GUNS AND THEIR PROPER CHARGES. 49 



subscribers except myself had muzzle-loading guns. 

 It was a wet, damp day, and my opponents 

 had got it into their heads that the breech- 

 loader would often miss fire in such weather. 

 They therefore insisted upon a change in their 

 rules so as to provide that when the gun missed 

 fire it should be a lost bird, no matter how well 

 the gun might have been loaded. I must admit 

 that I chuckled inwardly as I agreed to this 

 change. I knew the weather might affect their 

 caps, but that it could not impair mine in the 

 cartridges. We shot the first day; the muzzle- 

 loaders missed fire several times, while my breech- 

 loader never missed fire at all. The upshot of it 

 was that for the second day's shooting they de- 

 manded the repeal of the new rule, so that they 

 could have another bird after a misfire, if the 

 gun was properly loaded and capped. I could, of 

 course, have resisted this demand effectually ; for 

 when in such a case action has begun, there can 

 be no change in rules or conditions without the 

 unanimous consent of all concerned as principals. 

 But I agreed to the change, and won both stakes. 

 A good breech-loader will shoot as well in wet 

 weather as in fair weather, and there will be no 

 misfires on account of damp. But if there is a 



