November An Indiscreet Poacher. 27 



years ago, but it was owing to an extraordinary absence 

 of tact on the part of the poacher himself, who had not 

 yet learned the refinements of his trade. The President 

 affected to interrogate him with great severity, on which 

 the prisoner was simple enough to answer, ' What ? don't 

 you know me ? I'm the man that supplies your own 

 kitchen with game. It was I who sold that haie to 

 your cook only last week.' ' Silence, prisoner ! ' shouted 

 both the President and the Procureur Imperial, and the 

 man was condemned at once ; not for poaching, but for 

 indiscretion. The simple truth is, that the poachers are 

 the regular purveyors of all who have a taste for game ; 

 and as magistrates and other official persons know that 

 their kitchens are supplied by persons of this class, their 

 lenity may be counted upon if only the prisoner has the 

 tact to play his part in the little comedy so as not to 

 compromise his betters. Even the dignitaries of the 

 Church are not proof against the temptations of good 

 eating, and sometimes consume viands which have not 

 been come by either legally or honestly. There was a 

 certain Bishop, now dead, who took his share of re- 

 sponsibility in these matters with a pleasant humor. 

 Wishing to eat venison when not quite in season, he sent 

 half the body of the deer that tempted him as a present 

 to the Prefect, who lived in the same town, and accom- 

 panied the gift by the following little note, ' Parta- 

 geons la responsabilite" : chargez-vous du temporel ; je 

 me charge du spiritual. 1 



Sometimes a few sportsmen unite to prosecute poach- 

 ers, but their efforts encounter the perpetual difficulty 



