CHAPTER I 



DUCK-SHOOTING 



An almost irresistible desire comes over most 

 men, at times, to change the routine of civilized 

 life for the quiet and solitude of the wild. For- 

 est, field, and waters all offer their inducements, 

 in many instances combined with hardship and 

 fatigue ; and yet to him who loves it, actual suf- 

 fering often only adds to the satisfaction of the 

 reward, doubly pleasing as the result of endurance 

 and patience. With a large number of those indi- 

 viduals to whom the gun and all that goes with 

 it is dear, the wild duck brings up the pleasantest 

 recollections and anticipations. The ponds and 

 lakes of the North, and the prairie sloughs, come 

 before him, where they nested and spent the sum- 

 mer, restless at the time of approaching fall for 

 the southern migration. He remembers drifting 

 down the river with a gentle current, amid Octo- 

 ber foliage, to where alders and willows lined the 

 bank and darkened the water; where he saw the 

 ripple that betrayed the presence of wild duck, 

 before they took wing with frightened splashing. 

 Early mornings come to his mind, when he break- 



