]06 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



path and go into the wood, or if you can catch 

 him red-handed, that is, in the act of taking 

 game, or with game about his person. The 

 great thing is to make your ' catch ' a certainty; 

 a man may, whilst on the path, look at snares, 

 but, although you know that he is a poacher, 

 you cannot get him convicted unless you have 

 actually seen him handling the snares. Then, 

 again, you must know the man, and be sure of 

 his name ; if there be any doubt as to his name 

 or actions, the benefit of it will not be on your 

 side. 



Now Harr}^ Wright had a most artful way of 

 going to work. He used to take his father's 

 maid servant, and a man called George Harding, 

 out with him, and, when he was on the poach, 

 George used to walk thirty or forty yards 

 behind, and the maid servant some way in front, 

 so as to guard him both ways. If any of us 

 came across him he had plenty of warning 

 from one or other of the guards. This George 

 Harding was a brother of Dabber's, and a 

 basket maker by trade, and, although he lived 

 near the mill, he had nothing to do with it. The 



