THE REGULAR POACHER. 419 



by giving leg bail they escape in the greater proportion of 

 cases ; while a single fair day's shooting will pay the penalty, 

 when incurred. Such men are often good sportsmen, and 

 their dogs first-rate, whereby they sometimes succeed in over- 

 coming the animosity of the keepers or their masters. Of 

 this I remember a notable example some years ago. A 

 strict preserver of game, who was also very fond of a good 

 dog, happened to come upon one of this class of poachers, in 

 pursuit of a wounded pheasant, which his dog was in the 

 act of retrieving. So intent was he on assisting his canine 

 friend, that he overlooked the presence of the proprietor of 

 the soil, till he was pulled up with " Hollo, sir! what are you 

 about?" Nothing daunted, he exclaimed, " Stop a minute, 

 squire, let my dog find this pheasant, and I will talk to you 

 about it." " D n your pheasant, at least, my pheasant, I 

 should say; let it be, and I'll send you a summons to- 

 morrow," was the angry response, which was met by what 

 would only have irritated most men still more. " I won't 

 have my dog spoiled for anybody ; let him do his work, and 

 I'm your man. Look, squire, can your retriever do that T 

 During this colloquy the dog had been proceeding in his 

 work, and had led the two several hundred yards in various 

 directions, the pheasant having been a runner, and taken to 

 a dry ditch. At length he pegged his bird, and elicited so 

 much admiration, that " The Squire" bought him for a long 

 price, and not only forgave the offence, but promised an 

 annual day's shooting, if his land was spared during the 

 remainder of the season. The compact was made, and fairly 

 kept, to the great advantage of the owner of the soil, who 

 thereby benefited considerably, for the levier of the "black 

 mail" kept other poachers off for his own sake, as well as out 

 of consideration for the squire's knowledge of dogs, and admi- 

 ration of his own powers of breaking. 



THE REGULAR POACHER AND HIS PROCEEDINGS. 



The systematic poacher is of all ages and classes. Some 

 are brought up in luxury, but refusing to work, they descend 

 in the scale, and consider poaching the only gentlemanly way 

 of earning money. Others have been reared as labourers, 



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