A Curious ^ Turnpike^ 29 



at the top of the meadow where I shot the wood- 

 pigeon. These marks suggested to us that we should 

 attempt some more wholesale system of capture than 

 shooting. It was not for the mere desire of destruction, 

 but for a special purpose, that we turned our attention 

 to wiring. The punt, though much beloved, was, like 

 all punts, a very bad sailer. A boat with a keel that 

 Gould tack, and so work into the wind's eye, was our 

 ambition. 



The blacksmith Ikey readily purchased every 

 rabbit we obtained at sixpence each. Rabbits were 

 not so dear then as now ; but of course he made a 

 large profit even then. The same rabbits at present 

 would be worth fifteen or eighteen pence. Every 

 sixpence was carefully saved, but it was clear that a 

 long time must elapse before the goal was attained. 

 The blacksmith started the idea of putting up a ' turn- 

 pike ' — i.e. a wire — but professed ignorance as to the 

 method of setting it. That was a piece of his cunning 

 —that he might escape responsibility. 



The shepherd, too, when obliquely questioned, 

 shook his head, pursed his lips, threw his pitching-bar 

 over his shoulder, and marched off with a mysterious 

 hint that our friend Ikey would some day put his ' vut 

 in it' It did not surprise us that the shepherd should 

 turn his back on anything of the kind ; for he was a 



