1 8 CONVERSATIONAL HINTS 



some reason or other our host had refused, or had 

 been unable, to drive the birds. One result was 

 that we had tramped and tramped and tramped, 

 getting only rare shots, and doing but little exe- 

 cution. Another result was, that the place was 

 simply littered with lost tempers, and we sat down 

 to lunch very much out of conceit with ourselves, our 

 guns, our cartridges, the keepers, the dogs, and 

 everything else. The pleasant array of plates and 

 glasses, and the savoury odours of the meats miti- 

 gated but did not dispel the frowns. Then sud- 

 denly there dropped down amongst us, as it were 

 from the sky, the Great Woodcock Saga. In a 

 moment the events of the morning were forgotten, 

 brows cleared, tempers were picked up, and an 

 eager hilarity reigned over the company, while the 

 adventures of the wonderful bird were pursued from 

 tree to tree, from clump to clump, through all the 

 zigzags of his marvellous flight, until he finally 

 vanished triumphantly into the unknown. 



Now the Great Woodcock Saga is brought about 

 in this way : First of all, suppose that a woodcock 

 has shown himself somewhere or other during the 

 morning. If he was seen, it follows, as the day 

 follows the night, (1) that everybody shot at him 



