Warwick Woodlands: Things as they Were There Twenty Years AgoHerbert, Henry William
General
Warwick Woodlands: Things as they Were There Twenty Years Ago
Herbert, Henry William
New York (State) -- Description and travel; Shooting
In that last twenty minutes twenty-two cock were actually brought to
bag, by the eight barrels; twenty-eight had been picked up, one by one,
as they came down the long swamp, and one Harry had killed in the
morning. When Timothy met them, with the horses, at the big oak tree,
half an hour afterward--for he had gone off across the fields, as hard
as he could foot it to the farm, as soon as he had received the setters
--it was quite dark; and the friends had counted their game out
regularly, and hung it up secundum artem in the loops of the new game
bag.
It was a huge day's sport--a day's sport to talk about for years
afterward--Tom Draw does talk about it now!
Fifty-one woodcock, forty-nine English snipe, twenty-seven quail, and a
brace of ruffed grouse. A hundred and twenty-nine head in all, on
unpreserved ground, and in very wild walking. It is to be feared it will
never be done any more in the vale of Warwick. For this, alas! was ten
years ago.
When they reached Tom's it was decided that they should all return home
on the morrow; that Harry should attend to the procuring his purchase
money; and Tom to the cheapening of the purchase.
In addition to this, the old boy swore, by all his patron saints, that
he would come down in spring, and have a touch at the snipe he had heerd
Archer tell on at Pine Brook.
A capital supper followed; and of course lots of good liquor, and the
toast, to which the last cup was quaffed, was LONG LIFE TO HARRY ARCHER,
AND LUCK TO HIS SHOOTING BOX, to which Frank Forester added: "I wish he
may get it."
And so that party ended; all of its members hoping to enjoy many more
like it, and that very speedily.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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