ing two or three bevies down into the meadows
and the alder bushes by the stream, which are quite full of woodcock.
After luncheon, with the Commodore's aid, we will pick up these
stragglers, and all the timber-doodles!"

In another moment the setters were unchained, and came careering, at the
top of their speed, into the breakfast room, where Harry stood before
the fire, loading his double gun, while Timothy was buttoning on his
left leggin. Frank, meanwhile, had taken up his gun, and quietly sneaked
out of the door, two flat irregular reports explaining, half a moment
after, the purport of his absence.

"Well, now, Frank, that is"--expostulated Harry--"that is just the most
snobbish thing I ever saw you do; aint you ashamed of yourself now, you
genuine cockney!"

"Not a bit--my gun has not been used these three months, and something
might have got into the chamber!"

"Something might not, if when you cleaned it last you had laid a wad in
the centre of a bit of greased rag three inches square and rammed it
about an inch down the barrel, leaving the ends of the linen hanging
out. And by running your rod down you could have ascertained the fact,
without unnecessarily fouling your piece. A gun has no right ever to
miss fire now; and never does, if you use Westley Richards' caps, and
diamond gunpowder--putting the caps on the last thing--which has the
further advantage of being much the safer plan, and seeing that the
powder is up to the cones before you do so. If it is not so, let your
hammer down, and give a smart tap to the under side of the breech,
holding it uppermost, and you will never need a picker; or at least
almost never. Remember, too, that the best picker in the world is a
strong needle headed with sealing wax. And now that you have finished
loading, and I lecturing, just jump over the fence to your right; and
that footpath will bring us to the stepping-stones across the Ramapo. By
Jove, but we shall have a lovely morning."

He did so, and away they went, with the dogs following steadily at the
heel, crossed the small river dry-shod, climbed up the wooded bank by
dint of hand and foot, and reached the broad brown corn stubble. Harry,
however, did not wave his dogs to the right-hand and left, but calling
them in, quietly plodded along the headland, and climbed another fence,
and crossed a buckwheat stubble, still without beating or disturbing any
ground, and then another field full of long bents and ragwor