'Are they pointing ?' 'No, no; not now.

Quietly now, quietly.' On they crept, and very quietly they would have advanced, if Mr.Winkle, in the performance of some very intricate evolutions with his gun, had not accidentally fired, at the most critical moment, over the boy's head, exactly in the very spot where the tall man's brain would have been, had he been there instead.
'Why, what on earth did you do that for ?' said old Wardle, as the birds flew unharmed away.
'I never saw such a gun in my life,' replied poor Mr.Winkle, looking at the lock, as if that would do any good.

'It goes off of its own accord.
It WILL do it.' 'Will do it!' echoed Wardle, with something of irritation in his manner.
'I wish it would kill something of its own accord.' 'It'll do that afore long, Sir,' observed the tall man, in a low, prophetic voice.
'What do you mean by that observation, Sir ?' inquired Mr.Winkle, angrily.
'Never mind, Sir, never mind,' replied the long gamekeeper; 'I've no family myself, sir; and this here boy's mother will get something handsome from Sir Geoffrey, if he's killed on his land.

Load again, Sir, load again.' 'Take away his gun,' cried Mr.Pickwick from the barrow, horror-stricken at the long man's dark insinuations.

'Take away his gun, do you hear, somebody ?' Nobody, however, volunteered to obey the command; and Mr.Winkle, after darting a rebellious glance at Mr.Pickwick, reloaded his gun, and proceeded onwards with the rest.
We are bound, on the authority of Mr.Pickwick, to state, that Mr.Tupman's mode of proceeding evinced far more of prudence and deliberation, than that adopted by Mr.Winkle.Still, this by no means detracts from the great authority of the latter gentleman, on all matters connected with the field; because, as Mr.Pickwick beautifully observes, it has somehow or other happened, from time immemorial, that many of the best and ablest philosophers, who have been perfect lights of science in matters of theory, have been wholly unable to reduce them to practice.
Mr.Tupman's process, like many of our most sublime discoveries, was extremely simple.