CHAPTER XIX 
JOYS AND SORROWS 
The sweetness of success—Keepers judged by their bags—Nesting— 
Feast-days—IlIness—Unusual sights—The keeper as honorary 
executioner—A comparison. 
Tue feeling of success is a sweeter joy than a 
handful of tips. An old keeper had devoted his 
life to the improvement of his partridge-shooting ; 
good bags had been made frequently—for instance, 
nine hundred brace in three days. Then came a 
day of more than five hundred brace. The next 
morning his employer asked, ‘ Well, H., were you 
satisfied with yesterday?) The keeper answered, 
‘Yes, mord.’ ‘So was I,’ said his lordship. 
Unfortunately, most keepers are judged by their 
bags, so they cannot be blamed for putting bag 
before sport. ‘What sort of a day did you have at 
So-and-so ?’ is a frequent question among shooters. 
And nine times out of ten the answer is not, 
‘Most enjoyable ; plenty of sporting shooting,’ but 
rather, ‘Oh, not much of a day; we only got 
about fifty pheasants and a few other things.’ 
And nine times out of ten a shooter tips according 
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