THE POACHKKS. 253 



(a laugh). Now, if I catch a hare you can't swear to it, and say, 

 that's mine, same as you can to a sheep ! No, no, 'Squire Ogilby 

 might come and say, it's mine, or Lord Hickman (here Emma smiled 

 at her lover) say, it's mine ; no, no, your honour, if I have catched it, 

 it's mine. I've a bit of a garden at home ; hares often come and eat 

 my cabbages ; last week Joe Cuekson shot one in my garden ; I 

 was'nt to go to him and say, ' Joe, that's my hare ;' no, it was his. 

 You may say he broke the law ; no, he did'nt. The hare broke 

 through my fence, and came to eat my cabbage, and got eaten itself. 



" Your worship sends us to prison. God bless you, we're none the 

 worse for that ; nobody thinks a straw the worse about us for been 

 sent there for poaching ; because, as I said before, there's no harm 

 in it ; beside, I can tell your worship, that when a lot of us is in pri- 

 son together, we get more enlightened, and get to know all the best 

 places i' the country for hares. 



" Now, for instance, your honour, suppose we're all sitting i' the pri- 

 son, just before bed-time, and the moonlight comes through the bars, 

 making it as light as day, why one says, ' If I were in Warten-\vood 

 to night, I would have half a dozen good hares before morning/ 

 Then another says, ' You may take Warten-wood give me Cor- 

 ringham-scroggs/ and another says, ' I prefer Somerby turnip-fields/ 

 So your worship sees what with one and another, we get to know all 

 the best places. And if we live within a few miles of one another, 

 why when we get out we're sure to meet together, and make the 

 hares suffer. Beside, your worship, how many poor fellows has been 

 shot, about a few hares, which is nobody's property until they're 

 catched. I mean to say that them Game Laws is a disgrace to Old 

 England. I wish 1 was only i' the Parliament House, I would put 

 some on 'em to the right about." 



" I wish you was," echoed Mike. The old 'Squire had sat atten- 

 tively listening to this long rough oration, when it was evident, 

 from the silence which ensued, that Woodcock's unpolished elo- 

 quence had taken effect. 



" I am not going to say that the game laws are altogether just," 

 said the 'Squire, "but there must be some kind of regulations, or all 

 the game would very soon be destroyed. It is well known that the 

 whole of the first week in November I allow any person to hunt 

 over my estate that chooses, and if they wish for a day's sport at any 

 other time, by applying, their request is always granted : I wish my 

 neighbours would follow my example this imprisoning and shooting 

 would then very soon disappear." 



" I wish they would," answered Woodcock. 



" Father," said Emma, " let the poor men have some refreshment 

 before they go home;" and the lovely girl rang the bell without 

 waiting for an answer. " Mary, set the table in the kitchen for the 

 poachers (she paused) and their attendants to have supper." 



" You can go into the kitchen," said the 'Squire, " and in the mean- 

 time I will consider what is to be done with you until morning. 

 I feel very sorry, but the law insists upon my doing justice/' 



" Yes, your worship," answered Woodcock, " what in the eyes of 

 one man is justice, in the eyes of another is oppression." 



