A Sportsman at Large 149 



A friend lent me his hammer gun, and as its bend did not 

 suit me in the least, and as it was decidedly too long in the 

 stock for my very short arms, I promptly missed two birds 

 in succession ; meanwhile my opponent had scored two kills. 



Then I resumed my own weapon and tried firing the left 

 barrel first, with the satisfactory result that its discharges 

 were normal. To cut a long story short, I got up, as it were, 

 on the post, to win by one bird ! A narrow squeak, indeed ! 



Ever since then I have invariably shot with the left barrel 

 first, whether at pigeons or game ! 



But in the following summer, when shooting at the Gun 

 Club, an incident happened which induced me to abandon the 

 " hammerless " for good and all, and to return to the more 

 primitive type of weapon. I had to kill to win an important 

 prize, and waltzed up to the mark quite gaily. When I 

 called " Pull ! " a very moderate specimen of the blue rock 

 gave me an easy chance ; but my pressure on the trigger 

 failed to meet with the ensuing explosion ! 



/ had forgotten to pull back the safety bolt / I was defeated ! 



As regards unlucky incidents, I had a most exasperating 

 experience at that same Gun Club. 



As in the former instance, it devolved upon me to " kill 

 to win " a very handsome cup and substantial stakes. 



I had an easy bird, timed it beautifully, and, as I thought, 

 dropped it stone dead within three yards of the trap. I was 

 turning round to re-seek the pavilion in triumph, when a 

 friend who had backed me for the event and who stood to 

 win " a packet," shouted out : " Go on, Cockie ; give him 

 another to make sure! Assurez la masse!'' There lay 

 my bird, motionless, with its wings outstretched on either 

 side of it. Taking the hint, I plugged in my right. 



Now this bird must have been " playing possum," for 

 instead of my shot causing it to be " still dead," it acted as a 

 corpse reviver, since the wretched pigeon pulled itself together, 

 rose gracefully from the ground, and sailed away over the 

 boundary though lost to sight, to memory accursed ! Again 

 I met with defeat, for I was ignominiously knocked out in the 

 " ties." 



Hark back to Monte Carlo. 



