122 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



the woman he loved followed him in the course of 

 a few months. 



Old Maurice " father," as his wife always called 

 him and I had many a chat together over the wild 

 creatures, which he said were not so plentiful as 

 they were in his young days. " Little farms, ye 

 see, as used to be all round about, is throwed into 

 big uns. Them big hedges is grubbed up, and the 

 dykes, what run up most on 'em, are all filled and 

 levelled, and the shelter and feed for 'em is clean 

 gone. Another thing, more timber is thrown now. 

 They've made reg'lar havick of it on some estates 

 to git money. No matter where you throw timber, 

 all creeturs within sound on it will move on some- 

 where else ; 'tis just like pullin' the houses down 

 over people's heads. The place may be chock-full 

 on 'em, but soon as you begins to fall the trees they 

 tells one and another all round there's mischief about, 

 an' they leaves it, so as you wun't find one. 



" Another thing is that in my young days the 

 gentry used to shoot the game with pineters 

 [pointers] or else setters ; now they're threshed 

 out an' knocked over in heaps. They was con- 

 tented in my time with a fair day's shootin' ; but 



