4 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



about the roe-deer, praying that a buck might come and not a 

 doe, I having sundry misgivings as to being able to tell one from 

 the other in the thick underwood at the pace they would prob- 

 ably come. After hiding myself as thoroughly as possible 

 behind a tree, I had just full-cocked my gun when the cries and 

 shouts of the beaters began to be heard, becoming louder and 

 louder every minute, the magic word "deer" being distinctly 

 audible. I well remember how intense was now my excitement, 

 reaching its culminating point when I heard something heavy, 

 which I knew must be a deer, come galloping straight to where 

 I was ; all at once something brown flashed past, visible for a 

 moment only among some bushes. There was no time for 

 thought of buck or doe, or of the direction of my neighbour 

 that was a matter altogether of secondary consideration up and 

 off went the gun, something heavy came down with a crash 

 among the scrub behind me, and it was not my spectacled 

 friend ; he, no doubt, scenting the mortal danger he was in, had 

 had the sense to retire behind his tree. A few hares, a fox, &c., 

 were shot at, missed, or killed, and the drive was over. Full of 

 curiosity, though my curiosity had a strong leaven of anxiety as 

 to the sex of my victim, about which, ever since the shot, the 

 gravest misgiving had troubled me, I, with several others, went 

 to look for it, when, to my horror, some inconsiderate brute pro- 

 claimed to the world that I had shot a doe ! That moment I 

 shall never forget ; my pride at having killed something big, and 

 with considerable skill, too, was utterly crushed ; I prayed to 

 sink into the ground, to be wafted thousands of miles away, and 

 wished other impossibilities which people desire at similarly 

 disagreeable moments. The excuse of youth, made for one who 

 already considered himself a man, made me furious, and when, 

 at the next beat, somebody suggested smilingly that I should 

 shoot no more does, I could have killed him. However, for this 

 I had my revenge before long. As the deed was done and no 

 amount of talking could bring the unfortunate doe to life again, 

 we were presently in our places once more, the short-sighted 

 man who had offered me the above advice, and whom I therefore 

 cordially hated, being posted on my left. In front of us was an 

 open grassy space with a hedge on the further side. I was the 

 right-hand gun, " spectacles " next to me, and beyond him the 

 guns were placed along the edge of the covert. First came a 



