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utterly unhinge your sight. The twinkle of a 

 snipe, or the true game-dip of an old grouse 

 cock, as though conscious of the meditated 

 shot, will at any time send off a blindly squan- 

 dered charge some yards wide of all chance to 

 touch him. It is highly expedient, however, 

 that a man should have both of these shots at 

 his command, in order that, under the infinite 

 variations of the line of flight, he may be pre- 

 pared to apply some modification of either, as 

 the occasion calls for. For which reason, after 

 having made yourself master of the present, 

 you may practise the horizontal and diagonal 

 sweeps along chalk lines, drawn upon the wall 

 at pleasure. I must require this to be done 

 upon a line actually drawn, in order that you 

 may perceive how far you are capable of retain- 

 ing hold of it, with or without the fall of the 

 cock of your piece. When the diagonal flight 

 turns into the curve, you will here discover the 

 difficulty, or rather impossibility, of retaining 

 it by the deliberate following sweep of your 

 barrel ; which with perfect accuracy can not 

 be done, except in a right line. In this case, 

 therefore, the shot made by contact of the line 

 of sight with that of the flight, at killing dis- 

 tance, is more to be depended on. And, inas- 

 much as the diagonal flights, some portion of 

 which even your apparently direct shots will 



