ou," he answered, "I always like to have a second gun in
case I should want it. It's no trouble, you know."

"All right," said the Squire. "Ida and I will come down with the
luncheon to the grove. Good-bye."

After crossing the moat, Edward Cossey walked by himself, followed by
his man and a very fine retriever, and the Colonel talked to George,
who was informing him that Mr. Cossey was "a pretty shot, he wore, but
rather snappy over it," till they came to a field of white turnips.

"Now, gentlemen, if you please," said George, "we will walk through
these here turnips. I put two coveys of birds in here myself, and it's
rare good 'lay' for them; so I think that we had better see if they
will let us come nigh them."

Accordingly they started down the field, the Colonel on the right,
George in the middle and Edward Cossey on the left.

Before they had gone ten yards, an old Frenchman got up in the front
of one of the beaters and wheeled round past Edward, who cut him over
in first-rate style.

From that one bird the Colonel could see that the man was a quick and
clever shot. Presently, however, a leash of English birds rose rather
awkwardly at about forty paces straight in front of Edward Cossey, and
Harold noticed that he left them alone, never attempting to fire at
them. In fact he was one of those shooters who never take a hard shot
if they can avoid it, being always in terror lest they should miss it
and so reduce their average.

Then George, who was a very fair shot of the "poking" order, fired
both barrels and got a bird, and Edward Cossey got another. It was not
till they were getting to the end of their last beat that Harold found
a chance of letting off his gun. Suddenly, however, a brace of old
birds sprang up out of the turnips in front of him at about thirty
yards as swiftly as though they had been ejected from a mortar, and
made off, one to the right and one to the left, both of them rising
shots. He got the right-hand bird, and then turning killed the other
also, when it was more than fifty yards away.

The Colonel felt satisfied, for the shots were very good. Mr. Cossey
opened his eyes and wondered if it was a fluke, and George ejaculated,
"Well, that's a master one."

After this they pursued their course, picking up another two brace of
birds on the way to the outlying cover, a wood of about twenty acres
through which they were to brush. It was a good holding wood for
pheasants, but lay on the ou