182 THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



Consequently, when a dog once begins to trespass, it is 

 pretty sure to disappear for good it is not necessary to 

 indicate how and though no actual evidence can be got 

 against the keeper, he is accused of the destruction of the 

 ugly, ill-bred ' pet.' If a dog commences to hunt on his 

 own account he can only be broken off the habit by the 

 utmost severity ; and so it sometimes happens that other 

 dogs besides those of the cottagers come to an untimely 

 end by shot and gin. 



The keeper, being a man with some true sense of sport, 

 dislikes shooting dogs, though compelled to do so occa- 

 sionally ; he never fires at his own, and candidly admits 

 that he hates to see a sportsman give way to anger in that 

 manner. The custom of ' peppering ' with shot a dog for 

 disobedience or wildness, which was once very common in 

 the field, has however gone a great deal into disuse. 



Shepherds, who often have to visit their flocks in the 

 night as at this season of the year, while lambing is in 

 progress who, in fact, sometimes sleep in the fields in a 

 little wooden house on wheels built for the purpose, are 

 strongly suspected of tampering with the hares scampering 

 over the turnips by moonlight. At harvest -time many 

 strange men come into the district for the extra wages of 

 reaping. They rarely take lodgings which, indeed, they 

 might find some difficulty in obtaining but in the warm 

 summer weather sleep in the outhouses and sheds, with the 

 permission of the owner. Others camp in the open in the 



