20 EXPERIENCES OF SPORT. 



can shute and though that darned Brummagem 

 gun, and that infernal ' Knock 'em Down ' well 

 nigh killed 'ee, thee be all right in the trigger 

 finger." 



Some months later, the old man was driven 

 in the pony- chaise to see a great pigeon match 

 in which your humble servant was to figure, not 

 with a Brummagem gun, but with a 12-bore 

 breech-loader by Needham, of Birmingham, the 

 hardest shooting gun I ever took in hand. 



"I don't like them 'ere new-fangled breeze- 

 loaders" soliloquised the old man, " but I 

 'spose the young captain knows what's what 



noo." 



I was in great shooting form and luck that 

 day, and the stakes to win were heavy. 



" Hurrah !" shouted my old friend, to the- 

 great amusement of the field, as bird after bird 

 fell before the 12-bore. " I taught 'un how to 

 shute. I be old Mathew, the keeper, gentle- 

 men, four score and three come next Candle- 



mas." 



I won the first prize. 



" Three cheers for the young captain," shouted 

 the old man. " I taught 7 un how to shute, and 



