ack," said I. "You will get a good wife some of these days--that is,
if you don't try to slide uphill to find her!"

OUR ARCHERY CLUB

When an archery club was formed in our village, I was among the first
to join it. But I should not, on this account, claim any extraordinary
enthusiasm on the subject of archery, for nearly all the ladies and
gentlemen of the place were also among the first to join.

Few of us, I think, had a correct idea of the popularity of archery in
our midst until the subject of a club was broached. Then we all
perceived what a strong interest we felt in the study and use of the
bow and arrow. The club was formed immediately, and our thirty members
began to discuss the relative merits of lancewood, yew, and greenheart
bows, and to survey yards and lawns for suitable spots for setting up
targets for home practice.

Our weekly meetings, at which we came together to show in friendly
contest how much our home practice had taught us, were held upon the
village green, or rather upon what had been intended to be the village
green. This pretty piece of ground, partly in smooth lawn and partly
shaded by fine trees, was the property of a gentleman of the place, who
had presented it, under certain conditions, to the township. But as
the township had never fulfilled any of the conditions, and had done
nothing toward the improvement of the spot, further than to make it a
grazing-place for local cows and goats, the owner had withdrawn his
gift, shut out the cows and goats by a picket fence, and, having locked
the gate, had hung up the key in his barn. When our club was formed,
the green, as it was still called, was offered to us for our meetings,
and, with proper gratitude, we elected its owner to be our president.

This gentleman was eminently qualified for the presidency of an archery
club. In the first place, he did not shoot: this gave him time and
opportunity to attend to the shooting of others. He was a tall and
pleasant man, a little elderly. This "elderliness," if I may so put
it, seemed, in his case, to resemble some mild disorder, like a gentle
rheumatism, which, while it prevented him from indulging in all the
wild hilarities of youth, gave him, in compensation, a position, as one
entitled to a certain consideration, which was very agreeable to him.
His little disease was chronic, it is true, and it was growing upon
him; but it was, so far, a pleasant ailment.

And so, with as much