IN THE MARSH. 121 
CHAPTER XI. 
IN TPE MARSH—MORNING, MIDDAY AND EVENING 
DUCK SHOOTING. 
OnE of the first impressions engrafted into the mind 
of the young hunter is the thought of early and late 
shooting. When he has become fully supplied with 
gun, clothes, dog, decoys, and the many incidentals that 
go toward completing his armament or outfit, his mind 
naturally runsin the channel of shooting. Older friends 
and experienced hunters tell him what they have done, 
times they have had, shooting in indistinct light by the 
dim twilight, and even by the moon’s pale rays. So 
his desire is to start early, and either by driving or 
rowing, to be stationed on the shooting ground at break 
of day. 
Grant, then, indulgent reader, that you and I know 
such an amateur hunter, and for the purpose of illustra- 
tion, allow me to take an inexperienced person out for 
a hunt, the special object being to give him the benefit 
of our experience and practical knowledge. Among 
our intimate friends, now that you are to have a voice 
in choosing, who shall: we take? Ah! I read your 
thoughts ; mine are the same, and he is the one I will 
ask. Who is it? Why, who could it be but yourself. 
It seems strange how the same thoughts will run at 
times, in the minds of different persons, doesn’t it! 
Possibly you smile and reply, ‘Great minds run in 
the same channel.” Not so with us, however, for we 
