he said, "don't lift that gun until I count three remember that. 

 It's part of the game." 



Oh, yes, a bird was there! The grouse was busily feeding, his 

 rich brown plumage blending with the background. Charlie 

 whistled through his teeth and the bird stretched its neck sharply 

 upward, crest rising in alarm. We were within 30 yards. Charlie 

 whistled again. The head snapped our way. Then the paddle 

 thumped the gunwale and the bird was on the wing and my 

 hands were sweating on barrel and stock. 



"One!" snapped Charlie as the bird left its perch. "Two!" he 

 said as it swung to cut downstream. "Three!" he yelled as the 

 target banked for a dive. 



I slapped butt plate to shoulder and cheek to stock and pulled, 

 and missed by yards! 



"Didn't lead," Charlie remarked mildly. "Stopped your swing 

 when you pulled. Bad," he said, "but the next grapes are on 

 the left." 



Two birds were there and Charlie counted again. I missed 

 both and swore some, but he refused to change places. Not until 

 I'd dropped one, he said. I wangled it on my next try. The bird 

 rose nicely, and as it wheeled across the bow, there was no trouble 

 about covering it with the end of the gun. As we retrieved the 

 grouse from the river's surface, I turned to see Charlie's happy 

 grin. 



"Ain't it fun?" he chuckled. 



"Fun?" I echoed. "No name for it!" 



We changed places, then, and he insisted that I count for him. 

 He took one, then another. I missed several in a row because I 

 always was a lousy shot and shooting from a canoe is tough, but 

 I finally downed my second. The misses bothered Charlie not 

 at all. The lone hit brought a nod of approval. 



Then Charlie scored on two black ducks as we rounded a sharp 

 bend. I can still see the jeweled drops of water spattering back 

 as they made their characteristic bound, with Charlie holding 

 his fire for that precise split second of poise before they started 

 yonder. 



There were moments of comedy in which I was the uninten- 



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