He came slowly along beside the hedge
towards me--now stopping and looking into it as if seeking a convenient
place for a form, having doubtless been disturbed from that he had first
chosen. It was some minutes before he came within range: had I been on
the ground most likely he would have scented me, the light air going
that way; but being in, the tree the wind that passed went high over
him. For this reason a tree ambush is deadly. It was necessary to get
the line of sight clear of twigs, which check and divert shot, and to
take a steady aim; for I had no second barrel, no dog, and had to
descend the tree before running. Some leaves were blackened by the
flame: the hare simply fell back, stretched his hind legs, quivered, and
lay still. Part of the leaf of a plant was fixed in his teeth; he had
just had a nibble.
With this success I was satisfied that day; but the old oak was always a
favourite resort, even when nothing particular was in hand. From thence,
too, as a base of operations, we made expeditions varying in their
object with the season of the year.
Some distance beyond the stunted oak the thick blackthorn hedge was
succeeded by a continuous strip of withy-bed bordering the brook. It
often occurred to us that by entering these withies it would be possible
to reconnoitre one side of Southlands; for the stream skirted the lower
grounds: the tall willows would conceal any one passing through them.
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