■\ftcr the Long' Bills. 



237 



"Tom, you go behind Meg", take 

 that bird whether it flies to right or left. 

 I'll go behind Hal, and flush the bird 

 that gets up there." No sooner said 

 than done. As I moved forward, up 

 jumped Meg's bird. It was going fast, 

 but I secured it by a quick snap shot. 

 It was a slobbering shot, for I only 

 broke a wing. At the report of my 

 gun, out from almost under Hal's nose 

 sprang a brace of birds. Fred is a 

 good shot, as I have already mentioned, 

 and the masterly way he cut down 

 these two birds with a neat right and 

 left was a sight to see. So pleased was 

 I to see the work that I tossed my old 

 hat in the air and fairly shouted in 

 glee, " Beaiitiful, b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-1, old 

 man." My praise was not appreciated, 

 for Fred said: 



' ' You old idiot, what are you shout- 

 ing for ? You'd scare up every bird 

 within a mile of us by your confounded 

 noise. Keep your feelings to yourself 

 until we are out of this." 



I acknowledge I chafed a little under 

 the reprimand, but the feeling was over 

 by the time the dogs had brought in 

 the birds. Moving on through the 

 cover, Meg on the right and Hal on the 

 left, but some distance off, I flushed a 

 bird which flew upon getting up, 

 directly behind me. Then occurred a 

 singular thing. The leaves of the 

 alders made a dense cover about a 

 dozen feet above the ground ; so intent 

 was I upon getting that bird before it 

 topped the foliage, that when I turned 

 to follow the flight it required the 

 quickest of snap shots to get it before 

 it could get out of sight. I felt that I 

 had stopped it, I did not see it fall, 

 I did not see it go on, yet I knew that I 

 had stopped it, just as much as if I had 

 then had it in the pocket of my hunt- 

 ine coat. Hal was called in to retrieve. 



He came quickly and upon the com- 

 mand to "seek dead," nosed around 

 carefully. All at once he came to a 

 stiff point. I was dumfoundcd, I had 

 passed within a yard of the spot where 

 he stood, before I had called him to 

 me, and I could not understand how a 

 bird could be at that spot either alive 

 or dead, without my knowing it. Then 

 I systematically trod out every foot of 

 the ground in front of him. Fred came 

 over at my request, ^nd he, too, 

 thrashed out the spot for some y^irds 

 ahead of the dog, but without result. 

 Meg was called in, but upon nearing us 

 she caught sight of the pointing Hal 

 and immediately backed him. Neither 

 Fred or myself knew what to do. At 

 last, happening to cast an upward 

 glance, I was startled. There hanging 

 in a forked branch of one of the alders 

 hung my bird. In falling it had caught 

 in this crotch of the little tree, and 

 there hung suspended. How on earth 

 Hal ever got scent of that bird was 

 then and has been a puzzle to me. 

 Before moving from where I stood, I 

 called to Fred and pointed to the hang- 

 ing bird. Fred followed the direction, 

 and seeing the woodcock hanging there, 

 uttered the euphonious exclamation of: 



"Well ! I'm d d ! bid you ever 



see anything like that ? " 



The bird was secured, but being 

 some ten feet high, the alder had to be 

 bent down before I coiild reach it. It 

 was shown to Hal, who gently snuffed 

 about it, and then on we moved again. 

 But, why go on with this narrative. 

 The morning was insufferably hot, and 

 down in that alder swamp the heat was 

 stifling, for not a breath of air reached 

 us. The dogs felt it as much as we 

 did, and time and time again dropped 

 in the little pools of water and lay there 

 panting, with their tongues hanging 



