ROUND THE BOUNDARIES 153 



keeper incites yokels to purloin his pheasants' 

 eggs, and even his ant-hills. He openly 

 accuses him to his own master of vulpicide, 

 thereby it may be veiling his own delin- 

 quencies. Apart from this, he knows, of 

 course, that the game on the boundaries is 

 no man's game. He cannot be sure of 

 leading those plaguy old cock pheasants, 

 which are foolish enough to prefer hips and 

 haws and grubs to his corn, back home ; 

 therefore master had better have them than 

 anybody else. So without a grumble he 

 goes to the rack and takes down a gun. 



'*No; the twenty," says the master; and 

 down comes the litde favourite — than which 

 there can be no better weapon when there is 

 much walking to not very much shooting. 

 Then the keeper fills a cartridge-bag, which 

 he balances with a ofame-bao- on the other 



