J. P.'S VISIT. 115 



pleasant evening together. He was a good talker, had 

 seen a great deal of life, and descriptions of it from his 

 standpoint, had a newness and originality that were quite 

 interesting. 



Next morning, after breakfast, the " gunning waggon " 

 was brought to the door, a hamper of cold collation, 

 another of ice, something to drink, and the dogs and guns 

 placed in it, and, seated behind a couple of " wind-splitters," 

 we started for the praiiie. By luncheon-time J. P. and 

 I had bagged thirty or forty " chickens " (grouse) and some 

 wood- ducks (ducks that perch and build their nests in 

 trees), made our way to a prairie " creek," and resting in 

 the shade of a large swamp-maple that overhung a hollow 

 where the stream had widened to a pool, rewarded skill 

 and energy with the d C., and then made chemical ex- 

 periments with Angostura bitters, champagne, crushed sugar, 

 pounded ice, and Sp. Vini Gal. purely, of course, in the 

 interest of science. This led to a discussion on the theory 

 of the formation of clouds, and consequently necessitated 

 some practical illustrations, so that we spent three hours 

 pleasantly and instructively. We then drove to some 

 wild-plum and hazel thickets, where the quail were 

 found in such numbers that for a while the shooting 

 sounded almost like file-firing. I do not recollect the 

 total bag, but remember it was large, even for that 

 country, for the shooting, especially before those chemical 

 experiments, had been very good, and Grouse had highly 

 distinguished himself. Nothing, however, was said by either 

 of us about the dog's purchase until J. P.'s buggy came to 

 the door the next day, when, after asking for pen and 



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