The Wild-Fowlers 19 



of redheads tumbling to his discharges 

 and dipping into the bay as dead as Peri- 

 tus's first bird, which, with the Doctor's 

 pair, floated in the gentle tideway forty 

 yards from the blind. 



'Well done, Doctor !" cried Peritus, 

 crouched again and slipping in fresh cart- 

 ridges; " well done! but I suppose you '11 

 thrash me for missing the blackduck." 



"No, Peritus! Never! You did as 

 well as a hundred other fair shots could 

 have done under the circumstances, but 

 you erred, boy, as I '11 presently explain 

 to you no more black powder for me to- 

 day, though I did wish to use up these 

 quarter-hundred shells and at the same 

 time experiment with both the old and 

 the new brands for your benefit; but it 

 kicks unmercifully and there is n't wind 

 enough to take away the smoke nicely 

 so as to clear the range for the second 

 barrel. I did n't mind the recoil in the 

 old days, somehow, and the smoke was 

 never troublesome," and the Doctor was 



