20 The Wild-Fowlers 



hurriedly tossing away the black-powder 

 cartridges and extracting half a hundred 

 nitro loads from his sole-leather ammuni- 

 tion box. 



' You see, Peritus, I could avoid the 

 smoke nuisance of the black powder by 

 using nitro in the first barrel, and I 'd do 

 this if the blamed blacks did n't kick so;, 

 my shoulder 's quite sore from those two 

 first shots, and, strangely, too, for I have 

 in olden times used up fifty of the same 

 load in a morning without noticing any 

 recoil. The white powder has spoiled 

 me, I guess/* 



" Do you believe it is as good as it is 

 claimed ? " 



"Assuredly; it is the powder. In its 

 first state it was like all new inven- 

 tions crude, but nowadays no man 

 should use anything else in the powder 

 line. It shoots as quick and strong as the 

 old stuff, if not quicker and stronger. 

 The gun does not recoil as with black 

 powder; the shooter's chance of making 



