1 70 The Wild-Fowlers 



mule-teamster's lash on a horse-lover's 

 trotting team? Why play tennis with a 

 cannon-ball ? Why, as an angler, would 

 you drag a market-fisherman's net for 

 brook trout, or flail a surf rod along the 

 tiny mountain stream ? The gun-clerk's 

 excuse, ' The small gun recoils too much,' 

 will not do in these practical days of nitro 

 powder and perfect wadding, though it 

 may serve to sell his large-bore over- 

 stock, and the wheelmaker's plea, ' The 

 light wheel is not strong enough for safe 

 riding,' may help sell the old, heavy 

 machines; but the well informed rider 

 knows the light wheel is the correct arti- 

 cle for comfort and good riding." 



" Why deh yer use th' 12 instead of th' 

 1 6 on ducks, then, Mr. Fieldin ' ? " asked 

 Captain Grieb, who had come up to the 

 little group to announce the readiness of 

 the double battery. 



" Only because I possess the two guns, 

 Captain Grieb. The 16 kills ducks, as I 

 shoot them singly as well as the 12. 



