TWO SHOTS 



him, yet these trees be young and 

 lusty ? 



As they and the unfaded page of mem- 

 ory record the years, it was but a little 

 while ago that his heart was almost 

 bursting with pride of that first triumph. 

 Would that he might once more feel that 

 delicious pang of joy. 



Hark ! There is the quit ! quit ! of 

 a grouse, and there another and another, 

 and the patter and rustle of their re- 

 treating footsteps, presently launching 

 into sudden flight, vaguely seen in swift 

 bolts of gray, hurtling among gray tree 

 trunks and variegated foliage. True to 

 the old instinct his gun leaps to his 

 shoulder, and he fires again and again 

 at the swift target. But the quick eye 

 no longer guides the aim, the timely 

 finger no longer pulls the trigger, and 

 the useless pellets waste themselves on 

 the leaves and twigs. 



The woods are full of grouse, as if all 

 the birds of the region had congregated 

 here to mock his failing sight and skill. 

 On every side they burst away from him 

 like rockets, and his quick but futile 

 charges in rapid succession are poured 

 193 



