98 SECRET OF SUCCESS IN SHOOTING. 



with affected nonchalance^ " I bagged my share — 

 ten or eleven couple I think" (he knowing full 

 well the whole time the exact number, which he 

 had carefully counted over at least a dozen times, 

 and recalled to his recollection where and how he 

 had killed each bird). " Well, that really is a day 

 worth going for." " Then," rejoins some one, 

 who would like to shoot very well, if it were not 

 too much trouble, and who will not for the sake 

 of a few good days undergo the fatigue of some 

 indifferent ones, " if / could get such a day as 

 that, I really would go." 



The secret, however, is not only in the number 

 and goodness of the dogs, the sharpness of the 

 shooter's eye, the straightness of the powder , the 

 goodness of the gun, the good fortune or the skill 

 in the choice of suitable weather, the knowledge 

 of the country, the unanimity of the party shoot- 

 ing together, the physical powers of each; no ! suc- 

 cess in all their expeditions will be proportionate 

 to the keenness of the sportsmen themselves, 

 their zeal and their determination to earn their 

 sport by working hard for it. A careless sports- 

 man, indifferent to his work, who would rather 

 walk round a bush, than beat through it, will 



