DUCK SHOOTING. 217 



him in the dim light making straight for me. Run- 

 ning was never my forte, hut, gentlemen, my speed 

 round that house with that mastiff after me has 

 rarely been equalled ; he kept it up well, however, 

 and if he could have turned a corner readily, would 

 have caught me. Recovering my presence of mind 

 in the third round, I darted through the hall door, 

 and slamming it to behind me, heard my enemy 

 bounce against it, and after a growl and a sniff or 

 two, turn away in disgust. 



" Upon regaining my breath, I ascended to my 

 room, and loading the revolver which I always carry 

 on dangerous journeys, returned to the attack, de- 

 termined on revenge. Strange to say, however, the 

 cowardly beast, the moment the pistol was presented 

 at him, uttered a low whine and shrank away. Dis- 

 gusted with his cowardice, I seized up my rod, which 

 had been dropped in my first flight, and pursuing 

 him howling piteously three times round the house, 

 laid it on him soundly. 



" It must have been poor stuff, for the tip broke. 

 Conroy mended it afterwards, without charge, 

 when I told him the circumstances. But I put in 

 a spare one, and having dug my box full of worms, 

 went to the shed where my horse was left stand- 

 ing, ready harnessed, from the night before. There 

 is nothing like attention to these little matters in 

 time ; for, if the hostler had had to harness him, he 

 might have detained me many precious minutes. 



"A half-hour's drive soon brought me to the 

 pond, and, after hitching the animal to the fence 



