438 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



owner of those shoes was the lamb thief, and 

 I told you that the shoe had very large nails 

 in it, the largest I ever saw in my Ufe. I also 

 said that the wearer must have been a tall 

 man, as I could not step in the long strides 

 he took." 



^' Good gracious!" said I, a sudden thought 

 striking me. ** Those shoes belong to my 

 man, Humphries ; he had them made at 

 Chesham when he was underkeeper for my 

 father there. The blacksmith makes the nails 

 specially to suit the ground, which is very 

 stony, and puts twelve nails, each as large as 

 a shilling piece, in one shoe, with tips besides. 

 " There, now," said Scott, " I counted the 

 number of nail prints, both in the wood yes- 

 terday, and at Green end farm, and it was 

 twelve in each case ; I took the length of the 

 shoe, and it was the same in both cases. I 

 tracked the prints nearly all the way from his 

 house to Green end farm ; I have not the 

 least doubt but what he stole the lamb. Shall 

 you be at home after dinner to-morrow ? if you 

 are, I'll come up and tell you more about it ; 



