AUGUST DAYS 



ruffed grouse need not be spared a shot, 

 as full grown and strong of pinion he 

 bursts from cover; nor need the wood 

 duck, now but a vigorous bunch of pin 

 feathers, be let go untried or unscathed, 

 when from his perch on a slanted log or 

 out of a bower of rushes he breaks into 

 the upper air with startling flutter of 

 wings and startled squeak of alarm. 



Summer wanes, flowers fade, bird 

 songs falter to mournful notes of fare- 

 well ; but while regretfully we mark the 

 decline of these golden days, we remem- 

 ber with a thrill of expectation that they 

 slope to the golden days of autumn, 

 wherein the farmer garners his latest 

 harvest, the sportsman his first worthy 

 harvest, and that to him that waits, 

 come all things, and even though he 

 waits long, may come the best. 

 117 



