184 THE JONATHAN PAPERS 



hunting by the size of our bag. The chase, 

 the day out of doors, two or three birds at the 

 most out of the dozen we flush, this is all that 

 we ask. But then, we have a chicken-yard 

 to fall back upon, which the Bushman had not. 

 We sit before a blazing open fire, eating 

 a hunter s breakfast which means, nearly 

 everything in the pantry. Coffee and toast are 

 all very well for ordinary purposes, but they 

 are poor things to carry you through a day s 

 hunting, especially our kind of hunting. For 

 a day s hunt with us is not an elaborate and 

 well-planned affair. It does not mean a pre 

 arranged course over &quot;preserved&quot; territory, 

 with a rendezvous at noon where the luncheon 

 wagon comes, bringing out vast quantities of 

 food, and taking home the morning s bag of 

 game. It means a day s hunt that follows 

 whither the birds lead, in a section of New 

 England that is considered &quot;hunted out,&quot; 

 over ground sometimes familiar, sometimes 

 wholly new, with no luncheon but a few 

 crackers or a sandwich that has been stowed 

 away in one of Jonathan s game pockets all 

 the morning, and perhaps an apple or two, 

 picked up in passing, from some old orchard 



