DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 67 



of the lane by an unusual route before the dogs were 

 put to work, and, as I stood hidden, I could have made 

 a varied bag had it not been determined that nothing 

 was to tempt me but the mangy fox. \\ hile the coming 

 guns were still a long way off, I distinctly heard a move- 

 ment amongst the rushes in the ditch not twenty yards 

 away, and, after a moment's holding of my breath, 

 I saw the big red beast go off with swishing tail. All 

 his side was offered, so I could not miss. I shot him 

 forward and he dropped dead. 



i\Iy presence proved a stop to a variety of game, 

 and the shooting became frequent as the guns neared 

 the spot where I had stood. Somehow the shooting 

 of the fox, mang}'' as he was, had lulled my desire to 

 shoot, and I stood some distance from the bank and 

 watched the doings of our host and Wilson. As they 

 neared the end the dogs set up a noisy yapping, and 

 George called out, 'There's a big otter going down the 

 ditch.' This call roused me, and I was prepared to 

 shoot, for I have no love for the cruel beast that eats 

 of his living victim until it dies and then seeks a fresh 

 one. He came my way, and, as he crossed the path 

 to the river, I got a full view and shot him, and more 

 remarkable than this double achievement is the fact 

 that on the same day, in the following year, at the 

 same spot, I shot another otter. 



This lane has a reputation, well deserved, for har- 

 bouring in its ivy-clad trees, moth-eaten oaks and elms, 

 and sedgy ditches, every variety of feathered creature 

 that visits the Thames valley. November fogs bring 

 woodcock and snipe. Now, as we drove beneath the 

 shadow of the ancient trees, startled rabbits, some so 

 small that only ear-tips were seen above the grass, 

 scudded across to their burrows. 



Mr \\'ilson was at the stable door, when George 

 and I got there, giving directions to the stableman. 

 On his turning and seeing us he nodded and entered 

 the stable, and we followed. When opposite the 



