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field and w90dland each morning then very quietly he asked, "Why
that I.smelt it at odd times through- do you say that ?"
-
out the day.
-
"Haven't I h.eard you, morning
At least so I thought, but I was after morning, boasting to that
grossly mistaken. The end of the beastly friend of yours how many ,
season came and the close season pheasants and partridges and rab–
started, but still these apparently , bits you have shot, all through the
respectable city fathers went on summer, all through the close
with their shooting. I was amused season? It's cruel and disgust-,
at first to think that such patterns ing!"
of propriety should break the law,
He looked at me -for a mornent,
but as March gave way to April my then his eyes lit up with mirth, then
feeling changed. To hear a man he chuckled, and the chuckle swelled
boast that he has just killed a brace to a laugh, and then after reaching
of pheasants in' the wood and a a peak it came down to a chuckle
rabbit ,in the marsh on a bright again, and tailed off to a large sigh.
spring morning, when you know
"Do you know," he said at last,
that the poor birds have left behind "I've never fired a gun in my life!
a nest of eggs or possibly chicks, Listen! I'll explain," he continued,
and the bunny a lot of little ones, wiping away a tear. "It's a little
orphaned and hairless and left to game my friend James and I had
die from starvation-well, that is between us . You may have noticed
enough to make one's blood boil.
that we both read-
The Times .
Well,
I no longer thought of these men we both scanned the Births, Mar–
as "Beaver" and "Bonzo," but as riages and Deaths pretty carefully.
"Butcher" and "Beelzebub," and
If
we came across the name of
whereas before they had looked to someone we knew personally, that
me rather benign old gentlemen, counts as a 'pheasant.' Now a
pow they seemed to have something 'partridge'
is
a person with whom
callous and sinister about them.
we have had some link, say a friend
As time went on the thing got on of a friend, or someone one's wife
my nerves and became almost an once knew, but whom we had not
obsession. I could not bear hearing met. A 'rabbit' is just a
well-kno~n
of the daily massacre of the inno- personage, of whom one has heard
cents, and finally, when on a only.
beautiful June morning I heard
"For instance, if the Prime
"Beelzebub" boast that he -had Minister's or Lord Chancellor's
killed a pheasant .in the wood, a name was on the list, he would be
partridge in the meadow, and a ' a 'rabbit' to me . But
if
he had
rabbit in the marsh, I deliberately _ known my _aunt he would be a
got up and said in an audible voice, 'partridge, ' while had I been at
"What a damned shame!" I did school- with him he would be a
not see what: effect my remark had 'pheasant.' Do you follow?
It~ s
on them, as, feeling confused ,-and really-qUIte simple."
~ed
in the face, I put
IT)Y
head -out
I nodded him on.
of the wind,oY'"
The next day I
"Then, of course,"' he continued, ,.
changed my compartment.
"the Births are. the 'meadows,'
One afternoon about three montns while the Marriages are the 'marsh.'
later I got off early from the The 'wood' is the Obituary column, '
Hospital and caught-the 3-45 home'. ' ana I am sorry to say
Jame~
and I
I had to sprint down the platform were getting to that time of life
- 'and just managed to scramble into when we got more out of the 'wood'
the last compartment of the Market than elsewhere. You do under–
Citron carriage. The only other stand, don't you ?"
Qccupant was "Butcher."
Feeling rather like a deflated
- Of course, the: strict rules about balloon, I asked him the origin of
silence
did
not apply ,on the home- this misleading and somewhat
ward journey; and although I eyed , ghoulish ga91e.
him. as coldly as I could, he seemed , "Origin? Oh" years ago, pro–
to think I was still a member of the bably ,before you _were born, there
set, and star!ed talking about run- was a- crowd -of fellqyvs in our ear–
ning and ,
~thletics
apropos ' my
r--
riage who rented a shoot down the
-little~
effort on the platform. I did ' line, a syndicate. They were ever–
not encourage him, as I regarded , lastingly talking about what they
him as little better than a criminal. had shot, so James ,and I invented
He kept on talking, however, this game in self-defence."
saying what a difference there was in
After a pause, during which I
the
met~ods
of tfaining nowadays was trying to frame some graceful
and how he ' remembered in
'93-
apology for calling him a murderer,
Finally he prefaced a sentence with _ he' - said ra!her pathetically and
"I'rn,.a bit of a sports)llan myself-" ' looking out of the window, "I
"You a sportsman !" I burst out. _ shall never play that game again
,"I thfnk you ,are the last pers.on in now."
_
_
the world I'd call -a
sportsm~n.
In
"Please don't give it up on my
fact, if you want my opinion,
T
account," I said.
think you are very little better than
"Oh, it's not that at all. You see
a
murderer~"
-a week ago yesterday-poor -dear
His face dropped a bit at
th~t.
James I-he was a ) 'pheasant' in
He stared at me for a moment, and the' wood.' "
l'iaure Post, Se(Jtemher
9, 1939
GlamOl'OIlS
as she
is,
the
star
JOU St·(·
011 th,' sen'('1l lacks
the
l,ot('ll t Chn l'lll
that you YOIII'S('II'
lIOSSI'SS,
iI'
you
lIn'
w('arin~
tlU'
gay, dl'lig-htrlll
Y,lI'(lI ey
l,avl'lHh·I'. Through all
HII'
da y's diwr–
sions, its t'ragl'ane('
JII'('S('I' \'('S
~' OII1'
"harm
alld 1'I"'shn('ss, and
1'111'
illt'o,,"lal ('n'nillg
I,ll'asllr(' :'; it is ' idt·al.
Lal'ender f rom
216
10
2
guineas, Lavender
Soap$ ill boxes q!
3
tablets,
2/6,
Lm1ender
Face Powder
2/-.
Talc
112.
Lal'flldomeal
31-.
10
916.
Bath Dusting Powder
316,
etc.
Y A R D L E Y . 3 3 0 L D R 0 N
n
ST R E ET, L 0 N DO N
W.1
sing Milt()n Denture
" I
have been u
ear after h av,ng
f
about
ay)
p owder or
ake for many years
used anothe<
e~
1 must send you an
before , and
f
,
. \
1 have re-
.'
d
tesum on1a
.
H
unsohc'te
,
11 my friends. , ,
d ed ,no a
,
h
~otnmen
M.T" Ed,nburg .
PICfURE POST
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