WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 35 



difficulty j and it was not till I had tossed down a five-franc piece, 

 and ordered the aubergiste to produce a bottle of " Bordeaux " (I 

 might as well have asked for Jove's nectar), that the sense of self- 

 interest diverted his wrath ; while, at the same time, the demand 

 for wine excited the thirsty appetite of the sorely-bruised garde - 

 du-bois. But wine alone, such as it was, did not satisfy the 

 latter. He called loudly for a chopine of cider, with a goutte of 

 eau-de-vie to qualify and warm that harsher liquor ; and six 

 successive chopines of the mixture did he gulp down in the space 

 of a few minutes. He then settled down again in the chimney 

 corner, as if he intended making a night of it with the less 

 disgusting beast, now no longer molested, in the opposite corner. 



Keryfan signalled to me, and said, in an undertone, " Frank, 

 we shall have no more trouble with this fellow ; in ten minutes 

 he will be as drunk as Bacchus, and then we'll make a fresh start 

 of it." 



Quite true ; in less time than that he was lying on his back, 

 snoring aloud, like Polyphemus in his Trinacrian cave. 



" Now, then," said Keryfan to the aubergiste, " take care to 

 close the door as we leave the house ; for if those dogs of his 

 follow us, I'll shoot both of them in the first cover." 



The man, in a subdued whisper, expressed his readiness to do 

 as he was directed ; but intimated his conviction that the garde, 

 on waking up and finding the gentlemen gone, would comport 

 himself like an unchained wolf. 



A few steps brought us to the edge of Penmaen Wood ; a few 

 more, and we were threading our way through the oak and alder- 

 bushes of this extensive cover, the spaniels working busily in a 

 narrow circle around us, and flushing a cock frequently under our 

 very guns. Twice Keryfan bagged his right and left shots ; but, 

 on this occasion, I did not get the same chance. 



It is human nature, perhaps, to be prejudiced in favour of 

 one's own race ; and to believe, as almost every Englishman does 



