Introductory, 1 7 



You may do it again a hundred times, you 

 will certainly fail thrice that number; but 

 the memory of that first success, like that of 

 the first time you sat firm over an ox-fence, 

 will remain with you for ever with its joy, 

 and the utter impossibility of remembering 

 exactly how you did it. No matter, you 

 have done it; and unless you are of more 

 than common clay, I wager that thereafter 

 you will be a snipe -shooter at heart, even 

 if circumstances prevent your travelling an- 

 nually to the moors and marshland. When 

 the pheasants are soaring overhead, or the 

 partridges are buzzing away like big brown 

 bees, your thoughts will be with that little 

 game bird who teased and tormented you 

 until the art of stopping him came to you 

 as suddenly as one of his own sudden 

 flashes. 



Finally, I must plead for our little friend 

 an advantage which in these hard times only 

 the lucky ones of the earth can afford to de- 

 spise — his cheapness. He costs nothing to 

 produce and nothing to keep. He is the 



B 



STORRS L OLSON 



