178 The Gamekeeper at Home. 



preserves at a tempting period of the twenty-four 

 hours. The keeper, in short, is quite aware that some 

 sly poaching goes on in this way. 



Another cause of unpleasantness between him 

 and the cottagers arises from the dogs they maintain, 

 generally curs, it is true, and not to all appearance 

 capable of harm. But in the early summer a mongrel 

 cur can do as much mischief as a thoroughbred dog. 

 Young rabbits are easily overtaken when not much 

 larger than rats, and at other seasons, when the game 

 has grown better able to take care of itself, any kind 

 of dog rambling loose in the woods and copses 

 frightens it and unsettles it to an annoying degree. 

 Consequently, when a dog once begins to trespass, it 

 is pretty sure to disappear for good — it is not 

 necessary to indicate how — and though no actual 

 evidence can be got against the keeper, he is accused 

 of the destruction of the ugly, ill-bred 'pet.' If a 

 dog commences to hunt on his own account, he can 

 only be broken of the habit by the utmost severity ; 

 and so it sometimes happens that other dogs besides 

 those of the cottagers come to an untimely end by 

 shot and gin. 



The keeper being a man with some true sense of 

 sport, dislikes shooting dogs, though compelled to do 

 so occasionally; he never fires at his own, and 



