SMALL FREEHOLDERS 273 



such men, the career of A. B., as above 



sketched, proves. But even say the man 



does not turn poacher, that at the most he 



only illegally takes a pheasant or two in 



the year, and pops them in the pot for 



his own supper, how much better the 



feeling, as he ^^shoo's" them out of the 



garden, '' I needn't feed ye, anyway, 



though I do get paid for ye. There's a 



tidy few birds about. Shouldn't wonder 



if we got two shilling an acre next letting, 



let alone the money for beating." 



At this point I can fancy the reader 



putting down this book with the remark, 



''The man must be mad. Who on earth 



would pay two shillings an acre for cottage 



garden shooting, which proverbially holds 



nothing.^" The figure is high, I admit, 



but the shooting is good when every 

 18 



