{"product_id":"2940013769076","title":"An Oath in Heaven","description":"IT was early morning in early November, and the chimes of St. Mary's,\u003cbr\u003eHurstwick, ringing out the hour of three fell gratefully upon the ear of\u003cbr\u003eBoles, head gamekeeper to Dame Vernon, as he stood ankle-deep in the\u003cbr\u003erotting leaves of Feringham Wood. For him and his subordinate this was\u003cbr\u003ethe very witching hour, demanding their utmost vigilance. \"If nothing\u003cbr\u003ehappened\" between three and five a.m., the keepers might reckon upon\u003cbr\u003egetting comfortably to bed a little after seven. But then one never knew;\u003cbr\u003eand Boles could tell of desperate encounters fought out to the bitter end\u003cbr\u003ein the broad daylight of a wintry morn. These late affairs annoyed him,\u003cbr\u003eand his cruel strength degenerated into sheer savageness whenever\u003cbr\u003ecurtailment threatened his hours of slumber. The patent for his local\u003cbr\u003esobriquet--\" B.B.B.\" (Brutal Brimstone Boles)--was unmistakeably\u003cbr\u003eengrossed upon his countenance, and endorsed whenever he opened his lips,\u003cbr\u003efrom which curses tumbled with as much noise and naturalness as water in\u003cbr\u003eflood on the removal of a sluice. Local poachers indeed, avoided\u003cbr\u003eFeringham Wood, deterred from making raids thereon as much by the\u003cbr\u003eproverbial ferocity of Boles, as by the extraordinary precautions taken\u003cbr\u003eby Dame Vernon to prevent ingress or egress. She was no \"sportswoman,\"\u003cbr\u003eyet was the first of the local landed proprietors to take advantage of\u003cbr\u003ethe new law permitting the employment of a second keeper. She bred her\u003cbr\u003egame solely for the market, and as she would neither \"let\" the shooting\u003cbr\u003enor permit sportsmen upon her land, was regarded with contempt and\u003cbr\u003edislike by her neighbours, who never acknowledged her existence by look\u003cbr\u003eor salutation. For this ostracism she cared not a jot, but derived an\u003cbr\u003eimmense amount of satisfaction from the fact that she was, at this date,\u003cbr\u003ethe sole possessor in the county of the beautiful ring-necked pheasant.\u003cbr\u003eAnd very jealously these birds were guarded, so jealously, indeed, that\u003cbr\u003etwo young fellows in search of adventure had plotted to assault the\u003cbr\u003estronghold and carry off one of the cherished fowls. The affair\u003cbr\u003eoriginated in a wager, Tom Ronaldson, the Hurstwick banker's son, betting\u003cbr\u003ehis friend, \"Lord Jim\" (other wise known as Lord James Bagshot Warner),\u003cbr\u003ethird son of the Marquis of Pierhampton, that he dared not attempt so\u003cbr\u003erisky a performance. Jim at once took the bet, Tom deciding to be present\u003cbr\u003eto see fair play, which he said was the better half of the fun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey were aware that Boles' subordinate, Blake,had been dismissed from\u003cbr\u003ehis post ten days ago, they knew also that two days back the keeper had\u003cbr\u003enot succeeded in finding a substitute. What time, therefore, could be\u003cbr\u003ebetter than the present, for the premeditated attack? They counted upon\u003cbr\u003etheir excellent disguise for concealing their identity, and besides\u003cbr\u003eassuming wigs and garments foreign to their habit, had arranged to speak,\u003cbr\u003eshould speech be obligatory, in the broadest dialect of the county.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe point of the joke with these young men, and one which hugely\u003cbr\u003edelighted them, was that they, in propriâ personae, had feed [sic] Boles\u003cbr\u003etwo days previously to show them the ring-necked pheasants. They then saw\u003cbr\u003efor the first time, and with something like dismay, the one long, narrow,\u003cbr\u003edevious trail which was evidently the only route from the pheasants' huts\u003cbr\u003eto the single gate leading to the high road. It would prove \"a bigger\u003cbr\u003ejob\" than they had expected, but the greater the difficulty, the greater\u003cbr\u003ethe glory.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe moon rode high in a sky almost cloudless; its stately, dreamy passage\u003cbr\u003eabove the wood marked by the ghostly multiplication upon its floor of the\u003cbr\u003eweird, denuded trees. Here and there among the fallen leaves man-traps\u003cbr\u003ewere hidden, the boards that once gave warning of their presence hanging\u003cbr\u003edefaced and unreadable from the bare timber above, the unmelodious\u003cbr\u003eplaythings of all the winds of heaven, but the special joy of Boles. That\u003cbr\u003eindividual found cause for rejoicing at this moment in the brightness of\u003cbr\u003ethe night, but the wind was rising, and that bank of clouds to the north\u003cbr\u003emight be driven across the moon's face in no time. This possibility was\u003cbr\u003ethe supreme hope of the amateur poachers, who, deter-mined that Boles\u003cbr\u003esolus should prove no match for the two of them, intended to be outside\u003cbr\u003ethe wood with the coveted bird before he became aware of their proximity.\u003cbr\u003eOnce out of the wood they were safe, for, as the law then stood, a\u003cbr\u003epoacher could only be captured if found in the preserve.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070248927472,"sku":"2940013769076","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013769076_p0.jpg?v=1763590018","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013769076","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}