boy? Come give us a bit of tobacco, and let’s have a little chat!”
William threw him a piece of tobacco, and the old fellow stretched himself out upon the grass by his side with all imaginable composure. After one subject and another had been gone over, the conversation turned upon hunting, and William informed the stranger of his bad luck. The old campaigner requested permission to examine his gun; and after handling it awhile, assured him that it was under a charm, and that till the charm were broken he never would have any luck either with it or any other gun.
William trembled at the idea of sorcery, and urged many objections to the possibility of his gun being under a charm, but the old soldier offered to prove his assertion. “We old soldiers,” said he, “see nothing at all surprising in the matter, and I could tell you stories till night-fall far more wonderful than this. Why, heard you never of a gun being made to kill objects almost out of one’s sight? Here, for instance, is a bullet with which no man could miss though he were willing. Take and try it,—it will not fail you, I swear to it.”
William loaded his gun, putting in the bullet which the old soldier gave him, and then began to look round him for something to aim at. A great bird was hovering above the forest, at such a height as to appear a mere speck in the air. “Shoot that fellow up yonder,” said the soldier. William laughed at so ridiculous a proposal. “Yes, shoot him, I say,” continued the soldier. “I stake my wooden leg, he falls, if you try him.” William raised his piece and fired, and presently the black speck appeared rapidly descending, and a great vulture fell bleeding to the ground.
“Oh that is nothing at all,” said the stranger, observing the speechless astonishment of the young hunter. “You will think nothing of that when you have tried a few more of these balls, and you may soon learn to cast them for yourself,—a little skill and a stout heart is all that is necessary, for
