188 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



something " now finds himself reduced to the 

 painful necessity of killing time. His " hammer- 

 less ejectors " have long since been relegated to 

 their leather case in the gunroom; his spurs are 

 hanging disused on the harness-room wall. Not 

 until August will he be able to fire another 

 cartridge in the direction of some retreating 

 wild-fowl, and many months must elapse before 

 he can cry " Yoicks !" (or whatever the relevant 

 exclamation may be) as " Pug " — which I 

 understand to be one of the most convincing 

 synonyms for Reynard — steals into the open 

 from Garrowby Gorse and is soon heading for 

 Three Bottom Spinney, and so by Bumpstead 

 Wold to Market Overt and Compton Rickab}^ 

 leaving the " lady-pack " far behind, etc. . . . 



True it is that the spring offers a temporary 

 respite to many of those wild animals to whose 

 extermination the governing classes of these 

 islands devote so much of their time and talents; 

 but there are still forms of sport, less sanguinary 

 though no less exciting than hunting or shooting, 

 in which at this season a man ma}^ appropriately 

 and pleasantly indulge. 



I was reminded of perhaps the most satis- 

 factory of these yesterday morning, when I 



