234 PEPACTON 



my hand and demand her surrender ? It was clearly 

 my duty to do so. I wondered if the boys were 

 looking from shore, for the fog had lifted a little. 

 But I must act, or the duck would be off. I began 

 to turn slowly in my sepulchre and to gather up 

 my benumbed limbs; I then made a rush and got 

 up, and had a fairly good shot as the duck flew 

 across my bows, but I failed to stop her. A man in 

 the woods in the line of my shot cried out angrily, 

 " Stop shooting this way ! " 



I lay down again and faced the sun, that had 

 now burned its way through the fog, till I was 

 nearly blind, but no more ducks decoyed, and I 

 called out to be relieved. 



With our one duck, but with many pleasant 

 remembrances, we returned to Washington that 

 afternoon. 



