them to leave such an incumberance behind them in the woods. This
miniature cannon had been released from the rust, and being mounted on
little wheels was now in a state for actual service. For several
years it was the sole organ for extraordinary rejoicings used in those
mountains. On the mornings of the Fourth of July it would be heard
ringing among the hills; and even Captain Hollister, who was the
highest authority in that part of the country on all such occasions,
affirmed that, considering its dimensions, it was no despicable gun
for a salute. It was somewhat the worse for the service it had
performed, it is true, there being but a trifling difference in size
between the touch-hole and the muzzle Still, the grand conceptions of
Richard had suggested the importance of such an instrument in hurling
death at his nimble enemies. The swivel was dragged by a horse into a
part of the open space that the sheriff thought most eligible for
planning a battery of the kind, and Mr. Pump proceeded to load it.
Several handfuls of duck-shot were placed on top of the powder, and
the major-domo announced that his piece was ready for service.

The sight of such an implement collected all the idle spectators to
the spot, who, being mostly boys, filled the air with cries of
exultation and delight The gun was pointed high, and Richard, holding
a coal of fire in a pair of tongs, patiently took his seat on a stump,
awaiting the appearance of a flock worthy of his notice.

So prodigious was the number of the birds that the scattering fire of
the guns, with the hurling of missiles and the cries of the boys, had
no other effect than to break off small flocks from the immense masses
that continued to dart along the valley, as if the whole of the
feathered tribe were pouring through that one pass. None pretended to
collect the game, which lay scattered over the fields in such