90 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 



The other man, called B., has not had the same 

 opportunities, and cannot afford the same perfection 

 of turn-out. He is probably a poorer man he is, so 

 to speak, a provincial, and neither by social position 

 nor residence enjoys the chance of shooting where 

 game is very plentiful and organisation very perfect. 

 But, on the other hand, he is probably country-bred, 

 often, though not always, a good sportsman, a keen 

 judge of a dog or a horse, a bit of a naturalist, a 

 good walker, and sometimes a really good shot. His 

 weapon he has but one is possibly an old pin -fire, 

 a fairly-made, but badly-balanced, gun by a local 

 maker, with hammers, but without ejectors, of which 

 the most that can be said is that it will probably kill 

 a bird at all ordinary ranges if you can hold it straight. 

 His cartridges are not of brass, nor even green cases ; 

 they may be very good or very bad, according to 

 circumstances ; and he has no servant to load for him, 

 but likely enough a handy man who knows something 

 of petty sessions, pantries, and partridges, and who is 

 an infallible marker. 



Now how can you bring A. and B. together on 

 the subject of partridge-shooting ? The only answer 

 is, Why should you try ? I will only try so far as to 

 urge that neither should despise nor dislike the 

 other. Depend upon it, they both know a good deal 



