Old October Days in Iowa. 



of full grown prairie chickens dodging around in the stubble 

 in search of their morning feed. 



The mere thought of these grand game birds had the effect 

 of thoroughly electrifying me and bringing me out upon the 

 floor in a twinkling. A warm breakfast disposed of and our 

 guns and shells, together with a capacious basket (the contents 

 of which I was made familiar with several hours later) were 

 loaded into the buggy and we went rattling down the street 

 with Reddy and Queen racing ahead now and then to sniff 

 patronizingly at some cur dog which rushed out to salute us as 

 we passed by. One, two, three, how fast the miles were 

 traversed ! I was just commencing to wonder when we were 

 to begin operations, for we had gone by numerous fields seem- 

 ing to me to be the choicest of shooting grounds, when sud- 

 denly John pulled up the horse at the end of a long piece of 

 wheat stubble, probably twenty rods wide, and half a mile long. 

 It was the only piece of stubble within a mile, and an ideal 

 feeding ground for the wary birds we were seeking. We were 

 not surprised when Reddy, who had been making game for 

 sometime, drew down to a fine point in the rag weed at the 

 edge of the field, and was beautifully backed by Queen. What 

 a pretty picture they presented, and how I regretted that the 

 kodak had been left at home ! As we neared the dogs, they 

 crept forward a few steps and John said : "You take the first 

 bird that gets up." Scarcely had the words left his lips when a 

 lusty bird darted like lightning from the stubble and took a 

 straight-away course. The little gun came up promptly and, at 

 its sharp crack, my victim pitched from sight. A shell was 

 thrust in the smoking chamber and we prepared for more birds. 

 Reddy still stood on his original point and we knew we might 

 expect more birds to burst out at any time. A step forward on 

 my part, and a cock bird burst forth on John's side and went 

 rushing away with a great fuss and whirring of wings. It 

 assayed towering above John's head and escaping behind his 

 back, but at the report of the ten-gauge I saw an inanimate 

 form falling earthward through the cloud of smoke overhead. 



[74] 



