In the Haunts of Wild Fowl 115 



rel and two with the second. Then for five 

 hours we had the sport of which I had 

 dreamed. 



When the tide had ebbed off and left the 

 flats dry, we counted our game, and we had 

 17 brant, 16 blackducks and 10 broadbill, a 

 total of 43, as fat and toothsome birds as ever 

 tickled the palate of man. 



When the tide began to flow back in flood 

 on the flats the wind had died down to a 

 gentle breeze. We took up our decoys, 

 stowed our birds under decks, set our little 

 sail, and as the sun sank in a sea of scarlet 

 glory swept slowly and contentedly back to 

 the Dixie. 



It was a red-letter day — one to tell young 

 folks about in the far-away years when one 

 becomes a grandpa and must ask his son for 

 permission to venture out on a stormy day. 



Then followed a week of tantalizingly 

 beautiful weather in which the ducks and 

 geese and brant had it all their own way. 



