72 THE HOUSE OF MAPLE RUN. 



was in the right place, and that you had enlisted for the 

 war." We made straight for the oak grove, and crossed the 

 meadow at the foot of the gorge, and climbing the bank to 

 where I had last seen her, took her course and entered the 

 briers. We found plenty of birds, and had killed several 

 before we found the trail of cur slippery friend. At last the 

 dog struck a trail that led straightaway for a long distance, 

 and we rightly conjectured that we were now on the right 

 track. With every nerve at its utmost tension, our guns 

 tightly grasped, and eye and ear strained to catch the first 

 signal of her presence, we carefully picked our way through 

 the briers until we came within a few rods of the lower 

 right hand corner. Leaving Tom with the dogs I retraced 

 my steps a short distance, and noisless]y crawled to the 

 edge, and taking a position twenty yards out in the open, 

 silently advanced toward the corner, and had reached within 

 fair gun-shot of it, and was congratulating myself that I had 

 her sure, when, hearing a slight noise at my right, I turned, 

 and, just out of shot, saw this confounded bird silent as a 

 ghost, flitting away straight out into the open. I watched 

 her a long distance and saw her alight on the top of a stone- 

 wall. I called Tom and explained the situation to him, and 

 was much amused to see the wild, half-scared expression of 

 his eyes as he said : 



' ' We will stick to her as long as she has a feather left, but 

 I know it is of no use, she will half kill us with her tom- 

 foolery, and no ally vanish in a cloud of smoke." 

 I added : "Or sink into the ground again." 

 This shot had its desired effect, and, after a brief look at 

 the situation, we decided that I should go so far around that, 

 she could not see me, and get between her and the cover near 

 the river that she would undoubtedly make for, while Tom 

 was by a flank movement to send her to me, and after I hid" 

 killed her we were going back into the briers, to attend to a 

 number of birds that we had started there. I went around, 

 and carefully keeping out of sight behind a favoring knoll, I 

 reached the wall some three or four hundred yards below 

 her, and crawling behind a rock, laid down and peered over 



