8o HUNTING TRIPS 



by which to shoot, another eddy in the wind 

 blew away the vapor and showed the five 

 geese in a cluster, some thirty yards off. I 

 fired at once, and one of the geese, kicking 

 and flapping frantically, fell over, its neck 

 half cut from the body, while the others, 

 with laborious effort, got under way. Be- 

 fore they could get their heavy bodies fairly 

 off the water and out of range, I had taken 

 three more shots, but missed. Waiting till 

 the dead goose drifted into shore, I picked 

 it up and tied it on the saddle of my horse 

 to carry home to the ranch. Being young 

 and fat it was excellent eating. 



The third goose I killed with the rifle was 

 of a different kind. I had been out after 

 antelopes, starting before there was any 

 light in the heavens, and pushing straight 

 out towards the rolling prairie. After two 

 or three hours, when the sun was well up, 

 I neared where a creek ran in a broad, shal- 

 low valley. I had seen no game, and before 

 coming up to the crest of the divide beyond 

 which lay the creek bottom, I dismounted 



