r with a
vividness so realistic that its painfulness pierced more breasts than
Peter's.

Don was carried to the nearest ditch, and the entire crowd devoted
itself to doctoring his ear. It was decided that he should be taken to
the quarters and kept out of sight during the Christmas, in the hope
that his ear would heal. We all agreed not to say anything about it
if not questioned. Uncle Limpy-Jack had to be bribed into silence by a
liberal present of shot and powder from us. But he finally consented.
However, when Met, in a wild endeavor to get a shot at a stray partridge
which got up before us, missed the bird and let Uncle Limpy-Jack, at
fifty yards, have number-six pellets in the neck and shoulder, Peter's
delinquency was forgotten. The old man dropped his gun and yelled, "Oh!
Oh!" at the top of his voice. "Oh! I 'm dead, I 'm dead, I 'm dead." He
lay down on the ground and rolled.

Met was scared to death and we were all seriously frightened. Limpy-Jack
himself may have thought he was really killed. He certainly made us
think so. He would not let anyone look at the wound.

Only a few of the shot had gone in, and he was not seriously injured,
but he vowed that it was all done on purpose, and that he was "going
straight home and tell Marster," a threat he was only prevented from
executing by us all promising him the gold dollars which we should find
in the toes of our stockings next morning.

III

So far the day had been rather a failure; the misfortunes had exceeded
the sport; but as we reached the long hillside I have spoken of, the fun
began. The hares were sunning themselves comfortably in their beds, and
we had not gone more than two hundred yards before we had three up, and
cutting straight down the hill before us.

Bang!--bang!--bang!--bang! went the guns. One hare was knocked over, and
one boy also by the kick of his gun; the others were a sight chase, and
every boy, man, and dog joined in it for dear life.

"Whoop!--whoop! Dyah she go! Dyah she go! Heah, heah! Heah, heah! Heah,
heah, heah! Whoop, Rattler! Whoop, Nimrod! Heah, Snip! heah, heah,
Bruno! Heah, heah!" Everyone was striving to get ahead.

Both hares were picked up before reaching cover, one being caught by
Bruno, who was magnificent in a chase. After many falls and failures
by all of us, Saul flung himself on the other, and gave a wild yell of
triumph.

The "long hillside" was full of hares; they bounced out of the
hen-grass; slipp