JOYS AND SORROWS 295 



look for eggs direct, but for those signs which 

 tell tales of a nest. A man who has the gift 

 of nesting time after time will appear to come 

 straight to a nest, apparently by luck ; whereas 

 almost unconsciously he has noted the spot where, 

 if there is not a nest, there ought to be one. 



Pheasant nests are much easier to find than 

 partridge nests. A pheasant seldom covers up her 

 eggs, a partridge almost always does so. To pry 

 beneath that suspicious hollow in the dead leaves of 

 a hedge-side is a speculation of which I never tired, 

 any more than of that enchanting perfume of stubble, 

 turnips, clover-heads, and partridges. It was our 

 custom, when we went a-nesting in a party, not to 

 smoke till the first egg was found ; then the finder 

 had the honour of standing a fill of the pipe all 

 round. 



The help given a keeper by his employer on 

 shooting - days makes all the difference. Few 

 keepers are blest with an employer who really 

 understands both the art of shooting game and of 

 bringing it to the gun. Better by far is it for the 

 smooth and successful working of a day that an 

 employer should understand nothing of manage- 

 ment and know it, than that, knowing a little, he 

 should act without understanding. The man who 

 knows nothing, but follows instructions implicitly, 

 is a treasure to his keeper. I call to mind a remark 

 of a man who knew more about the silk trade than 



