had not got corduroy trousers on that day, as stated. He was not +there at all: he was in the village, and he could call witnesses to +prove it. The Clerk reminded the audience that there was such a thing as +imprisonment for perjury. + +Then the defendant turned savagely on the first witness, and admitted +the truth of his statement by asking what he said when collared in the +lane. 'You said you had had a good lot lately, and didn't care if you +was nailed this time.' + +'Oh, what awful lies!' cried the wife. 'It's a wonder you don't fall +dead!' + +'You were not there,' the Clerk remarked quietly. 'Now, Oby, what is +your defence? Have you got any witnesses?' + +'No; I ain't got no witnesses. All as I did, I know I walked up the +hedge to look for mushrooms. I saw one of them things'--meaning the +wires on the table--'and I just stooped down to see what it was, 'cos I +didn't know. I never seed one afore; and I was just going to pick it up +and look at it' (the magistrates glance at each other, and cannot +suppress a smile at this profound innocence), 'when this fellow jumped +out and frightened me. I never seed no rabbit.' + +'Why, you put the rabbit in your pocket,' interrupts the first witness. + +'Never mind,' said the Clerk to the witness; 'let him go on.' + +'That's all as I got to say,' continues the defendant. 'I never seed no +such things afore; and if he hadn't come I should have put it down +again.' + +'But you were trespassing,' said the Clerk. + +'I didn't know it. There wasn't no notice-board.' + +'Now, Oby,' cried the head keeper, 'you know you've been along that lane +this ten years.' + +'That will do' (from the chairman); 'is there any more evidence?' + +As none was forthcoming, the Bench turned a little aside and spoke in +low tones. The defendant's wife immediately set up a sobbing, varied +occasionally by a shriek; the infant woke up and cried, and two or three +women of the same party behind began to talk in excited tones about +'Shame.' The sentence was 2_l_. and costs--an announcement that caused a +perfect storm of howling and crying. + +The defendant put his hands in his pockets with the complacent +expression of a martyr. 'I must go to gaol a' spose; none of ourn ever +went thur afore: a' spose _I_ must go.' 'Come,' said the Clerk, 'why, +you or your brother bought a piece of land and a cottage not long +ago,'--then to the Bench, 'They're not real gipsies: he is a grandson of +old Bottleton who had the tollgate; you recollect, Sir.' + +But the defendant declares he has no money; his friends shake their +heads gloomily; and amid the shrieking of his wife and the crying of the +child he is removed in the custody of two constables, to be presently +conveyed to gaol. With ferocious glances at the Bench, as if they would +like to tear the chairman's eyes out, the women leave the court. + +'Next case,' calls the Clerk. The court sits about two hours longer, +having taken some five hours to get through six cases. Just as the +chairman rises the poacher's wife returns to the table, without her +child, angrily pulls out a dirty canvas bag, and throws down three or +four sovereigns before the seedy Clerk's clerk. The canvas bag is +evidently half-full of money--the gleam of silver and gold is visible +within it. The Bench stay to note this proceeding with an amused +expression on their features. The woman looks at them as bold as brass, +and stalks off with her man. + +Half an hour afterwards, two of the magistrates riding away from the +town pass a small tavern on the outskirts. A travelling van is outside, +and from the chimney on its roof thin smoke arises. There is a little +group at the doorway, and among them stands the late prisoner. Oby holds +a foaming tankard in one hand, and touches his battered hat, as the +magistrates go by, with a gesture of sly humility. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + +LUKE, THE RABBIT CONTRACTOR: THE BROOK-PATH + + +The waggon-track leading to the Upper Woods almost always presented +something of interest, and often of beauty. The solitude of the place +seemed to have attracted flowers and ferns as well as wild animals and +birds. For though flowers have no power of motion, yet seeds have a +negative choice and lie dormant where they do not find a kindly welcome. +But those carried hither by the birds or winds took root and flourished, +secure from the rude ploughshare or the sharp scythe. + +The slow rumble of waggon-wheels seldom disturbed the dreamy silence, or +interrupted the song of the birds; so seldom that large docks and +thistles grew calmly beside the ruts untouched by hoofs. From the thick +hedges on either side trailing brambles and briars stretched far out, +and here and there was a fallen branch, broken off by the winds, whose +leaves had turned brown and withered while all else was green. Round +sarsen stones had been laid down in the marshy places to form a firm +road, but the turf had long since covered most of them. Where the smooth +brown surfaces did project mosses had lined the base, and rushes leaned +over and hid the rest. + +In the ditches, under the shade of the brambles, the hart's-tongue fern +extended its long blade of dark glossy green. By the decaying stoles the +hardy fern flourished, under the trees on the mounds the lady fern could +be found, and farther up nearer the wood the tall brake almost +supplanted the bushes. Oak and ash boughs reached across: in the ash the +wood-pigeons lingered. Every now and then the bright colours of the +green woodpeckers flashed to and fro their nest in a tree hard by. They +would not have chosen it had not the place been nearly as quiet as the +wood itself. + +Blackthorn bushes jealously encroached on the narrow stile that entered +the lane from a meadow--a mere rail thrust across a gap. The gates, set +in deep recesses--short lanes themselves cut through the mounds--were +rotten and decayed, so as to scarcely hold together, and not to be moved +without care. Hawthorn branches on each side pushed forward and lessened +the opening; on the ground, where the gateposts had rotted nearly off, +fungi came up in thick bunches. + +The little meadows to which they led were rich in oaks, growing on the +'shore' of the ditches, tree after tree. The grass in them was not +plentiful, but the flowers were many; in the spring the orchis sent up +its beautiful purple, and in the heat of summer the bird's-foot lotus +flourished in the sunny places. Farther up, nearer the wood, the lane +became hollow--worn down between high banks, at first clothed with fern, +and then, as the hill got steeper, with fir trees. + +Where firs are tall and thick together the sunbeams that fall aslant +between them seem to be made more visible than under other trees, by the +motes or wood dust in the air. Still farther the banks became even +steeper, till nothing but scanty ash stoles could grow upon them, the +fir plantations skirting along the summit. Then suddenly, at a turn, the +ground sank into a deep hollow, where in spring the eye rested with +relief and pleasure on the tops of young firs, acre after acre, just +freshly tinted with the most delicate green. From thence the track went +into the wood. + +By day all through the summer months there was always something to be +seen in the lane--a squirrel, a stoat; always a song-bird to listen to, +a flower or fern to gather. By night the goatsucker visited it, and the +bat, and the white owl gliding down the slope. In winter when the clouds +hung low the darkness in the hollow between the high banks, where the +light was shut out by the fir trees, was like that of a cavern. It was +then that night after night a strange procession wended down it. + +First came an old man, walking stiffly--not so much from age as +rheumatism--and helping his unsteady steps on the slippery sarsen stones +with a stout ground-ash staff. Behind him followed a younger man, and in +the rear a boy. Sometimes there was an extra assistant, making four; +sometimes there was only the old man and one companion. Each had a long +and strong ash stick across his shoulder, on which a load of rabbits was +slung, an equal number in front and behind, to balance. The old fellow, +who was dressed shabbily even for a labourer, was the contractor for the +rabbits shot or ferreted in these woods. + +He took the whole number at a certain fixed price all round, and made +what he could out of them. Every evening in the season he went to the +woods to fetch those that had been captured during the day, conveying +them to his cottage on the outskirts of the village. From thence they +went by carrier's cart to the railway. Old Luke's books, such as they +were, were quite beyond the understanding of any one but himself and his +wife; nor could even they themselves tell you exactly how many dozen he +purchased in the year. But in his cups the wicked old hypocrite had +often been known to boast that he paid the lord of the manor as much +money as the rent of a small farm. + +One of Luke's eyes was closed with a kind of watery rheum, and was never +opened except when he thought a rabbit was about to jump into a net. The +other was but half open, and so overhung with a thick grey eyebrow as to +be barely visible. His cheeks were the hue of clay, his chin scrubby, +and a lanky black forelock depended over one temple. A battered felt +hat, a ragged discoloured slop, and corduroys stained with the clay of +the banks completed his squalid costume. + +A more miserable object or one apparently more deserving of pity it +would be hard to imagine. To see him crawl with slow and feeble steps +across the fields in winter, gradually working his way in the teeth of a +driving rain, was enough to arouse compassion in the hardest heart: +there was something so utterly woebegone in his whole aspect--so +weather-beaten, as if he had been rained upon ever since childhood. He +seemed humbled to the ground--crushed and spiritless. + +Now and then Luke was employed by some of the farmers to do their +ferreting for them and to catch the rabbits in the banks by the +roadside. More than once benevolent people driving by in their cosy +cushioned carriages, and seeing this lonely wretch in the bitter wind +watching a rabbit's hole as if he were a dog well beaten and thrashed, +had been known to stop and call the poor old fellow to the carriage +door. Then Luke would lay his hand on his knee, shake his head, and +sorrowfully state his pains and miseries: 'Aw, I be ter-rable bad, I +be,' he would say; 'I be most terrable bad: I can't but just drag my leg +out of this yer ditch. It be a dull job, bless 'ee, this yer.' The tone, +the look of the man, the dreary winter landscape all so thoroughly +agreed together that a few small silver coins would drop into his hand, +and Luke, with a deep groaning sigh of thankfulness, would bow and +scrape and go back to his 'dull job.' + +Luke, indeed, somehow or other was always in favour with the 'quality.' +He was as firmly fixed in his business as if he had been the most clever +courtier. It was not of the least use for any one else to offer to take +the rabbits, even if they would give more money. No, Luke was the trusty +man; Luke, and nobody else, was worthy. So he grovelled on from year to +year, blinking about the place. When some tenant found a gin in the +turnip field, or a wire by the clover, and quietly waited till Luke came +fumbling by and picked up the hare or rabbit, it did not make the +slightest difference though he went straight to the keeper and made a +formal statement. + +Luke had an answer always ready: he had not set the wire, but had +stumbled on it unawares, and was going to take it to the keeper; or he +had noticed a colony of rats about, and had put the gin for them. Now, +the same excuse might have been made by any other poacher; the +difference lay in this--that Luke was believed. At all events, such +little trifles were forgotten, and Luke went on as before. He did a good +deal of the ferreting in the hedges outside the woods himself: if he +took home three dozen from the mound and only paid for two dozen, that +scarcely concerned the world at large. + +If in coming down the dark and slippery lane at night somebody with a +heavy sack stepped out from the shadow at the stile, and if the contents +of the sack were rapidly transferred to the shoulder-sticks, or the bag +itself bodily taken along--why, there was nobody there to see. As for +the young man and the boy who helped, those discreet persons had always +a rabbit for their own pot, or even for a friend; and indeed it was +often remarked that old Luke could always get plenty of men to work for +him. No one ever hinted at searching the dirty shed at the side of his +cottage that was always locked by day, or looking inside the disused +oven that it covered. But if fur or feathers had been found there, was +not he the contractor? And clearly if a pheasant _was_ there he could +not be held responsible for the unauthorised acts of his assistants. + +The truth was that Luke was the most thorough-paced poacher in the +place--or, rather, he was a wholesale receiver. His success lay in +making it pleasant for everybody all round. It was pleasant for the +keeper, who could always dispose of a few hares or pheasants if he +wanted a little money. The keeper, in ways known to himself, made it +pleasant for the bailiff. It was equally pleasant for the under-keepers, +who had what they wanted (in reason), and enjoyed a little by-play on +their own account. It was pleasant for his men; and it was +pleasant--specially pleasant--at a little wayside inn kept by Luke's +nephew, and, as was believed, with Luke's money. Everybody concerned in +the business could always procure refreshment there, including the +policeman. + +There was only one class of persons whom Luke could not conciliate; and +they were the tenants. These very inconsiderate folk argued that it was +the keepers' and Luke's interest to maintain a very large stock of +rabbits, which meant great inroads on their crops. There seemed to be +even something like truth in their complaints; and once or twice the +more independent carried their grievances to headquarters so effectually +as to elicit an order for the destruction of the rabbits forthwith on +their farms. But of what avail was such an order when the execution of +it was entrusted to Luke himself? + +In time the tenants got to put up with Luke; and the wiser of them +turned round and tried to make it still more pleasant for _him_: they +spoke a good word for him; they gave him a quart of ale, and put little +things in his way, such as a chance to buy and sell faggots at a small +profit. Not to be ungrateful, Luke kept their rabbits within reasonable +bounds; and he had this great recommendation--that whether they bullied +him or whether they gave him ale and bread-and-cheese, Luke was always +humble and always touched his hat. + +His wife kept a small shop for the sale of the coarser groceries and a +little bacon. He had also rather extensive gardens, from which he sold +quantities of vegetables. It was more than suspected that the carrier's +cart was really Luke's--that is, he found the money for horsing it, and +could take possession if he liked. The carrier's cart took his rabbits, +and the game he purchased of poachers, to the railway, and the +vegetables from the gardens to the customers in town. + +At least one cottage besides his own belonged to him; and some would +have it that this was one of the reasons of his success with the +'quality.' The people at the great house, anxious to increase their +influence, wished to buy every cottage and spare piece of land. This was +well known, and many small owners prided themselves upon spiting the big +people at the great house by refusing to sell, or selling to another +person. The great house was believed to have secured the first 'refuse' +of Luke's property, if ever he thought of selling. Luke, in fact, among +the lower classes was looked upon as a capitalist--a miser with an +unknown hoard. The old man used to sit of a winter's evening, after he +had brought down the rabbits, by the hearth, making rabbit-nets of +twine. Almost everybody who came along the road, home from the market +town, stopped, lifted the latch without knocking, and looked in to tell +the news or hear it. But Luke's favourite manoeuvre was to take out his +snuff-box, tap it, and offer it to the person addressing him. This he +would do to a farmer, even though it were the largest tenant of all. For +this snuff-box was a present from the lady at the great house, who took +an interest in poor old Luke's infirmities, and gave him the snuff-box, +a really good piece of workmanship, well filled with the finest snuff, +to console his wretchedness. + +Of this box Luke was as proud as if it had been the insignia of the +Legion of Honour, and never lost an opportunity of showing it to every +one of standing. When the village heard of this kindly present it ran +over in its mind all that it knew about the stile, and the sacks, and +the disused oven. Then the village very quietly shrugged its shoulders, +and though it knew not the word irony, well understood what that term +conveys. + +At the foot of the hill on which the Upper Woods were situate there +extended a level tract of meadows with some cornfields. Through these +there flowed a large slow brook, often flooded in winter by the water +rushing down from the higher lands. It was pleasant in the early year to +walk now and then along the footpath that followed the brook, noting the +gradual changes in the hedges. + +When the first swallow of the spring wheels over the watery places the +dry sedges of last year still stand as they grew. They are supported by +the bushes beside the meadow ditch where it widens to join the brook, +and the water it brings down from the furrows scarcely moves through the +belt of willow lining the larger stream. As the soft west wind runs +along the hedge it draws a sigh from the dead dry stalks and leaves that +will no more feel the rising sap. + +By the wet furrows the ground has still a brownish tint, for there the +floods lingered and discoloured the grass. Near the ditch pointed flags +are springing up, and the thick stems of the marsh marigold. From +bunches of dark green leaves slender stalks arise and bear the golden +petals of the marsh buttercups, the lesser celandine. If the wind blows +cold and rainy they will close, and open again to the sunshine. + +At the outside of the withies, where the earth is drier, stand tall +horse-chestnut trees, aspen, and beech. The leaflets of the +horse-chestnut are already opening; but on the ground, half-hidden under +beech leaves not yet decayed, and sycamore leaves reduced to imperfect +grey skeletons, there lies a chestnut shell. It is sodden, and has lost +its original green--the prickles, too, have decayed and disappeared; yet +at a touch it falls apart, and discloses two chestnuts, still of a rich, +deep polished brown. + +On the very bank of the brook there grows a beech whose bare boughs +droop over, almost dipping in the water, where it comes with a swift +rush from the narrow arches of a small bridge whose bricks are green +with moss. The current is still slightly turbid, for the floods have not +long subsided, and the soaked meadows and ploughed fields send their +rills to swell the brook and stain it with sand and earth. On the +surface float down twigs and small branches forced from the trees by the +gales: sometimes an entangled mass of aquatic weeds--long, slender green +filaments twisted and matted together--comes more slowly because heavy +and deep in the water. + +A little bird comes flitting silently from the willows and perches on +the drooping beech branch. It is a delicate little creature, the breast +of a faint and dull yellowy green, the wings the lightest brown, and +there is a pencilled streak over the eye. The beak is so slender it +scarce seems capable of the work it should do, the legs and feet so tiny +that they are barely visible. Hardly has he perched than the keen eyes +detect a small black speck that has just issued from the arch, floating +fast on the surface of the stream and borne round and round in a tiny +whirlpool. + +He darts from the branch, hovers just above the water, and in a second +has seized the black speck and returned to the branch. A moment or two +passes, and again he darts and takes something--this time +invisible--from the water. A third time he hovers, and on this occasion +just brushes the surface. Then, suddenly finding that these movements +are watched, he flits--all too soon--up high into the beech and away +into the narrow copse. The general tint and shape of the bird are those +of the willow wren, but it is difficult to identify the species in so +brief a glance and without hearing its note. + +The path now trends somewhat away from the stream and skirts a ploughed +field, where the hedges are cropped close and the elms stripped of the +lesser boughs about the trunks, that the sparrows may not find shelter. +But all the same there are birds here too--one in the thick low hedge, +two or three farther on, another in the ditch perching on the dead white +stems of last year's plants that can hardly support an ounce weight, and +all calling to each other. It is six marsh tits, as busy as they can +well be. + +One rises from the ditch to the trunk of an elm where the thick bark is +green with lichen: he goes up the tree like a woodpecker, and peers into +every crevice. His little beak strikes, peck, peck, at a place where +something is hidden: then he proceeds farther up the trunk: next he +descends a few steps in a sidelong way, and finally hops down some three +inches head foremost, and alights again on the all but perpendicular +bark. But his tail does not touch the tree, and in another minute down +he flies again to the ditch. + +A shrill and yet low note that sounds something like 'skeek-skeek' comes +from a birch, and another 'skeek-skeek' answers from an elm. It is like +the friction of iron against iron without oil on the bearings. This is +the tree-climber calling to his mate. He creeps over the boles of the +birch, and where the larger limbs join the trunk, trailing his tail +along the bark, and clinging so closely that but for the sharp note he +would be passed. Even when that has called attention, the colour of his +back so little differs from the colour of bark that if he is some height +up the tree it is not easy to detect him. + +The days go on and the hedges become green--the sun shines, and the +blackbirds whistle in the trees. They leave the hedge, and mount into +the elm or ash to deliver their song; then, after a pause, dive down +again to the bushes. Up from the pale green corn that is yet but a few +inches high rises a little brown bird, mounting till he has attained to +the elevation of the adjacent oak. Then, beginning his song, he extends +his wings, lifts his tail, and gradually descends slanting +forward--slowly, like a parachute--sing, sing, singing all the while +till the little legs, that can be seen against the sky somewhat +depending, touch the earth and the wheat hides him. Still from the clod +comes the finishing bar of his music. + +In a short time up he rises again, and this time from the summit of his +flight sinks in a similar manner singing to a branch of the oak. There +he sings again; and, again rising, comes back almost to the same bough +singing as he descends. But he is not alone: from an elm hard by come +the same notes, and from yet another tree they are also repeated. They +cannot rest--now one flits from the topmost bough of an elm to another +topmost bough; now a second comes up from feeding, and cries from the +branches. They are tree-pipits; and though the call is monotonous, yet +it is so cheerful and pleasing that one cannot choose but stay and +listen. + +Suddenly, two that have been vigorously calling start forward together +and meet in mid-air. They buffet each other with their wings; their +little beaks fiercely strike; their necks are extended; they manoeuvre +round each other, trying for an advantage. They descend, heedless in the +rage of their tiny hearts, within a few yards of the watcher, and then +in alarm separate. But one flies to the oak branch and defiantly calls +immediately. + +Over the meadows comes the distant note of the cuckoo. When he first +calls his voice is short and somewhat rough, but in a few days it gains +power. Then the second syllable has a mellow ring: and as he cries from +the tree, the note, swiftly repeated and echoed by the wood, dwells on +the ear something like the 'hum' or vibration of a beautiful bell. + +As the hedges become green the ivy leaves turn brown at the edge and +fall; the wild ivy is often curiously variegated. At the foot of the +tree up which it climbs the leaves are five-angled, higher up they lose +the angles and become rounded, though growing on the same plant. +Sometimes they have a grey tint, especially those that trail along the +bank; sometimes the leaves are a reddish brown with pale green ribs. + +By the brook now the meadow has become of a rich bright green, the +stream has sunk and is clear, and the sunlight dances on the ripples. +The grasses at the edge--the turf--curl over and begin to grow down the +steep side that a little while since was washed by the current. Where +there is a ledge of mud and sand the yellow wagtail runs; he stands on a +stone and jerks his tail. + +The ploughed field that comes down almost to the brook--a mere strip of +meadow between--is green too with rising wheat, high enough now to hide +the partridges. Before it got so tall it was pleasant to watch the pair +that frequent it; they were so confident that they did not even trouble +to cower. At any other time of year they would have run, or flown; but +then, though scarcely forty yards away and perfectly visible, they +simply ceased feeding but showed no further alarm. + +Upon the plough birds in general should look as their best friend, for +it provides them with the staff of life as much as it does man. The +earth turned up under the share yields them grubs and insects and worms: +the seed is sown and the clods harrowed, and they take a second toll; +the weeds are hoed or pulled up, and at their roots there are more +insects; from the stalk and ears and the bloom of the rising corn they +seize caterpillars; when it is ripe they enjoy the grain; when it is cut +and carried there are ears in the stubble, and they can then feast on +the seeds of the innumerable plants that flowered among it; finally +comes the plough again. It is as if the men and horses worked for the +birds. + +The horse-chestnut trees in the narrow copse bloom; the bees are humming +everywhere and summer is at hand. Presently the brown cockchafers will +come almost like an army of locusts, as suddenly appearing without a +sign. They seem to be particularly numerous where there is much maple in +the hedges. + +Resting now on the sward by the stream--contracted in seeming by the +weeds and flags and fresh sedges--there comes the distant murmur of +voices and the musical laugh of girls. The ear tries to distinguish the +words and gather the meaning; but the syllables are intertangled--it is +like listening to a low sweet song in a language all unknown. This is +the water falling gently over the mossy hatch and splashing faintly on +the stones beneath; the blue dragon-flies dart over the smooth surface +or alight on a broad leaf--these blue dragon-flies when thus resting +curl the tail upwards. + +Farther up above the mere there is a spot where the pool itself ends, or +rather imperceptibly disappears among a vast mass of aquatic weeds. To +these on the soft oozy mud succeed acres of sedge and rush and great +turfs of greyish grass. Low willows are scattered about, and alder at +the edge and where the ground is firmer. This is the home of the +dragon-flies, of the coots, whose white bald foreheads distinguish them +at a distance, and of the moorhens. + +A narrow lane crosses it on a low bank or causeway but just raised above +the level of the floods. It is bordered on either side by thick hawthorn +hedges, and these again are further rendered more impassable by the +rankest growth of hemlocks, 'gicks,' nettles, hedge-parsley, and similar +coarse plants. In these the nettle-creeper (white-throat) hides her +nest, and they have so encroached that the footpath is almost +threatened. This lane leads from the Upper Woods across the marshy level +to the cornfields, being a branch from that down which Luke the +contractor carried his rabbits. + +Now a hare coming from the uplands beyond the woods, or from the woods, +and desirous of visiting the cornfields of the level grounds below, +found it difficult to pass the water. For besides the marsh itself, the +mere, and the brook, another slow, stagnant stream, quite choked with +sedges and flags, uncut for years, ran into it, or rather joined it, and +before doing so meandered along the very foot of the hill-side over +which the woods grew. To a hare or a rabbit, therefore, there was but +one path or exit without taking to the water in this direction for +nearly a mile, and that was across this narrow raised causeway. The +pheasants frequently used it, as if preferring to walk than to fly. +Partridges came too, to seat themselves in the dry dust--a thing they do +daily in warm weather. + +Hares were constantly passing from the cornfields to the wood, and the +wood to the cornfields; and they had another reason for using this +track, because so many herbs and plants, whose leaves they like better +than grass, flourished at the sides of the hedges. No scythe cuts them +down, as it does by the hedges in the meadows; nor was a man sent round +with a reaping hook to chop them off, as is often done round the arable +fields. There was, therefore, always a feast here, to which, also, the +rabbits came. + +The poachers were perfectly well aware of all this, and as a consequence +this narrow lane became a most favourite haunt of theirs. A wire set in +the runs that led to the causeway, or in the causeway itself, was almost +certain to be thrown. At one time it was occasionally netted; and now +and then a bolder fellow hid himself in the bushes with a gun, and took +his choice of pheasant, partridge, hare, or rabbit. These practices were +possible, because although so secluded, there was a public right-of-way +along the lane. + +But of recent years, as game became more valued and the keepers were +increased, a check was put upon it, though even now wires are frequently +found which poachers have been obliged to abandon. They are loth to give +up a place that has a kind of poaching reputation. As if in revenge for +the interference, they have so ransacked the marsh every spring for the +eggs of the waterfowl that the wild duck will not lay there, but seek +spots safer from such enemies. The marsh is left to the coots and +moorhens that from thence stock the brooks. + + + + + +CHAPTER X + + + +FARMER WILLUM'S PLACE: SNIPE SHOOTING + + +One October morning towards the end of the month, Orion and I started to +beat over Redcote Farm upon the standing invitation of the occupier. +There was a certainty of sport of some kind, because the place had +remained almost unchanged for the last century. It is 'improvement' that +drives away game and necessitates the pheasant preserve. + +The low whitewashed walls of the house were of a dull yellowish hue from +the beating of the weather. They supported a vast breadth of thatched +roof drilled by sparrows and starlings. Under the eaves the swallows' +nests adhered, and projecting shelves were fixed to prevent any +inconvenience from them. Some of the narrow windows were still darkened +with the black boarding put up in the days of the window tax. + +In the courtyard a number of stout forked stakes were used for putting +the dairy buckets on, after being cleaned, to dry. No attempt was made +to separate the business from the inner life of the house. Here in front +these oaken buckets, scoured till nearly white, their iron handles +polished like silver, were close under the eyes of any one looking out. +By the front door a besom leaned against the wall that every comer might +clean the mud from his boots; and you stepped at once from the threshold +into the sitting-room. A lane led past the garden, if that could be +called a lane which widened into a field and after rain was flooded so +deeply as to be impassable to foot passengers. + +The morning we had chosen was fine; and after shaking hands with old +Farmer 'Willum,' whose shooting days were over, we entered the lane, and +by it the fields. The meadows were small, enclosed with double-mounds, +and thickly timbered, so that as the ground was level you could not see +beyond the field in which you stood, and upon looking over the gate +might surprise a flock of pigeons, a covey of partridges, or a rabbit +out feeding. Though the tinted leaves were fast falling, the hedges were +still full of plants and vegetation that prevented seeing through them. +The 'kuck-kuck' of the redwings came from the bushes--the first note of +approaching winter--and the tips of the rushes were dead. Red haws on +the hawthorn and hips on the briar sprinkled the hedge with bright spots +of colour. + +The two spaniels went with such an eager rush into a thick double-mound, +dashing heedlessly through the nettles and under the brambles, that we +hastened to get one on each side of the hedge. A rustling--a short bark; +another, then a movement among the rushes in the ditch, evidently not +made by the dogs; then a silence. But the dogs come back, and as they +give tongue the rabbit rushes past a bare spot on the slope of the bank. +I fire--a snap shot--and cut out some fur, but do no further harm; the +pellets bury themselves in the earth. But, startled and perhaps just +stung by a stray shot, the rabbit bolts fairly at last twenty yards in +front of Orion, the spaniel tearing at his heels. + +Up goes the double-barrel with a bright gleam as the sunlight glances on +it. A second of suspense: then from the black muzzle darts a cylinder +of tawny flame and an opening cone of white smoke: a sharp report rings +on the ear. The rabbit rolls over and over, and is dead before the dog +can seize him. After harling the rabbit, Orion hangs him high on a +projecting branch, so that the man who is following us at a distance may +easily find the game. He is a labourer, and we object to have him with +us, as we know he would be certain to get in the way. + +We then tried a corner where two of these large mounds, meeting, formed +a small copse in which grew a quantity of withy and the thick grasses +that always border the stoles. A hare bolted almost directly the dogs +went in: hares trust in their speed, rabbits in doubling for cover. I +fired right and left, and missed: fairly missed with both barrels. Orion +jumped upon the mound from the other side, and from that elevation sent +a third cartridge after her. + +It was a long, a very long shot, but the hare perceptibly winced. Still, +she drew easily away from the dogs, going straight for a distant +gateway. But before it was reached the pace slackened; she made +ineffectual attempts to double as the slow spaniels overtook her, but +her strength was ebbing, and they quickly ran in. Reloading, and in none +of the best of tempers, I followed the mound. The miss was of course the +gun's fault--it was foul; or the cartridges, or the bad quality of the +powder. + +We passed the well-remembered hollow ash pollard, whence, years before, +we had taken the young owls, and in which we had hidden the old +single-barrel gun one sultry afternoon when it suddenly came on to +thunder. The flashes were so vivid and the discharges seemingly so near +that we became afraid to hold the gun, knowing that metal attracted +electricity. So it was put in the hollow tree out of the wet, and with +it the powder-flask, while we crouched under an adjacent hawthorn till +the storm ceased. + +Then by the much-patched and heavy gate where I shot my first snipe, +that rose out of the little stream and went straight up over the top +bar. The emotion, for it was more than excitement, of that moment will +never pass from memory. It was the bird of all others that I longed to +kill, and certainly to a lad the most difficult. Day after day I went +down into the water-meadows; first thinking over the problem of the +snipe's peculiar twisting flight. At one time I determined that I would +control the almost irresistible desire to fire till the bird had +completed his burst of zig-zag and settled to something like a straight +line. At another I as firmly resolved to shoot the moment the snipe rose +before he could begin to twist. But some unforeseen circumstance always +interfered with the execution of these resolutions. + +Now the snipe got up unexpectedly right under foot; now one rose thirty +yards ahead; now he towered straight up, forced to do so by the tall +willows; and occasionally four or five rising together and calling +'sceap, sceap' in as many different directions, made me hesitate at +which to aim. The continual dwelling upon the problem rendered me +nervous, so that I scarcely knew when I pulled the trigger. + +But one day, in passing this gateway, which was a long distance from the +particular water-meadows where I had practised, and not thinking of +snipes, suddenly one got up, and with a loud 'sceap' darted over the +gate. The long slender gun--the old single-barrel--came to the shoulder +instinctively, without premeditation, and the snipe fell. + +Coming now to the brook, which was broad and bordered by a hedge on the +opposite side, I held Orion's gun while he leaped over. The bank was +steep and awkward, but he had planned his leap so as to alight just +where he could at once grasp an ash branch and so save himself from +falling back into the water. He could not, however, stay suspended +there, but had to scramble over the hedge, and then called for his gun. +I leaned mine against a hollow withy pollard, and called 'ready.' + +Taking his gun a few inches above the trigger guard (and with the guard +towards his side), holding it lightly just where it seemed to balance in +a perpendicular position, I gave it a slow heave rather than a throw, +and it rose into the air. This peculiar _feeling_ hoist, as it were, +caused it to retain the perpendicular position as it passed over brook +and hedge in a low curve. As it descended it did indeed slope a little, +and Orion caught it with one hand easily. The hedge being low he could +see it coming; but guns are sometimes heaved in this way over hedges +that have not been cropped for years. Then the gun suddenly appears in +the air, perhaps fifteen feet high, while the catch depends not only +upon the dexterity of the hand but the ear--to judge correctly where the +person who throws it is standing, as he is invisible. + +The spaniels plunged in the brook among the flags, but though they made +a great splashing nothing came of it till we approached a marshy place +where was a pond. A moorhen then rose and scuttled down the brook, her +legs dragging along the surface some distance before she could get up, +and the sunshine sparkling on the water that dropped from her. I fired +and knocked her over: at the sound of the discharge a bird rose from the +low mound by the pond some forty yards ahead. My second barrel was empty +in an instant. + +Both Orion's followed; but the distance, the intervening pollard +willows, or our excitement spoilt the aim. The woodcock flew off +untouched, and made straight away from the territories we could beat +into those that were jealously guarded by a certain keeper with whom +Farmer 'Willum' had waged war for years. 'Come on!' shouted Orion as +soon as he had marked the cock down in a mound two fields away. Throwing +him my gun, I leaped the brook; and we at first raced, but on second +thoughts walked slowly, for the mound. Running disturbs accuracy of +fire, and a woodcock was much too rare a visitor for the slightest +chance to be lost. + +As we approached we considered that very probably the cock would either +lie close till we had walked past, and get up behind, or he would rise +out of gunshot. What we were afraid of was his making for the preserves, +which were not far off. So we tossed for the best position, and I lost. +I had therefore to get over on the side of the hedge towards the +preserves and to walk down somewhat faster than Orion, who was to keep +(on his side) about thirty yards behind. The object was to flush the +cock on his side, so that if missed the bird might return towards our +territories. In a double-mound like this it is impossible to tell what a +woodcock will do, but this was the best thing we could think of. + +About half-way down the hedge I heard Orion fire both barrels in quick +succession--the mound was so thick I could not see through. The next +instant the cock came over the top of the hedge just above my head. +Startled at seeing me so close, he flew straight down along the summit +of the bushes--a splendid chance to look at from a distance; but in +throwing up the gun a projecting briar caught the barrels, and before I +could recover it the bird came down at the side of the hedge. + +It was another magnificent chance; but again three pollard willows +interfered, and as I fired the bark flew off one of them in small +strips. Quickened by the whistling pellets, the cock suddenly lifted +himself again to the top of the hedge to go over, and for a moment came +full in view, and quite fifty yards away. I fired a snap shot as a +forlorn hope, and lost sight of him; but the next instant I heard Orion +call, 'He's down!' One single chance pellet had dropped the cock--he +fell on the other side just under the hedge. + +We hastened back to the brook, thinking that the shooting would attract +the keepers, and did not stay to look at the bird till safe over the +water. The long beak, the plumage that seems painted almost in the exact +tints of the dead brown leaves he loves so well, the eyes large by +comparison and so curiously placed towards the poll of the head as if to +see behind him--there was not a point that did not receive its share of +admiration. We shot about half a dozen rabbits, two more hares, and a +woodpigeon afterwards; but all these were nothing compared with the +woodcock. + +How Farmer 'Willum' chuckled over it--especially to think that we had +cut out the game from the very batteries of the enemy! It was the one +speck of bitterness in the old man's character--his hatred of this +keeper. Disabled himself by age and rheumatism from walking far, he +heard daily reports from his men of this fellow coming over the boundary +to shoot, or drive pheasant or partridge away. It was a sight to see +Farmer 'Willum' stretch his bulky length in his old armchair, right +before the middle of the great fire of logs on the hearth, twiddling his +huge thumbs, and every now and then indulging in a hearty laugh, +followed by a sip at the 'straight-cup.' + +There was a stag's horn over the staircase: 'Willum' loved to tell how +it came there. One severe winter long since, the deer in the forest many +miles away broke cover, forced by hunger, and came into the rickyards +and even the gardens. Most of them were got back, but one or two +wandered beyond trace. Those who had guns were naturally on the +look-out; indeed, a regular hunt was got up--'Willum,' then young and +active, in it of course. This chase was not successful; but early one +morning, going to look for wild geese in the water-meadow with his +long-barrelled gun, he saw something in a lonely rickyard. Creeping +cautiously up, he rested the heavy gun on an ash stole, and the big +duck-shot tore its way into the stag's shoulder. Those days were gone, +but still his interest in shooting was unabated. + +Nothing had been altered on the place since he was a boy: the rent even +was the same. But all that is now changed--swept away before modern +improvements; and the rare old man is gone too, and I think his only +enemy also. + +There was nothing I used to look forward to, as the summer waned, with +so much delight as the snipe shooting. Regularly as the swallow to the +eaves in spring, the snipe comes back with the early frosts of autumn to +the same well-known spots--to the bend of the brook or the boggy corner +in the ploughed field--but in most uncertain numbers. Sometimes flocks +of ten or twenty, sometimes only twos and threes are seen, but always +haunting particular places. + +They have a special affection for peaty ground, black and spongy, where +every footstep seems to squeeze water out of the soil with a slight +hissing sound, and the boot cuts through the soft turf. There, where a +slow stream winds in and out, unmarked by willow or bush, but fringed +with green aquatic grasses growing on a margin of ooze, the snipe finds +tempting food; or in the meadows where a little spring breaks forth in +the ditch and does not freeze--for water which has just bubbled out of +the earth possesses this peculiarity, and is therefore favourable to low +forms of insect or slug life in winter--the snipe may be found when the +ponds are bound with ice. + +Some of the old country folk used to make as much mystery about this +bird as the cuckoo. Because it was seldom seen till the first fogs the +belief was that it had lost its way in the mist at sea, and come inland +by mistake. + +Just as in the early part of the year green buds and opening flowers +welcome swallow and cuckoo, so the colours of the dying leaf prepare the +way for the second feathered immigration in autumn. Once now and then +the tints of autumn are so beautiful that the artist can hardly convey +what he sees to canvas. The maples are aglow with orange, the oaks one +mass of buff, the limes light gold, the elms a soft yellow. In the +hawthorn thickets bronze spots abound; here and there a bramble leaf has +turned a brilliant crimson (though many bramble leaves will remain a +dull green all the winter through); the edible chestnut sheds leaves of +a dark fawn hue, but all, scattered by the winds, presently resolve into +a black pulp upon the earth. Noting these signs the sportsman gets out +his dust-shot for the snipe, and the farmer, as he sees the fieldfare +flying over after a voyage from Norway, congratulates himself that last +month was reasonably dry, and enabled him to sow his winter seed. + +'Sceap--sceap!' and very often the snipe successfully carries out the +intention expressed in his odd-sounding cry, and does escape in reality. +Although I could not at first put my theory into practice, yet I found +by experience that it was correct. He is the exception to the golden +rule that the safest way lies in the middle, and that therefore you +should fire not too soon nor too late, but half-way between. But the +snipe must either be knocked over the instant he rises from the ground, +and before he has time to commence his puzzling zig-zag flight, or else +you must wait till he has finished his corkscrew burst. + +Then there is a moment just before he passes out of range when he glides +in a straight line and may be hit. This singular zig-zag flight so +deceives the eye as almost to produce the idea of a spiral movement. No +barrel can ever be jerked from side to side swiftly enough, no +hair-trigger is fine enough, to catch him then, except by the chance of +a vast scattering over-charge, which has nothing to do with sport. If he +rises at some little distance, then fire instantly, because by the time +the zig-zag is done the range will be too great; if he starts up under +your feet, out of a bunch of rushes, as is often the case, then give him +law till his eccentric twist is finished. + +When the smoke has cleared away in the crisp air, there he lies, the yet +warm breast on the frozen ground, to be lifted up not without a passing +pity and admiration. The brown feathers are exquisitely shaded, and so +exactly resemble the hue of the rough dead aquatic grass out of which he +sprang that if you cast the bird among it you will have some trouble to +find it again. To discover a living snipe on the ground is indeed a test +of good eyesight; for as he slips in and out among the brown withered +flags and the grey grass it requires not only a quick eye but the inbred +sportsman's instinct of perception (if such a phrase is permissible) to +mark him out. + +If your shot has missed and merely splashed up the water or rattled +against bare branches, then step swiftly behind a tree-trunk, and stay +in ambuscade, keeping a sharp watch on him as he circles round high up +in the air. Very often in a few minutes he will come back in a wide +sweep, and drop scarcely a gun-shot distant in the same watercourse, +when a second shot may be obtained. The little jack snipe, when flushed, +will never fly far, if shot at several times in succession, still +settling fifty or sixty yards farther on, and is easily bagged. + +Coming silently as possible round a corner, treading gently on the grass +still white with hoar-frost in the shadow of the bushes, you may chance +to spring a stray woodcock, which bird, if you lose a moment, will put +the hedge between him and you. Artists used to seek for certain feathers +which he carries, one in each wing, thinking to make of them a more +delicate brush than the finest camel's hair. + +In the evening I used to hide in the osier-beds on the edge of a great +water-meadow; for now that the marshes are drained, and the black earth +of the fens yields a harvest of yellow corn, the broad level meads which +are irrigated to fertilise them are among the chief inland resorts of +wild fowl. When the bright moon is rising, you walk in among the +tapering osier-wands, the rustling sedges, and dead dry hemlock stems, +and wait behind an aspen tree. + +In the thick blackthorn bush a round dark ball indicates the blackbird, +who has puffed out his feathers to shield him from the frost, and who +will sit so close and quiet that you may see the moonlight glitter on +his eye. Presently comes a whistling noise of wings, and a loud 'quack, +quack!' as a string of ducks, their long necks stretched out, pass over +not twenty yards high, slowly slanting downwards to the water. This is +the favourable moment for the gun, because their big bodies are well +defined against the sky, and aim can be taken; but to shoot anything on +the ground at night, even a rabbit, whose white tail as he hops away is +fairly visible, is most difficult. + +The baffling shadows and the moonbeams on the barrel, and the faint +reflection from the dew or hoar-frost on the grass, prevent more than a +general direction being given to the gun, even with the tiny piece of +white paper which some affix to the muzzle-sight as a guide. From a punt +with a swivel gun it is different, because the game is swimming and +visible as black dots on the surface, and half a pound of shot is sure +to hit something. But in the water-meadows the ducks get among the +grass, and the larger water-carriers where they can swim usually have +small raised banks, so that at a distance only the heads of the birds +appear above them. + +So that the best time to shoot a duck is just as he slopes down to +settle--first, because he is distinctly visible against the sky; next, +because he is within easy range; and lastly, his flight is steady. If +you attempt to have ducks driven towards you, though they may go right +overhead, yet it will often be too high--for they rise at a sharp angle +when frightened; and men who are excellent judges of distance when it is +a hare running across the fallow, find themselves all at fault trying to +shoot at any elevation. Perhaps this arises from the peculiarity of the +human eye which draughtsmen are fond of illustrating by asking a tyro to +correctly bisect a vertical line: a thing that looks easy, and is really +only to be done by long practice. + +To make certain of selecting the right spot in the osiers over which the +ducks will pass, for one or two evenings previously a look-out should be +kept and their usual course observed; for all birds and animals, even +the wildest wild fowl, are creatures of habit and custom, and having +once followed a particular path will continue to use it until seriously +disturbed. Evening after evening the ducks will rise above the horizon +at the same place and almost at the same time, and fly straight to their +favourite feeding place. + +If hit, the mallard falls with a thud on the earth, for he is a heavy +bird; and few are more worthy of powder and shot either for his savoury +flavour, far surpassing the tame duck, or the beauty of his burnished +neck. With the ducks come teal and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy +meadow resounds with their strange cries. When ponds and lakes are +frozen hard is the best time for sport in these irrigated fields. All +day long the ducks will stand or waddle to and fro on the ice in the +centre of the lake or mere, far out of reach and ready to rise at the +slightest alarm. But at night they seek the meadow where the water, +running swiftly in the carriers, never entirely freezes, and where, if +the shallow spots become ice, the rising current flows over it and +floods another place. + +There is, moreover, never any difficulty in getting the game when hit, +because the water, except in the main carriers, which you can leap +across, hardly rises to the ankle, and ordinary water-tight boots will +enable you to wade wherever necessary. This is a great advantage with +wild fowl, which are sometimes shot and lost in deep ooze and strong +currents and eddies, and on thin ice where men cannot go and even good +dogs are puzzled. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + +FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER + + +The ferreting season commences when the frosts have caused the leaves to +drop, and the rabbits grow fat from feeding on bark. Early one December +morning, Orion and I started, with our man Little John, to ferret a +double-mound for our old friend Farmer 'Willum' at Redcote. + +Little John was a labourer--one of those frequently working at odd times +for Luke, the Rabbit-Contractor. We had nicknamed him Little John +because of his great size and unwieldy proportions. He was the most +useful man we knew for such work; his heart was so thoroughly in it. + +He was waiting for us before we had finished breakfast, with his tools +and implements, having carefully prepared these while yet it was dark at +home in his cottage. The nets require looking to before starting, as +they are apt to get into a tangle, and there is nothing so annoying as +to have to unravel strings with chilled fingers in a ditch. Some have to +be mended, having been torn; some are cast aside altogether because weak +and rotten. The twine having been frequently saturated with water has +decayed. All the nets are of a light yellow colour from the clay and +sand that has worked into the string. + +These nets almost filled a sack, into which he also cast a pair of +'owl-catchers,' gloves of stout white leather, thick enough to turn a +thorn while handling bushes, or to withstand the claws of an owl +furiously resisting capture. His ferrets cost him much thought, which to +take and which to leave behind. He had also to be particular how he fed +them--they must be eager for prey, and yet they must not be starved, +else they would gorge on the blood of the first rabbit, and become +useless for hunting. + +Two had to be muzzled--an operation of some difficulty that generally +results in a scratched hand. A small piece of small but strong twine is +passed through the jaws behind the tusk-like teeth, and tightly tied +round, so tightly as almost to cut into the skin. This is the old way of +muzzling a ferret, handed down from generations: Little John scorns the +muzzles that can be bought at shops, and still more despises the tiny +bells to hang round the neck. The first he says often come off, and the +second embarrass the ferret and sometimes catch in projecting rootlets +and hold it fast. He has, too, a line--many yards of stout twine wound +about a short stick--to line a ferret if necessary. + +The ferrets are placed in a smaller bag, tightly tied at the top--for +they will work through and get out if any aperture be left. Inside the +bag is a little hay for them to lay on. He prefers the fitchew ferret as +he calls it; that is the sort that are coloured like a polecat. He says +they are fiercer, larger of make and more powerful. But he has also a +couple of white ones with pink eyes. Besides the sack of nets, the bag +of ferrets, and a small bundle in a knotted handkerchief--his +'nuncheon'--which in themselves make a tolerable load, he has brought a +billhook, and a 'navigator,' or draining-tool. + +This is a narrow spade of specially stout make; the blade is hollow and +resembles an exaggerated gouge, and the advantage is that in digging out +a rabbit the tool is very apt to catch under a root, when an ordinary +spade may bend and become useless. The 'navigator' will stand anything, +and being narrow is also more handy. All these implements Little John +has prepared by the dim light of a horn lantern in the shed at the back +of his cottage. A mug of ale while we get our guns greatly cheers him, +and unlooses his tongue. + +All the way to Redcote he impresses on us the absolute necessity of +silence while ferreting, and congratulates us on having a nearly still +day. He is a little doubtful about Orion's spaniel and whether it will +keep quiet or not. + +When we reach the double-mound, his talk entirely ceases: he is as +silent and as rugged as a pollard oak. By the top of the mound the sack +of nets is thrown down on the sward and opened. As there are more holes +on the other side of the hedge Orion goes over with Little John, and I +proceed to set up the nets on mine. + +I found some difficulty in getting at the bank, the bushes being so +thick, and had to use the billhook and chop a way in: I heard Little +John growling about this in a whisper to Orion. Very often before going +with the ferrets, people send a man or two a few hours previously to +chop and clear the bushes. The effect is that the rabbits will not bolt +freely. They hear the men chopping, and the vibration of the earth as +they clumsily climb over the banks, and will not come out till +absolutely forced. If it is done at all, it should be done a week +beforehand. That was why Little John grumbled at my chopping though he +knew it was necessary. + +To set up a rabbit net you must arrange it so that it covers the whole +of the mouth of the hole, for if there is any opening between it and the +bank the rabbit will slip through. He will not face the net unless +obliged to. Along the upper part, if the bank is steep, so that the net +will not lie on it of itself, two or three little twigs should be thrust +through the meshes into the earth to suspend it. + +These twigs should be no larger than are used by birds in constructing +their nests; just strong enough to hold the net in place and no more. On +the other hand, care must be taken that no stout projecting root catches +a corner of the net, else it will not draw up properly and the rabbit +will escape. + +Little John, not satisfied with my assurance that I had netted all the +holes my side, now came over--crawling on hands and knees that he might +not jar the bank--to examine for himself. His practised eye detected two +holes that I had missed: one on the top of the mound much overhung by +dead grass, and one under a stole. These he attended to. He then crawled +up on the mound two or three yards below the end of the bury, and with +his own hands stretched a larger net right across the top of the bank, +so that if a rabbit did escape he would run into this. To be still more +sure he stretched another similar net across the whole width of the +mound at the other end of the bury. + +He then undid the mouth of the ferret-bag, holding it between his +knees--the ferrets immediately attempted to struggle out: he selected +two and then tied it up again. With both these in his own hands, for he +would trust nothing to another, he slipped quietly back to Orion's side, +and so soon as he saw I was standing well back placed them in different +holes. + +Almost the next instant one came out my side disarranging a net. I got +into the ditch, hastily reset the net, and put the ferret to an adjacent +hole, lifting up the corner of the net there for it to creep in. Unlike +the weasel, a ferret once outside a hole seems at a loss, and wanders +slowly about, till chance brings him to a second. The weasel used to +hunting is no sooner out of one hole than he darts away to the next. But +this power the ferret has partially lost from confinement. + +For a moment the ferret hesitated inside the hole, as if undecided which +of two passages to take: then he started, and I lost sight of his tail. +Hardly had I got back to my stand than I heard Little John leap into the +ditch his side: the next minute I saw the body of the rabbit which he +had killed thrown out into the field. + +I stood behind a somewhat advanced bush that came out into the meadow +like a buttress, and kept an eye on the holes along the bank. It is +essential to stand well back from the holes, and, if possible, out of +sight. In a few moments something moved, and I saw the head of a rabbit +at the mouth of a hole just behind the net. He looked through the meshes +as through a lattice, and I could see his nostrils work, as he +considered within himself how to pass this thing. It was but for a +moment; the ferret came behind, and wild with hereditary fear, the +rabbit leaped into the net. + +The force of the spring not only drew the net together, but dragged out +the peg, and rabbit and net inextricably entangled rolled down the bank +to the bottom of the ditch. I jumped into the ditch and seized the net; +when there came a hoarse whisper: 'Look sharp you, measter: put up +another net fust--_he_ can't get out; hould un under your arm, _or in +your teeth_.' + +I looked up, and saw Little John's face peering over the mound. He had +thrust himself up under the bushes; his hat was off; his weather-beaten +face bleeding from a briar, but he could not feel the scratch so anxious +was he that nothing should escape. I pulled another net from my pocket, +and spread it roughly over the hole; then more slowly took the rabbit +from the other net. + +You should never hold a rabbit up till you have got fast hold of his +hind legs; he will so twist and work himself as to get free from any +other grasp. But when held by the hind legs and lifted from the ground +he can do nothing. I now returned to my buttress of bushes and waited. +The rabbits did not bolt my side again for a while. Every now and then I +saw, or heard, Orion or Little John leap into their ditch, and well knew +what it meant before the dead rabbit was cast out to fall with a +helpless thud upon the sward. + +Once I saw a rabbit's head at the mouth of a hole, and momentarily +expected him to dart forth driven by the same panic fear. But either the +ferret passed, or there was another side-tunnel--the rabbit went back. +Some few minutes afterwards Little John exclaimed: 'Look out, you; +ferret's out!' One of the ferrets had come out of a hole and was +aimlessly--as it appeared--roaming along the bank. + +As he came nearest my side, I got quietly into the ditch and seized him, +and put him into a hole. To my surprise he refused to go in--I pushed +him: he returned and continued to try to come out till I gave him a +sharp fillip with the finger, when he shook the dust and particles of +dry earth from his fur with a shiver, as if in protest, and slowly +disappeared inside the hole. + +As I was creeping out of the deep ditch on hands and knees, I heard +Orion call angrily to the spaniel to come to heel. Hitherto the spaniel +had sat on his haunches behind Orion fairly quiet and still, though not +without an occasional restless movement. But now he broke suddenly from +all control, and disregarding Orion's anger--though with hanging +tail--rushed into the hedge, and along the top of the mound where there +was a thick mass of dead grass. Little John hurled a clod of clay at +him, but before I was quite out of the ditch the spaniel gave tongue, +and at the same moment I saw a rabbit come from the ditch and run like +mad across the field. + +The dog gave chase--I rushed for my gun, which was some yards off, +placed against a hollow withy tree. The haste disconcerted the aim--the +rabbit too was almost fifty yards away when I fired. But the shot broke +one hind leg--it trailed behind--and the spaniel had him instantly. +'Look at yer nets,' said Little John in a tone of suppressed +indignation, for he disliked the noise of a gun, as all other noises. + +I did look, and found that one net had been partly pushed aside; yet to +so small an extent that I should hardly have believed it possible for +the rabbit to have crept through. He must have slipped out without the +slightest sound and quietly got on the top of the mound without being +seen. But there, alas! he found a wide net stretched right across the +bank so that to slip down the mound on the top was impossible. This +would certainly have been his course had not the net been there. + +It was now doubtless that the spaniel caught wind of him, and the scent +was so strong that it overcame his obedience. The moment the dog got on +the bank, the rabbit slipped down into the rushes in the ditch--I did +not see him because my back was turned in the act to scramble out. Then, +directly the spaniel gave tongue the rabbit darted for the open, hoping +to reach the buries in the hedge on the opposite side of the meadow. + +This incident explained why the ferret seemed so loth to go back into +the hole. He had crept out some few moments behind the rabbit and in his +aimless uncertain manner was trying to follow the scent along the bank. +He did not like being compelled to give up this scent and to search +again for another. 'Us must be main careful how us fixes our nets, you,' +said Little John, going as far as he could in reproof of my negligence. + +The noise of the gun, the barking, and talking was of course heard by +the rabbits still in the bury, and as if to show that Little John was +right, for a while they ceased to bolt. Standing behind the +bushes--against which I now placed the gun to be nearer at hand--I +watched the nets till my eye was caught by the motions of the +ferret-bag. It lay on the grass and had hitherto been inert. But now the +bag reared itself up, and then rolled over, to again rise and again +tumble. The ferrets left in it in reserve were eager to get out--sharp +set on account of a scanty breakfast--and their motions caused the bag +to roll along a short distance. + +I could see Orion on the other side of the mound tolerably well because +he was standing up and the leaves had fallen from the upper part of the +bushes. Little John was crouched in the ditch: the dead grasses, +'gicks,' withered vines of bryony, the thistles, and dark shrivelled +fern concealed him. + +There was a round black sloe on the blackthorn beside me, the beautiful +gloss, or bloom, on it made it look like a tiny plum. It tasted not only +sour, but seemed to positively fill the mouth with a rough acid. +Overhead light grey clouds, closely packed but not rainy, drifted very +slowly before a N.E. upper current. Occasionally a brief puff of wind +came through the bushes rustling the dead leaves that still remained on +the oaks. + +Despite the cold, something of Little John's intense concentration +communicated itself to us: we waited and watched with eager patience. +After a while he got out of the ditch where he had been listening with +his ear close against the bank, and asked me to pass him the ferret-bag. +He took out another ferret and lined it--that is, attached one end of a +long string to its neck, and then sent it in. + +He watched which way the ferret turned, and then again placed his head +upon the hard clay to listen. Orion had to come and hold the line, while +he went two or three yards farther down, got into the ditch and once +more listened carefully. 'He be about the middle of the mound you,' he +said to me; he be between you and I. Lor! look out.' + +There was a low rumbling sound--I expected to see a rabbit bolt into one +of my nets, I heard Little John moving some leaves, and then he shouted, +'Give I a net, you--quick. Lor! here be another hole: he's coming!' I +looked over the mound and saw Little John, his teeth set and staring at +a hole which had no net, his great hands open ready to pounce instantly +like some wild animal on its prey. In an instant the rabbit bolted--he +clutched it and clasped it tight to his chest. There was a moment of +struggling, the next the rabbit was held up for a moment and then cast +across his knee. + +It was always a sight to see Little John's keen delight in 'wristing' +their necks. He affected utter unconsciousness of what he was doing, +looked you in the face, and spoke about some indifferent subject. But +all the while he was feeling the rabbit's muscles stretch before the +terrible grasp of his hands, and an expression of complacent +satisfaction flitted over his features as the neck gave with a sudden +looseness, and in a moment what had been a living straining creature +became limp. + +The ferret came out after the rabbit; he immediately caught it and +thrust it into his pocket. There were still two ferrets in--one that was +suspected to be gorging on a rabbit in a _cul de sac_, and the other +lined, and which had gone to join that sanguinary feast. The use of the +line was to trace where the loose ferret lay. 'Chuck I the show'l, +measter,' said Little John. + +I gave the 'navigator' tool a heave over the hedge; it fell and stuck +upright in the sward. Orion handed it to him. He first filled up the +hole from which a rabbit had just bolted with a couple of 'spits,' +_i.e._ spadefuls, and then began to dig on the top of the mound. + +This digging was very tedious. The roots of the thorn bushes and trees +constantly impeded it, and had to be cut. Then upon at last getting down +to the hole, it was found that the right place had not been hit by +several feet. Here was the line and the lined ferret--he had got hitched +in a projecting root, and was furiously struggling to go forward to the +feast of blood. + +Another spell of digging--this time still slower because Little John was +afraid lest the edge of his tool should suddenly slip through and cut +his ferret on the head, and perhaps kill it. At last the place was +reached and the ferret drawn forth still clinging to its victim. The +rabbit was almost beyond recognition as a rabbit. The poor creature had +been stopped by a _cul de sac_, and the ferret came upon him from +behind. + +As the hole was small the rabbit's body completely filled it, and the +ferret could not scramble past to get at the spot behind the ear where +it usually seizes. The ferret had therefore deliberately gnawn away the +hindquarters and so bored a passage. The ferret being so gorged was +useless for further hunting and was replaced in the bag. But Little John +gave him a drink of water first from the bottom of the ditch. + +Orion and I, wearied with the digging, now insisted on removing to the +next bury, for we felt sure that the remaining rabbits in this one would +not bolt. Little John had no choice but to comply, but he did so with +much reluctance and many rueful glances back at the holes from which he +took the nets. He was sure, he said, that there were at least +half-a-dozen still in the bury: he only wished he might have all that he +could get out of it. But we imperiously ordered a removal. + +We went some thirty yards down the mound, passing many smaller buries, +and chose a spot perfectly drilled with holes. While Little John was in +the ditch putting up nets, we slily undid the ferret-bag and turned +three ferrets at once loose into the holes. 'Lor! measter, measter, what +be you at?' cried Little John, quite beside himself. 'You'll spoil all +on it. Lor!' + +A sharp report as Orion fired at a rabbit that bolted almost under +Little John's fingers drowned his remonstrances, and he had to scramble +out of the way quick. Bang! bang! right and left: the firing became +rapid. There being no nets to alarm the rabbits and three ferrets +hunting them, they tumbled out in all directions as fast as we could +load. Now the cartridges struck branches and shattered them. Now the +shot flattened itself against sarsen stones imbedded in the mound. The +rabbits had scarce a yard to bolt from one hole to another, so that it +was sharp work. + +Little John now gave up all hope, and only pleaded piteously for his +ferrets. 'Mind as you doan't hit 'em, measter; doant'ee shoot into a +hole, you.' For half an hour we had some really good shooting: then it +began to slacken, and we told him to catch his ferrets and go on to the +next bury. I am not sure that he would not have rebelled outright but +just then a boy came up carrying a basket of provisions, and a large +earthenware jar with a bung cork, full of humming ale. Farmer Willum had +sent this, and the strong liquor quite restored Little John's good +humour. It really was ale--such as is not to be got for money. + +The boy said that he had seen Farmer Willum's hereditary enemy, the +keeper, watching us from his side of the boundary, doubtless attracted +by the sound of the firing. He said also that there was a pheasant in a +little copse beside the brook. We sent him out again to reconnoitre: he +returned and repeated that the keeper had gone, and that he thought he +saw him enter the distant fir plantations. So we left the boy to help +Little John at the next bury--a commission that made him grin with +delight, and suited the other very well, since the noisy guns were going +away, and he could use his nets. + +We took the lined ferret with us, and started after the pheasant. Just +as we approached the copse, the spaniel gave tongue on the other side of +the hedge. Orion had tied him up to a bush, wishing to leave him with +Little John. But the spaniel tore and twisted till he got loose and had +followed us--keeping out of sight--till now crossing the scent of a +rabbit he set up his bark. We called him to heel, and I am afraid he got +a kick. But the pheasant was alarmed, and rose before we could properly +enfilade the little copse, where we should most certainly have had him. +He flew high and straight for the fir plantations, where it was useless +to follow. + +However, we leaped the brook and entered the keeper's territory under +shelter of a thick double-mound. We slipped the lined ferret into a +small bury, and succeeded in knocking over a couple of rabbits. The +object of using the lined ferret was because we could easily recover it. +This was pure mischief, for there were scores of rabbits on our own +side. But then there was just a little spice of risk in this, and we +knew Willum would gloat over it. + +After firing these two shots we got back again as speedily as possible, +and once more assisted Little John. We could not, however, quite resist +the pleasure of shooting a rabbit occasionally and so tormenting him. We +left one hole each side without a net, and insisted on the removal of +the net that stretched across the top of the bank. This gave us a shot +now and then, and the removal of the cross net allowed the rabbit some +little law. + +Notwithstanding these drawbacks--to him--Little John succeeded in making +a good bag. He stayed till it was quite dark to dig out a ferret that +had killed a rabbit in the hole. He took his money for his day's work +with indifference: but when we presented him with two couple of clean +rabbits his gratitude was too much for him to express. The gnawn and +'blown' rabbits [by shot] were his perquisite, the clean rabbits an +unexpected gift. It was not their monetary value; it was the fact that +they were rabbits. + +The man's instinct for hunting was so strong that it seemed to overcome +everything else. He would walk miles--after a long day's farm work--just +to help old Luke, the rabbit contractor, bring home the rabbits in the +evening from the Upper Woods. He worked regularly for one farmer, and +did his work well: he was a sober man too as men go, that is he did not +get drunk more than once a month. A strong man must drink now and then: +but he was not a sot, and took nine-tenths of his money faithfully home +to his wife and children. + +In the winter when farm work is not so pressing he was allowed a week +off now and then, which he spent in ferreting for the farmers, and +sometimes for Luke, and of course he was only too glad to get such an +engagement as we gave him. Sometimes he made a good thing of his +ferreting: sometimes when the weather was bad it was a failure. But +although a few shillings were of consequence to him, it really did not +seem to be the money-value but the sport that he loved. To him that +sport was all-absorbing. + +His ferrets were well looked after, and he sometimes sold one for a good +price to keepers. As a rule a man who keeps ferrets is suspected: but +Little John was too well understood, and he had no difficulty in begging +a little milk for them. + +His tenacity in pursuit of a rabbit was always a source of wonder to me. +In rain, in wind, in frost; his feet up to the ankle in the ice-cold +slush at the bottom of a ditch: no matter what the weather or how rough, +he patiently stood to his nets. I have known him stand the whole day +long in a snowstorm--the snow on the ground and in the holes, the flakes +drifting against his face--and never once show impatience. All he +disliked was wind--not on account of discomfort, but because the +creaking of the branches and the howling of the blast made such a noise +that it was impossible to tell where the rabbit would bolt. + +He congratulated himself that evening because he had recovered all his +ferrets. Sometimes one will lie in and defy all efforts to bring it out. +One plan is to place a dead fresh rabbit at the mouth of the hole which +may tempt the ferret to come and seize it. In large woods there are +generally one or more ferrets wandering loose in the season, that have +escaped from the keepers or poachers. + +If the keeper sees one he tries to catch it; failing that, he puts a +charge of shot into it. Some keepers think nothing of shooting their own +ferrets if they will not come when called by the chirrup with the lips, +or displease them in other ways. They do not care, because they can have +as many as they like. Little John made pets of his: they obeyed him very +well as a rule. + +Poaching men are sometimes charged with stealing ferrets, _i.e._ with +picking up and carrying off those that keepers have lost. A ferret is, +however, a difficult thing to identify and swear to. + +Those who go poaching with ferrets choose a moonlight night: if it is +dark it is difficult to find the holes. Small buries are best because so +much more easily managed, and the ferret is usually lined. If a large +bury is attempted, they take the first half-dozen that bolt and then +move on to another. The first rabbits come out rapidly; the rest linger +as if warned by the fate of their companions. Instead of wasting time +over them it is best to move to another place. + +Unless a keeper should chance to pass up the hedgerow there is +comparatively little risk, for the men are in the ditch and invisible +ten yards away under the bushes and make no noise. It is more difficult +to get home with the game: but it is managed. Very small buries with not +more than four or five holes may be ferreted even on the darkest nights +by carefully observing beforehand where the holes are situate. + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + +A WINTER NIGHT: OLD TRICKS: PHEASANT-STALKING: MATCHLOCK _versus_ +BREECH-LOADER: CONCLUSION + + +When the moon is full and nearly at the zenith it seems to move so +slowly that the shadows scarcely change their position. In winter, when +the branches are bare, a light that is nearly vertical over a tree can +cast but little shadow, and that falls immediately around the trunk. So +that the smallness of the shadow itself and the slowness of its motion +together tend to conceal it. + +The snow on the ground increases the sense of light, and in approaching +the wood the scene is even more distinct than during the gloomy day. The +tips of the short stubble that has not yet been ploughed in places just +protrude above the surface, and the snow, frozen hard, crunches with a +low sound under foot. But for that all is perfectly still. The level +upland cornfields stretch away white and vacant to the hills--white, +too, and clear against the sky. The plain is silent, and nothing that +can be seen moves upon its surface. + +On the verge of the wood which occupies the sloping ground there stands +a great oak tree, and down one side of its trunk is a narrow white +streak of snow. Leaning against the oak and looking upwards, every +branch and twig is visible, lit up by the moon. Overhead the stars are +dimmed, but they shine more brightly yonder above the hills. Such leaves +as have not yet fallen hang motionless: those that are lying on the +ground are covered by the snow, and thus held fast from rustling even +were the wind to blow. But there is not the least breath--a great frost +is always quiet, profoundly quiet--and the silence is undisturbed even +by the fall of a leaf. The frost that kills them holds the leaves till +it melts, and then they drop. + +The tall ash poles behind in the wood stand stark and straight, pointing +upwards, and it is possible to see for some distance between them. No +lesser bats flit to and fro outside the fence under the branches; no +larger ones pass above the tops _of_ the trees. There seems, indeed, a +total absence of life. The pheasants are at roost in the warmer covers; +and the woodpigeons are also perched--some in the detached oaks of the +hedgerows, particularly those that are thickly grown with ivy about the +upper branches. Up in the great beeches the rooks are still and silent; +sometimes the boughs are encrusted with rime about their very claws. + +Leaving the oak now and skirting the wood, after a while the meadows on +the lower ground are reached; and here perhaps the slight scampering +sound of a rabbit may be heard. But as they can see and hear you so far +in the bright light and silence, they will most likely be gone before +you can get near. They are restless--very restless; first because of the +snow, and next because of the moonlight. The hares, unable to find +anything on the hills or the level white plain above, have come down +here and search along the sheltered hedgerows for leaf and blade. +To-night the rabbits will run almost like the hares, to and fro, hither +and thither. + +In the thickest hawthorns the blackbirds and lesser feathered creatures +are roosting, preferring the hedgerow to the more open wood. Some of the +lesser birds have crept into the ivy around the elms, and which crowns +the tops of the withy pollards. Wrens and sparrows have gone to the +hayricks, roosting in little holes in the sides under the slightly +projecting thatch. They have taken refuge too in the nest-holes made in +the thatched eaves of the sheds: tits are there also; and sometimes two +or three of the latter are captured at once in such holes. + +A dark line across the lower meadows marks the course of the brook; it +is dark because the snow falling on the water melted. Even now there is +a narrow stream unfrozen; though the banks against which it chafes are +hard, and will not take the impression of the moorhen's foot. The +water-rats that in summertime played and fed along the margin among the +flags are rarely seen in winter. In walking in daylight by the brook now +their plunge into the water will not be heard, nor can they be seen +travelling at the bottom. + +They lay up a store of food in a hole away from the stream, generally +choosing the banks or higher ground in the withy-beds--places that are +not often flooded. Their ordinary holes, which are half, and sometimes +quite, under water, will not do for winter; they would be frozen in +them, and perhaps their store of food would be spoiled; besides which +the floods cause the stream to rise above its banks, and they could not +exist under water for weeks together. + +Still further down, where the wood ends in scattered bushes and +withy-beds, the level shore of the shallow mere succeeds. The once soft, +oozy ground is now firm; the rushes are frozen stiff, and the ice for +some distance out is darkened by the aquatic weeds frozen in it. From +here the wood, rising up the slope, comes into view at once--the dark +trees, the ash poles, the distant beeches, the white crest of the +hill--all still and calm under the moonlight. The level white plain of +ice behind stretches away, its real extent concealed by the islands of +withy and the dark pines along the distant shore; while elsewhere the +ice is not distinguishable from the almost equally level fields that +join it. Looking now more closely on the snow, the tracks of hares and +rabbits that have crossed and recrossed the ice are visible. + +In passing close to the withy-beds to return to the wood some branches +have to be pushed aside and cause a slight noise. Immediately a crowd of +birds rise out of the withies, where they have been roosting, and +scatter into the night. They are redwings and thrushes; every withy-bed +is full of them. After wheeling about in the air they will presently +return--first one, then three or four, and finally the flock, to their +roosting-place. + +It is easy now to walk through the wood without making a noise: there is +room to pass between the stoles of ash; and the dead sticks that would +have cracked under foot are covered with snow. But be careful how you +step; for in some places the snow has fallen upon a mass of leaves +filling a swampy hollow. Above there is a thin crust of snow, but under +the leaves the oozy ground is still soft. + +Upon the dark pines the snow has lodged, making the boughs bend +downwards. Where the slope becomes a hill the ash stoles and nut-tree +bushes are far apart and thinner, so that there are wide white spaces +around them. Regaining now the top of the hill where the plain comes to +the verge of the wood, there is a clear view down across the ash poles +to the withies, the white mere, and the meadows below. Everywhere +silence, stillness, sleep. + +In the high trees slumbering creatures; in the hedgerows, in the bushes, +and the withies birds with feathers puffed out, slumbering; in the +banks, under the very ground, dormant animals. A quiet cold that at +first does not seem cold because it is so quiet, but which gradually +seizes on and stills the sap of plants and the blood of living things. A +ruthless frost, still, subtle, and irresistible, that will slay the bird +on its perch and weaken the swift hare. + +The most cruel of all things this snow and frost, because of the torture +of hunger which the birds must feel even in their sleep. But how +beautiful the round full moon, the brilliant light, the white landscape, +the graceful lines of the pine brought out by the snow, the hills +yonder, and the stars rising above them! + +It was on just such a night as this that some years since a most +successful raid was made upon this wood by a band of poachers coming +from a distance. The pheasants had been kept later than usual to be shot +by a Christmas party, and perhaps this had caused a relaxation of +vigilance. The band came in a cart of some kind; the marks of the wheels +were found on the snow where it had been driven off the highway and +across a field to some ricks. There, no doubt, the horse and cart were +kept out of sight behind the ricks, while the men, who were believed to +have worn smock-frocks, entered the wood. + +The bright moonlight made it easy to find the pheasants, and they were +potted in plenty. Finding that there was no opposition, the gang crossed +from the wood to some outlying plantations and continued their work +there. The keeper never heard a sound. He was an old man--a man who had +been on the estate all his life--and had come in late in the evening +after a long round. He sat by the fire of split logs and enjoyed the +warmth after the bitter cold and frost; and, as he himself confessed, +took an extra glass in consideration of the severity of the weather. + +His wife was old and deaf. Neither of them heard the guns nor the dogs. +Those in the kennels close to the cottage, and very likely one or more +indoors, must have barked at the noise of the shooting. But if any dim +sense of the uproar did reach the keeper's ear he put it down to the +moon, at which dogs will bay. As for his assistants, they had quietly +gone home, so soon as they felt sure that the keeper was housed for the +night. Long immunity from attack had bred over-confidence; the staff +also was too small for the extent of the place, and this had doubtless +become known. No one sleeps so soundly as an agricultural labourer; and +as the nearest hamlet was at some distance it is not surprising that +they did not wake. + +In the early morning a fogger going to fodder his cattle came across a +pheasant lying dead on the path, the snow stained with its blood. He +picked it up, and put it under his smock-frock, and carried it to the +pen, where he hid it under some litter, intending to take it home. But +afterwards, as he crossed the fields towards the farm, he passed near +the wood and observed the tracks of many feet and a gap in the fence. He +looked through the gap and saw that the track went into the preserves. +On second thoughts he went back for the pheasant and took it to his +master. + +The farmer, who was sitting down to table, quietly ate his breakfast, +and then strolled over to the keeper's cottage with the bird. This was +the first intimation: the keeper could hardly believe it, till he +himself went down and followed the trail of foot-marks. There was not +the least difficulty in tracing the course of the poachers through the +wood; the feathers were lying about; the scorched paper (for they used +muzzle-loaders), broken boughs, and shot-marks were all too plain. But +by this time the gang were well away, and none were captured or +identified. + +The extreme severity of the frost naturally caused people to stay +indoors, so that no one noticed the cart going through the village; nor +could the track of its wheels be discerned from others on the snow of +the highway beaten down firm. Even had the poachers been disturbed, it +is doubtful if so small a staff of keepers could have done anything to +stop them. As it was, they not only made a good haul--the largest made +for years in that locality--but quite spoiled the shooting. + +There are no white figures passing through the peaceful wood to-night +and firing up into the trees. It is perfectly still. The broad moon +moves slow, and the bright rays light up tree and bush, so that it is +easy to see through, except where the brambles retain their leaves and +are fringed with the dead ferns. + +The poaching of the present day is carried on with a few appliances +only. An old-fashioned poacher could employ a variety of 'engines,' but +the modern has scarcely any choice. There was, for instance, a very +effective mode of setting a wire with a springe or bow. A stout stick +was thrust into the ground, and then bent over into an arch. When the +wire was thrown it instantly released the springe, which sprang up and +drew it fast round the neck of the hare or rabbit, whose fore feet were +lifted from the earth. Sometimes a growing sapling was bent down for the +bow if it chanced to stand conveniently near a run. The hare no sooner +put her head into the noose than she was suspended and strangled. + +I tried the springe several times for rabbits, and found it answer; but +the poacher cannot use it because it is so conspicuous. The stick +itself, rising above the grass, is visible at some distance, and when +thrown it holds the hare or rabbit up for any one to see that passes by. +With a wire set in the present manner the captured animal lies extended, +and often rolls into a furrow and is further hidden. + +The springe was probably last employed by the mole-catchers. Their +wooden traps were in the shape of a small tunnel, with a wire in the +middle which, when the mole passed through, set free a bent stick. This +stick pulled the wire and hung the mole. Such mole-catchers' bows or +springes used to be seen in every meadow, but are now superseded by the +iron trap. + +Springes with horsehair nooses on the ground were also set for woodcocks +and for wild ducks. It is said that a springe of somewhat similar +construction was used for pheasants. Horsehair nooses are still applied +for capturing woodpeckers and the owls that spend the day in hollow +trees, being set round the hole by which they leave the tree. A more +delicate horsehair noose is sometimes set for finches and small birds. I +tried it for bullfinches, but did not succeed from lack of the dexterity +required. The modes of using bird-lime were numerous, and many of them +are in use for taking song-birds. + +But the enclosure of open lands, the strict definition of footpaths, +closer cultivation, and the increased value of game have so checked the +poacher's operations with nets that in many districts the net may be +said to be extinct. It is no longer necessary to bush the stubbles +immediately after reaping. Brambles are said to have been the best for +hindering the net, which frequently swept away an entire covey, old +birds and young together. Stubbles are now so short that no birds will +lie in them, and the net would not be successful there if it were tried. + +The net used to be so favourite an 'engine' because partridges and +pheasants will run rather than fly. In the case of partridges the +poacher had first to ascertain the haunt of the covey, which he could do +by looking for where they roost at night: the spot is often worn almost +bare of grass and easily found. Or he could listen in the evening for +the calling of the birds as they run together. The net being set, he +walked very slowly down the wind towards the covey. It could not be done +too quietly or gently, because if one got up all the rest would +immediately take wing; for partridges act in concert. If he took his +time and let them run in front of him he secured the whole number. That +was the principle; but the nets were of many kinds: the partridges were +sometimes driven in by a dog. The partridges that appear in the market +on the morning of the 1st of September are said to be netted, though +probably by those who have a right to do so. These birds by nature lend +themselves to such tricks, being so timid. It is said that if +continually driven to and fro they will at last cower, and can be taken +by hand or knocked over with a stick. + +The sight of a paper kite in the air makes them motionless till forced +to rise; and there was an old dodge of ringing a bell at night, which so +alarmed the covey that they remained still till the net was ready, when +a sudden flash of light drove them into it. Imagine a poacher ringing a +bell nowadays! Then, partridges were peculiarly liable to be taken; now, +perhaps, they escape better than any other kind of game. Except with a +gun the poacher can hardly touch them, and after the coveys have been +broken up it is not worth his while to risk a shot very often. If only +their eggs could be protected there should be little difficulty with +partridges. + +Pheasants are more individual in their ways, and act less together; but +they have the same habit of running instead of flying, and if a poacher +did but dare he could take them with nets as easily as possible. They +form runs through the woods--just as fowls will wander day after day +down a hedge, till they have made quite a path. So that, having found +the run and knowing the position of the birds, the rest is simplicity +itself. The net being stretched, the pheasants were driven in. A cur dog +was sometimes sent round to disturb the birds. Being a cur, he did not +bark, for which reason a strain of cur is preferred to this day by the +mouchers who keep dogs. Now that the woods are regularly watched such a +plan has become impracticable. It might indeed be done once, but surely +not twice where competent keepers were about. + +Nets were also used for hares and rabbits, which were driven in by a +dog; but, the scent of these animals being so good, it was necessary to +work in such a manner that the wind might not blow from the net, meeting +them as they approached it. Pheasants, as every one knows, roost on +trees, but often do not ascend very high; and, indeed, before the leaves +are off they are said to be sometimes taken by hand--sliding it along +the bough till the legs are grasped, just as you might fowls perched at +night on a rail across the beams of a shed. + +The spot where they roost is easily found out, because of the peculiar +noise they make upon flying up; and with a little precaution the trees +may be approached without startling them. Years ago the poacher carried +a sulphur match and lit it under the tree, when the fumes, ascending, +stupefied the birds, which fell to the ground. The process strongly +resembled the way in which old-fashioned folk stifled their bees by +placing the hive at night, when the insects were still, over a piece of +brown paper dipped in molten brimstone and ignited. The apparently dead +bees were afterwards shaken out and buried; but upon moving the earth +with a spade some of them would crawl out, even after two or three days. + +Sulphur fumes were likewise used for compelling rabbits to bolt from +their buries without a ferret. I tried an experiment in a bury once with +a mixture the chief component of which was gunpowder, so managed as to +burn slowly and give a great smoke. The rabbits did, indeed, just hop +out and hop in again; but it is a most clumsy expedient, because the +fire must be lit on the windward side, and the rabbits will only come +out to leeward. The smoke hangs, and does not penetrate into half the +tunnels; or else it blows through quickly, when you must stop half the +holes with a spade. It is a wretched substitute for a ferret. + +When cock-fighting was common the bellicose inclinations of the +cock-pheasants were sometimes excited to their destruction. A gamecock +was first armed with the sharp spur made from the best razors, and then +put down near where a pheasant-cock had been observed to crow. The +pheasant cock is so thoroughly game that he will not allow any rival +crowing in his locality, and the two quickly met in battle. Like a keen +poniard the game-cock's spur either slew the pheasant outright or got +fixed in the pheasant's feathers, when he was captured. + +A pheasant, too, as he ran deeper into the wood upon an alarm, +occasionally found his neck in a noose suspended across his path. For +rabbiting, the lurcher was and is the dog of all others. He is as +cunning and wily in approaching his game as if he had a cross of feline +nature in his character. Other dogs trust to speed; but the lurcher +steals on his prey without a sound. He enters into the purpose of his +master, and if any one appears in sight remains quietly in the hedge +with the rabbit or leveret in his mouth till a sign bids him approach. +If half the stories told of the docility and intelligence of the lurcher +are true, the poacher needs no other help than one of these dogs for +ground game. But the dogs called lurchers nowadays are mostly of +degenerate and impure breed; still, even these are capable of a good +deal. + +There is a way of fishing with rod and line, but without a bait. The rod +should be in one piece, or else a stout one--the line also very strong +and short, the hook of large size. When the fish is discovered the hook +is quietly dropped into the water and allowed to float, in seeming, +along, till close under it. The rod is then jerked up, and the barb +enters the body of the fish and drags it out. + +This plan requires, of course, that the fish should be visible, and if +stationary is more easily practised; but it is also effective even +against small fish that swim together in large shoals, for if the hook +misses one it strikes another. The most fatal time for fish is when they +spawn: roach, jack, and trout alike are then within reach, and if the +poacher dares to visit the water he is certain of a haul. + +Even in the present day and in the south a fawn is now and then stolen +from parks and forests where deer are kept. Being small, it is not much +more difficult to hide than a couple of hares; and once in the carrier's +cart and at a little distance no one asks any questions. Such game +always finds a ready sale; and when a savoury dish is on the table those +who are about to eat it do not inquire whence it came any more than the +old folk did centuries ago. A nod and a wink are the best sauce. As the +keepers are allowed to sell a certain number of fawns (or say they are), +it is not possible for any one at a distance to know whether the game +was poached or not. An ordinary single-barrel muzzle-loader of the +commonest kind with a charge of common shot will kill a fawn. + +I once started to stalk a pheasant that was feeding in the corner of a +meadow. Beyond the meadow there was a cornfield which extended across to +a preserved wood. But the open stubble afforded no cover--any one +walking in it could be seen--so that the pheasant had to be got at from +one side only. It was necessary also that he should be shot dead without +fluttering of wings, the wood being so near. + +The afternoon sun, shining in a cloudless sky--it was a still October +day--beat hot against the western side of the hedge as I noiselessly +walked beside it. In the aftermath, green but flowerless, a small flock +of sheep were feeding--one with a long briar clinging to his wool. They +moved slowly before me; a thing I wanted; for behind sheep almost any +game can be approached. + +I have also frequently shot rabbits that were out feeding, by the aid of +a herd of cows. It does not seem to be so much the actual cover as the +scent of the animals; for a man of course can be seen over sheep, and +under the legs of cattle. But the breath and odour of sheep or cows +prevent the game from scenting him, and, what is equally effective, the +cattle, to which they are accustomed, throw them off their guard. + +The cart-horses in the fields do not answer so well: if you try to use +one for stalking, unless he knows you he will sheer off and set up a +clumsy gallop, being afraid of capture and a return to work. But cows +will feed steadily in front, and a flock of sheep, very slowly driven, +move on with a gentle 'tinkle, tinkle.' Wild creatures show no fear of +what they are accustomed to, and the use of which they understand. + +If a solitary hurdle be set up in a meadow as a hiding-place from behind +which to shoot the rabbits of a burrow, not one will come out within +gun-shot that evening. They know-that it is something strange, the use +of which they do not understand and therefore avoid. When I first began +to shoot, the difficulty was to judge the distances, and to know how far +a rabbit was from a favourite hiding-place. I once carefully dropped +small green boughs, just broken off, at twenty, thirty, and forty yards, +measuring by paces. This was in the morning. + +In the evening not a rabbit would come out anywhere near these boughs; +they were shy of them even when the leaves had withered and turned +brown; so that I took them away. Yet of the green boughs blown off by a +gale, or the dead grey branches that fall of their own weight, they take +no notice. + +First, then, they must have heard me in their burrows pacing by; +secondly, they scented the boughs as having been handled, and connected +the two circumstances together; and, thirdly, though aware that the +boughs themselves were harmless, they felt that harm was intended. The +pheasant had been walking about in the corner where the hedges met, but +now he went in; still, as he entered the hedge in a quiet way, he did +not appear to be alarmed. The sheep, tired of being constantly driven +from their food, now sheered out from the hedge, and allowed me to go +by. + +As I passed I gathered a few haws and ate them. The reason why birds do +not care much for berries before they are forced to take to them by +frost is because of the stone within, so that the food afforded by the +berries is really small. Yew-berries are an exception; they have a +stone, but the covering to it is sweet, succulent, and thick, and dearly +loved by thrushes. In the ditch the tall grasses, having escaped the +scythe, bowed low with the weight of their own awn-like seeds. + +The corner was not far off now; and I waited awhile behind a large +hawthorn bush growing on the 'shore' of the ditch, thinking that I might +see the pheasant on the mound, or that at least he would recover +confidence if he had previously heard anything. Inside the bush was a +nest already partly filled with fallen leaves, like a little basket. + +A rabbit had been feeding on the other side, but now, suspicious, came +over the bank, and, seeing me, suddenly stopped and lifted himself up. +In that moment I could have shot him, being so near, without putting the +gun to the shoulder, by the sense of direction in the hands; the next he +dived into a burrow. Looking round the bush, I now saw the pheasant in +the hedge, that crossed at right angles in front; this was fortunate, +because through that hedge there was another meadow. It was full of +nut-tree bushes, very tall and thick at the top, but lower down thin, as +is usually the case when poles grow high. To fill the space a fence had +been made of stakes and bushes woven between them, and on this the +pheasant stood. + +It was too far for a safe shot; in a minute he went down into the meadow +on the other side. I then crept on hands and knees towards the +nut-bushes: as I got nearer there was a slight rustle and a low hiss in +the grass, and I had to pause while a snake went by hastening for the +ditch. A few moments afterwards, being close to the hedge, I rose partly +up, and looked carefully over the fence between the hazel wands. There +was the pheasant not fifteen yards away, his back somewhat towards me, +and quietly questing about. + +In lifting the gun I had to push aside a bough--the empty hoods, from +which a bunch of brown nuts had fallen, rested against the barrel as I +looked along it. I aimed at the head--knowing that it would mean instant +death, and would also avoid shattering the bird at so short a range; +besides which there would be fewer scattered feathers to collect and +thrust out of sight into a rabbit bury. A reason why people frequently +miss pheasants in cover-shooting, despite of their size, is because they +look at the body, the wings, and the tail. But if they looked only at +the head, and thought of that, very few would escape. My finger felt the +trigger, and the least increase of pressure would have been fatal; but +in the act I hesitated, dropped the barrel, and watched the beautiful +bird. + +That watching so often stayed the shot that at last it grew to be a +habit: the mere simple pleasure of seeing birds and animals, when they +were quite unconscious that they were observed, being too great to be +spoilt by the discharge. After carefully getting a wire over a jack; +after waiting in a tree till a hare came along; after sitting in a mound +till the partridges began to run together to roost; in the end the wire +or gun remained unused. The same feeling has equally checked my hand in +legitimate shooting: time after time I have flushed partridges without +firing, and have let the hare bound over the furrow free. + +I have entered many woods just for the pleasure of creeping through the +brake and the thickets. Destruction in itself was not the motive; it was +an overpowering instinct for woods and fields. Yet woods and fields lose +half their interest without a gun--I like the power to shoot, even +though I may not use it. The very perfection of our modern guns is to me +one of their drawbacks: the use of them is so easy and so certain of +effect that it takes away the romance of sport. + +There could be no greater pleasure to me than to wander with a matchlock +through one of the great forests or wild tracts that still remain in +England. A hare a day, a brace of partridges, or a wild duck would be +ample in the way of actual shooting. The weapon itself, whether +matchlock, wheel-lock, or even a cross-bow, would be a delight. Some of +the antique wheel-lock guns are really beautiful specimens of design. +The old powder-horns are often gems of workmanship--hunting scenes cut +out in ivory, and the minutest detail of hoof or antler rendered with +life-like accuracy. How pleasant these carvings feel to the fingers! It +is delightful to handle such weapons and such implements. + +The matchlocks, too, are inlaid or the stocks carved. There is slaughter +in every line of our modern guns--mechanical slaughter. But were I +offered participation in the bloodiest battue ever arranged, or the +freedom of an English forest or mountain tract, to go forth at any time +untrammelled by attendant, but only to shoot with matchlock, wheel-lock, +or cross-bow, my choice would be unhesitating. + +There would be pleasure in winding up the lock with the spanner; +pleasure in adjusting the priming; or with the matchlock in lighting the +match. To wander out into the brake, to creep from tree to tree so +noiselessly that the woodpecker should not cease to tap--in that there +is joy. The consciousness that everything depends upon your own personal +skill, and that you have no second resource if that fails you, gives the +real zest to sport. + +If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly; if the priming had not +been kept dry or the match not properly blown, or the cross-bow set +exactly accurate, then the care of approach would be lost. You must hold +the gun steady, too, while the slow priming ignites the charge. + +An imperfect weapon--yes; but the imperfect weapon would accord with the +great oaks, the beech trees full of knot-holes, the mysterious thickets, +the tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase would become a +real chase: not, as now, a foregone conclusion. And there would be time +for pondering and dreaming. + +Let us be always out of doors among trees and grass, and rain and wind +and sun. There the breeze comes and strikes the cheek and sets it aglow: +the gale increases and the trees creak and roar, but it is only a ruder +music. A calm follows, the sun shines in the sky, and it is the time to +sit under an oak, leaning against the bark, while the birds sing and the +air is soft and sweet. By night the stars shine, and there is no +fathoming the dark spaces between those brilliant points, nor the +thoughts that come as it were between the fixed stars and landmarks of +the mind. + +Or it is the morning on the hills, when hope is as wide as the world; or +it is the evening on the shore. A red sun sinks, and the foam-tipped +waves are crested with crimson; the booming surge breaks, and the spray +flies afar, sprinkling the face watching under the pale cliffs. Let us +get out of these indoor narrow modern days, whose twelve hours somehow +have become shortened, into the sunlight and the pure wind. A something +that the ancients called divine can be found and felt there still. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Amateur Poacher, by Richard Jefferies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMATEUR POACHER *** + +***** This file should be named 13730.txt or 13730.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/7/3/13730/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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