"HOUK!" 113 



others would fall. " By Jove ! " I heard him ex- 

 claim; " another one has just fallen short out of 

 the flock, and I have got him marked." When 

 we fired the last shots, the flocks accompanying 

 that fired at turned short to the north and 

 continued their course a long way off. The 

 next flock also flew shy of us, but presently I 

 spied five on the range for us, so I gave the 

 alarm. Peeping over the edge of the pit, I 

 noticed the wounded one had walked up beside 

 one of the dead geese, and was lying with his 

 neck stretched out along the ground, as if 

 caving in. No sooner, however, did he hear 

 the familiar " Houk! " than he replied, standing 

 bolt upright, when the five made straight for 

 him, and would have settled, but just as they 

 were in the act, the chance was so tempting 

 that I had to let them know I was there, and 

 did so at the expense of three of them. As 

 they did not see me, for they were on the right 

 some 30 yards, the two remaining flew a short 

 distance away, then circled and started to 

 come back to their dead companions, passing 

 within a perilously short distance of that hard- 

 hearted Harry, who actually stopped my 

 chance of another shot at them by dropping 



I 



