SNIPE SHOOTING. 99 



" And we will go to the wagon and have lunch. Keep 

 a sharp lookout where you step, and avoid stumbling 

 against any of the bogs, or you will get a fall." 



" I will," replied he ; but at that instant his left foot 

 stuck in the mud, his right plunged forward, striking a 

 large hillock, and down he went, his gun landing in the 

 mud about six feet from him. To save himself, he 

 threw out his hands, and they stuck in to the wrists in 

 the slimy mud. I helped him up. His once fair face 

 was spotted with mud, and he was a laughable object 

 to look at. I laughed and laughed until my sides 

 ached and the tears streamed down my cheeks. All 

 this time he stared at me, never smiling once. Sud- 

 denly he said : 



" Are you through ? " 



I replied, " Yes." 



" Then " said he " any man who will laugh and enjoy 

 the result of an accident, as you have, my candid 

 opinion of him is, and I stand ready to prove it, that 

 he is a chump, and daren't take it up, and that I can 

 lick him in a minute." 



I appeased his anger, helped him get the mud off, and 

 in a few minutes his accustomed good humor returned, 

 and he said he didn't blame me a bit for laughing. 



After lunch and an hour's rest, selecting better walk- 

 ing, we bagged about twenty more. Ned w~as willing 

 to admit that Don as a retriever could not be beat, but 

 that it was a pity that he would not point the birds. 



" Ned," said I, " I have hunted snipe for a great 

 many years, both with and without dogs, and excepting 

 the pleasure derived from seeing a good dog quarter 

 and point staunchly, I would rather hunt with a 

 retriever than any other way. Snipe must be hunted 



