Christmas.

The black grinned, conscious of the bribe that was offered him for
silence on the subject of the deer, while Richard, without in the
least waiting for the termination of his cousin’s speech, began his
reply:

“Learn to drive, sayest thou, Cousin ‘Duke? Is there a man in the
county who knows more of horse-flesh than myself? Who broke in the
filly, that no one else dare mount, though your coachman did pretend
that he had tamed her before I took her in hand; but anybody could see
that he lied—he was a great liar, that John—what’s that, a buck?”
Richard abandoned the horses, and ran to the spot where Marmaduke had
thrown the deer, “It is a buck! I am amazed! Yes, here are two holes
in him, he has fired both barrels, and hit him each time, Egod! how
Marmaduke will brag! he is a prodigious bragger about any small matter
like this now; well, to think that ‘Duke has killed a buck before
Christmas! There will be no such thing as living with him—they are
both bad shots though, mere chance—mere chance—now, I never fired
twice at a cloven foot in my life—it is hit or miss with me—dead or
run away-had it been a bear, or a wild-cat, a man might have wanted
both barrels. Here! you Aggy! how far off was the Judge when this
buck was shot?”

“Oh! massa Richard, maybe a ten rod,” cried the black, bending under
one of the horses, with the pretence of fastening a buckle, but in
reality to conceal the grin that opened a mouth from ear to ear.

“Ten rod!” echoed the other; “way, Aggy, the deer I Killed last winter
‘was at twenty—yes! if anything it was nearer thirty than twenty. I