304 WOLF-HUNTING. 



stranger was an officer, whom we had met at Concarneau, and 

 that he had wandered thus far in search of game, which, owing 

 to the garrison and braconniers, had become lamentably scarce 

 in the neighbourhood of that seaport. The remise proved to be a 

 patch of close, stubby gorse, in which the birds would be quite 

 certain to lie dead as stones ; for it was impossible they could run 

 a yard in such a cover, wont, as their habit is, to give leg-bail when 

 there is a chance of doing so ; and as even the setters found it a 

 difficult matter to force their way through the prickly mass, Shafto 

 suggested that we should form line and tread it out piecemeal, as 

 the only mode of getting the birds to rise from so strong a place. 



Accordingly we proceeded at once to adopt this plan; and 

 the strange chasseur, whom we afterwards discovered to be a 

 Capitaine Rainault, was offered, as a point of etiquette, his 

 choice of position, right or left wing, or centre, whichever he 

 preferred. To our great surprise, however, he stoutly refused 

 to use his gun; but, at the same time volunteered to help in 

 beating up the game, insisting that, as we had found the covey 

 in the first place, the privilege of shooting it belonged exclusively 

 to us. But Keryfan, whose good-nature would not permit him 

 to take advantage of the stranger's scruples, planted himself in 

 the old palaver attitude, and proceeded deliberately to argue the 

 point on the very edge of the gorse. " Good," said he ; " we 

 certainly were the first to find the birds, but, in all probability, 

 we should never have seen them again if you had not kindly 

 interposed and given us this information ; so pray consider that 

 you are fairly entitled to share the sport with us." 



His rhetoric, however, was of little use ; for the Captain, 

 handing his gun to the Breton servant, and taking possession 

 of his staff, jumped into the gorse, saying jauntily, as he did so, 

 that he wished to take a lesson in shooting from the English 

 chasseurs, of whose exploits such marvellous accounts had 

 reached the Concarneau garrison. The cover was then drawn 



