186 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



the day are about a beat and a half late. One never 

 can undo the result of a late start. You may hurry 

 things generally, and throw into one two beats that 

 are much better taken separately. The result is 

 that beaters must scamper over the ground, too 

 wide apart to beat it properly, had they the time ; 

 stops are told where to go instead of being shown, 

 and of course go wrong. And, finally, after all the 

 rush and scramble, the best beat of the day has to 

 be left out owing to darkness. The second ' big day ' 

 covert shoot I managed was ruined, from my point 

 of view, by the guns turning up three-quarters of an 

 hour late. I had the best lot of pheasants that had 

 been in the wood for years ; and, naturally, I was 

 very keen that the guns should see them, if they 

 could not kill them. The bag was a hundred and 

 fifty odd pheasants. The guns were wonderfully 

 pleased with the day, but none of them knew till I 

 told them that the loss of time in the morning had 

 lost us the best beat, in which there must have been 

 quite another hundred and fifty pheasants. All the 

 same, the guns robbed me of the pleasure of proving 

 it. I do not believe in waiting for a gun. If I 

 asked a man to shoot, and he were late twice, I 

 should want him very badly before I asked him 

 again. 



The gun who cries out for the beater who has his 

 cartridges just when that beater is as far away as 

 possible is a nuisance, and his name is worthy of a 



