THE WILD PIGEON. 221 



birds; there was no chance for field etiquette, but to the 

 captor belonged the spoils, and my young legs were as 

 successful in swelling the number I took home, as the 

 science I displayed in shooting. Science ? It makes me 

 smile now to think of it. Really, I never thought of such 

 a thing as displaying science, for the birds were so thickly 

 bunched together, that I blazed away into the densest por- 

 tion of the flock; then, when one fell, no base-ball player 

 ever dropped his bat quicker than I did my gun, and, like 

 a streak, I lit out for the bird, frequently rolling over 

 and over down the hill, or coming into contact with some 

 other boy who was playing the same game. For a wonder, 

 boyish fights were of rare occurrence; for there was a 

 tacit understanding among the boys, that the first one 

 having the bird in hand, when it was uncertain who shot 

 it, held the legal right of ownership. This was very try- 

 ing to our mothers; but one reinforcement of our pants at 

 the knees, and on the places most used in taking the slides 

 for the birds, usually lasted through the pigeon season. 

 At this time, my shooting friends consider me to be a 

 cool, deliberate shot, one not prone to excitement; but 

 in those days — Well ! I used to have a body-guard 

 whose special duty was, one to watch that my ramrod 

 didn't get lost, another my shot-bottle, another my 

 powder horn, while the fourth was a general substitute, 

 whose duty was to fill the vacancy in the event of desertion 

 or disability of any of the regulars, and, in case the paper 

 wadding was lost, to gather sufficient mullein-leaves to 

 keep the battle raging. How I used to practice loading 

 quickly ! But my maneuvers at home and in the field 

 were far different. A single-barrel muzzle-loader; trying 

 to gauge and measure in the palm of my hand four fingers 

 of powder after it was rammed into the barrel of the gun; 

 then the same motions to go through with the shot, 

 when all the while my chums were urging haste, while 



