DRIVING 125 



expectancy after you have been placed for what you 

 know is going to be a good drive ! Perchance it is a 

 bright October day, the temperature perfect, the sun- 

 shine warm, and as your feet rest on the sandy soil of 

 Cambridgeshire, so congenial to game, you survey 

 the scene around you with an easily formed resolution 

 in your mind to forget your worries and cares, and 

 give yourself up to all the enjoyment which a lovely 

 morning, an orderly digestion, and (let us hope) a 

 good conscience can combine to afford. You have 

 adjusted your distance to the fence to a nicety ; and, 

 lightly, but warmly, clad, you balance yourself on your 

 shooting-stick in complete comfort ; heightened by 

 the consciousness of your perfect pair of guns, your 

 carefully-loaded cartridges, and the trustworthy quali- 

 ties of your servant or loader kneeling close behind 

 you ; his prospective services supplemented by one of 

 your host's smartest under-keepers, and a third season 

 wavy-coated retriever of the best breed and varied 

 olfactory experience. It is the third drive of the day, 

 expected to be one of the best ; you are No. 3 of 

 the line of six guns, and all your neighbours can be 

 relied on not to shoot near the line. In front is an 

 ideal fence for driving, some ten or twelve feet 

 high, with broken interstices through which you catch 

 the blue-green glint of the swedes, and where, later 



