ON PLAIN AND PEAK 



" I have seen this game before," he says to him- 

 self. "You don't take me in ! I'll just stop in this 

 thick bush, and when that line of beaters comes 

 up to me I'll slip back through them." 



This being so, one must not be too confident of 

 success. One may not see a buck all day. 



But let us turn over the pages of the book of 

 memory, and take therefrom a typical day's roebuck- 

 driving. 



It is a beautiful morning one of those fine Sep- 

 tember days that seem to be a last remnant of 

 summer. Still there are signs that autumn is near 

 at hand : the heat is as great as ever, but the oaks 

 are already tinged with red and yellow, and under 

 the birches the fallen leaves lie thick. The air in 

 the early morning and late evening is chilly, and the 

 grass is drenched in dew that sparkles in the bright 

 sunshine. 



We are five guns : the Prince, our host, a fine 

 specimen of the sport-loving Austrian, equally at 

 home with gun or rifle, between the flags or behind 

 the hounds ; the Count, tall, elderly, and solemn, 

 with a long grey beard that gives him an "old man 



of the sea" appearance ; M , short and stout, his 



whole figure outlined in graceful curves, with a 

 countenance that beams with good nature like an 



amiable harvest moon ; K , thin and spare, a 



diminutive walking lamp-post ; and lastly, myself. 



72 



