212 SMALL SHOT 



enjoying them, delights to read by his cheerful 

 fireside what others more fortmiate have WT-itten 

 of their outings, and to share with them in spirit 

 the happy hours in camps by wild lakes, the tramps 

 in primeval forests, and hunting tours in far-away 

 lands that he may never see. 



II. THE OLD GUN 



It is not to be denied that there is great satisfac- 

 tion in being the owner of a fine new gun. The 

 perfect result of the handicraft of a master of the 

 art of gunmaking; a piece so nicely balanced that 

 it will almost take the fine of flight of the swiftest 

 flying bird of its own mere motion; all its parts so 

 neatly fitted that a spider's web inserted might 

 cause a jam; its polished and gracefully turned 

 stock, the chosen bit of many a goodly tree; the 

 variegated barrels almost as beautiful to look upon 

 in their regular irregularity as a golden and purple 

 barred sunset sky, or the shimmer of a rippled 

 lake. It is a delight to the eye to see, to the hand to 

 hold, a satisfaction to the soul to feel that one is 

 the possessor of such a weapon. And yet, like 

 riches, and like love, it has its cares, anxieties, and 

 jealousies. One dislikes to be caught in the rain 

 with such a gun in its untarnished beauty, or to 

 take it out under threatening skies, or to breast 

 haphazard blackberry briars with it in hand; to 

 leave it at night uncleaned, though the day's 



