[: 
{ Summons to a Duck Shoot. 
he telephone bell rang. “Hello — G. that you ? 
1 , it’s my day at the dub. You and Charlie 
busy. Meet Cars and me at the Norfolk 
them Station. Train leaves at io. Bring my 
t gun and sweater. I have the rest of the 
it at the dub. We can get what stuff we 
l near the station. Hustle, now. Tell the 
s good-bye.’’ 
hese were rather peremptory orders, for 
rlie and I were seated before a blazing fire, 
stormy day in December. The club was th<_ 
•hattan at Pungo, Princess Anne county, Va. 
Norfolk Southern Station was at Norfolk, 
i was a near neighbor and a member of the 
; the “meat gun,’’ a ten-gauge. The man 
le other end of the telephone was my brother 
lk, also a member of the club, while Charlie 
I were guests waiting to be amused, and we 
uring the summer we had been promised 
jck shoot at the sunny South, but that was 
lay for a white man to be out, and the fol- 
ng day was worse. 
'e packed our suit cases, however, and with 
guns started for Norfolk, where we arrived 
| ime to purchase a few things for the cuisine, 
meeting Cars and Frank we boarded the 
i for Pungo, riding Jim Crow for the sake 
smoke. After a ride of about seventeen miles 
arrived at Pungo, where we were met by 
, the guide and guard of the Powhattan Club, 
h our baggage in a cart, and in a demo¬ 
de way, we started for the club house some 
e miles away, arriving in due season; and 
r lunch, served by Mr. Pierce, the caretaker, 
: and general utility man, we started for the 
shes. It was decided that Charlie and I go 
the North Pond blinds, while Cars and 
nk guarded the North Bridge ponds. Ben 
| us into the blind, placed the decoys, then 
out of sight, hardly doing so before a whirr 
wings announced the fact that there was 
ething doing. Four shots answered the chal- 
e and three black ducks fell into the water 
i a splash. While congratulating ourselves 
illey from the young cannon west of us told 
ile of woe to some bird of passage. Many 
frequent were the misses, but now and then 
got a mallard, widgeon or redhead. Occas- 
! lly a teal would come up, look into the blind 
| away the same second, leaving two aston- 
1 d half-dozen men, followed by ounces of 
I , which only served to make it fly faster, 
vas getting late, so we decided to go in, as 
would have a full day on the morrow. At 
bridge we met Cars and Frank, they with 
:n, we with six to our credit. We started 
the house, I ahead, when suddenly, about 
rods in front of me, jumped a shovel-bill, 
omptly gathered him in. That tied the score 
the unlucky thirteen could not hoodoo us. 
He had just gotten in when the wind began 
)low a gale from the southwest, and came 
ling through the tall pines in front of the 
■ se. We finished our supper, and lounging 
about the fire, told things we had done while 
we smoked, and listened to the wind as it 
whistled about the house, rattling the doors and 
shutters as if it were some storm-bound traveler 
seeking admission. We retired early. 
Several months ago a member of the club 
presented it with a fine alarm clock of the eight- 
day variety. I learn from good authority that 
that member has not been at the club since the 
presentation. He is wise. At 4:30 A. M. that 
clock got busy and the noise it made was like 
a cross between a trolley car and a nail factory, 
but it got us out and we had dressed and finished 
our breakfast before sunrise. The wind had 
moderated somewhat during the night, but it 
was still strong and cut our faces, and we were 
very cold. As we went out on the marsh we 
started several flocks of pond ducks, but it was 
not light and we dared not shoot. We arrived 
at the stands and just as old Sol should have 
shown himself, Ben began to place the de¬ 
coys. We saw in the distance a long triangular¬ 
shaped line which with characteristic honk, honk 
told us we might get a shot at a flock of geese. 
We did. One might imagine he was again at 
San Juan, for as they passed over, Charlie un¬ 
limbered and let go the rapid fire gun, while I 
for once really wished I had one. Then shortly 
came the four loud long booms of the field guns 
from beyond, but the enemy were only scat¬ 
tered, and for all I know are still in flight. 
Soon a small flock of mallards swung to the 
decoys and we got two. Then blacks began to 
come in and we made good use of our time. 
Then more mallards, redheads and two widgeon, 
and finally I succeeded in getting a teal, and 
all this time the meat guns were keeping busy. 
During one of their volleys, Ben discovered that 
they had fired at a low-flying mallard drake 
four times. With deliberate promptitude these 
meat guns had sent forth their missiles of death. 
Four times those mountain howitzers had vollied 
and thundered, but not a wing dropped. Not a 
feather was ruffled as he came down wind to¬ 
ward us. Charlie declared that we must get that 
bird at any co§t. Waiting until he was in range 
we both fired, both shots taking effect. 
About 12:30 Ben, having gone to the club 
house, returned with our lunch in a pail and 
coffee in a bottle. A sip of coffee and half a 
cold biscuit was all I got, and Charlie got less, 
for as we were eating a sprigtail drake decoyed, 
and Charlie, with the thirst for blood still upon 
him, jumped, grasped his gun, put his foot into 
the dinner pail, upset the coffee and our repast 
was ended. He got the duck. The sport con¬ 
tinued until almost sunset, when we started over 
the marsh, meeting Cars and Frank with a fine 
bag, while Ben and his helper were tying up the 
spoils. A butterball or hardhead flew over us, 
and as Charlie and Cars emptied their guns and 
got the duck, Frank remarked that it were better 
that fifty-nine innocent ducks be killed than one 
guilty one escape, for this made our sixtieth. 
We were in good spirits next morning when 
we reached Norfolk and were very proud when 
we reached home and displayed the spoils; for 
this had been a red-letter day for the guests of 
the Powhatten Club. Mac. 
New York Licenses Ready. 
On July 1, Forest, Fish and Game Commis¬ 
sioner Whipple announced that on that day he 
should begin the enforcement of the provisions 
of the new law, which provides that every one 
hunting in the State shall take out a license. To 
the residents of the State the cost of the license 
is $1, and to nonresidents $20. License forms 
have been supplied to the clerks of all towns and 
counties who are prepared now to issue them to 
applicants. 
FIG. 2. ANOTHER GROUP OF DOBSON EGG CASES. 
The stone is about three feet long. The eggs usually overhang swift water, as shown here. 
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