22 



THE HUNTER'S ARCADIA. 



mirably, for I was in a well-screened position to 

 leeward ; however, the plans of men and mice are 

 said often to " gang aglee," and on this occasion 

 mine certainly did so, and in a rather unexpected 

 manner. 



My faithful follower had scarcely left me more than 

 a minute before he was well out of sight, from the 

 stealthy mode he had adopted of hiding his presence, 

 when, to my intense disgust, I heard a yell from my 

 pointer and a shout from the man. 



Glancing rapidly to my front, I saw that the pauw 

 was alarmed, from the way in which he held his head 

 aloft and carefully scanned the surroundings with 

 inquisitive eyes. An old stager this bird evidently 

 was, for, his fears being once excited, he had no 

 intention of again relapsing into feelings of security 

 while in a suspicious neighbourhood. So, with one or 

 two quick jerks of his tail, indicating his displeasure, 

 he stretched his broad pinions and hastened to put 

 space between himself and unknown danger. 



With possibly not a blessing on my tongue, I 

 hurried forward to know the cause of such an un- 

 expected and thoroughly out-of-place disturbance, nor 

 was I long kept in ignorance, for on gazing over a 



