RECREA TION. 



145 



voice ; runs his long neck into the 

 water, picks up bits of food, and ap- 

 pears to eat them with the greatest 

 relish. 



The geese cannot resist his efforts to 

 draw them down. Round and round 

 him in dizzying circles they fly, gradu- 

 ally coming lower and lower, until fin- 

 ally they drop on the water some yards 

 beyond him. Here they move cau- 

 tiously back and forth in nearly the 

 same spot, all the decoy's efforts to 

 draw them up being unavailing. They 

 are quite out of range in their present 

 position. 



Another decoy must be tried. Softly 

 the sportsmen pull back the slide to 

 the decoy box and take one out. A 

 cord is attached to his leg, and he is set 

 softly in the water. 



Immediately he starts for the other 

 captive bird. The cord is paid out un- 

 til he reaches the other one. It is then 

 fastened, and once more all resume 

 their weapons and await develop- 

 ments. 



When the two geese meet they in- 

 dulge in a series of greetings and con- 

 gratulations, which being over with, 

 they proceed to business. They talk to 

 each other as loud as geese can talk. 



Together they run their necks into the 

 water and pick up bits of food, holding 

 it up before the eyes of their now thor- 

 oughly astonished comrades beyond. 

 This joint attraction generally proves 

 too much for the wary old gander at the 

 head of the flock ; and with a few 

 shakes of his head and a few wiggles of 

 his short tail, as if not exactly liking 

 the step he is taking, commences to 

 paddle slowly forward, the entire flock 

 following him. 



They are coming now sure. Each 

 man silently takes his position, resting 

 his gun on the tops of the boards. 



Slowly the game approaches, little 

 dreaming of the ambuscade the wily 

 traitors in front are luring them into. 

 To the sportsman, who is trying to 

 steady his excited nerves for the final 

 aim, it seems as though the geese will 

 never reach the decoys, and his heart 

 almost stops beating, as now and then 

 the birds pause in their forward move- 

 ment to turn their heads to one side, 

 and eye the strange structure in front 

 with suspicious glances ; but their de- 

 sire to become acquainted with the 

 mysterious pair in front overcomes their 

 fear, and they move forward until they 

 reach the decoys. 



ON THE VERMONT SHORE. 



