2 1 6 The Amate^lr Poacher. 



CHAPTER XII. 



A WINTER NIGHT : OLD TRICKS : PHEASANT-STALK- 

 ING : MATCHLOCK VERSUS BREECHLOADER : 

 CONCLUSION. 



WHEN the moon is full and nearly at the zenith it 

 seems to move so slowly that the shadows scarcely 

 change their position. In winter, when the branches 

 are bare, a light that is nearly vertical over a tree 

 can cast but little shadow, and that falls immediately 

 around the trunk. So that the smallness of the 

 shadow itself and the slowness of its motion together 

 tend to conceal it. 



The snow on the ground increases the sense of 

 light, and in approaching the wood the scene is even 

 more distinct than during the gloomy day. The tips 

 of the short stubble that has not yet been ploughed 

 in places just protrude above the surface, and the 

 snow, frozen hard, crunches with a low sound under 

 foot. But for that all is perfectly still. The level 

 upland cornfields stretch away white and vacant to 



