RABBIT-SHOOTING. 41 



work. We stopped, too, on the edge of a sort of 

 natural hollow, or punch bowl. The bracken here 

 was simply alive with rabbits, and they were beaten 

 out, not singly, but half-a-dozen at a time. It was 

 load and fire, load and fire, as quickly as we could, 

 now. At last the rapid firing slackened, and died out. 



" Now let's have lunch," said our host, turning 

 towards where the ladies were already awaiting us. 

 There were some pheasants in this wood, and just 

 before we reached the luncheon baskets somebody put 

 up a hen. Taken by surprise, or but why make 

 excuses for bad shooting ? The fact is, I missed her 

 with both barrels, and somebody " wiped my eye." 

 Consequently I sat down to lunch in rather a bad 

 humour, which soon passed off. 



After lunch we finished that wood, and then pro- 

 ceeded to a piece of quite young larch which hardly 

 overtopped the long rowen grass. Here we got some 

 more hares, and, to everybody's surprise, a woodcock. 



The next beat was half a wood of tall firs and 

 other trees, with plenty of brambles and undergrowth. 

 We did fairly well here, too. In the middle of the 

 beat a woodcock got up near me, and went straight 

 down the ride where I was posted. Up went my 

 gun, and just as I was going to press the trigger, to 

 my horror, I saw two ladies who had foolishly been 

 allowed to come to the end of the ride. The wood- 

 cock went off unshot at, and I dare say neither of them 

 ever knew how near they were to well, say disfigure- 

 ment, just then. 



As if to make amends for this disappointment, in 



