SANDYS STORY 131 



of charges frequently laid upon us. On the first 

 day of February last, being the last day of pheasant 

 shooting, 1 was lying in a thick plantation, in the 

 middle of a park at Ladykirk, on the other side 

 of the Tweed, which covered a space of ground 

 not more than a quarter of an acre, when a party 

 were shooting not far off, and I suddenly heard one 

 of them exclaim, " Look out, there goes a fox ! he 

 jumped up close by me. There he goes, straight 

 away. I wish the hounds were here." 



In the course of an hour after this, I was again 

 startled by hearing, " Tally-ho ! taUy-ho ! there 

 goes another fox ! Don't mistake hiin for a hare, 

 and shoot him ; he's close to you, in the clump 

 between ! " And then again the same loud voice, — 

 " There he goes, right across the park ; what a fine 

 fellow he is ! " 



It shortly afterwards became my turn to exhibit. 

 They came to the clump where I was, and a man 

 who went in beyond directly called out, " There 

 goes a hen pheasant, there go two, three ! " and so 

 on. He had just cried out, "That makes thirteen 

 hen pheasants ! " when a spaniel rushed into the 

 thick bushes, and obhged me to face the whole 

 party. A glorious cheering they gave me ; and 

 when they had expressed their surprise and satisfac- 



