OF A RANCHMAN 83 



near any cover in which foes may be lurking 

 if they can help it, and so I feared that they 

 would turn before coming near enough to 

 the brush to give me a good shot. I there- 

 fore dropped into the bed of the creek, 

 which wound tortuously along the side of the 

 meadow, and crept on all fours along one 

 of its banks until I came to where it made a 

 loop out towards the middle of the bottom. 

 Here there was a tuft of tall grass, which 

 served as a good cover, and I stood upright, 

 dropping my hat, and looking through be- 

 tween the blades. The geese, still in a row, 

 with several yards* interval between each 

 one and his neighbor, were only sixty or 

 seventy yards off, still feeding towards me. 

 They came along quite slowly, and the ones 

 nearest, with habitual suspicion, edged away 

 from the scattered tufts of grass and weeds 

 which marked the brink of the creek. I 

 tried to get two in line, but could not. 

 There was one gander much larger than 

 any other bird in the lot, though not the 

 closest to me; as he went by just opposite 



