37» 



RECREATION. 



row strip of illuminated shore, I soon saw 

 2 shadows flit into the light, and I fired. It 

 was a snap shot, and in the gloom I saw no 

 results. A few seductive calls and another 

 shadow came for a second into the patch of 

 light. At the report of my gun it disap- 

 peared like the others. 



Daylight came rapidly. The flats were 

 uncovering fast. A bunch of plover came 

 within range and I got one; they swung 

 away and returning alighted on another 

 shoulder. There I soon found the whole 

 flight. I called again and again. They an- 

 swered, but would not come. My morning's 

 shooting was over almost before it had be- 

 gun. A second shooter was needed on the 

 other hillock, to keep the birds flying. There 

 was nothing to do but give it up for the 

 time, gather up my spoils and go home. 



At shot No. i I found 2 plump birds. 

 They were in full winter plumage, and were 

 hardly distinguishable from the pebbly 

 beach. At shot No. 2 I found a single. At 

 the place of the last shot I picked up an- 

 other, the only one I had known was killed. 

 Four birds were not a large bag, but consid- 

 ering all the circumstances I felt pleased, 

 and anticipated a larger score next time. 



True to my hope, the afternoon tide was 

 a success. B. was with me; the birds ap- 

 peared early, we were successful in calling, 

 and the birds swung over our decoys again 

 and again. At such times B. never failed to 

 secure a pair. When the second shoulder 

 uncovered I waded across to it, and we kept 

 the birds moving back and forth. As a 

 blind we used merely a bunch of seaweed, 

 which we could carry under one arm. This 

 seemed to destroy our outlines in the eyes 

 of the birds, and we could manage to keep 

 close to the water's edge. After the first 

 half hour, we made no use of the decoys, 

 but depended entirely on calling. When the 

 receding tide had uncovered more territory 

 than our guns could command we took to 

 the boat. 



That afternoon was the beginning of io 

 days of delightful shooting. We knew the 

 first North wind would start the birds South, 

 and that any subseouent flight would not be 

 likely to follow in the footsteps of these. 

 Therefore, we were regularly on the ground 

 each day. At first we went twice daily, but 

 presently the tides did not suit that sched- 

 ule. After that we went but once daily, but 

 invariably returned with enviable bags, and 

 splendid appetites 



As the shooting never lasted over 2 hours, 

 and could only be successful. by careful call- 

 ing, skillful shifting of position, and most 

 accurate shooting, there was no chance for 

 slaughter, even had we been so disposed. 

 The excess above what sufficed to satisfy 

 our appetites went in expressed pairs of 

 plump beetlehead plover to remind friends 

 in the city of the salt marsh and the shore. 



AX UNEXPECTED QUARRY. 



It was away up in the Montana Rockies. 

 All summer I had tramped through the 

 tangled woods and over the steep moun- 

 tains. I knew bear were there. Everybody 

 said so. How to find them was what wor- 

 ried me. I had never hunted bear before. 

 When I told my friends in peaceful Illi- 

 nois that I was going to get a grizzly they 

 invariably remarked, "You would better 

 look out or the grizzly will get you." I 

 decided, however, to make the attempt. 

 From the mighty hunters who visited our 

 camp I learned all I could. They, too, 

 were lavish of caution, if not of practical 

 information. So day after day, sometimes 

 with a companion, more often alone, I 

 tramped. Though looking for bear, I said 

 little about it. I was sure I could find at 

 least one during the summer ; at the same 

 time I did not care to bring on my head 

 the derision of my companions should I 

 fail. So I fished, explored and gathered 

 berries, but always with my rifle along. 



The summer waned. Our party had 

 climbed high in the mountains, formed a 

 temporary camp and put in 2 or 3 days 

 clambering over glaciers and climbing 

 towering peaks. They were days of un- 

 alloyed pleasure, and nights of dreamless 

 sleep. The sky had never seemed so blue, 

 the stars so near. The region was one of 

 enchanting virgin beauty. In sight of 

 camp the deer grazed, looked at us in 

 wonder, then slowly trotted off. In the 

 evening the mountain goat was silhouetted 

 against the sky as as he stood on the top- 

 most peak and beheld the strange intrud- 

 ers in his domain. All too soon those 

 happy days faded and it was time to re- 

 turn. I pleaded for one mdre day. Finally 

 my wife and Teddy and 2 of the boys 

 agreed to stay behind with me while the 

 rest of the party returned to our perma- 

 nent camp. It was to be but one day, and 

 I planned to make the most of it. 



At sunrise I was up and breakfasted in 

 short order. How good the coffee and 

 bacon tasted as we hugged the cheerful 

 fire ! Then putting up a lunch we were 

 off. The women, in short skirts, followed 

 in Indian file. We kept a steady pace, but 

 paused now and then to take in the beauty 

 around us. The climb to the top of the 

 ridge on the East was not hard. There we 

 stopped to rest. The 2 women were to re- 

 main while the boys and I made a hasty 

 trip to Little St. Mary's lakes, far below, 

 blue as the sky. It made even an old moun- 

 tain climber almost dizzy to look on them. 

 I had decided to put in the day visiting 

 those lakes. As far as known no one had 

 been to them in 3 years. How we were to 

 get down I did not know; but others had 

 gone there, and I thought we could. 



Finding a goat trail, we wound our way 

 down, wondering how an animal so large 



