HARES, RABBITS, AND FARMERS. 221 



in your snares, Wiikins." " I set them on 

 purpose, sir." " I am glad of it, Wiikins." 

 <l Yes, sir, it will help baulk them a bit if we 

 catch a few of them coming out after your 

 corn." " Yes, yes, it all helps, Wiikins ; good 

 morning." If you can only satisfy him, that 

 is something ; it goes a long way sometimes, 

 and is one of the tricks of our trade. 



So much for snaring rabbits. The squire 

 tells the keeper that foxes he will have, the 

 keeper says that rabbits he must have, so the 

 more harmless you can make them both the 

 better for master, keeper, and farmer. The 

 farmer hunts, so that he should not be too 

 selfish and hard upon the keeper, by complain- 

 ing about the rabbits ; he ought to know that 

 everything in the way of game rearing must 

 be taken fairly with fox preserving, and, being 

 a hunter, he has no business to complain of 

 rabbits. On the contrary, he must help keep 

 a few rabbits to feed the foxes on, for while 

 the vixen is taking an old doe rabbit to her 

 cubs she is not hunting for a hen pheasant on 

 the nest or robbing the farmer's hen-roost. 



