them to "get down," and received no 

 satisfactory response. Closer inspec- 

 tion proved that they were standing on 

 the deck and that the box was on the 

 bottom of the bay. One of their guns 

 had "went off" and blown a hole 

 through the end of the machine. In 

 such an emergency, a cartridge gener- 

 ally fits the leak ; sometimes the addi- 

 tion of a handkerchief caulks well 

 enough till assistance arrives. 



As during the duck-shooting season 

 the water is rather cold, it is always 

 advisable to rig in shoal water, and in 

 never more than three feet deep, though 

 I have known baymen to rig in the 

 channel, where the lines to the stools 

 scarcely touched the bottom. None 

 other than experts should ever attempt 

 to do this. After many years I have 

 come to the conclusion that there is 

 none of us who know what ducks are 

 going to do, whether they will fly to 

 the stool like chickens, in clouds, or 

 scud past us one at a time. 



Tireless vigilance is necessary in a 

 box, for should such relax for an in- 

 stant, that instant will find you unpre- 



pared. On a warm day I have seen 

 good sports go to sleep in the machine 

 and birds fly in and alight among the 

 wooden imitations. I have known 

 crack trap shots, men who have met 

 the best at Monte Carlo, who couldn't 

 get one broadbill out of seventy-five. 



When the wind blows hard is always 

 the best time for point shooting, in 

 fact. "Let her blow !" and let it be 

 good and cold, and it's ten to one ducks 

 are flying, although this is neither law 

 nor rule. As I said before in different 

 words, the more ye know about how 

 ducks fly the less ye understand. In 

 fine weather, such as we have had dur- 

 ing this season, ducks of all breeds are 

 liable to assemble in "rafts." The 

 word "rafts" may suggest just exactly 

 how they assemble. At a distance they 

 look like a thick, black line, sometimes 

 extending a mile and a half (speaking 

 conservatively). When the weather is 

 fine this raft generally appears in deep 

 water, deeper than possible to rig. Un- 

 der such conditions shooting is poor, 

 as even suppose the birds are forced to 

 take to the air, they will simply de- 



