The Confessions of a Poacher. 107 



the poachers. If a lapwing gets up and 

 screams in the darkness the cleverer of them 

 know how to interpret the sound, as also a 

 hare rushing wildly past. I must add, however, 

 that it is in the nature of things that at all points 

 the fish poacher is cleverer and of readier wit 

 than the river watcher. 

 Looking back it does 

 not seem long 

 since county 

 constables first 

 became an insti- 

 tution in this part 

 of the country. 

 I remember an 

 amusing incident 

 connected with 

 one of them who 

 was evidently a 

 stranger to many 

 of the phases of 

 woodcraft. We 

 had been netting a deep dub just below a stone 

 bridge, and were about to land a splendid haul. 



