38 THE GROUSE 



prospect had he of a fitting reward for 

 all his toils, time, and money ? What 

 methodical foreseeing preparations had 

 been made to show him the sport for 

 which he had ventured forth so far? Few 

 and meagre indeed they generally were. 

 The aged and leisurely keeper, after the 

 usual salutations, being interrogated as to 

 the state of the moor and the promise of 

 birds, had little to say, and that little he 

 was delivered of with difficulty. He was 

 nothing if not non-committal. He was 

 not without hopes, but these might be 

 disappointed. He had been over the 

 ground with his dogs, but he was not a 

 believer in going among the birds very 

 much before the guns went out. Yes, he 

 had burnt some heather, but as usual 

 weather had been unfavourable, and not 

 much had he been able to do, and that 

 little, he might have added, had been done 

 much at random. In short, grouse moors 

 forty or fifty years ago were pretty much 

 self-managed. They were left almost in 

 their untouched natural condition, with 



