13 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Apkii 5, 185?. 
shooting costume—Lis boots. Poor man! he had slunk out the 
back way. They were of the description known in the shop- 
windows as waterproof shooting-boots. The drops were still 
roiling down his forehead from the exertion of lacing them. 
They reached half way up his leg. They were half-an-inch thick, 
and nailed so as to be a burden to any man. Then they were 
hard as iron, because ho wished them to be seasoned, and had 
bought a ready-made pair on purpose; dreading lest new ones 
should draw his feet. Poor Charles! on the pitched path in 
front of tire stables, as we went round the yard, he slid backwards., 
and forwards, and every way. I could not help laugliing, but he 
preserved Iris good humour; and when I told him they were too 
thick and too heavy, he said No, because it was important he 
should keep his feet. dry. We did not go far ; but I had my dogs 
with me, and we walked into a piece of high swedes covered with 
wet from a shower. I told . him they were damp ; but lie had 
confidence iu his shoes, and entered them boldly. His knees 
were soon wetted. 
“Ah !” he said, “ I will walk these to-morrow, with my knees 
as dry as my feet are now.” 
The wet had softened the waterproof shooting-boots, and he 
walked easier. We did not go far; and he was very weary when 
we got home. I could see it was a relief to him to get his boots 
off; they had admitted a little water. The following morning 
he retired for a few minutes, .and returned with his legs cased in 
new leather leggings that reached to the middle of his thigh. 
“You may laugh,” said he, “and I daresay I look strange in 
them, as I am not accustomed to wear such; but you are sea¬ 
soned to getting wet, and I am not.” 
Then he adopted a huge jacket, with pockets large enough to 
contain any number of birds. It was much too long, and what 
we call “hanged” about his legs. Seeing that I laughed at all 
his costume, lie no longer showed me anything; but good- 
humouredly said, he would appear fully equipped on the 1st of 
September. He gained strength rapidly, and his spirits rose in 
proportion. He was a charming companion in a country house ; 
he knew everything—not the mere superficial knowledge gleaned 
from a periodical or a review, but he knew the whole history of 
everything. I never enjoyed anything so much as our walks in 
the evening, when my wife joined us, and we strolled along the 
lanes or in the fields. The birds, the flowers, the water—every¬ 
thing supplied him with a theme; and he spoke so playfully of 
them, yet so learnedly, that we found we had lived looking on an 
open book, without reading a line of it. Many a long winter’s 
evening was afterwards made to pass quickly away by following 
out the lessons wc began to learn with him. 
The 1st of September came. As he gained strength, he be¬ 
came anxious—not for the sport, but because he had been led to 
expect a speedy and perfect restoration to health by its instru¬ 
mentality. He felt the inroads excessive study had made ; he 
thought of them sometimes with apprehension, and he was anxious 
to prove that he had a remedy at hand. He would like shooting, 
if it would enable him to follow studies he liked better. He was 
not naturally a sportman—far from it. 
It was a hot morning; we had breakfasted earlier than usual, 
and he came down after dressing. It will be readily believed, 
that when he made up his mind to shoot, he could find few 
among his acquaintances who could advise him. One warned 
him against one danger, and one against the other. One sug¬ 
gested one essential, one the other. He had made a list. Ho 
had the most extraordinary contrivance in the shape of a hat 
that ever covered a man’s head; it had a large peak in front, 
lined with green, because that colour was favourable to t-he eyes; 
an elaborate system of ventilation, because the head should 
always be cool; a peak behind, to shoot off the rain, and prevent 
it from running down the neck; and it was almost conical, that 
it might not absorb wet. Ilia jacket, as I have before said, was 
long, and large enough for two men; but he had been advised to 
have it made so, that his blood might have free circulation. 
“I am not sure,” he said, “that.my shooting experience will 
not enable me to read a good paper to the Society on the equip¬ 
ment of soldiers ; and I have no idea of being trussed, as though 
I had stock and cross-belts.” 
His waistcoat was full of pockets, and yet everyone contained 
something. His trousers were rather tight, and over them he 
wore his leggings. As I watched him, I saw him referring to a 
list, and fumbling in a pocket every minute. lie had a beautiful 
gun, but it fired with a tube instead of a cap. A man cannot 
resist looking at a_smart gun when he goes out with a friend for 
the first day’s shooting, and I looked at his. 
“ Progress, old fellow, progress,” said he, “ first the matchlock, 
then the flint, then the percussion cap, such as you still have, and 
then the tube like this. Yet all is yet in its infancy. I have 
heard in the scientific world of an explosive power, that will at 
once render such things as these ridiculous. I will explain.” 
“ No, no, Charley,” said I, “ not now—after dinner.” 
“ Well, have your own way; but if you will remind me, 
explain that this explosive power will be in such a smallconrmJ, 
that a body no larger than that percussion cap-. By the way 
have you seen the new machinery for making them ? Not onl 
are they better made, but the economy is immense. Have you. 
ever noticed what a fallacy-.” 
“ Yes,” said I, “if you go on in this way, our idea of shooting 
will be—-.” 
“ True. I had forgotten ; let us go on.” 
There is little difficulty in finding birds on the 1st of Septem¬ 
ber ; and when we entered a piece of clover, one dog stood, and 
the other backed.—“ Come,” said I. 
“ What an admirable picture of instinct that is ! because, you 
know, training would not do it all; and how it shows the mastery 
of man over animals !” 
Here the birds rose, and I killed two, Of course, the dogs did 
not move. 
“ Admirable sight! Do you know, I find I learn something 
every minute. 1 could prize such animals. Come here good 
dogs, come here,” and he pulled a huge piece of bread out of liis 
pocket. “ Come here. I have something for you.” 
“ Don’t my dear fellow; don’t. You will spoil my dogs.” 
“ No, no,” said he ; “ your theory is wrong. No animal is 
spoiled by kindness. In whatever quarter of the globe we go, 
we find the animals are subservient to man, and the means of 
making them so is kindness.” 
I began to think his lessons were not so pleasant in the field 
as when out for a walk ; but he was so good-natured, and did all 
in such perfect good faith, I could not even be impatient with him. 
“ You did not shoot ?” said I. 
“No; but I shall next time. I confess all my attention was 
taken up by the dogs.” 
“ Bravo ! You will make a sportsman.” 
“ I hate the man who is only intent on slaughter, and has no 
admiration for a good dog.” 
My two pets, Tony and Mitty, were still motionless ; but at a 
wave of my hand they ranged. It was only for a moment. Tony 
drew slowly and stealthily along, followed by Mitty, stopping at 
intervals; then, at last at dead point, both were motionless as 
statues. 
“ Beautiful 1 beautiful! ” cried Charles, at the top of his voice. 
The birds rose at once. I had time for one shot only. “ My 
good fellow, if you are so noisy in your admiration, our guns 
will be useless, and the dogs even will be frightened.” 
“ Tell me—you understand these matters—do you think these 
dogs participate in the sport ? Are they fond of it ? Is it ne¬ 
cessary that game should be killed to them P or would they be 
discouraged if we went all day without discharging a gun ?” 
“ I cannot pretend to say. I believe they are fond of the 
gun ; but you are likely to be able to solve your own theory. You 
have not yet put up your gun.” 
“ By the way, no; and I do not recollect at this minute 
whether I loaded it or not, or whether one or both barrels ; but 
I can ascertain.” 
I took post behind him. I have a wholesome dread of the 
methods used by beginners, and, above all, clever men, to ascertain 
whether their arms are loaded. I had once a narrow escape at 
the hands of a friend, who could imagine no other method of 
ascertaining but pulling the trigger. I therefore got behind 
Markham, and was somewhat surprised to see him put his gun 
on the ground. He then referred to a written paper, and then 
began to empty one of his many waistcoat pockets. When this 
had lasted a minute or two, I ventured to ask what process was 
going on. 
“ You see, I have taken account of the exact number of tubes 
I had in my pocket; and if, then, there are two missing, why my 
gun is loaded.” 
There were two deficient. Onward ! The dogs were again 
standing at the end of the field, and I stopped the beginning of 
another eulogium oil their merits, by telling him to be quiet, and 
to walk quickly up with me. He did so, as well as his costume 
would permit; aud this time he discharged both barrels. Three 
birds fell. 
“ Come,” said I, “ you have killed this time.” 
