206 TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MR. FOSTER 



confidence in my powers of catching,' I said. ' Well, 

 come and drag me out,' was all the reply he made ; 

 and, having handed the guns to my man, I succeeded 

 in pulling him out. He afterwards told me that the 

 reason why he had thrown the gun to me and not lo 

 his carrier was that, from the way in which he was 

 sinking himself, he could see that his carrier, who was 

 close behind him, was in nearly as bad a plight as he 

 was, and so he dared not trust him to catch it. 



I never knew his equal. His heart was in the right 

 place, and I believe sincerely that his soul is there too, 

 for I regret to say that he is now no more. No one 

 more kindly and true-hearted ever lived, and he spared 

 no pains to instruct me ; and I shall ever feel grateful 

 for all he taught rne, and proud of having been 

 fortunate in having so good a Mentor, and this must 

 be my excuse for again referring to him, inasmuch as 

 by so doing I am able to pay some slight tribute of 

 affection and respect to his memory. 



I have, after much observation, come to the con- 

 clusion that if a man is a good snipe-shot he will 

 generally manage to hold h"is own anywhere, even 

 though his shooting experiences may not have pre- 

 viously extended further than that sport. 



