WARWICK WOODLANDS. 173 



on ; for, as the bellowing of that brute is over, I suppose * chas- 

 tisement has hidden her head.' " 



And on they did go ; and sweet shooting they had of it ; all 

 the way down to the thick deep spot, known by the pleasing 

 sobriquet of Hell-Hole. 



The birds were scattered everywhere throughout the swamp, 

 so excellent was the condition of the ground ; scattered so 

 much, that, in no instance did two rise at once ; but one kept 

 flapping up after another, large and lazy, at every few paces ; 

 and the sportsmen scored them fast, although scarcely aware 

 how fast they were killing them. At length, when they reached 

 the old creek-side, and the deep black mud-holes, and the 

 tangled vines and leafy alders, there was, as usual, a quick, 

 sharp, and decisive rally. Before the dogs were thrown into it, 

 Frank was sent forward to the extreme point, and the Commo- 

 dore out into the open field, on the opposite side from that oc- 

 cupied by fat Tom. 



On the signal of a whistle, from each of the party, Harry 

 drove into the brake with the spaniels, the setters being now 

 consigned to the care of Timothy ; and in a moment, his loud 

 " Hie cock ! Hie cock ! Pur-r-r Hie cock ! good dogs !" was 

 succeeded by the shrill yelping of the cockers, the flap of the fast 

 rising birds, and the continuous rattling of shots. 



In twenty minutes the work was done ; and it was well that 

 it was done ; for, within a quarter of an hour afterwards, it was 

 too dark to shoot at all. 



In that last twenty minutes twenty-two cock were actually 

 brought to bag, by the eight barrels ; twenty-eight had been 

 picked up, one by one, as they came down the long swamp, and 

 one Harry had killed in the morning. When Timothy met 

 them, with the horses, at the big oak tree, half an hour after- 

 ward for he had gone off across the fields, as hard as he could 

 foot it to the farm, as soon as he had received the setters it 

 was quite dark ; and the friends had counted their game out 

 regularly, and hung it up secundum artem in the loops of the 

 new game bag. 



It was a huge day's sport a day's sport to talk about for 

 years afterward Tom Draw does talk about it now ! 



Fifty-one woodcock, forty-nine English snipe, twenty-seven 

 quail, and a brace of ruffed grouse. A hundred and twenty- 

 nine head in all, on unpreserved ground, and in very wild 



