e of the ladies insisted upon being armed.

"To render the sport more exciting, our host had established certain
regulations. They were as follows:--The gentlemen were divided into two
parties, of equal numbers. These were to go in opposite directions, the
ladies upon the first day of the hunt accompanying whichever they chose.
Upon all succeeding days, however, the case would be different. The
ladies were to accompany that party which upon the day previous had
bagged the greatest number of birds. The victorious gentlemen,
moreover, were endowed with other privileges, which lasted throughout
the evening; such as the choice of partners for the dinner-table and the
dance.

"I need not tell you, gentlemen, that in these conditions existed
powerful motives for exertion. The colonel's guests were the _elite_ of
western society. Most of the gentlemen were young men or bachelors; and
among the ladies there were _belles_; three or four of them rich and
beautiful. On my arrival I could perceive signs of incipient
flirtations. Attachments had already arisen; and by many it would have
been esteemed anything but pleasant to be separated in the manner
prescribed. A strong _esprit du corps_ was thus established; and, by
the time the pigeons arrived, both parties had determined to do their
utmost. In fact, I have never known so strong a feeling of rivalry to
exist between two parties of amateur sportsmen.

"The pigeons at length arrived. It was a bright sunny morning, and yet
the atmosphere was darkened, as the vast flock, a mile in breadth by
several in length, passed across the canopy. The sound of their wings
resembled a strong wind whistling among tree-tops, or through the
rigging of a ship. We saw that they hovered over the woods, and settled
among the tall beeches.

"The beginning of the hunt was announced, and we set forth, each party
taking the direction allotted to it. With each went a number of ladies,
and even some of these were armed with light fowling-pieces, determined
that the party of their choice should be the victorious one. After a
short ride, we found ourselves fairly `in the woods,' and in the
presence of the birds, and then the cracking commenced.

"In our party we had eight guns, exclusive of the small fowling-pieces
(two of those), with which a brace of our heroines were armed, and
which, truth compels me to confess, were less dangerous to the pigeons
than to ourselves. Some of our guns wer