allen, but they learned to
hurry at once to a crippled bird and secure it before it could escape
and hide in the grasses. Presently they had at their feet almost a
dozen fine mallards. In that country, where the ducks abound, there
had as yet been no shooting done at them, so that they were not really
as wild as they are when they reach the southern latitudes. Neither
were their feathers so thick as they are later in the season, when
their flight is stronger. The shooting was not so difficult as not to
afford plenty of excitement for our young hunters, who called out in
glee from one to the other, commenting on this, the last of their many
sporting experiences in the north.

They found that Alex, although he had never boasted of his skill, was
a very wonderful shot on wild fowl; in fact, he rarely fired at all
unless certain he was going to kill his bird, and when he dropped the
bird it nearly always was stone-dead.

After a time Rob, hearing what he supposed to be the quacking of a
duck in the grass behind him, started back to find what he fancied
was the hidden mallard. He saw Alex looking at him curiously, and once
more heard the quacking.

"Why, it's _you_ who've been doing that all the time, Alex!" exclaimed
Rob. "I see now why those ducks would come closer to you than to
me--you were calling them!"

Alex tried to show Rob how to quack like a duck without using any
artificial means, but Rob did not quite get the knack of it that
evening. For a time, however, after the other boys had come over also,
they all squatted in the grass near to Alex, and found much pleasure
in seeing him decoy the ducks, and do good, clean shooting when they
were well within reach.

At last Alex said, "I think this will do for the evening, if you don't
mind. It's time we were getting on down to the steamer."

The boys had with them their string of ducks, and Alex had piled up
nearly two dozen of his own.

"What are we going to do with all of these?" said Rob. "They're heavy,
and our boat's pretty full right now."

"How many shall you want on the boat?" inquired Alex.

"Well," said Rob, "I don't know, but from the number of ducks we've
seen I don't suppose they're much of a rarity there any more than they
are with you. Why don't you keep these ducks yourself, Alex, for your
family?"

"Very well," said Alex, "suppose you take half dozen or so, and let me
get the others when I come back--I'll pile them up on this muskrat
house h