"I should have put you down for eighteen or nineteen at least. You are well grown indeed for that age. Well, nothing like a forest life to turn a boy into a man! Can you stalk a deer?"
"I seldom go out without bringing one down."
"Indeed! That Jacob is a master of his craft, is certain; but you are young to have learned it so soon. Can you tell the slot of a brocket from a stag?"
"Yes, and the slot of a brocket from a doe."
"Better still. We must go out together; and besides, I must know where the old man's cottage is (for I do not exactly), in the first place, because I may want to come to you, and in the next, that I may put others on a false scent. Do you know the clump of large oaks which they call the Clump Royal?"
"Yes, I do."
"Will you meet me there the day after to-morrow, at early dawn?"
"If I live and do well."
"That's enough. Take the dogs in the leashes, and go away now."
"Many thanks; but I must not leave the pony, he is in the stable."