less," separated from which, by a small brook or runner of water, came
the estate of Mr. Timms, consisting of sixty acres, three roods, and
twenty-four perches, commonly called or known by the name of Fordham;
next to it were two allotments in right of common, for all manner of
cattle, except cows, upon Streatham Common, from whence up to Rosalinda
Castle, on the west, lay the estate of Mr. Browne, consisting of fifty
acres and two perches. Now it so happened that Browne had formerly the
permission to sport all the way up to Norwood, a distance of a mile and
a half, and consequently he might have been said to have the right of
shooting in Norwood itself, for the keepers only direct their attention
to the preservation of the timber and the morals of the visitors; but
since his composition with his creditors, Mr. Cheatum, who had "gone to
the wall" himself in former years, was so scandalised at Browne doing
the same, that no sooner did his name appear in the _Gazette_, than
Cheatum withdrew his permission, thereby cutting him off from Norwood
and stopping him in pursuit of his game.

Joe's proposition being duly seconded, Mr. Jorrocks, in the most
orthodox manner, flushed off his old flint and steel fire-engine, and
proceeded to give it an uncommon good loading. The Yorkshireman, with
a look of disgust, mingled with despair, and a glance at Joe's plush
breeches and top-boots, did the same, while Nosey, in the most
considerate sportsmanlike manner, merely shouldered a stick, in order
that there might be no delicacy with his visitors, as to who should
shoot first--a piece of etiquette that aids the escape of many a bird in
the neighbourhood of London.

Old Tom--a most unfortunate old hare, that what with the harriers, the
shooters, the snarers, and one thing and another, never knew a moment's
peace, and who must have started in the world with as many lives as