"Oh-h! _mother!_" cried the daughter excitedly.
And said the elder lady with little hesitation:
"Get them out, Jim; get them out. We'll kipper them." Then, after a
thoughtful pause: "I think I'd like to catch one myself."
So into the water she plunged, and the three--the lady and her daughter
and the stable-boy--were so busily and excitedly plowtering in the burn,
engaged in this most nefarious and illegal capture of fish, that they
failed to hear or to see that hounds and a full field had swept over the
hill in front, and had checked, in full view of them, at a small strip
of wood in their immediate neighbourhood; in fact, there was little
doubt these poachers must, a few minutes before, have headed the fox.
Most embarrassing of all, however, was the fact that amongst the riders
was one in immaculate pink, whose face flushed a deeper shade than his
coat as he pulled up not a hundred yards distant. For what must be the
feelings of a Justice of the Peace, of strictest principles, who,
without warning, lights upon the wife of his bosom, his innocent
daughter, and one of his servants, all engaged in the most barefaced
poaching?
"Good _Gedd!_" he was heard to say--if indeed the words were no
stronger--as, mercifully, the hounds picked up the scent again at that
moment, and the chase swept on.
Pages:
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351