242 A Sportsman at Large 



we exacted a goodly toll of flappers, which, although falling 

 easy prey (even to Henry George, who was no " Sir Garnet " 

 with the gun), and affording but a mild form of sport, were 

 very acceptable as tenants of the larder and, later, served up 

 on the domestic board with orange salad and port wine sauce. 



When the reaping had taken place and the corn stood in 

 " stocks," we essayed moonlight raids ; for then the duck came 

 to the corn-fields in considerable numbers ; but not possessing 

 the faculty for seeing in the dark possessed by owls, bats, 

 cats and other nocturnal marauders, but little execution was 

 done, though plenty of powder and shot was loosed off. On 

 one occasion I feared that murder was in the air ; for Henry 

 George, who was a hot-blooded guy, had fallen out with the 

 frolicsome Ted, because the latter had played a practical 

 joke which unwittingly seemed to have cast some aspersion 

 on the former's lady-love ; whereupon H. G. had uttered 

 blood-curdling threats, which made me nervous as to the 

 outcome when the twain, both armed with lethal weapons, 

 should be within hail of one another beneath the baleful rays 

 of Diana. The said H. G. was, as stated, an indifferent per- 

 former with the gun, but had he been so minded he could 

 hardly have missed so conspicuous a mark as Ted even in 

 the dark. 



Happily the said H. G. refrained from bloodshed, and so 

 avoided inevitable sus. per coll. There was a sprinkling of 

 grouse on the moors. On the opening day we gathered nine 

 brace over Belle, and subsequently, enough were accounted for 

 to provide a welcome addition to our menus ; but as far as I 

 was personally concerned, I considered the game hardly 

 worth the candle, so confined my attention to the snipe, the 

 trout and the sea-fish ; leaving the " grousing " to Marcus and 

 Bedford, who thus acted as provision merchants. I presume 

 that they found some sort of amusement in their calling. 

 In all, the tally of grouse was forty-three brace (we were 

 limited to fifty brace), and added to these were a baker's 

 dozen of hares of the genuine red variety, also very acceptable 

 with red-currant jelly and trimmings. 



I never shoot hares myself on principle. I consider them 

 far too valuable as accessories to harriers and greyhounds. 



