84 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



second barrel is replied to by a splash in a neighbour- 

 ing swidge — a sure token that one at least of the teal is 

 down ; and, lest it should be crippled and able to har- 

 bour amongst the dense growth of saltwort, or in some 

 friendl}^ gull5^ I lose no time in gathering it. 



From time to time the report of Jasper's antiquated 

 8-bore comes booming across the salt-marshes. No- 

 thing worthy a cartridge comes within range of my 

 " lay up," however, and I begin to think that a solitary 

 teal ma}' prove the sole occupant of my game-bag at 

 the close of the morning flight. But luck sometimes 

 falls to the lot of the shore-shooter when he least expects 

 it, and in this case luck takes the form of a small bunch 

 of tufted duck, which come swinging over the salts at a 

 great racket, and heading straight for the gunning-pit. 

 On and on come the " tufties," swerving neither right- 

 handed nor left, and travelling at astonishing speed on 

 their short but powerful wings. The leader is now within 

 shot, and a dose of No. 3 sends him hurtling into a bed 

 of saltwort, while one of his fellows, after a halting flight 

 across the salts for a distance of some 200 yards or so, 

 crumples up like an old glove and drops with a splash, 

 that is heard from the gunning-pit, into a small gully, 

 and I am compelled to pull my high boots well up before 

 venturing to wade in and retrieve the duck. 



The golden spears of the rising sun now scintillate 

 upon the horizon, and very soon the eastern heavens are 

 one blaze of colour — gold and scarlet, burnished copper 

 and turquoise-blue, rose and crimson — and the rising, 

 foam-flecked tide is transformed into a veritable painted 

 ocean. The sea-walls no longer appear like leaden 

 clouds against the skyline, but are high, grassy escarp- 



