. The gamekeeper at home : sketches of natural history and rural life . rcle of his suspicions graduallynarrows till he hits the exact spot and person. The gateways and gaps receive careful attention—unusual footmarks in the mud are looked he detects a trace of fur or feathers, or abloodstain on the spars or rails, where a load of rab-bits or game has been hung for a few minutes whilethe bearer rested. The rabbit-holes in the banks arenoted : this becomes so much a matter of habit as tobe done almost unconsciously and without effort as hewalks ; and anything unusual—as the sand m
. The gamekeeper at home : sketches of natural history and rural life . rcle of his suspicions graduallynarrows till he hits the exact spot and person. The gateways and gaps receive careful attention—unusual footmarks in the mud are looked he detects a trace of fur or feathers, or abloodstain on the spars or rails, where a load of rab-bits or game has been hung for a few minutes whilethe bearer rested. The rabbit-holes in the banks arenoted : this becomes so much a matter of habit as tobe done almost unconsciously and without effort as hewalks ; and anything unusual—as the sand muchdisturbed, the imprint of a boot, the bushes broken orcut away for convenience of setting a net—is seen inan instant. If there be any high ground—woods are The Footpath Difficulty 175 often on a slope—the keeper has here a post whenceto obtain a comprehensive survey, and he makes fre-quent use of this natural observatory, concealinghimself behind a tree trunk. The lanes and roads and public footpaths thatcross the estate near the preserves are a constant. A RABBIT-HOLE NETTED source of uneasiness. Many fields are traversed by aperfect network of footpaths, half of which are of verylittle use but cannot be closed. Nothing causes somuch ill-will in rural districts as the attempt todivert or shut up a track like this. Cottagers aremost tenacious of these rights, and will rarely 176 The Gamekeeper at Home exchange them for any advantage. There alwayswur a path athwert thuck mead in the ould volkstime is their one reply endlessly reiterated ; and theowner of the property, rather than make himselfunpopular, desists from persuasion. The danger togame from these paths arises from the impossibilityof stopping a suspicious character at once. If hebreaks through a hedge it is different; but the law isjustly jealous of the subjects liberty on a public foot-path, and you cannot turn him back. Neither is it of any use to search a man whosetools, to a moral certainty, are conceal
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Keywords: ., book, bookcentury1800, booksubjectcountrylife, booksubjecthunting
