induced the pastor to take more immediate
notice of our hero, and the commendation which he received, and the
advice that was bestowed upon him, was probably the great cause why Joey
did attend assiduously to his lessons, which his otherwise vagrant life
would have disinclined him to do; and also kept a character for honesty
and good principle, which he really deserved. Indeed, his father and
mother, setting aside poaching, and the secrecy resorted to in
consequence, were by no means bad examples in the ordinary course of
life; they did to their neighbours as they would be done by, were fair
and honest in their dealings, and invariably inculcated probity and a
regard to truth on their son. This may appear anomalous to many of our
readers, but there are many strange anomalies in this world. It may
therefore be stated in a very few words, that although our little hero
had every chance of eventually following the road to ruin, yet, up to
the present time, he had not entered it.

Such was the life led by little Joey for three years subsequent to our
introduction of him to the reader; every day he became more useful to
his father; latterly he had not attended school but in the forenoon,
for, as we have before observed, Joey could, from his diminutive size
and unsuspicious appearance, do much that his father would not have
ventured to attempt. He was as well versed in the art of snaring as his
father, and sauntering like a child about the fields and hedge-rows,
would examine his nooses, take out the game, and hide it till he could
bring it home. Sometimes he would go out at night attended only by Mum,
and the dog would invariably give him mute notice, by simply standing
with his ears and tail erect, when the keepers had discovered the
snares, and were lying in wait for the poacher, to lay hold of him when
he came to ascertain his success. Even in such a case, Joey very often
would not retreat, but, crawling on his stomach, would arrive at the
snare, and take out the animal without the keepers perceiving him; for
their eyes were invariably directed to the horizon, watching the
appearance of some stout figure of a man, while Joey crawled along,
bearing away the prize unseen. At other times, Joey would reap a rich
harvest in the broad day, by means of his favourite game-cock. Having
put on the animal his steel spurs, he would plunge into the thickest of
the cover, and, selecting some small spot of cleared ground for the