198 IN THE GREEN LEAF 



fate. At a rough guess, the handsome pair 

 weighed ten pounds. 



As I did not care for any myself, the pike 

 were nicely arranged in the shooting pockets 

 of Will's coat. They were not conspicuous, for 

 shooting pockets run all round the bottom of a 

 coat. We then left the place as we entered it, 

 leaving the forged stick and the pickle bottle 

 in the alder copse. 



This was not contraband fishing ; but game 

 being in the surrounding covers, Will, as he 

 lived in one of the cottages with his mother, 

 did not want to be suspected of game searching. 

 He or I had as much right there as other 

 people. Before leaving him, I asked who had 

 taught him that trick of pike catching. 



"Larntme? why, yerself," he replied, "last 

 time you bided about here." I had forgotten 

 all about it. 



The moors look bare and dreary, great 

 expanses of grey green. I fear this is only 

 the preliminary step towards building. One 

 forester observed to me that the moors seemed 

 to get less and less. Some birds are not to 

 be found at the present time where they once 

 were in numbers in their proper seasons. 

 Where we used to see ring-ouzels, we now see 



