164 l^AtMBLES OF A VOtMINIS 



by, then another, and another then all the sedge along 

 the shore that but now seemed empty, voiceless, is astir 

 with splashing and the sounds of flight. More ducks 

 get up on every hand and join the startled troop, whose 

 wings are whistling overhead. Herons, before unseen, 

 rise slowly from their nests and soar with stately flight 

 far up above our heads. Bound and round over the 

 trees drifts the long wedge of wild duck, the dark heads 

 of the drakes clear cut against the pale blue sky. Then 

 as we row slowly back and gain once more the open 

 water, as the brushwood hides from sight the flash of 

 oars, the birds wheel down again upon their sheltered 

 pool. 



