1 1 8 A Book of the Snipe. 



natural freedom. Add to this an exasperating 

 difficulty in finding your accustomed comfort- 

 able grip of the left hand on the fore-end, 

 an irresistible desire to fiddle with the safety- 

 catch, and, finally, a tendency to fling gun 

 to shoulder when even a lark flutters up 

 ahead, the said motion being of the wooden 

 order, and liable to bed the butt of the gun 

 on all sorts of unexpected and unusual 

 portions of the anatomy, and you have a 

 collection of symptoms eminently undesirable 

 in a man playing a game in which absolute 

 elasticity is the chief essential. 



There are two or three cures that have 

 been suggested for this very real complaint, 

 two of which I have already described — viz., 

 a d^gagd first barrel, which will often agree- 

 ably restore your equanimity by its unexpected 

 success, and next dissection, as contemptuous 

 as you can make It, of the ridiculous condition 

 of your nerves. Much may be done by de- 

 taching the Ego from your Cosmos, and poking 

 fun at it as mercilessly as if it were a foolish 

 companion instead of your foolish self! An- 



