122 The Life Worth Living 



hear nothing. The first flock came as 

 straight for our blind as an arrow. 



What a sight, as they came honk! honk! 

 in long, streaming lines, their necks stretched 

 and their big, ten-foot wings battling with 

 the storm! 



Crack! Crack! went four barrels in per- 

 fect time, sounding like pop-guns in the howl 

 of the wind, and three big fellows tumbled. 

 When they came swirling down it looked as 

 though we had knocked out a piece of the 

 sky. 



We pushed rapidly after them, and yet so 

 terrific was the wind they were swept a hun- 

 dred yards to the leeward before we could 

 reach them. Then we had a battle royal to 

 get back to the blind. We had barely 

 started shoving with our oars with all the 

 power of every muscle, when a flock of over 

 fifty geese circled over our decoys. And 

 two big flocks followed close on their heels. 

 Hundreds had passed before we got back. 



