Poachers 2 1 5 



was finally suggested. Close to them was an immense 

 rabbit-hole, probably enlarged by a fox. Into this 

 they thrust his head as far as ever it would go, till, in 

 fact, only his legs protruded. Between these they ran 

 in a sheep stake, so that it was impossible for him to get 

 out or to make any noise to attract attention. There 

 he had to lie and shiver with cold, while his tormentors 

 calmly went on with their job, laughing at the trick as 

 they did so. He was found next morning by a shep- 

 herd, who, when he saw what he took to be a dead 

 man's feet sticking out of the earth, was so unnerved 

 as hardly to be able to relieve him. 



One of the most notable river poachers I ever 

 knew was Mark Smith. What a splendid athlete he 

 was may be judged from one of his most famous feats. 

 At half-past eight o'clock, on a night in early winter, 

 he was caught in the act by two keepers, who, to their 

 own satisfaction, identified their man. Nevertheless, 

 at the sessions, to which he was duly summoned, he 

 established an alibi by proving that before 10 o'clock 

 he was drinking and quarrelling in the public-house 

 of a village fifteen miles off was, in fact, so drunk 

 that the landlord refused to serve him. He had, 

 aided by a short cut or two, run the distance. Water- 

 bailiffs generally came to grief if they meddled with 

 him. The story of those who captured him was that 

 he had been on the opposite side of a river across 

 which it was necessary to carry him in a boat. At 

 the deepest portion of the stream, however, getting 



