8 Game in the Furrows. 



larger than they really are in the dusk, and seeming 

 to appear upon the scene suddenly. They have a 

 trick of stealing along close to the low mounds which 

 divide arable fields, so that they are unobserved till 

 they turn out into the open ground. 



It is not easy to distinguish a hare when crouching 

 in a ploughed field, his color harmonizes so well with 

 the clods ; so that an unpractised eye generally fails 

 to note him. An old hand with the gun cannot pass 

 a field without involuntarily glancing along the fur- 

 rows made by the plough to see if their regular 

 grooves are broken by an}- thing hiding therein. The 

 ploughmen usually take special care with their work 

 near public roads, so that the furrows end on to the 

 base of the highway shall be mathematically straight. 

 They often succeed so well that the furrows look as 

 if traced with a ruler, and exhibit curious effects of 

 vanishing perspective. Along the furrow, just as it 

 is turned, there runs a shimmering light as the eye 

 traces it up. The ploughshare, heavy and drawn 

 with great force, smooths the earth as it cleaves it, 

 giving it for a time a ' face ' as it were, the moisture 

 on which reflects the light. If you watch the farmers 

 driving to market, you will see that they glance up 

 the furrows to note the workmanship and look for 

 game ; you may tell from a distance if they espy a 

 hare by the check of the rein and the extended hand 

 pointing. 



The partridges, too, cower as they hear the noise 

 of wheels or footsteps, but their brown backs, rounded 

 as they stoop, do not deceive the eye that knows full 

 well the irregular shape taken by lumps of earth. 

 Both hares and rabbits may be watched with ease 



