COVERT-SHOOTING. 151 



hundreds, who often assembled to see the shooting, 

 seemed to be influenced by the atmosphere of rule, 

 method, and orderly behaviour which prevailed 

 around ; and, indeed, as a rule, the conduct of these 

 large assemblies at " big shoots " in the manufacturing 

 and mining districts is beyond all praise. To a 

 nervous man it may be trying to have an enormous 

 gallery behind him, commenting, he feels sure, even if 

 he does not hear them, 'as he probably will, on each 

 shot ; but these comments are made as decently as 

 possible, and with a kindly regard to the shooter's 

 feelings. " Oh, it was a very difficult shot ! " when he 

 missed, and " Well done ! " when he killed, is often 

 the line of criticism. 



I did once hear of a nervous young man at one 

 of these popular shootings whose lot did not fall in 

 pleasant places. It was in a mining district, and a 

 small " tail " of miners attached itself to each gun at 

 the commencement of the beat, the number increasing 

 and growing out of the bowels of the earth as the day 

 proceeded ; each " tail " betting freely with the next 



