104 SHOOTING THE HAKE 



The lurcher, if well up to its business, will follow 

 the hare at three-quarter speed, driving her towards the 

 gate, towards which she will probably run of her own 

 accord. Should she attempt to make for a smeuse in 

 the fence, the dog with a dash will either turn her, or 

 pick her up and bring her to his master at the gallop. 

 If necessary, however, he will turn her again and again, 

 and so drive her to the fatal gate, just as a clever collie 

 will drive sheep. Once there, a rapid dash on the 

 part of the dog entangles her in the net, and she is 

 seized by the waiting poacher ere one single cry breaks 

 the stillness of the night. The whole party is on the 

 move again in a few seconds. The dog gets her wind 

 in the bottom of the cart, and is ready again as soon 

 as a fresh field is reached. 



Should no hare be roused, the dog comes straight 

 back to her master ; and nothing more graceful or 

 more neat can be imagined than the beautiful way in 

 which my purchase would ' double ' over a high gate, 

 and bound straight into the cart, where she would go 

 to ground under the straw and an old sack or two, so 

 that it required a sharp examination to detect her. 



There is only one way to defeat this system of 

 poaching : it is to drive all the seed fields to the gates, 

 having previously netted them, during the daytime ; the 

 hares, as soon as caught, are set free by men stationed 



