124 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



and secured the 'Flying Dutchman* as I 

 facetiously dubbed the man with pilot-coat. 

 " Go on Jack," roared Smith excitedly, " Let's 

 have all three, and make a job of it. We'll be 

 after you." 



Off I went after the third man, who was a 

 horse dealer, and very strong and tall. He 

 had about two hundred yards' start and was 

 running well, so that I had to run quite six 

 hundred yards before I caught up to him ; then 

 I pinned him up in a corner close to a wood. 

 He had a large crab stick, a twitchel used for 

 holding horses, in one hand, and a stone in the 

 other, and he pleasantly swore that he would 

 smash my teeth with his stick, and split my 

 skull with the stone. He emphasized his re- 

 marks by a series of prods with the stick, by 

 which means he kept me off. I had no weapon 

 of any kind, but I kept him there for some time, 

 hoping, every moment, that Smith would arrive, 

 but 'nary a Smith appeared. Now, as this man 

 stood about five feet eleven, and weighed about 

 fifteen stone, and was well armed, and as, more- 

 over, I then weighed only a little over eight 



