212 SMALL SHOT 



enjoying them, delights to read by his cheerful 

 fireside what others more fortunate have written 

 of their outings, and to share with them in spirit 

 the happy hours in camps by wild lakes, the tramps 

 in primeval forests, and hunting tours in far-away 

 lands that he may never see. 



II. THE OLD GUN 



IT is not to be denied that there is great satisfac- 

 tion in being the owner of a fine new gun. The 

 perfect result of the handicraft of a master of the 

 art of gunmaking; a piece so nicely balanced that 

 it will almost take the line of flight of the swiftest 

 flying bird of its own mere motion; all its parts so 

 neatly fitted that a spider's web inserted might 

 cause a jam; its polished and gracefully turned 

 stock, the chosen bit of many a goodly tree; the 

 variegated barrels almost as beautiful to look upon 

 in their regular irregularity as a golden and purple 

 barred sunset sky, or the shimmer of a rippled 

 lake. It is a delight to the eye to see, to the hand to 

 hold, a satisfaction to the soul to feel that one is 

 the possessor of such a weapon. And yet, like 

 riches, and like love, it has its cares, anxieties, and 

 jealousies. One dislikes to be caught in the rain 

 with such a gun in its untarnished beauty, or to 

 take it out under threatening skies, or to breast 

 haphazard blackberry briars with it in hand; to 

 leave it at night uncleaned, though the day's 



