260 FEATHERED GAME 
as if for a quiet nap, but. come out of your 
trance very suddenly—the result of a vigorous 
kick. ‘‘Quick, now! Wake up here!’’ ex- 
claims the man at the scull-oar. ‘‘The left!’’ 
and up you get and bring your gun to bear on 
a big gray bird rising out of the water seventy 
yards away, the first one that catches your eye, 
then see another about forty yards distant and 
change to him. Meanwhile your companion, 
who has been watching them and has had his 
birds all selected, gets in his two barrels—so 
near your head that the concussion of his eight- 
bore well nigh splits your ear drum—hbefore 
you are fairly ready to shoot. But you add 
your contribution to the general uproar and see 
your second barrel double up a big goose, which 
falls into the water like a ton of coal. ‘‘Dead, 
for a ducat!’’ (If it was not the one you meant 
there is no one to know it except yourself and 
you think that you can keep a secret.) Your 
first charge was not properly placed, a lurch of 
the float as your companion swung having 
thrown you off, but Tom’s former experience 
and longer training have shown their fruits in 
his gathering two with his first, where three 
necks stood in line, and one with the second bar- 
