ON A PARTRIDGE BEAT 9 



which was a savoury hash of pork and onions, and 

 I enjoyed it probably as much as did Esau the price 

 of his birthright. 



For the first year we had the front part of an 

 old farmhouse two rooms, a large general-purpose 

 outhouse (formerly the dairy), with a third of the 

 garden. This accommodation, as is the custom with 

 keepers, was part of my wages. The rent in any 

 case would not have been more than eighteenpence 

 a week ; still, even that would have made a big 

 hole in my fifteen shillings a week. 



My domain consisted of about a thousand acres 

 in the north of Hampshire, my native county. 

 Unfortunately, it did not all lie in one block : one 

 part, some two hundred and fifty acres, was a mile 

 away from the rest. As some set-off to this dis- 

 advantage, I lived about half-way between the two. 

 The lie of the larger portion was fairly open, and 

 the soil light. It was intersected by four by-roads, 

 which crossed near the centre, and one side was 

 bounded by a turnpike. The fields were big and 

 the hedges few ; with the exception of four, all the 

 hedges were low, so that a considerable panoramic 

 view was to be had from most points. 



The prospects certainly were not very encouraging, 

 since the biggest bag for one day during the pre- 

 ceding season was six and a half brace. This may 

 have been due to a variety of causes other than 

 proportionate scarcity of birds. I knew that in the 



