DAYS IN THE STUBBLES 47 



children by the burnside at the farm, near at 

 hand the clank of the plough, now and then 

 the grouse's call as they prepare to leave the 

 moor at last, hunger overcoming sentiment. 

 Somewhere near by " cheep, cheep " is twit- 

 tering in the grass with promise of a partridge 

 for the bag. Away in the valley a heron 

 flaps lazily along, blue-grey against the tawny 

 background, and now and then pigeons wheel 

 and croon in the trees below. 



Other days flit through my memory during 

 the waiting hour. The very sight and touch 

 of my twenty-bore brings my dear old father 

 before me, who gave it me when I was only 

 fourteen. It was his teaching of sporting lore 

 that prepared the ground for so much of the 

 pleasure and fun of later days, though the 

 teacher has alas long since passed away. An 

 ardent and keen sportsman himself, one of his 

 chief interests was to give his children every 

 opportunity of becoming the same. He 

 taught me to ride, drive, fish and shoot, all 

 before I was twelve ; and well do I remember 

 my wild excitement and delight at shooting 



