100 SEPTEMBER IN BROAD LAND. 



' But law, 'bor, 'tisn't no use a-talkin'; tew much of the mischief's done. Avo- 

 cets an' harriers, black-tailed godwits, spune-bills an' bitterns ha' slipped us, only 

 stragglers turnin' up at intervals. In yon alder carr, I've heerd my dad say, ' blue 

 dorrs' (black terns) bred in his younger days by hundreds. We only see now a few 

 in spring on passage. 



i And yet I live by slaughter ! Well, gentlemen, that's my callin', sure-fo/. 

 But though I du raise partridges an' pheasants, I use a little common-sense in 

 what I point my gun at. And du I believe in the wholesale slaughter of game 

 birds ? Wai, I doan't see no harm in it any more 'an killin' chickens, for ain't they 

 more 'an half domesticated, and bred a purpose ? ' 



A half-hour's chat with this strange conglomeration of philosopher and keeper 

 leads to many other interesting topics, but time is on the wing, and we say good- 

 day to the honest fellow. The shower has passed over, and nature has assumed a 

 most delightful aspect. We row our boat to her mooring-place, for the wind has 

 failed us. An aged fenman is examining his eel-set as we jump ashore, and we fain 

 would edge him into gossip, but the wing of time is still fluttering. The loud boom 

 of the keeper's gun bespeaks the discomfiture of the starlings which have, unluckily 

 for themselves, wheeled within range of his ' fowling-piece.' 



A bunch of wild fowl pass overhead in hurried flight. A wren chatters on a 

 sallow stump beside us, a weasel vanishes in the undergrowth at a hedge hard by 

 it, and a couple of swans are probing the muddy bottom of a little ' beck ' on our 

 left. 



We drop in at the { Blue Boar '* to enjoy a late but welcome dinner. We are 

 this time sole occupants of the sanded parlour, save for the presence of the host 

 himself, who has much to ask and much to answer. And what appetites we've 

 been acquiring! Two hours later and our steeds are in their usual places in our 

 homes in the busy town. 



