THE PREPARATION. 256 



pleasures of the one, or shared the dangers of the 

 other, should be looked upon in the light of a friend, 

 and be cherished accordingly. And they are right in 

 thinking so. The steed shares the excitement of his 

 master, and the natural ardour of each is a bond of union 

 between them. But will they be able to comprehend 

 the fondness of the mountaineer for his rifle, between 

 which and himself there can be no such sympathy? 

 Yet affection he does feel for it : he and it have passed 

 many a pleasant hour together, and it has been the 

 means of procuring him the most exciting joys. Why, 

 his very fame as a good shot, is it not bound up with 

 his rifle ? and do not the two, like loving companions, 

 share with each other the praises and renown ? And 

 a stronger cause for attachment still has he not en- 

 dured manifold disappointments, many a vexation, 

 many a sad failure, with no earthly thing near him in 

 which he took an interest, or for which he felt com- 

 panionship, save his rifle ? For should he have missed 

 a stag or a chamois, and in all the bitterness of disap- 

 pointment and self-reproach sits down alone to think 

 over the event and explain how it happened, the 

 sportsman, if he have a grain of sense or justice in 

 his composition, will never attribute the failure to his 

 rifle, but to his own over-hastiness or want of skill. 

 On the other hand, when at 160 or 180 paces he has 

 brought down a chamois, he praises his good weapon, 

 and looks at it complacently and with cherishing re- 

 gard. The reputation of my rifle I maintain as though 

 it were mixed up with my own. Like the monarch 



