4 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 
But there arose the question of what I should 
do. There was an opportunity to enter the Bank 
of England, and I might have gone into the Church, 
with a fair prospect of becoming a Minor Canon. 
And there are many people still living who do not 
realize how thankful they should be that I became 
eventually a slayer of vermin, and not a doctor. 
Rebelling against all that meant town life—to me 
what caged existence must be to a wild bird—I 
decided to take the chance that came along, though, 
strictly speaking, it did not come along, because I 
went after it. I began at fifteen shillings a week— 
not a princely salary, but by careful management I 
lived on it. And by careful management I mean 
that the expenditure literally of every halfpenny 
required consideration. Still, of the three good 
things of life, I enjoyed health and happiness, and 
I felt quite rich when | got a rise of three shillings 
a week. I have not the smallest regret that I 
plunged into the game-keeping life. At first, 
naturally, I found its unfathomed waters somewhat 
like a cold bath on a winter morning. But whether 
it be a first attempt at game-keeping or a morning 
dip in winter that is accomplished successfully, there 
follows a glow of satisfaction. 
To provide shooting for others, I quickly found, 
called for skill more complex and interesting than 
to fire many successful shots myself. Occasionally, 
when at a sporting beat the shooting has been 
