3l8 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



"Yes, I did." 



11 Did Wilkins know of it ? " 



" No, I'm too old a bird to let anyone else 

 know. Look here, Watts, there's three or 

 four foxes in there, if you like to stand at this 

 end of the cover I will go to the other end 

 and walk down the cover towards you, a brace 

 or so is sure to come up to you, and, if you 

 bowl them over, I'll help you put them under 

 the turf." 



Watts was too old a bird to be caught by 

 that kind of chaff. " No, Humphries," he 

 replied. " It would be more than my place is 

 worth." 



" Oh, very well," said Humphries. " If 

 you're afraid I'm not, so give me the gun, and 

 you go and drive the wood towards me. I 

 don't mind knocking them over if you do." 

 But Watts was not to be had on that tack, 

 either. 



Humphries related this to me himself, after- 

 wards, when he was starting for Australia. 

 " Of course," he said. " If a fox had been 

 killed, I should have split about it, letting 



