ALDERS AND REEDS. 97 



were, however, looked after in those days. There 

 were two brothers I often associated with who 

 have now, like myself, laid aside the gun and the 

 rod, for the simple reason that under the new 

 conditions there is no further use for them, who 

 would take a day or even two just to see what 

 was moving there. The mode of proceeding was 

 as follows having been with that pair more than 

 once, I can tell all about it. As soon as it was 

 dark, the evening before one of these expeditions 

 was to take place, one of the party would walk up 

 to the edge of the swamp with a broad plank an 

 inch thick and twelve feet in length on his shoulder, 

 and hide it in the reeds. Before the early vapour 

 had ceased to rise from the moor, two or at the 

 most three figures would slip through the ash copse, 

 pull the plank out from the reeds, wade up the 

 stream to the swamp, and after that no more would 

 be seen of them for that day. No matter how 

 urgently they might be needed, no one would be 

 able to tell where they might be found. A coil 

 of strong but thin line would be produced. This 

 was sure to be of the very best quality, for the 

 rope-maker rope-spinner he was called of their 



G 



