238 



RECREATION 



every now and then in mud and water. 



This mile seems ten times as long to 

 you, until, finally, you pull up at a 

 queer-looking, one-story hut affair that 

 is set up on the trucks of a hay wagon. 

 Several men are stirring and evidently 

 making preparations to start out. You 

 accost them and unhesitatingly ask 

 them if they will take you in for the 

 day. They seem glad enough and you 

 dismount, at the same time telling your 

 driver to be sure and come back in the 

 evening, for you may want to return — 

 there is no telling. 



But where are all the ducks now? 

 Alas ! the flight is almost over and the 

 mallards have alighted pretty generally. 

 Never mind, you will start earlier next 

 time, and then again there is the after- 

 noon before you, and there will be just 

 as many, perhaps. And then, again, 

 why can't you get some of them out of 

 the grass. Perhaps you can. Anyway, 

 they say you can try it, and one of the 

 men volunteers to go with you. 



Taking a couple of dogs along, you 

 and he start out together in a northerly 

 direction, where you have seen so many 

 just going down. You must be pre- 

 pared to do a good bit of walking if 

 you want to get them up. With a dis- 

 tance of perhaps fifty yards or so sep- 

 arating you, you walk slowly forward. 

 The fun begins at once when a pair of 

 mallards get up out of a tall clump of 

 grass just ahead. Between the two of 

 you, you bag them both, and now you 

 start forward again, ducks getting up 

 in twos and threes or singly almost al- 

 ways within range. What sport, you 

 say to yourself. The sun has dried out 

 things and the air bracing, and you 

 forget all your troubles, and everything 

 is lovely. 



After about an hour of this sort of 

 thing you begin to feel a trifle fatigued, 

 for it has been hard work this continued 

 wading, and, besides, you are not hard- 

 ened to that sort of thing. 



You begin to think it's time to eat. 

 You are a mile or so from the camp. 

 Your friend informs you that the team 

 will be along soon to take you back. 



Sure enough, before long you are taken 

 aboard, dogs and all, and you set out 

 for the return to camp. You discard 

 wet and heavy boots and settle back for 

 a few moments' rest — as you think. 

 But no! Jack-snipe commence to jump 

 up almost from under your horses' feet. 

 You sit up and pop away at them, yet 

 it is easy work for you and you don't 

 mind. By the time camp is reached and 

 you are ready for lunch you can count 

 a dozen or so of these fellows. So, after 

 all, you have a very decent bag con- 

 sidering everything. 



About four o'clock it is time to get 

 ready for the afternoon shoot. We all 

 bundle ourselves into the wagon again 

 and drive off northeast, where it is 

 hoped we will get the best of the flight. 



We now severally take up our posi- 

 tions, each man in a blind made out of 

 a clump of tall grass and weeds. In this 

 way a circle of blinds is made for a 

 radius of a quarter of a mile. In this 

 way we will keep the ducks on the move 

 and get more by it. 



You sit down to wait, not for long, 

 for you have scarcely gotten settled, 

 when ducks are on the move and the 

 flight has begun. Big flocks are flying 

 to and fro, but rather too high at first. 

 Later, about sundown, the real shoot- 

 ing begins for you. Flying low over- 

 head flock after flock goes by, first one 

 man and then another banging away 

 into them until, as it gets pretty difficult 

 to see, you think you have had about 

 enough and you wonder how you are 

 going to get back home — there is no 

 sign of your buggy and negro driver 

 coming for you. 



Don't be disheartened, for pretty soon 

 you make him out in the distance and 

 it is not long before you are busily en- 

 gaged in collecting the results of the 

 shoot, and you start homeward-bound, 

 waving - good-by to your friends. And 

 now, if you haven't delayed too long, 

 you should get off the meadow without 

 trouble, otherwise you may do as the 

 writer did, let darkness come upon you 

 and lose your way for the time being, 

 and search and search for your road 



