198 GUN, RIFLE, AND HOUND. 



collect, I shot three hares, which were by no means 

 common in the neighbourhood, and on that occasion 

 I was heartily sick of my load before I got home. 



This is the kind of partridge-shooting of which 

 most shooting Englishmen have some recollection, 

 and it is the shooting of which most men whose 

 business lies in the country get some share. The 

 doctor, the parson, the lawyer, and even the banker, 

 get a few days in the course of the year, and not a 

 few farmers, whose landlords do not shoot, are 

 addicted to it, not always, I fancy, taking out a game 

 certificate. But in these days of short-time licenses 

 there is little excuse for that. If a man is only to get 

 a few days' shooting in the year, considering that he 

 will rarely return without at least a brace of birds in 

 his dog-cart, his three-guinea license will soon pay 

 itself. As to the gun license, I think it should be 

 abolished ; it only opens a door to defrauding the 

 revenue and to poaching. Farmers killing ground 

 game should be allowed to do so untaxed, and all 

 others should be obliged to pay for a game certificate. 



But these remarks are beyond the scope of this 

 chapter. Whether the head of game is large or small, 

 the pleasure of taking down one's gun for the first 

 time in the season is equally great, so is that of 

 sallying forth into the clear autumn air with one or two 

 old comrades, and perhaps the dogs over whom we 

 have killed so many birds. 



" Well, keeper, here is a lovely ' First.' Where had 

 we better begin ? " 



" I was thinking, sir, that as Giles has got his corn 



