226 OUT WITH THE BIRDS 



then that I realized that it was raining geese, 

 for seven of them fell within a hundred yards. 

 In point of deadliness, the kodak is not usually 

 classed with the twelve-gauge; and it is hardly 

 possible that my shutter did any of the damage. 

 It was not a cross shot into a swarm of geese, 

 for the flock was small ; and such a killing, in the 

 annals of the trio was without precedent; but it 

 is safe to say that those six geese that went away 

 whole will never again travel to their feeding- 

 ground thirteen strong. 



The flight was over; so also thought our 

 neighbor on the wheat-field, and the clash of his 

 metal decoys came to us over the still prairie, as 

 he picked up and left. So we also packed up, 

 and after having a bite to eat, set off homeward, 

 satisfied that our first outing of the season on 

 the goose-grounds had been a success. 



To be acceptable to a gun man, I realize that 

 this narrative ought to end right here, but to a 

 kodaker this is impossible. For the benefit of 

 the latter, I will state that that precious roll of 

 film was developed the next night, with Andy 

 ably assisting. If I had not been case-hardened 

 against the little disappointments caused by the 

 eccentricities of the kodak, if my bump of cha- 



