So he was desirous of conciliating Chapman, and not
getting laughed at as the London young gentleman who could not hit a
hay-stack. My father, who had been used to carrying a gun in his
younger days, was much amused, in his quiet way, at seeing Griff
watch Chapman off on his rounds, and then betake himself to the
locality most remote from the keeper's ears to practise on the rook
or crow. Martyn always ran after him, having solemnly promised not
to touch the gun, and to keep behind. He was too good-natured to
send the little fellow back, though he often tried to elude the
pursuit, not wishing for a witness to his attempts; and he never
invited Clarence, who had had some experience of curious game but
never mentioned it.
Clarence devoted himself to Emily and me, tugging my garden-chair
along all the paths where it would go without too much jolting, and
when I had had enough, exploring those hanging woods, either with
her or on his own account. They used to come home with their hands
full of flowers, and this resulted in a vehement attack of botany,--
a taste that has lasted all our lives, together with the hortus
siccus to which we still make additions, though there has been a
revolution there as well as everywhere else, and the Linnaean system
we learnt so eagerly from Martin's Letters is altogether exploded
and antiquated.
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