and jewelled--and a grand, lofty idea
of what a gun should cost. 'Twenty, thirty, forty pounds--some of
the L30 were second-hand, of course--we have a few, a very few,
second-hand guns'--such was the sweeping answer to my first mild
inquiry about prices. Then, seeing at once my vacillating manner,
he, too, took me in hand, only in a terribly earnest, ponderous way
from which there was no escape. 'You wanted a good general gun--yes;
a thoroughly good, well-finished, _plain_ gun (great emphasis on the
'plain'). Of course, you can't get anything new for _that_ money,
finished in style. Still, the plain gun will shoot just as well (as
if the shooting part was scarcely worth consideration). We make the
very best plain-finished article for five-and-twenty guineas in
London. By-the-by, where is your shooting, sir?' Thrust home like
this, not over-gratified by a manner which seemed to say, 'Listen to
an authority,' and desiring to keep an incog., I mutter something
about 'abroad.' 'Ah--well, then, this article is precisely the
thing, because it will carry ball, an immense advantage in any
country where you may come across large game.'

'How far will it throw a ball?' I ask, rather curious on that
subject, for I was under the impression that a smooth-bore of the
usual build is not much to be relied on in that way--far less,
indeed, than the matchlocks made by semi-civilized nations. But it
seems I was mistaken.

'Why--a hundred yards point-blank, and ten times better to shoot
with than a rifle.'

'Indeed!'

'Of course, I mean in cover, as you're pretty sure to be. Say a wild
boar is suddenly started: well, you pull out your No. 4
shot-cartridge, and push in a ball; you shoot as well
again--snap-shooting with a smooth-bore in jungle or bush. There's
not a better gun turned out in town than that. It's not the
slightest use your looking for anything cheaper--rebounding locks,
best stocks, steel damascene barrels; fit for anything from snipe to
deer, from dust to buck-shot----'

'But I think----' Another torrent overwhelms me.

'Here's an order for twenty of these guns for Texas, to shoot from
horseback at buffalo--ride in among them, you know.'

I look at my watch, find it's much later than I imagine, remark that
it is really a difficult thing to pick out a gun, and seize the
door-handle.

'When gentlemen don't exactly know what they're looking for it _is_
a hard job to choose a gun'--he smiles sarcastically, and shuts