194 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



In a very short space of time the first pit is baled dry 

 and Hned with coarse herbage gathered from the walls ; 

 then the old gunner, after wishing his charge " good luck 

 and straight powder," moves away to a second lay-up, 

 on what is known as Deadman's Point. 



Every now and again the weird cry of a herd of curlew, 

 passing from the marshes and uplands to the out-lying 

 banks ; the peculiar goat-Hke bleat of a bar-tail godwit ; 

 the far-reaching call of that fowler's pest, the redshank; 

 and the welcome and unmistakable sound caused by the 

 rapidly beating pinions of a bunch of mallard, come to the 

 ears of the youthful fowler, and his hand moves instinc- 

 tively towards the double 12-bore which stands in a corner 

 of the pit, ready to handle at a moment's notice. 



But alas ! the light is not yet sufficiently good to en- 

 able him to catch even a momentary glance of the fleet- 

 ing fowl, nor is he sufficiently expert in the art of flighting 

 to shoot by sound. But for that matter, we venture to 

 say that successful shots at wildfowl, taken by sound 

 and not by sight, are, generally speaking, more the result 

 of good luck than good judgment. Be this as it may. 

 Jack refrains from pulling at invisible fowl, and waits 

 within the narrow confines of his duck-hole with Micawber- 

 like patience for the advent of daylight. 



At length the first grey tokens of dawn begin to appear 

 on the eastern horizon, and with eyes turned shore wards 

 he peers through the still uncertain light for the approach 

 of something — he knows not of what species it may be — 

 clothed in feathers. The welcome " swish-swish-swish " 

 of mallard flying through the air is now heard, and a few 

 moments later a number of hazy forms pass the waiting 

 gunner left-handed. 



