200 The Gamekeeper at Home. 



The village blacksmith will tell you of more than 

 One narrow escape he has had with guns, and espe- 

 cially muzzle-loaders, brought to him to repair. Per- 

 haps a charge could not be ignited through the 

 foulness of the nipple, and the breech had to be un- 

 screwed in the vice ; now and then the breech-piece 

 was so tightly jammed that it could not be turned. 

 Once, being positively assured that there was nothing 

 but some dirt in the barrel and no powder, he was 

 induced to place it in the forge fire ; when — bang ! 

 a charge of shot smashed the window, and the burn- 

 ing coals flew about in a fiery shower. In one instance 

 a blacksmith essayed to clear out a barrel which had 

 become choked with a long iron rod made red-hot : 

 the explosion which followed drove the rod through 

 his hand and into the wooden wall of the shed. 

 Smiths seem to have a particular fondness for med- 

 dling with guns, and generally have one stowed away 

 somewhere. 



It was not wonderful that accidents happened 

 with the muzzle-loaders, considering the manner in 

 which they were handled by ignorant persons. The 

 keeper declares that many of the cottagers, who have 

 an old single-barrel, ostensibly to frighten the birds 

 from their gardens, do not think it properly loaded 

 until the ramrod jumps out of the barrel. They ram 



