Poachers and Poaching. 



while the darkness blots out even the forms of 

 surrounding objects, and the poacher moves 

 more cautiously. A couple of snares are set in 

 holes in an old thorn fence not more than a 

 yard apart. These are delicately manipulated, 

 and from previous knowledge the poacher knows 

 that the hare will take one of them. The black 

 dog is sent over, the younger fawn bitch staying 

 with her master. The former slinks slowly 

 down the field, sticking closely to the cover of a 

 fence running at right angles to the one in which 

 the wires are set. The poacher has arranged 

 that the wind shall blow from the dog and across 

 the hare's seat when the former shall come 

 opposite. The ruse acts, and puss is alarmed 

 but not terrified ; she gets up and goes quietly 

 away for the hedge. The dog is crouched and 

 anxiously watching her ; she is making right for 

 the snare, though something must be added to her 

 speed to make the wire effective. As the dog 

 closes in, the poacher, bowed, and with hands on 

 knees, waits, still as death, for her coming. He 

 hears the trip, trip, trip, as the herbage is 

 brushed ; there is a rustle among the leaves, a 

 momentary squeal and the wire has tightened 

 round her throat. 



Again the three trudge silently along the lane. 

 Suddenly the trio stop and listen ; then they 

 disperse, but seem to have dissolved. The dry 

 ditch is capacious, and its dead herbage tall and 



