AN ADMIRAL OF THE WHITE. 17 



practice : every nest in particular places was always 

 found destroyed, though, with corn and grass above 

 his knees, he could never be caught in the fact. The 

 following retaliation, therefore, was the result. One 

 fine moonlight night, the black goat was caught, 

 a hole for his head cut in a white sheet, and with the 

 white sheet over, and flowing behind him, he suddenly 

 trotted from an obscure corner up to the herd of beasts. 

 Oh, Jove, what fun ! The admiral of the white seemed 

 to signal the bovine fleet for a sail : up went every peak, 

 and, tails 0]i end, they tossed and scudded over the 

 hedges — horses after hounds could not have gone 

 better. They were found, the following morning, 

 all over the vale ; with the poor goat, who had faith- 

 fully followed in their wake as far as he could, un- 

 harmed, but anchored or hung up in his white sheet 

 in a hedge behind them. That farmer left off his 

 tricks, and for the remainder of his days refrained 

 from his illegal and mean practices. 



A farmer, not a tenant of ours, but whose land ad- 

 joined the outside of the preserve, left a large barley- 

 field, as near to the manor as possible, standing till 

 the first of October, in order to decoy from thence 

 both pheasants and hares. This, in our boyish love 

 of game, was not to be put up with ; and the night 

 before shooting we resolved to drive the standing 

 barley. Some suspicion existing that the farmer would 

 put a watch on his land, shirts were put on over our 

 jackets, and each wore a hideous mask, and carried, in 

 case of need, a stout cudgel. Grumbo, who was always 

 ready to hunt or fight, of course accompanied me. 

 At about midnight the revel commenced in the corn. 

 We had not been setting the pheasants flying long, 

 when, right under our feet, up jumped two labourers, 



c 



