228 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



to naught by a sportsman coolly and without per- 

 mission despatching an important " stop " on an 

 errand. And afterwards he will protest in all good 

 faith that he commandeered the " stop " only because 

 he seemed to be standing idly at a corner, as if waiting 

 for something to do. 



On the shoulders of the head keeper falls the 



responsibility of all the mistakes that mar a day's 



sport. His position is unfortunate, for 



Plots and though he may perfect every arrangement, 



Counter- . , . , .. , , 



Plots ^ ne success * the day must depend on good 



shooting and the perfect carrying out of 

 orders. His plans must be set in motion amid every 

 kind of distraction a general in command on a 

 battlefield is not more harassed by questions, plots, 

 and counter-plots than the commander of a shoot. 

 Guns are no sooner told where to go than they inquire 

 the way one is asking querulously where he will 

 find his cartridges, another is sure his position is 

 hopeless, while the beaters require constant atten- 

 tion, for if they are left alone to move on to the next 

 beat they will lose themselves as a matter of course. 

 In partridge- driving the keeper's nerves are stretched 

 to breaking-point. Half a drive is finished, and not 

 a bird has shown itself; the suspense grows almost 

 unendurable before the swirling clouds of birds at last 

 suddenly rise, and go on beautifully in twos and tens 

 and twenties in a stream that no man can count. The 



