258 FEATHERED GAME 
Steadily and cautiously the dangerous little 
craft has pushed its careful way among the 
drifting ice cakes and has nearly gained a dis- 
tance whence the shot may be sent into the 
flock as yet unnoting our approach, when sud- 
denly the old gander stretches up his neck and 
nervously calling to his command sets them all 
in motion and they paddle swiftly away. If 
they are not pursued too closely as a rule they 
think they can outrun their enemy, if enemy it 
is, and becoming less cautious, do not so easily 
take alarm next time. Therefore the man at 
the scull oar slows up—only giving a few turns 
of his wrist to keep the float’s steerage way. 
Bye and bye, after a half hour of laborious 
maneuvring you are almost near enough to 
shoot. Stealthily the double float slips along— 
just the top of the sculler’s white cap and one 
eye showing above the low gunwale, the only 
signs of the pirate crew within. Look out, old 
gander! Here’s trouble for you! 
Perhaps our amateur goose-hunter is not be- 
ginning to be a little nervous. The only sounds 
you hear are the low murmur of the ripples be- 
neath the bows, the gride of small ice cakes 
alongside, and the muffled monotone of the scull- 
