284 WITH GUN AND GUIDE 



could or would get away for a day's recreation, once 

 journeyed with me to a happy hunting ground in a bay 

 off the coast of Virginia. His stay was to be only 

 two days, but the time was February and a blizzard 

 came along which kept him a prisoner for four days, 

 and the incidents of that time were so indelibly im- 

 pressed upon his mind, though the years since then are 

 many, that even now he will, upon the slightest en- 

 couragement, rehearse them over and over as if there 

 was never anything in this wide, wide world like unto 

 them. 



For instance, although he had a gun, he forgot that 

 fact always when the birds came in with a swift rush 

 over the decoys or until they were perhaps nearly out 

 of sight. He was the third man in the boat when a 

 bunch of brant came in with a grand ' swirl, and the 

 writer and the guide each got in two shots, and eight of 

 these royal birds fell at the discharge of the guns. 



When we asked him why he didn't shoot, his answer 

 was : " They came so quick that I hadn't time to get 

 my breath before they were gone." It so happened 

 that another bunch swung in with a like result. These 

 incidents are perhaps the brightest bits of real pleasure 

 in his eminently busy life. 



The lure of the blue-winged teal or of the mallard 

 duck brings to thousands upon thousands of men re- 

 newed life, vigor, and freedom from business cares. 

 The salty air puts a keen edge on their appetites. The 



