SNIPE SHOOTING. 99 
« And we will go tothe wagon and have lunch. Keep 
a sharp lookout where you step, and avoid stumbling 
against any of the bogs, or you will get a fall.” 
“JT will,” replied he; but at that instant his left foot 
stuck in the mud, his right plunged forward, striking a 
large hillock, and down he went, his gun landing in the 
mud about six feet from him. To save himself, he 
threw out his hands, and they stuck in to the wrists in 
the simy mud. I helped him up. His once fair face 
was spotted with mud, and he was a laughable object 
to look at. I laughed and laughed until my sides 
ached and the tears streamed down my cheeks. All 
this time he stared at me, never smiling once. Sud- 
denly he said: 
“ Are you through?” 
I replied, “ Yes.” 
“Then ” said he “ any man who will laugh and enjoy 
the result of an accident, as you have, my candid 
opinion of him is, and I stand ready to prove it, that 
he is a chump, and daren’t take it up, and that I can 
lick him in a minute.” 
I appeased his anger, helped him get the mud off, and 
in a few minutes his accustomed good humor returned, 
and he said he didn’t blame me a che for laughing. 
After lunch and an hour’s rest, selecting been walk- 
ing, we bagged about twenty more. edb was willing 
to admit that Don as a retriever could not be beat, but 
that it was a pity that he would not point the birds. 
“Ned,” said I, “I have hunted snipe for a great 
many years, both with and without dogs, and excepting 
the pleasure derived from seeing a good dog quarter 
and point staunchly, I would rather hunt with a 
retriever than any other way. Snipe must be hunted 
