212 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



greater the attraction. I knew one who so firmly 

 believed in anything of which he did not know the 

 constituents that he used to take a dose himself 

 whenever he felt queer which was often, and small 

 wonder. He even tried to induce me to have a 

 dose of one of his unknown quantities. When his 

 birds showed no signs of anything except good 

 health, he very soon persuaded himself that they 

 had got a touch of something. And off went an 

 order for a bottle of the preparation of his fancy. 



I must not forget to mention the exaggerating, 

 boasting, and lying keeper unfortunately he, too, 

 is not unknown. Towards the end of a September 

 following one of those disastrous partridge-breeding 

 seasons, the very memory of which is as the vilest 

 nightmare, I met the keeper of a neighbouring place, 

 and asked him how he had fared, knowing that he 

 had recently managed a three-days' shoot. I sug- 

 gested that the overwhelming rain of June might 

 have destroyed his partridges. Not a bit of it ; 

 his total for the three days was three hundred brace 

 a very fine record for the locality in the best of 

 seasons. Thoroughly interested, I hinted that one 

 of the three days might have resulted in a bag of a 

 hundred brace. * Oh yes,' he replied, in his hurry 

 to tell another boasting lie ; ' why, by Jove ! we got 

 pretty near fifty brace the best day. Three hundred 

 brace, I tells ye, my lad, in the three days!' I 

 craved enlightenment of this wonderful man as to 



