CHAPTER IV 



A MONTH AT STRATHMAACOE 



Verily I do not think that in all the kingdom there was a 

 happier man than myself, as I, Augustus Gee, drove up to the 

 hall door of Castle Strathmaacoe on a sunny afternoon on the 

 nth of August, 1881. The original and historical castle was 

 of the tower and extinguisher order, while of the little that 

 remained thereof the basement contained servants' offices, and 

 the upper part held nothing but a few bachelors' bedrooms. 

 The whole of the rest of the building was comparatively 

 modern, and had been added on to the older structure with 

 profuse luxury. It was not much, however, that I cared 

 for the style of the architecture of the house about to 

 shelter me ; that which interested me beyond everything 

 else was the fact of there being some thirty thousand 

 acres of deer forest, with nearly as many more of grouse 

 and low ground shooting, belonging to this Castle of 

 Strathmaacoe. The fortunate Highland laird who owned it 

 had also another property somewhat of the same character 

 in an adjacent county ; thus, as circumstances prevented him 

 from living in both, and doing justice to each, he had wisely 

 allowed my friend, Tom Berks, to take a lease of Strath- 

 maacoe at the bagatelle of three thousand pounds a year. 

 There were people who knew nothing about sport who said 

 it was very dear ; others there were, myself included, who 

 vowed it was " dirt cheap, sir ! " but whether dear or the 

 reverse, Tom Berks cared not a jot ; the house together with 

 the sport were both first-rate, while the happy lessee could well 



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