THE LONG TRAIL 



now, or will be in a few days. I suppose 

 yours are in good trim also (a surrepti- 

 tious dig at a somewhat lackadaisical son) . 

 I am pursuing my usual plan of taking 

 all the precautions in advance." 



A few days later came another refer- 

 ence to the Holland & Holland: "The 

 double-barrelled four-fifty shot beauti- 

 fully, but I was paralyzed at the direc- 

 tions which accompanied it to the effect 

 that two shots must always be fired in the 

 morning before starting, as otherwise from 

 the freshly oiled barrels the first shot 

 would go high. This is all nonsense, and 

 I shall simply have to see that the barrels 

 are clean of the oil." The recoil of the 

 big gun was so severe that it became a 

 standing joke as to whether we did not 

 fear it more than a charging elephant ! 



Father gave the closest attention to 

 every detail of the equipment. The first 

 33 



