t were never going to end, and we watched
with dismay the pace at which our lively fugitive was "making tracks."

"Ready all, in the cutter!" cries the doctor. "Off!" and next moment we
are flying through the water in full cry. As we gradually pull up to
the duck he diminishes his pace, and finally lies on his oars and coolly
waits for us.

"Put it on, now!" calls out our coxswain, and our boat shoots forward.
When within a few yards, the duck, apparently alive to his danger,
dashes his oars into the water and darts ahead. But we are too fast for
him. Another two strokes and we shall row him down.

"Now then!" cries our coxswain.

Ah! At a tremendous pace our boat flew forward over the very place
where, a second before, our duck had been. But where was he? By a turn
of the hand he had twisted round his punt, and as our fellows dug their
oars wildly into the water and tried to pull up, there was he, calmly
scuttling away in an opposite direction, and laughing at us!

In due time we had swung round, and were after him again, the wiser for
this lesson.

Next time we overhauled him we made our approach in a far more gingerly
manner. We kept as little way as possible on our boat, determined not
to lose time again by overshooting our mark. As long as he could, our
duck led us down stream, then, when we had all but caught him, he made a
feint of swooping off to the right, a manoeuvre which our coxswain
promptly followed. But no sooner was our rudder round than the rogue
deftly brought his punt sharp to the left, and so once more escaped us.

This sort of thing went on for a long time, and I was beginning to think
the hunt was likely to prove a monotonous affair after all, when our
coxswain suddenly called to me down the boat--

"Be ready, Adams."

Then it began gradually to dawn on me our coxswain after all knew what
he was about. There was a rather deep bay up near the top of the
course, bounded by two prominent little headlands, and into this bay the
duck, in a moment of carelessness, had ventured. It was a chance not to
be let slip. A few strokes brought our cutter up to the spot, and once
there, our cunning coxswain carefully kept us pointed exactly across the
bay. The duck, seeing his danger, made a dash to one corner, hoping to
avoid us; but he was too late, we were there before him, and before he
could double and make the other corner our boat had back-watered to the
spot. Thus gradually we hemm