arose whether to follow the fork
that zig-zagged up among the thickets or that which seemed to plunge
into the recesses beneath. I had never been in this wood before--the
time was selected because it was probable that the keeper would be
extremely occupied with his pheasant chicks. Though the earth was so
hard in the exposed rick-yard, here the clayey ground was still moist
under the shadow of the leaves. Examining the path more closely, I
easily distinguished the impression of the keeper's boot: the iron
toe-plate has left an almost perfect impression, and there were the deep
grooves formed by the claws of his dog as it had scrambled up the
declivity and the pad slipped on the clay.

As he had taken the upward path, no doubt it led direct to the
pheasants, which was sure to be on the hill itself, or a dry and healthy
slope. I therefore took the other trail, since I must otherwise have
overtaken him; for he would stay long among his chicks: just as an
old-fashioned farmer lingers at a gate, gazing on his sheep. Advancing
along the lower path, after some fifteen minutes it turned sharply to
the right, and I stood under the precipitous cliff-like edge of the hill
in a narrow coombe. The earth at the top hung over the verge, and
beech-trees stood as it seemed in the act to topple, their exposed roots
twisting to and fro before they re-entered the face of the precipice.
Large masses of chalky rubble had actually fallen, and others were all
but detached. The coombe, of course, could be overlooked from thence;
but a moment's reflection convinced me there was no risk, for who would
dare to go near enough to the edge to look down?

The coombe was full of fir-trees; and by them stood a long narrow
shed--the roof ruinous, but the plank walls intact. It had originally
been erected in a field, since planted for covers. This long shed, a
greenish grey from age and mouldering wood, became a place of much
interest. Along the back there were three rows of weasels and stoats
nailed through the head or neck to the planks. There had been a hundred
in each row--about three hundred altogether. The lapse of time had
entirely dissipated the substance of many on the upper row; nothing
remained but the grim and rusty nail. Further along there hung small
strips without shape. Beyond these the nails supported something that
had a rough outline still of the animal. In the second row the dried and
shrivelled creatures were closely wrapped in natur