52 A MEDLEY OF SPORT 



into his snug trophy-hung dining-room, and after taking 

 a " cocktail " we sat down to an appetising httle dinner, 

 which Max informed me had been prepared and cooked 

 entirely by himself. 



" I do all ze work mineself ven I am here, for zere are 

 no womens admitted, not even mine vife," declared my 

 host as he uncorked an excellent bottle of "Dry Mono- 

 pole." " Ze moon is yust right to-night," went on he. 

 '' She vill be up at eleven, and we shall take the boats very 

 soon after midnight and row to the lagoons. I hafe ze 

 decoys and ze tubs on board, and I hope zat you hafe 

 much shells with you ? You will need it." 



Having smoked one of my host's cigars, I begged 

 to be allowed to snatch a few hours' sleep before 

 setting out on the fowling expedition, as I had spent a 

 great part of the preceding night at the bedside of a 

 sick friend of mine. 



I did not appear to have slept ten minutes, when I 

 heard the stentorian voice of the German bidding me 

 " turn out," as it was time to start away for the lagoons. 

 After partaking of a sUce of Brandenham ham and a 

 steaming cup of coffee, we took our 10-bore guns and 

 a goodly supply of cartridges, and walked down to 

 a roughly constructed jetty, to which were moored a 

 couple of tubby, flat-bottomed boats containing a 

 number of wooden decoys fashioned and painted to 

 represent different kinds of duck, while a deep tub filled 

 with straw lay in the stern of either craft. 



It was a glorious night, and the beams of the full 



