He had a woman with him that
fairly made the missus tremble. She was like a bloomin' giant out of a
show." I smiled, for the Consumptive had told me the whole tale. "My
'art was in my mouth," he remarked, and I do not wonder. Considering
that Joan was padded with the carcases of _nine_ rabbits under that
enormous cloak, it was quite natural for her bulk to seem abnormal. Ah!
if that intelligent policeman had probed the mysteries that underlay
the cloak! I am glad he did not, for the Consumptive is a most
entertaining beast of prey.
Another of our poaching men was obliged to borrow from me the money for
his dog licences, and in gratitude he allowed me to see his brace of
greyhounds work at midnight. People think that greyhounds cannot hunt by
scent, but this man has a tiny black and a large brindle that work like
basset-hounds. They are partners, and they have apparently a great
contempt for the rules of coursing. One waits at the bottom of a field,
while his partner quarters the ground with the arrowy fleetness of a
swallow.
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