34 KAMBLES AVTEli SPORT. 



side of the river^ bird in hand. "You scoundrel you, 

 1^11 prosecute you.^' "No really, Capting, you can't 

 mean it now ; devilish sorry to have ' wiped ' yer, but — 

 good evening, Capting, good evening,'^ and the rascal 

 executed an impromptu double-shuffle on the bank, and 

 walked off with his prize. The shooting on the other 

 side did not belong to us, and what could we do ? 



1 went home; to add to my disgust, who should be on 

 the door-step but the before-mentioned young lady, who 

 had just stepped over from the Vicarage. " Oh, 

 Oliver, how late you are ! dinner's quite spoiled ; but 

 the boy told us you had gone after the what-d'ye-call-it 

 duck, and I am sure you have got it this time, haven't 

 you ? " " Oh, confound the duck, I wish " — no I won't 

 repeat what I said, but it must have been something 

 awful, as when I came down to dinner I found my mother 

 and " t'other party " in tears. I forbear to tell how I 

 " went on ; " how I declared that the soup was cold, the 

 pheasant too high, and the mutton overdone ; how I 

 astonished Thompson by calling him an ass because he 

 hadn't warmed the claret enough. " Yes, to call me a 

 hass, me as 'as been in the family now twenty-two year, 

 he aktilly called me a hass," he told Joyce in the kitchen 

 afterwards. I sulked all the evening, escorted a certain 

 young person back to a certain house, and said hardly a 

 word to that young person all the way. I went to bed, 

 and finally slept over it. In the morning a bright idea 

 — a happy thought, or rather, I should say, a suggestion 

 of the Deceiver himself, occurred to me — Why not buy 

 the sheldrake ? I hurry on my things ; " Tell Joyce I 

 want him ; " and in five minutes I confide my plan to 

 him. " I must have that bird somehow, Joyce." He 

 says nothing, but stares and smiles; I rather think he 



