SHOOTING 31 



known to try to cover themselves up with dead 

 leaves in the hope of thus escaping her notice, 

 and I remember seeing old Major Blood-Buster- 

 field climb a monkey-puzzle in the Park at 

 Biffin Grange when my aunt's shrill voice heralded 

 her approach. 



Personally, I have always greatly appreciated 

 the society of ladies out shooting; their presence 

 seems to me to introduce an element of romance 

 and picturesqueness into what would otherwise 

 too often prove a dull and tedious entertainment. 

 But I agree with my uncle that there are 

 moments in the life of every sportsman when he 

 would be alone, when the conversation of even 

 the fairest of her sex is apt to cramp his style, 

 and he longs to experience that peace, perfect 

 peace, with loved ones far away, which the 

 hymnologist has so eloquently described. 



8. 



I cannot leave the subject of shooting without 

 making some mention of the all-important 

 question of sporting phraseology, the proper use 

 of which distinguishes the true sportsman from 

 his more ignorant or inexperienced fellows. Few 

 things are more painful than to hear a man talk 

 of having killed a " pair of partridges," of having 

 seen " two hares " or " a party of grouse," when 



