218 PARTRIDGES 



hoped never to see again. For this 

 form of shooting combined all the dis- 

 advantages incident to any formal 

 shooting with an absence of any of its 

 counterbalancing advantages. On all, 

 so to speak, official days there is bound 

 to be some feeling of constraint in the 

 air ; your host is at least preoccupied if 

 not actively worried ; the head -keeper 

 an old acquaintance has scarce leisure 

 to greet you, for he bears a heavy burden 

 of responsibility ; even your fellow-guns 

 take the business somewhat seriously. 

 On the bye day the trammels of dis- 

 cipline are relaxed ; every one is at his 

 ease, and though hard work and not 

 loafing is still the order of the day, there 

 is a happy feeling that it does not really 

 matter if things do go wrong. In driving 

 you look to the constant test of your skill 

 as a marksman and the pleasure of seeing 

 birds artfully handled to more than 

 compensate you for any loss of individual 

 freedom. 



Such, at least, were the writer's im- 



