264 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



of the cat's mistress that any hurt was being done to 

 other people's interests by this poaching of rabbits, 

 nor that any neighbouring gamekeeper might read her 

 words. It would be unfair to argue that all cats, 

 with or without kittens, are as bad as this one ; we 

 have heard of cats a great deal worse. Naturally a 

 mother cat forages far and wide for food ; but she 

 hunts chiefly for small things, and knows that mice 

 and birds are more suitable for her weaning kittens 

 than sitting partridges and pheasants. It is that 

 arch old villain, Sir Thomas, who commits the crimes 

 for which mother cats are blamed. But the 

 keeper has no hesitation in bringing home to all cats 

 a reparation, sudden and effective, for Sir Thomas's 

 sins. 



r * * 



A gamekeeper friend told us, with infinite delight, 

 this quaint little story. If we are to believe him, 



he was sitting one fine September day behind 

 A the hedge of a cornfield, thinking about the 



Story coveys hidden in the corn, when he became 



aware that a lover and his lass were sitting 

 on the road side of the hedge, directly behind him. 

 They were Cockneys, and this was the first of their 

 days of country holiday-making. Presently the lover 

 speaks. " Emma," says he, " just look at this pretty 

 fly wot's settled on me 'and." " Lor' ! " says Emma, 

 " ain't he a daisy ? " A pause follows ; the lovers 

 are silently contemplating the beauties of the fly. 



