The San Francisco call., 1903-01-18

WndJ i expected AL without so muCn
as conventional regret, declined my in
vitation; Mr. Knox added that he hoped
my bag Of cock would be to my liking.
and that need not be afraid that the
hounds would trouble my coverts any
more. Here was war gazed in stupe-
faction at the crooked scrawl In which
my landlord had declared It It was
wholly and entirely inexplicable. and in
stead OF going 10 sleep comfortably over
the IRE and my newspaper. as a gentle
man should, I spent the evening in irritat-
ed ponderinSs over the bewilderinS and
exasperating change Of front on the part
OF my friendly squireens
My shoot the next day was scarcely a
success I shot the woods IN company
with my gamekeeper, Tim COnnor, a gen
tleman whose duties mainly consisted In
limiting the poaching privileges to his
personal friends. and whatever my offense
might have been. Mr.. Knox could have
wished me no bitterer punishment than
hearing the unavailing shouts Of Mark
cock!" and seeing my birds winging their
way from the coverts far out OF shot Tim
ConnOr and l got ten couple between us;
II might have been thirty if my neighbors
had not boycotted me for what could
only suppose was the slackness Of their
hounds.
/ was dog-tired that night. and ! slept
the deep, Unsuitable sleep that had
earned. 1t was somewhere about a. m
tinuOus knocking. interspersed with muf-
fled calls. Great-Uncle Mccarthy had
never before given tongue. and / freed
one ear from the blankets to listen Then
/ remembered that Peter had told me the
sweep had promised to arrive that morn
ing. and to arrive early. Blind with sleep
and fury. 1 went to the passage window.
and thence desired the sweep to go to the
devil. 1t avalled me little. For the re-
mainder of the night / could hear him
pacing around the house. trying the win
dows. banging at the doors and calling
upon Peter Cadogan At o'clock I had
fallen into a troubled dOze. when Mrs.
Cadogan knocked at my door and i'm
parted the Information that the sweep
had arrived
We'll. for heavens sake. Get him get at
the chimneys and let me go to sleep Z
answered. goaded to desperation, "and
you may tell him from me that II 1 hear
his voice again I'll shoot him."
Subsequent events may be briefly sum-
married.. At T:30 I was awakened anew
by a thunderous sound in the chimney.
and a brick crashed into the fireplace.
followed at short interval by two dead
Jackdaws and their nests. At was in
formed by Peter that there was no hot
weter and that he wished the devil
would roast the same sweep. At $50.
when / came down to breakfast, there
was no fire anywhere. and my coffee.
made in the coach house, tasted OF SCOT
] put on an overcoat and opened my let
ters. About fourth or fifth In the unin-
teresting heap came one in an egregiously
disguised hand.
"Sir," II began. this Is to inform you
your unsportsmanlike conduct has been
discovered. You have been suspected this
good while OF shooting the Shreelane
foxes; 1t Is known now you DO worse
Parties have seen your gamekeeper going
regular to meet the Saturday early train
at Salters Hill station. with your gray
horse under a cart and your labels on the
boxes, and we know as well as your agent
in Cork what II Is you have in those
boxes. Be warned IN time. Your Well
wfsher."
read this through twice before its drift
became apparent. and I realized that I
was accused Of improving my shooting
and my finances by the simple expedient
OF selling my foxes. That Is to say was
I'm a worse position than II had stolen a
horse or murdered Mrs. Cadogan. or got
drunk three times = week IN Skebawn.
For a few moments I fell into wild
laughter. and then. aware that Il was
rather a bad business to let a lie OF this
kind get a start, sat down to demolish
the preposterous charge in a letter to
FURRY Knox. Somehow, as I selected nv
sentences. IL was borne IN upon me that
II the letter spoke the truth. circumstan-
tal evidence was rather against me. Mere
lofty reputation would be unavailing, and
by my internal facetiousness about the
woodcock 1 had effectively filed in the
case against myself. At all events. the
first thing to do was to have It out with
Tim Connor. I rang the bell.
Peter, Is Tim Connor about the place.
HE Is not, sir. heard him say he was
going west the hill to mend the bounds
fence" Peters face was covered with
SCOT. his eyes were red and he coughed
ostentatiously. "The sweeps after break
ing one OF his brushes within yer bed
room chimney STR" he went on; hes
above on the roof now. and he'd be thank
full to you to go up to him."
l followed him upstairs. climbed the
rickety ladder. and squeezed through the
dirty trapdoor to the roof, and was con-
fronted by the hIdeous face Of the sweep,
black against the frosty blue sky. He had
encamped with all his paraphernalia on
the fat top OF the roof. and was good
enough to rise and put his pipe In his
pocket on my arrival.
Good morning, Major. That's a grand
view you have UP here" said the sweep.
He was evidently too well bred to talk
shop. '1 thraveled every roof I'm this
country. and there isn't one where you'd
get as handsome prospect.
Theoretically he was right. hut I had
not come up 10 the roof to discuss scenery.
and demanded brutally why he had sent
for me. The explanation involved a re-
sweep the Shreelane chimneys: of the fact
that the sweep had In infancy been sent
up and down every one Of them by Great
Uncle Mccarthy; OF the three asslOads Of
SCOT that by his peculiar skill he had this
morning taken from the kitchen Chin
ney: Of its present purity. the draught be-
ing such that II would "dhraw up a young
cat with IT." Finally-realfzing that I
could endure no mOre-he explained that
my bedroom chimney had got what he
called "a wynd" In II. and he proposed 10
climb down a little way in the stack TO
try would he set to come at the brush
The sweep was very small the chimney
very large. / stipulated that he should
have a rope round his waist. and despits
the illegality. I let him go. He went down
like monkey. digging his toes and fingers
into the inches made for the purpose IN
the old chimney; Peter held the rope. 7
lit a cigarette and waited
Certainly the view from the roof was
worth coming up to look at. / turned to
survey with owners eye my own
gray woods and struggling plantations Of
lsrch. and espied a man coming out Of
the western wood. He had something on
his back and he was walking very fast. n