204 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



of pheasants and so forth. But after a while he 

 began to fall off in his night appointments with 

 me, till at last he never kept them at all. I 

 used to go to the usual place, but he did not 

 turn up, and this happened time after time, 

 till at last he left off asking me to meet him. 

 His pheasants grew gradually less and less, 

 until at length the stock dwindled down to 

 nothing. This was only just as I expected, 

 and so I told him ; I remonstrated with him 

 time after time, but when a man becomes 

 dogged in his infatuation, remonstrances are of 

 little avail, until he at length awakens to the 

 enormity of his folly. 



Instead of being in his woods looking after 

 the game, Jones was in the public-house at 

 Pine's Hill from ten in the morning until 

 eleven at night. This public-house was called 

 the " Bell," and it lost him his character and 

 place in the end. He had a character, indeed, 

 but it was a bad one ; in addition to which he 

 possessed a wife and large family. Drunken- 

 ness; always stands in the way to prevent 

 obtaining employment, especially as a keeper. 



