THE RIFLE AND THE SPY-GLASS. 15 



and then if put in a dry place it will not want touching 

 for months. When oiling the locks or triggers take 

 care to remove the old oil before applying fresh : if this 

 be not done the old oil will form into small hard lumps, 

 and cause the delicate parts to wear unevenly. 



The best way is perhaps to send it to the maker, or 

 follow the plan of an eccentric gentleman who, though 

 in possession of a large income, at the end of each 

 shooting season sends his whole battery to " his uncle's," 

 borrowing a merely nominal amount on their value ; 

 his reason for so doing being that the law of the land 

 compels that relation to take all and every care of 

 anything entrusted to him ! An impecunious scion of 

 a good family heard of this, and was so much struck 

 with the utility of the proceeding, that at the end of a 

 shooting season he did likewise. But, alas, when the 

 next twelfth of August came round Epsom, Ascot, and 

 Goodwood all having been disastrous he found him- 

 self minus the wherewithal to redeem his guns and 

 rifles, and in the absence of " the governor " abroad, the 

 family butler was taken into confidence, and a bundle 

 of the family spoons deposited in lieu of his battery 

 enabled him to proceed to the North : once there, 

 two months of economy soon put matters right, and 

 no one was ever the wiser ; but he does not now think 

 quite so highly of this plan, and since then has trusted 

 religiously to his gun-maker to keep all in good order. 



Having chosen a rifle, the next thing is to procure a 

 rrood " spy-glass " or telescope. The best are made by 

 Ross of Bond Street, they have a larger field, sharper 

 definition, and more power than any others the writer 



