CHAPTER XIX 



JOYS AND SORROWS 



The sweetness of success Keepers judged by their bags Nesting 

 Feast-days Illness Unusual sights The keeper as honorary 

 executioner A comparison. 



THE feeling of success is a sweeter joy than a 

 handful of tips. An old keeper had devoted his 

 life to the improvement of his partridge-shooting ; 

 good bags had been made frequently for instance, 

 nine hundred brace in three days. Then came a 

 day of more than five hundred brace. The next 

 morning his employer asked, ' Well, H., were you 

 satisfied with yesterday ?' The keeper answered, 

 1 Yes, m'lord.' ' So was I,' said his lordship. 



Unfortunately, most keepers are judged by their 

 bags, so they cannot be blamed for putting bag 

 before sport. ' What sort of a day did you have at 

 So-and-so ?' is a frequent question among shooters. 

 And nine times out of ten the answer is not, 

 1 Most enjoyable ; plenty of sporting shooting,' but 

 rather, ' Oh, not much of a day ; we only got 

 about fifty pheasants and a few other things.' 

 And nine times out of ten a shooter tips according 



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