SHOOTING 325 



trying at tirst to save his dignity by saying he 

 sliould just come and see if any woodcocks were 

 sprung, and ending in being as enthusiastic about 

 it as the youngest. The " form " displayed by the 

 shooters is diverse. There is the elderly gentleman 

 who gets away by himself to a (|uiet corner, and is 

 found at lunch-time with three or four mangled 

 rabbits, none of them having been more than a 

 couple of yards from his gun when they were shot. 

 Then there is the man who will always fire both 

 barrels ; if he misses with the lirst, of course he 

 tries with his second ; but if he does hit the first 

 time, discharges the second barrel as a sort of salute 

 in honour of his successful first. And here is an 

 amateur — this one usually a schoolboy or 'Varsity 

 man — who fires at whatever he gets the slightest 

 glimpse of ; a robin flitting about amongst the 

 brambles is safe to have a shot fired at it ; and in- 

 deed the dogs, keepers, and shooters have all, in their 

 turns, very narrow escapes from this gentleman : the 

 position he has held is well and distinctly marked 

 by the cut-down underwood and well-peppered 

 trunks of trees. Then there is the sportsman, 

 generally a great swell, who fires at everything 

 he sees in the distance, and claims all game killed 

 within a radius of a quarter of a mile. He cannot 

 be induced to shoot at a rabbit or any game within 



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