214 Hills akd Lakes, 



fasHon. When I've been out to these lakes with 

 people that thought themselves great shots, and could 

 do the thing handsome too, I'd point out to 'em one 

 of them little dippers that would be eyeing us, may 

 be ten or twelve rods off, as he sat lightly upon the 

 water, and ask the marksman to shoot it with his rifle. 

 Well, he'd draw up, thinkin' to fetch the bird sure, 

 when at the flash, quick as lightning down would go 

 the little fellow under the water. The ball would 

 strike may be exactly where it sat, and the marksman 

 would think he'd shot it into a hundred pieces, but in 

 a moment the bird would pop up, and raising itself on 

 end flap its wings, throwing the water from them, and 

 would seem to say to his enemy ' do that again.' I've 

 seen a man waste twenty charges, one after another, 

 in tryin' to shoot one of them divers. Every time it 

 would dodge at the flash, and be under water before 

 the ball got to it. And it sometimes seemed to me as 

 if the little fellow enjoyed the sport, as it never 

 thought of getting beyond the range of the rifle. But 

 I never tried the j)ercussion caps on 'em, for I don't 

 like to take the hazard of killin' one of the happy 

 little things by way of tryin' the experiment." 



Along in the afternoon we landed in a little cove. 



