WILSON'S SNIPE 137 



move plenty fast enough, be sure of that! 

 When he flushes close to the gun he is very apt 

 to think that a little irregularity on his part 

 may add interest to the occasion, and in such 

 lines he is very much at home. Some of his 

 curves would make a "ball tosser's" fortune. 

 If, however, we wait until the cunning rascal 

 has twisted his little twist and finally straight- 

 ened out for some more healthy scene we may 

 cut loose with a fair chance of gathering him, 

 for he is not "hard lived" and a few pellets 

 will stop him. But even this plan will not al- 

 ways bring about their destruction, for some 

 old veterans of the bog will corkscrew for a 

 hundred yards with their heads over their 

 shoulders and their keen eyes following your 

 every movement, dropping suddenly to earth 

 and running a short distance to flush even 

 wilder next time. Such citizens are hard to 

 deal with ; still, we can work down upon them 

 with the wind and so have a larger percentage 

 of cross shots where it is only a question of 

 proper leading, or we may take some day when 

 there is a strong breeze blowing and work with 

 the air in our faces. We shall thus have a fair 

 chance, as they invariably rise against the wind 



