36 " IN THE HARD GREY WEATHER." 



making a fire by rubbing sticks together, and 

 is scarce reconciled to a rejection of his idea 

 even when presented with a wedge of plum 

 cake. He stalks bravely through the heather 

 in buoyant spirits at the gamekeeperishness 

 of his costume, for he has been gaitered for 

 the occasion, and has been solemnly trusted 

 and invested with the dog-whistle and the dog- 

 whip. A serious difficulty however arises with 

 him on the subject of a winged woodcock. 

 He pleads hard to be allowed to bring the 

 bird home for a pet, and tries to tempt the 

 appetite of the poor wounded fowl with a 

 morsel of plum-cake. He regards the quick 

 and necessary killing of the cock with looks 

 and expressions of reproach altogether incon- 

 sistent with his subsequent enjoyment of clean 

 shooting at snipe and hares. 



When the fowler arrives at a frozen lakelet, he 

 finds that the ice will bear, and, having provided 

 for such a contingency, is soon sheering and 

 skimming over the surface of the pond. But 

 again, as on the previous day, the snow com- 

 mences to fall, and here much thicker than on 

 the low lands. So the skates are unscrewed, and 



