GOOSE SHOOTING. 277 



sufficiently far to make them believe he has gone on 

 some other business up the river, he heads his boat di- 

 rectly for them, just drifting with the stream, and often 

 whistling a merry tune so as to attract their attention 

 without doing so too suddenly. The geese watch the 

 bearing of the boat, and when it floats toward them 

 they swim away from it. The man in the boat is an 

 old hand and knows full well when he can push away. 

 If they show signs of restlessness he paddles away, 

 pretending not to notice them. The object, as seen at 

 once, is to start and keep them swimming with the cur- 

 rent. Once set them fairly to moving, and here comes 

 a solid quarter of an acre of geese swimming gracefully 

 with the undulations of the water right down to the 

 muzzles of our guns. 



How we tremble with excitement and impatience ! 

 You whisper through chattering teeth to your neighbor 

 to keep quiet till you shall say "Fire." The distance on 

 the water deceives an inexperienced eye, and your 

 neighbor wants to shoot, but you beg him to hold on yet, 

 and wait until they are within thirty or forty yards. 

 One gives the word to fire to the right and the other to 

 the left ; two barrels in the water and two shots as they 

 rise ; and such flapping and beating the water was rarely 

 ever seen before. You rush, delighted, from your hid- 

 ing place to yell to the man in the boat to gather the 

 dead and wounded birds, and there may be anywhere 

 from four to a dozen. If there are some only wing- 

 tipped, here is fun indeed, for a goose uses his feet for 

 all they are worth, and, aided by the rapid current. 



