WILD DUCKS. 307 



''Ducks by the million, by Jiminy," exclaimed the 

 guide. " I tell you, gemmen, you'll have piles of shoot- 

 in' at day-break." 



That was the very thing we were waiting for most im- 

 patiently, so when the dull, gray light began to steal 

 across the eastern horizon, our spirits went up wonder- 

 fully, and we discoursed enthusiastically about the balmy 

 air, and the luxuriance and color of the tropical scenery 

 that surrounded us. 



As the gray merged into a steel-blue, and the blue into 

 the roseate tints that indicated the apj^roach of the god 

 of day, the wind freshened and blew a fairly fast gale from 

 the ocean. 



"I tell yon, gernmen," said the Cracker, "you'll have 

 piles of shootin' soon, as this wind, that I told you 

 mought and moughtn't come, will send the ducks up the 

 river a-kiting, and we can jest lay into 'em like a thou- 

 sand of bricks." 



His prophesy again proved to be correct, for, in a few 

 minutes, the weak squawks of a team of approaching bald- 

 pates Avere heard, and a little later the ducks came sail- 

 ing down towards the decoys. Just as they were moment- 

 arily hovering, previous to settling, the contents of ten 

 barrels were poured into their midst, and twenty-seven of 

 them tumbled headlong into the stream and squawked or 

 floundered about in the agonies of death. The remainder 

 turned, on seeing this catastrophe, and, with many a 

 scream, winged their flight to the silent forest that 

 stretched for miles beyond us. 



The enthusiast of the party became ecstatic at our early 

 good fortune, and indulged in the Avildest gambols and 

 half a dozen impromptu jigs, which he had mvented on 

 the spur of the moment. So vehement was he in this 

 display of terpsichorean agility, that one of his comrades 

 hinted that he had formerly been an Irish dancing master; 

 but this cynical inuendo not having the desired effect, an- 



