IparaMse Circle 



the bird, which did not fly or run, but 

 simply dodged, shrank, and looked sur- 

 prised. 



That was really no unusual thing for a 

 bird to do. When a shaft passes near one 

 the sound of the feather seems to make it 

 rather afraid to move. Even a wild turkey 

 will sometimes spread its wings and squat 

 flat on the ground as the whir of a shaft 

 passing close confuses and frightens it. 

 And now I was beyond self-control. Out 

 came another arrow, which was shot with 

 similar effect; then another, and so on 

 until my quiver was empty. Yet there 

 stood, or rather crouched, the beautiful 

 rail, quite untouched. My missiles were 

 planted close to him in an irregular ring, 

 each one buried almost to its feather in the 

 mud ; and I stood helpless, with sagging 

 jaw, until presently, recovering my rage, I 

 yelled at the bird so savagely and hoarsely 

 that it sprang into the air and flew away 

 in a straight line across the wide marsh, its 

 wings working wildly, until it dropped, a 

 quarter of a mile distant, into another mud- 

 pond. 



4 49 



