Under the influence of this belief, they were
preparing to give him the honour which they supposed justly due to him,
when to the surprise of every one he was taken into custody by the
deservedly popular Ranger of the King's preserves, and in the course of
the afternoon it became generally known that he had been arrested on the
charge of being one of a gang of poachers who have been known for some
time past to be making much havoc among the quails on the preserves.
"This offence, at all times deplored by those who desire that his Majesty
should enjoy good sport when he honours us with a visit, is doubly
deplorable during the season when, on the higher parts of the preserves,
the young birds are not yet able to shift for themselves; the Ranger,
therefore, is indefatigable in his efforts to break up the gang, and with
this end in view, for the last fortnight has been out night and day on
the remoter sections of the forest--little suspecting that the marauders
would venture so near Sunch'ston as it now seems they have done. It is
to his extreme anxiety to detect and punish these miscreants that we must
ascribe the arrest of a man, who, however foolish, and indeed guilty, he
is in other respects, is innocent of the particular crime imputed to him.
The circumstances that led to his arrest have reached us from an
exceptionally well-informed source, and are as follows:-
"Our distinguished guests, Professors Hanky and Panky, both of them
justly celebrated archaeologists, had availed themselves of the
opportunity afforded them by their visit to Sunch'ston, to inspect the
mysterious statues at the head of the stream that comes down near this
city, and which have hitherto baffled all those who have tried to
ascertain their date and purpose.
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