42 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



out led the guardian of the covers such a dance, and 

 hoodwinked him so completely, that the small boys 

 of the district laughed over the matter. If you 

 require a good gun, one that you can rely on, you 

 must pay for it ; and so you must if you wish to have 

 good and efficient keepers. The pittance that some 

 gentlemen pay their so-called keepers is really not 

 enough to keep them honest. A great awkward, 

 ignorant fellow, as " fore-right " as a bull at a hedge, 

 is hardly the person to place in a position of re- 

 sponsibility, and he is sure to get himself into hot 

 water. There is one thing to be said good men 

 would not stop one week with some of those who 

 pass as game-preservers, save the mark ! 



Some depredations had been committed in a 

 country place I knew, without the offenders having 

 been brought to book for it ; so the principal parties 

 interested in the matter met in the parlour of the 

 one small inn of the locality, to devise some plan or 

 plans for their capture. This was at about three 

 o'clock in the afternoon. Everything was arranged 

 to the perfect satisfaction of all parties, apparently, 

 but the landlord formed one of the committee. 

 Quite by accident, as it seemed, one of the villagers 



