Some TPdUmblefcon "tierces 6 4 i 



again. He was dissatisfied with his sight, and his 

 hesitation confirmed the belief that he was going to 

 miss. Again he raised his piece, but the sway and 

 movement of the multitude were so marked that he 

 lowered it once more, and looked quietly round, as 

 if to show that he was quite master of himself. At 

 last, and in the midst of an expectation that was 

 positively painful, the flash burst from the mouth of 

 his motionless rifle, and the faint ring of a ball against 

 the iron struck upon the spectators' ears. The game 

 was won, but only after a struggle so gallant and so 

 exciting as to keep the very keenest enjoyment at its 

 height throughout the day. Nothing in the stories of 

 Robin Hood and his men is so good as this piece of 

 real life, and if other counties can furnish competitors 

 as well matched as those at Southport, we may be 

 perfectly certain that no marksmen will beat English- 

 men, and no sports be so popular in England as good 

 rifle contests." 



Forty years have passed, and that confident prophecy 

 has not been fulfilled. Englishmen are not the best 

 marksmen in the world, nor has rifle-shooting become 

 a popular sport. But on that subject I shall have a 

 word to say before I conclude this chapter. 



I do not remember that Ick ever did much at 

 Wimbledon, but he was always in evidence at the 

 Altcar meetings for North-country marksmen, and I 

 saw him make some very fine shooting in the Isle 

 of Man in 1862. 



A conspicuous figure at Wimbledon was the present 

 octogenarian Earl of Wemyss, then known wherever 



VOL. II. 20 



