i6 2 BROADLAND SPORT 



stances. The doubtful tone of his voice at once decided me. 

 I would take this gun in preference to any other if I never 

 touched a feather. (I did not say so openly ; I only thought 

 it.) I would show him that, bend or no bend, it mattered 

 not to ine, for that day at least the gun with the corkscrew 

 stock which he meant to have altered should so excel its 

 former self in its death-dealing propensities that its owner 

 should seriously reconsider the advisability of altering it at 

 all. 



Gentle listener, bear with me to the end of this narrative, 

 and you will see how my egotism was so ruefully taken 

 down, and how all such vain thoughts should be suppressed 

 the moment they enter the brain, in case the tongue should 

 be weak and foolish enough to betray utterance. 



Our sporting toilet was scarce complete when the dogcart 

 drove up to the door, and we were bowling smoothly along 

 a good turnpike road towards the reed-grown waste of bog 

 and open water, surrounded by fair woodlands, which marked 

 Ranworth Great Broad. 



Our appearance was not expected, but the preparations 

 for our sport were none the slower carried out, and I at least 

 had the double satisfaction of seeing more in detail than I 

 otherwise should have done. 



Fortified with a nip of home-made cherry brandy, our 

 steps through the glade, which wound its way among the 

 nut bushes of the old rookery, were elastic and hurried. We 

 were eager for the fray, and the noise made by the wildfowl 

 on the open water, of which we caught an occasional glimpse 

 through the undergrowth, only inspired us the more. The 

 retrievers were in ecstasies. All of us were sanguine, and 

 felt the hot blood of excitement and expectancy coursing 

 through our veins, except perhaps the keeper and the boatman. 



At the home farm my host had stopped and invited the 

 bailiff to accompany us, which invitation had been cordially 

 accepted. A more jovial companion, a keener sportsman, or 

 a better shot than he was I have rarely met. 



Arriving at a tumble-down old boathouse we were greeted 



