374 DUCK SHOOTING. 



him in the dim light making straight for me. Run- 

 ning was never my forte, l>ut, gentlemen, my speed 

 romid that house with that mastiff after me has 

 rarely been equalled ; he kept it up well, however, 

 and if he could have turned a corner readily, would 

 have caught me. Recovering my presence of mind 

 in the third round, I darted through the hall door, 

 and slamming it to behind me, heard my enemy 

 bounce against it, and after a growl and a sniff or 

 two, turn away in disgust. 



" Upon regaining my breath, I ascended to my 

 room, and loading the revolver which I always carry 

 on dangerous journeys, returned to the attack, de- 

 termined on revenge. Strange to say, however, the 

 cowardly beast, the moment the pistol was presented 

 at him, uttered a low whine and shrank away. Dis- 

 gusted with his cowardice, I seized up my rod, which 

 had been dropped in my first flight, and pursuing 

 him howling piteously three times round the house, 

 laid it on him soundly. 



"It must have been poor stuff, for the tip broke. 

 Conroy mended it afterwards, without charge, 

 when I told him the circumstances. But I put in 

 a spare one, and having dug my box full of worms, 

 went to the shed where my horse was left stand- 

 ing, ready harnessed, from the night before. There 

 is nothing like attention to these little matters in 

 time; for, if the hostler had had to harness him, he 

 might have detained me many precious minutes. 



"A half-hour's drive soon brought me to the 

 pond, and, after hitching the animal to the fence— 



