144 ■^VAR^\^CK woodlands. 



round of cold spiced beef, but I'm not going to cut that 

 up for supper; we shall want it to take along for lunch- 

 eon — you must (/ef something! Oh! by the way, you may 

 let the girls pick half a dozen quail, and broil them, if 

 you choose!" 



"Quail! do you say? and where'll I git quail, I'd be 

 pleased to know?" 



"Out of that gamebag," answered Harry, deliberately, 

 pointing to the well filled plump net which Timothy had 

 just brought in and hung up on the pegs beside the box- 

 coats. Without a word or syllable the old chap rushed to 

 the wall, seized it, and scarcely pausing to sweep out of 

 the way a large file of "The Spirit," and several numbers 

 of "The Register," emptied it on the table. 



"Where the plague. Archer, did you kill them?" he 

 asked, "you didn't kill all them to-day, I guess ! One, two, 

 three — why, there's twenty-seven cock, and forty-nine 

 quail! By gin! here's another; just fifty quail, three 

 partridge, and six rabbits; well that's a most all-fired 

 nice mess, I swon ; if you killed them to-day you done 

 right well, I tell you — you won't get no such mess of birds 

 here now — but you was two days killing these, I guess!" 



"Not we, Tom! Frank and I drove up from York last 

 night, and slept at young Tom's, down the valley — we 

 were out just as soon as it was light, and got the quail, 

 all except fifteen or sixteen, the ruffed grouse and four 

 hares, before twelve o'clock. At twelve the Commodore 

 came up from Nyack, where he left his yacht, and joined 

 us ; we got some luncheon, went out again at one, and be- 

 tween that and five bagged all the cock, the balance, as 

 you would call it, of the quail, and the other two bunnies." 



"Well, then, you made good work of it, I tell you, and 

 you won't do nothin' like that agin this winter — not in 

 Warwick; but I won't touch them quail — it's a sin to 

 break that bunch — but you don't never care to take the 

 rabbits home, and the old woman's got some beautiful 

 fresh onions — she'll make a stew of them; — a smother, as 

 you call it, in a little less than no time. Archer; and 

 I've got half a dozen of them big gray snipe — English 

 snipe — that I killed down by my little run'-side; you'll 

 have them roasted with the guts in, I guess! and then 

 there's a pork-steak and sassagers — and if you don't like 



