The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-07-06
AN ELEMENT OF DlSCORD

came under discussion. We had been hAv-
Ing some good covert shooting, and were
we'll pleased with ourselves and the world.
OF course there was bound to be small
element of discord, and in this case it was
supplied by the least popular member of
the party, a certain Hickson-Algernon
dickson.
He was a really good shot, q man who
could make himself more than commonly
agreeable, when he chose, and he always
did choose where a pretty girl was con-
cerned; but he was not popular with the
rest Of US His temper was none of the best,
nor best controlled, and ne was-which was
csen worse-a jealous shot.
Hicksoa was. or appeared to be. much
taken with Ethel I1illyard, one of Mrs.
Sponsors favorite girls, and a charming
person. She was now staying in the house,
and l am afraid 1T with ill-concealed
delight that l watched the attention which
Hickson was so assiduous in paying to her.
1 liked Ethel, l could not stand Hickson,
and know, though it was unknown to the
world at large, that Ethel was engaged to
Maitland, rising novelist and journalist
Maitland was coming next day.
THAT writin' fellow" as Hickson con-
temptuously dubbed him in the smoking
room "How should ne know anything
about a rocketting pheasant or partridge:
1t isn't even as if he wrote for a decent
sporting paper. Doesn't he write love
stories, and silly little verses, and such
stuff"
oh, yes" said Spenser, with a twinkle
in his eye. land what is more, he sings
them to music of his own composing. Ter
Iible depravity.
"Tel you what, I'll lay any one hundred
m said HickSnD hat 7 lx
birds at every drive, or outside any covert,
than he does the day after tomorrow. ire
Epective of the number of birds that come
over us. If any of you fellows like to
back your luck, now's your chance"
had only heard that Maitland could
hold his own in most places, and l had
never met him, but there had been too
much of Hickscn that evening.
'1'll take you twice over, if you like
said careessly.
Done with you," said our friend and he
evidently considered that he had got a
soft thing in bets.
To be candid l wasn't so sure that he had
not myself when l woke up next morning.
1 thought 1 would go to the fountain head
for a little surer information, SO I ap-
preached Miss Hillyard gently on the subject
Of her lovers prowess.
"How odd that you should ask me about
him. she said. 81 overheard that little
wretch Mr.. Hickson Che stood about six
feet in his socks) trying to pump Mrs. Spen-
ser about him once already today. / have
never seen Fred shoot, but l don't mind
betting you two pairs of gloves that he
shoots better than you do tomorrow, any
way"
That evening Maitland arrived-a nice
10Okipv follow With V00d
clear complexion and wholesome, unaffected
manners We all took to him instinctively,
except Hokson, who was evidently de-
termined to be disagroeable.
l must say that he did not sound much
like a keen sportsman and he was much
more anxious to stay where he was than
to offer up incense at tibet shrine of the god
dess of tobacco But, then, when a man is
In love where are you?
The next day turned out to be lovely,
warm, October day, just cold enough to make
the exercise of shooting a pleasure, and
warm enough to prevent gun barrel from
becoming a kind of ice machine. 1 fan
cied that he was a little nervous, and Ethel
was obviously so. l could we'll imagine
how annoyed they both would be if Hick-
son triumphed and we all knew how good
a shot he was. But he was not looking
i'll lue pest OIL Ietlle, duu lue duuOuuCe-
ment of Ethel's engagement, which she
had made at breakfast, was not calculated to
have soothed his nerves.
Our first bit of shooting was to be SMALL
narrow strip of young trees, about quar-
ter of mile from the house. Stops were
put about half way through it in small
opening, so as to take it in two beats:
the heaters were sent around to the bot
tom end and the guns (of which there were
six) were placed two in a field on each
side of the covert. and two in ride.
Matters started badly for us, as just when
Hickson was taking up his position, two
old cocks started up in front of him and
went whrring off, giving him an easy stern
shot at one, but nasty twisting
through the branches at the other. AS
/ expected, he killed both neatly, and
was thus already two birds to the good.
Nothing came our way until at last just
as we were getting up to the guns in the
ride, we heard Cock to the lift" and low
flying pheasant came out between Maitland
and myself at about the height of our
shoulders He missed it clean with both
with long shot.
We now got on to where the spinney
ended, almost in point and I took up
my position with Hickson in one field. Matt
land was with Spenser, Just where the
covert ended, and where the heaters were
eventually to emerge.
Here, again, fortune seemed to be against
my man. as almost Immediately eight hens
went sailing over Maitlands shoulder one
after the other.
But compensation was in store, for a
moment afterward Hckson missed an easy
cock, which came almost over him, and
l knew that the missing of an easy shot
was always a bitter pill for him and apt
to put him off his true form. Maitland
went up once more.
Cocks we're not over plentiful and the
rest that were added to the bag did no.
fall to either rivals gun. Still, when we
left to take our places behind convenient
hedge for the first small drive of cartridges
matters had been equalized and many were
the chatting assertions made to Hickson
that he had caught tartar this time.
At the driven cartridges Maitland proved
himself a frst-class shot, while Hickson
shot even better than usual. The whole
interest Of the day centered in the per-
formances of these two and two men never
shot better.
The excitement at lunch time when it
was found that Hickson was just one bird
to the good-and that was lucky one that
had fallen and been found by a dog-was
intense, and I saw Ethel's eye rest with