A WRANGLE 161 



I gave the word to my men to out knives, and cut away. It 

 was well obeyed, and in two minutes the net and ropes, piece- 

 meal, were in our possession, and I turned those I deemed the 

 aggressors out of the river. The real fact of the case stood 

 thus : I had nothing whatever to do with that portion of the 

 river, for my landlord had no power over it, and had no sort of 

 right to let it. In proof of this, the farmer, Mr. Futcher, who 

 had the mill to which that portion of the river was exclusively 

 attached, summoned me before the Bench for the assault and 

 damage to the net, at the same time good-humouredly referring 

 me for information to deeds respecting the right of fishery, and 

 saying that he had no desire to proceed to extremities, if I 

 would convince myself that he was right and I was wrong. I 

 did so, and assured him of my regret at having been so shame- 

 fully misled by my landlord ; and, much to my good friend the 

 late Mr. Wyndham of Dinton's amusement, as well as mine, I 

 discovered that the net I had destroyed was his, lent to the 

 farmer on that occasion. Of course, I presented Mr. Wyndham 

 with another net, and then the affair ended. This made me a 

 little cautious as to how I claimed any more rights on my 

 landlord's authority ; and I refused to shoot on the best 

 partridge ground, Place Farm, the property of my friend, Lord 

 Arundell, till he put into my hands the authority on which he 

 assumed to let that shooting to me. He had told me he had a 

 written document giving him the exclusive shooting of that 

 land ; so he could not well escape from an attempt to produce 

 it. On examination, it proved to be nothing more than a 

 written permission from the late Lord Arundell to shoot upon the 

 farm. As he had pretended to the noble lord then in possession 

 that he had a right over this land, the moment I got possession 

 of the document I sent it to Wardour Castle, begging Lord 

 Arundell to put it in the fire, so to put an end to any further 

 impudent as well as empty assumption. Lord Arundell after- 

 wards gave me the right over this farm, which I used during the 

 two years I remained at Teffont. A funny thing happened 

 while I shot over and preserved this farm, which amused me 



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