178 THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE. 



one turned out by a third-rate mechanic, 

 — I shudder at the thought of it. 



Notwithstanding the aversion^ or pre- 

 judice, as it may be termed, which J shall 

 ever entertain for low-priced guns, I am 

 free to confess, as the parliamentary 

 phrase goes, that the magi in the gun 

 trade, with only one exception, charge 

 too much for their first-rate doubles, and 

 that exception is Mr. Westley Richards. 



I trust, however, that the day is not 

 far distant when our leading gun-makers 

 will form a kind of Joint-Stock Company, 

 and reduce the price of their fowling- 

 pieces. I know that it could be done, 

 for I am in the secret, and I could also 

 tell them how, and still leave them a fair 

 and reasonable profit, — but blabbing is 

 not my forte. 



The French phrase of " Vemharras du 

 choix" is peculiarly applicable in the 



