196 The Gamekeeper at Home. 



having been filed off for convenience of taking to 

 pieces, so as to be carried in a pocket made on 

 purpose in the lining of the coat. Now, with a barrel 

 so short as that, sport, in the proper sense of the term, 

 would be impossible ; the shot would scatter so quickly- 

 after leaving the muzzle that the sportsman would 

 never be able to approach near enough. The use of 

 this gun was clearly to shoot pheasants at roost. 



The particular keeper in whose shed the man-trap 

 still* lies among the lumber thinks that the class of 

 poachers who come in gangs are as desperate now as 

 ever, and as ready with their weapons. Breech-loading 

 guns have rendered such affrays extremely dangerous 

 on account of the rapidity of fire. Increased severity 

 of punishment may deter a man from entering a wood ; 

 but once he is there and compromised, the dread of a 

 heavy sentence is likely to make him fight savagely. 



The keeper himself is not altogether averse to a 

 little fisticuffing, in a straightforward kind of way, 

 putting powder and shot on one side. He rather 

 relishes what he calls \ leathering ' a poacher with a 

 good tough ground-ash stick. He gets the opportunity 

 now and then, coming unexpectedly on a couple of 

 fellows rabbiting in a ditch, and he recounts the 

 ' leathering ' he has frequently administered with great 

 gusto. He will even honestly admit that on one 



