^ail and Partridge 135 



done, although he hated to lose the birds. But 

 somehow he never baited the coop any more. 

 Later he came to agree with his father that 

 every hunted thing should have at least a chance 

 for its life, hence that coops had better be left 

 to hungry fellows who wanted birds to eat, and 

 could not buy powder and shot to get them. 



Patsy would not go with him bird-hunting. 

 She said the little brown beauties ought not to 

 be shot — they ate up so many weed seed, and 

 destroyed so many insect eggs, they should go 

 scot-free, besides having all the wheat, peas, 

 grapes, cherries, and strawberries they could 

 devour. Her father in large part agreed with 

 her. He would not allow indiscriminate shoot- 

 ing, and always saw to it that the coveys were 

 fed throughout snows, and in severe weather 

 generally. Himself a keen sportsman, he 

 meant his son to grow up likewise. When 

 they went out together, and they went very 

 often, Joe was always glad. They shot against 

 each other with the best possible temper, and 

 when, as now and then happened, Joe " wiped 

 Marse Major's eye," that is to say, knocked 

 over a bird Marse Major had missed, it was 

 not Joe who chuckled most, though Marse 

 Major pretended to frown. 



If their dogs got up a late covey, the birds 

 not yet grown, they let it go down wind un- 

 touched, and went on to find another. Early 



