Morning journal and courier., 1889-07-30
OLD MAN EUNDsFoRD's FLIGHT.
The Remarkable outcome of HII scheme to Capture a Flock of Wils Geese.

The Remarkable outcome of His
 scheme to Capture a Flock of Wild
 Geese.
 From the Atlanta Constitutienl
 MT. N. 0. Kser, solemn after the manner of amen brethren, and scrupulous in state
 Ment as ths wary witness who testified that his name was Abraham Jones, or words to that effect," has yet this tale to tell. He says it was told him many years ago by a gentleman of character and reputation for yeracity:
 "Old man Lundsford was out hunting one day when he heard the familiar 'eronkl oronk! of wild geese away up in the sky. Their keen eyes discovered e creek, and down they came to broad and deep pool made by widening of the channel 100 yards above.
 Afraid to go within ganshot for fear of frightening them eff, Lundsford sat still and thought the matter over. As he did so
 his eye fell upon @ stout piece of very large cord, the end of which hung out of his hunting bag. A happy thought struck him, and he pulled out the cord to see if 1t WAS long enough. It was fifteen feet; that was enough and to spare.
 Cooling the cord carefully around his l left arm, he crept cautiously to bend of the creek where he was out of sight of the geese. Qaickly divesting himself of his clothing, he \ wadded slowly up the creek, keeping well | under the bank to avoid frightening the geese. The bend concealed him from them ! until he was within about thirty yards. tThrough the everhanging foliage he could just see them sailing, diving, and CO., verting about the pool. They were in high { spirits, and appeared to be totally uncon- I scious that they were watched. There were | fourteen geese and one big gander, who kept l aloof and looked on at the sport as if 1t was | little too undignifsd for him.
 ' rpJofo~5 bou hAoa O uopdarfu1 diver in, his boy days, and now he prepared for long ! swim under the surface Dipping noiselessly ! in the water, he half swam, half crawled, ! terrapin fashion along the bottom of the ! pool till he got under the geese. They were ! disporting themselves about in e circle, and | Lundsford slowly rose in the center till the
 top of his head appeared like a moss-cov.
 no notice of this, and he managed to get his nostrils above the surface and take long
 breath.
 "Then he sank without making ripple and deftly loopsd his cord around the feet | of ono goose after another. The other geese
 could not understand the queer capers oi
 their neighbors, who seemed suddenly to be
 attacked with fit of the St. Vitus dance
 until, one by one, they found themselves iu
 the same predicament. Then they all knew they were tied, and their demeanor became frantic.
 "But 1t was too late. Lundsford had tisG
 the feet of all fourteen of them and fastened the ends of the cord together. Then h. l threw caution to the winds and rose sudden ly in the middle of circle, with his handl
 stretched out grasping the cord on opposite | sides.
 "Alas, for his temerity! Ike old gandsl
 who was set free set up terrible 'eronk
 cronk!' The geese answered in notes of de
 spair, but the old fellow seemed not to have
 lost the courage of leadership, for he hoy
 cred within safe distance, and by ssrie' i; of energetic cronks inspired thsm with { sudden and desperate resolution. "All at once the gander, with an unsarth , ly cronk that sounded to Lundsford like tb' vail of the damned, lifted his clumsy bod, and led the flight. With tremendous hop , ping, and . succession of cronks tha , strangely resembled the 'Hsave, ho' of tn , negroes, thsy rose from the water and saile away toward the sky, carrying Lundsfor
 with them. Before he know what was goin to happen he was fifty feet from the ground and when he realized his perilous position wss too high to drop. Re was in for th flight. He must migrate whether or no, an 1 winds of the upper afr famed the perspir. tion from his brow, he had time to thin :, over the situation. Where would he lani : | and how far from homes Would these fot birds drop him in the ocean or the Gulfa "He was passing over town and he coul
 | see the people gather in clusters along tn q streets and twist their neoks to look up ! the sky. It was 6 large town and the sl | burbs stretched away for nearly mile. I
 his unuttsrable horror he remembered ths | he had left his clothes on the bank of th z l creek. Even If he had had them it wodl o have been impossible to put them on. Tn 5 new-fangled vehicle of his had no faeilitit |. for making toilets. and he had to remain { ; nature formed him, without any of the s, flying costume, but was not appropriate t I ! public performance. He was just eongra '. ulating himsef that he was too far abo' i. those curious eyes fer them to discover h d costume when he saw that one group hel a something in their hands. It was . Tor field glass. He bent his agonized face ont more rigidly to the front. At least thu [, l would not recognize him.
 ,.I "Just at this time he noticed that the o "a | casional cronks began to grow feebler, ar "a that the geese appeared to labor in the 5 flight They were becoming tired and mu
 inevitably sink under his weight very 500 {. Then hs prayed that the wings of the zee !. might be strengthened for season. He V If willing even, like Jonah, to be cast into . sea: anything rather than land in that tow @ s@. Then he cluoked encouragingly to his fou k- ! teen Wlngeo steeos sno SentAy JsfAeo '
 cord as if he were jerking the reins of ,d horse, but still they labored. The old ga to der's hoarse 'cronkl cronk' seemed to mo * him in his despair, and his downeast spi te began to sink.
 he "All at once he heard something whiz by him, and he saw puff of blue srno Is- away down below. A second or two la d. he heard the sharp crack of rife,
 sound having travelled slower than the b. .sl fyul, hIood al fr0ZA in hia wei er- Horror had been added to horror, and m. spirits sank in the depths of despair.
 is "But the darkest hour was just Def mt the dawn. The whiz of the bullet and :ti- report of the gun had frightened the ge ct, and nerved them to renewed exertic ing They made one desperate effort to re ct- the friendly cover of the woods. Lun