BEGINNING TO SHOOT 123 



bag anything, would lose his temper and even order 

 the keeper to take and smash his gun to bits. 

 Fortunately he often lost his spectacles in the 

 thickets, and would stay behind searching for 



them. D n was a man to give a wide berth 



to. He had shot various dogs in his day. It is 

 horrid to hear the shot of the reckless gunner 

 rattle in the underwood about one. The reck- 

 less gunner reminds one of the reckless jester ; 

 the latter will not let his best friend stand between 

 himself and his witticism ; the reckless gunner will 

 not spare his best friend if the latter stands between 

 him and the rabbit. 



Some people are too amiably disposed towards 

 the reckless gunner. The story of the beater who 

 casually remarked to another beater, ^^ Lord, how 

 that gentleman there do put it into my gaiters ! " 

 is almost typical of the countryman who bears 

 gladly with the gun fool. There are people who 

 really seem to think that a little peppering is all 

 in the day's sport : it is easier to understand the 

 temper of the man who, on being peppered, 

 ordered the gunner who fired that shot to hold 

 up his hand, with the object of inflicting condign 

 punishment on the offender. 



Rabbit-shooting in thick places, where the mem- 

 bers of the line cannot see one another by any 

 means always, and where the line itself must often 

 tend to become irregular, necessitates great care on 

 the part of every gun. Make an absolutely hard 

 and fast rule of never shooting down the line, even 



