A Day with the Woodcock 185 



Marse Ned's intense amazement the cock came 

 down with a broken wing. 



" Yah ! yah ! de ole man done got yo'. Fotch 

 um, good dawg ! How 'bout dat sneak powder an' 

 snap shootin' now ? He ! he ! doant yo' nebber talk 

 'bout shootin' no mo'. I'se done gwinter tell all ob 

 dem 'bout dese doin's, heah me ! Oh ! Lordy, Lordy, 

 it am better'n catchin' five coons to go an' do up 

 Marse Ned like dis yar. My ! I wouldn't hab miss' 

 dat cock fur a hull farm. Marse Ned, yo' am fluster- 

 cated, yo' ain't no good nohow. Yo' shute an' miss 

 an' I bring dem down. Yo'se in de hole pull de 

 hole in arter yo' an' die ! " and the delighted fellow 

 laughed till he could hardly stand, in which he was 

 heartily joined by his friend. Then they sat down 

 in the shade to examine the bag. 



Seventeen cock were arranged side by side, 

 Duckett contributing seven birds, including a brace 

 from his hat and a trio from inside his shirt. Marse 

 Ned held a big hen in his hand, and pondered on 

 what a grand one it might have been two months 

 later. Right well he knew the difference between 

 murdering cock in the warm season and stopping 

 them when they are strong and swift and wild after 

 the first frosts. He had shot many of them early 

 and late, and experience had taught him that such 

 sport as they had enjoyed that day was not cock 

 shooting as it should be. There was a certain 

 amount of fun in it, 'tis true, but it called for only 

 moderate skill ; and besides, there was the stout- 

 hearted pointer utterly used up in a few hours' time, 

 and fit only to lie in the shade and gasp for air. 

 Later on that same dog would see the sun rise and 



