SHOOTING NEAR BOPPART. '261 



was loading with ball, in order to make sure of a kill on the 

 next opportunity. This was more than flesh and blood could 

 stand, and I swore that if he did not keep his distance, T 

 would give him a taste of No. 4 that would put an end to 

 his reckless proceedings, which evidently had some effect 

 upon him, as he changed his quarters immediately. 



Our little discussion had apparently been heard and appre- 

 ciated by the beasts of the forest. I stood at my post, 

 straining every nerve to catch the sound of a crackling 

 branch, or other indication of the approach of a hare, roe, or 

 some other inhabitant of the woodlands, and for a long time 

 could see or hear nothing but the monotonous tapping of the 

 woodpecker, or an occasional squirrel, which I could not make 

 up my mind to shoot at ; and I was on the eve of shifting my 

 quarters, when a slight rustling made me cast my eyes 

 towards the opposite path, and I observed a fine roebuck in 

 the act of springing across it. He hesitated a moment, and 

 that moment was his last, as he received my charge behind 

 the shoulder, and rolled over stone-dead. 



A short time afterwards the drivers came up, hot and tired, 

 and our little party being assembled, and several good jokes 

 interchanged with each other, we were only too glad to 

 retire homewards ; the smoke of our pipes streaming up in 

 the calm evening air, and the choruses of our songs awakening 

 the surrounding echoes. 



