AT LINDEN BEND. 9 



wild-goose chase. It was in November, 1791. Natty 

 had been all day looking for ducks, and found none. An 

 hour before sundown, keenly disappointed and some- 

 what unsteady, he sculled up this part of the creek, near 

 which he lived. When at Watson's Ford, half a mile 

 below, it began to snow, and before he reached the lin- 

 dens "the air was thick." At length, above the moan- 

 ing of the wind in the old trees, Natty thought he heard 

 the " honking " of bewildered geese. At once he was a 

 new man, and on the alert. The supposed cries of the 

 geese were incessant, and surely came from the bend at 

 the linden woods. Sculling with all his strength in that 

 direction, he peered into the outer darkness, and finally 

 felt sure that he saw the geese. A long, dark line, close 

 to the water, was moving steadily up the creek, and above 

 the roar of the wind could be heard their wild "honk- 

 ing." Natty steadied his boat, took deliberate aim, and 

 fired. Luckily the powder flashed in the pan. Imme- 

 diately the voices of several men rang through the air, 

 and a belated surveying party, some of whom had seen 

 the flash, demanded w r ho dared attack them. 



The truth was soon known, and Natty promised never 

 again to shoot at geese in a snow-storm. The surveyors' 

 singing had deceived him, and he always insisted, when 

 twitted about his goose-chase, that men "who couldn't 

 sing better than they did deserved to run a risk." 



I have searched the scanty records, but in vain. Al- 

 though the north bank of the creek is very steep, and 

 often fifty feet high, yet nowhere does it boast of a 

 " lover's leap." Score this to the credit of the Quakers. 

 I* 



