the ball with a pious prayer to the guidance of good angels, he spent no time in taking aim—but fired with a cheerful faith right into the midst of a thicket: in the same moment out rushed the hart, staggered, and fell; but the man was unwounded, except that his hands and face were somewhat scratched by the bushes.
“The noble duke kept his word, and gave Kuno, for his reward, the farm of the forest to himself and his heirs ofr ever. But, lord bless us! good fortune never wanted envy; and the favour of providence, as Kuno soon learned, is followed by the jealousy of man. Many a man there was, in those days, who would gladly have had Kuno’s reward; one man for himself, perhaps; another for some poor cousin or so, or may be something nearer of kin, but come of the wrong side the blanket: and what did they do but they persuaded the duke that Kuno’s shot had hit the mark through witchcraft and black arts: “For why?” said they, “Kuno never took any aim at all, but fired at random ‘a devil’s shot;’ and a devil’s shot, you’re to understand, never fails of
