336 BRUTUS AND THE MALLARDS. 



afternoon, three mallards and a duck of the common sort 

 pitched into the lake just opposite me, but at so long a 

 distance that I doubted the possibility, even with the 

 cartridge, of a successful shot, so I forbore to fire, in the 

 hope that they would come nearer. They were in 

 clined to do so, but I think that after a time they de 

 tected some motion in Brutus' s ears (it could have been 

 no other stir of any sort), for they suddenly stretched 

 their necks suspiciously, and remained quite still, their 

 breasts almost touching each other. On this I resolved 

 to risk the shot. Could I have measured it I am con 

 vinced it could not have been much under ninety yards, 

 and on firing I killed the three mallards dead. In dash 

 ed Brutus, and when he had swum out to them he tried 

 to get two of the birds into his mouth at the same time. 

 Not being able to effect this, he brought first one and 

 then the other, well knowing, as he brought me the 

 first, that he left the other behind. As to the third bird, 

 then, there arose some difficulty, for he had drifted away 

 with a light wind that had arisen, and Brutus, not having 

 taken any notice of him in retrieving the two others, 

 came to the natural conclusion that this was all he was 

 called on to do. 



As fowl in myriads were still flying wildly about, I 

 abstained from sending Brutus in to swim an immense 

 distance he knew not whither or for what, and took up 

 my position, again obtaining a few more shots, killing 

 and losing some fowl from their being only winged at 

 long shots, and too well able to dive. Tom, then, having 

 rounded the lake by the railway embankment, came to 

 me ; he had bagged some quail by the side of the water, 

 but his gun was non-effective at the fowl, though, to dis 

 turb them, he had tried long shots at flocks as he came 



