70 



RECREATION. 



breathing spell we were ready to 

 make another start. It was evident, 

 however, that we were between the 

 devil and the aeep blue sea. On one 

 side was a river, which we thought 

 had to be crossed at that particular 

 place, and on the other was an im- 

 passable mud slough which seemed to 

 hem us in on all sides. It was grow- 

 ing late in the afternoon and we yet 

 had a hard drive of several miles 

 through the sand hills ahead of us, 

 to say nothing of crossing the slough. 

 A brief investigation satisfied us that 

 the only hope of getting across was 

 to drive down the river. That we 

 did, only to discover that we were cut 

 off in that direction, for there the 

 slough joined the river. While de- 

 bating what was best to do a bunch 

 of redheads flew by and I knocked 

 one with each barrel, making 2 very 

 pretty shots. 



The sight of ducks set our blood 

 leaping and we determined to do or 

 die right- then and there. We found 

 a narrow place in the slough and cut- 

 ting a number of weeds we laid them 

 on top of the mud. We then led the 

 horses across, and by hand pushed 

 and pulled the buggies as far out as 

 possible. After that we tied ropes 

 to the buggies, hitched them to the 

 horses and finally succeeded in reach- 

 ing the opposite shore. We were en- 

 gaged in that work about an hour and 

 when the task was completed we 

 were all exhausted. However, the 

 lake was then almost within sight and 

 we felt that the next day's sport 

 would more than compensate us for 

 the trials and tribulations we had un- 

 dergone. 



All our troubles up to that time had 

 been due largely to some Mexicans 

 who had not directed us to the proper 

 crossing. Our disgust was deep when 

 we learned later that had we crossed 

 the river 200 yards higher up w r e 

 would have had a clean, clear road and 

 no obstacles to impede our progress. 

 On account of the vexatious delays ex- 

 perienced we did not reach our des- 



tination until dark, but we had the 

 satisfaction of learning from a Mexi- 

 can who lived on the banks of the 

 lake that there were plenty of ducks. 

 We fed our horses, cooked supper, 

 and, tired and sore, were soon asleep 

 and dreaming of the morrow. 



The next morning we were astir 

 long before daylight, and when the 

 first streak of dawn shot above the 

 mountain range East of us I was 

 standing on the shore of the lake in 

 keen anticipation of the first shot. I 

 soon perceived a bunch of ducks, high 

 above, coming from up the river and 

 direct for my blind, affording me 2 

 shots. During the next half hour 

 hundreds passed over me, but I was 

 not bagging any game. I must have 

 fired at least 25 times before I began 

 to realize that I would have to change 

 my tactics, for up to that time I had 

 only crippled 2 ducks, which, in my 

 excitement, I made no effort to get. 

 In fact, I was too busy shooting to 

 pay any attention to cripples ; but 

 when I looked down at my feet, saw 

 a box of empty shells and realized 

 that I had not bagged a single duck 

 I decided to cool off and do better, 

 for I was sure the other boys had 

 loads of game. It was a shameful 

 satisfaction to me to learn later, that 

 they had been doing about as badly 

 as I had. The truth was that in the 

 early morning light we had all been 

 deceived as to the range. The lake 

 is surrounded by hills which rise 100 

 feet or more above the water, and 

 ducks coming looked much lower than 

 they really were. 



I took a survey of the lake. It 

 was only a temporary body of water 

 which had formed from recent rains^^ 

 but was 3 feet deep in places and cov- 

 ered 15 or 20 acres of ground. In the 

 center, covering about half the lake, 

 was a growth of mesquite and weeds, 

 and a more ideal place for a blind 

 could not be imagined. The mes- 

 quites grew on little hills, and in be- 

 tween were strips of water where the 

 ducks were alighting. I waded 



