HARES IN SMALL HOLDINGS 265 



Emma suggests he is out for an airing in his racing 

 colours yellow and black. Then the lover calls 

 out in a voice of mingled amusement and pain. 

 " Crikey ! " he cries, " ain't 'is feet 'ot ? " 



The hare that haunts a small holding has a slender 



chance of dying a natural death in ripe old age. But 



we have a little story of how a small-holder 



Hares in was converted from hare-shooting. He was 

 Small ^, 



Holdings a man wno rented a meadow on the out- 



skirts of a large village ; and it chanced that 

 hares were much attracted to this pleasant spot. The 

 gamekeeper of the shooting tenant was deeply 

 troubled by the drain on his stock of hares caused by 

 the small-holder ; but there was little he could do to 

 stop the' slaughter that went on at all times and 

 seasons, and by all manner of means. He had the 

 good sense to keep on friendly terms with the trouble- 

 some sportsman, and at last he thought that some 

 improvement might be brought about by arranging a 

 laugh at his expense. He stuffed a hare, and one 

 night set up the skin in the meadow, at a fair range 

 from a gap in the hedge. Early next morning the 

 news reached the small-holder that there was a hare 

 in his field. Off he started with gun and dog ; saw 

 from the gap that the hare was sitting up, " jest about 

 a pretty little shot," took steady aim, and fired both 

 barrels to make sure of a kill. How his dog retrieved 

 a hare-skin stuffed with hay was a story that soon 



