258 A Sportsman at Large 



Henry George was some five hundred yards remote from 

 me when I commenced operations. I made violent signs to 

 him to circle round, and walk in the opposite direction to 

 myself, thus forming a moving circumference, of which the 

 birds were the centre. 



Wrongly imagining that I had put my friend wise to the 

 game, I went on my way at a round pace. On completing 

 each circle I proceeded to describe a smaller one, every time 

 approaching nearer and nearer to the golden beauties. . 



Everything was going O.K., when suddenly I discovered 

 that Henry George had disappeared as if the ground had 

 opened and swallowed him up. However, I was much too 

 busy at the moment to investigate the mystery, for I was 

 speedily drawing within range of the plover, which were 

 standing stock still, with their necks stretched well forward, 

 gazing in mute astonishment at my evolutions. 



When the psychological moment arrived I ran in, and as 

 the birds rose in a cloud, I enfiladed them with such effect 

 that I was able to pick up nine of their number, and reloading 

 quickly, bowled over another brace as the main body of the 

 flock swung back over their fallen comrades to see what had 

 befallen them. 



After gathering the slain, I went in search of my missing 

 pal. There was no response to my holloas ; but at last I 

 found him, pale and trembling, crouching behind a rock by 

 the sea-shore. When I greeted him, and asked him what was 

 up, I noticed that he addressed me in a very soothing and 

 conciliatory tone of voice (such as one would adopt in address- 

 ing a fractious little child), begging me to enter the boat. 

 He said that he wanted exercise, and would row me back to 

 Pomona. When I offered to take an oar, he sternly demurred, 

 and I noticed that he kept his gun close by his side. Just as 

 we were shoving off, we found that Billy, who had been busy 

 with the rabbits on his own, was not to be seen anywhere. 

 Calls and whistles were for a long time unavailing ; but at 

 last I tracked him to a rabbit burrow, and hearing him at 

 work within, I lay down, inserted my arm, seized him by his 

 stump of a tail, and dragged him out by main force. 



During the row home Henry George seemed to be in a 



