i So 



THE HUNTER'S ARCADIA. 



Such conduct is the greatest obstacle to sport 

 in this country. It matters not how well you pay 

 these worthies, like the lower classes of Irish, work 

 they will not, unless upon an empty stomach. How- 

 ever, there is one fortunate weakness they possess, 

 which obviates this difficulty : whenever they obtain 

 the wherewithal to gormandise, they will not cease 

 gorging till all is finished, when labour must follow 

 to obtain a fresh supply. 



Well ! grand Seigneur Graybeard led the way, we 

 following close behind, anxiously and attentively 

 watching every movement of the old man's hands, 

 and expecting momentarily an indication that our 

 services were required in the front, when, mirabilc 

 dictu, the aged warrior sprang at least four feet in 

 the air. ' I saw something big and grizzly between 

 his legs, and at once comprehended that, instead 

 of being the assailants, we had been attacked, and 

 that the enemy was a vlakke-vark. Shoot, under the 

 circumstances, I could not, without endangering the 

 old man's life, so I sprang on one side, and, as luck 

 would have it, into a perfect tangle of wait-a-bit 

 thorns. It was fortunate that I was not at the 

 moment asked to go further, for that I could not 



