146 A Sportsman at Large 



misses and some of the most fancied competitors were already 

 " horsdetir." 



Matters went very well with jne the next day ; so by the 

 time the eleventh round was concluded I was the only one of the 

 distinguished field that had killed all; whilst only one (Jack 

 Hayley, if you please !) had but a single zero posted to his 

 debit. 



Therefore, when my turn came in the final round I had 

 only to kill to win ! ' ' 



Only ! But it was a big "if" with such birds and so much 

 depending on the issue ! 



I forced my nerves into subjection, and as soon as I was on 

 the mark I was the personification of steady determination. 



Never before, or since, have I been so highly tried at a 

 crisis. A perfect demon of a bird released from the right- 

 hand trap was caught by the wind, and whirled off with 

 meteoric speed. My first touched, but failed even to modify 

 the pigeon's flight. My second followed instantaneously, and 

 the " rock " was down, with his wing " gone " ! Glory be ! 



But so near a thing was it, that, in falling, the luckless bird 

 struck the wire barrier only a foot from the top. So I must 

 account myself a very lucky guy to have annexed this 

 important stake, together with the valuable and tasteful 

 objet d'art that went with it, to say nothing of the useful bet 

 which had clicked. 



Jack Hayley had killed his twelfth, so was proxime accessit. 

 I have hardly ever met him since, but he has wailed about 

 that unfortunate first bird, which he suffered to start on 

 what looked like a swift journey to Corsica. 



" Look here, old Cockie," he is wont to say, " if I had 

 not muffed Number One, I should have beaten your head 

 off 1 " 



Truly, there is much virtue in an "If"! 



Every three years " Le Championnat Triennal " is held on the 

 Monte Carlo ground, the conditions being twenty-five birds 

 at twenty-nine metres, five birds out ; entree, cinq cent francs. 

 I have tried my luck in this competition on two occasions. 

 In the first, five " zeros " in fifteen rounds put an end to my 

 chance ; but the second endeavour saw me well in the running 



