180 WARWICK WOODLANDS. 



All this passed in a moment; and then was seen one of 

 those singular things that will at times happen; but with 

 regard to quail only, so far as I have ever seen or heard 

 tell. For as Forester was putting down the card upon 

 the powder in the barrel which he had just fired, a second 

 bird arose, almost from the identical spot whence the first 

 had been so difficultly flushed, and went off in the same 

 direction. But not in the least was Frank flurried now. 

 He dropped his ramrod quietly upon the grass, brought 

 up his piece deliberately to his eye, and killed his bird 

 again. 



"Excellent — excellent! Frank," said Harry again. "I 

 never saw two prettier shots in all my life. Nor did I 

 ever see birds lie harder." 



During all this time, amidst all the kicking of tussocks, 

 threshing of bog-grass, and banging of guns, and, worst 

 of all, bouncing up of fresh birds, from the instant when 

 they dropped at the first shot, neither one of Harry's aogB, 

 nor Tom's little Dash, had budged from their down 

 charge. Now, however, they got up quickly, and soon 

 retrieved all the dead birds. 



"Now, then, we will divide into two parties," said 

 Harry. "Frank, you go with Tom; and you come with 

 me. Commodore. It will never do to have you two jealous 

 fellows together, you won't kill a bird all day," he added, 

 in a lower voice. "That is the worst of old Tom, when he 

 gets jealous he's the very devil. Frank is the only fellow 

 that can get along with him at all. He puts me out of 

 temper, and if we both got angry, it would be very dis- 

 agreeable. For, though he is the very best fellow in the 

 world, when he is in a rage he is untameable. I cannot 

 think what has put him out, now; for he has shot very 

 well to-day. It is only when he gets behindhand, that he 

 is usually jealous in his shooting; but he has got the 

 deuce into him now." 



By this time the two parties were perhaps forty yards 

 apart, when Dash came to a point again. Up got a single 

 bird, the old cock, and flew directly away from Tom, across 

 Frank's face; but not for that did the old chap pause. 

 Up went his cannon to his shoulder, there was a flash and 

 a roar, and the quail, which was literally not twelve feet 

 from him disappeared as if it had been resolved into thin 



