Page:Headlong Hall - Peacock (1816).djvu/120

 it down or cutting his way through it. He had little idea of gradation; he saw no interval between the first step and the last, but pounced upon his object with the impetus of a mountain-cataract. This rapidity of movement, indeed, subjected him to some disasters which cooler spirits would have escaped. He was an excellent sportsman, and almost always killed his game; but now and then he killed his dog. Rocks, streams, hedges, gates, and ditches, were objects of no account in his estimation; though a dislocated shoulder, se-