The Witchery of Wa-lVa 13 



To put it together and swing it a bit occupied 

 only a few moments. Then he knew that some- 

 body had told her the weight, stock, and drop, for 

 these were exactly right. Who had done the telling 

 and ordering he at once guessed, for few men have 

 many such close friends. It was indeed a beauty, 

 and after he had settled for it in the only coin that 

 would pass, he suddenly exclaimed, " Mater mine, 

 won't I do things to old scar-bel I mean Wa-Wa 

 when he comes north ! " 



" Who's Scarbel, or Wa-Wa ? I thought 

 'Wa-Wa' was Indian for wild goose Longfellow 

 says so," quoth the Rabbit. 



For a moment he was too busy pointing the gun 

 the other way to answer, and the dainty weapon 

 shook in a manner which suggested a vast amount 

 of nerve-racking overstudy on his part. Then he 

 pulled himself together and answered with preter- 

 natural gravity : 



" Anser a goose scarbellerificus buckshoti- 

 cus arcticus etcetereticus a goose of the Arctic, 

 remarkably hard to get. Humanum est errare" he 

 added reflectively. " Oh ! " said the Rabbit. 



" Listen, Mater," he continued. " For years I've 

 laid for a certain wise old gander on the plains. 

 Every trick I know I have played on that old rascal. 

 Once I hit him, but he was a bit too high I was 

 a poor judge of distance then. Every chance I've 

 had since I've tried for him and failed. He knows 

 me and I know him, but now I'm wiser. I have 

 learned how to ' call ' from a New Brunswick chap, 

 and I can do it well. I'll make and paint a few 

 profiles (decoys, you know), and when Wa-Wa comes, 



